₦airaland Forum

Obiwiz:
Easy, Mr human being, we know you've read through everything, but one pertinent question on an issue that's causing so much heat these days: why do people of sw extraction get so incensed and pained about what other people want for themselves? Talking about a referendum, secession, resource control etc? I mean, what's in it for them?

cos you people have refused to talk about whatever agitation without denigrating sw and other regions.

Okoroawusa:
u r wasting ur time.he is not getting it no matter how u try.

i see.

beamtopola:
[s]

You are the illiterate here! English is a borrowed language. Any body can make a simple mistake in english. So get it!
English can't build a jet, Russia economy today is far away from english.[/b]

balderdash!

SuperS1Panther:
The NASS should speedily amend t constitution.to recognise Sovereign National Conference, Referendum And Secession.

2. Convey SNC and let Regions be adopted as the federating units

3. Referendum to either accept or reject the recommendations.

4. Restructure with a time line in place

let's see how it goes.

serikiYCU:
U tooooooo baaaaad oooooooo

lol!

LegendaryArnold:
I still dey find good church for this new settlement.. what's the fastest way to double 10k bro

ok. I really dunno, bro.

hakeem4:
why didn't they shout restructure during the time of shagari, obasanjo, GEJ

But during the time of Buhari because they want to restructure Nigeria


because they're playing opposition



N.B :- Yoruba's have been playing opposition since 1960


One Nigeria till we die!!!!

If buhari restructures nigeria, it will bring a massive Boost n automatically grant him a clean second tenure.

hmmm Bob D children of hate are hellbent on doom ,so no need advising them. How can you advise 2015 defeated chestbeaters who are still living in 2015? They are so blind they can't even see the inevitable: that an Igbo is the next President post Buhari in 2023-2031. Ask ipobs what to be restructured and hear them sing discordant nonsense.

bitcoinvin:
It beats my imagination how the so called Arewa youths have come openly to Tell the Yorubas that Osibanjo will never go for Presidency come 2019.
Having made such statement,i took it upon my self to Browse Nairaland for 2 days to get or see any black-lash Response to the said epistle by the Al-Might and Rulling Arewa Youths but was not furtile...If there is,post the Link.
Since i joined Nairaland,i have never seen where the Yorubas are in war of words with the Hausas,[ Are Yorubas Slaves]..what ever the hausas says stands...
The Yorubas are always Faster than usnain bolt to feast on any thread that Has the name of KANU in it.The hatred on Kanu made people like IPOBEXPOSED to take oath that Kanu will never make it alive..Gracefull he did....
Some thread about kanu has Thousands views and like[From Yorubas with Bashing and ill talk]
My advice to all Yorubas it is to Buy Rat Poison now its cheap cos when the deman goes up,it will become scarce...Kanu is winning.

The North and their useless cabal said the same thing against Jonathan when Yradua was dying, but at the end of the day, GEJ was made the president of Nigeria after protests and demonstrations by Yoruba people.

Yoruba people risked their lives to put GEJ in office while you cowards stayed in your villages licking your thumbs.

Look in the mirror for cowards and if I might add, only cowards sits and cry, beg, play the victim and beg for the presidency to be handed for free while others fight for it.

Don't worry about Yoruba people, they know how to handle business instead of shouting and beating your empty and shallow chest.

ipobs are not known for superior intellect, credible thinking, and sanity.

IF YOU GOT THE CHANCE IN EDO STATE THEN YOU WILL NOW BE AT THE FRONT LINE CHANTING RESTRUCTURING


MY BOY DELE LIKE YOUR INLAW CALLED YOU

Rapmoney:
Same kid that was living up to his responsibilities when you were still eating ur parents' food and still collecting money from them to cut hair!

lol! Don't let the internet to deceive you.

tk4rd:
Must every supposedly "good" thing that happen to you impact you positively immediately.??
If you say yes,, then, tell me the positive impact you had when you did the "good" deed of replying me.

it overwhelmed me with inner peace

LegendaryArnold:
it overwhelmed me with inner peace

I was expecting a reply though.. And I was not disappointed

i still dont understand what restructure thing thing is about...

you wanted democracy,you got it....what do you want more.....

each nigerian can even vote a donkey to become president....it must not be buhari....buhari didnt forced himself on us...

we voted him!!!...

soooo,whats all this brouhahas abut??...

do you nigerians still want democracy or not??....

deomelo:
The North and their useless cabal said the same thing against Jonathan when Yradua was dying, but at the end of the day, GEJ was made the president of Nigeria after protests and demonstrations by Yoruba people.

Yoruba people risked their lives to put GEJ in office while you cowards stayed in your villages licking your thumbs.

Look in the mirror for cowards and if I might add, only cowards sits and cry, beg, play the victim and beg for the presidency to be handed for free while others fight for it.

Don't worry about Yoruba people, they know how to handle business instead of shouting and beating your empty and shallow chest.

ipobs are not known for superior intellect, credible thinking, and sanity.

Ask the ipob, with their chest beating and brawny posture, what have they achieved in Nigeria
Absolutely zilch
But they come to NL and make noise like headless chickens

Caseless:
balderdash!

Stop throwing tantrum in public forum.

I am not igbo but the truth is that the body language of Buhari is what led to all this agitation. Look at the talk of giving preference to 95% of those who voted for him. Look at the teleguided appointments in the military hierachy and the education sector. Look at the dead silence from the government about the attrocities of AK47 armed fulani herdsmen. You dont do that & expect people to be quite. Its not done. When people seek admission to the university, you introduce quota system to take care of some parts of the north because they will lag behind under a competitive setting. But when you want to make appointments, you appoint your people in critical sectors in total disreguide of the principles of federal character? Things dont work out that way. I believe God allowed PMB to be taken out of circulation because he loves the country. If PMB were still around as president, things would have long detereorated because he wont have the mediatery wisdom of PYO. He would rather be exhibiting the arogance of a military man.

AmuDimpka:
•.

Fellow Nigerians, let me say categorically that I’ve never seen a country where the citizens like to argue over every miniscule issue like Nigeria. We are a country of absolutism. Every now and then we just enjoy coming up with highfalutin theories out of the blues and everyone begins to recycle and regurgitate the mantra. Once upon a time, TRUE FEDERALISM was the swansong. Half, if not most, of those shouting the phrase had little or no idea of what it meant. It seems we just love to hear the cacophony of our own voices and prefer to join whatever is in season or in vogue.

I vividly recollect how a SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE became the only panacea for a united Nigeria after the satanic annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election. If you asked the exponents of that discordant idea how to activate and actualise such event, they always drew a blank. For example, who would represent each zone? How would the representatives be selected to the general acceptance and acclaim of the people? How binding would the deliberations and conclusions be on the generality of Nigerians? Would the outcome replace our Constitution? If the Conference goes ahead and by whatever stroke of luck or miracle Nigerians for once agree that the present Presidential system is bunkum and we need to return to Regionalism and Parliamentary system, how would the current beneficiaries like Governors, Ministers, Commissioners, Senators, House of Reps members, Local Government Chairmen, Councillors and a long retinue of political jobbers, agree to effect this unpleasant decision that would render them impotent and ultimately sack most of them? Answers: BLANK!

The latest craze in Nigeria now is RESTRUCTURING. Everywhere you turn, someone must tell you Nigeria needs to restructure fast. Everyone, including those who have controlled power the longest, is crying and lamenting, like the Biblical Jeremiah, that they’ve been MARGINALISED. You begin to wonder what is wrong with us. The renewed agitation for BIAFRA is borne out of that supposed persecution complex of the Igbo people by, as always theoretically, the Hausa/Fulani oligarchy. Surprisingly, geography is not a popular subject in Nigeria. Many of those tribal jingoists often lump the whole of Northern Nigeria together as a monolithic entity. They studiously forget that the North has its own majority/minority brouhaha. Indeed, there is not one Igbo nation as the agitators may want us to believe.

The arguments of those seeking justice by fire by force thus falls flat on closer examination because there is no one North or one South, or one Igbo, One Yoruba, one Hausa. New and uglier problems would instantly emerge as soon as we break Nigeria up into pieces. I’m reasonably assured that fresh complaints of marginalisation would resume. In the State of Osun, where I spent half of my present age, the people of Ile-Ife are already grumbling aloud that no Ife son or daughter has ever been a Governor even though Ile-Ife is the ancestral home of the Yoruba race. And that is the tale and litany of woes everywhere. Whatever we see happening now is nothing short of marriage of convenience.

Let’s get down to brass tacks and tackle the matter of restructuring. The word itself suggests that there is something faulty about the present structure and configuration of Nigeria. That has never been in doubt. However, the problem in my view is largely political and less economic in nature. Those who have controlled Nigeria politically in the last 57 years have shown no capacity to exploit their humongous power to the overall benefit of their people. All they’ve succeeded in doing is empower a few of their cronies who become demigods during their reign. Most end up frittering the loot they make away with like prodigal sons and soon return to irrelevance and infamy.

I’ve asked many of those saying they feel cheated in Nigeria to explain what they mean and I’ve concluded from their answers that it is more of politics than anything else. None could answer me when I asked why a strong and highly educated Dr Alex Ekwueme could not do much as Vice President under President Shehu Shagari from 1979 to 1983? I asked a similar question of why at least five Igbos were Senate Presidents, one Deputy Senate President, one Deputy Speaker and none has been able to seek and cede more power to the Igbo people in the last 18 years? If the Igbos argue that they want the Presidency as a matter of legitimate right, then the answer is they must keep working like others. The example of Chief Moshood Abiola has demonstrated clearly that for anyone to win the race, he must build consensus everywhere. He showed that it is a game of mathematical numbers and it is never a gift to anyone. Out of the old six regions in Nigeria, a Presidential candidate must lock down about four to realise his dream. The point is that you should never become Nigeria’s leader simply by virtue of where you come from but by what you have to offer in nation building. Rotation and zoning are largely responsible for proliferation of poor and preposterous leadership in Nigeria.

Let’s highlight some permutations. Had the Igbos worked well with the South West and the North Central, it might have been easier for an Igbo Presidency to materialise. Just imagine if they could lock down the entire South where majority are Christians and the Southern Muslims even marry Christians, the next job would be to align with the so-called minorities scattered across the Northern belts. I’m certain many of our youths are unaware that Chief Obafemi Awolowo once performed such experiment when he chose an Igbo man, Phillip Umeadi, as his running mate. He would probably have succeeded if he had secured massive votes from the South East and South South. All he would have needed was to poach from mostly North East and North Central. Alas, the audacious experiment failed woefully. Since then no Southern candidate of note has ever dared to pick a running mate from the South.

There is an enduring lesson to learn from the people of South West Nigeria. In 1981, Chief Moshood Abiola was frustrated out of a political party in which he invested so much time, energy and resources, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He went back home quietly to lick his wounds. He had enough cash to try and destabilise the polity at the time but he opted to up his philanthropic work. He reached out to every nook and cranny of Nigeria helping the needy, contributing to schools, churches, mosques, creating jobs, investing in agriculture, sports and so on. From being one of the most hated Nigerians, he became one of the most loved. It was only a matter of time before his chickens came home to roost. By the time he launched his Presidential bid in 1993, even his most vociferous critics knew he was unstoppable. Chief Abiola won the election, but lost the mandate freely given to him by every part of Nigeria. The Nigerian Mafia, connived and conspired to rob him of his hard-fought victory. Every effort to regain his mandate was rebuffed and frustrated. The strategy was simple and effective. Reduce Abiola’s victory to a Yoruba affair, repeat all kinds of lies till they become believable, and a pan-Nigerian mandate was burnt into ashes. Abiola was abandoned and left in the lurch. Still the Yoruba people did not seek revenge or retaliation. They fought and without firing a shot extracted a form of justice as payback. The destroyers of June 12 could not believe the resilience of the people. In frustration and desperation, they sought and found a perfect ally to dump the stolen mandate on since they didn’t want Abiola by all means. General Olusegun Obasanjo served this purpose and it was a coronation of sorts when he reincarnated as civilian President.

It is important to note that the people of the South West were not over-excited about the re-emergence of Obasanjo. As a matter of fact, they became his most ardent opponents. In anger, Obasanjo turned his war against Yoruba leaders like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Lagos State was deprived of its statutory allocations, even after the Supreme Court ruled in its favour. Interestingly, the current Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, was the Lagos State Attorney General that fought spiritedly against the Federal Government at the time. The lesson I wish to draw from this is that, sometimes, it is better, and safer, to fight a battle of wits than a duel of brawn. The use of force can never guarantee a meaningful victorious end.

Another example is Dr Goodluck Jonathan’s emergence as President of Nigeria. When President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s cabal was going to stop him from acting as President in the face of obvious incapacitation of the President, some Yoruba leaders, including Professor Wole Soyinka, Lt. General Alani Akinrinade, Bola Tinubu, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Femi Falana, mobilised other Nigerians to fight for the Nigerian Constitution to be respected. Afterwards, it would have been tougher for Jonathan to defeat Muhammadu Buhari in 2011 but for the superlative support he got from the South West.

The same Yoruba people may have felt marginalised under Jonathan but only retaliated with their votes in 2015. This principle should be borrowed and adopted by other tribes of Nigeria. Your greatest weapon is your vote and not how many guns you can acquire and fire. The calculated support for Buhari paid up handsomely when Osinbajo became the Vice President of Nigeria. Osinbajo is Acting President today because of the principle laid and nurtured by the Yoruba in 2010 when they supported an Ijawman as Acting President. It has become almost impossible for anyone to go against our Constitution. The Igbos enjoyed no special infrastructure privileges under Jonathan but had a quasi-Prime Minister in Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. They threw their full weight behind him in 2015. Unfortunately, Jonathan was sacked from power.

Let’s now fast forward. Nigeria is in big trouble. Suddenly, everyone is talking blah blah blah and crying wolf where there is none. The virulent, violent agitators will not consider dialogue or compromise. They are fixated about breaking away from Nigeria. All well and good. The liberals feel that is not the way to go. They want Nigeria restructured fast and now. I support the latter and I have two fundamental suggestions to make.

The Presidential system we miscopied from America has become too convoluted and expensive. Nigeria can no longer sustain 36 States plus Abuja and the attendant political operatives. Any call for the creation of more States is therefore reckless and irresponsible. I know it is impracticable to collapse some of the existing States and return to the six Regions or 12 states but this must be considered. The resources of Nigeria are being carelessly wasted on less than five percent of the population. If we truly love ourselves, we must bury our foolish pride and do the needful.
The principle of federal character was adopted to give every part of Nigeria a sense of belonging. The born to rule mentality of some people must be discouraged and curtailed immediately. Such puerile and nauseating statements credited to some Arewa youths that they donated power to Abiola, and later to Obasanjo, should be totally disregarded, dismissed and kept where it rightly belongs, the dustbin.

Democracy is a game of numbers and whosoever can mobilise enough Nigerians is the leader. The principle of rotation is unconstitutional. It is left to the political parties to accept or not. Any Nigerian is free to contest his popularity at the polls and should never be threatened into abandoning his dreams. That is why Nigeria is not a one-party state. Anyone who threatens the peace of Nigeria should be sanctioned and disciplined. A powerful Sultan Dasuki was dethroned and banished from Sokoto for whatever reasons. His son, Sambo, a once powerful National Security Adviser, has since been in indefinite detention, under whatever guise. A popular Shiite leader has been incarcerated without trial all this while. Why should some pseudo-cultural leaders feel they are above the law and that they can insult fellow citizens to the bargain? Enough of that crap. The law should take its course within the confines of the Constitution.

The Buhari government should declare a state of Emergency on Education. The reason our youths are easily brainwashed is because of the preponderance of ignorance and poverty in our country. The comments spewing out of some people are just too jejune and disgraceful at this time and age. Educational pre-requisites should be brought to par in all States. Never again should we breed sub-standard students under the guise of educationally disadvantaged zones. Education is education and those who cannot meet the requirements should stay longer in classes to catch up on their studies. I wrote my WAEC exams thrice in 1976, 1977 and 1978 before I made my credits. No one should be admitted into a university if they can’t meet the cut-off marks. We’ve damaged our education almost irreparably by condoning mediocrity in the past. Our myopic and sectional leaders obviously did not know they were sowing seeds of backwardness (or did so deliberately to clone a nation of morons) and the result is the bountiful harvest of mass illiteracy and dangerous brigandage we have in our hands today.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!


https://etimes.com.ng/exactly-restructuring-dele-momodu/

Misterdhee1:
This is why your biafra will forever remain a wiild goose chase, that would only be actualized on online platforms. A renowned Doctoral degree holder of international repute, wrote a well-detailed piece, and all you could come up with as a reply is this balderdash up there. I bet if he had criticized Buhari, your arch-enemy, like FFK and Fayose do, you would have tagged him a hero, se?

Even though i support restructuring the country to solve our diversity complexities, there is still a need to hear out the cons and pros, and clearly define what form the restructuring would come. Ranting, insulting or calling names will get you neither Biafra nor Restructuring. The sooner you accept this, the better.

Preach it, bro'... pre-ea-ach! What you said here is 100% true. Even though I do not agree with Dele Momodu a lot of times, but his article is spot on! It is articulate, well analysed and well supported by facts! The pro-Biafra groups will not heed the advice he has given, because they believe they know it all. Leave them. I have said it before, if their proposed republic does not get truncated by the myopic views of its proponents, its' growth would be stunted by their inability to tolerate dissent and opposing views.

Ehiscotch:
I quite agree with Dele on the basis that many who are clamouring for restructuring really have no idea what it is about and it really is not and end to marginalization.
Neither is CONFAB report for the creation of extra states. We have failed to realise that unless we are able to change our mindset and see leadership as it is without being sentimental we shall always continue to complain of marginalization.
Restructuring is the way to go but it wouldn't end marginalization.

YOU ARE RIGHT RESTRUCTURING IS THE WAY,IBB TALKED ABOUT THE POLICE,OUR RESOURCES,TAXES,LICENSE ETC SHOULD BE RESTRUCTURED

Maduawuchukwu:
The restructuring people are canvassing for is totally about the devolution of powers both politically and economically; if you give a person more funds you will also give him more duties. This clamour is based on the belief that the FG has been unable to utilize and exploit the powers that it bestowed on itself (like the control of solid minerals, ports,electricity etc) due to many factors and that this failure has resulted in the economic failure of Nigeria and the rise of restiveness. For Nigeria to fully utilize her potentials, we need to give the states some of these duties and powers with the tested belief that they will perfom better due to their trimmed nature, closeness to the people and high level of homogeinity.
To test this thesis we should consider the perfomance of the FG and the states in areas of shared responsibility such as roads. While the FG is finding it difficult to perfom common maintenance of FG roads like the Apapa port road, Lagos state and other states are building new roads which promote their economic growth. We can also see this in the security sector where the FG which maintains maximum control of security has all but ceded some security duties to the state in areas such as the provision of logistical equipments like Vehicles and the states have perfomed excellently in this regard. We no more see the rickety vehicles police used to use on our roads again in the period when the FG was the only body providing vehicles.
I can go on and on, but all indices point to the fact that the Nigerian economy would be better exploited under greater state control.

May you live long! I feel like dashing you 1,000 likes for this post! But those states need to be governed by people of vision, purpose, accountability and intelligence, with a passion for performance.

We can see what Fashola and his successor Ambode did in Lagos, as well as what Donald Duke former Governor of Cross River and Godswill Akpabio former Governor of Akwa Ibom, did for their respective states. If visionless, corrupt, clueless individuals are left at the helm of affairs in the states, then all the devolution of powers both politically and economically, would be wasted!!

AmuDimpka:
•.

Fellow Nigerians, let me say categorically that I’ve never seen a country where the citizens like to argue over every miniscule issue like Nigeria. We are a country of absolutism. Every now and then we just enjoy coming up with highfalutin theories out of the blues and everyone begins to recycle and regurgitate the mantra. Once upon a time, TRUE FEDERALISM was the swansong. Half, if not most, of those shouting the phrase had little or no idea of what it meant. It seems we just love to hear the cacophony of our own voices and prefer to join whatever is in season or in vogue.

I vividly recollect how a SOVEREIGN NATIONAL CONFERENCE became the only panacea for a united Nigeria after the satanic annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election. If you asked the exponents of that discordant idea how to activate and actualise such event, they always drew a blank. For example, who would represent each zone? How would the representatives be selected to the general acceptance and acclaim of the people? How binding would the deliberations and conclusions be on the generality of Nigerians? Would the outcome replace our Constitution? If the Conference goes ahead and by whatever stroke of luck or miracle Nigerians for once agree that the present Presidential system is bunkum and we need to return to Regionalism and Parliamentary system, how would the current beneficiaries like Governors, Ministers, Commissioners, Senators, House of Reps members, Local Government Chairmen, Councillors and a long retinue of political jobbers, agree to effect this unpleasant decision that would render them impotent and ultimately sack most of them? Answers: BLANK!

The latest craze in Nigeria now is RESTRUCTURING. Everywhere you turn, someone must tell you Nigeria needs to restructure fast. Everyone, including those who have controlled power the longest, is crying and lamenting, like the Biblical Jeremiah, that they’ve been MARGINALISED. You begin to wonder what is wrong with us. The renewed agitation for BIAFRA is borne out of that supposed persecution complex of the Igbo people by, as always theoretically, the Hausa/Fulani oligarchy. Surprisingly, geography is not a popular subject in Nigeria. Many of those tribal jingoists often lump the whole of Northern Nigeria together as a monolithic entity. They studiously forget that the North has its own majority/minority brouhaha. Indeed, there is not one Igbo nation as the agitators may want us to believe.

The arguments of those seeking justice by fire by force thus falls flat on closer examination because there is no one North or one South, or one Igbo, One Yoruba, one Hausa. New and uglier problems would instantly emerge as soon as we break Nigeria up into pieces. I’m reasonably assured that fresh complaints of marginalisation would resume. In the State of Osun, where I spent half of my present age, the people of Ile-Ife are already grumbling aloud that no Ife son or daughter has ever been a Governor even though Ile-Ife is the ancestral home of the Yoruba race. And that is the tale and litany of woes everywhere. Whatever we see happening now is nothing short of marriage of convenience.

Let’s get down to brass tacks and tackle the matter of restructuring. The word itself suggests that there is something faulty about the present structure and configuration of Nigeria. That has never been in doubt. However, the problem in my view is largely political and less economic in nature. Those who have controlled Nigeria politically in the last 57 years have shown no capacity to exploit their humongous power to the overall benefit of their people. All they’ve succeeded in doing is empower a few of their cronies who become demigods during their reign. Most end up frittering the loot they make away with like prodigal sons and soon return to irrelevance and infamy.

I’ve asked many of those saying they feel cheated in Nigeria to explain what they mean and I’ve concluded from their answers that it is more of politics than anything else. None could answer me when I asked why a strong and highly educated Dr Alex Ekwueme could not do much as Vice President under President Shehu Shagari from 1979 to 1983? I asked a similar question of why at least five Igbos were Senate Presidents, one Deputy Senate President, one Deputy Speaker and none has been able to seek and cede more power to the Igbo people in the last 18 years? If the Igbos argue that they want the Presidency as a matter of legitimate right, then the answer is they must keep working like others. The example of Chief Moshood Abiola has demonstrated clearly that for anyone to win the race, he must build consensus everywhere. He showed that it is a game of mathematical numbers and it is never a gift to anyone. Out of the old six regions in Nigeria, a Presidential candidate must lock down about four to realise his dream. The point is that you should never become Nigeria’s leader simply by virtue of where you come from but by what you have to offer in nation building. Rotation and zoning are largely responsible for proliferation of poor and preposterous leadership in Nigeria.

Let’s highlight some permutations. Had the Igbos worked well with the South West and the North Central, it might have been easier for an Igbo Presidency to materialise. Just imagine if they could lock down the entire South where majority are Christians and the Southern Muslims even marry Christians, the next job would be to align with the so-called minorities scattered across the Northern belts. I’m certain many of our youths are unaware that Chief Obafemi Awolowo once performed such experiment when he chose an Igbo man, Phillip Umeadi, as his running mate. He would probably have succeeded if he had secured massive votes from the South East and South South. All he would have needed was to poach from mostly North East and North Central. Alas, the audacious experiment failed woefully. Since then no Southern candidate of note has ever dared to pick a running mate from the South.

There is an enduring lesson to learn from the people of South West Nigeria. In 1981, Chief Moshood Abiola was frustrated out of a political party in which he invested so much time, energy and resources, the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). He went back home quietly to lick his wounds. He had enough cash to try and destabilise the polity at the time but he opted to up his philanthropic work. He reached out to every nook and cranny of Nigeria helping the needy, contributing to schools, churches, mosques, creating jobs, investing in agriculture, sports and so on. From being one of the most hated Nigerians, he became one of the most loved. It was only a matter of time before his chickens came home to roost. By the time he launched his Presidential bid in 1993, even his most vociferous critics knew he was unstoppable. Chief Abiola won the election, but lost the mandate freely given to him by every part of Nigeria. The Nigerian Mafia, connived and conspired to rob him of his hard-fought victory. Every effort to regain his mandate was rebuffed and frustrated. The strategy was simple and effective. Reduce Abiola’s victory to a Yoruba affair, repeat all kinds of lies till they become believable, and a pan-Nigerian mandate was burnt into ashes. Abiola was abandoned and left in the lurch. Still the Yoruba people did not seek revenge or retaliation. They fought and without firing a shot extracted a form of justice as payback. The destroyers of June 12 could not believe the resilience of the people. In frustration and desperation, they sought and found a perfect ally to dump the stolen mandate on since they didn’t want Abiola by all means. General Olusegun Obasanjo served this purpose and it was a coronation of sorts when he reincarnated as civilian President.

It is important to note that the people of the South West were not over-excited about the re-emergence of Obasanjo. As a matter of fact, they became his most ardent opponents. In anger, Obasanjo turned his war against Yoruba leaders like Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Lagos State was deprived of its statutory allocations, even after the Supreme Court ruled in its favour. Interestingly, the current Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, was the Lagos State Attorney General that fought spiritedly against the Federal Government at the time. The lesson I wish to draw from this is that, sometimes, it is better, and safer, to fight a battle of wits than a duel of brawn. The use of force can never guarantee a meaningful victorious end.

Another example is Dr Goodluck Jonathan’s emergence as President of Nigeria. When President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua’s cabal was going to stop him from acting as President in the face of obvious incapacitation of the President, some Yoruba leaders, including Professor Wole Soyinka, Lt. General Alani Akinrinade, Bola Tinubu, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Femi Falana, mobilised other Nigerians to fight for the Nigerian Constitution to be respected. Afterwards, it would have been tougher for Jonathan to defeat Muhammadu Buhari in 2011 but for the superlative support he got from the South West.

The same Yoruba people may have felt marginalised under Jonathan but only retaliated with their votes in 2015. This principle should be borrowed and adopted by other tribes of Nigeria. Your greatest weapon is your vote and not how many guns you can acquire and fire. The calculated support for Buhari paid up handsomely when Osinbajo became the Vice President of Nigeria. Osinbajo is Acting President today because of the principle laid and nurtured by the Yoruba in 2010 when they supported an Ijawman as Acting President. It has become almost impossible for anyone to go against our Constitution. The Igbos enjoyed no special infrastructure privileges under Jonathan but had a quasi-Prime Minister in Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. They threw their full weight behind him in 2015. Unfortunately, Jonathan was sacked from power.

Let’s now fast forward. Nigeria is in big trouble. Suddenly, everyone is talking blah blah blah and crying wolf where there is none. The virulent, violent agitators will not consider dialogue or compromise. They are fixated about breaking away from Nigeria. All well and good. The liberals feel that is not the way to go. They want Nigeria restructured fast and now. I support the latter and I have two fundamental suggestions to make.

The Presidential system we miscopied from America has become too convoluted and expensive. Nigeria can no longer sustain 36 States plus Abuja and the attendant political operatives. Any call for the creation of more States is therefore reckless and irresponsible. I know it is impracticable to collapse some of the existing States and return to the six Regions or 12 states but this must be considered. The resources of Nigeria are being carelessly wasted on less than five percent of the population. If we truly love ourselves, we must bury our foolish pride and do the needful.
The principle of federal character was adopted to give every part of Nigeria a sense of belonging. The born to rule mentality of some people must be discouraged and curtailed immediately. Such puerile and nauseating statements credited to some Arewa youths that they donated power to Abiola, and later to Obasanjo, should be totally disregarded, dismissed and kept where it rightly belongs, the dustbin.

Democracy is a game of numbers and whosoever can mobilise enough Nigerians is the leader. The principle of rotation is unconstitutional. It is left to the political parties to accept or not. Any Nigerian is free to contest his popularity at the polls and should never be threatened into abandoning his dreams. That is why Nigeria is not a one-party state. Anyone who threatens the peace of Nigeria should be sanctioned and disciplined. A powerful Sultan Dasuki was dethroned and banished from Sokoto for whatever reasons. His son, Sambo, a once powerful National Security Adviser, has since been in indefinite detention, under whatever guise. A popular Shiite leader has been incarcerated without trial all this while. Why should some pseudo-cultural leaders feel they are above the law and that they can insult fellow citizens to the bargain? Enough of that crap. The law should take its course within the confines of the Constitution.

The Buhari government should declare a state of Emergency on Education. The reason our youths are easily brainwashed is because of the preponderance of ignorance and poverty in our country. The comments spewing out of some people are just too jejune and disgraceful at this time and age. Educational pre-requisites should be brought to par in all States. Never again should we breed sub-standard students under the guise of educationally disadvantaged zones. Education is education and those who cannot meet the requirements should stay longer in classes to catch up on their studies. I wrote my WAEC exams thrice in 1976, 1977 and 1978 before I made my credits. No one should be admitted into a university if they can’t meet the cut-off marks. We’ve damaged our education almost irreparably by condoning mediocrity in the past. Our myopic and sectional leaders obviously did not know they were sowing seeds of backwardness (or did so deliberately to clone a nation of morons) and the result is the bountiful harvest of mass illiteracy and dangerous brigandage we have in our hands today.

God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!!!


https://etimes.com.ng/exactly-restructuring-dele-momodu/

You started off very well and for a moment I almost thought you were not a Nigerian until you started writing about Yari.ba marginalization and 2015 election retaliation. I have never heard Ndigbo, in a group of any form, talk about true federalism or false federalism. However, the issue of Biafra to Ndigbo and people of defunct eastern region of Nigeria has absolute nothing to do with election but philosophical. The movement for actualization Biafra started when Obasanjo was the president of the cesspit called Nigeria. Biafra was once a country to Ndigbo and people of defunct eastern region of Nigeria. It is absolute fact that colonial masters never sought the consensus of ethnic nationalities when they foolishly amalgamated northern and southern protectorates to form Niger-Area. There is no doubt people of Nigeria are capable of taking decisions for themselves. It now or never for the people of Niger-Area to make inveterate decision either to remain in the pretense called Nigeria or vacate the unholy union by the colonialists. Please forget Biafra for now, the referendum should be on who wants to stay in Nigeria or elope. This is time to come clean.

JustCalMeDBoss:
I am a full blooded Yoruba from ogun but there are so so many things to restructure. The national character where everything favors the north. The federal employment. In fact 80% of nigeria's intelligence is from the north. The uneven budget expenditure were over 67% of capital project goes to the Haus/Fulani. Once the Niger Deltan's collect their derivation the east has nothing tangible to hold on too. Those who think of nigeria need to wake becos reality beckons.

What of your home State and Local Government what have they done for you or don't they need your so called restructuring?They say charity begins at home. Don't you think It is a bit hard for the FG to notice you from Abuja in the midst of a 180 million people.

simplycarro:
Ask the ipob, with their chest beating and brawny posture, what have they achieved in Nigeria
Absolutely zilch
But they come to NL and make noise like headless chickens

One minute, they are the smartest people in Nigeria, they are the richest in Nigeria, they are the most educated, they own everything in Nigeria and they are more superior than the next Nigeria, but at the end of the day, they shout and cry to every listener that they are marginilized.

The question now is, if you are really better and well off that the rest of the country, how is that marginalization? The rest of Nigeria you are better than should be the ones shouting marginalization right?

The fact is, you have no time left to better yourself or gain anything after spending all your time hating all over the place, after spewing bitterness all over the place and after abusing and insulting other people.

Their problem is not only with Nigeria, they are just a bunch of annoying people that annoy other people everywhere they go.

They are all comedians, unintelligent lazy dolts, and empty barrels.

PreyingMantis:
That point of view remains. The Nigerian constitution doesn't provide for restructuring or whatever other name you might choose to call it. By the way, Nigeria is a criminal enterprise that must be dismantled if the present component units must make progress.

yes Nigeria is a criminal state, a bastard state but i insist we can drive this state forward using the constitution. You read alot conservative scholarship which is quick to dismiss suggestions and viewpoint without providing alternative framework which could invalidate the existing framework.
pls do a concepualization, then contextualize it using the nigerian state

@deomelo & simplycarro,
Guys, please can all references to those chaps across the Niger, and their kindred before the bridge be halted? One thread has just been unlocked, and it would be safer to focus on its objectives for now. I know why I am saying this. Don't allow those chaps to derail this thread too, and kindly ignore their responses or use the report button. Thanks.

Dedetwo:
You started off very well and for a moment I almost thought you were not a Nigerian until you started writing about Yari.ba marginalization and 2015 election retaliation. I have never heard Ndigbo, in a group of any form, talk about true federalism or false federalism. However, the issue of Biafra to Ndigbo and people of defunct eastern region of Nigeria has absolute nothing to do with election but philosophical. The movement for actualization Biafra started when Obasanjo was the president of the cesspit called Nigeria. Biafra was once a country to Ndigbo and people of defunct eastern region of Nigeria. It is absolute fact that colonial masters never sought the consensus of ethnic nationalities when they foolishly amalgamated northern and southern protectorates to form Niger-Area. There is no doubt people of Nigeria are capable of taking decisions for themselves. It now or never for the people of Niger-Area to make inveterate decision either to remain in the pretense called Nigeria or vacate the unholy union by the colonialists. Please forget Biafra for now, the referendum should be on who wants to stay in Nigeria or elope. This is time to come clean.

Stop blaming Lugard for sins, quest for power and political naivety of your forefathers because they created Nigeria and the same mess you don't want today.


Almagamation had nothing to do with independence, independence was when we all had the opportunity to go our separate ways or at least agree on writing and constitution to allow separation at will by the North, South, East or West.

1. Your forefather ZIK wanted One Nigeria against sensible to advise not to form Nigeria under that condition, but ZIK because of power and greed teamed up with the Hausa North to form Nigeria and all he gained in return was a powerless President position while the North kept the powerful prime minister position.


2. We had regionalism and some manner of separation when all the regions ran their affairs individually with a very less powerful federal center which worked for everybody, but guess what, another forefather of yours called Ironsi abolished regionalism with DECREE 34.



Your forefathers created Nigeria and did everything in their power to make sure Nigeria stay as one, they are the real Unity beggars, they created the same Nigeria and unity you no sense of history ipobs don't want today.


Pick up your histoty book for proper understanding and why it's very necessary for you to reap the seeds sown by your forefathers.

tk4rd:
I was expecting a reply though.. And I was not disappointed

of cos... you watching the final?

LegendaryArnold:
of cos... you watching the final?

..

Momodu expect me to read all his totology gramma about. Story for d gods.

*PMB is not the problem of Nigeria*

Please read this post by VOA (Victor Okechukwu Anyaegbuna)
I repeat, PMB is not the problem of Nigeria. Take it or leave it.
So
WHO ARE THE KLEPTOCRATS?
Read this intriguing and provocative piece; yet Nigerians refuse to be provoked instead holding one man, Buhari, responsible for all their woes!
How far can you push a Nigerian before he reacts like an angry lion?
Isn't it a ridiculous mockery and insult that Nigerians are the only world citizens that when pushed to the wall, spend more energy to break the wall and cross over rather than fight back?
Read this and let's know who our real enemies and shameless oppressors are - GOVERNORS, EX-GOVERNORS, SENATORS, REPS. Can't we do something to get rid of these big thieves that use our power against us?
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!
NIGERIANS WAKE UP!
A lion never shies away from a fight when it is hungry, neither does it blame the buffalo for resisting or refusing to be eaten.
How come our forefathers dared death and everything to give us a sane society?
Shaaaaaame!!!
Please endeavour to read this very interesting piece!

STATE OF THE NATION
A SELF DECEIVING COUNTRY CALLED NIGERIA

Twenty-one senators currently receiving pensions from government as ex-governors and deputy governors.

The current senators who once served as governors are Bukola Saraki of Kwara, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso of Kano, Kabiru Gaya of Kano, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, Theodore Orji of Abia, Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa, Sam Egwu of Ebonyi, Shaaba Lafiagi of Kwara, Joshua Dariye of Plateau Jonah Jang of Plateau, Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko of Sokoto, Ahmed Sani Yarima of Zamfara, Danjuma Goje of Gombe, Bukar Abba Ibrahim of Yobe, Adamu Aliero of Kebbi, George Akume of Benue and Isiaka Adeleke of Osun.

The former deputy governors in the Senate are Ms Biodun Olujimi of Ekiti and Enyinaya Harcourt Abaribe of Abia. Danladi Abubakar Sani served as the acting governor of Taraba state.

Many former governors are also in Buhari's Cabinet as Ministers. This includes: Ngige, Fayemi, Amaechi and Fashola (SAN).).

In Akwa Ibom State, the law provides that ex governors and deputy governors receive pension equivalent to the salaries of the incumbent. The package also includes a new official car and a utility vehicle every four years; one personal aide; a cook, chauffeurs and security guards for the governor at a sum not exceeding N5 million per month and N2.5 million for his deputy governor.

In Rivers, the law provides 100 percent of annual basic salaries for the ex-governor and deputy, one residential house for the former governor “anywhere of his choice in Nigeria”; one residential house anywhere in Rivers for the deputy, three cars for the ex-governor every four years and two cars for the deputy every four years.

It is alledged that in Lagos, a former governor will get two houses, one in Lagos and another in Abuja, estimated at N500 million in Lagos and N700 million in Abuja. He also receives six new cars to be replaced every three years; a furniture allowance of 300 percent of annual salary to be paid every two years, and a N30 million pension annually for life.

This is the reality for all the 21 ex govenors and deputy governors who are currently serving as senators. This same is also true of ex governors who are now serving as Ministers.

NOW I ASK:
How many years did these guys serve their states as governors and deputy governors? Is it more than 8years? Is that a reason to be entitled to pensions for life? Even if they are entitled to pension for life, must it be so outrageous?

As if that is not enough: HOW on earth can any public servant with conscience collect salaries and allowances as a senator or minister, and still have the audacity to claim pensions equivalent to the salaries of a serving governor in Nigeria?

IT ISN'T ROCKET SCIENCE......

Once you are elected a senator or appointed a minister, you must forfeit any pension accruing to you from government at any level until you vacate office. This should also apply to senators collecting military pensions like former Senate President David Mark.

Yet these senators are in the Senate that is inviting the current finance minister to discuss the recession of Nigeria's economy. A senator pockets approximately 30 million naira monthly as salary and allowances. Our "honourables" are not interested to make laws that could restructure our country into economically autonomous federating States/Regions to save the country from sectional agitations that is threatening to destroy Nigeria. The sad and hopeless situation is that the rest of Nigerians are busy arguing based on party, ethnic and affiliations while these enemies of state continue to rape us.

Do you know that it costs tax payers 290m Naira yearly to maintain each member of our National Assembly in a country where nothing works & 80% of population earn below 300 Naira a day ? A working day earning of a senator is more than a yearly income of a doctor; it's more than the salary of 42 Army generals or 48 professors or 70 commissioners of police or more than twice the pay of the US President or 9 times the salary of US congressmen.

It's high time the country had a referendum on those outrageous salaries of Senators, House of Representative members and other political office holders.

*If you are seriously against the looting of our commonwealth in Nigeria, in the name of democracy, you can let this piece go viral by sharing it with as many of your contacts and groups too!*

Dele momodu has only succeeded by this write up in outlining the very needs for restructuring,true federalism, resource control, revenue sharing formula adjustments,rotational political leadership etc are all sub elements of restructuring which becomes necessary as a result of wide spread dissatisfaction within the polity,the osun example clearly justify y restructuring should not even be restricted to plural society, I'm even tempted to ask is this write up for or against restructuring, if its against then it means dele momodu n his likes are living in a different world from most of us,but if it's for,then let him truly stand up to be counted.with all these skepticism n indifference ometimes it even appear that only a successful military coup by true patriotic nationalist armed with the official fiat can solve the restructuring question, but that is just a long shot in the dark.

he same Yoruba people may have felt marginalised under Jonathan but only retaliated with their votes in 2015. This principle should be borrowed and adopted by other tribes of Nigeria. Your greatest weapon is your vote and not how many guns you can acquire and fire. The calculated support for Buhari paid up handsomely when Osinbajo became the Vice President of Nigeria. Osinbajo is Acting President today because of the principle laid and nurtured by the Yoruba in 2010 when they supported an Ijawman as Acting President. It has become almost impossible for anyone to go against our Constitution. The Igbos enjoyed nospecial infrastructure privileges under Jonathan but had a quasi-Prime Minister in Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. They threw their full weight behind him in 2015. Unfortunately, Jonathan was sacked from power.

Most of your hailing this man..how did u comprehend this paragraph... Without any convictions... All I see is tribal bigotry all over the piece....

U mean we all should start fighting who becomes the president when we know the outcome of their performance...

How did obasanjo and osibanjo benefit Yoruba's and tinubu who orchestrated the later...

Most of our leaders like Dele Mmodu talk like babies and eXpect thier subject to act matured... To the hailing hailers this guy is not different from Nnamdi KANU who preach tribal supremacy or better than Buhari who made the 97% comment ...