Ajimobi: Why North Opposes Restructuring

Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, wednesday gave an insight into why the North is against the clamour for the restructuring of Nigeria.

Ajimobi, at the third annual lecture of Dauda Adegbenro Foundation in Ibadan, said the North opposed the agitation because it wanted the status quo of which it is a great beneficiary, sustained.

The theme of the lecture was titled: ‘Transparency in the Extractive Industries: Driving wealth creation and sustainable revenue as solution to economic

The governor, represented by his Chief of Staff, Dr. Gbade Ojo, said there were many things wrong with the present Nigeria’s political system that restructuring would put right.

According to him, the country’s present political system has robbed states of revenues, and unless there is a reform, the second tier of government will continue to depend on handouts from the federation account.
Ajimobi said ordinarily, solid mineral deposits are supposed to belong to states where they are found but the 1999 Constitution had given that ownership rights to the federal government.

He added that without a constitution amendment or restructuring, the states would remain parasites.
He said amending the constitution would make states get involved in the extractive industries and boost their revenues.

The governor also said Nigerians must decide on the type of federalism they want to practice as no two federalism are the same.
In addition, the governor urged the federal government to intensify efforts at diversifying the economy as Nigeria’s continued reliance on a mono-product economy will not bode well for the country.

In his lead paper at the lecture, Executive Secretary, NEITI, Mr. Waziri Adio, listed areas Nigeria should focus on to drive sustainable growth and development on the extractive industries and in Nigeria.

He said Nigeria should fully optimise the opportunities offer by resource endowments by pursuing value optimisation.
The executive securetary also called for more openness in the extractive industries, especially not only revenue transparency, but also ownership transparency, contract transparency, expenditure transparency and assets transparency.

Adio added that there should be a shift from “a sharing and extractive mind-set to a productive and value-adding mind-set.”