Nigeria is not working as a state; our population is growing faster than our economy - Ben Bruce cries out

21.12.2017 11:31

Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, representing Bayelsa east, on Wednesday, December 20, in an event in Kaduna, said there is need for the country to be restructured.

- Senator Ben Murray-Bruce has insisted that Nigeria needs to be restructured

- He said without restructuring, the country will keep facing one problem or the other

- Yakubu Gowon, a former military head of state, said creation of jobs is very imperative for Nigeria’s stability

Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, representing Bayelsa east, said there is need for the country to be restructured.

Murray-Bruce said this on Wednesday, December 20, while speaking at an event organised by the house of justice in Kaduna, the Cable reports.

He stated that the country’s current structure was not working as the population was growing faster than the economy.

He said: “Nigeria is not working as a state. Our population is growing faster than our economy. It should be obvious by now that if we do not renegotiate Nigeria, if we do not restructure, we will keep reacting over one problem or the other,” he said

“How could we say a nation with the highest number of private jet owners, yet without its airline does not need restructuring?

“By restructuring, we will not have a situation where Lagos generates five percent of Nigeria’s value added tax, yet other states get the largest share of those revenues than Lagos state.

“This is even when those states banned the sale of the items from Lagos in their states.”

Also speaking at the event, Yakubu Gowon, a former military head of state, said that Nigeria has to create jobs for the teeming unemployed population if the country is serious about making progress.

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NAIJ.com gathered that the former head of state who was represented by Jerry Gana, a former minister of information, said creation of jobs is very imperative to the stability of the country.

He further stated that the biggest enemy of democracy is poverty.

He said: “If we want our democracy to be durable and ensure a just and peaceful nation, we must generate jobs for the unemployed,” he said.

“The issue of politics without principles is becoming worrisome, where the highest bidder have takes whatever is on the table. That cannot be the way of politics.

“No nation can ever build a society where the consideration is not in terms of value, principles or ideals, but to share money.

“If we want to build a nation of justice and peace, it cannot be on the basis of the highest bidder. We must reject poverty. This rejection of poverty is legitimate. Millions of Nigerians are poor.

“The biggest enemy of democracy is poverty. When people are poor, when people are reduced to destitute, then a little money can change their minds. Therefore, the freedom of choice in a democracy is taken away by those who control the resources.”

NAIJ.com previously reported that Olatokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu, co-chairman, African Newspapers of Nigeria Plc (ANN), on Tuesday, December 19, restated calls for the restructuring of Nigeria, saying every part of the country would benefit from it.

Awolowo-Dosunmu made the call while speaking to newsmen on the sideline of a town hall meeting organised by the Yoruba Youth Council (YYC) worldwide at the house of chiefs, Ibadan.

The former ambassador to the Netherlands said that the clamour for restructuring was neither tribalistic nor divisive, saying every part of the country would benefit from it.

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