Nigeria Must Restructure To Progress – Nwachukwu

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maj. Gen. Ike Nwachukwu (Rtd), has called for the restructuring of Nigeria for development.

Naijaonpoint reports that Nwachukwu made the call at the 14th Chief Emeka Anyaoku Lecture Series on Good Governance in Enugu on Tuesday, themed ‘The Imperative of Good Governance: Nigeria in a Global Comparative perspective’.

The former Foreign Affairs Minister, who chaired the event, emphasized that Nigeria needs to be a proper federation that allows state autonomy for governance to reach people in the grassroots.

Nwachukwu stated that states must be allowed to be in charge of their mineral deposits for their development.

He further called on the federal government to work towards achieving state policing.

“I have long been advocating for the restructuring of Nigeria to become a proper federation, one that allows state autonomy and brings governance closer to the people.

“It should also allow states access to their mineral and human resources for their development.

“I stand for respect for the rule of law, the need for a forthright and independent Judiciary, a more effective and responsive military, police and intelligence services.

“I also stand for the creation of state police and local policing for our communities. And above all, a school system that allows relevant human resource development,” he said.

Also, Nigeria’s former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, who was a guest speaker, said radical restructuring of Nigeria’s federal arrangement was needed to address its many challenges.

According to Gambari, the restructuring must involve a rejig of the leadership recruitment process, retooling of the state as a guarantor of security, unity, equal citizenship, a new elite consensus, a complete overhaul of political parties and a greater attention to constitutionalism.