Former Governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, has called for economic restructuring to ensure delivery of positive and impactful governance in the country.
Musa made the call in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday against the backdrop of President Muhammadu Buhari’s New Year broadcast.
The president had in the speech said that the problem with Nigeria was not the structure but the process of doing things.
He had argued that the country had tried many political systems in the past and had dumped them because they failed.
Buhari had explained that if things were done properly by all citizens, the country would perform better.
He also expressed regret over the sufferings Nigeria were going through owing to prevailing scarcity of petrol, attributing it to unscrupulous activities of a few people.
He promised to get to the root of the matter and sanction culprits.
He also assured that he would intensify the fight against corruption.
But Musa said that the problem with Nigeria had always been leadership rather than structures, explaining that regional system failed because leaders were pursuing secessionist agenda.
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Although he aligned with Buhari’s position that the process of governance needed to be improved, he faulted the economic system being operated currently.
Musa said the economy was in the hands of the private sector, hence the impoverishment of the masses, and suggested the restructuring of the economy to ensure that the government played a greater role.
“The economy should be restructured. What we are operating now in which the economy is in private hands cannot help us.
“We should restructure the economy so that government can play a greater role for sustainable development,” he said.
The former governor agreed that saboteurs were behind the current fuel crisis and urged the government to address the situation.
He also called on Buhari to form a government of national unity in the New Year for all-inclusiveness, adding that Nigeria would be better in the New Year if people subordinated personal interests to public interests.
In his reaction, the Publicity Secretary of Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Lagos State, Mr. Shakirudeen Olofin, commended the president for restating commitment to the fight against corruption.
He, however, advised that the president should ensure that all pending cases on corruption were speedily resolved to serve as deterrent to others.
Olofin urged Buhari to be decisive in dealing with the fuel crisis, especially persons suspected to be responsible for the situation.
(NAN)
