Restructuring: Nigerians Are Not Lazy, IYC Replies Buhari

 

National President of the Ijaw youths council (IYC) world-wide, Barr. Oweilaemi Pereotbo has replied a comment credited to President Muhammadu Buhari that Nigerians clamouring for restructuring are loose and lazy people.

The IYC President said it is wrong for the President to described agitators of restructuring as lazy people and that restructuring simply means devolution of power to the states.

In a press statement made available to Daily Watch today,  he  said, ‘‘The comment accredited to President Buhari where he tagged Nigerians clamouring for restructuring are ‘loose and lazy’ was made in bad faith.

“Mr. President is not correct to have said the demand for restructuring has no defined limit. Restructuring or true fiscal federalism means devolution of powers to the component States. It is simply means transferring some of the items in the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list in the 1999 constitution as amended.

‘‘All Nigerians are asking for is to allow the states to harness and control the resources in their domains. We need to evolve from this unitary system to a truly federal system of government. The diversity of our socio-cultural backgrounds are not suitable for quasi-federal system which the country is currently practicing.

‘‘President Buhari needs no tutor or rather historian to remind him that in the 60s before the civil war, the regions had higher responsibilities because derivation was 50/ 50 for the centre and the regions. The present system has rendered the states penniless thereby begging for alms from the centre. We need to run a competitive government where the states should be contributing to the national purse.’’ He stated.

Continuing, ‘‘The present system where the states governors are mere toothless bulldogs to the security of their states are compounding the security threats in the Country. Has Mr. President forgotten so soon how some state Governors under this administration resigned their positions as the chief security officers of their respective states because they have no control of the security agencies in the Country?

‘‘The clamour for state police is part of the demands for restructuring. Nigeria will be better structured and united should we practice true federalism. It will guarantee job creation and economic stability in the Country.

‘‘IYC takes an exception to President Buhari’s disparaging comment on Nigerians. Those clamouring for restructuring are not lazy. The authors of restructuring only mean well for the Country. The continuous survival of this Country as a corporate entity lies on its structural reformation. Nigeria as it is presently composed can no longer sustain our unity in diversity. We can’t live in a Country where some people are seen as second fiddle human beings.

‘‘If President Buhari wants to know the true definition of restructuring then he should read the report of the 2014 national dialogue. That report has substantially addressed the yearnings of Nigerians. For us in the Niger Delta, we will never relent in pursuing for restructuring because that is what will us to have sense of participation in the Nigerian project. Our interest are not accommodated yet in Nigeria unless and until the Country is restructured to be become a truly federal system.’’ The statement added.