- Ibrahim Babangida
FORMER Military President, General Ibrahim Babangida, on Wednesday, said that federalism, as currently practised in Nigeria, had made the centre too powerful and, therefore, asked for devolution of powers from the centre to the states and local governments.
Babangida said he saw no wisdom in the Federal Government’s continued running of
secondary education, adding that such a responsibility should be delegated to the states and local government councils.
Speaking in Minna at the third United Nations Peace Day, organised by the Abdulsalami Abubakar Institute of Peace and Sustainable Development Studies and Pan-African Strategic and Policy Research Group, in conjunction with the Niger State government, General Babangida said that the Federal Government should now concentrate on the issue of foreign policy formulation and economic management.
Babangida, who said he was now a born again, as far as the issue of state and local police was concerned, said that allowing the states to have their own police would “strenghten our efforts in the maintenance of law and order.”
The former military president also said that he saw no reason why a senatorial election would be held in a state only for the result of the election to be announced in the Federal Capital Territory, saying “we have qualified people that can handle this type of things in the state.”
He also advocated the removal of the Federal Character clause from the constitution because “it is no longer necessary,” adding that the principle of merit should now be entrenched.
On the economy, Babangida believed that a capitalist system was the most ideal for the country and, therefore, asked that free enterprise should be encouraged, because Nigerians “are creativepeople and, if given the right environment, will go places.”
Babangida said that the Niger Delta question was a very serious issue, which should be given very serious attention just like the problem of the minorities who should not be made to look like non-Nigerians
