ACF faults calls for restructuring

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) has faulted calls for the restructuring of Nigeria, saying the calls are unnecessary as they are capable of distracting government from other serious issues affecting the polity.

The National Executive Council (NEC) of the ACF said after its meeting in Kaduna that the calls for restructuring, presented as demands and usually followed by ultimatum to the authorities, were inappropriate. “Some groups take restructuring to mean true federalism, others call it resource control. However, restructuring a big and diverse country as Nigeria is a serious business that must take account of the views of all its citizens and not just of those that shout the loudest or issue threats, intimidation or blackmail,” the forum said in a communiqué at the end of the meeting.

The forum insisted that the present democratic structure provided ample opportunity for groups and individuals to present their agitations through their representatives in the national and state Assemblies.

“ACF therefore considers such agitations at this material time as diversionary,” the communiqué added.

The meeting which was presided over by the ACF vice chairman, Sen. Abubakar Girei, stated that despite the efforts of the military and other security agencies in tackling insurgency, militancy, kidnapping and indiscriminate killing of innocent persons by unknown gunmen had continued, and this was becoming a serious threat to peaceful coexistence of Nigerians.