Dickson, Soyinka back restructuring, say ‘it will address fundamental issues plaguing Nigeria’s unity’

Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson, and Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature, Professor Wole Soyinka, have lent their voices to the growing calls for the restructuring of the country to address a number of issues plaguing the nation.
Dickson, who corroborated the views of Soyinka, noted that though “the continued existence of country was desirable, there is the urgent need for all Nigerians to come together and amicably resolve their problems, so that, they can make the union more enduring and sustainable.”
They made the call at a programme tagged, “A Day with the Noble Laureate and Ijaw Literary Icons” at the Ijaw National Academy, Kaiama in Kolokuma/Opokuma Local Government area of the state.
Dickson also cited the lopsided manner in the creation of local government areas in the country, pointing out that, Bayelsa State has the least number of local governments, which is eight, as against over 40 local governments in some states.
He decried the exclusion of the people of the Niger Delta as key players in the oil industry, in spite of the region’s enormous contributions to the economic well-being of the country for the past 61 years.
He identified marginalization and resource control, as some of the issues that needed to be tackled in the restructuring of the country towards engendering development, peace and stability.
Lamenting that, the situation has adversely affected the revenues accruing from the federation account to Bayelsa by less than one quarter of what other states receive, the Governor called for restructuring to tackle issues such as environmental degradation. 
Soyinka noted that the country needed to be restructured in such a way that, the constituent parts of the federation do not fund what he called, an over bloated central government at the detriment of the states.
Other literary icons that responded to questions at the event include Dr Gabriel Okara, Prof. Ebiegberi Alagoa and Prof. John Pepper Clark   
Highpoints of the event include cutting of a cake to mark Prof Wole Soyinka’s 83rd birthday anniversary as well as presentations of literary works by students of the academy and an adaptation of one of Prof. Wole Soyinka’s plays, titled, ‘Abiku’ by the state Council for Arts and Culture.