Nigeria needs repackaging, not restructuring –Gov Okorocha

Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha has argued that the apparent popular demand for restructuring of the country was not needful.

He argued, that what the country needs instead is repackaging, and therefore called on the media to begin the process of repackaging the country to an enviable position.

Okorocha’s position is coming despite the heightened demand for a Biafra state from different Igbo groups, and the towering position the Ndigbo apex body, Ohanaeze is assuming among those calling for the urgent restructuring of Nigeria.

Other social cultural groups including the Afenifere have also called for restructuring of the country, as a means of addressing the various agitations in the polity.

Okorocha made his position on Nigeria known while declaring open the 67th annual conference of the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) in Owerri, where he urged proprietors and managers of the radio and television stations in the country operating under the aegis of BON to help repackage Nigeria to a level the rest of the world would be endeared to it.

The chairman BON, John Momoh, who led the members had earlier paid a courtesy call on Okorocha at the Government House Owerri.

The governor said, “Our nation requires repackaging. It is unfortunate that a great nation like ours has not been properly packaged for consumption by the international communities. Yet, there are more evils in other nations than we have in Nigeria, but the reports going out about our country are such that no one will want to come into Nigeria, unless for those who want to take risk. No nation can grow with this arrangement. I want to charge you today, as you meet, think Nigeria and see how you can repackage it. We are not the worst of them all.

“Every geo-political zone has its own interpretation of restructuring. To the South-east, restructuring means creation of an additional state. For the South-south, restructuring means resource control. For the South-west, it means devolution of power and the North may see it differently, but whatever is the case, we are better off as a united Nigeria

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“The ball is in your court to see how you can project Nigeria and repackage it for public and international consumption. Let me say to all of us here that there is nothing wrong with Nigeria and Nigerians. Nigeria is a great nation and will forever remain a great nation. What we have passed through as a nation, no other country would pass through it without experiencing total collapse. The spiritualists will believe that God has relocated His headquarters to Nigeria and that is why we get away with anything that we do.

“I call on all Nigerians that this is a period to dramatise and demonstrate patriotism which is anchored in the spirit of sacrifice. We must accept the fact that this nation belongs to us and we do not have any other nation on the face of the earth outside Nigeria. So, it’s incumbent on us to fix Nigeria and make it better not only for us but for generations yet unborn.

“You have a role to play. The news we have about our country outside Nigeria is not a good one and that has in many ways discouraged our investors. This is the time to speak less of the ugly situation we go through, this is the time to speak more about the potential in Nigeria. People keep destroying this country by what they say. Therefore, today, my plea would be to the national body that you get a space in your programme titled: ‘Repackaging Nigeria for Better.”

Speaking further, Okorocha said it was high time for the country to come together and shun the institutions of ethnicity, tribalism and religion.

“I wonder and my heart bleeds that at this 21st century, we are still choosing leaders based on ethnicity and zone. We must begin to choose people into offices based on their capacity and capability. What matters is not the ethnic group you come from or the religion you practice, what matters to us is the ability to put food on the table of the common man.

Read also: S’East, S’South govs realign, brainstorm over worrying issues of Biafra, restructuring

“The wisdom is hidden in the poor on the street. I pray that you create a space in your radio and televisions where people can voice out themselves without having to pay for it,” Okorocha said.

Speaking, Momoh explained that he and other members of BON were in the state for the 67th general assembly and 17th annual general meeting of the organisation to ponder on how to change the cause of history by facing the challenges confronting them and looking at ways to overcome them and continue to serve as the watch dog of the society.

Recall that Okorocha was part of the South-East governors who recently met with their South-South counterparts in Enugu State and discussed among other things, the need to restructure Nigeria.

 

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