The former acting Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the former Governor of Osun State, Mr Bisi Akande, has attributed the current economic predicament and other national inadequacies to a deficiency in the Nigerian constitution.
Akande who faulted the constitution said Nigeria would have grown to the zenith if not hampered by constitutional details.
He disclosed this at the event of the 2017 distinguished Role Model Award of The Wings Schools, Iwo in honour of Late Ben Adisa Akinola, an educationist turned administrator.
According to him, the nation’s constitution had created unwarranted challenges not only to Nigeria but to its federating components.
The APC chieftain said there are many aspects in the constitution that were never workable to the Nigerian socio-economic and political structures.
“The constitution that can move Nigeria forward is the constitution that recognizes the culture of the people in relation to their occupation,” Akande said.
The former Governor of Osun State added that the background of the economic life of any community should be the type of his own culture.
He said no nation practicing federalism develops in a circumstance where all or a larger percentage of existing power is being concentrated into a single hand as a case of a unitary system of government.
“For instance in Osun State today, one can’t drive five kilometres of roads anywhere without pothole. In other words, all roads in Osun State today are bad roads, not only that, Osun is not connected to any other state.
“The same applies to other states of the federation, as many of them have been rendered subservient to the power that is at the federal level,” Akande lamented.
He also noted that until the constitution is passionately and circumstantially reviewed in consonance with the nation’s need, the nation would remain stagnant.
Akande added that it is high time for those at the helm of affairs to do the needful concerning the Nigerian constitution, saying power must be properly distributed and devolved from the centre to the federating units as being practised in other countries of the world.
“Those who wrote the constitution did not realize that political denomination and subjugation breed revolt, community disharmony and national insecurity.
“The bad constitution of 1999 has now begun to stimulate demand for ethnic self-determination and economic security otherwise being called “resource control” or “restructuring”. Whatever name you call it, community disharmony is a burden on national security and it is dangerous for economic development and peace.
“What we are saying, for instance, is that the constitution which (according to 1999 census) gave Lagos State (with 5,725,153 population) 20 local governments, also gave Kano State (with 5,810,494 population) 44 local government.
“The same constitution, which gave Anambra (with 2, 796,510 population) 21 local governments, also gave Jigawa (with 2, 875,559 population) 27 local governments.
“Such constitutional provisions seem capable of dying the federating components of Nigeria most importantly on their equal opportunity for accessing the national revenue allocations.
“Such agitations may not be healthy for community harmony, national security to influence the change for the better,” he stated.
Akande, therefore, charged the people of Iwo and all Nigerians at large on the need to emulate the good deeds of the late Ben Adisa Akinola.
The guest speakers, Prof. Olasupo Akano and Prof. Lai Olurode, former Dean, Faculty of School Sciences, University of Lagos, described late Akiola as a patriotic son of Iwo who during his lifetime strived towards the development of the town.
Echoing a similar view, the Secretary to the State government of Osun, Mr Moshood Adeoti said the legacy the late Akinola left behind in the education sector would never be forgotten.
