Dr. Adetolu Ademujimi

  SECTION A : REFORM OF GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE FOR DECENTRALIZATION/FEDERALISM; AND FOR ECONOMIC REVOLUTION & SECURITY RESTORATION The reasonable and patriotic calls for constitutional decentralization/devolution of powers/federalism in Nigeria in order to relieve the country’s governance framework of its current dysfunction and ineptitude are perhaps, categorized into three; i. The first is pro-regionalism (Afenifere & several notable sociopolitical groups; legal luminaries such as Aare Afe Babalola, CON, OFR, SAN and Chief Wole Olanipekun, OFR, SAN, FCIArb; former Commonwealth Secretary-General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku; some State Governors & traditional rulers etc.) and they advocate a return to six regional blocks/federating units in consonance with the current six geopolitical zones. It means, for instance, the North West region will have its “legal, geographical, administrative, political and economic” powers domiciled in one of the seven States therein as the r...

  SECTION A : REFORM OF GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE FOR DECENTRALIZATION/FEDERALISM; FOR ECONOMIC REVOLUTION & SECURITY RESTORATION A certain degree of “legal, geographic, administrative, political and economic” control of resources by subnational units is essential for substantial progress and development to reach over 98% of the estimated 206 million Nigerians who reside and work within the 36 States and 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs). The constitution-backed “Pocket money syndrome” entrenched in the Nigerian Federation and driven by the Federal Government (like an aged father) via central exploration of resources, revenue collection & monthly revenue-sharing is unacceptable. The custom of doling out stipends from this central purse (majorly from oil proceeds) to 36 able-bodied children, 1 nephew and 774 grandchildren (36 States, Federal Capital Territory [FCT] & 774 Local Government Areas [LGAs]) is an abysmal management practice that has killed the creativity of th...

  SECTION A : REFORM OF GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE FOR DECENTRALIZATION/FEDERALISM; FOR ECONOMIC REVOLUTION & SECURITY RESTORATION Final notes on decentralization of governance structure: Constitutional democracy forbids that governance reforms are done without recourse to the constitution which is “a set of rules and principles providing guidelines about how a State should run, how powers should be distributed, controlled, and what rights a citizen shall possess”. The necessity of decentralization/federalism/devolution of powers for economic revolution and security restoration in Nigeria does not require a new constitution that will completely displace the current military-drafted 1999 constitution (as amended) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. The National Assembly, though empowered by the same constitution to undertake constitutional reviews, should overlook the moral and mental consequence of retaining the current constitution bequeathed by the last military regime in Ni...

  SECTION B : REVAMP OF PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE The overarching legal and policy frameworks supporting the development of physical infrastructure in Nigeria neither represents the needed urgency nor creativity, and does not fully embrace contemporary global practice. When an acclaimed ‘giant’ of Africa spends about 10 years to complete a mere 127.6km-long Lagos-Ibadan highway, the inability of a bragging Federal Government to courageously plug Nigeria’s huge infrastructure gap becomes obvious. Yet, since the advent of civilian rule in 1999, the country’s humongous population has been unreasonably skyrocketing at a higher rate than the delivery of physical infrastructure by the three tiers of government. Of course, the greatest challenge is funding. The multi-potent private sector channels for financing infrastructure have been poorly explored at the Federal, State and Local Government (LG) levels. As a matter of fact, the closest tier to 98% of Nigerians - the LG councils, h...

  SECTION B : REVAMP OF PHYSICAL INFRASTRUCTURE Since the country’s return to civilian rule in 1999, all Presidential campaign promises that centered around ending Nigeria’s shameful electricity profile have failed. The unbundling of defunct National Electric Power Authority (NEPA) into generation, transmission and distribution arms has not produced the power outcomes necessary for home, organizational and industrial consumption. Albeit in 2019, the Federal Government of Nigeria signed a power deal with German multinational, Siemens, to generate 25,000 megawatts of electricity by year 2025, the amount of power currently generated (average of about 13,000 megawatts) is incongruent to the paltry 4,000 megawatts (on the average) that eventually reaches consumers in a country of 206 million inhabitants. As for the distribution end, many of the power distribution companies that scaled the bidding hurdle of the power privatization process years back have demonstrated weak financial ...