I Prefer Restructuring to Secession – Buhari

 

Calls on FG to resolve Nigeria’s security situation immediately

The Senator representing Oyo North, Fata Buhari has said that what Nigeria needs to resolve its current problems is restructuring, not secession.

The senator shared this with journalists in Ibadan today, saying that secession would only lead to repeated conflict.

In his words: “I don’t believe in secession; restructuring, I believe in it so much. Yoruba Presidency I am 100 percent, I believe in what is called rotational, it’s just fairness. If you say democracy is a game of numbers, I agree, but there is what is called a situation for the right place and where you find yourself. Secession does not bring peace, but war within war”.

The lawmaker also expressed strong support for restructuring and added that the desired version of Nigeria cannot be achieved by resorting to violence. He also opined that the best option would be for Nigerians to embrace restructuring as dialogue is preferable to violence.

He said: “Let me give you an example, I am a Senator; I have 13 local governments. My deputy in our committee has only two local governments from Bayelsa. And you say we should not restructure. He won his election with 2,300 votes and the total votes cast was less than 10,000 votes. How many people will I tell in Nigeria that there are only two people who have more local governments than me out of 109, that is Senator Gaya and Senator Barau. Senator Kabir Gaya from Kano has 16 local governments, Senator Jibrin Barau has 14 local governments and myself 13 local governments,’’ he said.

The lawmaker backed up his argument by citing an example of the Paris others received.

“I am a member of a particular committee that goes through the refund of the Paris Club, Rivers got N45 billion; Bayelsa got N43 billion; Ondo and Osun got N4 billion each. So, there is a need for restructuring. But it is not the way we are going about it; it is not by force. We need to talk to each other. We need to talk to people with facts,’’ he said.

He also called for terrorists and kidnappers to receive capital punishment for the crimes as he believes it’s the only way to put an end to the violent crimes. He further went on to condemn kidnapping for ransom which has now become commonplace in Nigeria and stated that the criminals perpetrating these acts will not stop without serious punishment being attached to their crimes.

He rounded up his statement by calling on the Federal Government to step up efforts to resolve the current security situation in Nigeria.

“I remember when we were in the university in the 80s and they said if you carry drugs, Cocaine, you will be shot. And I remember Beth Nome and Oju-Ologe, the two of them were arrested and they were shot, Nigerians stopped. The moment you know that you are a kidnapper and you know it is capital punishment that would solve it, you will stop”.