By Shola Oyeyipo
The President Muhammadu Buhari-led All Progressives Congress (APC) government has been tasked to demonstrate the audacity and courage required to restructure Nigeria; stop corruption; set national goal and move the country forward.
Making the call yesterday during a state of the nation broadcast held at the church premises in Lagos titled: ‘Looking into the Future with the Eyes of Faith’, Senior Pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly and former running mate to President Buhari, Pastor Tunde Bakare, also urged the leadership to adopt the Singapore model of fighting and conquering corruption.
While he underscored that a national vision must galvanise and inspire corresponding action among the citizenry, including individuals, families, communities, corporate organisations, Bakare said the biggest indicator of the absence of a national vision is the preponderance of sectional agitations.
He highlighted agitations by the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) and the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) in the South-west to the push for secession by the Independent People of Biafra (IPOB) in the South-east, from the terror unleashed by Boko Haram in the North-east to the ugly development involving the Shiites in the North-west, from the violent attacks by herdsmen in some parts of the North-west, especially the wanton destruction of lives and property in Southern Kaduna, and in the North-central from where it has spread down to the South, and the militant quest for resource control in the South-south.
Identifying the absence of true federalism as fundamental flaw in Nigerian federal system, Bakare, who is the convener of the Save Nigeria Group, said though the “hues and cries for restructuring in our nation appear not to have been well received by this present government, it is the way to go.
“Why must we restructure? We must restructure to correct the flaws in our federal system. A federated state is defined as ‘a territorial and constitutional community forming part of a federal union’.
“Our founding fathers agreed that Nigeria would be a truly federal state with limited and specific powers allocated to the federal government and residual powers inherent in the regional governments.
“This agreement was the social contract upon which the Nigerian state was formed, but this social contract was broken on May 24, 1966, through the Unification Decree by Gen. J.T.U. Aguiyi-Ironsi’s administration, and that was the day Nigeria died.
He lamented that the 36 federating states are unable to generate significant internal revenue, unable to overcome economic challenges and facilitate accelerated economic growth.
“These 36 states should in fact become districts headed by mayors within the framework of six geopolitical zones, because they will be stronger and more productive within a zonal structure.
As zonal structures, they can pool resources to build transportation infrastructure; as zonal structures, they will empower local governments to bring effective governance directly to the people.”
Eulogising the government for some achievements recorded in the anti-corruption war, particularly with the recent searchlight beamed on the judiciary, the clergyman-turned politician said Nigeria is “still fighting corruption-our nation’s perennial archenemy-with kid gloves.”
“It is very disheartening that allegations of corruption remain rife in our country, even against key office holders in the present government. In my search for solutions to our ingrained corruption, I recently came across the Singapore model of fighting and conquering corruption in a book by Jonathan Tepperman titled: ‘The Fix: How Nations Survive and Thrive in a World in Decline.’
“From being dubbed ‘Sin-galore’ after independence in 1959 to being ranked the seventh least corrupt state in the world by a 2014 Transparency International report, Singapore’s upward trajectory provides a compelling contemporary case study (Tepperman 106-107).
He implore President Muhammadu Buhari to borrow a leave from Singapore leader, Lee Kuan Yew, who took personal responsibility for stemming the tide of decay, focusing his campaign squarely on corruption which then, as in Nigeria now, was part of their culture.
“As Nigerians know too well, winning an election is one thing, governance is another kettle of fish-but we cannot, in good conscience, continue to make excuses. Thirty-five year old Lee Kuan Yew did not only win but was, in the same vein as this administration, immediately confronted with multi-faceted threats to Singapore’s stability, including severe under-development, widespread poverty and ethnic divisions,” he noted.
