Nigeria will collapse without restructuring ―Bishop Adeleye

THE Bishop of the Anglican Communion, Calabar Diocese Dr Tunde Adeleye has disclosed that the country will crash if there is no restructuring of the country.

He stated this in Calabar on Tuesday while expressing his feelings on salient issues that is affecting the country in recent time. According to him, the system and manner in which the country is being administered is the major reason why real development has not taken place in the country.

He contended that his desire is that whatever kind of restructuring that will bring this country to what it should be is most welcome able.

“There must be restructuring. I am not prophesying doom neither am I pessimistic but at this rate where the centre is heavily loaded with money and the states and local governments are not having anything to celebrate; the governors go cap in hand to the centre to get money and you hear things like bailout – these things will crash us unless we restructure.

“A system of government which will allow people to take care of certain things for themselves is what will help us.  A situation where Abuja dictates education, health, police and even the water that comes from your ground is not controlled by you is not sustainable”.

The clergy also defended state governments stating that they have not failed because they have not been given the power or the instruments of test.

He also believes that different states have different peculiarities which have to be put in proper context before they (states) are appraised.  “We need to test them on the basis of what they have. What do they have?

“You cannot single out the collections of states but you have to look at other collections over time like the Boko Haram collections. But in any case, you cannot put state governments on trial when you have not given them the power to work”, he submitted.

He also called on the government to revisit the 2014 Conference Report stating that it should be one of the resource documents used for restructuring the country. He decried the tendency whereby a new government discards the policies/programmes of his predecessor stating that this attitude is not healthy for the development of the country.