IYC To Buhari: Nigerians Are Not “Loose And Lazy”, All We Want Is Devolution Of Power Or…

Foremost Ijaw youth group, Ijaw Youth Council Worldwide has reacted to report credited to President Muhammadu Buhari where he reportedly tagged Nigerians clamouring for restructuring as “loose and lazy” people.

IYC, said that the claims by Mr. Buhari was made in bad faith, saying it is not correct to have said the demand for restructuring has no defined limit.

National President of the group, Oweilaemi Pereotubo, Esq., in a statement obtained by BigPen Online on Wednesday, said that restructuring or true fiscal federalism means devolution of powers to the component States.

According to him, it simply means transferring some of the items in the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list in the 1999 constitution as amended.

Pereotubo said that all Nigerians are asking for is to allow the states to harness and control the resources in their domains.

According to him, Nigeria need to evolve from the current unitary system to a truly federal system of government.

The diversity of our socio-cultural backgrounds are not suitable for quasi-federal system which the country is currently practicing, he added.

He said that President Buhari needs no tutor or rather historian to remind him that in the 60s before the civil war, the regions had higher responsibilities because derivation was 50/ 50 for the centre and the regions.

“The present system has rendered the states penniless thereby begging for alms from the centre. We need to run a competitive government where the states should be contributing to the national purse.

“The present system where the states governors are mere toothless bulldogs to the security of their states are compounding the security threats in the Country.

“Has Mr. President forgotten so soon how some state Governors under this administration resigned their positions as the chief security officers of their respective states because they have no control of the security agencies in the Country?

“The clamour for state police is part of the demands for restructuring. Nigeria will be better structured and united should we practice true federalism. It will guarantee job creation and economic stability in the Country.

“IYC takes an exception to President Buhari’s disparaging comment on Nigerians. Those clamouring for restructuring are not lazy. The authors of restructuring only mean well for the Country.

“The continuous survival of this Country as a corporate entity lies on its structural reformation. Nigeria as it is presently composed can no longer sustain our unity in diversity. We can’t live in a Country where some people are seen as second fiddle human beings.

“If President Buhari wants to know the true definition of restructuring then he should read the report of the 2014 national dialogue. That report has substantially addressed the yearnings of Nigerians.

“For us in the Niger Delta, we will never relent in pursuing for restructuring because that is what will make us to have sense of participation in the Nigerian project.

“Our interest are not accommodated yet in Nigeria unless and until the Country is restructured to be become a truly federal system”.