- Day 5 – 21st October 2011 (Comments Open):As Nigeria’s democracy grows, what specific ways can you contribute in the next 1year in making it a more vibrant democracy?
- Day 4 – 20th October 2011 (Comments Closed): Are young people being well represented in the Nigerian nation structure? Suggest practical ideas for better youth representation in government.
- Day 3 – 19th October 2011 (Comments Closed): Will a 6years single tenure improve our democracy and fast track development in Nigeria?
- Day 2 – 18th October 2011 (Comments Closed): What in your view will deepen our democracy? Is it true federalism as practised in the US or our variant of presidential system of government?
- Day 1 – 17th October 2011 (Comments Closed): Discuss any key ingredient needed to improve Nigeria’s Democracy and why.
clinton
I believe that Nigeria will thrive better under Federal System of government, United State of America as at today remains the world super power because of this type of system, and again when you look at the way Nigeria is structured many still believed that there are so many countries in Nigeria which was merged for the soul interest of our colonial imperial Majesties, this has resulted in many conflicts: Political, tribal, religious, and ethnic chaos, therefore to address these issues, it is better to adopt Federalism. Again, government all over the world are talking about ways to cut-down the cost of running government, with presidential system which is very costly as we have witnessed in our country probably cannot be the best for us. For instance, look at the issue of minimum wage, all the state government are going to the executive cap at hand because they could not afford to pay which recently resulted in the consideration to remove the fuel subsidy, this is because the Presidential system does not encourage the State to operate as separate ‘entity’. The central government funds virtually the every aspect of the state government via the monthly federal allocation which also depend hugely of oil revenues.
Federalism which is defined as the allocation of power between the national government and regional government. A system of government in which the power is divided between a central authority and constituent political units. It is advisable for a country like ours to adapt this kind of government, based on the following advantages:
(1) It ensures that government remains close to the people because the state government argue that they are more in tune with the daily needs and aspirations of people especially relevant to small and isolated places.
(2) It encourages development of the nation in a decentralized and regional manner and allows for unique and innovative methods for attacking social, economic and political problems.
(3) It provides a barrier to the dominance of the majority.
Even though it has its own disadvantages but for our country it is better to go for it. When you critically study our constitution you will see that we copied the United States. why then would we not adopt their Federal system, it only on this basis shall we be justified to be called the Federal Republic of Nigeria. We have a federal structure but deviated in running a Presidential system.
According to my friend Hamzah, who summarizes the disadvantages of presidential system as thus: “The disadvantage is that in a presidential system you have the presidency and legislature working as two parallel structures which creates gridlock, and that it reduces accountability by allowing the President and the legislature to shift blame to each other. Rather than reviewing and debating legislation proposed by the executive, the legislature is setting policy which the executive has to administer.”
Therefore, federal government is a good system of government and a good example of successful federal kind of government is the United States of America.
clinton
Again, even though that Federalism may still be expensive, I still believe its cost will not be compared to what we have wasted for the number of years we have practiced the Presidential system, still our challenges keeps on compounding.
Because Federalism offers representation to different populations.
Citizens of various provinces may have different aspirations, ethnicity and follow different cultures.
The central government can sometimes overlook these differences and adopt policies which cater to the majority.
This is where the regional government steps in. While formulating policies, local needs, tastes and opinions are given due consideration by the state governments. Rights of the minorities are protected too.
For example, in Northern states where there is a large Muslim population and therefore, a large number of schools provide bilingual education.
State governments have the freedom to adopt policies which may not be followed nationally or by any other state. For example, Sharia legal system are not recognized by the federal government of Nigeria via our Constitution but they are given legal status within some Northern states whether we like it or not they believe more on it than our constitution.
Division of work between the central and the regional governments leads to optimum utilization of resources.
The central government can concentrate more on international affairs and defense of the country while the provincial government can cater to the local needs.
Federalism has room for innovation and experimentation.
Two local governments can have two different approaches to bring reforms in any area of public domain, be it taxation or education.
From Clinton{08068475053}
chukwuisaac
Looking at the level at which United State that practice federalism has attained and the advantages of federalism, it seems to me that such system will be good for our country. But the big question we should ask ourselves here is, do we really need it? Is it advisable for our country to change from presidential to federal system of government?
On my own point of view, it is not necessary for us because of the following reasons
a) This is just twelve years we transit to democracy. Changing to federalism will take us not less than ten years for successful transition, which if we invest in such years in strengthening our democracy, it will bring a fruitful democracy to our country.
b) Changing to federalism is making our situations complicated because the discrepancy in the advantages of the two systems of government is not much and also it is costly. So all we need is to strengthen our democracy consistently by telling ourselves truth at all cost, both our leaders and we followers because truth is the basic foundation of democracy. Sometimes we shouldn’t always blame the government. Let’s take the blame to ourselves because we have even failed to deliver even in our own little quota.
So changing the system of government will not help the matter, what we need is to make the current system to be participatory, cherishable and transparent,by being close to government and always remind them when they fail to carry out their obligations, and not criticizing without solution. With these we will make our democracy to flourish rather than changing to federalism.
CHUKWU, ISAAC CHINEDU.
Abiodun Phillips
True federalism i will say is the birthright of democracy system of government. its divine separation of power and good goverance. its advocates good policies and social development. The United States is governed by true federal system of government whereby there is freedom of expession of mind and technology advancement against the presidential system of government which is cost effective and is of wastage. Corruption has eaten deep in the system until we get it right and come to a roundtable to discuss and analyse issues of poor leadership and bad government inorder to stop the incessant killings in the north,marginalization in the east, niger-delta unrest and political thugs.
youngjames5
true federalism in its true sence is a very good system, but for our country nigeria, it is not the best. this is because of the following points:
1. our economy: nigeria has not developed to the point where states can begin an autonomous revenue generation. this might not be a perfect truth, but cionsidering our level of development in terms of manpower and resources, if this happens, some states in nigeria will suffer while others will be have excess for their use.
2. nigeria is said to be the greatest miracle on earth; merging of many ethnic groups as one country. for peaceful co0existance, federalism is not a perfect system for us to practice.
3. nigeria is a country with people who have different selfish interests: religious and political interest.
nigerians.
due to the complexity of our country nigeria, and the nature of our economy, nigeria is best a presidential system at this stage.
chukwuisaac
In addition to what I said before, the journey of our transformation begins with every Nigerians. It requires our persistence in striving for democracy not change of system of government.