Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari, has said that the President supports the restructuring of the country but is opposed only to any restructuring that will strike at the core of Nigeria’s unity.
Adesina spoke in Lagos at the Fifth Anniversary Lecture of News Express, a newspaper published by a journalist and brand management consultant, Isaac Umunna, revealing that the devolution of powers, which is in the manifesto of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), was a form of restructuring that the President would consider in due course.
He said the President had sworn to uphold the Constitution, which guarantees a united Nigeria and will not depart from his oath but some proponents of restructuring have turned it into an opposition tool saying no one should “cross the red line” in demanding restructuring.
“The areas of restructuring are yet to be defined. Ask 100 people what is restructuring, and you will get 100 answers. It shows you that there is no unanimity on what restructuring really is,” he said.
“So, how then do you begin to work on restructuring when it has not even been properly defined or explained?
“No wonder the APC set up a committee to go round the country and find out what people understand by restructuring and what they want to see in restructuring. I think that is a very good step.
“And then a lot of people say, ‘o, the president does not believe in restructuring’. Not exactly.
“The APC has a manifesto. Inside it is devolution of powers. What some people want is to see the entire manifesto being implemented in six months. It doesn’t work that way.
“The mandate is for four years. The President had identified three key things: securing the country, fighting corruption and reviving the economy. It’s work in progress.
“And when he gets to a point where he feels, oh yes, we have made strides in these three areas, then he can look at the manifesto and consider what next. Devolution of powers could be the next thing.
“But then, people that are agitating for restructuring – I may be wrong, but my feeling is that they have turned it to another tool of opposition. It comes with a lot of sabre-rattling: ‘Oh, If we don’t restructure, the country will die’. It’s a covert way of opposing the government. That is why I think such people are not doing well.
“If you oppose the government of the day to the extent that you distract it – it’s our country. What should be achieved will then not be achieved at the end of the term.
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“Therefore, people who are sincere about restructuring and who want to see a tweaking of the configuration of our country – nothing wrong with it. But for those who have turned it into sabre-rattling, then something is wrong with it.
“If you read in-between the lines, what people that canvass restructuring say, at the substratum level, is the fact that they want to break the country. So, restructuring that will deepen our unity is good, but the one that will fragment the country is bad.
“No government worth its salt – because the Constitution recognises a united and indivisible country – no President who has sworn to uphold the Constitution will agree with that kind of restructuring that they are trumpeting.
“Restructuring is good. The governing party believes in it, because devolution of powers is a form of restructuring, but restructuring that is turned to trumpeting evil and doomsday for our country is not what any government will stomach.
“I’ve heard the President say it many times that he didn’t fight the civil war to keep Nigeria one and then sit down and watch some people dismember the country. He told a story of how he trekked from somewhere in the Eastern part of the country to Gakem in Ogoja in Cross River State.
“He said: ‘After we did all that, do you think we’ll open our eyes and let some people fragment this country?’ He said it’ll never happen. And I agree with him that it should never happen.”