By Nwafor Sunday,
Former vice president of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has explained in clear terms the meaning of restructuring to enable those who do not understand the word “Restructuring” to understand.
Atiku who spoke on “Restructuring for A United and Progressive Nigeria” in the University of Nigeria Nsukka on 19th July 2017, today went to his tweeter handle to buttress his points.
According to him “I favor restructuring because I am a proudly Nigerian and favour a united Nigeria that offers every man, woman and child a brighter future where each and everyone has a chance to build and share in this great nation’s potential.
“The Restructuring I want to see happen is changing the structure of our country to take power from the elite and give it back to whom it belongs: the people. It will help to bring the benefits of the change that our people were promised in the last general elections.
“The whole purpose of restructuring is to eliminate those policies that feed the mindset that drives the sharing behavior.
“Our national wealth is being drained by a select few instead of building a country for all of us. It has to end.
“We need to return resources and power back to the local level, and from the elite to the people.
“Only by restructuring we can guarantee unity, equity, security for our nation.
“I favor a united Nigeria that offers everyone a brighter future and we have a chance to build and share in this great nation’s potential.
“The restructuring I want to see happen is to bring the benefit of the change that our people were promised in the last general election.
“Let me caution that restructuring is not a magic bullet that would resolve all Nigerians challenges but is a necessary first step.
“Those who seek to dismember the country think that once their dream is achieved their part of the country will become paradise. Not so.
“To me, restructuring means making changes to our current federal structure so it comes closer to the vision of our founding fathers.
“Restructuring the very issues and challenges that led our founding fathers to opt for a less centralized system.
“The issue of restructuring is beyond resource control
“My vision of Restructuring, will not make some States richer and others poorer. Restructuring is a win-win for all Nigerian states.
“If we are to grow our revenues we need to change the way we think of our resources and nurture them for the benefit of all.
“So let us start by not thinking as if our resources consist only of oil. Oil is not infinite.
“The world is not waiting for us to see reason and reengineer our economy. If we do, they will work with us.
“We must begin to look for other and more sustainable sources of income than oil that are also realistic” he finally said.
http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/07/restructuring-is-taking-power-from-the-elite-and-giving-it-back-to-whom-it-belongs-atiku/