USA Africa Dialogue Series - Re: [Naijaintellects] OBAMA-NATION: "We Are a Federal Government, not a National Government" - Craig Fugate (FEMA Administrator)

Fubara, Emmanuel:

1.  I still believe that the federating units in Nigeria should be regions, however defined, not the present 36-state structure.

2.  Each region should be allowed to define the number of states within it.  We may limit the total number regions to no more than 10 and the total number of states to no more than 40 (say) for administrative convenience.

3.  Each state should be allowed to define the number of local governments and/or town councils and/or autonomous communities within it.  We may limit the number of local municipalities in each state to no more than 20 (say).

4.  Resource control should be instituted, after Federal Government has acquired 10% of all land in the country for itself, with no more than 1.5% of the land in any region so acquired. Federal funds would come largely from taxes (personal, corporate profit, customs and excise, etc.), royalties on federal land use, foreign investments, etc.

5.  The Federal Government should have three special Funds for allocation to sub-national levels:

    (a) an Equity Fund, distributed to all Regions equally.  How each Region distributes that among its constituent parts should up to the Region.

    (b) a Competitive Fund, to be competed for by Region, state or local government in consonance with federal priorities in housing, education, energy, transportation, etc.

    (c) Special Funds for disaster relief and other unusual circumstances.

6. Other ideas are clearly welcome.

And there you have it.

Bolaji Aluko

On Thu, Nov 1, 2012 at 8:49 AM, Emmanuel U. Obi <bizon586@yahoo.com> wrote:

So what you are saying is that states should continue to initimidate LGs,dissolve them at their pleasure and seize thier allocations? Terrible,terrible and it is only in Nigeria. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android

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From: Fubara David-West <davidwest62@yahoo.com>;
To: naijaintellects@googlegroups.com <naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>; naijapolitics@yahoogroups.com <naijapolitics@yahoogroups.com>; nigeria360@yahoogroups.com <nigeria360@yahoogroups.com>; nigerianworldforum@yahoogroups.com <nigerianworldforum@yahoogroups.com>;
Subject: Re: [Naijaintellects] OBAMA-NATION: "We Are a Federal Government, not a National Government" - Craig Fugate (FEMA Administrator)

Sent: Thu, Nov 1, 2012 12:45:36 PM

The idea of protecting any part of local government from the state government is quite ill-advised, especially  considering the fact that what the country should be moving towards is a system, where neither the state governments nor the local governments depend on the Federal Government for any of their recurrent budgets.   I thank you. Fubara David-West.       From: Emmanuel U. Obi <bizon586@yahoo.com> To: "naijaintellects@googlegroups com" <naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>; "alukome@gmail com" <alukome@gmail.com> Cc: "naijapolitics@yahoogroups com" <naijapolitics@yahoogroups.com>; "davidwest62@yahoo.com" <davidwest62@yahoo.com>; nidoa nidoa <nigerianID@yahoogroups.com>; "OmoOdua@yahoogroups.com" <OmoOdua@yahoogroups.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2012 10:38 PM Subject: Re: [Naijaintellects] OBAMA-NATION: "We Are a Federal Government, not a National Government" - Craig Fugate (FEMA Administrator) If the President has some initiative he can look at the three tier system,the proliferation of states and possibly instigate dialog that could trigger a review of the present structure. Folks like me strongly believe the local govt tier needs to be split into two and then protected from state interference. In the pre war era the city councils did far better than these LG councils. Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android From: Mobolaji Aluko <alukome@gmail.com>; To: <naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>; Cc: naijapolitics@yahoogroups com <naijapolitics@yahoogroups.com>; davidwest62@yahoo.com <davidwest62@yahoo.com>; nigerianid@yahoogroups.com <nigerianID@yahoogroups.com>; OmoOdua <OmoOdua@yahoogroups.com>; Subject: Re: [Naijaintellects] OBAMA-NATION: "We Are a Federal Government, not a National Government" - Craig Fugate (FEMA Administrator) Sent: Thu, Nov 1, 2012 1:24:13 AM Emmanuel Obi:ys A president contests an election based on running an existing system, not dumping it.  Even the present warped federo-national government can be run much better, thank you. If I were elected President today, I would spend 2/3rd of my time running the system better, and one-third trying to change it to a true cooperative federalism....I repeat myself. And there you have it. Bolaji Aluko --- So you have the Presidents ear,can you let him know what mess we have in our hands Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android On Wed, Oct 31, 2012 at 7:41 PM, Emmanuel U. Obi <bizon586@yahoo.com> wrote: Nigerians dont think about what you are saying and dont care. The key question Nigerians have on any issue is," what is in it for me ?" Forget Nigeria ! Sent from Yahoo! Mail on Android From: Fubara David-West <davidwest62@yahoo.com>; To: naijaintellects@googlegroups.com <naijaintellects@googlegroups.com>; naijapolitics@yahoogroups.com <naijapolitics@yahoogroups.com>; nigeria360@yahoogroups.com <nigeria360@yahoogroups.com>; nigerianworldforum@yahoogroups.com <nigerianworldforum@yahoogroups.com>; Subject: Re: [Naijaintellects] OBAMA-NATION: "We Are a Federal Government, not a National Government" - Craig Fugate (FEMA Administrator) Sent: Wed, Oct 31, 2012 11:05:02 PM That is a good distinction, which Nigerians should pay particular attention to, even though the elements of unitary  government, 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 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/31/craig-fugate-fema-michael-brown_n_2049343.html 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." _______________________________________________________________________________________ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "naijaintellects" group. To post to this group, send email to naijaintellects@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to naijaintellects+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/naijaintellects?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "naijaintellects" group. To post to this group, send email to naijaintellects@googlegroups.com. 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