The Senate on Tuesday urged the Federal, States and Local Governments and all leaders in Nigeria to work harder to return Nigeria to economic growth, sustenance??as well as?strengthen national unity.
The Senate made the call following the debate on a motion congratulating Nigeria and Nigerians on its 52nd Independence Anniversary sponsored by Sen.Ita Enang (PDP-Akwa-Ibom) and 107 other senators.
Leading the debate, Enang noted with delight that Nigeria was gradually developing its domestic production capacity as an independent nation.
“We have as a nation; become a big player in international affairs within the commity ,'' ?he said.
Senate President David Mark, who presided over plenary session, said that for Nigeria to remain one, united nation till date, was a great achievement.
Mark noted that although the country might not be where it ought to be, for now, it was making giant strides toward attaining its desired destination.
“ We have made some considerable achievements and for that, we need to show gratitude to God.
“We need to pray and work, not just pray; prayer alone will not solve the problem we need to combine both of them”, he said.
The Senate President said that Nigeria needed political will to take its policies to logical conclusions either at the executive level or legislative level.
“Unless we are determined to politically, pursue the decisions we have taken that are of benefit to this country, we will still be where we are in another 20, 30 years”, he added.
?He expressed regret that local governments were not functioning because no funds went to them.
“The excuse is that if funds go to them, they will misuse them but the funds don’t go there, so we cannot judge what they will do.
“We are helpless in all fairness because people have tried to bring the issue of local government here but there is a constitutional problem.
“The administration and finance of local government is at the state level.’’
Mark said unless section 7 of the Constitution was amended, the National Assembly would not be able to do something about the current situation.
He, however, expressed optimism that if the state governments would do even a little better than that what was currently obtainable, the situation would be a lot different.
Mark noted that only Lagos was generating its own revenue adding that other states were largely depending on federal allocation.
“There is some level of financial autonomy within the states; they can generate their own revenue. Lagos state is generating so much revenue internally and it is just one of the few states.
“Other states are just folding their hands and waiting for allocation from federation account but honestly, they know that cannot take them far.’’
The Senate President said he completely disagreed with Sen. Uche Chukwumerije (PDP-Abia) who described Nigeria as a failed state.
“I do not agree that Nigeria is a failed state; we are not on the way to being a failed state either.
“We may not have done well but to say that we are a failed state is going to the extreme of it and I disagree completely with that,'' he noted.
He said there was no doubt the country had challenges but expressed optimism that with the right political will the challenges would be surmounted.
The Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, urged senators to remain patriotic and nationalistic, assuring them that all hope for Nigeria was not lost.
“There is hope for us as a nation. All we need do is to be patriotic and nationalistic. We can do it if we can shun greed, avarice and corruption,'' he added.
Sen. Pius Ewherido (DPP-Delta) in his contribution, congratulated Nigerians especially the ordinary masses, saying they were the real victors.
Ewherido called on the National Assembly to take budget implementation serious reminding them that it was one way to execute projects that would impact, positively, on the lives of the ordinary Nigerians.
He stressed the need for effective funding of local governments to ensure that they met the challenges of economic growth and the need of the rural populace.
“The local government as we have it today is not equipped to participate in national growth, there must be a way of stopping a tier of government from tempering with funds of another tier,'' he said.
?(NAN)