I
nnocent Akpotedja-Adjenughure:
Former Vice President Dr Alexander Ifeanyichukwu Ekwueme (Ide Aguata) must be regretting being a Nigerian !
Nigeria and Nigerians are so frustrating to progressive minded individual or group.
“I want to recall that during the 1994-95 Constitutional Conference, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the Second Republic vice-president of this federation, introduced and canvassed for the concept of geopolitical zones.
“I was among those who opposed it because I thought that Ekwueme, coming from the defunct Republic of Biafra, wanted to break up the country again.
“Now, I realise that I should have supported him because our current federal structure is clearly not WORKING. Dr. Ekwueme obviously saw what some of us, with our civil war mindset, could not see at the time. There is indeed too much concentration of power and resources at the centre.
“And it is stifling our march to true greatness as a nation and threatening our unity because of all the abuses, inefficiencies, corruption and reactive tensions that it has been generating.
“There is need, therefore, to review the structure of the Nigerian federation, preferably along the basis of the current six geopolitical zones as regions and the states as provinces.
“The existing states structure may not suffice, as the states are too weak materially and politically to provide what is needed for good governance.”
Atiku also weighed in on the ongoing debate over the desirability or otherwise of decentralising the nation’s police force, saying there was nothing wrong with each state having its own police unit so long as it could be insulated from and is independent of the state or regional government.
“Should we abolish the Nigerian Police because it is often abused by those in power at the federal level? Should we abolish the state treasuries because governors abuse them? And should we also abolish local governments for the same reason? No. We should, as a people, struggle for and put in place institutional safeguards against abuse of power by those in power at all levels.
“We have a chance now to put many of those safeguards in a new constitution. The argument that governors will abuse state police is rather specious,” he added.
On decentralisation of power, he said: “Why should we be talking of federal roads and federal secondary schools? Decentralisation is not an invitation to the breakup of the country and national unity should not continue to be confused with unitarism and concentration of power and resources at the federal level.
“Of course, I am AWARE that some of the main beneficiaries of our erstwhile regional parliamentary democracy have been hiding behind the call for restructuring to push for the breakup of the country because of their proximity to a finite natural resource and transient political power.”
Atiku said because of excessive centralisation and the military rule that facilitated it, the Nigerian president is the most powerful leader in the world.
“This is because he can quite literally unleash all SECURITY agencies on an individual or organisation, undermine the National Assembly, and turn the judiciary into an almost pro-government and conformist organ.
“This is not in the realm of SPECULATION; it has been happening in this country. Indeed, I drew attention to it when I was in office as vice-president and was having a political face-off with my boss. It is not healthy for democracy and must be changed,”.
,”………………………. Atiku Abubakar former Vice President on Thisday 19 Sep 2012.
