The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, has cautioned Nigerians against seeking for solutions to problems that are meant to be solved by their State Governments, Page 36 learnt.
He said that Nigerians are disappointed with the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, because they expect magic from a government that is constitutionally only allowed to do less.
“Looking for the Federal Government or a magic President, is why we seem to have been disappointed. We are looking for the results in the wrong place”, Fashola said in an interview with Channels Television, on Thursday.
The former Lagos State Governor, urged Nigerians to read the 1999 Constitution, as amended, for a better understanding of what is expected from different levels of government in the country, rather than expecting President Buhari to play the functions of their respective State and Local Government authorities.
“Governance is not magic. It is the act of the possible, and our responsibility is to always project hope. Perhaps those who feel that way (disappointed) should be made to realise that what we expect of the Nigerian Federal Government, lies more with the State Government and the Local Government… some of the most basic things.
“What we should do, is to focus on the government that is closest to us. I will urge people to go and read the Constitution; the powers the President has are about 45, many of them are categorised as power, but they are even functions and duties.
“The government that can transform us and give us what we want quickly, are the governments closest to us – State and Local Government”, he explained.
Fashola identified primary education, healthcare, among others, as part of the responsibilities people should task their State and Local Government authorities to deliver.
More news later…