Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, has identified some flaws in the federal structure being run in the country as the main cause of various challenges facing the nation.
He said the existence of a unitary policing system in a defined federal structure is an aberration which has handicapped the state governments in the quest to effectively and efficiently tackle insecurity which has defied all federal tactics in the states.
Fayemi said there is a general sense of inadequacy and powerlessness among the federating units in the critical areas of socio-economic development.
The governor said the defective federalist ideals enshrined inNigeria’s constitution had continuously limited the power of the states to pursue individual development programmes at their own pace, stressing that Nigeria must fully address the issue of federalism if the political class is serious about lifting the country out of the current challenging situation.
The current challenges, he said, are symptomatic of any developing nation, hence, Nigeria is not an exception.
Fayemi said most of the challenges the country faces in its developmental journey are part of the necessary developmental hurdles it must cross to get to the desired destination.
He, however, advised Nigerians not to despair, but take useful lessons so that the nation does not continue to make the same mistakes over and over.
Fayemi spoke at the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, Ondo State, when he delivered a paper entitled: “Re-thinking Nigeria For Future Development,” to mark the eighth distinguished guest lecture and fifth Founder’s Day.
He said Nigeria was currently faced with security challenges that include terrorism, banditry, armed robbery and ethno-religious issues, saying the country’s security architecture remained ineffective because it suffers what one might call ‘structural obesity’.
“Our political structure is something to cast a big look into; many commentators have identified the kind of federal structure we run as one of the reasons for our numerous challenges. There is a general sense of inadequacy and powerlessness among the federating units in the critical areas of socio-economic development.
“For example, many have asked questions as to why the state cannot develop its own rail system and it has to be on the exclusive list, it’s also argued that the idea of national grid is the reason for energy crisis that we now have.
“It is just elementary that if all of our energy sources are on the single grid, the grid is bound to suffer constant and consistent collapses and infractions.
Why do we have to have a national driver’s licence and vehicle licensing system when motor licenses is obviously a municipal responsibility of vehicle inspectorate department of the state ministries of transport.
“Why do we have a unitary policing system in a federal structure? Does it not fly against reasoning that a state would have a state legislature to make its laws, the state judiciary to interpret them, but would not have a state police to enforce the law.
“I have always maintained along with my colleagues in the South West Governors’ Forum that if we could trust the state judiciary to discharge justice, which sometimes they stand against those in authority, why can’t we trust same state with the police to bring suspects before the courts?,” he querried.
He lamented the high level of poverty ravaging the people due to high incidence of unemployment, citing current World Bank data that put unemployment rate at 27 percent of the population. The World Bank data also positioned Nigeria as 162nd of 167 nations measured on Human Development Index.