By Chris Paul Otaigbe
The current imbroglio Nigeria has found herself with divergent cry for restructuring of the polity is a consequence of the bad policy judgment by the first Military Head of State of Nigeria, Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi.
This assertion was made by a former President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) Olisa Agbakoba at the 16th edition of the Chief Gani Fawehinmi annual lecture, held Wednesday in Lagos.
According to him, Federalism as a concept is not cast in stone. He said it is determined by the people through an agreed constitution that determine and delineates the principles and processes that would create the appropriate variant that would best serve the people and its political purpose.
He, however, noted that the problem with the Federal constitution that is presently powering the current dispensation of democracy in Nigeria is that it was created by Gen. Abdusalam Abubakar.
“That is why it lacks credibility. But if we had agreed to have a strong central government there would have been no problem…” said. Agbakoba.
Taking the audience through a brief historical analysis of the controversy, he traced the origin back to the point of amalgamation of the nations that have been brought together to make one nation they christened Nigeria.
“Remember the nation States came together in 1914 under amalgamation. The British could not rule the nation they had just amalgamated because they did not have the consent of the people they have amalgamated.
But in the 30s, he said, there was a very clever Governor called Clifford who organized a constitutional conference to address the problem. “But before he could conclude the project, Richardson came in and so, we had the first federal constitution given by Richardson. But it was challenging because Richardson gave himself too much powers and so the agitation continued.
However, the man to whom much credit should be given is the Colonial Secretary, Sir Olive Littleton because he convoked a special constitutional conference between Zik, Sardauna and Awo among others in Ibadan…” Agbakoba narrated.
For him, that Littleton approach was perfect, as it was the document that guided Nigeria from 1952 to 1965 when Nigeria experienced the first coup in her history and then the Ironsi blunder which reversed the Littleton constitution with a unitary structure.
He said that mistake is what Nigerians have been suffering from till date because as we have gone along, the 1979 constitution and the Abacha discussions, Nigeria has always been able to break away from that shackle. He further said that if the idea of the ‘geo-political zones which the Late former Vice President Alex Ekwueme developed had been constitutionalized, Nigeria would have had no problem.
So, he then submitted that how Nigeria can overcome and overturn the Abdusalam constitution is the crisis that Nigeria faces today.
“I think we have played the game of restructuring wrong. I have had the opportunity to talk to senior groups: Afenifere, Ohaneze… And they didn’t like what I said. But I said I would say it…” said Agbakoba.
For him, Nigeria has got to decide what its political devolution is. Democracy, he said, revolves around four cycles, two of which he said are nowhere close to democratic.
With all the struggles pro-democracy activists did, they succeeded in pushing the country into a semi authoritarian State which devolved into an illiberal democracy in 1999.
Thus, he maintained Nigeria is not a liberal democracy and so, in that vein, the NBA former President affirmed that it might be difficult to achieve the restructuring desires of the proponent of the raw regionalization concept. “Unless, we are able to revolt because it might be difficult for the political elite to go along with us because they have nothing to gain… So, under the illiberal structure given to us by Abdusalam, there is enough space for our Governors to maneuver…” he said.
Agbakoba is of the conviction that that the baton for a diplomatic and decently guided restructuring objective is in the hands of the state governors. For instance, concerning power distribution, he disclosed that Babatunde Fashola, the former Minister of Power had asked him “why are the Governors, except Bola Ahmed Tinubu, not building Power Plants in their States?”
He then submitted that the best way to go about the restructuring agenda is to find a way to diplomatically carry the rest of the country and the political elite along especially the North who believe the term is a south Nigerian language. He said a cooperative federalism would be the way to go. In other words, one of the requirements that would work in this direction and within the context Nigeria has found herself today is for those requesting for restructuring of the country to manage their own individual space first before engaging the system.
Monday Ubani, the immediate past National Vice President of the NBA, believes if Nigeria must develop to its full potential, decentralization is the only option the country has.
“It is in the interest of all including the Northerners. If we restructure Nigeria it would be in our interest. We want efficiency in the system. The over centralized bureaucracy we are operating is not helping the system. It is slowing down the system and that is a sign that the structure is not working,” said Ubani.
For him, if the system is decentralized and the individual structures are allowed to develop freely, there would be rapid development as opposed to the stagnation being currently experienced because of over bureaucratization of the polity.
Chido Onuma, an author, journalist and rights activist, is concerned about Olisa’s view on the federalism concept.
“Am a bit concerned about Olisa’s stake on restructuring and this is the second time I have heard him talk about restructuring with a sense to fine tuning it. Am still trying to understand from what perspective he is coming from and I believe it is a thing to be researched upon. But if I get him correctly, I don’t think we are at a stage where anybody needs to be persuaded. This country belongs to all of us and the country is not working for almost all of us except for those who are benefitting from it,” said Chido.
He said the government has a duty at this point to bring every stakeholder to the table to discuss on how to make the country work for all, while respecting individual desire and right to determine their response to the imbalance and inequality in the system. “Because at the end of the day if the country implodes…when rain falls, it falls on all with no exception…” Chido said.
On Agbakoba’s advocacy for proponents of restructuring to manage their space before taking on the system, the son of the late legal icon Gani Fawehinmi, Mohamed Fawehinmi agrees with the former NBA president. Using the south east as an example, he said most Ibos who have been agitating for restructuring and complaining about marginalization have not done enough to deserve what they are asking for.
“Most of the Ibo top shots have shortchanged their people. Let us agree with them that they have been marginalized…You have not been given the position to rule this or head that… You, would have made money from Lagos, the north and the central, what have you done for your people? It applies to us the Yoruba and as well the Hausa… if you know you have done well for your people come forward. If you have not, keep quiet…” Said Mohammed.
Still on the south east, he said just before the Biafra war, the late Dim Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who Mohammed said is his hero, approached his people letting them know the cost of the war they were about to plunge their region into and the people gave the late Biafran warlord the go-ahead. They could do that and could follow Ojukwu to that point because the Biafran leader had demonstrated in words and in deeds his love for his people and had been able to teach and lead them as a region to manage their space before engaging the federal government.
This, according to Mohamed, illustrates Agbakoba’s new advocacy on the restructuring issue.
Sina Odugbemi, a human rights activist and anti-corruption crusader said to the extent of engaging federalism with a cooperative objective, he agrees with Agbakoba. Comparing the Agbakoba model with existing versions,Odugbemi posited that the most attractive of the models is the American model “where people are defined by their identity, dreams and aspirations. If you look at the American model, where a cluster of people in their different States can look at issues differently from others. That diversity in the mind, outlook and in the heads and opinion of people is the type of democracy or federalism we should applaud” he said.
Nigeria, he said, actually started as an independent country on the note of federalism adding that most of grade A achievements made by the country were done at the time the nation practiced true federalism.
“We had the best institutions, the best set of minds, best infrastructure, until the military came with this unitary concept.” Odugbemi said.
Joyce Odua, a former Treasurer of NBA would want the country to return to what she described as real federalism.
“The people we are copying from, how are they practicing? What is their practice like? We are copying the American style. The question is how are they practicing the concept? You find out that federalism is where the States have the power. The power of the center is not as that of the State which means the center would not be as strong. It means the States would have to manage their resources and when you manage your resources, you only send what you have to give to the center” she said.
Odua believes the current brand of government being practiced in the country is why the economy is not developing as it should. She attributed the disappearance of the groundnut pyramid in the north, evaporation of the booming cocoa business in the west and so forth, to the present structure of federalism currently being administered.
Speaking exclusively to KAFTANPost, Agbakoba said although the restructuring argument is a good idea because what it is trying to do is give the federating units room to breathe and develop at their own pace. In the last hundred years there have been consistent calls for what the right federal structure for Nigeria could be.
“The most dramatic call was made by Ojukwu at the Aburi Accord process. Unfortunately, even that one failed even though he had guns. It is important for Nigerians to understand that restructuring is a huge issue and it is a bigger issue for me to diminish your powers. I belong to Mandela’s school of tactical diplomacy. From what I see of Nigeria today, restructuring is not achievable” Agbakoba asserted.
He said his position does not make the concept a bad or impracticable one but one cannot continue to hit one’s head against an immovable wall or something that is not working. The best way out is a tactical solution to improvise a way around it to still achieve a set goal. For him, however, unless the Governors, who he said are Nigeria’s biggest problem, take the bull by the horn restructuring would go nowhere.
