The Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has described the federalism being practised in Nigeria as fraudulent.
Amosun argued that the resources allocated to the centre when compared to the one allocated to the states is quite disproportionate, given the fact that states have more responsibilities than the centre.
The governor who spoke in Abeokuta on Thursday in a commemorative lecture for the 2016 Democracy Day, with the theme: ‘Democracy in Nigeria, the pains, the gains: Ogun example,” stressed: “the federalism enshrined in our Constitution is an important area of our democracy. But do we have a good federalism in Nigeria?
At the lecture which was put together by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Ogun State chapter, as part of activities to mark Democracy Day on Sunday, the governor insisted that what Nigeria has is nothing but fraudulent federalism, adding t5hat this is because a federalism that put all the power, all the levy and all the money at the centre but put all the responsibility at the state is not a good federalism.
“Today in Nigeria the federal government takes 74 percent of wealth of the Nation, the 36 states and Abuja share 26 percent.democracy
“But the states are given all the bureau agencies. So there is pain. For example, Ogun state as an example has 70 bureau agencies, most of these agencies require the state to support their activities financially.”
Amosun who was represented at the event by the Secretary to the State Government, Taiwo Adeoluwa, noted that the past 16 years of democratic rule in the country have had its pains and gains, both at all levels of governance.
But he was optimistic that as the country progressed, the fledgling democracy in the country would continue to be refined.
“Whether it is perfect or imperfect, let us continue to refine it and refine it until it gets to an acceptable level.”
He commended the immediate past President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat even before the elections results were announced, without recourse to to violence or the intrigues of election tribunal. On the present economic hardship confronting Nigerians, the governor appealed to them to endure as their pains would soon be over.
“As the saying of the elders that when our mothers are going into the labour room, they are usually in so much pain but after the baby is born, they will smile. By God’s grace that will be the story of Nigeria at the end of the day.”
Amosun said that his administration had tried within the limited resources at its disposal to bring dividends of democracy to the people of the state.
“I am not saying we have scored 100 per cent but within the limit of resources available to us, we have done our bit by bringing the dividends of democracy to the doorsteps of our people. “When people see the gains of democracy, it is easy for them to buy-in into what we are doing.” [myad]
