The President of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has proposed that a change of name be done for Nigeria as a means of restructuring the nation, News About Nigeria reports.
Adesina stated this in a lecture he delivered as the recipient of the 2024 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership, titled, ‘Making a New Nigeria: Welfarist Policies and People-Centred Development.
In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Industrialisation, Prof. Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, on Saturday, the AfDB Boss proposed that the name, Federal Republic of Nigeria, be changed to ‘The United States of Nigeria.’
According to him, the change of name will change the relational mindset between the states and Abuja, stating that the fulcrum would be the states, while the centre would support them, not lord over them.
“We must be audacious! Instead of the Federal Government of Nigeria, we could think of the United States of Nigeria. The old would give way to the new.
“We would change the relational mindset between the states and Abuja: the fulcrum would be the states, while the centre would support them, not lord over them.
“With good governance, better accountability systems, and zero tolerance for corruption, more economically stronger constituent states would emerge! We would unleash massive wealth across the states. A New Nigeria would arise! To do so, we will need all of us, not some of us,” he stated.
He also noted that the achievement of economically viable entities and the viability of the national entity require constitutional changes to devolve more economic and fiscal powers to the states or regions, adding that the stronger the states or regions, the stronger the federated units.
Adesina reiterated that to get out of the economic downturn, there is a compelling need for the restructuring of Nigeria, saying restructuring should not be driven by political expediency but by economic and financial viability.
