Dickson laments tension in Nigeria, says restructuring sounds like break up

Bayelsa State Governor, Seriake Dickson, on Friday called for a return to a truly federal state that would ensure fairness and equity.
He repeated his call for “reorganisation” of the country, noting that the word “restructuring” sounds like break up to some Nigerians.

The governor, who spoke when he appeared on a programme on AIT – ‘People, Politics and Power’, argued that the current state of the nation was as a result of distortions in the way the nation was organised.
“That is the very essence of the call for some kind of meeting of minds of Nigerians to reorganise, because a lot of people have issues with the word restructuring and then make it more stable, lasting and prosperous.
“That’s the root of the call for restructuring, which by the way is reorganisation. We have to cool the heat because nobody will benefit from war or crisis or violence”, he advised.

The governor said countries that did not allow for debates and arguments in the past ultimately disintegrated.
“Look back at what happened (to Nigeria) in the sixties . Look at Sudan and see where they are. Yugoslavia is now almost seven countries. Every nation is an artificial creation.

“So, very often I hear people say Awolowo (Obafemi) referred to Nigeria as a mere geographical location. He was right. Every nation is. What gives essence to nations is shared values, shared views as to what citizens think of themselves and of the country”, he said.

He added that Nigerian politicians had generally failed to understand what democracy entails, stressing that arguments, debates and disagreements should be encouraged in the kind of political system that obtains in Nigeria.
“The political class has failed and I am talking generally. And that even manifests in the internal disputes. Political leaders now don’t understand the concept of dialogue and argument.
“What they understand is violence, money politics, propaganda and blackmail, selfish agenda, promotion of ethnic and religious divisions. It is playing out in the PDP where a common dispute is in the supreme court. There is crisis in APC too”, he added.
Diackson said that since Nigeria had become crisis-ridden, the federal government should set up a technical committee to ease the current pressure.
“We have gone from crisis to crisis and we are almost at the precipice.
“That’s why I made the suggestion that the FG should set up a committee. You don’t need to call it a constitutional conference, just a committee that will harness all the former reports, bring out the salient issues and then give it to the National Assembly leaders”, he said.