A founding member of the Arewa Consultative Forum and elder statesman, 96-year-old Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, while speaking about Nigeria’s journey from independence and how the country has fared said “our major concern for now should be how to cement the unity of the country and how to bring back the trend that we had been enjoying prior to independence.”

He added that conflict sometimes redefines the situation so that people can understand. “If I could have my way, one, I would demolish all the current political parties in the country and create a two-party system in Nigeria. When (Ibrahim) Babangida mounted the saddle of leadership and introduced a two-party system – Social Democratic Party and National Republican Convention – Nigerians accepted that without any quarrel. We lived together and contested the election and for the first time, a southerner contested an election in Nigeria and secured more votes from the north than a candidate that came from the North, which is a significant achievement in terms of nation-building.

“If I could have my way, I would abolish the political parties that we have in the country and insist, like Babangida did, in creating two political parties and liberalise rules that would govern the two parties, in such a way that people would not lord it over one group of people or the other. This is part of what I could do.

“Apart from abolishing the existing political parties in the country, I would abolish the 36-state structure in Nigeria and I support the returning of six geo-political zones in the country as the federating states, adding that “at the moment in Nigeria, 80 per cent of Nigeria’s revenue is expended on bureaucracy, spent on running the administration.

“The bottom line is you cannot develop with 20 per cent out of the total revenue, where you commit 80 per cent for recurrent expenditure. This is what is happening at the federal and state levels. With this situation, no country can develop. I want a situation, where the bulk of the revenue of this country is dedicated for development to construct good roads, build railway stations, provide electricity all over the country and so on. That was the intention of Tafawa Balewa when he became the prime minister.

“So far, we have not achieved what we actually hoped to achieve. If you look at Europe and America, they run a two-party system. In England, they have the Conservative and Labour parties. In America, we have the Republicans and the Democrats, and in France, it’s the same thing. In Germany, it’s the same. The tendency is for two political groups. They are enough to make you develop your country and roll out a good programme,” he said.

He stated that the agitations in the country had nothing to do with the military interruption in politics, adding that those behind this agitation are the minority in the country, not ethnic minorities but “younger people, who got university education, were anxious to conclude their degrees, go into the system to secure lucrative jobs, get a car and good house, all of which is not happening for now. The younger people, when they graduate, are not finding the envisaged opportunities.”

(Story adapted from Punch)

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