FG Must Decentralise Power To Foster Development – Gambari

Prof Ibrahim Gambari, former Chief of Staff to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, says too much power is vested in the Federal Government and should be devolved to foster growth and development in Nigeria.

The elder statesman was a guest on the Sunday edition of Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television.

He said, “We have to decentralise power. The power of the central government is become so much. We have to find a way of decentralisation; it’s not necessarily by creating 50 more states or 200 more local governments but those things that could be done competently like education, agriculture, and others, let the state take charge.

“It’s not by accident that power has become so concentrated at the centre; it is the prolonged military rule. They (heads of state) nominate governors and so on. But now, we are in a democracy, and I sincerely believe that we have to take a second look at that so that matters that don’t need to be on the exclusive or concurrent lists are not there.

“We must strengthen local government authorities. The local government autonomy is a good step but it is not just about money because if you don’t strengthen the capacities of the local governments and also the process as to which people become chairmen of local governments, you can throw money there, and it goes down the drain.”

The diplomat said all Nigerians have a stake in the unity of Nigeria, its stability and its progress.

“The future of Africa depends on Nigeria. Because according to the United Nations, Nigeria will become the most populous country in the world by 2050, we are already the not populous in Africa.

“It’s not late. The country, by God’s grace, is going to survive because I believe that the Almighty has a purpose for putting that much number of people in this place, and to an extent, we cannot be ignored in the world,” he said.
-Channels