The former Governor of Akwa Ibom, Obong Victor Attah, has said that the problem confronting the nation is more than governance. Attah said this while speaking with newsmen on Wednesday in Uyo in response to the #EndSARS protests, saying that the problem of Nigeria is foundational. He said that the present presidential system of government the country operates is the cause of Nigeria’s problems.
According to him, Nigeria was better off when it operated parliamentary system of government as the regions were autonomous, controlled their resources, had their own Police and only contributed to the central government.
The former governor called for scrapping of the existing system and return to parliamentary system, saying it suits the country better. Atta said that the parliamentary system would allow the people choose their representatives based on performance and not selection on party basis or godfatherism. “It goes beyond governance.
If you bring angels to operate the system we have today, it will fail. The system is one that cannot succeed. “I call it rebirth. I want Nigeria to be reborn. Let’s give it a new birth, let it become what it was always supposed to be. “The presidential system has become very oppressive. It seems it is in our nature to feel once you win an election, you are a conqueror, so you behave exactly as you please.
He said that then, the country operated four constitutions as each of the three regions had its own constitution and one national constitution.
Attah added that the regions did not feel cheated because they generated their own income and lived on what they were able to generate. He said that then the South-South/South East were known for it oil palm industry, the Ijaws for mining, the West for their cocoa, and the North their groundnut. He said that Nigeria has remained one because its leaders chose to keep the then regions as one before the country became independent in 1960.
