Aide to former vice president Yemi Osibajo,Laolu Akande has spoken of the need for President Bola’ Tinubu to back up his ideals spoken off at the United Nations with a strong foreign policy implemented by competent team.
He spoke in an interview at the margins of the UN where he is covering having returned to his best.
According to Akande,the President has demonstrated good intention which needed to be supported with good and well articulated foreign policy.
Similarly, to attain part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals for the country, Akande said it has become necessary for the Federal Government to adopt a stick-and-carrot approach with the state governments, especially in following through in the area of compulsory education for the pupils in their first nine years of academic pursuit.
He said: I think one of the things the Federal Government should do is to adopt a stick and carrot approach to these things and tie incentives and some consequences to show states are supposed to step up in these important areas.
“For instance, look at the issue of education.
“So, by a constitutional mandate, every Nigerian child ought to have compulsory education for the first nine years.
“But guess what, these issues are domiciled in the subnational, state and local governments.
“And as you know, there is even Federal Government funding for universal education through SUBEB.
“And in many instances, the states are not coming up with their own margin ground to be able to tap into the available money at the federal level.
“So, the question of getting the states to collaborate is very critical.
“There can be no sustainable development in a federal country like ours without a consistent and active collaboration between the Federal Government and the state government.
“What I will suggest to take this thing more seriously is to adopt a stick and carrot approach and I think the President has promised.
“You will remember that a few months ago, the President decided that he is going to hold back a portion of the increase we have seen in the federal allocation for infrastructure, though there were arguments and altercation at the federal allocation committee where the idea came up.
“But guess what, the President insisted and got his way.
“So, it is that kind of engagement consistently to let the states know that this thing has to be done because you guys in the state you know that is where development happens and it will even be useful for Nigerians to understand that all the focus, all the attention, all the criticism and all the observation should not be going to the federal alone.
“Yet, the federal carries the biggest burden.
“Everybody knows that as we continue to engage.”
