North would be the biggest beneficiary of restructuring, says El-Rufai

Nasir el-Rufai, governor of Kaduna, says the north is ready for restructuring and the region would be its biggest beneficiary.

The governor said this on Wednesday in Ibadan, capital of Oyo state, while delivering a keynote address at a colloquium organised to mark the 80th birthday anniversary of Bisi Akande, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

El-Rufai said the northern leaders who speak against restructuring do not represent the people as most of them have never held any elective post.

The governor said some Nigerians have exploited restructuring without a clear plan or implementation strategy.

“The coincidence of the mind-set of most of the military leaders being of northern origin must not be confused with that of the ordinary northerner,” the governor said.

“I want to state here and now, that not only is the north ready, willing and able to embrace inclusive restructuring of our polity, but to add that those that speak loudly against it represent no one. Most of them have never held elective offices, and therefore do not appreciate that the north with its natural endowments stands to be the biggest beneficiary of restructuring.

“With all sense of responsibility, I believe some Nigerians have made a career and livelihood around restructuring without deep thought, or a clear plan or implementation strategy. For them, it is a tool to alienate rather than convert our compatriots to the nation-building imperative that restructuring offers.

“Rather than the hard graft of solving our governance problems, this group would rather grab headlines and mouth sound-bites at opportunities like this. You can almost sense that this people actually dread restructuring becoming public policy, having succeeded in living off a serious national imperative for so long. We must be mindful of this class of people.”