The same reluctance to accept equal deal for all ethnic groups, irrespective of size and population, was echoed in 1976 by a member of the Constitution Drafting Committee of Hausa/Fulani extraction in expressing objection to the adoption of ethnic or linguistic criterion of state creation:
I would not say equal … because I would not want my group of 10 million to be given equal treatment with any other group of one thousand. In fact, they are not equal … I am sure members of the major ethnic groups, medium ethnic groups, and minor ethnic groups have all agreed to the fact that we should live together happily, peacefully, in unity, faith and progress. In that spirit, while safeguarding the interests of the minority, this does not detract from the right of the majority.
Secondly, constitutional safeguard has very little chance of succeeding in Nigeria unlike India and other places. To start with, the option was widely rejected when the Willink Commission touted it as a viable option. Even if special provisions were to be inserted into the Nigerian Constitution for ethnic minorities, virtually every Nigerian group will claim to be a minority in one sense or the other. The struggle of the states in the south-east to be included in the political definition of the Niger Delta is a case in point. Besides, the elastic nature of the concept is bound to raise some problem as Alhaji Tatari Ali noted in his contribution to the debates in the Constituent Assembly in 1977:
Mr. Chairman, lastly I come to the question of minority. For the last 18 years I have been hearing of minority. Why should people think of minority? Is it because of size or population? At district level also they talk of minority and at village level also they talk of minority and where do we stop… even in the so-called minority area you will find that within themselves there are minorities.
The pervasiveness of the problem made him to argue that no special provision should be made for the minorities.
The Way Forward: An Unfinished Business
Mr. Vice-Chancellor sir, the question we should ask ourselves at this stage is, why has the Minority Question remained unresolved? In Peace and Conflict Studies, we know that some conflicts can be resolved while others can only be managed. Have we then been trying to resolve a crisis that can only be managed? Our experience with the states creation exercises suggest that minority problems can never be eliminated but can be managed to a level that it would not pose a serious threat to the political stability of the country. This is because the multi-ethnic composition of the Nigerian Federation has created a necessary condition for the development of minority consciousness. The degree of manifestation at any time, as we have earlier noted, depends on the dynamics of intergroup relations. I wish to recall the argument of the Ibo State Union, while admonishing the Willink Commission to exercise restraint on creation of states in Nigeria. The observation of the Union has an eternal ring of truth about it:
… for as long as humanity are sorted into races, tribes, clans etc… there must always be majority and minority elements since mathematical equation cannot be applied to such human affairs.
Below are some of the suggestions to reduce the problem to a manageable level.
Moratorium on States Creation
There are those who still believe that states creation is the only way to solve minority problems in Nigeria. They are quick to argue that this will promote even and accelerated development, thereby eliminating the material basis of minority agitations. This was the position taken by the National Association of State Movements in a paid advertisement on March 8, 2010. The reality on the ground no longer supports this conclusion. To start with, more states have been created in the North than in the South. Yet, the North has continued to lag far behind the South in terms of development. Not only that, Nigeria has a population of about 150 million people and an area of 923,768 sq kilometers. Yet, it has more states than China and India with 34 and 28 states respectively. Even Cameroun and Kenya have not progressed beyond ten states or regions. The United States, with its huge size and population has only 50 states.
Admittedly, the number of states in a federation is always a reflection of the balance of political and social forces operating in a country at any point in time. Evidence suggests that the creation of new states would be a cog in the wheel of progress of the country. The creation of states has diverted attention from real growth and development to the duplication of offices and political appointments which many people mistakenly equate with development. It is common knowledge that more than eighty percent of the existing states are not economically viable. Hence, their dependence on the federal government has distorted the practice of true federalism. Additional states would mean the appointment of more state governors, more senators, more advisers without portfolios and more first ladies with the profligacy that goes with such offices. If the main purpose of the creation of states is to create more development centers, Nigeria’s interest can be better served by adopting the existing 774 local governments as units of operation. Besides the problem of sharing of assets, which will aggravate the indigene/settler crisis, Nigeria should also brace up for intractable boundary disputes. The level of complication is illustrated in the comment of E.C.M. Akamobi on the nature of the state agitations from the South-East zone. He noted that:
The scenario being peddled for a new state is a situation where some local governments would be carved out from three or four adjoining states to create a new state without minding their affinity and cultural background.
Elsewhere, I have shown that inter-state boundary disputes have adverse effects on the unity and integration of the country. Mr. Vice Chancellor sir, I sincerely believe that majority of those actively campaigning for the creation of new states are merely looking for power and position that had eluded them under the existing arrangements. The only way to curb this is to impose a ban of at least 20 years on the state creation business in Nigeria. This moratorium will compel Nigerians to learn to live harmoniously together. The hollowness of the argument of those still canvassing the state creation approach to minority problem is further demonstrated in the case of the Ekitis of Northern Nigeria.
In the early part of this lecture, we have seen how the Ekiti group agitated for a transfer from the Northern Region to Southern Nigeria from 1901 to 1936. Some were transferred, others were not. Yet, when the opportunity came for the rest of the group to join their kinsmen in Ekiti State that was created in 1996, they chose to remain in Kwara state where they believe they have a comparative advantage. Whether the “Ekiti Kete” of Ekiti State refers to these other Ekiti as Igbomina Ekiti or ‘Ekiti Taiwan’, the point has been made that they would remain where their bread is buttered, the factor of cultural affinity notwithstanding.
Federal Character
It has already been noted that various communities rejected the option of constitutional safeguards in 1959. The closest to this in the Nigerian Constitution is the principle of Federal Character introduced in 1979. The original intention of the government for introducing it was to ensure that the affairs of the government and its agencies at any level is not dominated by a few people from a particular group or a section of the country. When the implementation of the principle began to generate concern during the Babangida Administration, the Political Bureau recommended that the Federal Character Principle should not be implemented in a way to “convert historical accident into a permanent advantage.” To prevent this, it recommended that the implementation should be strictly monitored and the policy abandoned as soon as the gap narrows to a point when such a decision could be taken. Although the Federal Character Commission, created by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999, has the power to monitor and enforce compliance, even to the point of prosecuting offenders, the Commission, appears to be the least visible of all the federal government agencies. One watches in vain for the periodic publication of employment figures that the implementation requires. And to the best of my knowledge, no one has been prosecuted for deliberately flouting the provision. Today, it appears that the post of the Chairman of the Federal Character Commission has been reserved for conservative Northerners. The implementation of the Federal Character Principle will continue to provoke crisis until the Federal Character Commission wakes up to its responsibilities. The Commission can borrow a leaf from the implementation of the Affirmative Action in the United States.
Power Sharing
Studies have shown that minorities that are excluded from political participation are likely to adopt extreme measures to seek redress. In Nigeria, rotational presidency and zoning of political offices are recognized as a strategy to prevent sectional domination of the country. Although the formula was included in the Draft Constitution of 1995, it was not inserted into the 1999 Constitution. Nevertheless, the different political parties have since adopted zoning as an “article of faith”. The implementation has become a big issue.
We would recall that in the Second Republic, the National Party of Nigeria [NPN] had implemented zoning in a way that emphasized the political supremacy of the North. In November 1978, the party divided the country into four zones – North, West, East and Minorities. Not only did the Minorities become subsumed under the East, the party eventually dumped the formula when it allowed President Shehu Shagari to run for a second term of office. Similarly, the genesis of the current political crisis in the North is not totally unconnected with the difference of opinion on whether President Goodluck Jonathan should have been allowed to contest the last election.
Therefore, the constitutions of the political parties should clearly specify the posts that should be rotated, the order of rotation and the duration to prevent unnecessary controversy in the future.
Purposeful Leadership
The issue of leadership is also crucial to the search for a solution to the minority question in Nigeria. This is because government policies can reduce or accentuate minority fears. Purposeful leadership in plural society should entail the building of bridges across ethnic and religious divides to foster the spirit of togetherness. General Ibrahim Babangida expressed the point succinctly in a lecture:
Our role as Nigerian citizens, particularly of the leadership category, is to work relentlessly to trim down the sharp edges of divisiveness and retrogression and to increase (social and national integration) by expanding and deepening the economic, political and cultural spaces so as to foster the ingredients of growth, development, progress, unity and good governance.”
Ironically, Nigerian leaders habitually pay lip service to the unity of this country but indirectly fan the ember of disunity when their sectional or regional interest is threatened. A newspaper columnist recently condemned this hypocrisy in strong terms:
The leadership of this country is a dishonest bunch. They preach the gospel of unity; they discourage ethnicity and tribalism; condemning the activities of ethnic militia and cultural nationality groups. They even put down their feet on the territorial integrity of the nation. But when it comes to distributing the benefits of political associations such as ministerial appointments, they think zonal, each trying to get the choicest portfolios for their zone or state nominees. No one then thinks of what is good for the country.
Nigerian History
The only cure for the lack of a national leader is History Education .This is why the ancient Greeks believed that the best education for a statesman is History. In the recent past, some of the political appointees have made inciting and inflammatory statements that betray a poor understanding of the pre-colonial pattern of inter-group relations and the history of the nationalist movement in Nigeria. This is why I have suggested that an orientation programme should always be organized for new legislators and political appointees, many of whom sing the ‘labour of our heroes past’ without adequate understanding of what these heroes actually did.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor sir, the orientation programme should include lectures on Nigeria history with special emphasis on Nigeria peoples and cultures, and constitutional development. This will help to project the similarities among the different ethnic groups, instead of the current revisionist history promoted by state agitations.
At the same time too, Nigerian historians should be encouraged to go into the areas of Contemporary and Administrative History for them to be of greater relevance to the task of nation building. If Nigeria is not making progress as it should, Nigerian historians should take part of the blame. This is because they are suitably placed to study events that are likely to influence public policies. While I do not subscribe to the positivist doctrine that historians should end their research in universal laws, I believe that a research that is problem- driven and ends with policy recommendations would be of greater value than a mere historical narrative that contains no lesson that can be harnessed to solve basic societal problems.
Prayer
Vice-Chancellor sir, in addition to the foregoing, I also believe that Nigeria requires divine intervention to overcome the myriad of problems confronting the country. Not only do serving presidents repeatedly call on Nigerians to pray for the peace and development of the country, the “Nigeria Prays” programme of General Yakubu Gowon (Retd.) indicates how central prayer is to the Nigerian project. Mr. Vice-Chancellor sir, but can we remain in sin and expect God to continue to bless us? This is why I have remained fascinated by the prayer of repentance by a concerned Nigerian, Ike Nwejike. It is titled “Prayer for Nigeria in distress”. Although published in one of the dailies on 8 March 2009, I leave this distinguished audience to judge its contemporary relevance: It reads: All powerful and merciful father, you are the God of justice, love and peace. You rule over all the nations of the earth, including our dear country Nigeria. You have blessed our country Nigeria with rich human and natural resources for the well being of every Nigerian. Power and might are in your hands, and not in the hands of our corrupt leaders, who loot our treasury to develop the white man’s land.
No one can withstand you, not even President Yar’Adua or Baba Iyabo. We present the numerous problems of our dear country, Nigeria, before you, including the current administration, which is still groping in the dark two years after, lacking in focus, direction, commitment, will and strategy. We pray for our dear President Yar’Adua who has decided to fill his government with some sycophants, political jobbers, and great grand fathers with questionable democratic credentials.
We praise and thank you for you are the source of all that we have, even the oil that is now a nightmare, and we are sorry for the sins we have committed, including the sins of our leaders, and for the basic things our leaders have failed to provide like water, electricity, roads, housing etc.
In your loving forgiveness, keep us safe from the punishment we deserve, and forgive our past leaders like Baba Iyabo, Baba Aisha, and other Babas that have ruined, pardon me I mean ruled Nigeria.
We confidentially turn to you in these times of our needs, oh God of infinite goodness, our strength in adversity, our health in weakness, our comfort in sorrow, be merciful to us and our corrupt and insensitive leaders.
Spare this nation, Nigeria, from the hands of the PDP which has vowed to rule for 60 years and also from the armed criminals who have made us sleep with our two eyes wide opened.
Save us from chaos, anarchy and doom and bless us with a nation where justice, love and peace prevails like what we have in America..
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, with this supplication for divine assistance, I believe we can look forward to a better future.
