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Atiku canvases 6 geo-political zones to replace Nigeria’s 36 states structure

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Atiku canvases 6 geo-political zones to replace Nigeria's 36 states structure

An All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has called for the adoption of six geo-political zones as federating units in Nigeria in place of the present 36-state structure.

He also said that a nation that wants to get out of a hole it dug for itself, must stop digging.

“There is a saying that if you want to get out of a hole you dug yourself in you first stop digging,” he said, adding that the country must diversify its economy away from the dependence on oil.

The former vice president stated this when he presented a paper entitled, “Building a nation that works: My Diary and Way Forward,” at an event in Lagos State where he received a ‘Hero of Nigeria Democracy Award’, over the weekend.

He said, “We must be open to changing the nature of the federating units, such as using the existing geo-political zones as federating units rather than the current 36 states, of which only a few are financially viable.

“We need to diversify our economy away from the dependence on oil. We need to create opportunities for our people to engage in diverse economic activities which governments will then tax for revenues.

“But we can’t do that efficiently and effectively without accurate data. I have in the past called for an end to the self-defeating politics we play with census in the country.

“With all the data gathering and analytic tools in existence in the 21st century, we have no good reason not to have accurate data on our people, down to the smallest unit, the individual.

Read also: Like Atiku, Ekwueme, Obi, Adebanjo want Buhari to restructure Nigeria

“Without data, we cannot plan properly and all of us will lose, including those who try to inflate their population figures and those who want to suppress those of others.

“Political decentralization will also help to deepen and strengthen our democracy as it will encourage more accountability. Citizens are more likely to demand accountability when governments spend their tax money rather than rent collected from an impersonal source.”

Atiku has unequivocally continued to canvas for a restructured Nigeria, even when his ruling APC party seems not to be interested in any such thing, as President Muhammadu Buhari has continued to keep his silence on the subject, in spite of the debate it has continued to generate across the country in recent times.

 

 

 

 

 

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0 Comments

  1. JOHNSON PETER

    May 23, 2017 at 12:57 pm

    Sir Atiku Abubakar is wise , because if they should turn the states to geo political zones, simply means, there will be Governor -general for each geo political zone and probably the chairman of all the geo political zones and such could be equating to the president, he knows he can influence a geo political zone to emerge as their Governor -General and with his wealth, he can acquire such overall boss, calculative politician you are.

    • yanju omotodun

      May 23, 2017 at 1:38 pm

      What jargons are you saying? You are making no sense at all. Are we going back to colonialism where we have Governor Generals or premiers of a region?

  2. seyi jelili

    May 23, 2017 at 1:40 pm

    The political adulterer is talking, all adulterer and adulteresses should listen to him. He has reached his peak as vice president in Nigeria and nothing more than that

    • Anita Kingsley

      May 23, 2017 at 2:46 pm

      You may find yourself in position of authority tomorrow, all these things you should keep in your brain without minding the personality or integrity of who said them. You may not like Atiku, but don’t let that hatred stop you from paying attention to important points

      • sirOscie

        May 24, 2017 at 11:50 am

        God bless You my dear….very well said

    • sirOscie

      May 24, 2017 at 11:51 am

      Hate and sentiments will take us nowhere…….Think Nigeria!

  3. el-sig

    May 23, 2017 at 1:52 pm

    The problem is not the admin structure of government. Every known type of government has worked in the past under different socio-political conditions. The problem is with the heart of man.

    • Agbor Chris

      May 23, 2017 at 2:20 pm

      May God bless you. The problem has never been with Nigeria’s structure but our leaders who are very selfish. Atiku himself is cannot be trusted, he has ruled this country before and nothing good happened.

  4. Animashaun Ayodeji

    May 23, 2017 at 2:37 pm

    With what the militants in the Niger/Delta made us go through in 2016, we all should now understand the need to diversify our economy away from the dependence on oil. Our economy collapsed because we depend solely on oil. Atiku is very correct about this

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