Restructuring: Yakassai differs with IBB

KNOCKS and kudos came the way of the former military president, General Ibrahim Babangida, over his call on Monday for the restructuring of the country.

Babangida had, in a Sallah message to Nigerians, called for restructuring of the polity, even as he insisted that calls for separation and war should be discountenanced.

But in separate interviews on Tuesday, elder statesmen, including former Minister of Health, Professor A.B.C. Nwosu; Alhaji Tanko Yakassai and former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, differed with IBB on key aspects of restructuring.

While Nwosu said Babangida should be commended for supporting the call, Balarabe Musa and Yakassai asked the former military leader to give further breakdown of his understanding of restructuring.

Yakassai, a former presidential adviser on political matters to ex-President Shehu Shagari, asked Babangida to come up with a blueprint on how the country could be restructured.

He said while he had nothing against the position taken by IBB, there was the need for apostles of restructuring to produce a blueprint on the matter.

“I am old and I don’t think I can be deceived. We are tired of all these slogans. Two years ago, some people came up with a change mantra. Nigerians voted them into government on the strength of the promise. But not only that we have not seen the change, Nigerians are worse off two years after. We cannot fall into similar pit again. We need a blueprint on how the restructuring will be implemented,” Yakassai said.

Professor Nwosu, however, commended the former military president, adding that the entire country stood to benefit.

“I was not surprised that IBB called for restructuring. He means well; he has always meant well. Everybody has now seen the need for restructuring.

“We argued over these options in 1994/1995 Abacha conference and we had a decision. We argued over it at the 2014 national conference which I was a part of and we reached a decision. It is important that we agree now on that decision and stop introducing confusing configurations. We must speak with one language on what constitutes federating units,” he said.

Balarabe Musa, however, insisted that the country needed social, political and economic restructuring, adding that anything to the contrary could not work.

He said Nigeria needed restructuring in a way that would guarantee peace and unity in the country.