Malami, Dickson disagree over restructuring

The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami and Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State on Friday disagreed sharply on the issue of restructuring of the country.

The two public officers spoke at the two-day retreat of the Southern Senators’ Forum, which is holding in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, tagged, ‘National Unity and Restructuring.’

Malami in his speech earlier at the event insisted that the unity of Nigeria was not negotiable, arguing that there were enough constitutional provisions to take care of people’s grievances.

But Dickson differed sharply, saying that while Nigeria’s unity is desirable, it is only attainable when many questions begging for answers are addressed, noting that the nation’s unity is negotiable.

Dickson, who spoke later on the topic, ‘Protecting Ethnic Minorities in Project Nigeria,” challenged opponents of the on-going restructuring debate to work toward an equitable society rather than seeking solace inconstitutional provisions that do not guarantee a fair and sustainable country.

Nigeria’s unity cannot be sustained by constitutional provisions or by mere force,” Dickson said.

The governor cited the example of the Soviet Union, which he described as a country that was very strong militarily but eventually disintegrated into many states because of its internal contradictions.

According to him, Nigeria is facing a similar situation like the former Soviet Union.

He, however, explained that restructuring is not synomous with disintegration or division of Nigeria.

“Restructuring does not mean secession. It is not synomous with a Nigeria that is divided.

“Restructuring simply means a call for constitutional reforms to guarantee a more stable country. In other words, it is a return to true federalism.

“We should not shy away from the issue of restructuring, the more the opinions, the better. That is the reason we need this debate.