Bishop
Matthew Kukah's contribution to the "true federalism" debate, which is a
reaction to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar's call for
restructuring, is a stimulating read. In a recent interview with the
Punch newspaper, he weighed into the debate, thus:
"There you go. Typical of Nigerians, boarding any bus irrespective of which direction it is heading. If someone just looks at you and says you need surgery, will you just rush to the hospital?
"Did the former Vice President define what he meant by restructuring? Did he say what parts of the country need restructuring? Did he tell you who would do the restructuring and what their credentials are? Is the restructuring economic, political, psychological, or just another sound bite? The answers he offered are not new. But can we solve our problems by merely changing songs on the dance floor?
"We have been on these dark alleys of half-truths and inuendos before and we never learn. At the end of military rule, did we not clamour for power shift? Power shift came with former President Olusegun Obasanjo being President along with Atiku. Where did that leave us? Next, we wanted rotation and power went to the South-South. Where has that left us?
"We believed we needed true federalism as a cure. But the word itself is empty because there is nothing like true federalism anywhere in the world or in the vocabulary. What we have are stories of nations and their toil and sacrifices to build a better society.
"The north shouted, wailed and cried over the perceived injustice. Then, Change came. Now, it took us less than six months to sink into depression about Change. Now, we can’t seem to spell the word. PDP now says, it wants to Change the Change!
"We like single words, single stories. I detest our intellectual shallowness, laziness, ineptitude and the lack of analytical discipline. This is why we shall continue to turn in circles with no difference between the quality of ideas from the glass houses of Victoria Island, the ivory towers and those of Ojuelegba bus stop. Atiku flew a political kite which is fine, but it does not scratch the surface of our problems"
"There you go. Typical of Nigerians, boarding any bus irrespective of which direction it is heading. If someone just looks at you and says you need surgery, will you just rush to the hospital?
"Did the former Vice President define what he meant by restructuring? Did he say what parts of the country need restructuring? Did he tell you who would do the restructuring and what their credentials are? Is the restructuring economic, political, psychological, or just another sound bite? The answers he offered are not new. But can we solve our problems by merely changing songs on the dance floor?
"We have been on these dark alleys of half-truths and inuendos before and we never learn. At the end of military rule, did we not clamour for power shift? Power shift came with former President Olusegun Obasanjo being President along with Atiku. Where did that leave us? Next, we wanted rotation and power went to the South-South. Where has that left us?
"We believed we needed true federalism as a cure. But the word itself is empty because there is nothing like true federalism anywhere in the world or in the vocabulary. What we have are stories of nations and their toil and sacrifices to build a better society.
"The north shouted, wailed and cried over the perceived injustice. Then, Change came. Now, it took us less than six months to sink into depression about Change. Now, we can’t seem to spell the word. PDP now says, it wants to Change the Change!
"We like single words, single stories. I detest our intellectual shallowness, laziness, ineptitude and the lack of analytical discipline. This is why we shall continue to turn in circles with no difference between the quality of ideas from the glass houses of Victoria Island, the ivory towers and those of Ojuelegba bus stop. Atiku flew a political kite which is fine, but it does not scratch the surface of our problems"
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