Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has distanced himself from the clamour for the restructuring of Nigeria by some section of Nigerians.
Recall that Chief Obasanjo’s Vice, Abubakar Atiku had earlier this year called for Nigeria to be restructured in other to cater for the aspirations of its component units.
According to him, such restructuring is the only answer to the current agitation for a Biafra Republic. The ex-vice president who spoke in Abuja, at the unveiling of a book, ‘We are all Biafrans,’ written by a journalist, Chido Onumah, said the rising tide of agitations, some militant and violent, require a reset in our relationships as a united nation.
However, speaking on the sidelines of the African Leadership Forum in Johannesburg, South Africa, Obasanjo faulted the call, saying what Nigeria needs now is not restructuring but rather that of individual mentality.
The former President said Nigerians should restructure their minds before calling for restructuring of the country. Obasanjo said Nigerians’ focus should be on how to include everyone in a nation that is already well endowed.
He said, “We have to restructure our mentality, we have to restructure our minds we have to restructure our understanding of Nigeria, what country we want and if we decide on what country we want, how do we get that country, all hands on deck.
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“How do we get inclusive, how do we get every Nigerian feeling a sense of having a stake in the country.”
In recent times, Atiku’s call has struck a chord with many Nigerians. If anything the call by the former Vice President has re-ignited ceaseless conversations on what some people often euphemistically call the ‘National Question.
Some of the reasons why the call is enjoying media frenzy, National Daily gathered is that the former Vice President does not talk glibly, and that most likely, he must have commissioned several experts to study the issue before taking a position on it.
Another is the fact that Atiku’s voice comes without the sort of suspected regional agenda usually associated with the opponents and proponents of the idea.
While advocates of restructuring from the southern part of the country are often suspected of planning to use it to weaken the North or even dismember the country, the Northern oppositionists are often suspected of opposing restructuring because they want to protect their privileges under the current configuration.