Former Rivers State Governor, Mr Celestine Omehia, has called for urgent restructuring of Nigeria with a new governance model based on geopolitical or zonal provinces. Omehia made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Abuja, while speaking on his new book entitled “Restructuring Nigeria: The Way Forward”.

He said the model, which would replace the existing geopolitical zones, was the centrepiece of the book. According to him, it would enhance administration, economic power and recognition compared to the former regional system.

Each province, he explained, would be made up of existing states, which would collectively select a provincial headquarters. He said: “I mentioned in the book the issue of geopolitical arrangement, different from what we had as regional arrangement.

“That the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria should be named and recognized as provinces, not region. “For instance, we can name the South-South geopolitical zone as South-South province A or whatever province name that will be given to it, and the states that are already existing in these provinces, still remain.

“All of the states in the South-South will be the members of the province. These states will locate where their headquarters will be,’’ he said.