Former Minister of Education and Chief Executive Officer of Human Capital Africa, Obiageli Ezekwesili, has described the ongoing constitutional amendment by the National Assembly as a charade and waste of public funds.
Ezekwesili insisted that amending the constitution cannot
work nor address all the imbalances and inequalities facing the country.
The Senior Economic Advisor at the Africa Economic
Development Policy Initiative (AWEDPI) stated this on Thursday while delivering
her keynote address at the 7th Penpushing anniversary and annual lecture held
in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.
Speaking on the theme, “Reworking Nigeria’s Federalism,
Perspectives on Restructuring and Fiscal Federalism,” Ezekwesili, fondly called
“Oby,” stated that the National Assembly, instead of granting the people’s
request for a new constitution, started a project that would offer little to no
assistance in reorganising the nation in accordance with the principles of real
federalism.
She asserted that a new constitution that places a higher
priority on devolution of powers, justice, equity, and fairness to all people
regardless of tribes and ethnicities is the only way to address the country’s
overall problems.
Her words, “The ongoing constitutional amendment cannot
work, it cannot address our problem, it is a charade and sheer waste of
resources. The demands for a new constitution is a matter of life and death.
“For instance, when the engineer tells us that the
foundation of a building is structurally defective, is it not to take the whole
building down because it will continue to constitute an endangerment to the
people.
“You won’t say, Oga, can we just do some little adjustment
to the building, no it won’t work and this is same with nation building. So
this expensive charade that the National Assembly is embarking on and spending
money on won’t take us anywhere.”
Ezekwesili, while lamenting that today’s politics has been
hijacked and turned into a criminal enterprise gang, stressed that good
governance is not mysterious and could be replicated here in the country.
Also speaking, the chairman of the occasion, Amb Sarafa
Ishola, the immediate past Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom,
stated that responsible governance, institutional clarity, budgetary equality,
and citizen-driven accountability are all essential components of true
federalism.
He opined that in order to overcome some of the obstacles
preventing efficient administration of the nation, Nigerians must embrace
restructuring as a national revival strategy rather than viewing it as a
sectional agenda.
Earlier in his welcome address, the founder of Penpushing
Media, an online news platform, Mr Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji, said the aim of the
yearly lecture is to raise awareness of topics that could further strengthen
the country’s greatness.
Mr Kayode-Adedeji noted that the online news medium has
helped to train over 80 students from various institutions while it has also
instituted an annual award honour for the best graduating Mass Communication
students in higher institutions.
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