Former Archbishop of Calabar Anglican Diocese, Tunde Adeleye has said unless Nigeria adopts true federalism, the sociopolitical quagmire in the country will persist.
Adeleye insisted that full power of autonomy should be given to all the sub-nationals to function without total dependence on the central government.
He spoke yesterday evening in response to Rt. Rev. Godfrey Ifeanyichukwu Ekpenisi, Anglican Diocese of Ika, who gave a lecture on the theme, “Recovering Nigeria Through Transformal Leadership”.
The Anglican Church had organized the 2nd Birthday Colloquium in honour of Adeleye in Calabar after his retirement two years ago.
Adeleye said, “The biggest problem Nigeria is having is the disregard of true federalism. The country should adopt the truest form of federalism, not what is practised now. Each federating unit should have its own police, independent parliament, legal system, school system, control of its resources, etc.
“We should not be waiting for the centre to direct on every basic issues whi h the subnational cannswiftly execute
“It shouldn’t be compulsory to have schools have the same system. It’s not workable to have people from the South or West posted to the north to do police duties when they’re not familiar with the locals or nooks and crannies.
“Without proper federalism we are deceiving ourselves.”
The Anglican leader said Nigeria is not practicing the so called presidential system of government copied from the United States of America, USA.
Ekpenisi, who presented the lead paper said, “The cry for mighty men with transformational leadership is a call to reawaken the young Nigerians to the norms, value and imperative realities.
“Let Nigerians set their priorities right and do everything possible to maintain the legacies which have been laid down for us. If this is done faithful men shall be raised that will represent us in the political spectrum of our country.”
Only true federalism can save Nigeria – Archbishop Adeleye