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Tag: restructuring

  • Yoruba leaders seek Speaker’s support for restructuring

    The calls for the restructuring of Nigeria’s political, economic and social structure will further reverberate tomorrow as eminent Yoruba leaders will visit Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, to seek his support.

    In a statement yesterday, Convener of Yoruba Koya Leadership and Training Foundation, Otunba ‘Deji Osibogun, whose organisation is spearheading the visit, said eminent Yoruba leaders, such as Emeritus Prof. of History, Banji Akintoye, Afenifere Chieftain Amos Akingba, Secretary-General, Yoruba Council of Elders Dr. Kunle Olajide, Senator Tokunbo Ogunbanjo, Dr. Tola Adeniyi, Chairman, Voice of Reason, Dr. Femi Adegoke, among others, will lead the delegation on the visit.

    According to Osibogun, the visit is to let all elected Yoruba parliamentarians understand why restructuring must be implemented now for the sake of the unborn generation.

    He added that the visit, which is being taken to all the parliaments in Yoruba land, is aimed at formally seeking for the support of Obasa and other lawmakers on the constitutional request to restructure Nigeria to address injustice, inequality and unemployment threatening the peace.

  • 2019: Coalition group demands restructuring, anti-corruption stance

    President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) respectively, have been given two weeks to accept fiscal and political restructuring of the country, which is consistent with the principle of true political and fiscal federalism, as a condition for being voted for in the 2019 presidential election.

    Among its 10-point demands, the Coalition of United Movement for Better Nigeria (CUMBN) also asked the two major presidential candidates to publicly sign an agreement that on being elected, a fair, firm and aggressive fight against corruption, through institutions strengthening and improved judicial processes and procedures, would be a priority of their administration.

    The group at a news conference yesterday in Abuja, said its demand became necessary as developments since the advent of the current Republic in 1999 has shown that it has become expedient for all Nigerians to support efforts to put an end to reckless political leadership in the country. According to the co-convener, Dr. Arome Salifu, CUMBN is a coalition of over 2000 groups made up of professionals, youth, women, religious, political and cultural organizations, with over 20 million members spread across the country.

    “Our objective for coming together is to organise as citizens to engage the political class in Nigeria to demand for meaningful and significant improvement in the living conditions of Nigerians in several but key sectors through purposeful and strategic political leadership from our President come 2019. We are demanding for the establishment of ultra-modern, state-of-the-art skill acquisition centres in the 774 Local Government Areas across the country that will serve as a melting point for unskilled unemployed youth in the country ,to acquire relevant skills and become useful and active players in the economy.

    “Other demands include minimum of 10 percent budgetary allocation in every fiscal year dedicated to fight poverty and unemployment, in addition to the provision of stable and affordable electricity in the country to fast-track industrial development, economic expansion. Provision of universal health care delivery services to all Nigerians by ensuring availability of health care infrastructure in all the wards in Nigeria consistent with SDGs targets in Nigeria,” he said.

  • Still on the crusade for restructuring

    Sir: There has been a rising hue and cry from some quarters, in recent times, about the need to restructure the current configuration of the Nigerian state. Besides the bona fide proponents of this crusade, some fair-weather politicians have also disingenuously aligned themselves with the thrust of this drive, with the ulterior motive of inveigling themselves into the affection of the supporters of the crusaders.

    The true proponents of this drive believe that the existence of the sovereign state called Nigeria, from the amalgamation of its protectorates in 1914 to its attainment of the status of a republic in 1963 and down to its current status quo, has been a mere charade choreographed by the West. They regard the co-existence of the enclaves that constitute Nigeria as a marriage of convenience. This marriage of convenience, according to these crusaders, not only provided the foundation for the current lopsidedness in the allocation and distribution of the common wealth of the nation, but also gave unfair advantages to the northern region at the expense of other enclaves.

    Unfortunately, this restructuring drive has precipitated some inclinations which have culminated in chains of gory events in the country’s history. From the secessionist propaganda in the south-east to the militant restiveness in the south-south, the waves of the restructuring crusade have been rocking the ship of the Nigerian state. Perhaps as a reprisal move to emphasize their place as a bona fide enclave and de jure beneficiaries of the nation’s extant configuration, some folks in the north have entrenched terrorist cells in their domain.

    Truly, the current structure of the Nigerian state, in terms of allocation and control of resources, distribution of the common wealth, wielding of political powers, management of state-owned institutions and suchlike, is grotesquely lopsided. Thus, the call for the restructuring of the status quo is not out of place. However, an objective assessment of the existence of Nigeria and how it has fared within the confines of the extant structure reveals a more pressing imperative than the current call for physical restructuring. It is the need for psychical restructuring by Nigerians, especially the ruling class.

    A holistic evaluation of the chequered history of Nigeria reveals the greatest challenge bedevelling the country- the dearth of moral scruples on the part of its leaders. The real bane of Nigeria is not much of the extant configuration; rather, it is the self-defeating leadership styles and the avaricious mindsets of its leaders. Nigerian politics no longer makes much appeal to the interest of genuine analysts and the literati in general. It has become boring, commonplace and predictable. Pettiness, frivolities and avarice have supplanted the real essence of governance in the country’s political amphitheatre. The recent waves of political shenanigans in Lagos, Ogun, Osun, Ekiti, Ondo and Imo states, as well as in the National Assembly attest to the moral depravity of most Nigerian politicians.

    Without mincing words, Nigerian politicians require psychical restructuring. Unless there is moral rebirth on the part of our leaders, no meaningful and enduring physical restructuring can be achieved. A nation where politicians exhibit flagrant disregard for the rule of law; give a premium to personal interest at the expense of national interest; epitomize the ills and the evil they profess to stamp out; resort to hypocrisy and mendacity, as well as gerrymandering, in order to perpetuate their political reigns; and create virtual impregnable empires that protect them and their cronies from the laws of the land; moral rebirth is sine qua non for enduring physical restructuring.

    It should be reckoned that a true nation is not defined by the ability of its enclaves to make even contributions to its common wealth. True nationhood is defined by common ideology and purpose, and the resolve to run a system that is truly egalitarian. A true nation is poised to fairly harness its resources and utilize them for the general good. It appreciates the strengths and weaknesses of its enclaves, while ensuring that the better endowed units make up for the inadequacies of the less endowed ones. Suffice it to say that the key hallmarks of a true nation are patriotism and egalitarianism.

    It is undeniable that the current structure of the Nigerian state is skewed. Thus, the call for restructuring the status quo is justifiable. However, it is imperative that, first and foremost, moral rebirth be attained by Nigerian leaders, in order to create the right platform for the masses to reap the dividends of such restructuring. Achieving the thrust of the current restructuring drive otherwise will only open a Pandora’s Box.

     

    • Arinbomen Star, Ibadan.

     

  • 2019: Southwest forum resolves to back candidate with restructuring agenda

    SOME leaders in Southwest geopolitical zone have resolved to vote a candidate that will restructure the country in the 2019 election.

    The resolution was made during a colloquium on 2019  held yesterday at the Muson Centre, Lagos.

    In a communiqué read by Dr. Remi Akintoye, the forum adopted the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar for the 2019 election.

    He said the decision was unanimous, noting that the Yoruba would be mobilised to make the decision a reality.

    The key speaker, former PDP Deputy National Chairman Chief Olabode George said the Yoruba nation was positioning itself to play a pivotal role in 2019.

    He said the Yoruba insisted on a balance, equitable society, where every Nigerian would have the same opportunity, irrespective of ethnic background.

    He added that the country should avoid the politics of hate and bitterness, which had contributed to disharmony in the country, noting that the country would be better if it avoided the ogre of sectarian malice.

    Read also: Between Restructuring and Resource Management

    “As we grapple with the dawning challenges of 2019, naturally like all other ethnic groups, the Yoruba people want to ensure that they do have an important seat at the table, when the dividends of democracy are being apportioned.

    “We do not ask for more than what is fair and just. We do not ask for more than what is equitable and balance proportion. And if we all get up and work hard, the people in every state can survive with any largess from any central government.”

    George urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ensure that the coming election is credible, stressing that the commission has its name to protect.

    Former Minister of Transport, Chief Ebenezer Babatope said the Yoruba nation called for proper democracy.

    Former Deputy governor of Lagos State Kofo Akerele-Bucknor, Senator Bode Olajumoke, Dr. Eddy Olafeso, Elder Wole Oyelese, Senator Abiodun Olujimi, Lagos PDP governorship candidate Jimi Agbaje, Erelu Olusola Obada, Chief Femi Okurounmu and others attended the event.

  • Nigeria needs fundamental restructuring

    SIR: The country is severely stressed because the structures to make it function are faulty. There is too much government. Government is a national bakery where those who work in it must share the bread they refuse to help bake.

    The people themselves are severely stressed. The more welfare they expect, the less they get. The more they are told about peace and security, the more they are harassed both by the private armies of the powerful few: and hoodlums who are the products of inequities, deprivation, and urban denials. Our law-enforcement agencies are few, ill-equipped and inadequately motivated.

    The society itself has not been trained to ask questions from those who make it by the simple procedure of joining the political class: Understandably, because government is a stronger to the people, and is a place where taking what is not yours is an achievement to be celebrated, and for which national honours can be conferred.

    The provisions on corruption were prohibitive enough to discourage infringing them before the present anti-corruption and related crimes law was passed. But everyone laughs at the latest political scenes and provisions, as they did the ones preceding them.

    We are a federation, and we must operate as a federation. The 36 states are too weak to constitute the federating units. We need another buffer between the states and the federal, and that is the present zones that have naturally emerged. They are six, and should constitute the federating units.

    The powers at the centre are too many. The power of the National Assembly as the de facto, law-maker for everything both on the legislative and concurrent lists is not healthy for the federation.

    Government is too involved in businesses, and this promotes corruption. Section 16 of the 1999 Constitution even entrenches the preponderant place of government in running the economy. There is no doubt that when government is decongested, the economy will automatically be deregulated. Political deregulation must precede economic deregulation.

    The people must be brought together, and this can better be done through integrative programmes. We should use what we have to get what we want. The sky is in political deregulation through restructuring, and the acceptance of informal and cost effective governance through active use of the traditional institutions.

    Looking back to May 29, 1999 when we started this walk, it is obvious that the cost of sustaining the different political arms of each of the tiers is becoming unbearable. Our expenditure profile shows that we spend about 95 percent of our resources on recurrent expenditure. This means that we have very little left for funding development.

    There is no doubt, therefore, that the present arrangement is not healthy for us. The way out of this problem is restructuring the political arrangement to make it more manageable and less demanding on our resources.

    We should retain a three-tier arrangement- The central government, the regional government and the state government. The present local government structure should be an affair of the regional government, and be funded by it.

    The central government will continue to be headed by an elected president so that we may all continue to have a sense of ownership of the head of the Nigerian state. The law-making body should be the present senate of 109 members. There should be a nominated Upper House of Elders, one from each state of the federation and Abuja. The number will thus be 37. This would be like the arrangement in the First Republic.

    • Ademola Orunbon, Oke-Posun, Epe, Lagos State.

     

     

  • Between Restructuring and Resource Management

    Despite the seeming hopelessness of a nation in distress, hope yet springs eternal provided we don’t give up. Why am I now hopeful when in the last two weeks, I described a bottomless pit into which we have fallen? Only the dead is hopeless; and we are not dead yet as a people.

    Indeed, our liveliness is unparalleled. We are imbued with a boundless energy that we expend in talking, sometimes pass each other, but always on the issues that matter to our survival and prosperity as a people. Of course, we sometimes also question the very idea of our people-hood. Which is fine because, again, if we jaw-jaw, we will not war-war.

    This brings me to the very recent subjects of discourse in high places. The presidency initiated the discourse on restructuring and national interest while PDP initiated a discussion on good governance. But we all have a responsibility to join in to raise the discussions above partisan frays to the realm of rationality. This is not to suggest that partisan discourse is something but rational. Rather, the point is that it is perceived to be naturally motivated by the scoring of political points against the other party.

    Yet the discourse on restructuring, national interest, and good governance can benefit from an objective approach which does not fail to expose unstated assumptions, misrepresentations, downright distortion of issues or egregious deception on either side of the discourse. In short, we have a moral obligation to keep them all honest. Today, I focus on restructuring.

    As I remarked a few weeks ago, Vice President Osinbajo is an accidental politician. A lawyer by profession and a servant of God by calling, he straddles two worlds with different requirements and expectations.  In the competitive world of politics, where electoral victory is a driving force, there is a notoriety for aversion to those values that, while sounding highfalutin, are obstacles to electoral success.

    In the world of religion, however, values matter and every citizen of that world is required to uphold those values that are divinely ordained. These include, among others, truthfulness, fidelity to promises, modesty, kindness, selflessness, integrity, honesty, and humility.

    How does one navigate these seemingly contrasting oceans and stay afloat? Does one give up on religious ethics once one accepts the call to serve in the secular world of politics? Going by how he has conducted himself thus far, Osinbajo doesn’t think so. The latest example was his outrage over the illegal and unethical invasion of the National Assembly by SSS few weeks ago. He has also demonstrated his compassion and empathy in various forums and under difficult circumstances in the unfortunate cases of violent attacks by criminal elements.

    Therefore, if the Vice President makes a submission that conflicts with our perspective on an issue, we owe it to our mutual belief in rational discourse to interrogate the issues. For the umpteenth time, the issue is restructuring. The VP refers to it as geographical restructuring. Many who have discussed the same matter have preferred the term political restructuring. I think we are talking about the same thing.

    From several media reports on a town hall meeting in Minnesota, USA, we are informed that the VP rejected restructuring and opted for prudent management of resources. Without a transcript of his presentation, we must rely on the statement circulated by his Media Aide, which may be summarized as follows:

    1. Each of the previous administrations earned more revenue from oil between 1999 and 2015 than the Buhari administration has earned in three years.
    2. Despite the huge resources available to them, none of these previous administrations focused on infrastructure. The money they earned went down the drain.
    3. With a laser beam focus on fighting corruption and through TSA initiative and others, the Buhari administration has closed leakages that fuel corruption.
    4. With revenues accruing from return of stolen funds, and with just a fraction of what each of the previous administrations earned from oil, the Buhari administration has done more on infrastructure than any of those administrations. It is also doing a lot on agriculture with a target of attaining self-sufficiency in the production of rice, tomato and other cash crops.
    5. Therefore the Buhari administration has succeeded in a prudent management of the meager resources and the provision of essential needs.
    6. Therefore, resource management is a better way to address the development challenges of Nigeria.
    7. Therefore, the problem with Nigeria is not a matter of restructuring. It is about managing resources properly and providing for the people properly.

    Note that if we accept for discussion, the Vice President’s submissions from 1 to 4 above, what we are entitled to conclude is that the Buhari administration has succeeded in prudent management of resources of the country, which is the inference in 5.

    However, the Vice President appears to take a liberty which he is not entitled to in 6 and 7. To infer that management of resources and provision of essential needs are better ways of addressing the development challenges of Nigeria begs an important question: “better than what?” As far as we can see, at the point he drew that inference, the Buhari administration approach has only been compared with the previous administrations. But none of those previous administrations also embraced restructuring.

    It is even more stunning that the VP makes the further inference in 7 that “the problem of Nigeria is not a matter of restructuring. It is about managing resources properly and providing for people properly.” It is stunning because we have not been told what restructuring is and might do, including its potential to add value to the prudent management of resources. The VP did not bother to explain what he understands by restructuring before he makes the inference at 7.

    Shortly after, however, he alluded to the struggle of the Lagos State government of which he was an integral part as Attorney General. The struggle was for fiscal federalism, which is an aspect of restructuring. Note that it was a time when Lagos State was leading every state in terms of development efforts. It was also a time when the Obasanjo administration flexed its muscle to strangle Lagos State, by withholding its local government revenue even after the Supreme Court had ruled that move unconstitutional.

    Lagos State was an exemplar of good resource management during that period and ever since. Even when its resources were withheld, it paid workers’ salary regularly. It improved the welfare of judicial workers, something that the VP must take pride in as the Attorney General. It equipped its health clinics and hospitals. It improved access to quality education. And with the Local Council Development Areas that it created, it made government more accessible to residents.

    Imagine, then, if Lagos State had access to its local government funds withheld by Obasanjo administration, what more feat it would have performed in terms of development and providing for the needs of the people.

    But it did not have its funds because the structure of our federalism makes the federal government an overbearing Leviathan, which, in the hands of a benevolent President as master, might dole out resources to states under him. However, since, human nature is unpredictable, strong institutions are much more reliable to do what they are created to do so that, in the absence of a benevolent master, a structure is in place that respects the co-equal status of sub-national units, be it region or state.

    It is not as if we were not at such a place before. And what is bothersome is that in the difficult task they have of defending the status quo, no one seems to have taken to trouble to tell us what was wrong with the structure of relationship that regions had with the center in the first republic. That relationship was changed by human beings who were not even elected. They had the power of the gun and they used it to impose their will.

    Are we now being told that since the military did it with the power of the gun, it is good for eternity?

     

     

  • Restructuring and Buhari’s place in history

    There are too many people talking lazily about restructuring in Nigeria. Unfortunately people are not asking them individually what they mean by restructuring….And now we have 36 states and the FCT. What form do they want? They are just talking loosely about restructuring. Let them define it and then we see how we can peacefully do it in the interest of Nigerians.” – President Buhari.

    Suddenly, President Buhari, a political adviser’s nightmare who routinely shoots himself in the legs must have forgotten ‘the buck stops at his desk”. With unhidden disdain for public opinion, he speaks as if he is doing Nigerians who elected him a favour. Although many Nigerians believe the president is committed to the Nigerian project, but not a few including some of his ardent supporters, have in the last two years started to fear that this type of gaffe and hypocrisy beyond his inaction may at the end deny him his place in history.

    It is on records that the president sold restructuring as part of his agenda to the electorate in 2015. It is also on record that the committee on restructuring set up by the President’s APC presented its report to the president earlier in the year. The president, feigning ignorance of what advocates of restructuring want, must have no doubt been a source of great anguish to his advisers.

    Undoubtedly, the president knows Nigerian patriots such as the late Pa Tony Enahoro who  until his last breath fought for the country to be restructured  in line with what he and our other founding fathers negotiated at independence, Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, who served 30 months in detention during the civil war, Emeka Anyaoku, former secretary general of Commonwealth of nations, Balarabe Musa, ex- governor of old Kaduna State, and  ethnic representatives such as Pa Ayo Adebanjo of Afeniifere, Prof Nwabueze and General Theophilus Danjuma speaking for besieged Middle-Belt region  cannot just  be dismissed as  “those involved in loose talk”.

    At any rate, the president is very much aware that the quest for viable federal arrangement is not new. More than half of the nations of the world especially in the multi-cultural societies have adopted the federal arrangement. Europe after two World Wars said “never again” and embraced federal system in order to reduce social dislocation in their societies.

    The struggle in Nigeria started in the 1920s with the colonial power’s recommendation of “a ‘regional government that secures for each separate people, the right to maintain its identity, its individuality and its nationality and its own chosen form of government which have been evolved for it by the wisdom and by the accumulated experiences of generation of its forbearers’.  The constitutional changes of 1954, 1957 and the 1958 Lancashire debate at which October 1, 1960 was chosen as the date for our independence took their roots from this stated policy.

    Unfortunately, the core north’s political elite and their south-eastern counterpart who were opposed to any form of federal arrangement they would not control derailed it in 1962. The core northern political elite preferred a confederal arrangement but cajoled by British umpires to reluctantly embrace federal arrangement having negotiated and secured over 50% of the members of the House and guaranteed a perpetual hold on to power by virtue of higher population than the two southern regions since democracy is a game of numbers. The southeast ‘unitarists’ did not mind this because with a north desperate for qualified hands to man their regional bureaucracy, having just secured self-rule status, the junior coalition partner who according to Nnamdi Azikiwe had been destined by their god “to rule Africa”, a prospect which according to Daddy Oscar Onyeama “was only a matter of time when the Igbos would dominate others in Nigeria”, it was the manifestation of a self-fulfilling prophesy.

    With Tafawa Balewa as prime minister, the southeastern core political elite produced the Chief of Army Staff, the Chief of Naval Staff, the Chief of Defence Staff, the IGP, internal affairs minister, external affairs minister education minister, president of the senate, University of Ibadan VC, and University of Lagos VC. They similarly controlled the Nigerian Airways, the Nigerian Railways among others.

    Political calculations after the 1963 census crisis and the disputed 1964 election result forced the leadership of both groups to lobby the military. The January 1966 military intervention encouraged by southeast core political elite led to Unification Decree 34 of 1966 while the July vengeance coup sponsored by core north political elite resulted in Gowon’s 12-state federal structure.

    Successive northern military leaders  from Murtala Muhammed, Buhari, Babangida, Abacha, and Abdullsalami went on to consolidate northern position by creating in all 36 states and 774 LGAs, all looking up to the centre  that crafted a constitution without a residual list after taking over the sources of economic power of the states.

    Many Nigerians because of President Buhari’s antecedents had thought he is better placed to deal decisively with politicians and economic saboteurs benefitting from the unjust arrangement by restructuring the country along the line of sustainable development.

    Unfortunately, the president upon assumption of office, tried to hide behind one finger by directing advocates of restructuring to go through the National Assembly who, as beneficiaries of unjust order, are not likely going to commit political suicide.  Empire builders in many of the unviable states and LGAs that collect free money from the centre to which they are not accountable are not ready to change the status-quo. Rampaging herdsmen even from across the borders are hiding under the military constitution to justify mindless killing of Nigerians and seizure of territories.  Budding industries collapsed because smugglers of fake products are hiding under the same constitution to carry out their nefarious activities in the name of trading.

    Meanwhile the rivalry between those who destroyed our federal arrangement and have held the nation to ransom since 1962 is being rekindled anew. Professor Ango Abdullahi, former ABU vice chancellor and current spokesman for Northern Elders’ Forum has tried to justify killing and sacking of villages by suspected herdsmen by claiming Igbo traders have not been prevented from carrying out their trading activities around the country.  Professor Nwabueze, the author of the 1966 Unification Decree and 1993 Interim Decree  has proclaimed himself as the chief campaigner for Abubakar Atiku in 2019, a man he said would restructure the country.

    In a bizzare turn of events, President Buhari the messiah many had thought would free the nation from the strangle-hold of the warring enemies of our country, has been accused of taking side with the core northern political elite that did not only refuse to endorse him for his current position but in fact master-minded his defeat during his first three unsuccessful outings. His political foes have also drawn a parallel between his current provincialism and that of southeast core political elite in the first republic and under President Azikiwe Goodluck Jonathan presidency. And because of his slow response to the human tragedies in the Benue basin as well as  to the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association’s threat to resist anti-grazing laws in some 75 local government areas in 21 states, they have accused him of silently waging the late Ahmadu Bello’s unfinished battle against those he once described as his  “ancestors’  properties”.

    Suddenly, being a member of core north political elite has become a threat to the president’s 2019 re-election bid. Those who denied him membership of the group and rigged him out of election in the past have now found in it a potent weapon in the run up to 2019.

    True lovers of our nation however know the country is doomed without restructuring. The president by now should also know he alone cannot be right while all others are wrong. He can therefore  in spite of the theatrics of his political enemies still overcome some of his personal failings  and  save our nation from the impending doom even in the twilight of his first term which ends in May 2019.

  • Gani Adams insists on restructuring

    •Daniel leads Atiku support groups to visit Yoruba war generalissimo

    Former Ogun State Governor and Director-General of Atiku Campaign Organisation Gbenga Daniel yesterday led over 20 members of the Atiku campaign groups to visit the the Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba Land, Gani Adams.

    Daniels said his visit was to pay a courtesy visit to Adams as the 15th Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland and to seek support for Atiku Abubakar’s presidential ambition.

    Adams thanked Daniel for the visit, describing him as one of the prominent sons of Yoruba that has the interest of Yoruba at heart.

    He added that he will only support a presidential candidate that has passion and believes in the restructuring of Nigeria.

    The Aare noted that the only solution to Nigeria’s present problems is the restructuring, saying Nigeria should be restructured along the six geo-olitical zones based on federating units.

    Read also: Gani Adams: Council of Yoruba Obas in Diaspora is illegal

    “This is how it was written in the 1963 constitution; this will give room for the economy and developmental rivalries among the six zones based on federating units. Any political party that believes in this will have our support, he said.

    Some of the dignitaries in the entourage include Araba Tola Adeniyi, Akogun Tunde Odanye, Chief Kole Omololu, Mr. Hakeem Gbajabiamila, Mr. Seyi Wellington, Prof Kila of University of Cambridge, among others.

     

  • ‘Restructuring possible without constitution amendment’

    National Intervention Movement Co-chairman Dr Olisa Agbakoba (SAN) yesterday said the country can be restructured administratively pending constitution amendment.

    According to him, while restructuring, which he described as power transfer “from exclusive Federal list to concurrent state list”, will involve constitutional alteration, administrative devolution of powers could be deployed in the interim.

    He said it will involve administrative transfer of power from the centre to states pending constitutional power devolution.

    This, he said, will be a temporary measure before constitutional restructuring.

    “The Federal Government can administratively devolve powers to states by Executive Order,” Agbakoba said.

    The former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, who chairs the Peoples Trust Party (PTP), spoke at a briefing in Lagos.

    Agbakoba, who also chairs the third force political parties, said restructuring should be top on the list of political agenda.

    “The Constitution requires that two-thirds of the 36 states, the Federal Government and the National Assembly participate in restructuring. That may take a bit of time.

    “There are things that can be done immediately through administrative restructuring. The Federal Government can make statutory transfers to the states.

    “For example, the President can receive money for a Federal road in Anambra and transfer the money to the state government to execute

    “There are so many things the Federal Government is doing. You see Minister of Transport Rotimi Amaechi and his power, works and housing counterpart Babatunde Fashola (SAN) everywhere, up and down. But there are commissioners of works.

    “The Federal Government can prepare the budgets, because under the Constitution, the Federal Government does roads. But if they budget for a particular road and it is touching two states – Lagos and Oyo for instance, you can call the governors and give them the money.

    “That way, you begin to free yourself from the challenges of a big federation. If we do this, we’ll see substantial change,” Agbakoba said.

    The SAN called for a national order, which he described as a stable arrangement of systems, as opposed to social chaos as seen in existing structures.

    “It is crucial to stabilise our national disunity. This is why restructure is vital. Examples of national order include: the treaty of Westphalia, the treaty of Vienna, the League of Nations, and Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) etc. In Nigeria, there is none. This is a big issue.

    “Without resolving issues around a stable national order, Nigeria will continue to be disunited. And we cannot move. This, therefore, is issue No.1 – the Big Issue,” he said.

    Tied to political devolution, Agbakoba said, is the notion of strengthening institutions.

    To him, the Federal Government is weak because it is made up of weak institutions.

    He suggested the adoption of Chapter 9 of the South African Constitution, so that institutions such as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Police, anti-graft agencies, Judiciary, Accountant General, among others, are assured to work free of interference.

    This, he believes, will limit impunity and improve independent action, as according to him, “strong institution is a critical big issue for good governance”.

    Agbakoba described the justice sector as dead, adding that legal failure has had massive impact on economic development.

    “The legal and justice sector has suffered institutional failure over the last three decades. Comprehensive and radical reform of the legal and justice sectors is overdue. The rule of law is vital to economic development. But lip service is paid to this vital process.

    “Investors, whether local and international, will not invest in a lawless country. We must give urgency to this sector and reverse legal failure. A speed of justice strategy will reduce delays.”

    On the way out, he called for new methods of dispute resolution, such as Alternative Dispute Resolution, small claims courts, traditional and customary arbitration, as well as a major centre for investment disputes resolution.

    He advocated the establishment of quasi-judicial sector-based administrative tribunals, following the UK example.

    Read also: Nigeria will get it right with restructuring, says OPC

    “In England there exist many administrative courts to cover telecommunications, taxation, transportation, insurance, education, financial services, trade, investments, etc.

    “The impact on Nigeria will be enormous as consideration may be given to devolving judicial power from Federation to state level,” he said.

    Agbakoba said the government must pay attention to the three critical policies of economic governance: monetary, fiscal and trade.

    On monetary policy, he called for a reduction of lending rates to single digit to encourage business growth. To him, borrowing at 20 per cent is crazy.

    On fiscal policy, Agbakoba advocated the expansion of money supply to meet expenditure and other needs –without which government cannot fund its money requirements.

     

  • Restructuring and its frenemies

    Back in the Athenian garden where the tradition of public debate was first documented in antiquity, the danger had long been recognized. Logicians call it red herring.

    Those in the habit of artfully diverting an argument in order to obfuscate the question prefer this kind of fallacy.

    Such, it would seem, is the clear and present threat now encroaching the national gallery over the issue of restructuring. Depending on where you stand on the divide today, the word is applied loosely in a manner likely to confound even those who originally conceived the word, “perestroika” (restructuring), in the last years of the old Soviet Union.

    Unable – well maybe unwilling – to keep the old empire together under the force of arms, often meditative Mikhail Gorbachev did not stop at “perestroika” beginning from 1986; he added “glasnot” (openness) in a steely resolve to reform the old union, but ended up as the last president of the empire cobbled together by the Bolsheviks several decades earlier.

    To the political establishment in Abuja and a faction of the ruling party today, the word is perhaps no more than the new synonym for the shriek wailing of the politically displaced, if not treasonable dismemberment of the nation. To the opposition, it is undoubtedly an invocation to hold the ruling party to certain high standards to which they themselves were however also unable to rise yesterday when in power.

    Further afield, the understandably querulous actors of the civil society are no less divided today in defining restructuring in the Nigerian context. So, in the ensuing philosophical melee, we now find ourselves having to separate the truth from lies the same way we distinguish our friend from the enemy.

    Or, is it the darker creature the English dictionary newly classified as frenemies – enemies disguising as friends?

    Only a few, in my view, have brought a clarity to the issue like Bashorun Seinde Arogbofa does in his new book, Nigeria – The Path We Refused To Take. He identifies the challenge as twin: systemic and human. To resolve the malaise, the first step is to “plant a good system and simultaneously… grow the right people to implement the system.”

    His prognosis is that a return to regionalism will revitalize the polity and free the latent energies across the land that will, in turn, catapult the nation to greatness. He argues that the quality of leaders a country parades is only a reflection of the integrity of the system in place.  It needs be clarified, however, that the problem with Nigeria’s federalism from the outset was more human than systemic. By obliging regions to retain 50 percent of the fruits of their labour and remit 30 percent to the government at the centre and the remaining 20 percent to the general pool to be re-distributed according to collective needs, the post-Independence federalism recognized the nation’s cultural diversities, abundant resources and, therefore, sought to incentivize industry rather than entitlement mentality.

    It is a measure of the synergy of such symbiotic arrangement that the groundnut pyramid spiraled in the north, cocoa boomed in the west and palm oil flowed abundantly in the east, to the prosperity of the nation at large.

    But poor actors soon tainted the politics with nepotism, intolerance and “ten percent”, eventuating in the collapse of the First Republic and the military incursion of January 15, 1966.

    Since the military is unitarist in philosophy and operation, the next casualty was the federalist character beginning with the Aguiyi-Ironsi’s unification decree. The nation then morphed into one huge garrison synchronized to a central command. Long years of military rule helped deepen this aberration.

    Sadly, successive constitutions fashioned by soldiers for the nation only sought to normalize this anomaly, which gradually shifted emphasis from real production to the carnality of monthly sharing of oil receipts in Abuja. Hence, the intensification of the struggle to control political power as the master key to easy money and the weaponization of the electioneering process as do-or-die.

    This, let it be said, has been the bane of Nigeria’s development in negation of the evidence of phenomenal growth.

    Meanwhile, symptoms of the old gangrene which metastasizes by the day, are quite visible to all. State governors have to daily fund a Federal police they don’t control. Someone sits in Abuja and aspires to build homes for residents in faraway communities they don’t know. Niger Delta generates wealth that does not reflect its material condition. Lagos generates roughly 60 percent of VAT, gets back only a fraction of the amount, but have to endure the environmental pain arising from the economic activities that make that possible…

    Paradoxically, the average Nigerian politician usually shares this perspective until they gain power. Suddenly, the erstwhile clear-headed, fire-spitting visionary turns an agent of reaction, feverishly seeking to preserve the sitting arrangement at the national buffet and the crooked sharing formula.

    It explains why PDP hierarchs had pooh-poohed the idea of restructuring while in power but today are quite vociferous in its advocacy. The same reason the APC barons who canvassed the idea most vigorously yesterday now seem to either feign memory loss or are busy scratching their heads in false ignorance, having secured power.

    Therefore, the perennial tragedy of the Nigerian situation is the assumption – usually promoted by whoever is in power and their friends – that tends to conflate the promise of “good leadership” with the imperative of restructuring. They are far from related. The former is the product of the exceptionality of man.

    Conversely, durable institutions don’t happen by accident; they are erected on solid foundation resulting from clear architectural vision. If any lesson is to be learnt from history, it is that institutions are far more durable than mortals. So, whereas the exertions of the “good leader” may secure today, only institutions guarantee social security expected to endure much longer.

    No country readily illustrates this today better than the United States. If the world’s super power has not yet collapsed under Donald Trump’s foul eccentricities and abominable imprecations, it is because America’s socio-political institutions are durable and kicking. The system ensures that even when the avuncular Republican bully would rather have fellow citizens who don’t see the world through his narrow prism be either “punched in the face” or thrown overboard and those wishing to enter “God’s own country” henceforth be screened based more on the faith professed or colour of their skin rather than the content of their character, there remains a good number of conscientious judges across America committed to interpreting the law in a manner that defends and promotes social liberty.

    For Nigeria, the enduring challenge of statesmanship, as powerfully put by Bashorun Arogbofa in his book, is not to settle for what is convenient for the day but muster the political courage to institute a new reward regime that instead frees the Nigerian from a fixation on only what they stand to gain rather than what they can contribute in a new shared commitment to true nation-building.

     

    • First published in August 2017