Regions/States "need democratic autonomy to deviate from the political priorities of the center, unitary-centralised system cannot bring change in diverse societies"-Professor Jan Erk. Photo: Uche Okeke
My initial attempt to address this topic was my blog post on Why is oil not a blessing to Nigeria? We were told wealth in natural resources induces autocracy in ethnic diverse societies, we're still suffering that plague till date: discrimination, divisions, exclusion, poor resource management, corruption, violent repression of civil liberties, killings, ethnic minority discrimination and intimidation often using conquering techniques to diminish their chances to compete for political and economic power, exploit them when necessary, census figures manipulated to influence revenue allocation, and control of democratic institutions including the legislature, abbitrary power for the centre, to do as it pleases, widespread inequity in everything: Education, legislature, Military, Police, Jobs, etc. Some states and LGA's were created for personal gains and political gains, even political appointments to unproductive agencies, public services are for political gains. We have seen 95/5% public services policy, etc. Here public services are no longer a primary duty of the government but for political gains.
Click on this link to read:
http://www.theleadprojectfoundation.com/2018/01/the-story-of-nigeria-why-is-oil-not.html
Authoritarian rulers desperate to enrich themselves, discarded the political system envisaged by the founding fathers to guarantee growth, stability, equity, justice and empower the various regions to exploit their comparative advantage and competitiveness ,created a monstrous political structure that will enable them achieve their selfish interests given them absolute power to do as it pleases them. The system does not believe in the majority, growth for all rather, the few-their families, friends and associates. They were not much bothered about inequality nor investing for the majority for the future. Anyone who disagrees is an enemy of the state that must be dealt with including killing. They resort to bribe and bullet to hold their grips on power.
Today, that thing they did has come under intense pressure to adjust/reform/restructure, as its not designed to work for the good of the society but exploitation. The population is growing rapidly, there is the danger of insufficient resources to cope with this trend, also threat from technology which could also be harnessed for the good of the citizens. The truth is that oil will not last forever and the people that did this thing are in the process of dying a natural death leaving us in crisis.
Never has the agitation for this restructuring ever been prominent than this dispensation. The plague of mistake of destiny has taken its toll on every citizen, people are now alarmed that the next level will be danger for the whole of Nigeria. Restructuring was election manifesto that won President Muhammau Buhari and the ruling APC party elections in 2015, now the government and the ruling party are playing political football with the restructuring debate. Read More: The Mistake of Destiny:
http://www.theleadprojectfoundation.com/2018/02/today-nigeria-is-not-democratic-country_26.html
The President no longer think , restructuring is the solution to instability and stagnation, so its not necessary and faults the process of the debate. The ruling party has indicated they will only consider the report of their own committee on restructuring the country after the next election which many consider doubtful. In a civilised society ''such inflated promises'' will definetly come to hunt them, but we are dealing with 'ignorant, misinformed and irrational' system.
The truth is that the time has come to restructure Nigeria to free up resources held at the centre for the growth of the society instead of just the next elections and 'white-elephant projects'. We have just seen INEC's budget of N146.2billion for the next election in 2019, we learnt the government has a debt of about N22trillion in three years, We are aware of £670 million dollars per annum unaudited security votes, Senators wages and unaccountable constituency funds of about N200million per annum, they said the whole place will be on fire if the wages for the executive is disclosed, so the system works just for the next elections; fund unproductive federal agencies for political gains,fund citizen religious holidays, etc, yet the states cannot pay minimum wage, create jobs, build industries, provide essential infrastructure for development. We have also seen ransome payments for terrorists often a unilateral decision of the executive, fruitless oil search, railway for Niger Republic, new refinery for Katsina State, when there is already a refinery in Kaduna state next door, all sole decision of the President using his position as licence to do as it pleases the executive. The president is also the petroleum minister, i don't know who will query him.
There is widespread insecurity, mass unemployment, a new report put it at 40-percent, increased rural-urban migration, etc. Some states struggle to pay wages and pensions, provide better infrastructure and public services including education and training, healthcare, internet/broadband, housing, etc. The LGA's also hijacked by the tyrannical state governors, often appointing their family and friends as care-takers. World bank report says Nigeria has overtaken India as the world's poverty capital, etc. We have seen the seiege at the national assembly, just to effect control , prevent independence of the legislature and resist restructuring. Political bribery is fueling defection. Our elected representatives now choose authoritarian leader in a democracy, so why were they elected in the first place, to do what?, perhaps, enjoy inducements and benefits carefully designed to maintain the status-quo. They have opted not to take a stand, so history will remember them.
The president has cited corruption as the reason for governance failure, but the root of corruption is the political structure, it creates more wastes than the pockets of corruption that is also avoidable. Now who audits the Presidency? The recent activities of the herdsmen also revealed volumes about the failure of the political system. The state governors were unanimous in raising alarm that their positions are mere administrative positions while the center weilds the main power. This resulted in huge loss of lives in the affected states.
Restructuring is about new way of doing things, adjusting or re-balancing of the current system for efficiency- new jobs ,new sea ports, airhubs, more power and sufficient financial/economic resources to the states, stronger institutions,better public services- education and training for new skills , entrepreneurship, improved infrastructure including electricity, internet/broadband, safety and security of citizens, freedom and autonomy, effective and efficient tax system, agriculture, manufacturing, trade, technology, less urban-rural migration, etc, overall development especially at the local level.
It needs a political will to effect the restructuring of the monstrous conception that keep ordinary people in endless poverty. We cannot have any meaningful change without restructuring the country. Even the so called state police needs sufficient funding. All the societies that have done this are peaceful and prosperous. Our political leaders must put aside selfish interest for the better future of the country.
In the words of Professor Jan Erk; "It is hard to imagine a unitary-centralised system bringing better democracy, policy efficiency, development and growth to ethnically, economically, geographically diverse societies".-Federalism And Decentralisation in Sub-Saharan Africa: Five Patterns of Evolution, 22 December 2014.
Restructuring is a primary condition for managing the divisions in ethnic diverse society like Nigeria, not election every four years to continue business as usual. Oil will one day be depleted, we must invest in growth policies- infrastructure, Education and new skills training for jobs of the future especially at the local level, security and stability for external investment including diaspora. Human liberation- empowering people-everyone(young people, women), should be the focus instead of concentrating the resources at the centre to enrich the 'few', fund white-elephant projects and the next election. There's urgent need for a national dialogue to have a constitutional settlement based on equity and justice for a fair and just society. This is the future.
We have enumerated further possible benefits here. Click on this link to read- The Golden Age:
http://www.theleadprojectfoundation.com/2018/03/nigerias-democracy-and-its-crisis_27.html
Restructuring Nigeria is a development intervention whose time has come. The political leaders must do the needful, enough of the 'bribe and bullet'. I totally agree with Yuval Noah Harari; "Humans are endlessly creative, sometimes we solve problems by changing the question rather than answering it". The time to restructure the country is now, not after the next election.
Uche Okeke is a Social Entrepreneur, the Founder of The LEAD Project Foundation. He's the author of 'Nigeria's Democracy And Its Crisis Deliberate, Avoidable-'Bribe & Bullet'. What Can Be Done About It'.
