Nigerians have the right to complain because this is a democracy – the government of the people, by the people and for the people.
Former Nigerian Ambassador to the Philippines, Dr Yemi Farounbi, in this interview with ROTIMI AGBOLUAJE, spoke on how the Supreme Court contradicted itself on local government autonomy, and solutions to the food crisis that led to widespread protest in Nigeria. And in his June 12 speech, the President quoted Franklin Roosevelt as saying that the best form of government is democracy.
Two or three months after his inauguration, he promised that he was going to acquire 150,000 hectares of land to plant corn. We haven’t seen that in the market. So, he’s been tall in promises, but not in action. That’s why there is hunger. We have to feed ourselves. A country that cannot feed itself can’t claim to be independent. I recall that in 1981, I visited Cuba under Fidel Castro. The rule was that you couldn’t eat in Cuba what wasn’t produced in Cuba. We have to look at the solution to agriculture differently. The people who will produce food are in local governments. They aren’t under the federal government. So, the money for reviving agriculture has to be domiciled within the state and local governments.
Then, all the people assembled in Ibadan in 1948 and they all agreed that the best way to run Nigeria was through federalism. What is federalism? Let me quote Alexander Hamilton in his federalist paper. In the early days of the U.S., there was this argument on whether to have a federation or confederation. He said a federation consists of a central government and federating units, two levels.
The error started in 1976 when the Ibrahim Dasuki Committee was set up by the Murtala-Obasanjo regime to unify the local government system. One should recognise that there are differences in cultures. For example, in the North-west they talk of emirate, in the Northeast where the Kanuri are, they don’t talk of emirate, the North-central where they are Christians or animists, they don’t talk about either.
People have been complaining that Nigeria is already over-centralised. The exclusive legislative list has 68 functions. Exclusive to the federal government is 52.8 per cent of the revenue. The 36 states get only 26 per cent and these local governments that they are running after 774 in number get only 20.6 per cent. There is no state that gets one per cent as allocation and there is no local government that gets 0.1 per cent.
Dictatorship' Dr. Yemi Farounbi NADECO Supreme Court
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
One dermatologist catering to one million Nigerians – Consultant, Cole-Adeife lamentsA Nigerian newspaper and Online version of the Vanguard, a daily publication in Nigeria covering Nigeria news, Niger delta, general national news, politics, business, energy, sports, entertainment, fashion,lifestyle human interest stories, etc
Read more »
Nigerians only want the best from govt institutions — Lagos Police PROThe spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, has admitted that Nigerians do not hate institutions in the country
Read more »
Nigerians dying of hunger, Ndume tells TinubuThe Senate Chief Whip, Ali Ndume, has poured out his pain over the astronomical increase in the prices of food in Nigeria.
Read more »
Samoa Agreement: House of Reps misinforms Nigerians about its resolutionThe lawmakers discussed the Agreement on Tuesday following the alleged inclusion of 'The LGBTQ+ clause in the document.
Read more »
Akpabio: N'assembly will ensure Nigerians have access to quality healthcareSenate President Godswill Akpabio says the national assembly will ensure that every Nigerian has access to quality healthcare.
Read more »
Tinubu caged, unaware Nigerians are hungryPremium Times - Nigeria'bs leading online newspaper, delivering breaking news and deep investigative reports from Nigeria
Read more »