Beyond the quadrennial struggle for power under democracy and the aberration of military rule, lies a fundamental problem with the Nigerian polity which none of the present gladiators are addressing. Nigeria, according to late Anthony Enaharo, is like a car that got to a critical junction and took a wrong turn. What am I talking about?

At independence, the fear of domination of one ethnic group over the other, anchored on our multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and topographical diversity, made our founding fathers to adopt a federal system of government. This was a wise choice as political history the world over, teaches us that a country like ours can only succeed as a nation under a federal system. A federal system of government for the record, is a union of partially self-governing states or regions under a central (federal) government, with powers usually assigned to each by a constitution.

The adoption of this system, apart from calming the genuine fear of domination by the ethnic nationalities that made up Nigeria, it created a developmental rivalry that gave birth to the famed cocoa plantation in the west, the groundnut pyramids in the north and the coal industry in the east. We were self-sufficient in our food needs and our economy was so buoyant that the exchange rate of the naira to the pounds was; N0.65/£1.

Sadly, the military intervention of 1966 and subsequent military regimes truncated our match to nationhood by enforcing the anomaly of a unitary system on us. It was no coincidence that these interventions and the subsequent desperate quest for power occurred almost at the time when oil was discovered. It has been said ‘jokingly’ that even the civil war was fought to a large extent on the need to control our new found oil wealth. Ojukwu in declaring Biafra republic, included the then Niger delta states of Rivers, Cross River and Bendel. Of course, Gowon would have none of it, and so the fight to finish began.

Back to our discourse. Decrees upon decrees were promulgated that eroded the semi-autonomous status of the regions while empowering the government at the center. The land use decree of 1978, finally vested all land and their resources in the hands of the federal government. Derivation as a principle of revenue generation and distribution was jettison for that of allocation. As the federal government grew bigger, stronger, richer and more corrupt, so did the intensity and struggle for power – not to better the lot of the masses, but to control the vast Oil/Gas wealth that lies in the underbelly of the Niger delta. Oil wells and contracts were dole out as Christmas gifts to family members, party loyalist, feudal and ethnic lords, generals and political godfathers and godsons.

Of course, it was only a question of time before we began to experience the consequences of imposing a unitary fiscal structure and distorted federalism on our country. The activities of OPC in the South West, MASSOP in the South East, Arewa Youths in the North and militancy in the South-South among others, is a fulfillment of the prediction made by the Chief Obafemi Awolowo. According to the late sage, “…every multi-lingual or multi-national country with a unitary constitution must either eventually have a federal constitution…or disintegrate, or be perennially afflicted with disharmony and hostility” (The people’s Republic, 1968)

The Change that we need is a return to through true federalism, so that we can begin the journey to true nationhood. Nigeria as it presently exist is a “mere geographical expression… a distinctive appellation to distinguish those who live within the boundaries of Nigeria from those who do not”

*The restructuring of Nigeria along the present 6 geo-political zones. (The North West, North East, Middle Belt, South West, South East and South South)
*Operation of fiscal federalism – with the principle of derivation as its foundation.
*Convocation of a sovereign national conference to implement the above.

My support and vote will go to any of the political parties that have as part of her manifesto, the implement of these aforementioned.

God Bless Nigeria!

hmmmmmm c long story all i know x
#sai Apc
#sai buhari
#march for change