CONCEPTS OF FEDERALISM
Federalism is described as a system of government in which several States
unite but keep considerable control over their own internal affairs". From the political point of view, the concept of
federalism, among other things, allows
federating units have some level of autonomy over their resources while they pay tax to the federal purse.
Federalism is a crucial and important issue in the world's political history as it constitutes certain important objectives for which certain nations have been advocating to entrench and consolidate, especially as it underpins and complements democracy.
The presidential system of government put in place fails in many parts of the world because of many internal political contradictions and as a result, the advocacy for the entrenchment of federalism and genuine democracy has not been successful thereby sustaining residual powers in the hands of a central autonomy and consequently jeopardising the people's hope of eliminating the present situation of in-built periodic political crises over the control of the country's central authority and its treasury.
With the yearnings for federalism gathering more momentum in many contries , the people have re-emphasized their campaign for politically viable federating units where powers and functions are distributed between the central authority and the federating units. But for the purpose of objectivity, it is imperative therefore to look at the prospects of federalism, to mention a few.
Without any whiff of doubt, information is a component of knowledge. It is even knowledge. In the absence of informative analysis on the activities of governments that are in power, the public cannot easily appreciate the goodness or otherwise of political governance. Thus, the people are generally not sufficiently sensitised about governance. This also affects the level of their involvement in the management of the affairs that directly affect them.
Federalism therefore encourages self-confidence as a prerequisite for progress while progress is an expression of happiness where federating units are brought closer to the people for participatory governance at the grassroots, which will psychologically strengthen the allegiance of the individual to both the federating units and the central authority, and galvanize the people to see themselves as necessary partners-in-progress in the development of their nation from the grassroots.
If genuinely entrenched, federalism would minimize further the practice of selective and discriminatory development; make the execution of federating units' policies more purposeful, more functional and more efficient and would further encourage rural areas to come within appreciable nearness to urban centres and capitals. Furthermore, it allows active participation of people within each federating unit in the task of recognizing a motley of diverse communities, cultures and creeds especially the minorities who have been neglected over the years.
The driving force behind the advocacy for federalism is the creation of a nation that would nourish its diversity and endow the clusters of nationalities that constitute the country with unfettered self-government and autonomy. To this end, some level of legislative and fiscal autonomy would be given to the federating units, which presently rely heavily on central allocation for the discharge of their constitutional responsibilities. The central powers would be reduced substantially to the level that could allow each federating unit have control of its own resources and contribute to the central pool for the maintenance of those items of government, which are usually placed under the exclusive list.
As we sail through the milllenium, the challenges of the world's political, economic and social development are becoming more daunting by the day especially with the current agitation for the entrenchment of federalism, which calls for change.
Change is an itable phenomenon and that accounts for the cliche that the only permanent thing is change. Any serious or consistent follower of commentaries on political, social and economic issues today would attest to the inevitability of change whether in culture, science and technology, socio-economic and political issues etc. But managing change is a very Herculean task in any polity and that is why the agitation for the entrenchment of federalism requires the involvement of optimists, great philosophers, thinkers, strategists, good decision makers, scholars and patriots who will selflessly propel sustainable changes for the benefit of the generality of the citizenry.
Finally, the wisdom of the modern world is centred around decentralization and devolution of power to smaller units for better and more efficient management of the nation.
-SHOLA DADA
decapoliss@yahoo.com
234-1-8538905