Convener of the South East Elders Forum, Dr Dozie Ikedife, has revealed the kind of restructuring Nigerians need that will end the various calls on self determination.

Ikedife, in an interview with The Sun, said to restructure Nigeria, the people must understand what is called 'true federalism'

He said; "I listened to a Muslim who said that they believe in restructuring, but he stressed that given that Sunday is a day of worship for the Christians and a work-free day, he contended that Friday, the Muslim day of worship, should also be work-free day. If that is the type of restructuring, then I think it is a joke.

"Second point is that if the ruling party, APC agrees to restructuring, it should not be done by the party alone because if the party is conservative, the restructuring will become conservative. If the party is progressive, the restructuring they will foster will tilt towards progressive ideas. If it is socialist inclined, then the restructuring will talk about socialist inclination.

"If they are going to do restructuring, it should be by all comers. It may not just be by only the National Assembly, but we can have committees made up of all contending people to discuss issues involved. And people can prepare position papers and submit to the committees. It should be across party, it should be all-embracing.

"The restructuring may even better be described as drafting a new constitution in which case, we should have a constitution drafting committee made up of experts and whatever they recommend or whatever they suggest will be subjected to ratification by the generality of the population. That is how the thing should be done.

Speaking on how restructuring can end the call for self-determination championed by the members of Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Ikedife said;

"There are people asking for referendum but they are asking for it for a different purpose, for self-determination. I don’t think the two things should be mixed up.

"I strongly feel and believe that if there is more visible equity and fairness in the distribution of amenities and patronages, the cry for self-determination will be less.

"This is an opportunity for Nigeria to mend the cracks on its walls before the building collapses by doing proper and meaningful restructuring.

"If they mean to do the restructuring, it must not be a never, never ending exercise. If there is seriousness and honesty in the exercise, there must be a time frame within which the restructuring will finish and be implemented either by presidential fiat, parliamentary enactment or whatever, it should not go beyond 2019.

"Preferably it should be done before the next general election because there are people who are saying no restructuring, no 2019 election. And they are saying it and it is catching up as a song.

"I don’t know whether it is possible but that is just to show that there is need to do it urgently. If it misses before the 2019 election, let it be done soon after but not to be like tomorrow that never finishes.

Source: https://abacityblog.com/2018/02/dr-dozie-ikedife-speaks-kind-restructuring-will-end-biafra-agitation.html