One unmistakable feature of the leaders of the mainstream South-West
political class was their stand on the convocation of a national
conference which would lead to the restructuring of Nigeria and adoption
of fiscal federalism.
That feature endeared them to me because it agreed
with my view about Nigeria.
From 1993 when the struggle for the reversal of the annulment of the June
12, 1993 election started, restructuring of Nigeria was on the lips of
the top players. The pan-Yoruba body, Afenifere, championed it. That same
period, the pro-democracy group, National Democratic Coalition, which had
members of Afenifere among its leadership, also championed the campaign
for the convocation of a national conference at which Nigerians would
come up with laws that would restructure the nation and make it a true
federal state. Chief Adekunle Ajasin, Chief Abraham Adesanya, Chief Bola
Ige, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Gen. Alani Akinrinade, Dr Beko Ransome-Kuti,
Bishop Bolanle Gbonigi, Dr Frederick Fasehun, and others were at the
forefront of that call.
After the death of Chief MKO Abiola, whose election victory in 1993 was
senselessly annulled by Gen. Ibrahim Babangida and sustained by Gen. Sani
Abacha, the call for a national conference and restructuring of the
country assumed a high proportion. It continued with the return of
democracy in 1999 through the administrations of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo,
Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua and Dr Goodluck Jonathan.
With the passing away or retirement of most of the South-West elders that
sustained the call for the convocation of a national conference, the next
generation took over the baton and ensured that the talk about national
conference and true federalism was on the front burner in national
discourse.
The voices mostly heard from 1999 were those of Chief Bola Tinubu, Rauf
Aregbesola, Babatunde Fashola, Dr Kayode Fayemi, Alhaji Lai Mohammed (who
though is geographically from the North-Central but ethnically Yoruba),
and Mr Femi Falana.
They complained about the overbearing nature of the central government.
They espoused the virtues and advantages of fiscal federalism that would
ensure that each state or zone has powers that will enable it to grow at
its own pace without having to depend on the government at the centre or
wait for other states.
They referred to the era before and during the First Republic when the
regions flourished and Chief Obafemi Awolowo (as the Premier of Western
Region) achieved milestones that made him the darling of his people. In
the East and the North respectively, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe/Dr Michael Okpara
and Sir Ahmadu Bello also achieved milestones that etched their names in
gold. That was the golden era of Nigeria.
They complained that state governors were only chief security officers of
their states in word but not in deed, as the state commissioner of police
was answerable to the inspector-general of police and not the state
governor.
They, therefore, called for the creation of state police to
enable them to have control over the security of their states.
They asked for a special status for Lagos as the former federal capital,
so that the state could be well taken care of.
I agreed with most of their points. These men became men after my own
heart because I saw them as men who shared my view about the need to
restructure Nigeria so as to make it great. No doubt, there were other
voices from other parts of the country who wanted a national conference
and the restructuring of the nation, especially in the South-East and
South-South, but the call was loudest in the South-West. It was only in
the North (especially the North-West and North-East) that the voices were
few and far between.
With the victory of the All Progressives Congress at the polls this year,
there was renewed hope that the need to restructure Nigeria would be a
top priority, given that many of those who have championed the call for a
national conference and true federalism are now in and part of the
government. Surprisingly, the champions of this call have seemingly gone
quiet since the APC victory. No mention is made of a national conference
or true federalism anymore. Many people like me have been wondering what
happened. Have they changed their view on that? Is national conference or
true federalism no longer the panacea for Nigeria’s problems? I have been
demoralised and confused by their silence on this critical issue.
Last week, The PUNCH had a powerful editorial on the issue with the
headline: Engaging the renewed agitation for Biafra. In the editorial,
the newspaper declared inter alia:
“We cannot continue to live in self-denial. Nigeria is paying a heavy price for running a ‘natural’
federation like a unitary state. Our
federation effectively denies the component nationalities that ability to
compete with each other and actualise their full potential. The recent
agitation … reminds us that Nigeria must be remade into a proper
federation. Fiscal federalism, state police and state control of natural
resources that were evident in the First Republic will facilitate rapid
development, better inter-group relations and national cohesion.
Crucially, these will remove violent agitation for secession from the
streets and unsavoury operators onto the political mainstream. Nigeria’s
leaders should realise however that unless the country is restructured,
periodic agitation for separation or autonomy will continue to recur –
and not all will be peaceful.”
Last week too, the Chairman of the defunct Presidential Advisory
Committee on the National Conference, Senator Femi Okurounmu, noted that
the pro-Biafran agitations probably started due to the failure of the
President Buhari administration to implement the resolutions of the 2014
National Conference. He said that the conference endorsed fiscal autonomy
and the devolution of powers from the centre to the federating states.
He stated thus: “The National Conference had foreseen this agitation and
that was why we agreed that there would be certain autonomy of the
federating units.
The problems of Nigeria lie on the issues of devolution
of power and that of resource allocation.”
The best legacy the Buhari Presidency can bequeath to Nigeria is to set
the nation on the path of greatness and growth by ensuring that Nigeria
is restructured to become a true federation. He can start by dusting up
the report of last year’s conference and discussing with the National
Assembly how to adopt most of the decisions taken at that conference. If
he does not want to implement the report because it was done under the
administration of Jonathan, then let him source for money and start
another conference as early as next year.
Nigeria is being pulled from different parts by forces of frustration and
anger.
There is no sign that this will stop soon.
From all indications, it may even get worse. As an individual, Buhari may
not like true federalism. He has never said anything to suggest that he
supports the idea of fiscal federalism.
That is not very important. But
as the President who wants to make his country grow and reduce the
tension and bad blood in the nation, it will be great for him to bury his
personal view and think of the interest of the nation in the long term.
Since many of those who championed the restructuring of the country are
now in the government of Buhari, Nigerians are looking up to them to pull
the strings that will kick off this process. If not, it will be laughable
in the years to come, when they are no longer in government, for the same
people to resuscitate the call for a national conference that will usher
in true federalism. Many people will ask them: When you were in
government and had the opportunity to effect that change, why did you not
do it?
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