Politics
Nigerians from all walks of life demand that the federal government should restructure Nigeria at the launching of the My Dialogue with Nigeria by Lt. General Alani Akinrinade in Lagos
| By Anayo Ezugwu | May 3, 2017 @ 18:40 GMT |
THE call for the restructuring of Nigeria resonated again in the country with Nigerians from all walks of life urging the federal government that the time to do so is now. Speakers at the launching of the book, My Dialogue with Nigeria written by retired Lt. General Alani Akinrinade, emphasised the need to restructure peacefully or else the worst could befall Nigeria. They include Ray Ekpu, chief executive officer of MayFive Media Limited, publishers of the book, Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo State and Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State.
At the book Launch in Lagos, on Wednesday, Aregbesola said it was impossible for him to accept anything apart from restructuring of Nigeria. He said Nigeria is the only federation on earth where the police system is unitary, noting there is no other country in the world where the internal security arrangement is directed from the center.
The governor said, “I believe as we are calling for total overhaul of our federal system. Let us start by making some demands that will restructure the Nigerian police as the first step. It is not only about state police, even the structure of the police can be improved even as it is. Why must the commissioner of police in a state report only to the inspector general of police, IG? After all we have zonal police commands. What is the duty of the zonal police commands when the command in a state is not in any way connected to it. Let us federate the police system even within its present structure. I’m not saying that is the best but let us even start from there. Let it be possible for the zonal commands to have a say in how the police system works.”
Similarly, Ekpu said restructuring is an idea whose time has come. He said when states buy equipment for federal government hospitals, when they pay for accreditation of courses in federal universities, those actions represent an unspoken call for restructuring. “Now look at this: several states are setting up local policing infrastructure by different names – Hisbah or Sharia police in Kano, environment police in Cross River and local vigilante groups in Lagos and several other states.
“The states tell us that these state police forces will work with the federal police for whom all the states now buy equipment and offer allowances. Why are we deceiving ourselves? Why are we burying our heads in the sand like the ostrich while the rest of our body is exposed? Why are we running away from state police when we already have it? Haven’t you ever seen a signboard in any of the states that says: This is a federal road but we are fixing it? Please bear with us. That is a cynical, condemnatory view of our unitarist federalism and its absolute unworkability,” he said.
According to Ekpu, “last week, we were informed that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved 13 percent derivation for all states on solid minerals. That is a bold step but he must go further. Solid minerals exist in all the 774 local governments and those local communities must be accommodated in the sharing formula if we are to avoid the kind of disruption that we have had in the Niger Delta.”
Ekpu described Akinrinade as a man of integrity, humility, courage and frankness. He said that Akinrinade during the 2014 National Conference put his humility on display. “At the 2014 national conference, he put this effortlessly on display. The conference had a surfeit of movers and shakers in various fields. Some of them proud members of his own profession, soldering, would rise by first chanting their ranks, titles and awards like Ifa priest but this man, our man of the moment, would simply say ‘my name is Alani Akinrinade.’”
“Considering all that he has been, chief of army staff, chief of defence staff, minister of the federal republic in several ministries and Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger, he is eminently entitled to some bragging rights but he has refrained from crowing like a cock. What he did is called humility,” he said.
Other dignitaries who attended the book launch include, Bisi Akande, All Progressives Congress, APC, chieftain, Jonathan Adio Obafemi, chairman of the occasion, Adebayo Williams, reviewer of the book, former military generals and many others.
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