Insecurity has been a major challenge with multi-dimensional consequences notably, food insecurity and social dislocations with high levels of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) dotted all over the country arising from criminal activities of bandits, killer herdsmen, Boko Haram and the nationalist separatist group, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Of note is the failure of the previous administration of Buhari to arrest and prosecute violent herdsmen who killed farmers in various parts of country and kidnapped men, women and children for ransom. This is crime against humanity and is unconscionable to overlook and trivialise it. Against this background, it is bizarre for any one to advocate for clemency and amnesty for the criminal killer Fulani herdsmen on grounds that they are aggrieved persons, protesting societal neglect.

It is preposterous to situate the argument on the same pedestal with militancy in the oil-rich Niger Delta for which amnesty was granted. Nigeria cannot make progress by this kind of nebulous advocacy. The despoliation of the Niger Delta region from which is derived crude oil the main foreign exchange earner for the country is a sore issue of the national question. The feeling of marginalisation which is at the core of the reactions of IPOB is also at the heart of the national question, all of which require resolution for a national rebirth. The people in this regard have territorial locations indigenous to them. The question then must be asked: where is the territorial location of killer herdsmen, indigenous to them, if they are Nigerians? And how does killing of hapless Nigerians and decimation of towns and villages recompense the killer herdsmen for their grievances? Regrettably, there was an uncanny feeling of complicity of the out gone government in the impunity exhibited by killer herdsmen and now, there is so much hope that the Tinubu government will deal with it decisively with all measures to restore law and order no matter whose ox is gored.

There are fundamental issues on the current governance structure that must be addressed to pave the way for meaningful development of the country. First, it is instructive to note that economy and politics are two sides of a coin, inextricably linked. Second, there have been a number of national development plans and vision statements, all of which geared to address economic challenges but with no concomitant resolution of the political questions on governance architecture.

The 2023 Electricity Bill signed into law by President Tinubu is a plausible development, decentralising the whole processes of electricity management. Yet, it is one item albeit important, of the 68 items of the Exclusive Legislative List that need to be decentralised. Their continued retention in the exclusive powers of the Federal government is an albatross that will not allow for progress of the Nigerian State. The 2005 National Political Reform Conference was aborted for reasons that were vexatious to the core objectives of the conference. The 2014 National Political Conference made far-reaching recommendations but the report was set aside by General Buhari on grounds that it was a product of a wasteful exercise. But what was indeed wasteful was disregarding a document produced by Nigerians at great cost to the taxpayer, containing excellent recommendations to address the myriads of socio-economic and political problems of the country. That the report could be set aside whimsically by a President in a democratic setting without consequence is a testament to a dysfunction in the governance system.

The need to address the governance structure as presently constituted is an imperative, compelling and a desideratum. It bears recalling, that on the occasion of Buharimeter Mid-Term Report in 2017, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, in his remark, stressed the need to embrace federalism in the system of governance, I guess, consistent with a key element of the APC Manifesto in 2015. Now as President and a former active member of NADECO, he does not need schooling on the practical merit of the advocacy for true federalism.

Therefore, in the true spirit of the renewed hope mantra of President Tinubu, many Nigerians are desirous to see a quick return to true federalism in our governance system through the instrumentality of a new Constitution, autochthonous with the imprimatur of the people as a way out of the current quagmire. On this, time is of the essence. In the short term, the low-hanging fruits in recipe for national development reside in the administrative recommendations contained in the 2014 National Political Conference Report.
Concluded.
Professor Eromosele is former Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta.