Former
Vice-President Atiku Abubakar says despite fighting a civil war the Igbo have
been able to rebuild their region, but that the north still has mud houses.
He
spoke on the background of the need for Nigeria to be restructured.
Addressing
a coalition of youth groups under the aegis of Play Forum in Abuja, Abubakar
said those afraid of restructuring were lazy.
He
said every region in the country should be allowed to control its resources.
“Left
for me, I will ask every part of this country to take charge of its resources
while the federal government should handle defence, foreign affairs and
immigration among others in the exclusive list,” he said.
“It
should not be complicated to start with all the recurrent items in the
constitution. The president can dialogue with the governors or the national
assembly for states to take charge of the roads, hospitals, schools and such
other items in the concurrent List while the federal government will continue
with items on the exclusive list.
“I
would not have gone to school if I were born today. My parents were so poor
they couldn’t afford to send me to school. I was born during the era education
was free, food was free for me, I was sponsored from primary school to the
university. There was even a job waiting for me before I graduated. Yet, there
was no oil boom then. I am certainly not a product of oil boom Nigeria.
“So,
I don’t know what those who are against restructuring are afraid of. Those
afraid must be lazy. We fought the civil war with the Igbo. Today, the Igbo
have been completely rebuilt, but we still find mud houses in the north. Is it
the fault of the easterners that the north is like that?
“I
think that what is most important is the devolution of powers and resources
with the various governments whether states or regions. How do the people hold
those in power accountable for the resources handed over to them?”
Source: www.thecable.ng
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