None of the candidates running to be Nigeria’s president in 2023, according to Senior Advocate of Nigeria Mike Ozekhome, can resolve the country’s numerous issues.
Ozhekome asserted that despite their best efforts, Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress, Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party, Peter Obi of the Labour Party, and all other presidential contenders will be powerless to shield Nigeria from the formidable problems it faces.
Insisting that the presidential candidates “cannot solve the problem of insecurity, weak economy, poverty, hunger and hopelessness that has surrounded the country,” the lawyer
He remarked while giving a speech at the 2022 Independence Day Anniversary Lecture held in the state capital of Abeokuta by the Ogun State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
Speaking on the topic of “Nigeria In Search Of An Enduring Political Structure; Imperative Of Structural Reforms,” Ozekhome asserted that the only way to preserve Nigeria from ruin is to restructure and alter the country’s political system.
He argued that “pretty much everything is wrong with our country: insecurity, crumbling infrastructure, failure of the public school system, a broken economy. The list goes on forever.
Ozekhome recommended
“Embracing our abandoned Prime Minister form of administration or tearing down and reassembling a number of the organizations that support or undermine us.”
He requested a
“a thorough review of the 36 state structure as federating units with regard to their fiscal/economic viability or their consolidation into six or more regions with economies of scale and greater investment rates.”
In order to ensure equitable representation in the federal cabinet, the senior lawyer also argued for several vice presidency, each of which would have supervisory authority over a few ministries and represent different regions other than the president’s territory.
According to him, the country has lost sight of the goals set forth by its forefathers, and if people in positions of authority do not want a change, “the nation is likely to fall.”
Ozekhome also cried out for the 1999 constitution to be changed.
