Vice President Atiku Abubakar and chieftain of All Progressives
Congress (APC) has described as patriotic the groundswell of positions for
restructuring of Nigeria by leaders and stakeholders of diverse regions and
leanings.
He said the recent debate about restructuring is
confirmation that he was not a lone voice in the wilderness over the
inevitability of tweak in the national arrangement for the good of all. He also
cautioned that attempt at ignoring the agitations could complicate the already
bad situation.
The former VP in a statement in Abuja on Tuesday from his
media office commended the resolution of the APC Progressive Governors Forum
that aligned recently with restructuring and true federalism, stressing that
the issue transcends religion and ethnicity.
According to him; “The convergence of positions around
restructuring by leaders and stakeholders from diverse regions of the country
is a show of patriotism and confirmation that I am was not just a lone
voice in the wilderness on the inevitability of restructuring of Nigeria for
the good of all.
“The agitations for secession would not have arisen in the
first place if the country had shown sincere readiness to address the
underlying problems that feed the agitations by separatist forces. The
restructuring debate transcends the ambition of any single politician in
Nigeria, and any attempt to ignore the agitations could make a bad situation
more complicated,” he warned.
According to him; “Avoiding a problem won’t solve that
problem. With so much hate, distrust, suspicions and fears in the country,
political leaders shouldn’t be afraid to confront the challenge.
“Our current federal structure should be freely discussed by
allowing the federating units voice their grievances to find a workable
solution that protects the rights and interests of all. The country could not
afford bottled up frustrations of the people that may explode into violence,
which threatens not only innocent lives, but also harms the country’s economic
assets,” he warned.
By Romanus Ugwu
