Former Minister of Information, Edwin Clark has said that Nigeria must be restructured for the economy of the nation to grow and develop.
According to him, a situation where states continue to come to Abuja monthly to collect money was very bad.
Clark, who addressed the press in Abuja on Wednesday, also insisted that recent appointments in NNPC and its subsidiaries which tend to favor the northern part of the country must be reversed for justice to prevail
He argued that a situation where the North corners 36 positions out of 55 as against 19 for the entire South is not acceptable.
He therefore urged President Muhammadu Buhari to correct the lopsided in the appointments.
He berated NNPC for deceiving the people in its refutal of the allegation of lopsidedness in appointments.
Clark said: “When we restructure this country, you look at what you produce in your area. What is going on today is very very bad. It is not good enough, where people leave their states to Abuja to collect money without knowing where that money comes from. They don’t want to look back.
”In our last constitutional conference, we said that five per cent of our fund should be devoted to exploring other mineral resources.
“Tell me one state in this country that can pay the salaries of their staff. Is it not a shame? Is that a country? where states go to beg for money and at the end, he who pays the piper, dictates the tunes. So you are making the Federal Government more powerful. That is why devolution of powers is very very necessary.
“But let us have a restructuring of this country. So that I know what is been produced in my area, you know what is been produced in your area so therefore if your state is not viable continuously dissolve it, join other people. We cannot continue like this. Work for twelve months, working and have no pay. Nobody will take it that is not a country, we are not running.
“When people are talking about restructuring they know what they are talking about. We must restructure this country. And I am happy that everybody is now talking about restructuring. We are not talking restructuring to make some people our enemies or their enemies. Restructuring has been going on since 1945 in this country.
“From Richard constitution to Macpherson constitution to Littleton constitution to independence even during the military, Constituent assemblies were held all for restructuring. Let them create a better Nigeria for all of us, for our children in particular.”
