The monstrous unitary system is not working and can’t fix itself. The evidence of failure is laid bare for all to see. Everything is crumbling, including the institutions . The politicians have lost touch , only interested in profiting from the dysfunction. Political revolution is not imminent due to successful political divisions along ethnic lines , religion, etc. There is killings everywhere, all we hear is ‘ we must learn to live together or perish together’ according to Shettima , the Vice President of Nigeria. “The constitution does not confer any powers on the units. It is the Central Government that delegates certain powers to the units on its own accord. The units are therefore, subordinate agents of the centre. The powers enjoyed by them are the gifts of the centre and as such these can be taken back at any moment. The units are thus not autonomous and independent in any way. The concept of freedom of speech and expression always remains at a low priority, that’s why most of the principles of unitary government are much similar to that of dictatorship system of government”- Shivaji College. “ A unitary state is the opposite of a federation, where governmental powers and responsibilities are divided and guaranteed by the constitution. In a unitary state, the political subdivisions must carry out the directives of the central government but have no power to act on their own”-Robert Longley. The unitary system ignores local needs, slow to develop resources needed to respond to development and arising situations. Unitary governments tend to focus on foreign affairs while keeping domestic needs on the back burner. The Unitary system encourages abuse of power as evidenced in Nigeria. In unitary states a single person or legislative body holds most, if not all governmental power. , History has shown that power when placed in too few hands is easily abused. In Nigeria, the unitary system of government encourages ethnic domination and threatens coexistence. In the current government , the heads of all top key eight agencies in Nigeria are filled by President Tinubu’s kinsmen; including Central Bank, NNPC, Police, Army, Customs Service, Intelligence Agency, EFCC- Anti-Corruption, Revenue Service and other key ministries, just as former President Mohammad Bihari’s administration. Furthermore, the unitary system of government in Nigeria seeks to endanger indigenous population and states rights. The persistent killings of indigenous peoples in Nigeria by foreign land grabbers in their own land is an affront to dignity and justice. According to the Plateau State Governor, Caleb Mutfwang, “We have come to a point in Nigeria, where every community must defend itself. I will not, however, support lawlessness, but we can’t afford to go to sleep”. The Unitary government retains the power to restrict or withdraw the powers of the states at anytime as we have just witnessed in oil rich Rivers State where elected governor was suspended without provocation and replaced with unelected Military Sole Administrator. The Unitary System of Government in Nigeria institutionalised corruption and enabled corruption. Everyone knows that corruption is the greatest threat to development and “it is a key cause of declining democracy, instability and human rights violations”
Nigeria must adopt True Federalism to address its peculiar circumstances and needs. In the words of Former Governor Achike Udenwa of Imo State, “You can’t govern this country from a unitary system, it can’t work. We talk about Federal Republic of Nigeria, there is nothing federal about what we have been practicing since the army took over in 1966. What we have been running is unitary system and it has not worked, it is the root of our problems. A centralised system, call it, the security system, call it the economic system, call it anything. If you go to the report of the 2014 Confab, you will see the items on the Executive list have been reduced, and sent down to the Concurrent list. The only thing a country will leave on the Exclusive lists are Defence, Foreign Affairs, Currency and just few things that should be there, all other things go to the Concurrent list so that States can look after themselves, and we can even judge somebody’s performance because he has all the latitudes and people can see what the person at the helm of affairs is able to do, with all the powers around him. Our present system is very contradictory, it is not a federal system at all, we are just answering Federal Republic of Nigeria in name” . Nigeria’s Unitary System of Government does not hold any further promise of progress. Whether Political leaders listen or not, Nigeria needs True Federalism to kickstart growth and sustain its diversity. The monstrous unitary system of government can’t fix the country- only a radical change offers a way forward. Uche Okeke, is the Founder of The LEAD Project Foundation, he lives in London, United Kingdom. Read this blog often for Free-thinking opinion on Socio-Economic and Political Issues in Nigeria and the World, Insights and Inspiring advice to help drive change.
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