Governor Kayode Fayemi Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi has said that restructuring Nigeria through national dialogue will allow for greater decentralisation and devolution of powers and therefore address the growing agitations ubiquitous in the country. Fayemi, who spoke in Lagos on Thursday said that Nigeria must embrace the restructuring of the country's political and administrative system before it is too late.
At the 60th Distinguished Lecture of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), the governor said the agitations and discontent being felt in parts of the country are evident of the structural challenges the country is facing, adding that they can be discussed and amicably agreed upon through effective dialogue. "Embrace political restructuring through a national dialogue process before it is too late. The discontent and agitations that are being felt in parts of the country are symptomatic of structural challenges that can be discussed and amicably agreed upon when all constituent units of the Federation come together to discuss and agree on what the Nigeria of their dreams means. "Addressing the national question will only ensure that we are on a path to greatness and will generate the sense of unity of purpose required for us to attain our best potential; "Undertake concerted efforts towards revamping structures and instruments of our foreign policy. Here, I refer to modernizing and adequately funding the Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs, our Missions abroad, as well as institutions such as the NIIA, NIPSS and IPCR.
"Ensuring that our most gifted hands are recruited into our Foreign Service and related institutions will only result in a better-informed foreign policy machinery," Fayemi, who is also the chairman of Nigerian Governor's Forum said. Regional socio-political groups including Ohanaeze Ndigbo and Afenifere have consistently canvassed the restructuring of Nigeria along the lines of fiscal federalism, resource control and state policing. However, President Muhammadu Buhari has been unyielding and unwilling to initiate significant process for the country's restructuring despite that it was one of his campaign promises in the buildup to the 2015 presidential election that brought him to power.
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