Editorial: Federalism is the answer, after all – Part 23

The other day, the Nigerian discursive space was further enlarged with the intervention of Retired General Yakubu Gowon in the restructuring debate and the quest for balance of power in the country. Precisely on March 21 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, the former head of state, made his intervention on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Barewa Old Boys Association (BOBA).

In a three-prong approach, he argued first for the rotation of the presidency among the 19 Northern states. Second, the presidency should be rotated among the six geopolitical zones in the country, and with two vice presidents to boot. Of the two vice presidents, one of them should come from the zone producing the President and the other elected into power during the presidential election. Third, within states, the rotation principle should apply to the production of the governor, which should rotate among the three senatorial zones in each state of the federation.

In his words, “Presidency should be zoned and rotated among the six geo-political zones of the country. This is key to peace, tranquillity, and development of our country…Also, among the 19 northern states, the Nigerian presidential position should be rotated.” In his wisdom, this will address the question of marginalisation, and perhaps restore stability to a polity that has long lost its goodwill due to its mismanagement by a tiny ethnic cabal from the north. The elder statesman who spoke to the topic: “Barewa College at centenary: Past, present, and future,” noted for the effect that no ethnic group was better outside the nation than being inside as one united entity.

What is no longer in doubt is the concurrence among many Nigerians that the country can no longer muddle on with a badly skewed state structure, if it desires to endure as one sovereign state. But the question is how can the recipe of a rotational presidency address the deepening contradictions of the Nigerian state today? Between 1993 and 1998, this issue loomed large in the constitutional arrangement that General Sani Abacha’s dictatorship wanted to be imposed on Nigeria. The entrails of the Nigerian state have been mangled beyond what a simplistic prescription of the rotation of leadership in the country can address. The times call for a fundamental restructuring of the polity. We dare say we cannot carry on as of old. The faulty foundation that is the Nigerian state must be destroyed and rebuilt according to the dictates of objective realities.