Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s recent call for the
restructuring of Nigeria has injected fresh life into the debate about
redesigning the country against the backdrop of violent separatist
demands from the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, the Biafra Independence
Movement and the Niger Delta Avengers among others. We strongly disagree
with the notion that the ethnic or geopolitical structure is the major
problem of Nigeria rather than the absence of good governance resulting
in widespread hunger, disease, unemployment, insecurity and near-absence
of social amenities across the federation.
Advocates of
restructuring talk about the devolution or redistribution of power
between the federal and state governments or “true federalism” as the
panacea for the nation’s problems. Their argument is that since
amalgamation by British colonialists in 1914, Nigeria’s estimated 450
ethnic nationalities constituting the federation never sat down to
negotiate and agree on the basis and terms of the union.
There is
clearly no such concept or example of a “true” or even perfect
federation at anytime and anywhere in the world. Federations develop in
accordance with the peoples’ historical and political peculiarities.
Advocates
of restructuring are not even agreed on the broad definition of the
seemingly populist project. Some believe it is about fiscal federalism
or resource control, others think it is for the creation of more states
while others believe Nigeria should be a federation of the six
geopolitical zones. The fact that most of the existing states are
unviable to the point of being unable to pay workers’ salaries is a
function of corruption, indolence and mismanagement rather than the
structure of the federation.
We must not waste time and resources
in pursuit of a mirage called “true federalism.” Restructuring will not
resolve the existential material issues confronting the majority of
Nigerians of all tribes and religious persuasions. Advocacy for
restructuring must not becloud the bigger issues of good governance.
Ethnic, regional and zonal champions agitating for restructuring are
self-serving warmongers. Champions of the concept in the south believe
it is the best means to weaken an overbearing north which has over 60
per cent of the country’s population and over 70 per cent of its
landmass. Others may be promoting restructuring in order to dismember
the federation as the poor people of South Sudan were misled with the
ongoing deadly outcome.
We believe that there would always be room
for improvement on the state of the union and this may entail
fundamental structural changes that can be accommodated through regular
constitutional amendments. For instance, the plight of the
environmentally-challenged Niger Delta and the agitation for resource
control was addressed by the constitutional 13 per cent derivation
formula that commits the greatest portion of the country’s crude oil
profits to states in the zone. Similarly, conflict of powers between the
federal and state governments should continue to be resolved by the
courts.This means there is no need for a special national conference,
sovereign or otherwise, before peculiar problems arising over time can
be resolved.
Above all, Nigerians need a change in attitude and
reorientation of values to achieve the nation’s immense development
potentials. The fault is not in our laws but our collective conduct as
citizens and leaders. Our huge population, arable landmass and diversity
are potential resources on which we can leverage to build a strong and
vibrant federation that will continue to lead the continent and the
Black race for the foreseeable future.
We also agree with
President Muhammadu Buhari that the report of the 2014 ‘national’
conference be consigned to the archives. The administration should also
not contemplate organising its own version of a national conference no
matter the pressure. History has shown such to be jamborees where
billions of naira are wasted without any useful results. Governments at
all levels, should instead institutionalise good governance and work to
consolidate on the unity of Nigerians by strengthening institutions
designed to foster nation building.
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