Adopt National Conference Report, Bakare Tells FG

The Senior Pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly, Tunde Bakare, has emphasised the need for the Federal Government (FG) to execute the recommendations of the 2014 National Conference. The clergy added that the outcome of the conference is in conformity with the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Pastor Bakare also advised that President Buhari should ensure diversification of the Nigerian economy, and employ a regional approach to national development. Speaking in a state-of-the-nation address in his church with the title, ‘Road Map to Successful Change,’ the clergy said; “Let it be known that in spite of the rejection of our pre-election call for a transition period, Nigeria is now a nation in transition. This transition period will predictably be followed by a revolution which will, in turn, be followed by a reformation that will eventually usher in the desired transformation of our nation. “A key outcome of this process will be the emergence of a true People’s Constitution that will facilitate national integration and provide a suitable governmental framework for the Nigeria of our dreams ”“ a truly federal state with such powers vested exclusively on the Federal Government as are necessary to firmly and prosperously knit together the federating units upon which residual powers shall be vested. “That promise of true federalism is contained in Article 14 of the Nigerian Charter for National Reconciliation and Integration, which was unanimously adopted and signed by the delegates to the 2014 National Conference, including myself, as the basis of our union. “I appeal to Mr. President not to ignore the report of the 2014 National Conference! God went ahead of you to provide a navigational map with which you can begin to steer the ship of state to a safe destination. “The APC may have refused to participate in the 2014 National Conference, but the report of that conference is completely in tandem with the promise of the APC Manifesto.” Bakare, who is also the Convener of the Save Nigerian Group (SNG), further commented that; “The APC Manifesto and the report of the 2014 National Conference are a tag team in waiting, not a thesis and antithesis. Just as this government adopted the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) and the Treasury Single Account (TSA1), which were conceived by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, the Buhari-led government should embrace the report of the 2014 National Conference. That report may have been produced under a PDP government, but it is not a PDP document. It is a Nigerian people’s document. All the delegates to the 2014 National Conference, East, West, North, and South endorsed the report without a single vote on any issue.” “We must examine the diversification thrust not just in terms of the over-reliance of the Federal Government on petroleum for export revenue, but also in the failure of state and local governments to internally generate revenue. “The need for diversification also brings to the fore the question of viability of states in relation to the need for economies of scale. Can the states, as presently constituted, maximize their endowments even if more power were to be devolved to them? This, I believe, also explains the inability of states to optimize agriculture as it is on the Concurrent Legislative List. “This introduces to the debate the need for a zonal or regional approach to national development, and in this regard, we ask: is it sheer coincidence that the nation’s bio-geographical features, including the vegetation belts and rivers, roughly divide the landscape into six geographical zones? Shouldn’t these zones provide a basis for economic mapping and development? Why were the regions in the days of our Founding Fathers so economically viable to the extent of sustaining the Federal Government? Why can’t we begin a geo-economic path to geopolitical restructuring? Who is afraid of zonal commissions and geopolitical zones; and, if I may add, who is afraid of zonal federating units? Time has come for us to “feed our faith” in this regard and “starve our fears to death.”