For the Nigerian economy to be on the path of growth there is need to restructure the country and change the present electoral system to be capable of producing visionary leaders, Muiz Banire, a senior advocate of Nigeria, has said.
To him, there are several manipulations associated with elections in Nigeria that have prompted total loss of confidence in the present electoral system.
He blamed the faulty electoral system for the emergence of leaders that are round-pegs in square holes.
Banire, who made these submissions during a virtual public lecture with the theme, ‘Reforming Nigeria: The People or the Structure?’ held on Saturday in honour of Niran Adedokun @ 50, and the presentation of ‘The Law is an Ass,’ by Niran Adedokun, said there is need to clean the various irregularities in the electoral system in order to get the desirable leaders that can change Nigeria.
He said that the reformation of Nigeria will remain a mirage until the leadership recruitment process of the country is reformed to be able to produce leaders that are sincere, focus and visionary.
“The present electoral system cannot give birth to such leaders. Leadership is important but the emergence remains a challenge and role of the citizens will remain an illusory until their votes begin to count.
He further pointed out that the cost of governance in Nigeria is too high and that no country can develop with over 70 percent recurrent expenditure.
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Banire further said that Nigeria needs to deal with issues of national security, build strong institutions rather than strong individuals, reform the judiciary system and promote the spirit of nationalism.
According to him, restructure can only aid the recovery of the country, if Nigeria goes beyond restructure to revive institutions and also reduce human elements in the governance.
“To reform Nigeria, we need not only the people but the structure itself needs to be tampered with. A call for divine intervention cannot equally be ruled out. It is either we have a benevolent dictator or continue to pray to God to intervene in the situation of Nigeria,” he says.
While noting that Nigeria’s constitution is voluminous, complex and contradictory in most instances, he said, Nigeria needs to replace such constitution with one that is dynamic.
Shina Peller, a house of representative member, who affirmed that there are several structural defects in Nigeria, said that in addition to building strong institutions, Nigeria needs to direct the attention of youths to nation building.
On her part, Hadiza Bala Usman, first female managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), said there is need for voters to think beyond religious and ethnic sentiments, to voting candidates with ideologies that have the interest of the country at heart.
