A former head of political affairs, United Nations-African Union (UN-AU) Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Prof. Babafemi Adesina Badejo, has told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to jettison any plan to restructure Nigeria.
He proposed, instead, a return to Nigeria’s pre-civil war confederal system of government, describing it as the best for the country.
Badejo, who took a cursory look at the performance of the president in last one month, said Tinubu could achieve more than his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari, if he sustained the current tempo
The professor of political science and international relations, who delivered yesterday the maiden inaugural lecture of Chrisland University, Abeokuta, Ogun State, said the talk about restructuring the country was deceitful.
In the lecture titled: “Interests”, Badejo said the plethora of challenges confronting Nigeria today which have prompted agitations for restructuring, would be better served under a confederal system.
He said, “I remain extraordinarily proud of what Chief Obafemi Awolowo was able to achieve for the Western Region which was unparalleled in Africa. But, we derailed when we started placing the emphasis on the centre. And Col. Chukwuemeka Ojukwu and General Yakubu Gowon recognised this and they opted to having a confederal Nigeria.
“Clearly. And when they came back, the externals and some internals derailed that agreement, then we went into the civil war.
“Now, if we want to rebuild Nigeria, we must start at the level of a confederal arrangement. I am suggesting that if we are to go forward, the focus should be a confederation and not all the talk of restructuring which are just deceits. Those things to restructure are more fundamental.
“I am talking of the Nigeria of today because we have a militaristically centralised federalism. Nothing other than that. Militaristically because the military stayed in power for so long and we now see everything like command in the military hierarchy. A situation whereby the president sits in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and dictates all over the places.
“Though there is some fightback, they are not enough. So, if we are to move away from that militaristically centralised arrangement, it is not to say that we want to build the regional entity in the six geo-political zones and then have a governor-general over other governors.
“All those are unnecessary waste of money. We should have everybody take charge of what is in their territory and build from that. You will see that those who are just waiting for the federal allocation now will have no choice but to work harder,” he said.
Badejo insisted that the Tinubu’s presidency would not do much in the eradication of corruption because of institutional challenges that are beyond the president.
He said, “When you look at our institutions today, the objective realities that we face are beyond Tinubu. What happened? At our National Assembly (NASS) today, you remember the saga of ‘off the microphone?’ That is exactly what we now have at the leadership of our National Assembly (NASS).
“But Tinubu could not stop that because of the various interests involved. And you know, he cannot stop that because he is not making corruption the yardstick of his efforts”.
Badejo said “politics is interest” geared towards public service.
He regretted that the 1999 Constitution has proved to be an unworkable document.
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