The ineffectiveness of the anti-corruption war is seen in the loss of crucial corruption cases. For instance, in April 2017, the Federal Government lost four high profile corruption cases in ninety-six hours. #SOTN
These losses are in addition to bizarre developments such as the failure of the Government to confirm a substantive Chairman for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). #SOTN
Nothing indicts the current government greater than its failure in one key performance area that ought to be its strength: Security. #SOTN
Despite recent setbacks, we acknowledge the gains in the war against Boko Haram, but highly disturbing is the mayhem being continually unleashed by herdsmen on communities in different states across the country, leaving trails of weeping and wailing. #SOTN
The recent killings in Benue State are akin to the last straw that is set to break the camel’s back. #SOTN
Not only has the government failed to stop these killings across the country, it has done so against the backdrop of conspiratorial silence, choosing rather to label such attacks “an issue of communal misunderstanding.” #SOTN
Worse still, some of these killings have reportedly been carried out in collusion with the military. #SOTN
Recently, the Secretary to the Adamawa State Government, Umar Bindir, justified the bearing of arms by the herdsmen but failed to tell where the herdsmen get their guns from and with which government agency these guns are registered. #SOTN
Who authorised them to bear arms? Who gave them immunity against section 3 of the Robbery and Firearms (Special Provisions) Act 1990, which prescribes punishment for illegal possession of arms? Who monitors the use of these guns? #SOTN
Why have the relevant government agencies failed to act? In particular, why has the name Department of State Services (DSS) become synonymous with the phrase “Deliberate Sinful Silence” (DSS)? Or is it now the Department of Sinful Silence? #SOTN
The Federal Government has become complicit for the following reasons #SOTN
1. By not advancing and vigorously executing policies aimed at pre-empting or preventing these killings even with sufficient warnings. #SOTN
2. Despite the antecedents of the marauders, including the recent Adamawa incidents, Mr President, in his New Year address to the nation, did not consider the menace or the pain of victims of previous attacks worth a mention in his address. #SOTN
By failing to give victims a path to reconciliation and the hope of a united Nigeria: It has been reported, for instance, that as a result of the failure of Government to act, there have been reprisal attacks on herdsmen, resulting in a vicious cycle of death and destruction.
By rejecting the call to restructure our nation in order to bring lasting solutions to these and other signs of sectional discontent, In his address, Mr President further alienated his government from the voice of reason in relation to the call to restructure Nigeria. #SOTN
I totally agree with Mr. President that we need process reforms; otherwise, we would not be appointing dead men to head parastatals, but can process reforms replace foundational structural reforms? Never. #SOTN
Let no one confuse the genuine call to restructure the nation with the gimmicks of political opportunists who ride on the restructuring wave for their perceived advantage. Many of them talk the talk but neither walked the talk in the past nor will do so in the future. #SOTN
I say to those who have the power to take the decisions and actions necessary to end these atrocities, especially by restructuring the nation, but have failed to do so for political gains, that they are attempting to establish a city by iniquity and there are dire consequences.
I am reminded of the word of the Lord in the Book of Habakkuk:
“…For the stone will cry out from the wall,
And the beam from the timbers will answer it.
Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, Who establishes a city by iniquity!...” #SOTN
“…For the stone will cry out from the wall,
And the beam from the timbers will answer it.
Woe to him who builds a town with bloodshed, Who establishes a city by iniquity!...” #SOTN
The current edifice of state has become a deathtrap. All around are cracks on the wall that originate from the structural foundations. Those cracks are dripping with blood and the stones in the wall are crying out. #SOTN
The stones are crying out from Benue State and every part of the country where herdsmen have slaughtered the innocent in unspeakably barbaric attacks while the government failed to act until there were yet more bodies in morgues. #SOTN
The stones are crying out in every state in the Federation where workers’ salaries are unpaid and poverty prevails because States are nothing but institutional and constitutional vegetables on life support from Abuja. #SOTN
The stones are crying out because young men and women are leaving the shores of a country so rich yet so poor and are enslaved, prostituted and murdered in other lands. By maintaining the status quo, Nigeria has once again become a land filled with crimes of blood.#SOTN
Since State Legislation has proved inadequate and the Federal Government has failed to act, the cries of Nigerians have gone up to God as an appeal to a higher governmental order. The judgment that is written in Ezekiel 7:23-27 (NKJV) is about to be executed. #SOTN
The Nigerian state has a choice to make on the way forward to lasting peace and prosperity: It is either the path of divine judgment reminiscent of a Jehu revolution or a choice to renegotiate our union through a pragmatic approach to restructuring the nation. #SOTN
I will devote the last part of this address to reiterating the latter option, hingeing it on an interesting statement made by Mr. President in his New Year address. #SOTN
First, I will quote excerpts from the 2018 New Year address by Chinese President Xi Jinping that show the heart of a leader mindful of his people: “Our country’s great development has been achieved by the people, and its fruits should be shared by the people.” #SOTN
“Officials at all levels must think for the people, respond to their needs, and work for the greater happiness of the people.” – President Xi Jinping #SOTN
By contrast, in his New Year address to Nigerians, President Buhari said:
“We Nigerians can be very impatient and want to improve our conditions faster than may be possible considering our resources and capabilities…” #SOTN
“We Nigerians can be very impatient and want to improve our conditions faster than may be possible considering our resources and capabilities…” #SOTN
Nigerians have been known to be resilient to a fault and to have low expectations from their governments, but if Nigerians are now getting impatient, it could be because they are beginning to realise that fast-paced growth is possible when we get the fundamentals right. #SOTN
In those fundamentals lie the solution to herdsmen attacks and our myriad economic and socio-political problems. #SOTN
This is a call to return to the foundations of our geopolitical structure; It is a call to renegotiate our union. #SOTN
Fellow Nigerians, I stand on the God-inspired pathway to the New Nigeria which I call the Pragmatic Steps to Restructuring Nigeria. I stand on this because it is a return to the winning formula, albeit improved upon and better suited. #SOTN
With this plan, Nigeria can leapfrog, within ten years, the phases of industrialisation to become a global industrial powerhouse comprised of six geo-economic zones. #SOTN
With this plan, the North Central can optimise its mechanised agricultural potential and harness the Niger and the Benue not just for irrigation but also for hydroponic farming. #SOTN
The North Central Zone can then transit to heavy industries, including steel manufacturing and auto-manufacturing, while also harnessing the rivers as inland waterways and tourist attractions.#SOTN
Meanwhile, the North West can harness its vast arable land by deploying land-enhancing technologies for mechanised agriculture and cattle ranching, while also becoming Africa’s defence manufacturing hub. #SOTN
1/2 The North East will have the opportunity to redefine its identity from being a hotbed of Boko Haram to becoming a hub for cattle ranching as well as the construction... #SOTN
2/2 ...and pharmaceutical industries, harnessing its unique concentration of mineral resources such as clay, limestone and gypsum. #SOTN
The South West zone will not just resuscitate its vast industrial and agro-allied manufacturing potential; It can become a global centre for warehousing and distribution with its world-class sea and airports. #SOTN
Its intellectually aware cosmopolitan social class can become the catalysts of an African cultural renaissance that will facilitate the rise of new genres of creative and cultural industries. #SOTN
The South-South Zone, with its vast oil and gas resources, currently sustains the nation’s expenditure. Nigeria owes this region the urgent activation of the pragmatic approach to restructuring. #SOTN
This approach will see the zone progressively obtain autonomy over these resources such that it can house a cluster of refineries and petrochemical industries. #SOTN
In addition, it can recover from its history of environmental degradation to harness its agro-allied industrial potential. It can also incubate a renewable energy cluster and become an African shipping hub. #SOTN
The South East is home to a large population of vibrant entrepreneurs. In addition to potentially hosting a globally competitive agro-allied and energy industrial hub, it can, once again, break records in commerce and industry. #SOTN
1/2 With this approach, within ten years, from a near unitary structure comprising thirty-six states, these geo-economic zones can then evolve into six strong federating geopolitical zones... #SOTN
2/2 and a Federal Capital Territory, roughly mirroring the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates. #SOTN
Fellow Nigerians, another important season is upon us as a nation, as a people, and as custodians and protectors of our collective national heritage. #SOTN
A nation should indeed be more than just a mere geographical expression: it should be the sum total of all its peoples, joined together by shared history, values, culture and aspiration, fused into a national ethic and an ingrained sense of identity. #SOTN
Our founding fathers embraced the challenge of nationhood in their season by securing independence from the so-called Colonial masters. #SOTN
Our military has played their role, good and bad, in shaping the national direction for a considerable portion of our nationhood. #SOTN
The current political class has done its part by facilitating our return to civil rule. #SOTN
Now, it is the turn of Nigerians: professionals, artisans, students, soldiers, policemen, para-military, academics, market women, drivers, youth, both the employed and the unemployed, as well as every Nigerian who is not an active beneficiary of the present disorder. #SOTN
It is time for a DEMOCRATIC REVOLUTION. The season for complaints and complacency is over. We must seize this opportune moment to translate our collective national disappointment into a uniquely Nigerian REBIRTH. #SOTN
To avoid engagement with the powers that have hijacked our collective patrimony is to surrender our national destiny without a fight. #SOTN
As Cardinal John Onaiyekan said: “Every citizen must be involved in politics…Only people who are irresponsible will say they are not interested; even if you are not interested in politics, politics will be interested in you.” #SOTN
Our fight to reclaim and renew Nigeria begins now. Registering and obtaining a valid voter’s card must now be a national priority. If the 2015 elections were critical to our national survival, the 2019 polls are pivotal to our country's future development. #SOTN
If power truly belongs to the people, it is time for the silent majority to instigate REAL AND GENUINE CHANGE. #SOTN
What is required to kick-start this process is the creation of a Presidential Commission for National Reconciliation, Reintegration and Restructuring. #SOTN
This commission is to be headed by a biblical Joseph-type national figure appointed to provide visionary leadership for the process with the support of six Zonal Commissioners. #SOTN
The visionary leadership will coordinate the implementation of masterplans for each of the six geo-economic zones. It will evolve for the nation a strong anti-corruption-based national value system and stir up uncommon patriotic zeal among Nigerians. #SOTN
The requisite human capacity for the economic miracle will be provided not only by skilled Nigerians at home but also by many others based abroad through Diaspora for Development agreements guaranteed by goodwill and fuelled by uncommon patriotism. #SOTN
To facilitate the process, the National Assembly will provide the requisite constitutional amendments within the ten years in addition to serving as a monitoring and evaluation clearing house. #SOTN
By the tenth year at the latest, the systems, values and structural underlay of the geo-economic transformation will be codified in a new constitutional arrangement. #SOTN
The new constitution will be adopted by the Nigerian people through a referendum, such that it can genuinely lay claim to the prefix, “We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria…” #SOTN
As a nation, we have an opportunity to rewrite our history and choose a more prosperous future. We can choose to continue to play the ostrich or we can decide to take up the gauntlet and face our national challenges squarely. #SOTN
The New Nigeria is like a moving train that cannot be stopped, like a stone that will cause the wicked to stumble, and like a rock that will make them fall; and whoever falls on this stone will be broken, but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder. #SOTN
This nation will fulfil her destiny. #SOTN
He who has an ear to hear, let him hear: Nigeria will be saved, Nigeria will be changed, and Nigeria will be great in my lifetime. #SOTN
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. #SOTN
