INDEPENDENCE INTERVIEW: Nigeria must discard presidential system of government to restart the dreams of our founding fathers

From Desmond Mgboh, Kano

Elder statesman and Second Republic politician, Tanko Yakasai, Friday, insisted that Nigeria must discard the presidential system of government if it was to reverse of its current challenges and end the sufferings of the mass of its citizens.

He held that the American- style democratic system of governance was fraud with weaknesses and  was incapable of realizing the pace of progress and development envisaged by Nigeria’s founding fathers at Independence in 1960.

He also feared that with the system still in place, the hope that power transition in 2023 would usher in a departure from the status- quo may just be a mirage, stressing that the problem with Nigeria has less to do with the occupants of the office as it has to do with the system they operate.

Speaking to Saturday Sun, on Nigeria’s Independence celebration, the octogenarian regretted that the system, which was adopted at the take off of the Second Republic in 1999, is very expensive and prone to high level of corruption.

“The American Presidential system is not good for this country because it is too expensive, it does not encourage accountability, it encourages corruption, indiscipline and waste” he stated while noting that it also gives much latitude to people who want to cheat their country and those who are not sincere about their mission in leadership.

He added that, “Anywhere, where 80 percent of public revenue is dedicated to the bureaucracy, leaving only 20 percent for development is not a good system.

“Worse of all, even the 20 percent left for development, as is the case in Nigeria, is not being expended in the interest of the progress or in the interest of the people” he lamented.

Yakasai said he preferred the French styled system to take us to the Promised Land, but confessed that such a change would be a hard task to realize as whoever is the President in power and his league of Governors would not want to hear of any system that would tamper with their overbearing control of power.

He recalled that Nigeria’s founding fathers took over from the British colonial power on a very bright note, recording laudable success across the land, regretting that these giant strides were disrupted by the unfortunate intervention of the military in 1966.

He maintained that the disruption prevented Nigeria from developing its democracy at the same pace and in the same pattern like other developing and newly independent countries such as India, Pakistan, Indonesia and the rest of them.

Yakasai asserted that, “Today, countries like India, Indonesia and Pakistan and the rest are not on the same level with us. They attained their Independence, have enjoyed it and they have used it to improve the lifestyle of their people and their country.”

He confessed that despite the excruciating hardship experienced across Nigeria, the nation’s Independence was worth celebrating as Independence paved way for our freedom from colonial subjugation.

He tasked Nigerians to celebrate their freedom while asking those in leadership to use the occasion to reflect on the best way forward for the emergence of strong, united and prosperous Nigeria that would benefit every Nigerian.