Kaduna state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has called on the Nigerian government to grant autonomy of resources to states and local governments in the country.
El-Rufai made the plea while speaking
on theme “Nigeria: Achieving National Unity Through Peaceful
Restructuring” at the birthday celebration of a former governor of Osun
state and a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) Bisi
Akande.
The governor opined that “Many of the challenges that
confront our country are best resolved at the sub-national level. How
well our children are educated in the first nine years of schooling is
down to the states and local governments.”
El-Rufai explained
that “Improving health outcomes for our people, easing and widening
access to primary health care, providing routine immunisation to protect
children against vaccine-preventable diseases, guaranteeing ante-natal
care and safe delivery for pregnant women are all public services that
are within the powers of states and local governments.”
The
governor said devolution of powers to local and state governments would
enable states and local governments to be self-sufficient and
sustaining.
“The provision of extension services to farmers,
construction of federal roads and aggregation centres for farm produce,
are all state and local level functions, that the Federal Government can
never do very well.”
“Without any doubt, the Federal
Government needs to devolve more powers to the states, and the states to
the local governments,” El-Rufai said.
El-Rufai stated that “The
total revenue allocation to all Local Governments from the Federation
Account should, therefore, be determined and fixed, leaving it to the
State House of Assembly to legislate on the vertical and horizontal
sharing arrangement”.
He used the occasion to support the
establishment of state policing as part of the restructuring of the
country’s system of government.
“As a state governor, I can
testify that we simply do not have enough police officers in this
country. That is why the military is involved in internal security
operations in most of our states.”
“During the most recent
outbreak of the violent crisis in Kaduna, the determined efforts of
civilian volunteers to secure their communities helped us considerably
to stabilize and normalize the situation,”
Source:- Guardianng
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