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Mimiko calls for restructuring of the federation

By Editor
21 January 2016   |   3:53 am
Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko has reiterated his belief in constitutional change as the only guarantee for progress in the country.
Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo state

Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo state

Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko has reiterated his belief in constitutional change as the only guarantee for progress in the country.

He said the only  change that Nigeria needed now is the change in its constitution with a view to galvanizing visible national development.

Mimiko who was addressing members of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in his office said contrary to the widely publicized change mantra of the federal government, what Nigeria needed at this crucial moment is to restructure the nation’s polity so that the federating units would be able to harness their abundant resources and create wealth for their people.

According to him, the present constitution which left the states and local governments at the mercy of the federal government will continue to jeopardize national unity and development.

He explained that his administration has remained focused in its vision to add values to the lives of the people in the areas of healthcare, education, infrastructure and urban renewal among others, noting that the empirical evidences had justified the successes of the programmes.

The Governor said his government has been able to fulfil his promises to the electorate, adding that  his government has been able to transform the state from what it used  to be when he took over power about seven years ago.

“I want to also assure you that there will be prices for the community management committee that performs exceptionally” the governor noted”, he said.

The state Deputy Governor, Mrs Grace Titilaoye Tomori charged the members of the committee to see the new school facilities as that of their individual community property, saying their job is to ensure that the schools are well managed.

Members of the committees in all the local government areas include: market women, parent forum, old student’s association, artisans, representative of students among others.

14 Comments

  • Author’s gravatar

    Mimiko is making common sense. The change Nigeria needs is to restructure governance and restructure government institutions to check corruption, and not selective war against corruption as usual. OBJ used EFCC to fight selective war against corruption. Is PMB tactics any different? Please, we want genuine change .

  • Author’s gravatar

    Corruption cannot be effectively fought and won by one governmental agency that seem to be motivated by political agenda. Corruption is fought, won, and prevented by building systems and institutions that assures accountability and probity, the ONLY reasonable way of re-building the nation, and restoring Nigeria’s glory is by going back to the very foundation, the nation needs restructuring, a restructuring that preserves the nation’s unity, but devolves power from the center, and a brazen policy that shift governmental spending on reliance on the sales of natural resources to developing human and natural resources into valuable produce for the people and the society……….

  • Author’s gravatar

    Those who want power by all means would be calling for restructuring, But what is more important now is how to get our stolen money back from the politicians and put our nation on a good footing .That is what Nigerianeeded right now

    • Author’s gravatar

      It is not easy and will not be easy for the federal government to get all these money you are talking about easily. Government has to spend money on lawyers. Legal cases are not judged by sentiments and political propaganda. The money the government will spend on lawyers will even be higher than the funds we said was looted and it will take longer time for some cases to have scaled through the legal framework with some obnoxious charges by EFCC which lacks proper investigation before presented to the court.

    • Author’s gravatar

      even if they get every kobo that was stolen back, that doesn’t change the fact that the federal government is accountable to no one. What stops them from diverting it again without the knowledge of the people? The states need to be autonomous, even a primary school kid knows that.

  • Author’s gravatar

    The issue of change is very important because you have to understand the type of change somebody is talking about. Is it a superficial, shallow change or a solid and profound one. Mimiko is absolutely right. The first change that will unity and progress in Nigeria now is constitutional change which wil effectively restructure and position the country for real progress and prosperity. Those who want the present constitution and structure to remain do not wish the country well. There will be no meaningful change until we have our constitution is amended to give room to the confederating units to be equally treated, developed and the the institutionalization of justice and peace. The former administration started on the right footing when it convened a national conference which did a nice job and gave a far reaching recommendations that will help restructure the country.

    • Author’s gravatar

      Jonathan’s conference was opposed by APC & they were ignored. National conference should have been bipartisan. You can not expect a conference opposed by APC in opposition to be implemented by an APC government.
      The said conference recommended creation of 18 more States, when existing States cant pay salaries without federal allocation.
      All Jonathan administration did was to waste our revenue when Oil price was $140PB, today Oil price is under $25PD & some Nigerians still don’t have a clue that Jonathan was a disaster to Nigeria.

      • Author’s gravatar

        After all is said and done, the solution to most of the problems facing the nation today lies in devolution of responsibilities. The federal government has no business micromanaging the economy. Every index of development has been trending down since the new structure was instituted. 1980 was worse than 1970, ’90 worse than ’80, 2000 worse than ’90 and the trend continues go down. You don’t need a soothsayer to tell you that Balewa could not have been smarter than the other leaders from Gowon down to Buhari individually or collectively. He had a better structure, and under him, the country grew from the local units, which managed their economies well, generated enough revenue, and contributed to fund the federal government. Gowon changed all of that, and his structure is unraveling. If Jonathan’s confab was wrong, let Buhari conduct a new one. The aim is to get the country going again. We cannot continue to plant orange and expect to reap apple. The governor is right.

        • Author’s gravatar

          We could not have ended up like this but for January 1966 Coup. It is anoining that those who started that problem are the same people still heating up Nigerian today in the name of Biafra.
          Osadebe built Asaba Textile Mills within 2yrs of creation of Midwest, with smaller textile Mills at Auchi & Afuze. The multi-storey building he started opposite Benin Airport was demolished in 1990’s because the abandoned building became unsafe.
          Jonathan is the greatest disaster ever elected president of Nigeria.
          Constitution or national conference is not our problem. Corruption & bad governance is our problem

          • Author’s gravatar

            The 1966 coup was wrong and is rightly condemned. That was a bad day for the nation. However, does that excuse the incompetence that has taken place since then? There was corruption under Jonathan, which was bad. There has also been corruption under other presidents and heads of state. Maintain the current corruption-prone structure and constitution and we will be singing the same song in 2019. The Jonathan you blame at least recognized that there was need for a real change, not just change of leadership and faces. The fall in oil price is exposing the limitations of the current structure, and it will severely challenge Buhari, who is unlucky to be in power when reality struck. He is reaping the consequences of the decision in 1967 to force everybody to rely on the federal government rather than the other way round.

          • Author’s gravatar

            I agree with all you said save that Jonathan & his cohorts recognised the need for change.
            Change was forced by the founders of APC & good people of Nigeria.
            That Buhari is fighting corruption will reduce the spate of looting even among PDP governors. Investment in Agric, business & solid minerals will diversify the economy from Oil.
            We are paying the price of Jan. 1966 foolishness. It is painful when those who started it blame every one else but themselves even today for their foolishness 50yrs ago.
            We can not restructure Nigeria by treat, intimidation or blackmail of Igbo Biafra miscreants or any other group destabilising Nigeria.
            For the first time, Nigeria has been removed from among 10 most corrupt Countries in the World. That is change for progress.

  • Author’s gravatar

    Decentralisation we need is to remove Federal road Construction/maintenance, power generation licencing, Oil refinery’s licencing, embedded power lines, housing construction, even 2nd Niger bridge construction & Solid mineral mining licencing from exclusive list.
    Federal government should limit itself to setting standards & ensuring that standards are met, so that 52.8% of our distributable revenue are not left in the hands of the president alone, which has been grossly mismanaged from 2007 until Jonathan’s ejection from Aso Rock.
    Centralised powers, resources & corruption are retarding progress in Nigeria.

    • Author’s gravatar

      I agree with you on decentralization. Every federal govt has mismanaged the lion share of the national revenue it takes since the day Gowon abolished 50% derivative. It did not start in 2007.