A return to regional structure?

A return to regional structure? 

DEFINITELY, we are at cross roads and perhaps at a cuI-de-sac. This explains why we have been vacillating over our choice of system of government, heated arguments over revenue sharing formula, creation of more states, more local government councils, resource control and so on. We become more incensed each passing day as we haplessly see our economy collapsing rapidly in addition to the massive decay of our infrastructure, the unprecedented plundering of our national economy by the managers of the economy who railroaded their way to power either through the barrel of the gun or callous rigging of elections.


Also, the raging violence on the land has conspired with all these to compound our problems. These man made problems have placed us in a quagmire, constructing a way out becomes a major problem. This is why public commentators at various fora, proffer several solutions on the way forward. Even in beer parlours, offices, motor parks the debate continues endlessly as the frustrations of the down trodden slides deeper.

Reverting to the regional structure recently brought to the fore by Chief Emeka Anyaoku, a highly respected statesman and a patriot to the core, needs to be examined. Advancing his reasons in nostalgia like others who had previously favoured this argument, recalled the tremendous achievements recorded under that arrangement, which was practiced in a very competitive and exciting years of Nigeria’s golden era of Federalism.

He reminded us that the nation was developing better unlike under the present 36 states arrangement where many states remain unviable and unable to pay salaries of civil servants. The former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, reasoned that the 36 states structure is burdensome because of the huge resources spent on governance catering for 36 states houses of assembly and 36 judiciary services.

No one doubts the argument of our statesman, but returning to the former regional structure, will definitely return us to the polemics of the past, the cry of marginalization, the agitation of more states that dominated the last decade of the struggle for independence. Then as the nationalists, clamoured for independence, the northern and southern minorities were also agitating for more states coupled with the Niger Delta politicians asking for a fair deal. These demands were the safety values the minorities asked for hinged on wider participation in governance.

With the 36 states created, there is wider participation in governance not withstanding some inherent man made problems. Going back to the huge success of the former regions before and after independence, we should not forget that the regions were allowed to legislate on the appropriate legislative lists approved by the constitution.

The Federal Government then, legislated on exclusive list, the regions legislated on concurrent list along with the central government, while the local governments were left with the residual list. The governments of the regions were resourceful, encouraged agricultural development and export of groundnut, cotton, hides and skin from the North, cocoa, timber, rubber, palm products from the west and East regions respectively. Revenue from these sustained their regions, universities; hospitals and several kilometres of roads were built by the regional governments.

The funding of free education by the western region government was solely from cocoa export. The North also spent its resources to educate northerners in its strive to bridge the wide education gap between the North and the south. The local governments recorded resounding success, building and maintaining dispensaries, rural feeder roads, don’t forget PWD of that era. All these were possible when we had constitutionalism at work, not now when we have unitary government masquerading as federalism.

One can recall when late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the flag bearer of Unity Party of Nigeria and his rival, late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe of Nigerian Peoples Party replayed their rivalry of the past when Chief Awolowo boasted that his region had highest primary and secondary school enrolment in the country while Zik boasted his region built more kilometres of road. That was Federalism at work. This is where the failure of the 36 states was planned and executed by the unpatriotic intrusion of the military in national politics, a development, the civilian regimes of the second Republic 1979 – 1983 and the current civilian regimes of 1999 to date have been unable to reverses for the good of the country.

The situation we found ourselves today is painful, a situation that truncated the orderly developments started by our founding fathers. This is the making of our managers of resources, the visionless, the scoundrels and buccaneers in government who allowed the nation to careen. The state and local governments cannot generate fund, but go to the Abuja Santa Clause for statutory allocation which is far more than their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). A return to genuine and full federalism is the panacea that will extricate us from this quandary. Constitutionalism should be allowed to thrive for rapid growth of Nigeria. In this regard, all tiers of government – central, States and Local Governments should share powers as stipulated in the 1999 constitution.

The Local Governments should be freed from the State governments’ mindless expropriation of its powers as stated in Schedule Four of the constitution. Mr. Paul Orie, editor -in-chief , West Coast Trader, wrote from Lagos.

-Sun