From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Former Senate president, Ken Nnamani, has blamed the problem of Nigeria on structural inefficiency and ineffectiveness.
Nnamani spoke at the All Progressives Congress (APC) Press Corps quarterly public lecture series in Abuja, yesterday.
He said part of the inefficiency is the idea of the Federal Government concerning itself with matters as trivial as issuing driver’s licenses.
He further argued that if Nigeria is made more efficient, nobody in his right sense will be saying it should be divided, reminding those agitating for a separate nation that every state in Nigeria has something unique.
“I have a simple definition of restructuring and that is making something more efficient than you met it. If we must tell ourselves the truth, the structure of our government is neither efficient nor effective. We should make our government more efficient and more effective.
“I will give one example. Why should the Federal Government be concern about issuing driver’s licenses? I spent quite some time in the United States. When I was in Iowa, I had Iowa driver’s license. When I moved to Washington, I had a Washington driver’s license.
“When I went to New York, I had a New York driver’s license. Why should we spend time here in Abuja issuing somebody a license in Sokoto?
“Some things can be done more efficiently and that also implies restructuring. Restructuring does not mean dividing our country. Because the more united we are, the better we are as a country.
“So, any reasonable person who witnessed the Biafran war will never preach anything near war. You won’t wish your enemy to go through that. So, for those who were not born then, who takes delight in pronouncing war, it is not African magic, that you stay back and watch. It is a thing you may not come back. And those shouting war, under three weeks of the battle they are gone. So nobody will wish our country another war.
“The lesson we can learn from the presentation from the governor of Kano State is fundamental. Former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, talks about a level playing field. That, as long as the issue of agitations will be drastically reduced.
“Eugina Abu told us after serving 10 years from Kogi or somewhere that we can make it easier for people to get what they deserve is part of a restructuring. Companies do restructure and make the company more efficient and more profitable.
“Countries can equally do that. If you look at areas we are having waste, where we are grossly inefficient, we make it more efficient. It is a matter of semantics. It doesn’t require violence,” he said.