It was believed that after the 1914 amalgamation of Nigeria, the amalgamation would be due for review or restructuring in 2014. The late Professor Tekena Tamuno, FNAL, a renowned historian was appointed to chair the 100th anniversary and probably review of Nigeria’s amalgamation and destiny by President Jonathan on the eve of the centenary celebration. In celebrating that anniversary, Prof. Tamuno delivered the lead lecture at the Nigerian Academy of Letters’ Annual Lecture on “Nigeria’s First Century: Critical Pluses and Minuses”, in Abuja on March 7, 2013 published in Nigeria in Evolution, Nigerian Academy of Letters Publication.
In his lecture, Tamuno proposed what he considers more appropriate and more realistic name for amalgamated Nigeria. He set out some requirements to the effect that Nigeria must be widely seen as ready, with effect from January 1, 2014, to give a new name to their beloved “re-shaped and reinvigorated country”, which shall be named by the title “The Commonwealth of Nigeria” (Democratic Republic of Nigeria). Thereafter, its rightful owners shall be “we the people” as opposed to the unitary constitution foisted on Nigeria in 1999. With wide acceptance of this cardinal principle in our constitutional making, a proper role shall emerge to ensure the legitimacy of the unique new name and new constitution as Nigeria’s next outing or second coming in 2014. We are now in 2018, four years in default of a new constitution.
It is interesting to know that the issue of restructuring that should have followed the expiration of 100 years of Nigeria’s amalgamation in 1914 has been kept in the cooler for selfish rather than national interest. The question has been, “who is afraid of restructuring?” Fortunately, what has now forced the issue of restructuring to limelight after four years of the life span of amalgamation in December 31, 2013, were Buhari administration’s lopsidedness, crass nepotism, favourism, clannishness, ethnic and religious cleavage. Even the reluctant gesture of his administration to suddenly accede to restructuring through a committee headed by Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai is highly suspect, owing to the lack of trust and confidence in his administration. Why is the president who has been a die-hard anti-restructuring crusader, now suddenly make a u-turn after 2 ½ years of brutal authoritative silence and anti-restructuring posture which runs counter to APC’s manifesto that had prompted many electorate, including the present writer, to vote massively for Buhari and the APC in 2015? It was believed that the APC would complete President Jonathan’s unfinished work. Unfortunately, this was not to be.
As of now the party, having wasted valuable time because of its leadership’s reluctance to embrace the popular will of restructuring, finds itself under extreme pressure to do the needful, just only a year to the presidential and other elections. On the issue of restructuring, some strong forces within the new political alliance (handshake across the Niger) from the Middle Belt (North Central) have said: “The military gave us the 1999 constitution; we need to have the people’s constitution which will spell out devolution of power and enthrone true federalism. The question of restructuring is not debatable, it is a deal that must be done and it is not in the hand of one person (Buhari, mine). We must have a future for our children and Nigeria must be in unity”. In the same vein, the leader of Middle Belt Forum, Timothy Gwandu, who hails from Southern Kaduna, while looking at the matter from the perspective of population, stated: “The 2006 census gave Southwest 22.5 million people, Southeast 16.3 million people, South-south 21 million people and North-central 33.9 million people, making it a total of about 99 million people while the Northwest had 33.4 million people and Northeast 11 million people, making a total of about 44 million people”. He therefore wondered how 99 million people will say yes to restructuring while 44 million will be saying no. He said the people of Southern Kaduna are in far more slavish condition than the rest of the country (See New Telegraph, February, 15 2018, p. 16, from “The Symbolic Hand Shake (across the Niger) pp 11 & 16).
In spite of the advantage derived from skewed population figure based merely on land mass without human habitants in the north and which is the mother of all restructuring, religion and ethnic divide has affected the unity of the North, and this unfortunate situation has been compounded by the nefarious activities of the Fulani herdsmen who operated mainly in the North-central and some other Christian states in the Southwest, Southeast and South-south, but whose operation in the North-central, according to Prof. Abdulahi, has divided the North.
If the activities of the herdsmen have divided the North, it has also divided Nigeria into North and South, including the North-central who have joined the new phenomenon of symbolic hand shake across the Niger, a phenomenon that may trigger a loud and clear unified cry “to your tents oh Isreal”, unless Nigeria is truly restructured with the birth of true federalism. That would keep Nigeria together in their unity in diversity. Therefore, from all indications and available evidence, ranging from injustice, cheating, crass nepotism, clannishness, sectionalism, ethnic and religious cleansing to indiscriminate killings of innocent farmers, women and children with impunity by the Fulani herdsmen, the clarion calls for justice through restructuring by the affected states in these regional zones has become a done deal and a foregone conclusion. Anything to the contrary is now unimaginable as restructuring, through true federation, devolution of power, resource control and other ingredients that would ensure peace, unity in diversity and rapid developments in each of the federating units or regions of Nigeria as in Malaysia, Singapore and the rest of the Asian Tigers who have used unity and diversity in their countries for maximum profit.
It is believed that lack of restructuring has led to a section of the country keeping Nigeria, with its “large population” educationally, scientifically and technologically backward, and even in sports. What we have now is underdevelopment as a whole, and the sorry case of forward never, backward ever! Having woken from their dogmatic slumbers, intellectually sophisticated Nigerians have been awakened to the stark reality that, without proper and total restructuring, Nigeria is heading to what Tamuno describes as “a critical point of darkness with serious implication for the security, safety and peace of society and the state”. In my view, any organism that ceases to fight for their existence is doomed to extinction. By the same token, any groups or section of the federating units which cease to fight for their existence is equally doomed! In all the circumstances, therefore, we can argue that truth in the matter of restructuring which, from all indications, is a done deal, can be resolved by means of a conflict for which well meaning, patriotic and detribalized Nigerians are well prepared, perfectly armed with potent intellectual weaponry. Nigerians have spoken and said enough is enough.
- Makinde, FNAL, is a retired professor of philosophy, Ile-Ife.
