Babatunde Raji Fashola, the Minister of Works and Housing, has said Nigerians are disappointed in the Muhammadu Buhari led administration because they are looking for results in the wrong place.
Fashola, while speaking in an interview on Channels Television on Thursday, said the governance is not magic, adding that state and local government are the closest to the citizens, and should be held liable, instead of all focus being on the federal government.
“Governance is not magic. It is the act of the possible and our responsibility is to always project hope. Perhaps those who feel that way (disappointed) should be made to realize that what we expect of the Nigerian Federal government lies more with the state government and the local government…some of the most basic things.
“What we should do is to focus on the government that is closest to us. I will urge people to go and read the constitution, the powers the President has are about 45, many of them are categorised as power but they are even functions and duties.
“The government that can transform us and give us what we want quickly are the government closest to us – state and local government,” he said.
The former Lagos state governor, noted that basic infrastructure like primary healthcare, primary education, and many others which Nigerians clamour for, can only be delivered by state and local governments.
“Looking for the Federal Government or a magic President is why we seem to have been disappointed. We are looking for the results in the wrong place,” Fashola said.
The minister urged Nigerians to read the constitution as this is the only way to better understand the divide between the state and the Federal Government.
Citing refuse management, water supply, primary healthcare, basic education, etc as the sole responsibility of the local and state government and such duties rest upon the state governors.
