NAN-H-57
Restructuring
By Lydia Ngwakwe
Lagos, June 21, 2017 (NAN) Mr Jude Adejuwon, the National Youth Leader, KOWA Party says the restructuring of Nigeria based on the principles of true federalism is the business of every citizen.
Adejuwon said this while reacting to the persistent calls by many Nigerians for the restructuring of the country.
The youth leader told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos on Wednesday that for governance to get closer to the people, there was need for the country to run a truly federal system.
Cue in audio (Adejuwon)
“The question that you really want to ask is, is it about true and fiscal federalism or about the kind of people that are elected into our system.
“Governors right now cannot be able to utilize fully the resources within their states because of our current system of government, but in other (nation) states that work for example Dubai, they don’t practice federalism and things work in these places.
“So as much as possible we run a system in Nigeria that is called a federal system that is not truly federal; and if we are going to say that we want to practice this federal system, we need to be able to devolve power away from the Centre.
“We need to be able to get a local government chairman who is very close to the people, have assets that he can be able to use to improve the lives of his own people.
“We need to be able to bring governance close to the average Nigerian.
“Nobody else can make Nigeria work apart from Nigerians.’’
Cue out audio
Federalism is the mixed or compound mode of government, combining a general government (the central or ‘federal’ government) with regional governments (provincial, state, cantonal, territorial or other sub-unit governments) in a single political system.
Its distinctive feature, exemplified in the founding example of modern federalism of the United States of America under the Constitution of 1787, is a relationship of parity between the two levels of government established.
It can thus be defined as a form of government in which there is a division of powers between two levels of government of equal status.
Nigerian federalism began in 1954 under the tutelage of the British colonial authorities.
The founding fathers of the country opted for federalism because of their belief that federal states have the intrinsic structural and institutional capacity to accommodate diversity.
The multifaceted differences that exist among the peoples of Nigeria, as well as the gargantuan size of the country, made the choice of federalism a necessity.
However, the problems inherent in amalgamating myriad different peoples and regions continue to provoke debate and controversy, which are often directed at the country’s federal system. (NAN)
LED/ERO/LAB/YEE
================
Edited by Emmanuel Okara/Lydia Beshel/Emmanuel Yashim