Restructuring is not solution to Nigeria’s problem- Kriz David

The presidential candidate of the Liberation Movement party, Kriz David, has said restructuring is not the solution to the numerous problems bedevilling the country as is being canvassed by some political parties.

While speaking with journalists in Lagos on Friday, David said what Nigerians need is equity, and that no matter how well structured the country is, so far as corruption is still prevalent, the country will not prosper.

“People who talk about corruption in this country don’t even know what corruption means. Subverting due process in any institution is corruption and our act of inequality breeds this,” he said.

“In this government, a lot of secret recruitment into government parastatals have happened but even those in charge of advising this government on corruption believe this is not corruption. When the right people don’t get the right jobs based on meritocracy, corruption is bound to abound.”

David also criticised President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s fight against corruption, saying it lacks direction.

“Even the fight against corruption currently on going in the country lacks methodology and they say corruption is fighting back. Fighting corruption without methodology is not only dangerous but deadly.

“To fight corruption, what I term the body, soul and spirit of corruption need to be dealt with. The spirit being inequality, the soul being weak systems and the body being stealing,” he said.

According to David, if elected he would run a “smart government” which would take care of rights that are all essential to building a viable nation.

“In the Nigeria we have today, the right to life has become meaningless. People are merely existing in Nigeria, life means nothing. People can just wake up and get killed and nothing happens.

“Electricity and the internet improve productivity and quality of life in the 21st century and if you know that as a government, you will not treat it as a commodity to be sold and bought but as essential to the development of your citizens and nation.

“To guarantee these rights, the first thing I would do in my smart government is to initiate the article of faith as contained in my book “Smart Government :The preferred future.” The article of faith talks about the values a nation espouses. I would initiate a truth and reconciliation summit where these values will be presented to all stakeholders and adopted as the guidelines on which the society and its operations will be built on. This article of faith will become what I term the rule of law after adoption,” he said.

He also said unlike Mr Buhari, who did not appoint a cabinet for six months after being sworn in as president, he would hit the ground running and would not let opportunity to reform the country pass him by.

“If you can recall, in the first six months after the election in 2015, the entire country was waiting for Buhari to change the narrative but immediately they perceived it was business as usual, everything went to hell all over again. If elected president, I would ensure that the summit happens within 30 days and by December 15, 2019.

“I would present Nigerians with what I term the people’s constitution. In so doing, the legislator that feels he is coming to continue business as usual will have a change of mindset and all hands can be on deck to drive positive narrative in our nation building.”