Former Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Nations, Chief Emeka Anyaoku yesterday called for the scrapping of the existing 36 states of the federation and their fusion into six geopolitical zones, to be called development areas.

This is as he revealed that he voted for the suspension of Nigeria from the comity of nations in 1995.

Speaking at the Global Guest on Voice of Nigeria (VON) where he interacted with newsmen, Anyaoku insisted that the structure of 36 federating states was a great drain on the nation. "The federating units should be fused into six geopolitical zones; we may then retain the 36 units as development areas or whatever appellation we may choose to call them."


source: http://www.champion.com.ng/index.php?news=22684

I think that will be a great idea.

In my honest opinion I think this is the best news in a long while becos for me this will reduce the issue of marginalisation, and the zones will be very strong and executive waste will be reduced, the number of senators and house of rep will also reduce. The zones should rely mostly on what they produce.

For those who might think otherwise, let me remind them that South Africa has similar idea and it is working for them and this has ensured that that country develops far more than Nigeria; we should stop the idea of creating more states; i even suggest that we scrap the number of local government, and reduce it to a manageable number so that we can reduce the number of people who get into office politically.

Dem go listen?

For which legislature?

For which Party

For which State?

For which Local Government?

When people are calling for new states?

even if u reduce the whole country to one state, and bring constitution from heaven the dimwits we have in abuja and their cohorts simply will not let things work
mad people

well, we always have people of good idea.

a radical thought that sounds nice

every region will be like a product demanding better attention from the customers. The competitive era of Palm Oil, Cocoa and Groundnut Pyramid will return.Enough of this Oil turn soil

This the kind of people we need as leaders not all those Abuja orangutans.

I'm not convinced!
As far as i'm concerned, dat old man is spitting trash.

^^ Suggest ya own nah.

klarry79:

even if u reduce the whole country to one state, and bring constitution from heaven the dimwits we have in abuja and their cohorts simply will not let things work
mad people

gbam

donjon:

I'm not convinced!
As far as i'm concerned, dat old man is spitting trash.

Ignorance is bliss. . . .

Thanks! Wise man.

I hope you realise i'm entitled to my opinion, & i do have reasons.
That man is a traitor & should be hanged or shot dead! Imagine having the guts to come out publicly to say he voted against his country?
(2) according to me, reducing the 36 states to six regions will only increase corruption drastically!
Today 36 men + 1 president are responsible for most of nigeria, & we cannot monitor them effectively!
What will happen when itz just 6 powerfull men + 1 president? Chaos!
the igbos will break away, Niger deltans will continue to suffer while a few so called chiefs like that bastard, edwin clark & co make deals with oil companies, yorubas will do alright, but i wonder what will happen to the north?

donjon:

I hope you realise i'm entitled to my opinion, & i do have reasons.
That man is a traitor & should be hanged or shot dead! Imagine having the guts to come out publicly to say he voted against his country?
(2) according to me, reducing the 36 states to six regions will only increase corruption drastically!
Today 36 men + 1 president are responsible for most of nigeria, & we cannot monitor them effectively!
What will happen when itz just 6 powerfull men + 1 president? Chaos!
the igbos will break away, Niger deltans will continue to suffer while a few so called chiefs like that bastard, edwin clark & co make deals with oil companies, yorubas will do alright, but i wonder what will happen to the north?

you have a flawed sense of patriotism! abacha, a mass murderer in the same class with Hitler and Stalin; shuld not be supported by any means rather ousted by a revolution.

donjon:

I hope you realise i'm entitled to my opinion, & i do have reasons.
That man is a traitor & should be hanged or shot dead! Imagine having the guts to come out publicly to say he voted against his country?
(2) according to me, reducing the 36 states to six regions will only increase corruption drastically!
Today 36 men + 1 president are responsible for most of nigeria, & we cannot monitor them effectively!
What will happen  when itz just 6 powerfull men + 1 president? Chaos!
the igbos will break away, Niger deltans will continue to suffer while a few so called chiefs like that bastard, edwin clark & co make deals with oil companies, yorubas will do alright, but i wonder what will happen to the north?

you amaze me with this statement but as you have said you're entitled to your own opinion i reserve my comment, Emeka Anyaoku is one of the few patriotic Nigerians and his suggestions make sense, 36 states = 36 avenues to steal money let have 6 geo-political zones/provinces which should be autonomous to generate their own incomes and manage their resources and a weak central govenment responsible for security and diplomatic relationships

If splitting the country into 6 zones is put into effect then wut is the need of having a president?? for this to work there'd have to be one top controller of each zone, In other words each part might as well become their own country,

The model of governance is the basis of good governance. Looking at the world over, we have different systems of government from India, Russia, US, China and in the Europe. And each model will work fine if it operates within the laws that it is set up and also put the interest of it citizens at heart. In my own opinion changing the structure of our governance will not make the system better. Mr Anyako, as a Sec of Commonwealth, certainly knows all the 50 commonwealth countries have different government structure and the countries doing well it is not because of their structure but because of upholding the rule of law.

Having said that, 36 states is not the problem of Nigeria. In my own understanding, The basic problem is lack of devolution of powers and financial independence to the states and local governments. Creating mega states (regions) will aggravate the problems in Nigeria and create another crisis within crisis.

Local governments should be given greater autonomy and the traditional rulers should be converted to elected posts(with longer tenures) and serve as mayors therefore making them accountable to their people. Traditional rulers have significant influence in our society and the politics but they are not accountable to the people. I believe one of our basic problem in Nigeria is running multiple systems at the same time. We are in the 21st century, but we still operates the systems of 18th century.

We also as citizens of the country, we are the cause of this problem. Certainly I know the bulk of Nigerians complaining, once they reach the top, the become the samething.

donjon:

I'm not convinced!
As far as i'm concerned, dat old man is spitting trash.

You can still express your feelings without insulting Mr Anyaoku. Please respect. RESPECT.

Come on don't be a hypocrite, how many old men are insulted daily on this site, presidents et al?

no matter how good a constitution is, it will never work if the people to implement it are crooks. conversely, no matter how bad a constitution is, it may work out fine if the people implementing it are patriots. nigeria has one of the best constitutions in the world. how far for executing it

we changed from the parliamentary system to presidential system as if the problem was the system. no, it's the people. the people did not change, so whatever system u put in, will not work.
parliamentary-whosai,
presidential-whosai
military-whosai
from FEDECO to NEC to NECON to INEC . . . . from secret ballot to open ballot to open secret ballot to option A4 .  . . to God knows what each time the election gets worse, there will never be real election until the people change. it's the people and not the system. there is no good land. only good people. what was israel b4 I948?Wilderness. what was america 500yrs ago?jungle. some people came there and in a century transformed it into the greatest nation on earth

One 1:

If splitting the country into 6 zones is put into effect then wut is the need of having a president?? for this to work there'd have to be one top controller of each zone, In other words each part might as well become their own country,

check out Switzerland. the size of each would be significantly larger to give it political weight and the functions a lg could enlarged and clearly defined. thus better and more responsible federal system. check out southern sudan too.

check out Switzerland. the size of each would be significantly larger to give it political weight and the functions a lg could enlarged and clearly defined. thus better and more responsible federal system. check out southern sudan too.

If it betters the country im all 4 it, the way that the country is set up now is not helping so it wouldnt hurt to try this approach,which is sumthing kind of new.if sh#t F's up during this change, every pat should go its way

Speaking at the Global Guest on Voice of Nigeria (VON) where he interacted with newsmen, Anyaoku insisted that the structure of 36 federating states was a great drain on the nation.

With due regards, this is CRAPY talk.

It is not the 36states causing problem. It is the FG.

FG alone takes 56% of total budget allocations and 36states have to share remaining 44%!

As far as I am concerned, anything that can weaken the power of Abuja and make government more grass roots oriented can only be a good thing. The Nigerian government is simply too big, with a lot of defunct states that survive simply because of oil money. It is like the availability of oil money simply made a lot of people more aware of their "need" for a state, and you even have some people even proposing more.

This idea should go beyond talks and commentary, with a more pragmatic proposal put together, because I doubt the required majority of the members of the federal legislature will vote for the passing of anything that will render them defunct.

This will be the best model for the country

De-centralize the govt and develop a max 3-6 regions. Strong regions that can float infrastructural bonds if neccesary

For those who are saying that 36 states are not the problem, Nigeria spends almost 50% of her budget on paying salaries to numerous thieves in power. I mean legal salaries!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! not corruption


Nigeria will never develop with 36 states or make any progress at all. You can mark it anywhere. Its a waste of time to discuss the possibility of progress in Nigeria with the current system. The 36 state system has to go first.

Democracy in Nigeria is nonsense if we spend almost half of our budget (like 1.3 trillion) in paying the legal salaries of office holders.

We are wasting our time contemplating the possibility of Nigeria ever getting better under that system

The salaries of 6 regional thieving bastards will be more than what we pay 36 governors!
Dont you know each region is equivalent to a small country?
What kind of crappy talk is this anyaoku saying?

Foolish Man! He voted for Nigera to be suspended from the Committee of Nations and he has the audacity to say it? Only in Naija! Like someone said, he's a traitor and deserves to be shot.

@ topic
Splitting the Country into 6 region/developmental areas will result in complete marginalisation of the minority ethnic groups in these regiòns. It would also result in a lop-sided pattern of development as the government of the day will gravitate the developmental projects to their areas.

The problem of the country is in its creation.

The fear of domination is a major theme in Nigerian federalism and creation of states has never been a panacea. The
more states you create, the more majorities and minorities you create in the polity. By extension, running such
contraptions become more expensive and less effective either because the manpower is not available or the bureaucracy
and corruption is localised and the elite have corrupt have less to grab. The victim is always the common man. Conversely,
going back to the six zonal structure is unworkable as I do not see the current states agreeing to go back to what they
have run away from. You will recall that this exercised must be agreed to by the Senate, House of Representatives and the
state legislatures- 36 of them. Remember also that demands for state creation are sponsored by these same legislators, for
and on behalf of their constituents. I look forward to seeing Ekiti, Osun, Katsina , Jigawa , Adamawa, Benue , Bayelsa , Delta,
Abia or Akwa Ibom agreeing to go back to a zonal structure.

Having said , I do not see this map adjustment of internal boundaries is the solution. The major factors that must be addressed are:-

1) Our political culture- respect for the ballot box, party internal democracy and the rule of law

2) Political system- Presidential system too expensive and undemocratic as the winner takes all syndrome is exercised in the wrong direction by
the operators I prefer a parliamentary system which will reduce tension and make '' mainstreaming'' unattractive and allow for coalitions and
deployment of the obtuse 50 or more parties ,to find a place in the sun , either at local and federal levels. In the process, healthy internal competition is
stimulated between the various administrative units while divergent and potentailly treasonable tendencies are accommodated.

3) Bureaucracy and the judiciary- need I say miore? We all know the cost of running them both interms of finances, anxiety, corruption etc. a
typical example is the unspent budget allocations, low budget implementation and the travails people go through to obtain justice at the courts and electoral tribunals

4) The political economy/ fiscal federalism- we all know the advantages. States must source IGR from within and not wait for Abuja for sustenance. This can only be done by
a combination of an effective drive to exploit comparative advantages in human and natural resources where necessary engaging in mutually beneficial joint projects that will benefit contiguous
states.

5) Socialisation process- Despite the plethora of institutions, - ICPC, EFCC and ,INEc, The Election tribunals etc, it will be foolhardy dfor anyone to expect the elite to commit class suicide.
The Nigerian polity is bedeviled by elite and adult delinquency of the worst strain. The Bode George saga is a recent example and the PDP is still trying all means to get him out. Godfathers abound and those who have never stood for or won any election(the Bode George/Anenih's) are king makers and hunter gatherers for political parties and party leadership In other spheres, they have also refused to aloow the system to work, the Anambra case and in the north, they have turned deaf ears to the cries of the downtrodden after brutally and continuously disenfranchising them. For instance, only a few high and mighty in the north can trace their wealth , fame and fortune beyond one or two generations. In the same vein, all the superstars in government enjoyed free everything from school, board and lodging to even soap, caftans and even transport/ pocket money and today they are unable to give free education shorn of the largesse they enjoyed. There is none of them who did not suffer hardship in the village but today he has forgotten.

These are just random thoughts but ultimately, a solution cannot be found with the type of docility the \Nigerian has always shown things of this nature.

^
You make a lot of sense.
I will however suggest that a realistic period be given for each state to come up to par. Within that period, education should be made both free, compulsory and of international standard.
Also, any states not having the required funds to develop self sufficiency, should be given loans by states with financial muscle.