The 2019 presidential candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and founder of John Gbor foundation, Maj. Gen. John Gbor, has advocated for the restructuring of the Nigerian state, saying only a privileged few currently have access to the nation’s economic resources.
Maj. Gen. Gbor said the current structure in the country only promoting poverty, disunity and insecurity.
Speaking in Abuja on Monday when the Council of Bishops presented him with an award of ‘Excellence as a Political Icon’ the former presidential candidate said the only way out of Nigeria”s current political and economic problems is restructuring.
“In order to to remove the problem of insecurity, poverty and realistic disunity in Nigeria; we must restructure the country,” he stated.
According to Gbor, “Our problem is not geographical. Our problem is economy. Economy involves people and goods. We have the goods (resources). The resources are handled by a people at the apex of society, at the level of the federal government. The well-being of the generallity of the people depends on this small percentage of Nigerians. Nigerians are poor, hungry, divisive and insecure because this minute percentage handling our resources at the top cannot be trusted.
“We must restructure Nigeria and allow each state of the federation to take hold of Its own resources, process them and take care of the people. An agreed percentage of income will be paid to the federal government.
“There is the need to recreate a new Nigeria with a new constitution which recognises the rights of individual citizens and equality of all component parts of the federation. States should exploit and manage their economic resources. They should employ, train and manage their police force. The federal government to oversee defence, foreign affairs, currency and internal affairs.”
According to him “I was deeply touched by the attacks on innocent citizens. The main reasons why I joined politics was as a result of the level of poverty, insecurity and disunity in the country.
“I was concerned about the safety and well-being of fellow Nigerians. It is sad to see fellow citizens subjected to the various threats of insecurity. Many innocent Nigerians were killed by wicked ones. Many were kidnapped for ransom and several of our women were raped.
“The high level of poverty among the Nigerian citizens. Poverty does not not respect religious nor ethnic boundaries.
“The lack of realistic unity among the various component parts of the nation. Nigeria is the largest nation in Africa, it is also the biggest economy on the African continent. Given the size with its huge population as well as the strength of the economy; Nigeria has a responsibility to lead Africa. But we cannot lead anyone if we remained disunited.”
He also lamented the failure of the political class and advised the clergy men and youths to join active politics to make society a better place.
“The politicians have failed to arrest the situation. I call on the clergy and the Nigerian youths to join the democratic process and take over the affairs of the nation come 2023.”
When asked how he felt after receiving the award: he said, as men of God if they recognise my style of leadership and politics, it is God who has recognised me. I urge the clergy to come into politics and sanitize the polity.
The leader of the delegation of Bishops, Bishop, Dr. John Paul, founder Church in Politics, advised christians to go into politics, saying his group presented the award to Maj. Gen. Gbor for “his integrity, sincerity and passion to make life meaningful to others.”
He advised politicians to always do the right things and have the people at heart.
