Opinion:

BY JELILI KAYODE AMUSAN MHR

The clamour for restructuring has been in the front burner of National discourse for a very long time. At a point, it became an agitation threatening the unity of our Country because the clamour for restructuring seemed to be a conflict between the Southern and the Northern parts of the Country.

Regional Bodies like Afenifere, PANDEF and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo were vociferous in their demands for restructuring. It is not like the Northern parts of the Country were against restructuring but there were issues with how to go about harmonizing different concerns.

Issues like Financial Autonomy for Local Governments, establishment of state police and resource control were prominent but there were no consensus between the Regions on the best way to address these issues.

The former President Goodluck Jonathan convoked a National Conference in 2014 with a view to addressing these issues but the will to immediately implement the resolutions of the Conference was lacking until he was voted out in 2015.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari was also unable to address these issues for eight years. The whole world was shocked when on his first few moments in office, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu kick-started a chain of reforms. In his first speech as President, Tinubu declared, “subsidy is gone!”

I am sure that those who prepared the President’s speech on the occasion must have been shocked to their marrows because, a few months later, the President confirmed that he made the statement outside the speech prepared for him.

That act of bravery, even though, not popular at the time, has been yielding positive results. It needs to be said here that all the leading Presidential candidates in 2023 agreed that Nigeria could not cope with the weight of further payment for subsidy on petroleum products.

Today, Nigeria now have more resources to share as monthly Allocations to the Federal, States and Local Governments, thanks to Present Bola Ahmed Tinubu. In fact, monthly Allocations to the three tiers of Government have increased tremendously. Not only that, the Port Harcourt refinery is now functioning after years of abandonment.

Prices of petroleum products are responding positively and the prices of essential commodities, most especially, food stuffs are beginning to come down. Government also has more money to spend on infrastructures and a good example of that is the Lagos – Calabar Coastal road which is progressing at very impressive speed.

Recently, the Federal Government paid in full, the IMF loan totaling sum of US Dollar 3.4 billion which Nigeria has owed since April, 2020. That is a huge one for a Government which would be two years in office in a couple of weeks.

The Federal Government under President Tinubu has obtained judgment which conferred financial autonomy on the 774 Local Governments and the implementation is under process. That is another big one. For effectiveness, a serious Government will drive developments from the bottom to the top.

President Tinubu just achieved that through the judgment and I urge all stakeholders to support the President towards a successful implementation of the judgment of the Supreme court. From the look of things, President Tinubu will soon deliver state policing.

The president is on course. He is on the right path to the redemption of our dear Country and he deserves our support, commendation and continuity.

In so far as the allegations of embezzlements are concerned, they are wicked and false. I have done my best for

the local government council, which my constituents can testify to it. Of course, I did my best for the people of my council, which I will continue to do so, and all what we have done so far followed due process.

* Jelili Kayode Amusan, a former member House of Representatives, representing Abeokuta/North, Obafemi-Owode and Odeda Federal Constituency writes in from Abeokuta.