That is precisely why I posted the news item....in addition to pumping Obama up! :-)
-- Unfortunately, when Nigeria's constitution requires that the FEDERAL CABINET has at least one member from each state, that immediately makes the FEDERAL CABINET into a NATIONAL CABINET, or a FEDERAL GOVERNMENT into a NATIONAL CABINET, negating ab initio our FEDERAL CONSTITUTION. Each member of such a Federo-National Cabinet, coming from a particular state, sees himself or herself as a Super-Governor
Add to that the long EXCLUSIVE list of the Federal Government, added to the long CONCURRENT list - with the Local Governments dropping out - and you have the States fighting for breath of air in a suffocating state-unfriendly federal system.
To support that administrative suffocation, you have
- 1 entity (the federal government) using up 47% of the DECLARED allocation (some are hidden by sleight of hand, eg ECA);
- 36 entities (the states) using up 33% of the declared allocation;
- 774 entities (local government) using up 20% of the declared allocation
and you wonder what kind of federal arithmetic is that?
In many ways, we run an un-workable Constitution,that does not support true cooperative federalism that we need.
And there you have it.
Bolaji Aluko
On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 7:05 PM, Fubara David-West <davidwest62@yahoo.com> wrote:
--That is a good distinction, which Nigerians should pay particular attention to, even though the elements of unitarygovernment, which the military introduced into the Nigerian system, continue to limit the nation's federalist potential.I thank you.Fubara David-West.
From: Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com>
To: USAAfrica Dialogue <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>; NaijaPolitics e-Group <NaijaPolitics@yahoogroups.com>; OmoOdua <OmoOdua@yahoogroups.com>; "nigerianid@yahoogroups.com" <nigerianID@yahoogroups.com>; naijaintellects <naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>; Ra'ayi <Raayiriga@yahoogroups.com>; ekiti ekitigroups <ekitipanupo@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2012 2:23 PM
Subject: [Naijaintellects] OBAMA-NATION: "We Are a Federal Government, not a National Government" - Craig Fugate (FEMA Administrator)
--QUOTE"We're a federal government; we're not a national government," [Fugate] said "Disasters are local. Through state constitutions, the governors are the primary incident commanders for the entire state response in support of that. And the role of the federal government is to support the states when the disaster exceeds their capabilities. And when it's this bad, we work as one team. But we are in support of the governors, as they are in support of the local officials. It's a federal system of government.......The president's direction is, when he declares these disasters, they are to make sure that all of the federal resources are brought to bear at the request of the governors.""UNQUOTE
Craig Fugate, FEMA Administrator, Responds To Michael Brown: 'Better To Be Fast Than To Be Late'
The Huffington Post | By Amanda Terkel Posted: 10/31/2012 11:20 am EDT Updated: 10/31/2012 12:38 pm EDT
FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate dismissed criticisms of President Barack Obama's response to Hurricane Sandy lobbed by Michael Brown, who oversaw the disastrous Bush administration response to Hurricane Katrina."Better to be fast than to be late," Fugate said in an interview on NPR Tuesday morning.Brown, whom President George W. Bush infamously praised for doing a "heckuva job" in the aftermath of Katrina in 2005, told a Denver paper that Obama had acted too quickly in mobilizing relief for Sandy."Here's my concern," Brown told Denver's Westword on Monday, suggesting that the prompt official response was actually making people complacent. "It's premature [when] the brunt of the storm won't happen until later this afternoon."Fugate also addressed the role of FEMA, which has been a hot topic since Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney said he wanted to abolish the agency so that states would have direct responsibility for disaster response.His campaign later clarified that he would not eliminate FEMA."Governor Romney believes that states should be in charge of emergency management in responding to storms and other natural disasters in their jurisdictions," said campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg. "As the first responders, states are in the best position to aid affected individuals and communities and to direct resources and assistance to where they are needed most. This includes help from the federal government and FEMA."But as Fugate explained on Tuesday, this is exactly how FEMA already works."We're a federal government; we're not a national government," he said "Disasters are local. Through state constitutions, the governors are the primary incident commanders for the entire state response in support of that. And the role of the federal government is to support the states when the disaster exceeds their capabilities. And when it's this bad, we work as one team. But we are in support of the governors, as they are in support of the local officials. It's a federal system of government."When host Steve Inskeep asked whether that meant state governors are in charge of disaster response, Fugate replied, "The president's direction is, when he declares these disasters, they are to make sure that all of the federal resources are brought to bear at the request of the governors."_______________________________________________________________________________________
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