Osoba faults Nigeria’s federalism, advocates regional govt

    
A former Governor of Ogun State, Chief Olusegun Osoba, on Wednesday advocated a return to regional structure of government, saying there was an imbalance in the federal system being operated in Nigeria.

In his contribution to the President’s inaugural speech, he wondered why “a state like Lagos with over 20 million people will have 20 local government areas while Kano State has over 40 LGs.”

He said the imbalances were “too obvious to be ignored.”

Osoba, who is representing ex-Governors Forum at the ongoing National Conference, also faulted the position of some retired military Generals, who have alleged that civilians were behind the series of coups that toppled civilian regimes in the country.

He told delegates that those coup d’états were executed by civilian contractors with the support of the military.

The ex-governor identified with the cries of female delegates over the high rate of rape cases in the country.

While female delegates have argued that rapists should be castrated or sentenced to death, Osoba advocated that “they should be banned from holding any political offices in the country.”

A youth delegate, representing the National Association of Nigerian Students, Sylvester Okoh, urged delegates to ensure that the current curriculum of the Universal Basic Education be reviewed while there should be free education up to the Senior Secondary School level.

He argued that this option remained the only way to ensure that poor children living in the rural areas were given the opportunity to access education, adding that if this was adopted, illiteracy would be drastically reduced in the country.