By J.D. Ephraim
My understanding of the word ‘restructure’, is to organise something in a new way; to give a new or different structure to something. There are two systems of government – unitary and Federal. Nigeria is a federal Republic.
By that we mean our system recognises a centre and the units. A federal system provides a mechanism which unites separate polities within an over-arching political system so as to allow each to maintain its fundamental political integrity. This is constituted by the distribution of powers between two governments- general and constituent- in a way designed to protect the existence and area of authority of both which, according to traditional norms, are considered to be co-ordinate governments.
Therefore if federalism signifies the existence and operation of a double set of government, it naturally requires that basic policies be made and implemented through understanding and negotiations in some form so as to ensure participation of the centre and the units in the decision-making and the decision-executing processes.
Federalism provides a convenient and workable arrangement to unite political forces with certain unpolitical forces—-ideological, sociological, psychological and so on which if carried to extremes in certain situations ot DISSATISFACTION AND DESPARATION may become HIGHLY ANARCHICAL demanding SOLUTION OF THE ISSUES, in question , without much loss of time. Flowing from the above, you will agree with me that although Nigeria has units which I will term pseudo-units mainly because the units were not negotiated but imposed by the military, just like the centre was imposed by the colonialists on the units. I would agree as with the President that although the centre was not negotiated but imposed, it was ,with hindsight, a good imposition and we may not negotiate it again because of the advantages of diversity which could translate to unity and strength.
Having said that, I surmise to say that what is responsible for the many crises that Nigeria currently go through — crises of development – which are religious, cultural, sociological, political ,economic and even attitudinal, are mainly because of the structure of the centre vis a vis the units. The units were never arrived at by negotiation and they are obtuse. Because of the nature of the distribution of power between the centre and the units it has produced a rentier – economy with elites depending on rents and never producing any thing.
The units are so dependent on the centre for rent on oil revenue which they share with the centre with almost non of the units able to survive without these hand- outs from the centre. The centre itself can not survive without the oil revenue as all of the foreign exchange earn by the government is from export of oil.We can perhaps say the only exception is Lagos state as it is ranked the seventh greatest economy in Africa.
Virtually 70percent of the industrial life of this country is in Lagos. The states have been wired to depend on handouts from the centre without any of them able to provide for themselves the basic essentials not to talk of infrastructure, education, health, security or even to feed themselves.
The centre itself depends on one product which is oil and any sneeze in the international oil market affects it adversely as it would not be able to implement its budget or maintain the same level of handouts to the units.
This dependance at the centre and the units is responsible for the lack of reorientation of our attitudes and habits as virtually everybody does not produce but depend on rent. The grip by the centre on the units is so suffocating so much that if nothing is done immediately we will all oxyphiate.
There are crises every where and this country, though blessed with human resources that could raise this country to its greatest potentials, is not blessed with visionary, selfless leaders but leaders who are extremely corrupt.
The production of this rentier economy and the multiferous crises that we experience is because we are not practising true federalism. It is true that modern federal systems fall somewhere between a unitary government and a loose association of sovereign states.
That is why Richard Umaru is associating the recent communique of the Yoruba states as am advocacy for confederation. No, it is not. It is and advocacy for the return to the old regional set-ups that were a reflection of true federalism. It is so unfortunate that our generation that is over sixty years old grew up, trained, educated, and worked under the military’s version of federalism which erroneously they termed as such but was in spirit and practice unitarism.
Because what we are practicing is unitary when the people are diverse it can not produce the kind of unity that will bring about unity, progress,development and security. Yet our leaders– that class of 1966 still deceived themselves that they are practising federalism.
That is the cause of our problems. Nigeria’s unitarism does not recognise the diversity which true federations recognise and therefore we are untrue to ourselves. The diversity recognises the Hausa-Fulani as distinct from the Igbo or the Yoruba.
The Bajju man is not the same as the Uhorbo, or Ika-ibo man. We have minorities of the central belt of Nigeria, we have Housas of the former seven Hausa states in the core north, we have Kanuris and Shuwas in the North-eastern corner of the north-east. Infact we have ethnic groups and languages that are over 500in number. So do we have cultural diversities.
The major religions are Christianity and Islam. Now tell me, in a suffocating federal environment, how would a muslim practice his religion to the full without hindrance. We are told that islam does not maintain a rigid compartmentalisation of life as the christians do– between the spiritual and the mundane world. But muslims have it fused together, and infact they say islam is a complete way of life.
How then do you bring both the muslim and the christian together under a suffocating one system? You will either be doing the one injustice and the other justice. So where is the meeting line ? Inna federal system you do the muslim injustice and if he attempts to practice his religion just 40 percent you will be crying jihad.
Yet again do you do justice to the christian whose religion says he is in the world but not of this world and so he should be guided by that in all he does. So what justice do you do to him when some one else come around and tries to combine both the material and the spiritual and the christian tells him he is wrong ? So what justice,equity and fairness is there.
Both religions are parallel and opposing world views .The justice you will be doing to one you will be doing injustice to the other.
I have given instances on religion. It will be similar with culture, sociology and other aspects of life. So what assures each group ,tribe,religion, etc fairness is a kind of federation that says,” hey look, I am different from you, stay in your little corner and develope yourself according to your world view while we have a central body that will not be too meddlesome, but willnallow you enough air to be yourself and is only there to conduct foreign relations , provide internal and external security “.
This to my mind will release the potentials to the units while the units will interact with each other as a matter of convenience and perceived relative advantage while remaining together as one. I will illustrate this with two brothers. When they are physically together they are always querrelling and fighting. But when they stay apart, far apart, the love for each other will increase and they will be more willing to deal with each other under an atmosphere of independence and equality.
The problem we have today is because the centre controls the only source of livelihood and the grab on the units in spite of our differences is so suffocating. We need some air. We need independence from the rentier political elites which this unitary system has produced. Go back home, produce for yourself and live the way you want to live according to your world view. We shall from far away protect the unity of this country.
Therefore the kind of modern federation we are advocating is a kind of system whereby decision- making and the decision -executing processes are influenced and determined, not only by means of mutual participation of national and regional governments but also by means of the bargaining power and skill in the “midst of supreme “, position of the centre by virtue of an unmistakeable tendency of centralisation of powers and “superior ” capacity of the units (regions), inter se by virtue of their respective position—demographic, strategic, political, economic, religious, socio-cultural etc.
Recent observation reveals a new trend whereby it is noticed that if the centre DOMINATES THE UNITS , the UNITS THEMSELVES DOMINATE ONE ANOTHER, INCLUDING THE CENTRE, in a particular situation through the mechanism of COOPERATIVE FEDERALISM, by virtue of their BARGAINING SKILLS AND CAPACITY in addition to their geographical size, population, natural resources,strategic situation and so on.
The issue of federalism is an on going project; it is never static, but it keeps on being interpreted and re-interpreted as a constantly changing process resulting from interaction of mass political parties, widespread nureaucracies, a large number and variety of interest groups and elected governments with expanded functions.
Therefore to answer the question, I do not think that the Yoruba group were asking for break-away or some kind of confederation but they are asking for some kind of loose federation where the unity of this country will be inviolatable.
Although Kanu’s Biafra is asking for a brake-away there is the concensus of the elite and traditional rulers in the east, that they will stay in a united Nigeria but the structure should be renegotiated. The minorities of central Nigeria are asking for the same ordering soma generic online usa restructuring. But the core – islamic north has taken an uninformed position.
Uninformed because they suspect that all the agitations for restructuring are not in good faith and that it is being orchestrated in order to bring down the government of their own who is a Hausa-Fulani muslim.
Uninformed because if they were aware of the potential powers they will wield vis a vis the other federating units, they would have been at the forefront of the agitations for restructuring within a federation. The north is always slow, cautious, and late. However, the power elite should wake up to their duty of leading the region to achieve its true potentials and greatness. Wake up.
CHIEF/BARR. J.D.EPHRAIM.