L
LequteMan
Guest
The guest speaker at the 2017 Ramadan lecture of the Yoruba Tennis Club, Onikan, Lagos Mr Ibrahim Babatunde Jose has expressed fears that poor Nigerians may soon start to attack rich Nigerians.
According to him, "there is too much injustice in the land; people are dispossessed and impoverished as a result of the inequitable distribution of benefits which accrue from our God-given resources. The hungry poor will soon have nothing to eat and will begin to devour the rich. Then the fight will start!”
He decried the uneven wealth distribution in the country and said the elites had not done enough to effect positive change but rather did a lot more to worsen the situation.
“Let it be said that the root cause of our problems are the elites. As for the average citizens of this country, all they ask for is their daily bread. As late Awolowo said: ‘The common man is not concerned with who is in power; he is more particular about food, clothing and shelter; of a wretched type’.
Jose said restructuring, was being promoted by the elite to deceive Nigerians when they want to capture their attention in a bid to demonstrate that they are fighting their cause and for their prosperity.
"There is no doubt, what we currently have is a unitary structure, which is a throwback of military administrative structure. Even the constitution we currently operate was designed by the military to suit their command structure.
“Changing this structure is most desirable; but problematic. A proposition that cannot be easily achieved but by a long and arduous process that will involve the National Assembly and the concurrence of all the states in the Federation. These are not the men who would effect change in the structure of our political system. In the 16 years since they have been talking of ‘resource control’, ‘fiscal federalism’, true federalism’ and now ‘restructuring, no bill has been raised in our ‘collective’ called the National Assembly. Under this tainted and odious climate, we might wait till eternity for any meaningful change; definitely, not from this present crop of leadership”.
He also added that Local Government councils should be made more relevant and responsible, being the nearest unit of government to the people.
According to him, "there is too much injustice in the land; people are dispossessed and impoverished as a result of the inequitable distribution of benefits which accrue from our God-given resources. The hungry poor will soon have nothing to eat and will begin to devour the rich. Then the fight will start!”
He decried the uneven wealth distribution in the country and said the elites had not done enough to effect positive change but rather did a lot more to worsen the situation.
“Let it be said that the root cause of our problems are the elites. As for the average citizens of this country, all they ask for is their daily bread. As late Awolowo said: ‘The common man is not concerned with who is in power; he is more particular about food, clothing and shelter; of a wretched type’.
Jose said restructuring, was being promoted by the elite to deceive Nigerians when they want to capture their attention in a bid to demonstrate that they are fighting their cause and for their prosperity.
"There is no doubt, what we currently have is a unitary structure, which is a throwback of military administrative structure. Even the constitution we currently operate was designed by the military to suit their command structure.
“Changing this structure is most desirable; but problematic. A proposition that cannot be easily achieved but by a long and arduous process that will involve the National Assembly and the concurrence of all the states in the Federation. These are not the men who would effect change in the structure of our political system. In the 16 years since they have been talking of ‘resource control’, ‘fiscal federalism’, true federalism’ and now ‘restructuring, no bill has been raised in our ‘collective’ called the National Assembly. Under this tainted and odious climate, we might wait till eternity for any meaningful change; definitely, not from this present crop of leadership”.
He also added that Local Government councils should be made more relevant and responsible, being the nearest unit of government to the people.
