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.
