OPINION: How do we even go about this Restructuring?

We say we need to restructure politically, economically, and socio-culturally. That that is the ‘only’ option left if we indeed want to see this country remain as one in the next few decades.

But we are not saying everything must be achieved at a go, and we are not saying that restructuring will put food on every dinning table in Nigeria, pave every roads, provide quality education and solve all our problems. No. But a poorly executed restructuring will be better than this 'Change' that can't even instil a sprinkle of hope.

There are certain steps that need to be taken to give every Nigerian a sense of hope that they have a stake in the Nigerian project.

Ever since the opponents to the calls for restructuring found out that the short end of the ruler they are holding is getting shorter and shorter by the day. Some of them have resorted to all sorts of emotional blackmail.

They ask questions they are not interested in the answers, and where they show interest, they vehemently refuse to acknowledge even when you present superior argument.

Now their latest strategy is turning the call for restructuring into jokes. We know all these strategies,for some of us who are older, it is déjà vu. We’ve been there before. But ultimately, it is a sign that we are making progress, and if this country must remain as one, then the need for restructuring cannot be over-emphasised.

How do we go about this restructuring they ask?

We can start from the lowest hanging fruits. Let us take a look at the issue of a Nigerian citizen not being a fully fledged citizen in Nigeria because of the dichotomy between State of Origin, and State of Residence.

We continually mouth that the unity of this country is non-negotiable, yet we have a Constitution that was not designed to engender unity.

Can you imagine that these people who say that the unity of Nigeria is not negotiable and that this union is indivisible see nothing wrong in a Constitution that insist  citizens of the country must be identified by their ‘State of Origin’ instead of their ‘State of Residence’.

When we talk about how unfair the system is to Nigerian citizens, they ask how.

This same Constitution that insist a Nigerian citizen must be identified by his ‘State of Origin’ irrespective of how long that person has lived in his State of Residence , has Tax Laws that insist that citizens pay their Personal Income Tax (PIC) and other tax obligations  in their ‘State of Residence’ but same citizen is not good enough to partake in other benefits accruable from being a citizen even if he has been tax compliant to his State of Residence all his working life.

Those who are against restructuring claim that the unity of this country is not negotiable. Yet we have a country that official documentations  MUST highlight a citizen’s ‘State of Origin’ and ‘Religion’ two of the most divisively sensitive elements in this country but during Census exercise, both ‘State of Origin’ and ‘Religion’ are excised from the enumeration forms, why?

This means that Nigerians who live outside their ‘States of Origin’  are  only good for paying taxes and all other sorts of obligations as required by the state, boosting the IGR, and their presence also help swell the population figures of their ‘States of Residence’ which in turn enables that state to receive higher allocations from Abuja.

But when it comes to benefits, they are reminded to go to their ‘States of Origin’. And if this person does not see himself as part of the system, or fails to fully integrate as a citizen, you blame him for playing the victim’s card. Yet you encourage a system that automatically profiles him and marks him out because of where his ancestors come from.

Shall we then say that citizens should start paying their taxes to their States of Origin?

This is officially sanctioned exclusion. And there is no way you engender unity while every aspect of the laws of the land screams exclusion and disunity.

If you still ask what there is to restructure, let us start from here, abolish ‘State of Origin’ versus ‘State of Residence’ dichotomy or we go for a confederation. You can’t have a federation where people are so excluded and treated as immigrants in their won country, and you expect such country to be united. You can't turn citizens into immigrants in their country and still expect seamless assimilation.

The structure created most of the problems.

This is official hypocrisy.