Pastor and Founder of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, has counselled that rather than President Muhammadu Buhari bemoaning the depletion of the country’s revenues or complain about how broke Nigeria is, he should apply what he called 3Ds approach to move the nation forward unlike the 2Ds approach being operated by his administration currently.
Bakare gave this advice on Sunday, in his ‘State of the Nation Broadcast,’ with the theme: ‘Roadmap to Successful Change,’ which he delivered to the congregation at the Latter Rain Assembly, End-Time Church in Ogba- Ikeja, Lagos.
The renowned pastor said the 2Ds being dwelled upon by the President included Deregulation and Diversification, but quickly observed that there was no way diversification policy could be pursued without devolution.
According to him, for the country to devolve effectively, it meant the geo-polity had to be restructured, while its forms of government had to be reviewed as well, declaring that Nigeria cannot afford to sweep devolution of powers under the carpet.
“In conclusion, I have observed that this government has been laying emphasis on 2 Ds– Deregulation and Diversification. However, the diversification policy cannot be pursued without Devolution and to devolve effectively means to restructure the geo-polity and review our forms of government.
“Therefore, the government needs to update to 3Ds. We cannot afford to sweep devolution of powers under the carpet.
“To the government and people of Nigeria, I say “use the keys”! The bunch of keys in the parable of the mansion represents the power of government bestowed on it by the people – the power to give the nation the needed structural, cultural, institutional and constitutional change.
“Rather than bemoan the depletion of our revenues or complain about how broke the nation is, all we need do is use the keys to unlock the staggering potential of our great nation, to empower the various geopolitical zones to develop at their respective paces and to facilitate the emergence of viable federating units that can contribute meaningfully and diversely to the common goal of building a great and prosperous nation.
“Mr President Sir, please, use the keys and make real the promise of change. There is no better time than now,” Bakare said.
The man of God, while noting that Nigeria was now a nation in transition that would predictably be followed by a revolution which would, in turn, be followed by a reformation that would eventually usher in the desired transformation of the nation, said a key outcome of this process would be the emergence of a true people’s constitution that would facilitate national integration and provide a suitable governmental framework for the Nigeria of everyone’s dreams.
“That promise of true federalism is contained in Article 14 of the Nigerian Charter for National Reconciliation and Integration, which was unanimously adopted and signed by the delegates to the 2014 National Conference, including myself, as the basis of our union,” Bakare said.
He, therefore, urged President Buhari not to ignore the report of the 2014 National Conference, saying God went ahead of him to provide a navigational map with which he could begin to steer the ship of state to a safe destination.
He said President Buhari should do this, just as he adopted other reports, including the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) and the Treasury Single Account (TSA), which were conceived by the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration.
“The Buhari-led government should embrace the report of the 2014 National Conference. That report may have been produced under a PDP government, but it is not a PDP document. It is a Nigerian people’s document. All the delegates to the 2014 National Conference, East, West, North and South endorsed the report without a single vote on any issue,” Pastor Bakare said.
Speaking further, the pastor and founder of Latter Rain Assembly predicted higher grounds and greater heights for Nigeria in the new year, describing it as the year of restructuring when the country could begin to rebuild her structures towards a new political order characterized by true and viable federalism that would usher in a new economic order.
Recalling what he said in his previous address entitled: ‘Nigeria Beyond 2015,” Pastor Bakare asserted that one of the first fruits of this new economic order would be the emergence of Regional Economic Zones.
According to him, Nigeria would, in this regard, experience the rise of megacities across the six geopolitical zones, such that there would be six unique models of the Dubai experience.
“The Dubai model will integrate communities, districts, states and geopolitical zones around efficient governance, human capital development, infrastructural development, socio-cultural development, safety and security.
“Each of these “Dubais” will constitute an economic hub integrating the states within each geopolitical zone, such that at least six states will be integrated into a zonal hub; each of the current 36 states will, in turn, facilitate the rise of an economic hub integrating three senatorial districts; and each of the senatorial districts will, in turn, facilitate the emergence of an economic hub integrating the Local Government Areas within their delineation.
“Internal revenue generation and massive job creation will be the outcome so much so that the federating units, being empowered to harness the resources within their respective jurisdictions, will fund a regionally and globally influential and powerful federal government.
Such structural rearrangement, backed by good governance at all levels, will facilitate tremendous improvement in standard of living, bring our people out of poverty and facilitate the prosperity and wellbeing of Nigerians,” Bakare predicted.
