Nigerian Elder Statesman, Femi Okunnu, has said that although the national agencies and bodies should be housed in the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, it should be left to the Presidency to move the locations of departments, whether for political or strategic reasons, for the good of the country.
Okunnu, while in an interview on ARISE NEWS on Tuesday, then said that Lagos State should have no special status as being the former Federal Capital City of Nigeria, that every special status ceased when the FCT was moved to Abuja.
Speaking on the relocation of several departments in the Central Bank of Nigeria and other agencies to Lagos State by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Okunnu said that there was no need to read anything political or otherwise into the arrangement.
He said, “Basically, the Federal Capital should house all the departments, but for whatever reasons- political, strategic or whatever, he (President Tinubu) wants to relocate some departments, not the whole ministry, some departments. Ports Authority for example, well, you will need to be near water.
“So, if the government decides to locate some of the NPA departments to Warri, for example, to Calabar, they are on the sea. The government or presidency should be left to decide what he wants for the good of the country.”
The former Works Commissioner, then reacting to claims from Lagosians that Lagos should have a special status in Nigeria, said, “Most of the policies, of course, should be pursued at the Federal Capital, but there is no special status for Lagos. Lagos does not need any special status. I disagree with those, who, out of context, when Lagos ceased to be the Federal Capital started to demand for special status for Lagos… There should be no special status for Lagos other than Lagos being the commercial capital of the country unofficially.”
Okunnu then addressed the corruption in Nigeria, especially with the recent cases of embezzling in several ministries, as he said that Ministers should not have access to the ministry’s funds, saying, “Make the permanent secretary of the ministry, who has worked through the years… Let him be the accounting officer and not the minister. The minister should not touch a kobo.”
He further said, “The civil service was degraded after the purge of 1975 by the Late Muritala Mohammed and General Obasanjo who took over when he was assassinated, I think in February 1976. The Civil Service has not recovered from that purge till today. Restore the Civil Service to its own role. Politicians come, politicians go. Ministers come, ministers go from different backgrounds. In the civil service, the civil servants – before you become a permanent secretary – will climb the ladder.”
Okunnu then said that the present administration needs advice on how to tackle insecurity, saying, “It’s very sad to see people creating insecurity in our community. We should all be facing progress of economic development, not insecurity. Abuja should be well protected. Every part of the country should be well protected, whether North-East, where the problem started some years ago, it spread to every corner of the country. It’s very appalling.”
“I hope that the President will make sure that he has the best advice within the services, and also among those who have retired from the service. They may still have some useful information or advice to give the President, some tips from their experience,” he said.
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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