BEVERLY HILLS, May 22, (THEWILL) – Nigeria’s former vice president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has called for the use of the nation’s six geo-political zones as federating units rather than the curreernt 36 states, many of which he said are unviable.
He stated that for the country to get things right, it must restructure the federal system in such a way that it will devolve more powers and resources to the federating units, stressing however that political decentralization must be accompanied by economic diversification.
Atiku stated this at a lecture entitled: ‘Building a nation that works: My Diary and Way Forward’, which he delivered in Lagos on Sunday, while accepting the Hero of Nigeria Democracy Award conferred on him by Hall of Grace Magazine.
He said, “We must be open to changing the nature of the federating units, such as using the existing geo-political zones as federating units rather than the current 36 states, of which only a few are financially viable.
“We need to diversify our economy away from the dependence on oil. We need to create opportunities for our people to engage in diverse economic activities which governments will then tax for revenues.
“But we can’t do that efficiently and effectively without accurate data. I have in the past called for an end to the self-defeating politics we play with census in the country.
“With all the data gathering and analytic tools in existence in the 21st century, we have no good reason not to have accurate data on our people, down to the smallest unit, the individual.
“Without data, we cannot plan properly and all of us will lose, including those who try to inflate their population figures and those who want to suppress those of others.
“Political decentralization will also help to deepen and strengthen our democracy as it will encourage more accountability. Citizens are more likely to demand accountability when governments spend their tax money rather than rent collected from an impersonal source.”
The former vice president also asked the nation to stop digging its grave, if it must get out of the woods, adding that: “There is a saying that if you want to get out of a hole you dug yourself in you first stop digging”.
He stated that for Nigeria to get over current challenges facing it, there must be a change of approach in political and economic field.
Atiku argued that devolving more powers and resources to the federating units would encourage states to compete to attract investment and skilled workers rather than merely waiting for monthly revenue allocations from Abuja.
He also said the country need to reform her politics by reforming the electoral system.
Such reform, according to him, must ensure that whoever emerges as winner after an election is really the one freely chosen by the people.
His words, “The electoral reform should largely be along the lines recommended by the Justice Mohammad Uwais panel on electoral reforms.
“For example, funding the electoral umpire from the first line charge in the Consolidated Revenue Fund is critical; transferring the power to appoint the chairman of the electoral umpire from the president to the National Judicial Council (NJC) will help as efforts to curb the role of money and godfathers in our elections.
“We must be open to changing the nature of the federating units such as using the existing geo-political zones as federating units rather than the current 36, of which only a few are financially viable.”
On the economic front, the former vice president harped on the need to diversify the economy away from the dependence on oil and to create opportunities for the people to engage in diverse economic activities which government will then tax for revenues.
“We also need to reform the anti-corruption agencies to help depoliticise them and make them really independent. This will help to strengthen the fight against corruption, which is critical in renewing our people’s belief in the integrity of public institutions and officials,” he said.
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