A group, Friends of Democracy, has said
Nigeria would come out stronger when the 36 states of the federation are
reduced to 12 during the restructuring processes.
The group wondered why some elements
propagated the notion that the South was for restructuring and the North
against the move, saying the northern part of the country had over the
years done enough to ensure that there was equity in the Nigerian equation.
The group stated this in a memo, which was signed by Alhaji Bashir Othman Tofa,
Amb. Fatimah Balla, Mr Sam Nda Isaiah, Alhaji Sule Yahaya Hamma, and Dr.
Abubakar Siddique Mohammed.
Others included Malam Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim,
Malam Bilya Bala, Prof. Jibrin Ibrahim, Dr. Usman Bugaje, Mr Hubert Shaiyen and
Dr. Kabir Az-Zubair.
According to them, in 1991, a group of
politicians, intellectuals, and technocrats from the region held several
meetings in Kaduna and Kano to design and propose a new federal structure for
Nigeria.
The Friends of Democracy said some members of
the group at the time were Alh. Sule Gaya, Alh. Tanko Yakasai, Chief Sunday
Awoniyi, Dr. Suleiman Kumo, Dr. Ibrahim Datti Ahmed, and Dr. Mahmoud
Tukur.
“They invited Chief Anthony Enahoro to Kano,
held discussions with him and agreed to pursue a ‘Restructuring Agenda’
together, only for the chief to rush to Lagos to hold a unilateral press
conference to launch an agenda for restructuring under the Movement for
National Reformation.”
The group said instead of returning to
tripartite regional system of the First Republic as being canvassed by a
section of the country, a 12-state-option remained the best for Nigeria.
Among other conditions, the group said, “The
states must be economically viable and capable of relying on fiscal resources
they generate themselves; must operate in a democratic manner and are run by
governors that are accountable to the people and legislators that are not
subservient to tin gods.”
Leaders of the group said they would engage
other citizens and groups in a bid to forge a national consensus on what and
how to restructure Nigeria.
Source: DailyTrust
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