Clamour For Federalism, Attempt To Put North On Defensive – Ganduje
Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, has described the clamor for true Federalism by some groups in the country as an attempt to put the Northern region on the defensive.
Governor Ganduje spoke, on Monday, when he received at the Government House, the progress report of the Kano State Committee on True Federalism which was inaugurated some months ago.
The committee, led by a former Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Sule Hamma had Alhaji Tanko Yakasai , Dr Junaid Mohammed, Alhaji Bashiru Tofa, Alhaji Musa Gwadabe and Hajia Aisha Ismail alongside several personalities as members.
According to Governor Ganduje, the clamor for true federalism was inspired by the efforts of its promoters to present a narrative that the Northern part of the country was at advantage at the expense of South in the scheme of things in Nigeria.
He recalled that initially, the North had tried to shy away from the debate, but said that they later braced up to the debate.
He acknowledged that apart from the inauguration of the Committee at the state level, other bodies at the regional level like the Northern Governors Forum had set up similar committees to come up with their positions for the debate.
He welcomed the call for the debate, saying that in a democracy, debate for better society was not something to scare people while concurring that some aspects of governance in Nigeria needed a review.
“The Military itself has some features of the unitary system, so the child that came out of the military must have some features of the unitary system of government” he stated.
“That is why the Federal Government became so bogus, became so strong in terms of responsibilities and the revenue of the country” he stated while adding that he was in support of the fact that the Federal government should drop some responsibilities for the state.
He appreciated the members of the committee for stepping outside their brief to deliberating on other aspects of good governance in the state.
He said that his administration was committed to making every member of Kano’s huge population an asset, rather than a liability, so that,, “What China is to the world, Kano should be to Nigeria”.
