A former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Mr Emeka Anyaoku, says some key issues that Nigeria’s National Conference should address are ‘achieving true federalism and cutting the cost of governance’, which he says is major for the country’s existence.
Anyaoku’s comment on Wednesday carried tones of high optimism that the National Conference will address critical issues plaguing the country.
He pointed out that the present structure of governance in Nigeria would not lead the nation to the peace, stability and progress that it sought.
He suggested a restructure of governance architecture, saying that “Nigeria needs to return to regionalism which would give its citizens a truer federation than what exists at the moment”.
“If we had a federation of six units, based on the existing six geo-political zones, with the existing states remaining as development areas within the regions, but without the full paraphernalia of full administration, which contributes to the fact that we as a country at the moment are spending over 70 per cent of our revenue on just administration, we could never develop on that basis.
“Also, the fact that we do not have a genuine federation means that there is what I have described as ‘destabilising competition for the control of the centre’. A competition that fans the embers of ethnic differences, religious differences and to check all that, if we had a truer federation of six units with each unit developing at its own pace, but with all of use coming together at the centre for the national institutions, we can be surer of greater peace and stability in the future,” he said.
