Dr. Jonathan Asake, the former president of the Southern Kaduna People’s Union, defines restructuring in terms of local government allocation and contends that the current system is unfair and inequitable, according to a report published in the Sun. He offers the states of Katsina and Kaduna as an example, pointing out that despite having less land area and population, Katsina has 11 more local government areas than Kaduna. He contends that this is due to the money that all states, regardless of size or population, receive from the federal government.
He said, “I’m a northerner. Let me define one aspect of restructuring for them. In 1987, the old Kaduna State was divided into two – Katsina and the present Kaduna states. Then, there were 14 local governments in the old Kaduna State, and these LGs were divided equally, seven to Katsina and seven to Kaduna. Kaduna has by far more land mass than Katsina. Kaduna State is about 46,000 square kilometers, and by population, it is estimated to be about 10 million, the third in the country. But today, there are 33 LGs in Katsina, a state, which is by far less in land mass and population than Kaduna that has only 23 LGs, a difference of 11 LGs.
The reason is that there is revenue at the center, where all the 36 states go to collect revenue that they don’t know where it is coming from – the oil money. They collect it for every local government. Kaduna States collect for their 23 local governments and Katsina collects for their 33 local governments.”
Peoplesmind
