The due arrangement of men in the active part of the state, far from being foreign to the purposes of a wise Government, ought to be amongst its very first and dearest objectsAdversities carry within them the seeds of revolution, reform and progress. Such was the case with the fall of the regime of the Medici in Florence in 1494.
To correct these vices and place governance on an assured footing and even keel, there should be a debate on the character and quality of people that should be entrusted with the government of the country. It is in this wise that I recollect the words of The Rt Hon.
Reconstructing the state is a necessary and worthy venture from time to time. But this should be done as a matter of deliberate action intended to recreate, revitalise and reform institutions, rather than demolishing them wholesale in the name of “restructuring” and doing away with both the birth water and the baby.
With the failure of institutions coupled with indifferent leadership, we are bound to create instability and eventually establish the conditions for anarchy and state failure. Avoiding this frightful spectacle must be the sole preoccupation of the enlightened classes in Nigeria, particularly those with the consciousness and conscience to acknowledge the limitations of our present system of governance and the need for improvement and course correction to be made immediately.
The roles of the State Houses of Assembly as regulators of the conduct of governors and providers of assurances and guarantees towards good governance and the observance of the restrains of the rule of law, must be reinstated or reinvented as the case may be. They should no longer be the instruments of arbitrary rule and disposal tools in the hands of the executives.