Former Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Chief
Nduese Essien has accused Yoruba leaders of being biased in their agitation for
restructuring of the country, noting that they were silent all the while their son, Olusegun
Obasanjo, was in power.
The former minister said the Southwest leaders have not been
so vocal about restructuring during Obasanjo’s tenure but the moment Goodluck
Jonathan became president, the agitation became heated again.
He spoke while reacting to last week’s opposition by the
Leader, House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to a motion, which urged
companies operating in oil producing areas to relocate.
According to him, “I begin to wonder whether the South-West
is sincere about its agitation for restructuring.
‘’South West leaders, at every forum, over the years,
propagated the restructuring of the Nigerian federation but each time an
opportunity comes, they renege on restructuring.
“When their son, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, was the President
of the country for eight years, the clamour for restructuring went dead. That
is because they were in control of the unstructured federation, with its
attendant benefits to them.
“As soon as they lost control of the federal government, the
restructuring jingles came alive throughout the period of President Goodluck
Jonathan’s administration. The jingle sounded so loud that a national
conference was convened in 2014.
“A good number of delegates supported restructuring. We
ended up recommending that the country should be restructured. Luckily for us,
after the conference, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, revived the call.
“Last week, South West leaders all spoke in favour of
restructuring. But when the opportunity came on the floor of the House of
Representatives to commence the process of restructuring, another leader from
the area, Gbajabiamila, kicked against it.”
He expressed surprised at Gbajabiamila’s position, adding,
“I was surprised to hear the House of Representatives last week reject a motion
which had asked oil companies to relocate to their areas of operation.
“The argument by the House Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila, was
that the oil producing areas are unsafe for the oil companies to relocate.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayAdvertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
They didn't even support OBJ in his tenure. Like my friend on this platform will sy...... "as events are unfolding! !"
ReplyDeleteJonadaft chased himself out to of office with his weak and poor ways of governance, get over the loss already,now could not even manage hippo patience.
ReplyDeletewill you ever doubt a bloodline of snakes and lizards...cowardly always
ReplyDeletewill you ever doubt a bloodline of snakes and lizards...cowardly always
ReplyDelete