Falana tackles Atiku on restructuring

Activist-lawyer Mr Femi Falana (SAN) said Wednesday said any restructuring of the country can only be meaningful if wealth is equitably distributed.

To him, merely restructuring Nigeria will not guarantee unity and political stability without the redistribution of wealth.

Falana was of the view that while the country needs power devolution, only the democratisation of powers and equitable redistribution of the commonwealth along egalitarian lines would engender unity.

In a paper delivered at the 19th Mike Okonkwo Annual Lecture in Lagos, the Senior Advocate said since the rich were united in exploiting the country’s national resources, the exploited poor and oppressed should unite to free themselves from poverty.

Falana said: “A leading People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has become one of the leading proponents of restructuring, but his support for restructuring has not addressed the crucial issue of the redistribution of the national wealth.

“After all, in his capacity as the nation’s Vice President and chairman of the National Council on Privatisation, Alhaji Abubakar presided over the restructuring of the nation’s economy through the liquidation of public assets and the privatisation of the commanding height of the economy.

“The policy led to a situation whereby all major public enterprises and assets including oil blocks were sold to the so called ‘core investors’.

“Such official transfer of the commonwealth to a few local and foreign corporate bodies will have to be reversed in the interests of the people.”

According to Falana, the nation cannot be seriously restructured without equitable redistribution of wealth.

“Therefore, those who have cornered the commonwealth should not be allowed to talk of restructuring in vacuo.

The Nation