By Francis Sadhere
Convener of the South South Reawakening Group, SSRG, Mr Joseph Ambakederimo on Tuesday said the problem the country is facing is caused by lack of good governance and not restructuring as the some people have been claiming.
He said those clamoring for restructuring of the nation were the ones killing the nation, adding that the so called restructuring must start from the conscience of the people.
Ambakederimo who spoke to journalists in Warri during a press briefing tagged “State of the Nation” to commemorate his 56th birthday celebration, said the South South Reawakening Group see nothing wrong with the current structure of the country.
He said that the people must restructure how they do things first before they think of restructuring the country, noting that Nigerians need to inspect how they live their lives, conduct themselves, and manage their affairs.
He said the only restructuring needed in the country was the restructuring of the mindset, adding that those who are making the call for restructuring for political gains or merely playing to the gallery have not come out to tell the people what shape or style the restructuring wss going to take.
He said, “If we do not restructure our minds and our character whatever voyage of restructuring we embark upon nothing will change, therefore good governance is the thing that we need to make Nigeria great.
“For those who are making this call either for political gains or merely playing to the gallery, no one has come out to tell us unequivocally what shape or style the restructuring would take.
“Do we discard the presidential system of government for a ministerial system? Will it be total Balkanization of the country with every state going its way? Or is it going to be regionalism? Does it just apply to the revenue sharing formula with fiscal federalism the main objective? With so much cacophony going on with no clear cut position of what we actually want we seem to be continuing with what the same noise as it were that has always been in our body polity,” he asked.
Ambakederimo stressed that those calling for restructuring of the country need to redirect the energy to identify the cause of all the agitations and the true state of the country before they go ahead to talk about restructuring.
“It is even more troubling and shameful that the media that should shape the discourse has joined in the fray to muddle up the waters. We must redirect this narrative of restructuring that we have been presented with as the only pathway to our Eldorado as a country,” he said.
He described the current cry for restructuring going on in the country as a wishful thinking, adding that soon Nigerians will hear of another lexicon that shall replace the current “restructuring”.
He said, “Again, in the SSRG, we ask, will this restructuring stop the cancerous corruption that has pervaded the entire Nigerian landscape? Is it the restructuring that will bring internal democratic norms into our political parties? Is it restructuring that will stop people burying money in septic tanks, farm lands, in overhead tanks, and in cemeteries?
“Is it restructuring that will stop budget padding….is it restructuring that will stop our teachers from becoming traders and turning classrooms into a marketplace…is restructuring that will stop the legislative arm from appropriating to themselves jumbo emoluments they do not deserve? We can go on and on without end.
Ambakederimo lamented that Nigerians are blessed with all that they needed to survive as a nation but wondered why they have allowed themselves to be engrossed in religious beliefs before they can make the country work.
Ambekederimo said, “Our position is at variance with the clamor for the call to restructure the country. We see nothing wrong with the structure of Nigeria as it is today and in future, the problem with Nigeria is good governance and nothing more. Corruption has made us not to see ourselves as one people. Corruption has made us see ourselves as I am a Moslem you are a Christian, I am a Christian, and you are a Moslem.
“It is only corruption that has somewhat bound us together because when they want to steal and appropriate to themselves our common patrimony there doesn’t seem to be Christian or Muslim dichotomy anymore. Therefore our position is we have to restructure ourselves, our minds first before we talk of restructuring of the country. We have to do an introspection on how we live our lives, how we conduct ourselves, how we manage our affairs, how do we see Nigeria and where we want Nigeria to be. Anything short of that will certainly lead us nowhere no matter how we try.
“It is a truism that our problems are man-made. We have become a nation that relies on luck to make things work for us. We have become a nation that believes that only prayers can make things work for us and bring the much-needed development. Our belief is that God has given us everything we need to power forward in this country, but unfortunately we have all allowed ourselves to be so engrossed in our religious beliefs to make Nigeria work and put food on our table rather than hard work.”
On election violence, Ambakederimo said no sane human being will want to take the life of another human being just because he wants to become politician, adding that “Today we have politicians talking about forming a mega party away from the dominant two parties we have just because of disaffection within the rank and file of the political parties.
“If we may ask who are those going about this mega party? Are they angels from heaven? Are they not the same persons who have held positions one time or the other in the existing parties? Will it not be the same attitude they have displayed in their old parties that they will still bring into the new party. The same old wine in an old skin. So what difference do we expect to get from these persons and the parties they form, he said.
