FORMER Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, has said that it is time for Nigeria to change to a system of government that would reduce corruption and bring government closer to the people.
He stated this at a policy dialogue on new governance structure for Nigeria organised by the Abuja School Social and Political Thought (ASSPT) in Abuja.
“It is time for a change. One thing is definitely sure, we cannot continue the way we are going. If we decide to retain the system we have now, it must change the way it is being practised.
“If the easiest way to change is to change the system, then let’s go ahead and change the system to parliamentary, with all its advantages and disadvantages,” he added.
According to him, anything that will bring the government closer to the people, reduce discretion for stealing and corruption will be good for the nation.
“My understanding is that the parliamentary system is built in such a way that it will not be so easy to steal such humongous sums of money and misuse our natural resources legally.
“The problem of this nation is that government people are stealing legally. They don’t even feel that they are stealing.
“According to my own understanding, if you take more than you deserve, you have stolen,” he said.
Citing the provision of pension for governors, Onaiyekan said it was not fair, after being well paid in office, that governors are still legally entitled to houses, cars and other things after the expiration of the tenures, but a retired police officer goes home with a meagre sum as pension.
He also said that restructuring, not constitutional amendment will save Nigeria.
The cardinal said that the Nigerian constitution has consistently failed to provide a clear framework for governance and religious affairs, resulting in confusion and inefficiency within the governance system.
He also advocated decentralisation of power to allow for effective governance and decision-making at the local level.
Also at the event, the Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Mr Kingsley Chinda, an advocate of parliamentary system, said Nigeria needed to move from a system with so much baggage to the one that provides for reward and sanctions.
Chinda is one the 60 members of the House of Representatives that introduced three bills seeking to alter the current Constitution by switching from presidential to parliamentary system of government.
“The presidential system we adopted from the United States is peculiar to their country, not Nigeria,” he said, adding that the parliamentary system would solve most of Nigeria’s problems.
Chinda said that the members that proposed the bill welcome observations and contributions from Nigerians to enrich its content.
A representative of the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, Dr Akin Fapohunda, called for the provision of a clearly defined process for the restructuring of the country.
“The bottom line is that we have no process. We are seeing the good but we have not defined the process, milestones and timelines that’s what is missing.
“We agree that the house is rotten and it needs to be pulled down and we should design an alternative model, which you are now selling,” Fapounda said.
A Catholic priest, Fr. George Ehusani, said integrity is key to nation building and national prosperity.
Ehusani added that “elite idiocy” would ruin any nation no matter how perfect its structural blueprint.
