VANGUARD: National Newsreel

WEDNESDAY, 2ND MAY, 2001

I Aminu calls for unitary govt, dismisses sovereign confab

By Bolade Omonijo & Chris Ochayi

LAGOS— NIGERIA’S Ambassador to the United States of America, Prof. Jubril Aminu, has dismissed suggestions that only a sovereign national conference could guarantee a stable polity.

While delivering this year’s Champion Annual Better Society lecture on Monday, Prof. Aminu who spoke on 'Nigeria: The challenges of true federalism' called for the introduction of a unitary system of government.

He observed that Nigeria is "heading towards a unitary system which I personally think is the answer and which is where we are heading to eventually."

Prof. Aminu, a former education and petroleum resources minister cautioned against wholesale rejection of the 1999 constitution. In place of the clamour for a sovereign national conference, the guest lecturer said constitutional amendments should take care of all detected oversights.

"The only available option is through the amendments as provided by the constitution itself", he emphasised.

Prof. Aminu dismissed the view that the federal government had been appropriating power at the expense of other tiers of government because it retains a disproportionate share of the federally- collected revenue.

He lambasted those he called "power- seeking local elite" for manipulating the local people against national unity and rather advised the states to devise other means of generating revenue.

Prof. Aminu spoke in favour of strengthening local governments to play greater role to further the interests of their people.

On the scourge of unemployment that has consistently attracted the attention of economists and critics, Prof. Aminu called on the various tiers of government to pay special attention to the welfare of the youths.

Painting a rather grim picture, Prof. Aminu who came into politics towards the end of General Babangida’s sojourn in power said "no scholarship, no job, no house, no car, no family to raise, no leisure, no savings. I am worried that even in this dispensation, employment opportunities still appear sluggish. This will then be the revolution we never had and pray we never have."

Prof. Aminu supported on- going moves to extend the tenure of the executive from four to a single term "between five and seven years."

Speaking earlier, the Senate president, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim who was the chief guest of honour said true federalism should be seen as one of the challenges of democratisation.

He said: "Whenever you talk about federalism, you are talking about the factor, you are talking about an essential ingredient of Nigeria as a nation-state."

"The fundamentals of coexistence are lacking in Nigeria. And that is why we are still talking about federalism, true federalism, national conference, Sharia question, resource control, restructuring etc."

Dignitaries at the lecture included the chairman, Senator Cornelius Adebayo, a former governor of Kwara state, Air Commodore Dan Suleiman, Chief Edet Amana, Chief Segun Awolowo and Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

This stupid ‘One Nigerianist” Southerners don’t get. when the Hausa/Fulani wants something he goes and grab it. He says it like he wants it to be said. When the Southerner attempts to say it like it is, they call him aggressive, including describing his idea as idiotic.