Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar on Tuesday urged Nigerians
to give President Muhammadu Buhari a “pass mark” for his efforts in the first
year of his administration.
Abubakar made the call in Abuja at the launch of a book titled:
“We Are All Biafrans,” written by Chido Onumah.
According to Abubakar, who was chairman at the occasion, of the
five areas the Buhari administration pledged to face, he has accomplished two
and should be encouraged.
He said: “He promised to look into issues like power,
insurgency, unemployment, corruption and diversification and if you are to take
two out of five, you can give him a pass mark.
“He has dealt with corruption and with Boko Haram.
“For power, give him time.”
Abubakar said the power supply issue was complex, adding that
unless the Niger Delta issue was resolved, Nigeria may not get electricity
soon.
He said: “I think the Niger Delta should be handled with a stick
and carrot approach. In 2007, before I ran for president, I met with various
stakeholders on the Niger Delta issue and they came up with a policy.
“Part of the recommendations was that the ministry be moved to
the Niger Delta and not Abuja. We have had administrations that did not do
their homework on the Niger Delta.
“If I had won, I would have sold 10 per cent shares in the NNPC;
that will give me $20 billion, which would build infrastructure for the Niger
Delta, but we will always end up with accidental leadership.
“Bring peace and development to the Niger Delta then they will
stop blowing up pipelines. Then, we will get gas and then power can be stable,
but until then, we will not get it.”
Other recommendations he gave for a better Nigeria were “a
smaller, leaner Federal Government with reduced responsibilities. This means
devolution of powers and resources to states and local governments.
“State and local governments should control education, health,
agriculture, roads and other infrastructure.
“A true federal system will allow the federating states to keep
their resources while the Federal Government retains the power of taxation and
regulatory authority over standards.
“The result will be a
political and governmental system that empowers local authorities and gives
them greater autonomy to address peculiar local issues, while enhancing
accountability and contributing to the general good of the country.
“Such a robust federal system will reduce the tensions that are
built into our current over-centralized system.”
The former vice president also preached autonomy for states, a
tax-centred revenue base, enhanced, diversified economic activities and
productivity in order to enlarge their tax bases.
He also proposed an end to the indigene-settler dichotomy, the
creation of a state police to complement the federal police and help in the
fight against crime.
He called for a restructuring of the country, saying: “Nigeria
is not working as well as it should and part of the reason is the way we have
structured our country and governance, especially since the late 1960s.
“The Federal Government is too big and too powerful relative to
the federating states. That situation needs to change and calling for that
change is patriotic.
“We must refrain from the habit of assuming that anyone calling
for the restructuring of our federation is working for the break-up of the country.
“An excessively powerful centre does not equate with national
unity. If anything, it has made our unity more fragile, our government more
unstable and our country more unsafe.”
Abubakar said restructuring would promote healthy rivalries
among the federating units and local authorities, “thereby making us richer and
stronger as a nation”.
The author of the book said he believes in true federalism and
that the 214-page would sensitise the reader to note that most, if not all, of
the problems of Nigeria were located in the way the country was structured.
A journalist, blogger and human rights activist, Onumah called
for a look at the socio-political restructuring of Nigeria to ward off “a
looming catastrophe that could endanger our collective well-being”.
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