The clamour for the restructuring of the country has gained momentum in recent times, following the drastic reduction in the nation’s earnings due to the slump in the price of crude oil and the return of militancy in the Niger Delta. Fifty-six years after independence, Nigeria has not resolved what critics have described as the national question, writes MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE.
FIFTY-six years after independence, calls for the restructuring of the country have dominated national discourse. It has generated a lot of interest and passion.
Stakeholders are laying emphasis on the entrenchment of fiscal federalism, resource control, state police, equity, justice and fairness. The issue became topical, following the drastic reduction in the nation’s earnings, with the slump of the price of crude oil and the return of militancy to the Niger Delta, the growing menace of Fulani herdsmen and the bid to review the constitution.
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar stirred the hornet’s nest at the launch of a book written by a writer and political analyst, Chido Onumah, titled: We are all Biafrans. Atiku’s remark at the occasion ignited a fresh debate on the issue. The six geo-political zones are at the centre of the debate, which pitched the north against the south.
In view of the divergent views over restructuring, the argument is likely to linger. Experts say the refusal to restructure has compounded the cost of governance and that this is the time to nip the problem in the bud.
Atiku said whether Nigeria liked it or not, restructuring has become inevitable. He explained that, as long as the Federal Government continued to lord it over states in all matters of national interest, there would continue to be agitation for restructuring.
He said: “I suggest we resolve today to support calls for the restructuring of the Nigeria’s federalism to strengthen its unity and stabilise its democracy.
“I believe that restructuring will eventually happen whether we like it or not. The question is whether it happens around the conference table, in a direction influenced by us and whether we will be equal partners in the process.”
The former Vice President explained that he was not trying to be a messenger of doom, but only trying to draw attention to the seriousness of the issue. He maintained that there is serious need to diversify the economy, to make it less dependent on oil.
Stakeholders agree that avoiding restructuring will do more damage than it intends to solve. Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka threw his weight behind the proponents of restructuring, when he said Nigeria’s sovereignty is negotiable. He added that it was wrong for previous administrations to insist that the country does not require restructuring.
Soyinka stressed that he was on the side of those who say the country must do everything possible to avoid disintegration by addressing the specific needs of those crying of injustice and marginalisation.
He said: “I am on the side of those who say we must do everything to avoid disintegration. That language I understand. I don’t understand ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s language. I don’t understand President Muhammadu Buhari’s language and all the predecessors, saying the sovereignty of this nation is non-negotiable.
“It’s bloody well negotiable and we had better negotiate it. We better negotiate it; not even at meetings, not at conference, but every day in our conduct towards one another.”
Soyinka said the call is not an idle cry. He said the Pro-National Conference Organisation (PRONACO) was the rallying point for restructuring after the return to civilian rule in 1999. He faulted Obasanjo’s opposition to the issue, when said it was an act of treason for people to come out together to fashion a new constitution.
Soyinka said: “I remember the policeman who said if we met, that would amount to treason; I was not a member of PRONACO at the time. That is why I joined PRONACO. If you are saying to me, I am a second class citizen, I cannot sit down and discuss the articles, breaking the protocols of staying together and you are trying to bully me, I won’t accept it.”
The playwright said the centralisation of government led to the proliferation of states during the military era, adding that it was time the country established state police, in view of the positive impact on the polity.
He added: “I know that people get nervous about the expression. If you go to a place like England, you sometimes see two, three or four police officers, just walking casually unarmed, but they are observing everything.”
Many observers say the way the country is being run would stifle development. For instance, they maintain that each state ought to maintain some measure of autonomy to be able to perform. They allude to the glorious days of the First Republic, when there was healthy rivalry and competition among the regions. Under the current dispensation, states simply go to Abuja monthly to collect handouts and spend it without recourse to the fact that they need to invest on their economies.
Prof. Itse Sagay said Nigeria has deviated from fiscal federalism because of over centralisation of power. He said: “It is wrong to centralise institution such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigeria Police, Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) and others. Chief Obafemi Awolowo was right to have said Nigeria is not a nation, but a mere geographical expression.”
Faulting the warped federal structure, rights activist Mr. Femi Falana observed that the local government has been bastardised. He denounced a system which makes the state to muscle the local governments by the controlling its accounts. Falana said most local governments have not been able to grow because of the grip the states have over them. He said the constitution of Nigeria specifies the roles of the tiers of government, but that of the council were tied to the apron strings of the states.
He said: “We need political and economic restructuring to make all the entity to exist in ambient environment. Nigeria’s economy is in few people’s hands. If the oil blocks were given to states or councils they will be able to pay salaries.”
Experts say the call for restructuring is a sign that the country’s resources have not been well managed and that it has become expedient to rise up to the challenges.
But, the Executive Director of African Leadership Initiative, Prof. Iyorwuese Hagher, disagreed, saying those calling for restricting are playing politics. According to him, many are frustrated by the Nigerian project and feel that the country needs to break up before they can realise their personal or collective ambition.
He said: “Others are just mischievous and insincere by the calls. The cry for restructuring is a strategy for power sharing. But, incidentally we have been restructuring since independence.
“The difference constitutions brought in new structures. We were a parliamentarian democracy before we became unitary republic without federating units under the late General Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi. Nigeria will never stop restructuring.
“Even in the world’s most celebrated democracy, the United States of America, the federating units get jolted from time to time. Several states signed petitions to pull out of the US federation, when Barack Obama was elected president eight years ago.
“The Federal Government must create space for free expression by all Nigerians. A culture of peaceful demonstration must be tolerated and enhanced, so that democracy can grow.”
Defending government position in the new call for restructure, Minister for Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, assured Nigerians that Buhari will look at the political restructuring of the country at the appropriate time. He explained that the President has already started the restructuring of the country through its economic blueprint.
He said: “Nigerians have positively changed their ways of doing things for the country to be better and have become more prudent and judicious in their spending pattern. It is one after the other; government will look at the issues. After economic restructuring to reposition the country, the Buhari administration will embark political restructuring and will set the modalities for the exercise.”
The National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Mai Mala Buni, said Buhari is focused in his bid to restore Nigeria’s economic growth.
The scribe said: “In spite of the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) orchestrated and feeble attempt to blackmail the current administration, the reality remains that the prevailing socio-economic hardship being faced by Nigerian is a direct consequence of the mismanagement of the economy and unprecedented looting of the treasury under the PDP.
“Restructuring would be achieved through well-thought out economic policies, fiscal discipline and socio-political reforms. To this end, President Buhari is aggressively formulating and implementing policies aimed at delivering Nigeria from the grip of mono-economy, by boosting agriculture, mining and manufacturing.”
Those against the call for restructuring opined that it is diversionary and capable of heating the polity. They expressed misgivings that the new call is not popular, claiming that the agitators were prophets of doom. Senator Ali Ndume said the call is unnecessary and misplaced. He said what the country needs now is good governance, good leadership and not restructuring.
He maintained that it would be wrong for a few individuals to use the media to champion their individual views in the guise of public opinions. “The calling for restructuring at this critical stage of our nationhood and enormous challenges, ranging from economy to security is the missing point,” he added.
Despite the views expressed from different quarters, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, said he has been calling for the resolution of the same issue since 2005. He canvassed for the return to regional government, arguing that the six geo-political zones should form the federating units.
Anyaoku explained that the current 36 states-structure is very expensive. He said: “The present governance arrangement we have with 36 non viable states, most of which cannot pay the salaries of their teachers and civil servants, is not the best. We should return to an arrangement, where the six regions will form six federating units.”
Elder statesman and former Political Adviser to former President Shehu Shagari, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, said restructuring the country would not solve the nation’s problems, if certain issues were not adequately tackled.
He said: “I think the call did not start with Atiku; it has been going on for many years, dating back to the time when the late Chief Anthony Enahoro formed his National Reformation Council under the administration of Obasanjo.
“His argument was that Nigeria should be made six republics, not regions and not states. The six republics will contribute to the central authority on equal basis. They are to contribute the same number of soldiers to the national army.”
Former House of Representatives member Dr. Junaid Mohammed said that justice and security should be the basis for restructure. He noted that the restructuring which ensures that citizens are given access to quality education, healthcare, good roads, and regular pension for retiree is what Nigerians are longing for. “If they are calling for a return to the regional government, which we had in the past, let them come out and say so,” he said.
The call has not abated and stakeholders believe it will not stop, even when the restructuring is carried out. They insist that the only restructuring that Nigeria actually needs is for the people to be patriotic, love one another and shun economic sabotage like blowing up of pipelines, kidnapping and act of terrorism.
