Abuja – Mr Nwoha Amaechi, former Speaker, Imo House of Assembly, has called for the restructuring of Nigeria to enhance constitutional, administrative prosperity and economic as well as political stability of the country.
Amaechi made the call in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Friday while reacting to the call for the restructuring of Nigeria.
He said that the call, if allowed to see the light of the day, would also ensure indivisibility of Nigeria, where negative cultures like corruption, among others would be history.
Amaechi, who is also a lawyer, said that true federalism was attainable through constitutional expectations and resolutions of the people.
The former speaker called on the National Assembly to hasten the final review of the 1999 Constitution.
‘’The 1999 Constitution is more of a decree than a constitution.
‘’We must amend it for us to begin a journey to true federalism. The 1999 Constitution gave much power to the centre, thereby making our federalism more of unitary than decentralised,’’ he said.
He stressed the need for government to be much concerned about ownership or control of resources by the states, except security agencies like the army and others.
‘’In a true federalism, states or regions are supposed to be in charge of resources in their various domains for speedy development.’’
He said that true federalism would go a long way in stabilising the economy through specialisation in the areas of economic advantage such as production of cocoa, among others.
According to him, states or regions will be compelled to specialise on their areas of economic advantage for optimal output.
The lawyer urged the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government to give restructuring of Nigeria a speedy consideration, saying that it was imperative for a greater nation.
‘’We must walk away from the stone age where religious, political, ethnic bias and corruption has become way of life.’’
Amaechi, however, reiterated his call for a unicameral legislature with equal representatives from states.
He said that in such arrangement, lawmakers would also be appointed ministers for administrative efficiency and accountability of the government that would be devoid of cost.
Amaechi said that by such system, such lawmakers would be performing two duties with one salary, thereby reducing the cost of governance.