Former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olabode George, Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, have once again, echoed the need to restructure the country, stressing that it was the only panacea to the myriad of problems bedeviling the nation.
The leaders in their separate remarks at the 3rd Annual Lecture of the Freedom Online in Lagos, said restructuring has become pertinent to save the country from sliding into anarchy.
Bode George, who was the Keynote Speaker at the annual event expressed concerns that the distrusts among tribes in the country were getting larger by the hour, stressing that the differences in culture and norms should be seen to be the country’s strength.
The former PDP Deputy National Chairman noted that most of the challenges facing the country was because the central government was too powerful with too many responsibilities it could not handle. “For peace to reign in Nigeria, we must restructure. I’m not talking about breaking up anywhere but for the benefit of the younger generation coming to sustain this massive country called Nigeria.”
Speaking on the need for a rotational Presidency, the PDP chieftain said: “Turn by turn Nigeria Limited is the tool for our survival. Once that is entrenched, all these cacophonies of voices will calm down. And we are not the only country practicing that. Switzerland has three major tribes – the French, the Germans, and the Italians. Switzerland never went to the Second World War or First World War. They have no resources but they are the richest.”
In 2023 general elections, the elder statesman said: “We can’t talk about 2023 without first stabilizing the country. If we don’t, how will 2023 look like? And the moment you hear the northern and southern elders crying, then, something is not right. Oga should call a meeting. The leadership must take the lead to calm the nerves of the people.”
He, however, called on the members of the National Assembly to make a law that would make it compulsory for every Nigerian child to learn and be fluent in three major Nigerian languages of Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba before they could graduate from primary school. This he explained would reduce tensions among different ethnic nationalities. “Once the language is there, it opens the door and reduces the tension because you can hear yourselves, you will start appreciating the different cultures.”
Former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel maintained that Nigeria’s problems were not peculiar and would not require rocket science to solve them but only political will from the political officeholders.
Daniel who was the Special Guest of Honour at the annual event commended President Muhammadu Buhari for the land border closure, which he said has yielded the desired outcome. “If we can’t produce locally, if we can’t produce what we eat, we can’t get anywhere. That’s what China, South Korea, and others did and we must do the same.  We should use our population to our advantage.
“The first challenge is to create employment because a hungry man can’t be predicted. The only way forward is to stop the capital flight. Importation leads to capital flight. We must create jobs for our teeming population. It doesn’t matter where the money is coming from. Imagine if we can compel a thousand politicians to start investing in this country, then, we will start solving the problems one by one.”
The former Governor challenged the President to replicate what he did with rice through the closure of the land border in the health sector and save the country over $2b spent annually in medical tourism.
