Adeneye-Adejuwon: Buhari has to rise to challenge of nation building

Mr. Adebayo Adejuwon-Adeneye is the convener of Project Nigeria, a civil society group dedicated to charting a fresh path for the sustainability of the country. Speaking with KAMAL TAYO OROPO, he stressed the need for restructuring.

Many years after the country experimented with regional arrangement, why is the call for a return to the First Republic structure still raging?

Perhaps, I should briefly examine how Nigeria came about regional arrangement in 1954. Let me make it clear that there is nothing sacrosanct about the adoption of the nomenclature, region to describe the lower level of government we had between 1954 and 1966. The lower level of government could have been described as states or provinces and there would not have been any difference whatsoever in the role and power arrangement between the central and the lower governments, as envisaged in a federation. And so, we need to be clear in our minds that the issue really is not about nomenclature; rather, it is about whether or not the constitution guiding the adoption and implementation of federalism, in letter and in spirit, truly reflects the principles of federalism, one of which is to let the lower level of government exercise constitutionally guaranteed revenue generating and spending power over local resources, so that lower governments would be able to meet peculiar local needs without recourse to the central government.

In view of the fact that reverting to a regional arrangement is constitutional matter, would embarking on such exercise be of any benefit?

The issue really is not about nomenclature or how the lower levels of government in Nigeria are labeled. It is whether or not the power arrangement between the central government and the lower levels of government is such that lower levels of government have the constitutional revenue generating and spending power to function, as they should in a Federation. Of course, this is not the case in Nigeria as at today. Federalism died in Nigeria, in 1966, when the Nigerian Military under the leadership of the late General Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi promulgated unification decree 34 of 1966 in which he replaced Nigeria’s Federal system of government with unitary system of government and this is the spirit, which guided all the military-inspired constitution we have had since 1966 up until now. And I have reasons to believe that the country will never maximise her potentials until concrete and practical steps are taken to ensure a reversal to federalism where power relations between the central government and the lower governments to what it was under the Lyttleton constitution or better still, reflect the provisions of the 1960 Independence constitution and the Republican constitution of 1963. This is the way out.

Let me add a caveat here that doing this does not necessarily suggest reverting to the 1954 three regional structure. What needs to be done is to honestly and sincerely accept that the present 36 state arrangements are unviable and unsustainable. One only needs to ponder on the implication of the two handouts, or is it bailout, issued by the central government to the states within 11 months under the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to know that the current 36 state arrangements is not sustainable. Yes, it is a constitutional matter; but, what about it being a constitutional matter? Being a constitutional matter is really not the issue. The issue is lack of political will to do what is just, fair, sincere and honest. And to put it bluntly, this may be one area where history may judge President Muhammadu Buhari harshly if he fails to adorn the garment of a statesman by confronting the National Question the way a true statesman and a nation builder should.

While I remain optimistic that President Buhari, in spite of his many failings, will do well in combating corruption and insecurity and may even succeed in diversifying Nigeria’s mono-product economy, which in turn would bring about growth and development, his failure to rise to the challenge of nation building by putting Nigeria back on the path of federalism as envisaged by Nigeria’s founding fathers may be his undoing as president.

What specific advantages would such a return to regionalism confer on the nation?

Inclusive, progressive and sustainable development in which the federating units are able to fully exploit their resources without constitutional constraint will be one obvious advantage of cracking this decaying monstrous and efficient structure. I, therefore, recommend that Nigeria is cracked into a six state structure based on the current geopolitical arrangement or a 12 state structure to be agreed by the people of Nigeria.

The present 36 state structures are not sustainable. We do not need 36 ministries for health, education, social welfare etc. Let the lower government take charge of policing. Nigeria deserves effective and functional municipal administration where politics is on non-party basis.