George
A Former National Deputy Chairman of the opposition PDP, Chief Olabode George has called for a new social order in Nigeria that makes the citizenry the true sovereign in a democracy and their welfare the purpose of governance.
Speaking on Tuesday at the 5th Annual lecture organised by SWAAYA Ltd publishers of Freedom Online in Ikeja, the Lagos capital, the PDP chieftain noted that such an egalitarian system can only work under a system fashioned by the 2014 National confab during the tenure of President Goodluck Jonathan and not under the current 1999 “military” Constitution which empowers the center to the disadvantage of the constituent units.
Speaking to the theme of the lecture: ‘2023-2027:Nigerians, Elected Leaders And Expectations’, George who recalled that, having served that long in the Military, “l can confirm to you that the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria is absolutely military inclined and this will never take us to our promised land,” called for the implementation of the recommendations in the 2014 Confab on devolution of powers to the units in the federation, autonomy for states and local governments, decentralized police up to the local government level and fair and equitable sharing revenue formula.
He couched his viewpoints in spiritual terms and called on the governing to put Almighty God first in all that they do.
“Let us put an end to the economic inequalities, injustice, unfairness in the distribution of our God given resources and our financial wealth,” he said, adding that, “If we have the fear of God, moving forward, our nation will rise again.”
Other speakers like Former Managing Director of the Daily Times on Nigeria, Tola Adebiyi express pessimism about the country’s future under the current regime of corruption, impunity and crass exploitation by the ruling elite, while governor of Imo State represented by his commissioner for information, Mr Declan Emelumba, said the diversity and multi – ethnic composition of the country makes effective communication possible but expressed the hope that Nigeria will fulfill it’s destiny as a rich and reliable country through ongoing social and economic engineering of the polity.
Welcoming participants to the lecture, The Managing Director of Freedom Online, Mr Gabriel Akinadeo said the centralized, command structure of the federation was stifling meaningful growth and development and called for governance to be decentralised.
“Nigeria’s problems are localised, so the federal government cannot continue to use a central method to tackle local challenges.”
Dignitaries at the crowded event included Governor Duoye Diri of Bayelsa State, represented by his chief press secretary, Dan Alabara, former Bayelsa military governor, Navy Captain Omoniyi Olubolade, President of the Nigeria Guild of Editors, Eze Anaba, his predecessor, Mustapha Isah, members of the Guild, Gani Adams, the Are Onakakamfo of Yoruba Land.
