SAN FRANCISCO, October 26, (THEWILL) –Â The Emir of Kano and former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mallam Sanusi Lamido, has called for restructuring of the country to include a reduction in the cost of governance.
The Emir made this known in Lagos in a keynote address, entitled: ‘Prosperity and Peace’ at the centenary event of Union Bank, tagged: ‘The next 100: A call to action (2017-2117).’
“We have a constitution that says we must have a governor and a deputy governor and a state government assembly in every state. We have President and Vice President,” he said.
“We have 109 senators, over 300 members of the House of Representatives. We have over 774 local government chairmen, and in each local government we have 10 councillors and a speaker. Yet you are surprised that we spend 80 to 90 percent of our budget on public servants.
“How do you reduce cost of governance without discussing restructuring? Do we need 40, 30 legislators in every state? Do we need huge number of legislators in Abuja? Must we have them request for more?
“We don’t have education, we don’t have public health. We see the numbers, infant mortality, maternal death and child death; yet, the state and the local governments, which are supposed to provide education and health care do not care about the life of a commoner.
“It is not all about GDP, inflation, government revenue; it is all about bringing development to the grassroots. In the Central Bank, we used to look at GDP growth, rate of inflation, the reserve of the federation, and I mention prosperity in prospect.
“Until we begin to think of economics not in terms of GDP, inflation rate but in terms of human needs, we will not be able to have peace.”
