Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transport, says poverty and hunger is a more critical problem than restructuring the country.
Amaechi said this during an interview with Channels Television programme Sunday Politics, on Sunday.
The minister’s comment comes amid recent demand by South South governors and leaders for the restructuring and restoration of the nation to the practice of true federalism when they met with a presidential delegation in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Amaechi who hails from the region but was absent at the meeting of the South-South leaders, remarked that while the calls for restructuring of the country may not be bad, tackling hunger and poverty is more critical to the federal government.
“If to you what is important is restructuring, I don’t see anything wrong with restructuring but I am saying it is not the most critical problem we have,” he said.
“The most critical problem we have is that hunger and poverty are breeding insecurity.
“If you are able to create employment, you create security. If you like hire as many men as you want to hire that are policemen, you would do nothing until you put food in the hands of people.
“When you do not create a legitimate economy, the people will create for themselves an illegitimate economy and be able to feed themselves.”
Admitting that many farmers are unable to go to their farms in some parts of the country, the ex-Rivers governor said Nigeria is facing a kind of insecurity unlike what was obtainable in the past.
“We are facing a different kind of insecurity,” he added.
“When we were in power as governors, the problem we were facing was Boko Haram. Not is it much more than Boko Haram. We need to address those issues.”
