Sunny Onuesoke, a former Delta State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, gubernatorial aspirant, says Nigeria can be restructured without going to war.
Speaking to journalists in Kano on Saturday, July 23, 2016, Onuesoke pointed out that Nigeria has metamorphosed to a state where it could be restructured without shedding a drop of blood, adding that Nigeria got independence from the British government without fighting despite that those from some part of the country were opposed to independence struggle.
“If could get our independence from our colonialists without going to war, I wonder why we cannot restructure our system to reflect true federalism without shedding blood”, he stated.
The former governorship contender, who pointed that Nigeria has been restructured so many times without fighting, although not the right type of restructuring, recalled that every time there is a constitutional change, that is restructuring because such constitutional provisions are either giving power and authority to those in government or to the people.
“Since independence, Nigeria has been restructured from four regions that made the regions self- sufficient, to 12 states, to 19 states and now 36 states, including the removal of the federal capital from Lagos to Abuja. In all these restructuring, no war was fought,” he recalled.
The PDP chieftain maintained that Nigerians must renegotiate their union in order to make it stronger, arguing that greater autonomy, power and resources for states and local authorities would give the federating units greater freedom and flexibility to address local issues, priorities and peculiarities.
The calls for restructuring has been made by several prominent Nigerians after President Muhammadu Buhari alleged that “Nigeria’s unity is non-negotiable.”
