News Obiaks News

 The Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, has called for the collapse of the 36 states of the federation into six geo-political zones as part of drastic restructuring of the country's federation failing which the country's development would continually be hindered.

The abolition of the 36 states, he said, would release the latent potentials for growth by the regions, which he said, were over the years foiled by the reckless derailment of the country's federalism by successive military governments.

Ekweremadu's positions were offered in his new book, ‘Who will Love my Country: Ideas for Building the Nigeria of our Dreams' due for public presentation tomorrow in Abuja.

Ekweremadu praised the nation's Founding Fathers, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Dr Nnamadi Azikiwe and Sir Ahmadu Bello for espousing federalism as the basis of the country's federation at independence.

He said that suggestions that fiscal federalism would bring about distorted growth were untenable, affirming that even in a forest, not all trees were equal.

"The major blame for our fumbling and abortive federalism should always be laid at the doorstep of the military.
"From the first military coups d'état and the promulgation of Decree 34 of 1966 to the termination of the last military rulership on May 29 1999, the Nigerian Armed Forces snatched away not only the nation's democracy but also her federalism.

"They then took deliberate steps to unmake or mar the nation's federal arrangement. Decrees, policies and constitutions devised by the military all resulted in the termina­tion of fiscal federalism, the balkanisation and distortion of federating units.