‘Nigeria can be restructured without war’

Contrary to the opinions by some Nigerians, a former Delta State Peoples

Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial aspirant, Chief Sunny
Onuesoke, has said that Nigeria can be restructured without necessarily going
to war.
Speaking to journalists in Kano weekend”, Onuesoke pointed out that Nigeria
has developed to a state where it could be restructured without shedding a drop
of blood, saying that Nigeria got her independence from the British government
without fighting despite the fact that people from some part of the country were
opposed to the independence then.
“If we 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 said Nigeria has been restructured so
many times without fighting, said that although it was not the right type of
restructuring, but every time there is a constitutional change,
“That is restructuring because such constitutional provisions are either giving
power or 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 this 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.
It would be recalled that Alhaji Tanko Yakassai last week granted an elaborate
interview to Nigerian pilot, were he declared that Nigeria constitution has no
provision for re-negotiating its unity and entity.