A former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olisa Agbakoba, has described propositions of a six-year, single-term, parliamentary form of government as absolutely diversionary.
Agbakoba, speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, said those pushing forward such propositions as solutions to the leadership challenge in Nigeria were simply shying away from facing the truth.
The truth, according to Agbakoba, is the need for devolution of power to make the federating units viable.
He said the current system of governance continued to be inefficient because the central government, as contained in the exclusive list, had the bulk of 98 items of power, as well as shared with the state governments another 30 items on the concurrent list.
Referencing the development that characterized regionalism in years past, Agbakoba said more power given to states would result in healthy, intense competition regarding development of their states, which will benefit Nigeria, as a whole.
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Agbakoba said: “Propositions about six-year single tenure, parliamentary form of government are absolutely diversionary. It is because people don’t want to face the truth, and the truth is devolve power.
“Forget all this talk about six-year single tenure, is that the problem? The problem is, make the federating units viable. No one will be interested in being Nigeria’s president in the way that we kill ourselves. Six-year single tenure is not the problem. A president who has sat down there for four years, if you give him six years, is likely to be worse. The only way forward is to transfer real authority to the states.
“It is just to take the constitution that has 98 items of power and give to the states what belongs to the states and leave at the centre what belongs to the centre. Just devolve power from the centre to the states. So the states would be responsible for those things that are clearly better achieved at the state level not at federal level.
“Take education for instance, what is the business of the federal government in education. I can see the federal government dealing with defence policy, foreign policy, justice policy, monetary policy, banking, overall economic policy; everything else should be at the state level so that you don’t have the intense competition for presidential power at one level in Abuja. You will have intense competition across 36 states.
“Today the federal government stifles everything. So there is no initiative. The governors have no powers under the exclusive list; that is, 68 items of power; they have no power under the 30 remaining items we call concurrent. So a governor is no more than a ceremonial chief who has money from the centre, which he abuses to the neglect of his people. Why don’t you empower him so that he has no reason to come to Abuja?”
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