Gana, Ekwueme, others call for true federalism, power devolution

dimeji akinloye

June 13, 2016 12:16 AM

They said that restructuring and resource control by regions was a panacea to end acts of uprising across the country.

Professor Jerry Gana

Dr

Ekwueme spoke in Enugu on Sunday, June 12, at the 17th Annual Convention of the Igbo Youth Movement (IYM) with the theme `Nigeria, still in pursuit of true fiscal federalism’.

The former vice-president, who chaired the event, said that the British colonialists had earlier divided the country to enable each region control and manage its resources without interference.

''The British colonial masters divided the country in such a way that every region will operate within its constitution,” he said.

The guest speaker and former Information Minister, Prof. Jerry Gana, said that the key solution to Nigeria’s problem was through true federalism and devolution of powers to states.

''True fiscal federalism is the only form of association that will allow peace and stability in the country and each region should be allowed to manage its resources the way they want it,” Gana said.

He noted that the formula for allocating revenue made the Federal Government to get richer while the states operated like beggars.

''States should be allowed to manage its resources to enable them govern their people the way they want and allocate some percentage to the Federal Government.

''Government should not be far from the people and the federating unit should be made strong to meet the needs of the people,” he said.

Gana recommended continuous dialogue and the implementation of the resolutions of national confab by the government as the only means the recent agitation and other national demand could be handled.

A Yoruba leader, Chief Ayo Adeabayo, said that the various acts of political instability in the country were because the constitution under which the country was governed was not good for heterogeneous country like Nigeria.

''To put a stop at the various uprising in the country such as Niger Delta Avengers, MASSOB, IPOB etc, our constitution needs to be changed to allow for restructuring of the country under true federalism".

READ: 'Now that Sheriff is removed, we'll cooperate,' Gana says

In her remarks, a Niger Delta Activist, Ms Annkio Briggs, condemned the blasphemy killing of a woman, Bridget Agbamihe, in Kano as well as herdsmen attacks in Nimbo, Enugu State and other parts of the country.

Briggs condemned the destruction of oil and gas pipelines in the Niger Delta, alleging that those avengers were not from Ijaw but Somalia.

dimeji akinloye