Abdulfattah Olajide
6 November 2007
No true federalism can be achieved in the country until the 1999 constitution is reviewed, Vice President Goodluck Jonathan said yesterday. Vice President Jonathan spoke at the 4th International Conference on Federalism, in New Delhi, India.
He emphasised that the solutions to the controversy over federalism in the country, is the proposed review of the 1999 constitution "which flows from a military tradition with its inherent problem of power relations between the Federal, the States, and the Local governments."
The vice president stated that long years of military rule in most African countries weakened the federalist principles entrenched by their founding fathers. He identified poverty and frustration arising from lack of access to resources, as a major threat to federalism in the continent.
Relating the Nigerian experience, Jonathan said the federalism structure in the country was being continually threatened by the scramble for the nation's declining natural resources.
According to him, "this situation including the problem of lands, waters and space, have ignited primordial fears of domination and political denial leading to words like, settlers and indigenes in the nations vocabulary of her coexistence."
In attendance with the Vice President at the conference were some members of the National Assembly and Governors Babangida Aliyu of Niger State and Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State.
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