The Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, has revealed that the current national arrangement is unworkable while hinting at restructuring as the panacea to the challenges bedeviling the country.
Aregbesola made this call on Friday, March 26, in Ibadan, after his investiture as the grand patron of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, South-West zone.
The minister stated that the current structure needed to be adjusted to enable its constituent parts have access to more resources for development.
Aregbesola said, “The argument that the current political configuration holds down the country may be admissible to a large extent and we need to adjust our structure, both politically and economically.
“Nigeria needs to ensure maximum exploration and use of the resources by the constituent parts of the Federation with a view to encouraging healthy competition and broadening the space for mass participation in wealth creation.
Nigerians need to create a Nigeria where individuals can find fulfillment in life, even as they tread the narrow path of honesty, hard work, and sincerity.
“They need to create a nation where justice reigns and no man is oppressed, where merit can elevate to the top and the content of a man’s or woman’s character is enough to guarantee of enjoying the benefits of a prosperous federal society.”
The minister said secession was not the solution to the current challenges facing the country, adding that war would also not solve the problem but rather compound the woes.
He added, “Besides, those who take the precipitate action of resorting to armed conflict often plunge their land and people to ruin from which there may not be an exit option. Nations are often locked in civil wars of mutually assured destruction in which, peradventure one side wins, the victory will turn to ashes because the cost of victory is the loss of everything that was fought for.”
