“No doubt, many of the people calling for the restructuring of the country are doing that for their selfish motives. Some of them are making the call as part of their political agenda, some for ethnic supremacy, others for resource control, while some are for their secessionist agenda. Only very few are calling for restructuring for the genuine reason of promoting development, unfortunately, there is no consensus on the form that restructuring should take,’’ he said.
A former governor of the old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, on Friday said that many of the people calling for the restructuring of the country were doing so for ulterior motives.
He also said that creation of more states is a no go area in the calls for restructuring.
Musa told newsmen on telephone that these people, whose voices were loudest, were hypocrites.
He said this category of people advocated the idea for selfish, political, ethnic and even secessionist agenda.
Musa added that only very few individuals are demanding for the restructuring of the country for genuine reasons.
“No doubt, many of the people calling for the restructuring of the country are doing that for their selfish motives.
“Some of them are making the call as part of their political agenda, some for ethnic supremacy, others for resource control, while some are for their secessionist agenda.
“Only very few are calling for restructuring for the genuine reason of promoting development, unfortunately, there is no consensus on the form that restructuring should take,’’ he said.
The former governor, however, noted that there was need for the country to promote unity and development.
Musa said he was opposed to any form of restructuring that would threaten the corporate existence of Nigeria or promote inequality.
Musa suggested that a restructuring that would achieve three objectives of empowering the regions, promote more government in business and engender unity, fairness and equality is what he advocates.
“Many people have come up with various ideas of restructuring, some of which to me, will not promote development, like the creation of more states.
“To me the best form of restructuring is the one that will achieve three things: one, promote the unity of the country; two, empower the regions via a shift to regional system of government, and three, that would put the economy in the hands of government and not the private sector,’’ he said.
Musa explained that a shift to the regional system of government would foster healthy competition among the regions, which he said, was good for national development.
He lamented that the control of the economy by the private sector had created a super rich few and pauperised the masses, saying there was the need for government to be more involved in business, to promote equality.
The former governor said it was important for the country to also restructure to engender national reconciliation and peaceful co-existence.
