‘ Nigeria must restructure to dignify June 12’
• Anyaoku, Afenifere, restate calls for true federalism • Atiku urges citizens to evaluate leadership requirement • Tinubu lauds Buhari, heroes of democracy
CALLS for restructuring of the country resounded again yesterday as Nigerians reacted to today’s maiden celebration of June 12 as Democracy Day.
The event marks 27 years since the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, widely believed to have been won by the late candidate of the defunct Social Democratic Party ( SDP), Chief Moshood Abiola.
Former Commonwealth Secretary- General Emeka Anyaoku noted that if Nigeria “is to face its serious current challenges effectively, it has to restructure its gover
lockdowns and social distancing measures put in place to curb the spread of COVID- 19 which, it said, had had negative impact on farms and factories, as well as on trade, transport and tourism.
The panel said several projections, including those done by the National Bureau of Statistics ( NBS) on behalf of the Economic Sustainability Committee, showed severe downturn in the nation’s oil earnings, as a result of which, even with oil price at $ 30 a barrel, the country would still have a shortfall of about N185 billion every month, in the amount available for allocation to the three tiers of government.
It was against this background that the committee decided on a strategy hinged on Mr. President’s mantra to “produce what we eat and consume what we produce”. The panel, therefore, recommended the creation of millions of new jobs, focus on encouraging local production, local services, local innovation, and emphasis on use of local materials. “Nigeria and Nigerians can produce our food, build our houses and construct our roads, using local materials in all cases.
“If we must import, it must be to support local production. We have, therefore, recommended that we must carry out mass programmes that create jobs and utilise local materials,” the Osinbajo committee said.
The committee also recommended a mass agricultural programme, which is expected to bring between 20,000 and 100,000 hectares of new farmland under cultivation in every state of the federation and create millions of direct and indirect job opportunities, extensive public works and road construction programme focusing on both major and rural roads and using locally available materials like limestone, cement and granite.
Other recommendations include initiation of a mass housing programme to deliver up to 300,000 homes annually, engaging young professionals and artisans who form themselves into small and medium scale businesses within the construction industry, using indigenous labour and materials, and installation of solar home system, targeting five million households, and serving about 25 million individual Nigerians who are currently not connected to the national grid.
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