Former presidential aspirant Abdul-Jalil Tafawa Balewa has expressed his opinion on the calls for Nigeria to adopt a parliamentary system of government, stating that it is not the solution to the country’s current challenges.
In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos, Tafawa-Balewa said, “No (adoption of parliamentary system), but I think democracy has to be modified in Nigeria to be able to represent us. To introduce something somewhat new, something radically different will be too costly for us, and it won’t make much sense at this time.”
Instead, he advocated for the urgent restructuring of the country to allow for devolution of power from the centre to the federating zones. This, he believes, would enable the zones to develop along their comparative advantages, making most of the country’s challenges disappear.
Tafawa-Balewa suggested that each region could focus on specific industries, such as the South-West concentrating on the service industry, the South East on the marine industry, manufacturing, and commerce, the South-South on petroleum manufacturing derivatives, and the North on agriculture.
