By Atiku Abubakar

We have spent the last few years making the case for the restructuring of our federal system. This is in response to the cries of marginalisa­tion by various segments of country as well as the real­isation that our federation, as presently constituted, im­pedes optimal development and the improvement of our peoples’ aspirations.

As you all know, virtually every segment of this country has at one point or the other complained of marginalisa­tion by one or more segments, and agitated for change.

We have made tremendous progress in our advocacy as more and more of key stake­holders have come to realise the critical importance of re­structuring for our country’s health, its unity, and its fu­ture. The proponents of what we now call restructuring do not necessarily mean the same thing, and do not nec­essarily have the same expec­tations in terms of outcome. That is normal.



The agitations and prop­ositions are fuelled by feel­ings of historical wrongs, of marginalisation, of being short-changed, of resentment and envy and of fear of dom­ination. But one thing they all agree on is that our coun­try, as presently constituted, does not work well and will work significantly better with changes in the structure of the relationships among its component units.

Those opposed to restruc­turing capitalise on the differ­ences of opinion dismiss the agitations pointing to what they regard as the imprecise nature of the definition of re­structuring or they claim that the proponents want to dis­member the country.

In this presentation, I shall state my understanding of re­structuring, and some of the steps we need to take to bring it about in a peaceful, demo­cratic manner. I do not intend to dwell so much on why it is important as I can see an emerging consensus on that, even as disagreements re­main on what it should look like and who gets what when actualised.

Different ideas have been floated including resource control, fiscal federalism, true federalism, restructuring.

I said a week ago at anoth­er forum in Abuja that it is normal for us to have different positions on restructuring.

Eventually we shall sit down and discuss, negotiate and arrive at a model that will be suitable for our country and which will help ensure rapid development and mutu­al and respectful coexistence.

Before I proceed, let me caution us all that restructur­ing, by whatever name, is not a magic bullet that would re­solve all of Nigeria’s challeng­es or those of any section, re­gion or zone of the country.

Listening to some people, even those who seek to dis­member the country, you would think that once their dream is achieved their part of the country or the country as a whole will become par­adise. But as we all know, life is not that simple. We need restructuring in order to address the challenges that restructuring can help us address, and which will remain unaddressed unless we restructure. Period. This also answers the cynics who question whether restructur­ing is even important since it won’t solve all our problems. No system would.

To me, restructuring means making changes to our cur­rent federal structure so it comes closer to what our founding leaders established, in response to the very issues and challenges that led them to opt for a less centralised system. It means devolving more powers to the feder­ating units with the accom­panying resources. It means greater control by the feder­ating units of the resources in their areas. It would mean, by implication, the reduction of the powers and roles of the federal government so that it would concentrate only on those matters best handled by the centre such as defence, foreign policy, monetary and fiscal policies, immigration, customs and excise, aviation as well as setting and en­forcing national standards on such matters as education, health and safety.

Some of what my ideas of restructuring involve requires constitutional amendment; some do not. Take education and roads for instance. The federal government can im­mediately start the process of transferring federal roads to the state governments along with the resources it expends on them. In the future if the federal government identi­fies the need for a new road that would serve the nation­al interest, it can support the affected states to con­struct such roads, and there­after leave the maintenance to the states, which can collect tolls from road users for the purpose. The federal government does not need a constitutional amendment to start that process.

READ ALSO Rochas Okorocha makes 305 youth millionaires

The same goes for edu­cation and health care. We must reverse the epidemic of federal take-over of state and voluntary organisations’ schools and hospitals which began in the 1970s, and also transfer those established by the federal government to the states. We do not need a constitutional amendment to transfer federal universities and colleges as well as hospi­tals to the states where they are located. The University of Nigeria, Nsukka, the Ah­madu Bello University, Zaria and the University of Ife (now OAU) were built by regional governments when we had a thriving federal system. We all know what then hap­pened.

The federal government, awash in oil revenues took them over, rapidly expand­ed them, and began to build more federal universities in response to the inevitable de­mand from states that did not have any located within their jurisdictions. The result is what we have today: univer­sities, including the first-gen­eration ones that are no lon­ger taken seriously anywhere in the world.

Local control makes for quicker decision-making; makes for adaptation to lo­cal needs; makes the adop­tion of new technologies and methods of teaching and learning quicker.

At the American University of Nigeria, which I founded in Yola, we are currently build­ing the largest solar farm in the North East to provide power to the university and reduce our reliance on the national grid and also reduce our carbon footprint. We have since established an E-Li­brary, which gives our stu­dents access to tens of mil­lions of library materials from around the world. Can you imagine if we were part of the federal system of univer­sities and were to wait on the federal government for these investments? Take another example. When the current security crisis in the North East began to grow, we quick­ly decided to recruit a large number of security personnel, trained and equipped them to provide security within and around the AUN campus to complement the efforts of al­ready over-stretched national security forces. We did not have to wait for a distant or­gan in Abuja to come around to a decision on what should be done to protect our stu­dents and staff. These kinds of decisions and investments are not just easier with pri­vate organisations. They are easier within a decentralised system where decisions are made by local authorities closer to the relevant organi­sations. If you, at UNN, have to deal with a government at Enugu that has a clearer understanding of the local conditions, needs and aspi­rations, you are likely to ac­complish more and return the UNN to its past glory.

These are possible first steps and would be easy wins for the federal govern­ment and the country. They will in part show the good­will of the federal author­ities in dealing with this very serious issue, and com­plement the important con­sultations which the Acting President has undertaken in recent times to douse ten­sion in the country.

Indeed, the federal govern­ment can voluntarily with­draw from most of the items listed in the very thin Con­current Legislative List of our Constitution. I believe that the benefits accruing from these first steps will help us as we move towards the changes that require amend­ments to our Constitution. Let me mention a few critical ones just to illustrate.

https://orientdailynews.com/restructuring-nigeria-atiku-abubakar/

Lalasticlala seun mynd44

Joker

Better for evans to be president of nigeria than this thief

Jengem:
Joker

Better for evans to be president of nigeria than this thief