Nigeria’s problem beyond restructuring – Olisa Agbakoba

Ace lawyer and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association, Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has stated that the ongoing calls across the nation for the restructuring were politically motivated.

Agbokoba, who was a delegate to the 2014 National Conference, said from all indications, Nigeria does not need restructuring to end the many challenges confronting her.

According to the ex-NBA boss, Nigeria is facing a lot of challenges and the sudden call by politicians for a restructured Nigeria is not for the interest of the nation because they are making such calls for a political end aimed at 2019 and they are already taking their positions.

He told Punch that, “Politicians cannot sit down in one place and discuss solely in their interest to promote something that is fashionable. They have started to bandy around the word ‘restructure.’ Civil societies first used the word ‘restructure’ in 1979. But all through the decades, we have been going downhill.

“Suddenly, it has become fashionable now to talk about restructuring to gain power because, like it or not, Nigeria is completely fractured. You have the possibility of the All Progressives Congress not remaining in power in 2019; you have the Peoples Democratic Party that is almost dead.”

Asked if the call for restructuring can address the nation’s woes, the legal luminary said that Nigeria’s problem is beyond that.

Agbokoba added, “Nigeria’s problem is not about restructuring. Nigeria’s problem can be likened to a marriage that is not working and the husband says to the wife, ‘Let us restructure by living in different rooms or stay together in one room.’ That doesn’t resolve the underlying tension, if the man, for instance, always goes out to act in an unbecoming manner.

“The only way they can ‘restructure’ their marriage is for the couple to sit down and identify the cause of the problem in the marriage. There is only one way we can begin to talk about restructuring or zoning, if that is what we want: How do you know if we want restructuring? How do you know we don’t want to go our separate ways? Because, in 1914, we were forced to live together by the colonialists; in 1960, the colonialists imposed a constitution on us. And then, the military took over, and in 1998, the military imposed on us another constitution.”