Restructuring Nigeria is not an emotional outburst—it is a political necessity. As Professor Ike Ekweremadu once rightly stated, “restructuring is not an emotional issue, but a political imperative for Nigeria to make the desired progress.” I echo his sentiment. For Nigeria to thrive as a nation, it must fundamentally reconsider how it is structured, governed, and developed.
The argument for restructuring is often met with resistance, not on logical grounds, but on fear—fear that it means disintegration, civil unrest, or the revival of past conflicts. But that fear is misplaced. A referendum, for instance, is not a call to war—it is a democratic tool. It is a way for the people to speak, to decide collectively whether the current union still serves their interests. To conflate calls for a referendum or restructuring with rebellion or secession is to shut down honest dialogue with dogma and dread.
Let us speak honestly: Nigeria is not working—not equitably, not justly, not efficiently. It is a nation trapped in a dysfunctional federal structure that breeds resentment, fuels agitations, and crushes innovation in regions it refuses to empower.
Contents
The Biafran Agitation and the Cries for Justice
At the heart of the Biafran agitation is not hatred, but pain—pain born from decades of marginalisation, structural injustice, and economic exclusion. These are not abstract grievances. They are lived experiences. It is no surprise that the calls for self-determination rise from the ashes of decades-long state neglect and political suppression.
When a system is designed to benefit some and punish others, it is not rebellion to resist—it is human. If the current structure continues to suppress, exclude, and ignore legitimate cries for inclusion, then Nigeria itself nurtures the seeds of instability.
Restructuring is the answer—not the problem.
The Buhari Administration and Institutional Marginalisation
President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure laid bare the depth of Nigeria’s fault lines. His appointments and policies were not just imbalanced—they were brazenly exclusionary. Apart from the constitutional mandate of appointing at least one minister per state, his administration consistently sidelined the South-East in meaningful federal engagement.
Where, for instance, is the Igbo presence in top federal establishments? The military, the police, key parastatals, and strategic national agencies bear no mark of Igbo leadership. The Eastern roads—pothole-ridden death traps—continue to deteriorate while grand rail projects blossom elsewhere. The Enugu International Airport remains underdeveloped, despite being a critical regional gateway. Major industrial cities like Aba, Nnewi, and Onitsha, originally marked for integration into national transport systems, were quietly erased from the plans.
Even welfare programs have not escaped this bias. From the disbursement of micro-loans to the selection of states for conditional cash transfers and poverty alleviation, the South-East has been conspicuously excluded. The $29.96 billion infrastructure loan the government sought did not list a single Igbo state among its beneficiaries. This is not oversight. It is systemic alienation.
When a leader says, “those who gave me 5% votes will get 5% attention,” and then governs that way, how can he pretend to be a national leader?
Philosophy of a Failed Union: A House Without Justice Cannot Stand
A nation is not a prison—it is a contract. When citizens no longer feel protected, represented, or valued, they will inevitably question that contract. It is not treason to ask for fairness. It is not mutiny to demand equity.
The problem is not just Buhari—it is the structure that allows any leader, tribalist or not, to preside over such disparities with constitutional cover.
Restructuring is about redesigning this union into one that empowers every part of the federation to thrive on its own terms. It is about allowing states to harness their resources, develop at their own pace, and pursue unique paths to prosperity without waiting for crumbs from a biased center.
A Nation on the Brink of Earthquake
Those who equate restructuring with war are the ones pushing the nation toward instability by refusing to engage in meaningful reform. The more agitations are ignored, the more force is used instead of dialogue, the closer we move to national rupture.
We need a president who understands that leadership is stewardship of unity—not domination. We need a president who sees Nigeria as one house with many rooms, not a fortress with favored chambers.
Until that day comes—until we restructure this flawed federation—the demand for equity will not cease. It will grow louder, deeper, and more urgent. And if ignored, it may shake this nation to its very foundations.
Let those who have the ear of power speak now. Let them whisper to the “king of the weaker animals” before the silence becomes thunder.
