Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal has said that the 19 northern states are not afraid of the ongoing national discourse on the restructuring of the country.
Tambuwal who is also a fomer Speaker of the House if Representatives, spoke on Monday in Jos, the Plateau State capital at the annual Law Week and memorial lecture by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Jos Branch for the late Justice Dauda Azaki, who died 20 years ago.
The theme of the 2017 Law Week of the association was: “Restructuring: A Panacea for Nigeria’s Development and Cohesion.” Tambuwal said, “I can confidently say here that we in the northern part of Nigeria are not afraid of restructuring.”
The governor said contrary to insinuations that northern Nigerians were opposed to restructuring of Nigeria, saying that those saying so were merely raising a false alarm. He also stressed that northerners were not afraid of the economic implications of restructuring, stating that most states in the north have enough mineral deposits to be selfsustaining.
According to him, Nigerians from all parts of the country desire true federalism. Speaking in the same vein, Bauchi State Governor Mohammed Abubakar, said restructuring is a welcome development as long as the proposed restructuring will not ignite rancour in the country.
Abubakar urged that Nigerians to be properly educated on the issue to allay fears among some of them. In his own comment, Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong also called for cautions on the issue. According to Lalong, agitation for restructuring almost caused the country another round of unrest.
He said, “A misunderstanding of the concept of restructuring among the younger generation has also undoubtedly given rise in some quarters to the provocative and inciting calls for seccession and the dissolution of the Nigerian state.” Governor Lalong said while he supported the policy of restructuring, he however lamented that some of the agitations for restructuring had veered into hate speeches.
Returning to the topic of Monday’s event,Tambuwal admonished Nigerian judges and lawyers to adjudicate speedily on cases to avoid prolonging stay of persons awaiting trial in prisons Earlier, chairman of the Jos branch of the NBA, Ralph Monye, criticised the prosecution of some judges in Abuja for alleged corrupt practices.
He said, “I had strongly condemned that despicable act and in solidarity with their Lordships, I had predicted that the Judiciary, which seemed at that time to be under intense fire would surely come out unscathed.
The dust has since settled and mist of the judges have since resumed in their places of primary assignments.” Monye said practitioners of other professions were not being questioned for doing wrong, and call for the prosecution of some security operatives for inhuman treatment of citizens. He said that the DSS (Department of Security Service) remains one of the security outfits in Nigeria with no one calling for its disbandment.
