Attah: Dysfunctional Federal System Baneful, Says Nigeria Needs Restructuring

Elder statesman and former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah, has stated that critical issues in Nigeria such as the broken economy, falling standard of education, poor health care, decaying infrastructure among others are symptoms of a major debilitating ailment of dysfunctional federal system.

Attah, in a paper titled: ‘2019 Elections: A Triumph of the Common man and a Great Blessing for Nigeria’, said it’s clear that the underlying problem has been a dysfunctional federal system.

He submitted that given the situation in the country right now, only restructuring is the answer to correct all the ills bedeviling Nigeria.

"Once we restructure, the federating units would be coordinating rather than being subordinates to the centre, and all these associated ills will begin a process of auto-correction," he insisted.

Attah said the attraction for the centre in the kind of federal system Nigeria runs is symptomatic of the dysfunction in the system. "Have we forgotten how the Sarduana, Ahmadu Bello, rather sent Sir Tafawa Balewa to the centre as Prime Minister while he remained to take charge as the Premier of the Northern region?

"The truth is that in a proper federal system, the central government is largely immaterial to the common man. What matters most to him are the state and local governments. I sometimes forget that there is now a large population of young Nigerians who must have difficulty understanding what I am talking about because they have not known any other than the military or the present system of governance.

"But those of us who are old enough could not have forgotten how the harmonious relationship and the healthy rivalry that were engendered by our practice of true federalism spurred every part of this country to an unprecedented height of development. All that is needed is for us to accept the imperative to go back to something that had served us well in the past; to accept that restructuring is now an idea whose time has come and cannot therefore be resisted or delayed," the former governor stated

Attah, therefore, suggested the immediate formation of two national movements to midwife a new political system for the country.

According to him, "The just concluded elections have done a lot to return power to the people and they have demonstrated that Nigerians want power to be held by the people with integrity to which we should also add capability.

“Nigerians are completely fed up with people who seek power and positions just for the tyranny of controlling the treasury for themselves, their masters, their investors and contractors rather than for the development of the real stakeholders-the people.

"I have no doubt that there abounds within our population of nearly 200million people, a sufficient number of quality people to whom the leadership of this country can be trusted. So, the first movement, which I have suggested must be nationwide and not under the aegis of any political party, must be to search out the Moghalus of this country. There must be quite a few of them.

"We must search for them, find them, groom them, assess them so that in less than the four years of this tenure, there will be no doubt in anybody’s mind as to who the people would want to be their next president. I should caution that this exercise, imperative as it is, would amount to an indulgence in extreme futility unless we also firmly reestablish the country.

"The next movement, which must also be nationwide and not sponsored by any political party, must therefore be the movement to restructure this country in a painless, equitably manner."

The octogenarian concluded that what the country urgently needs now is a fresh Federal Republic of Nigeria under a fresh leadership run by fresh hands.