From Victor Osula, Abuja
Former VP Atiku Abubakar
Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar has once again restated his call for the restructuring of Nigeria to make room for accelerated growth and development.
Atiku, who spoke at the national dialogue and public presentation of a book, “Remaking Nigeria: Sixty years, sixty voices” in Abuja, on Thursday lamented increasing banditry, kidnapping and other criminality across the country.
He said, in his presentation; “Yes, the Chibok girls had been kidnapped and held in captivity 7 years ago. Yes, conflicts between herders and farmers had been with us before 2016.
” But who would have thought that our country would become a haven for kidnappers and all manner of bandits to the extent that their nefarious activities would become a major industry?
” They have been allowed to operate so openly and brazenly that it would surprise no one if they applied for registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission and listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
” Five years ago, the Abuja – Kaduna Road was not a virtual no-go area. The SouthEast was not a virtual war-zone, and Amotekun was not needed to protect lives and property in the South West.
“These are among the clearest evidence that the issues that were the focal point of the book that brought us here more than five years ago have become even worse.”
