Former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku,
has reiterated his calls for restructuring the country, noting that the present
system of governance, which only pays lip service to true federalism, is not
sustainable.
The diplomatic giant made these remarks in Lagos on Monday at
the public presentation of ‘Africa in Transition’, a book written by Ejeviome
Eloho Otobo.
“As I have said on many other occasions, our country, given
its current frustrating circumstances in virtually all sectors, will not
achieve political stability if it continues to be under its present governance
architecture, which pays only lip service to federalism,” Anyaoku said.
He pointed out that the route to political
stability, for any country with the kind of diversity that Nigeria has, is
through true federalism, a fact recognised and agreed by Nigeria’s founding
fathers in the constitutions of 1960 and 1963.
According to him, “My call for restructuring is
predicated on the belief that there is no part of Nigeria that does not benefit
from belonging to a country of the size and endowment of Nigeria.
“There is no
part of the country that wants to break away. Restructuring, as some critics
feel, will not lead to disintegration of the country. It will instead create a
path to ensuring a united country, with an improved chance for progressive
development.”
Anyaoku went on to stress that restructuring means
having fewer and more viable units with each having its own constitution, “as
against the present 36 most unviable federating units that we currently have.
Also, it means
leaving to the central government responsibilities for only such national
assets and institutions as defence, monetary policy and currency, foreign
affairs, immigration, customs, and such similar national institutions.”
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