…says ‘South-West agitation for secession baseless’
…wants power shift in 2023
Former Senator Shehu Sani has explained why President Muhammadu Buhari and the ruling All Progressives Congress may not be giving a listening ear to the agitations for the restructuring of the Nigerian nation inspite of the vexed dimension it has assumed.
Sani, a civil rights activist, who represented Kaduna Central in the Eighth National Assembly, said the restructuring agitation is not getting the desired attention from the current All Progressives Congress-led administration because President Buhari himself is not in support of it.
Lately, there have been renewed agitations from various quarters, including political leaders and socio-cultural groups for the restructuring of the country.
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has also warned that the country may collapse without restructuring.
Sani, who spoke in an exclusive interview on ROOTS TV, noted that because Buhari is neither a fan nor a supporter of restructuring, the ruling APC has completely abandoned one of the agenda upon which it campaigned and won elections twice.
He, however, warned that those opposed to the restructuring of the country were knowingly or unknowingly working for the eventual break-up of the Nigerian nation.
He expressed regret that after using restructuring as part of its campaign promises to win both the 2015 and 2019 elections in the country, the ruling All Progressives Congress disappointed Nigerians and party supporters looking up to it to carry out its implementation and make this desire of many Nigerians a reality.
“Any person who doesn’t want restructuring simply wants this country to break up. Restructuring was used to win 2015 elections, restructuring was also used to win 2019 elections by the ruling party. Let us not waste our time, the President is not a fan, is not a supporter of restructuring,” he said.
The former lawmaker also deplored agitations by groups and individuals in the South-West as baseless.
According to him, the South-West lacks any serious reason for threatening secession.
Sani stated that contrary to the belief by many Nigerians, the North too has been marginalised in certain areas.
He, however, advised the government against the use of force to supress secession agitators.
Rather, the former lawmaker said the government could address the matter by ensuring justice, equity and fairness.
Sani said, “People are bound to revolt against injustice in different ways. Some by fighting the government and some by feeling that fighting the government is hopeless and we should break the country.
“The South-West agitation is baseless, as far as I’m concerned. The South-West has no serious reason for threatening secession. In order to address the problems of secession, you just don’t use force. You use justice, you use equity and you use fairness. The North too is marginalised in a number of fields. Ninety-nine per cent of Nigerians banks are owned by people from the South. The oil companies, the chunk of it is owned by people from Southern Nigeria.”
The former lawmaker also expressed regret that the worsening insecurity in the country has continued to ravage the North.
He noted that the large scale killings and carnage in Zamfara State by the bandits had reached an alarming stage as it had dwarfed the statistics from the other parts of the country, especially the South-West and South-East put together.
“The insecurity faced by the South-East and the South-West is a fraction of what we face in the Northern part of Nigeria. The killings in Zamfara alone are more than the killings in the whole of the Southern part of Nigeria. The bandits are motivated by money. They have no political or theocratic or ideological agenda,” Sani said.
The former senator also lambasted the ruling APC over the recent ban on the operations of Twitter in Nigeria, saying, “It’s a shame and disgraceful that the very political class that are in power today used the social media to criticise and oppose the previous administration and today they are turning against it. When people get into power they change. I use Twitter, I use Instagram, I use Facebook and I cannot imagine myself not using those things.
“One day, you’re going to be out of power, those freedoms, those rights will be your only shield when you are out of power.”
On the way forward for the country, Senator Sani powershift to the section of the country that has yet to produce the President in 2023 would go a long way in assuaging the feelings of all Nigerians and give every part a sense of belonging.
“2023 is around the corner. The way forward is to have new leadership in this country and we should also consider those parts of the country that have not been able to produce leadership in this country,” he said.