Tinubu and the rhythm of restructuring

Sir: President Bola Tinubu’s recent announcement to unbundle the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, Kaduna State, into six geo-political zones is an important landmark in Nigeria’s journey towards true federalism and regionalism, which lies not in the constitutional or institutional structure, but in the society itself.

This move will go a long way in addressing the historical imbalance in the distribution of national institutions as well as fostering a sense of belonging and inclusivity among Nigeria’s diverse populations.

Ultimately, this development is a step towards addressing Nigeria’s deep-seated structural issues, which have been perpetuated by a centralised system. One can only pray that the president would also muster sufficient courage to extend this hand of fellowship to institutions like the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), Police University and Nigerian Army University as this will not only promote regional balance, equity and fairness but also help reduce the concentration of military power in one area as well as promoting national security. The unbundling of the Law School, previously exclusive to the Southwest, serves as a precedent for this bold move.

It is obvious that, even with the valiant efforts of the Federal Government, economic reforms can only carry the country so far. There will always be a limit to structural dysfunction! The current Tax Reform Bills, which every patriot should support, is a savvy move towards restructuring through the backdoor. Tinubu is to be commended for this! But, again, there will always be a limit!

Nigeria, in our opinion, was set back – by about 70 years or more – by the ill-advised, to put it politely, ‘suspension’ of the 1963 Republican Constitution. Thankfully, they did not go so far as to claim that it had been completely abolished or abrogated!

The Tax Reform Bills are to be commended for, in the spirit of the 1963 Constitution, they seek to move the country back to a federation, based on production. The bills are a very mild exposition of the famous description of federalism by the 13th Prime Minister of Canada, John Diefenbaker, who told a group of school children that “Federalism means that you eat what you kill.” For us, this is still the best description of federalism as was reflected in the 1963 Constitution, and the constitutions which had preceded it, which was the spirit upon which Nigeria’s independence was negotiated, and given.

Nigeria until the suspension of the 1963 Constitution was one of the most balanced and productive in the world. It’s even an often-stated fact that the Eastern Region of Nigeria, under Chief Michael Okpara, was the fastest growing subnational of any country in the British Commonwealth. Tinubu, apart from his antecedents in the struggle for democracy, has already given us a glimpse through the Tax Reform Bills, that he is a federalist. Even for this singular effort, the Jagaban of Borgu already has a place in Nigeria’s economic history.

We must go back to the giant strides made between the 1914 amalgamation of the protectorates and the unfortunate events of January 15, 1966. Any cost-benefit analysis would show, without a doubt, that a political economy based on competitive federalism delivers the goods. By jettisoning this path, Nigeria squandered an opportunity which should have made it incontestably among the world’s top 10 economies.

The critical issue here is for the Tinubu government to accept the incontrovertible fact that economic reforms must be interwoven, going hand-in-gloves with the structural reforms needed in the political economy to make economic reforms sustainable.

Abiodun Komolafe wrote from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State.