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| Nigeria on the African map. Courtesy: Wikipedia |
This, according to them, is to make way for devolution of more powers to states and entrench fiscal federalism in Nigeria.
The two lawmakers, who spoke on different occasions, said they were unanimous that Nigeria would not make much progress if the country continued with the present system of unitary federalism and over-dependence on the centre.
The former Speaker, who spoke with newsmen as part of activities to mark his 50th birthday, expressed delight that the two chambers of the National Assembly had already inaugurated separate ad-hoc committees on the review of the constitution.
He said: “There is the national question of the structure of our federation. Some people say it is not balanced, others say it is cumbersome and that unless it is unbundled there will not be much progress.”
Similarly, Mr Daniel Reyenieju, who represents Warri Federal Constituency, said the National Assembly should work towards a new system whereby every state or region was allowed to develop at its own pace, while the Federal Government will be saddled with major national responsibilities such as defence, foreign affairs and currency.
He acknowledged the fears of some sections of the country on the issue of restructuring but said there was no need to be scared of change if such a change could positively transform the lives of the citizenry.
He attributed the fears to the complex composition of the country and the bitter memories of the civil war but urged the National Assembly to put sentiments aside and leverage on the present opportunity of the constitution review to bring in some elements of restructuring in the polity.
“I have seen some state governors complaining that they are in Abuja three days of every week so they have little or no time to concentrate on the governance of their states. For every one week which is about five working days, the governors are here for two or three days; taking the risk of flying and at the detriment of governance in their states.
That is not federalism; that is not the kind of federalism that we should be practicing in this country with the kind of responsibilities that we have. For a governor that wants to work on a federal highway in his state because the road is bad and affecting economic growth has to come to Abuja to beg the Federal Ministry of Works to give him approval to do so.
This is the kind of federation that we have. Everybody s dependent on the centre and that is why the centre is so attractive. This is why you find out that during every presidential election, there is so much heat as if the nation is going to burst.
“I give you another example. We have before us a very important but controversial bill – the Petroleum Industry Bill. Unfortunately, some of our colleagues from the northern part of the country believe the PIB is anti-North but whenever it is to be discussed you find these our colleague opposing the bill because they think it is a South-South bill.
We are talking about a bill that deals with the oil and gas industry which is the main revenue earner and therefore at the root of the survival of this nation. How do we divorce ourselves from these sentiments of regionalism, ethnicity and religion to enable us concentrate on the more important issue of nation building?
The survival of this nation today is predicated on oil and the bill is actually meant to look at the production and sale of oil. So if we don’t do it very well, what will be our fate in the nearest future? There is no part of this country that is not blessed with one natural resource or the other.
It all depends on the level of interest we show and how we tap these resources,” he said.
Reyenieju argued that given the complexity of the nation and the enormous resources available in every state the best solution to poverty, unemployment and underdevelopment will be for the citizens to collectively agree that every state or region should exploit its own resources, earn revenue and pay taxes to the centre.
The agitation to have true federalism, the lawmaker said, was not to punish any section of the country but to make room for real growth and development on the basis of each component unit of the federation growing at its own pace.
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