Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu; former Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George; Prof Akinyemi Onigbinde, among others on Tuesday in Lagos reiterated the need to restructure the country to enable it move forward, noting that the present arrangement was such that the centre was too powerful and therefore the need to devolve more powers to the states.
They gave these submissions while speaking at the 3rd Annual Lecture organised by an online media, FreedomOnline, with the theme: ‘Nigeria: Foundation, Fundamentals, Future,’ saying the country should look at the issue of state policing to address largely the security challenges currently facing it.
This was just as presidential spokesperson, Mallam Garba Shehu, who also spoke at the event, cautioned against generalisation of the various attacks, killings and maiming in the country, and blaming everything on the Fulani, describing such as dangerous as rouges could be found among every ethnic nationality in Nigeria and not limited to a particular tribe.
Governor Sanwo-Olu, who was the guest speaker at the event, said time was ripe for the country to restructure by devolving more powers to the states to cause development, wondering why the nation had continued to delay its own progress.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Dr Kadir Obafemi Hamzat, while noting the argument on ground for some time about the centre being too powerful and the states largely made irrelevant, disclosed that it was only Lagos and Ogun out of all others states in the country that was the largest contributors in terms of revenue to the Federation Accounts.
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This was just as he quickly recalled that a few years back, Lagos could hardly generate enough resources to take care of its need, as it was generating meagre N600 million internally, while its monthly wage bill was over one billion naira.
“Every month, representatives of the states gather in Abuja to share the money, leaving very little incentive for the kind of innovative and enterprising thinking that engenders fiscal self-sufficiency.
“Today only Lagos and Ogun states, based on information from Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) are able to generate more revenues annually than their FAAC allocations. That cannot be good for any country.
“For us in Lagos, it was a very deliberate and painstakingly implemented move, borne out of painful circumstances. Around two decades ago, the revenue of Lagos was about 600 Million naira monthly. Today it hovers around 35 Billion naira. This was done when the then Federal Government illegally withheld allocations due to our local governments, that was like a wake-up call for us to be serious about inwardly increasing our revenue drive to take our destiny on our hands.
“Today our strategies are being copied and replicated nationwide, with great success,” the governor said.
“I think many Nigerians agree that we must revisit the terms of the fiscal relationship between the Federal and State Governments. The Federal Government has to consciously decide to devolve more power, responsibilities and the resources necessary.
“States should be able to manage their resources as they deem fit, create incentives and attract investments, set taxes, and then contribute something from the internal revenues into a pool for the Federal Government. That is the true essence of the federalism.
“It is actually much easier for citizens to hold to account the tiers of government that are closest to them. Increased responsibility and independence to the states will mean increased scrutiny from the populace, because to whom much is given much is expected and this scrutiny will go a long way because the states by designs are much closer to the people.
“The scenario I have outlined above will require some changes to our laws. That is the essence of our legislative houses.
“The aim is to ensure that much more powers are devolved to the states not just in revenue sharing and derivation but also regarding issues on the Exclusive and Concurrent lists,” Governor Sanwo-Olu argued.
The governor, while noting that the problem with the country appeared to be self-inflicted, queried: “Why are we delaying our development, why is it that CAC is solely responsible for business registration?”
Sanwo-Olu equally raised the need to let the states have a say on waterway issues as well as those of vehicle registration, declaring that there was no reason why states could not be allowed to generate its own electricity as it happened in advanced countries of the world.
“There is nothing wrong with us, we need to fix things,” the governor further declared, even as he urged for the amendment of the country’s laws in some areas to devolve more powers to the states as well as a change in “citizens attitude to doing things.”
Speaking further, Sanwo-Olu called for a return to the teaching of history in schools as he earlier noted that “if we don’t know where we are coming from, how do we know where we are,” even as he cautioned that Nigerians should stop using religion and ethnicity to decide then.
“We should stop using religion and ethnicity to divide us, we have allowed the two to divide us, we are not morons. For me, the challenge is not that we cannot do it, the challenge is that we don’t want to do it,” he said.
Former Deputy National Chairman of PDP, Chief George, who was the keynote speaker, said for the country to move forward and to create a new Nigerian space, power must be devolved to the states, declaring that the centre must be stripped of what he termed its overbearing, crushing responsibilities.
George, who sadly recalled how the British authority in 1914 amalgamated the country of different nations for their selfish economic interest, said it was time states were allowed to look within their localities and define their paths, cultivating their resources to be self-reliant rather than waiting for monthly handouts from the centre.
According to him, currently, Nigeria is running predicated on charity, a situation he said encourages laziness, discourages hard work and creative enterprise.
“To move forward, to recreate a new Nigerian space, power must be devolved to the states. The centre must be stripped of its overbearing, crushing responsibilities. Let the states look within their localities and define their paths, cultivating their resources to be self-reliant rather than waiting for monthly handouts from the centre. To be sure, we are running a country predicated on charity, encouraging laziness, discouraging hard work and creative enterprise.
“Again, in a true federation, the states are the arbiters of their own fortunes. They must create wealth by looking within their environment to exploit their natural resources to grow their economies,” Chief George said, citing the example of Japan which he said had developed largely based on the vast human resources of its people.
“Japan is largely a nation floating on various islands, stripped of any natural resources. But the gift of the nation is the vast human resources of its people. Japan imports raw materials from all over the world and turns them into various products for exports, widening their fields of entrepreneurial edge, ranking the Island nation effectively number three most developed economy in the world,” he said.
“The Chinese industrial revolution of the 21st Century has broken many grounds in commerce, in technology, in medicine, in construction, in aviation and virtually in all fields of human enterprise. In less than two decades. it has removed more than 200 million people from the poverty roll.
“China boasts of the fastest super-train, the longest bridge constructed in the record, unbelievable time. And her prompt reaction in containing the novel coronavirus is striking and enviable. After cordoning the affected population, China boasted it would build a brand-new hospital with beddings, fittings and all ancillary necessities in 19 days. China nullified her own estimation by constructing the hospital in 12 days!
“That is dedication. That is a rare national will predicated on a common pivot to excel, to enhance itself, to strengthen entrepreneurial largeness and shore up the field of creativity with total commitment,” he added.
George said a nation was not a mere conglomeration of a space and a people, but more, arguing that it was “about agreed destiny and collective vision; a nation is about shared values with well-hewn cultivated ideals; the effortless summation of a common dream, of common truth, of common objectives, of agreed realities.”
“A nation is the spontaneous voiding of parochial limitations. It is the deliberate eclipsing of ethnic or sectarian articulations. It is to reside in a unifying universe where growth is measured by hard work and merit, where human enhancement is predicated on demonstrated rallying virtues of leadership, of the strength of character, of dedication to duty and repose in honour.
“A nation is about equity, the fairness, doctrine, loyalty far beyond the pale of selfish recourse and of ethical balance in the affairs of the state. Itis about the accommodation and the embrace of knowledge, the promotion of plural contributions, the necessary engagement of alternative positions without the fear of retribution from the subsisting power,” he argued.
The PDP chieftain, who is also the Atona Oodua, while applauding the setting up of the South-West Security outfit tagged: “Operation Amotekun,” said in conclusion that it was better for the “overwhelming, unwieldy centre” to restrict itself to national defence against external aggression, the printing of currency and international diplomacy.
“Let the other powers be devolved to the states like in true federation,” he demanded.
Speaking, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media, Mallam Garba, denounced the generalisation of attacks by Nigerians, who he said found comfort in blaming Fulani herdsmen for them, pointing out that such development was dangerous for the country.
Garba, while asserting that President Muhammadu Buhari, was not in anyway in support of criminalities, pointed out that rogues were everywhere and should be dealt with according to the law of the land.
“When you described criminals by their ethnicity, you are making things worse. Rouges are everywhere, we should deal with them for who they are instead of generalising,” he said.
Prof Onigbinde, in his remark, said Nigeria must either restructure or it dissolved, recalling that the then Western Region under the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was buoyant enough to borrow money to the then Northern Region under a truly Federal System of government.
He dismissed arguments that the country was not ripe for states to have their own police, querying whether those who controlled the police at the federal were not Nigerians, pointing out some commissioners of police had often been found to behave as “Army of occupation” in states where they were posted.
The former Ogun State Governor, Otunba Daniel, in his speech, commended President Buhari for closing the country’s borders to foreign rice, saying that what he did in that regard was in line with India and China model.
The former governor contended that the problem facing the country was not difficult to solve, saying the solution was simple.
According to him, “The challenge we have in Nigeria is capital flight, recalling that China, with its huge population, decided to close its borders a long time ago to become a producer of nearly every good and service.
“We should ensure that there is no capital flight and that the money is invested within to create job opportunities in the country,” Daniel said.
Former Managing Director of Daily Times, Akogun Tola Adeniyi, while speaking on the controversial Ruga Settlement, called on President Buhari to cause the establishment of 36 Ruga settlements in the country.
Akogun Adeniyi, however, said those settlements must be run solely by the people of the community where they were established and not by those from outside the community.
“Let Buhari build Ruga. So my message, let there be 36 Ruga Settlements, but the people there must be people from that local community, whether in Benue or Plateau,” he said.
Also speaking the publisher of Freedom online and host of the lecture, Mr Gabriel Akinadewo, said there would continue to insecurity in the country until policing and security issues in the country were localised.
Akinadewo also blamed poor funding of police for the situation the country had found itself currently.
According to him, “What is the value of human life in Nigeria? From the North to the South, this is what everybody is asking. And if we sincerely want to answer this question, this is not the time to blame the APC or PDP or any other party but to address fundamental issues affecting the country. Everybody is talking about insecurity but no country can be safe and by extension develop without an efficient police force.
“Obviously, everybody here knows that the challenge facing the Nigeria Police Force did not start today. The degradation of the Force started after the collapse of the Second Republic and the result is here with us today.
“An effective, efficient, well-funded and well-motivated police force is central to the success of any democracy. Pitiably, successive administrations have not really done much to equip the police.”
He said that India, the world’s second most populated country after China, which had more than 2,000 ethnic groups; and with a population of 1.3 billion, 29 states and seven union territories, tackled insecurity with each state having what is known as State Police Services, directly under the control of state governments.
“Recruitment of police officers is done by state governments through State Public Service Commissions. The Federal Government also has what is known as India Police Service and the Federal Government is responsible for the recruitment.
“Because the states recruit more police officers, some of them are exceptionally good and the Indian Police Service will write to the states to deploy the brilliant ones to the Federal Police.
“There is always a ‘silent’ yearly competition among the police commands in India and New Delhi State Police Department is always number one. It’s the best in terms of staffing, infrastructure, modern gadgets, training and welfare, followed by Kerala State.
“States of Uttar Pradesh and Bihar always come last because they don’t have the same resources as New Delhi but these states are still well-protected,” he said.
Akinadewo stressed that “Nigeria’s problems are localised, so we cannot continue to use a central method to tackle local challenges. An intelligence-driven police force, working with security bodies at the states level, will ensure insecurity becomes history in Nigeria. In essence, we must re-evaluate the country’s security architecture. If we are talking of development, it can only start from the grassroots, not at the centre.
“We can’t be running a federal system with a unitary attitude and expect development,” he warned.