Politics
Anyaoku, Soludo give reasons Nigeria is underdeveloped
The need for the restructuring of the country, again came under scrutiny, as a former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, and a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Charles Soludo, said except the country is restructured, the desired development sought by Nigerians will continue to be elusive.
According to them, the current political arrangement in the cannot guarantee development.
Anyaoku spoke in Abuja on Saturday at a book launch while Soludo spoke in Washington DC while speaking with some Nigerian journalists on the sidelines of the World Bank/IMF General Meetings.
According to Anyaoku, only the restructuring of the federation would ensure the rapid growth of the country, adding that Nigeria had under-performed because of its current 36-states structure, where all the states were dependent on the central government for survival,
Read also: SENATE FORGERY CASE: FG May re-arraign Saraki, Ekweremadu
Anyaoku, who advocated the return of the country to regional governments, said: “I think the Nigeria we have, of 36 federating units now, is not working. The country continues to underperform because of the 36 states we have now. About 27 of the states cannot pay the salaries of their workers.”
For the former CBN governor, the present structure of the country was outdated and would not enhance its development.
Soludo, who identified the Federal Government as a major constraint to the states, said the present structure had outlived its usefulness.
He said:“The Federal Government in Nigeria is a major constraint to the states and that is why some of us believe that the current structure that we have is for a time we no longer live in.
“The current structure was designed to share and consume the oil rent, and I have argued that the structure that is designed for consumption cannot be efficient for production. So, we know that it will have its own ripple effects.”
By Timothy Enietan-Matthews…
RipplesNigeria …without borders, without fears
Join the conversation
Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism
Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.
As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.
If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.
Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.
INVESTIGATION: In Kwara, multimillion-naira milk processing plant is abandoned, converted to a chicken outlet
After the government spent millions of naira to establish a milk processing plant in Kwara State that would provided jobs...
SPECIAL REPORT: For Sokoto communities, promise of healthcare is akin to death sentence
In this story, ABDULRASHEED HAMMAD delves into the dire realities of Primary Health Care services in Sokoto State, shedding light...
ICYMI…SPECIAL REPORT: NNPCL hides behind PIA to frustrate disclosure, accountability
Nigeria’s major oil company, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL), in what appears to be a common practice of disregard...
INVESTIGATION: Multi-million naira Ekiti resort center remains uncompleted a decade after
The multimillion-naira project, expected to comprise recreational buildings, now consists of cassava farmland, a bush used for excretion, and a...
SPECIAL REPORT: Torturous experiences of students with disabilities in Oyo tertiary institutions
For students with disabilities in Oyo state-owned tertiary institutions, learning is a torturous and distressing experience, considering the building structures...