Remoulding the Nigerian State
In speeches and comments by leaders of thought who reviewed the state of the country recently, the sense of foreboding has been unmistakable. Generals Yakubu Gowon, Olusegun Obasanjo, Theophilus Danjuma and Jeremiah Useni, Alhaji Maitama Sule and Prof. Ango Abdullahi are alarmed by the escalating socio-political tensions in the land. They view current events, such as the emergence of the murderous Islamic sect, Boko Haram, as disintegrative pressures that have to be resolved one way or the other. Those pressures, products of fundamental structural defects, have defied constitutional engineering; but impel the nation towards rethinking the basis and foundation for our nationhood.
Northern Nigeria has become a new terrorist playground, threatening the existence of the nation. Perhaps offended by the passions aroused by reactions to the jihadist campaign of the terrorist sect, Abdullahi, a former vice-chancellor of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, described the 1914 amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria as “a great and tragic mistake.” He went on to prescribe the methods of resolution adopted in cases involving India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and, recently, Sudan and Southern Sudan, which had to break from unions forged by the imperfect hands of British colonialists. Interestingly, such views have received traction across the nation.
Danjuma, a self-confessed optimist of the Nigerian project, is disturbed by the evident inaction of Northern Nigeria’s political elite in regard to the nuisance posed by Boko Haram. Warning about the dangers of a perceived move towards “Somalianisation of Nigeria,” the former Defence Minister challenged the elite, “Let us not deceive ourselves, let’s look at ourselves, face ourselves and tell ourselves the truth and find a solution to our problem.”
The extreme position taken by Abdullahi, likely a consequence of despair, is ominous, given his background as an academic with some knowledge of the political history of Nigeria. In 1954, when Nigeria was proclaimed a federation where self-accounting regions had their own laws, police and civil service, and could determine their own priorities and generate resources for their own self-sustenance, they were at liberty to adopt whatever policies best suited them, without external interference or turning themselves into a nuisance to other constituent regions. That foundation which engendered healthy competition and rapid socio-economic development – and none of the religious fundamentalism of today – was upturned in 1966 after the military intervention when successive regimes remoulded Nigeria into a unitary state while retaining a semblance of federalism.
But dire as Nigeria’s economic and socio-political circumstances have become, the country’s prodigious potential for growth and cohesion remains undiminished and amenable to corrective action. The political class, academics, professionals and civil society only need to re-affirm their commitment to foundational ideals and provide the necessary leadership for the people. With the National Assembly once again initiating processes for constitution amendment, a fresh opportunity is offered for the restitution of structures and governance principles that made the First Republic an era of transformational wonders in Nigeria.
By the ethnic composition and diversity of cultures, worldviews and religions that characterise our nation, federalism – a political principle invested with sanctity in all constitutions until the advent of the military – provides us the best platform on which to nurture our nationhood. We have to demand true and authentic federalism as the basis of relations among constituent units and between those units and the Federal Government. In a polity as diverse as ours, that is the political arrangement that can banish the possibility and fear of ethno-political and religious domination, and to unleash the productive capabilities of our people. It is also the only way to insulate the constituent units and their development programmes from the weaknesses of political leadership at the federal level. Every unit should be allowed to develop at its own pace and wherever progress is lacking or is slow it would be easy for the people to place the blame where it rightly belongs.
The pseudo-federalism which has saddled our country with a bureaucratic behemoth at the centre, where enormous powers and financial resources are concentrated, but very little positive contribution to national development, remains the chief source of our woes as a nation. Enfeebled by endemic corruption and visionless political leadership, the centre has been no more than an annihilator of potential and is mired in corruption. Rather than despair and reckless actions, however, citizens should demand a return to the workable federal structure that Nigeria’s founding fathers put in place for political organisation.
It is obvious that the problem facing the country today is structural. Once the country is restructured, through dialogue or a conference where every section of the country is represented, those issues holding us back will be openly discussed. Nigeria will then be able to move on based on mutually agreed terms, not through a forced union as currently being experienced.
Editorial, Punch
