The awful ghost that has hunted Nigeria since Lord Lugard’s 1914 dream of building a forcefully united country appears to have risen again.
Nigerians, from several geo-political blocs have again raised the banner of restructuring as the gateway to the country’s renaissance. The past few months have been dominated by calls for the old anthem: restructure Nigeria.
Apart from politicians, various social groups continue to buzz like bees on the social media with the same message. The pack is led by the Lower Niger Congress, (LNC) led by Tony Nnadi, a lawyer.
Since the country’s amalgamation by the British, successive governments have been confronted with the challenge of making a common dream out of a dreadful cacophony of voices representing over 350 ethnic groups mostly speaking in divergent tones and driven by varying, often conflicting interests.
Nigeria is home to some 350 ethnic nationalities dominated largely by the Hausa, Fulani, Yoruba and the Igbo. In recent times, ethnic minorities have found their new voices in the oil rich Niger-Delta and the Middle Belt which host some 100 distinct tribes. “We would have preferred a restructured Nigeria before the 2019 elections”, Chief Digifa Werinipre, leader of the Egbesu Supreme Assembly told our correspondent on Thursday.
In the same vein, groups from other parts of the country are echoing the beats. “Restructuring Nigeria is the only way out. It is the main agenda that the Federal Government needs to address now or never”, Kunle Adesokan an official of the Federation for Yoruba Consciousness and Culture, (FYCC) told our correspondent on Thursday.
The campaign has seen fresh realignment of forces. Our correspondent attended a conference recently organized by the Southern Nigeria and Middle Belt Forum for Development, (SNMFD) led by Mr Sidney Imohbio, a lawyer based in the United States. He told our correspondent that the South and Middle Belt were working on a new alignment to press for the restructuring of the country vowing to take the case to the arena of international politics.
The Federal authority appears to be feeling the heat. Barely two weeks ago, Vice President ‘Yemi Osinbajo fired salvos on restructuring in apparent response to the increasing wave of agitation. He said economic wellbeing was more critical to the country’s future than the drumbeats of restructuring that currently rent the air.
He said ‘the problem with our country is not a matter of restructuring and we must not allow ourselves to be drawn into the argument that our problems stem from some geographical restructuring.”
Hear him: “Good governance involves, inter alia, transparency and prudence in public finance. It involves social justice, investing in the poor, and jobs for young people; which explains our School Feeding Programme, providing a meal a day to over nine million public school children in 25 states as of today.”
The APC acting National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabena backed Osinbajo’s position. “It must be said that the calls for restructuring by many politicians are oftentimes a populist and opportunistic ploy to latch on and politically exploit simplistic public narratives on the panacea for Nigeria’s problems and not necessarily for its realism and practicability.”
In a counter statement, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar said Osinbajo was making a 360 degree retreat from his earlier posture on the future of Nigeria. He said for the Vice President to describe his concept of restructuring as ‘vague’ was unfortunate.
Other groups have joined the fray. Spokesperson of the Pan Yoruba group, Afenifere, Mr Yinka Odumakin said the All Progressives Congress, (APC) has abandoned restructuring soon after winning the Presidential election. “After they won the election, they ignored restructuring. In fact, the first thing the President said was that he had not read the report of the conference. Later they said restructuring meant 200 things to 200 Nigerians.”
Lately, the call for restructuring had been seized by fresh middle belt blocs fueled by the recent herdsmen killings. The Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortum recently said his experience has convinced him that restructuring was the best option for Nigeria.
Pro-restructuring point to what they consider as the garrison structure of Nigeria and the over concentration of power at the centre. Nigeria runs a Federal system but in reality stifles the federating units especially in the context of revenue sharing and devolution of power. Many believe the consistent conflict in the country since independence, including a 30-month old civil war is a reflection of the political fault lines.
Advocates of restructuring also point to the increasing strength of the FG at the expense of the states. For instance in 1963, there were 46 items on the Exclusive legislative list, by 1999, the Exclusive list has gone up to 68, with the legislative list depleted to a meager the powers of the states and local governments. The 1999 constitution also gives 54 percent, being the lion share of revenue sharing to the FG, 26 percent to the states and 20 percent to the local governments, an indication that the country has been in retrogression in terms of revenue sharing.
In 1953 for instance, the Chicks Commission recommended 100% on the basis of allocation according to derivation. Under section 134(11) of the 1960 independent constitution, 50% was adopted for each of the three regions.
In 1970, after the civil war when oil began to feature prominently in the economic and political equation of Nigeria, the Gowon administration gave 45% to the states. The figure was reduced to 20% in 1975 when decree 6 was promulgated during General Murtala Mohammed’s regime.
In 1982 when a democratic government came into power, the allocation dropped to 2%. In 1984 during the era of General Mohammed Buhari as military Head of State, the figure depreciated to 1.5% and later to 3% during the time of General Ibrahim Babangida.
The inbalance in revenue sharing was responsible for the upsurge in militant activities in the Niger-Delta. Observers think though the Niger-Delta may be calm as at today, it may figuratively be like the calmness of the ocean beneath which there may be hidden turbulence.
As the 2019 Presidential election draws near, many aspirants have again put forward restructuring as one of the main issues each candidate intended to tackle. Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP) presidential hopeful, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar said restructuring the country remains one of his main cardinal points.
Other aspirants like Ahmed Markafi and Aliu Kwankwaso have promised to restructure the country as soon as they emerge as the President of the country. But many Nigerians remain cynical as to the usual difference between what politician says and what they will do when they come to power.
A member of the LNC who does not wish to be named berated the aspirants promising restructuring saying they were merely using the slogan on their fishing hooks to draw the masses.
The call for restructuring of Nigeria though began in the late 1980s, but had long been given intellectual base by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo in his book Tactics and Strategies of a Peoples’ Republic. Awolowo had advocated federalism based on revenue sharing according to derivation. However following the 1966 coup, Lt General Aguiyi Ironsi introduced Decree 34 which unified the country.
Subsequent ethnic and economic blocs that have ruled the country since then have exploited the fort structure to maximum advantage prompting protests especially from ethnic minorities from the Niger Delta who produce 95 percent of Nigeria’s oil revenue. The restructuring agitation also seems convenient for various interests only when they are out of power but always reluctant to take the bull by the horn when they were in a position to do the tangible due to the benefit they derive from the status quo.
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For instance, Kwankwaso is a Senator, but did practically nothing to canvass restructuring in the Chamber. Atiku was former VP that was notorious to supporting the status quo. Yet, while ousted President Goodluck Jonathan, an Ijaw from the Niger-Delta was in power for six years, he merely used the restructuring carrot as a bait to score cheap political gains.
He set up the National Conference only to throw the recommendations into the archive except that he used the report as a campaign pull underscoring the fact that the ruling class often exploit the restructuring debate for personal political interests.
“Even the most vociferous advocates of restructuring today who were rookies of Jonathan were in mute mode at the end of the National Conference except the fact that millions went into the pockets of many politicians, participants and various interests”, said Adesokan.
Keen observers think restructuring can only be meaningful when the agitation is taken over by the people themselves and not when many Nigerians appear to have contracted their campaign for restructuring to “dealers and political contractors” whose main motive is to increase their personal material fortunes.
“The game changer is when restructuring agitation is owned by the people and when the people rise on their feet to demand for a restructured country based on justice and liberty” said Onalo Abuka, a lawyer and minority right activist.
Apart from this, restructuring also appears to define the various conflict of interests among Nigeria’s ethnic groups especially when some think restructuring is a calculated attempt to undermine their rights and timeless privileges.
