Rauf Aregbesola, the Minister of Interior, has attributed the large number of unemployed people in the nation to the terrible stage of development in which it finds itself.
At the same time, the Minister demanded a review of the country’s federalism model so that the federating units may realise their full potential for the good of the nation and its citizens.
The Minister made this comment at a one-day dialogue on keeping track of campaign commitments to good governance that was held and organized in Abuja by an online tabloid: NPO Reports.
Aregbesola disputed the belief held in some quarters that politicians do not care about keeping the pledges they made during the campaign. He cited the fact that, while serving as governor of Osun State, he routinely evaluated his performance in accordance with predetermined goals.
He said: “Why is Nigeria having challenges? It is simple! We have no revenue. A country of 200 million with less than 10 per cent working and productive and you think there will be development? No! Development is impossible. There is no revenue. Even our per capital income from oil, assuming nothing is even taken out of it, is nothing.
“There is a knowledge gap, and I don’t want to sound self-righteous. There is a lot of confusion but there should be no confusion. Nigeria is not the only federation in the world. Australia is a federation.
“India is a federation; America is a federation as well as Brazil. How are other federations run? There is no third tier of government in a federation. There are only two tiers of government in a federation. We need to educate ourselves on what a federation is.
“How are federations run and why should our own be different? Why are the local governments not working in Nigeria? Why are local governments working in India? Why are they working in Germany and America? They are not working here because they are not self-sustaining. Counties and City councils which are the equivalent of local governments fund themselves.
“They only live on handouts here and that is where the challenge comes from. What is wrong is not what the media is looking at. No recipient of the handout can be responsible.
“Whoever depends on the handout, cannot be responsible. He will be answerable for where the money comes from. If you ask him to run, he will run. There is no dignity in charity. This is where Nigeria is having challenges,” Aregbesola said.
