Prof. Maxwell Gidado, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and Professor of Constitutional Law, says that a decentralised government may be the solution to the long agitation for Biafra.
Gidado stated this in an interview with our Correspondent on Wednesday in Abuja.
The legal expert was reacting to his recent lecture at the Nasarawa State University 53rd lecture entitled: “Nigeria’s Unitary-Federalism and the Restructuring Debate: Perspectives from the Jurisprudence of Constitutionalism.
He explained that in a decentralised government, each state will be independent of the federal government, and there would be no complaints of marginalisation from any state.
He said that the reason was because the state would no longer be controlled by the federal government, and any issue of corruption would easily be seen as arising within the state.
Gidado said that one of the vital functions of government to its citizens is the provision of security to them and their properties.
“Having help coming to your doorstep in the quickest time is the dream of every person.
“When the country is restructured, each state will be responsible for its police as well as firefighters, this will ensure that help can easily be provided,’’ he said.
Gidado noted that it was no longer news that most firefighters often arrived at fire scenes when issues were already out of hand.
According to him, these fire-fighters in most cases complained that the equipment they required for their services was not sent to them.
He said that in a restructured Nigeria, each state would be responsible for providing all the needed equipment that would enable it to function more efficiently.
On electricity, he said that currently, the federal government is responsible for power generation for the various states, and presently, it is glaring where that has led the country to.
“But giving the power to the state government, that each state should stand alone and generate power to be consumed by the states, will lead to more efficient power management.’’
The Senior Advocate of Nigeria said that in a decentralised state, it would be the responsibility of the state government to provide education for members.
He said that the building of universities and the payment of salaries to lecturers would be the sole responsibility of the state government.
Gidado said that giving more powers to the state would likely result in increased competition among the states, as each would try to outdo the others.
“This could lead to more development and innovation as well as increased tax yield as each state would be dependent on its tax yields.’’
He added that there would hardly be embezzlement, as it would be easily tracked.
“See Lagos state as a typical example of a state which relies solely on its internally generated revenue (IGR).
