₦airaland Forum

AMID Nigeria’s ongoing pursuit of a better future, the Patriots, a respected group of senior citizens and thought leaders led by former Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku, have once again raised their voices at a crucial moment. With rising misery among ordinary citizens and uncertainty clouding the country’s political future, their renewed call for genuine federalism is timely and essential.

The Patriots’ intentions are clear: they seek the country’s progress. In the past 26 years, Nigeria’s foundations as a developing country have eroded, with deepening social and economic fault lines. In 2018, Nigeria overtook India as the world’s poverty capital, recording 86.7 million citizens in extreme poverty.

Terror groups headlined by Islamic groups, bandits, kidnappers, oil militants and separatist agitators create a potent brew of insecurity, pain, blood and worsening privation.

The security system is inadequate. It protects the VIPs and excludes the majority. The aberration of a single police force for a federal state is compounded by the low number of officers and the illegal deployment of two-thirds of the corps to protect VIPs.



To counter this, the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, advocates for an elite police corps to protect VIPs exclusively. That thinking is shallow: security is for every taxpayer, not just the wealthy.

The insecurity remains infernal. Under Muhammadu Buhari (2015-2023), over 55,000 Nigerians died in violence. The situation has barely improved under the incumbent.

It is a bad moment. Elections divide the people more. The judiciary has hijacked the people’s mandate by imposing misfits as election winners based on spurious technicalities.

Voter apathy is a political curse: only 27 per cent voted in the 2023 presidential and National Assembly elections compared to 52.3 per cent voter turnout at the inception of the Fourth Republic in 1999.

Critical public services, such as education and health, languish. No Nigerian university ranks among the top 1,000 among its global peers. This is embarrassing.

The sordid state of health reflected in the July 13 death of Buhari in a London hospital, a city he used for his treatments throughout his eight-year tenure. Umaru Yar’Adua, president from 2007 to 2010, died in a Saudi Arabian hospital in 2010. With no notable public hospital, Nigerians spent $3.6 billion annually on medical tourism under Buhari.

Central to these failings is the excessive control wielded by the federal centre over resources generated by sub-national units, manifested each month during revenue sharing. This system discourages competition, innovation, and productivity, replacing them with corruption, dependency, and a dangerous sense of entitlement.

Canvassing true federalism, the Patriots have been at the forefront of correcting these ills. There is little magic that can lift the economy without first undertaking political restructuring to a true federal state.

This became clear again at the Patriots’ July 15-17 summit in Abuja, in conjunction with the Nigerian Political Summit Group, rekindling debate over Nigeria’s future as a fragile consortium of over 250 ethnic nationalities burdened by a pseudo-federal constitution.

As usual, the group restated its recommendations – fiscal federalism or resource control, dual sovereignty, which pares the excessive powers of the central government, state and community police forces, a lean cabinet and e-transmission of election results.


Themed ‘Actualising a Constitutional Democracy That Works for All in Nigeria’, the summit advocates a ban on defection during a political cycle, single-day polls, secularism, a one-chamber parliament and Diaspora voting. These reforms could foster true federalism and entrench a sustainable democratic ethos.

Indeed, the 1999 Constitution remains unfit for purpose. Hurriedly imposed as the military dictators made their way out in 1999, it is designed for a unitary system, not federalism.

It disproportionately benefits a tiny band of the bent political class, who live in obscene luxury while the majority wallow in poverty.

The Federal Government (a single entity) appropriates 52.68 per cent of all revenues, leaving the 36 states to share just 26.72 per cent. The 774 local governments receive 20.60 per cent and 13 per cent reserved for oil derivation. That is a formula for self-centredness that stifles initiative.

The document falsely claims it is by the people. This is untrue; it was an imposition. This is the main point of the Patriots: Nigeria is not functioning because the foundation of its fundamental law is flawed. That is why every NASS since 1999 has been amending the constitution in a motion without real progress.

The 10th NASS is engaged in an amendment exercise; like the past exercises, it is a waste of time and resources and will also end in futility. This is akin to patching a worn cloth; after many patches, the cloth ends up worse and finally becomes unusable. This is the case with the 1999 Constitution.

It legislates 774 LGs in it. This is contentious primarily because federalism entails dual sovereignty – the centre and the federating units or sub-nationals.

Take Canada. It has 10 provinces and three territories. The provinces are self-governing; the three territories are under the control of the centre. Other federations like Australia, Germany, Sweden and Switzerland operate on similar lines of federalism.

The solution is simple: remove the LGs from the constitution and give states the power of control to create or merge as they wish.

Therefore, The PUNCH stands with the Patriots in advocating a new constitution, not piecemeal amendments. The lessons from elsewhere should guide the parliamentarians and the executive.

The American Constitution, written in 1787 and inaugurated in 1789, has witnessed only 27 amendments. The First Amendment, termed the Bill of Rights, occurred in 1791 with 10 new pieces of legislation. The 27th (last) amendment occurred in 1992.

Incidentally, the Patriots restated the ideals of true federalism before President Bola Tinubu in August 2024. His response was non-committal: Tinubu said his focus is on the economy. He misses the point.

Like his predecessors, Tinubu resists restructuring in office but could revert to supporting reforms once out.

Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007) vacillates between opinions, recently asserting that the constitution is not the problem but the operators. This ignores the economic distress and violence ravaging the land.


Tinubu has engineered his version of restructuring, instigating the Supreme Court to grant financial autonomy to the local governments, which still begs the issues.

After the July 12 LG polls in Lagos, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu banned the elected officials from appointing their secretaries! Where is the autonomy?

First, the basis is still sharing, which is wrong. In true federalism, there is no sharing. In the United States, the states control the LGs and create them as they deem fit.

In the 1963 Republican Constitution, the regions controlled the councils. There was no sharing then: the regions retained 50 per cent of their incomes, sent 30 per cent to the distributable pool and 20 per cent to the centre.

This arrangement, upturned by the military after it hijacked power in January 1966, is what the Patriots seek to restore.

Tinubu should be true to himself. He fought a running battle with Obasanjo as the governor of Lagos State when he created 37 local development area councils, but has now seized the LG allocations of Osun State.

Unfortunately, time runs out for the 10th parliament and Tinubu. They have less than two years to complete their tenure. By 2026, the focus will be on the 2027 election, leaving little time for restructuring.

Tinubu should set up a constituent assembly to decide a new federal constitution for Nigeria, as advocated by the Patriots. It will then be voted on in a referendum.

This is the best way out of Nigeria’s political conundrum.

helinues:
Is Ohaneze not in their name? Why be say almost all your cultural groups have factional

helinues:
Ohaneze is never here nor there. Stop fighting other people's fight

Hahahaha

Sirkingsnado:
That's what had been giving me sleepless night but they is God sha

Putinofrussia:
So those people saying that they hijacked ADC from them illegally are not Nigerians?

Babamide:
You can do a another DNA or paternity test without your wife being involved to be sure.
But this child has your eyes.

Softmirror:
During the days of Jonathan there was rampant bomb blast in places like Kano for example. Even Abuja wasn't spared?! When was the last time you heard about bombs being detonated in gatherings.

There are places which security challenges has really really improved, example is Southern Kaduna. A very reason why the people of Southern Kaduna are giving their total support to this government. Alot is being done to improve the life of Nigerians by this administration.

seunmsg:
She will still lose to the APGA candidate. I will delete my account if she wins.

immaculatesense:
I keep asking, "Who are the North?"
Is it Hausa or Fulani or Tiv or Idomas or Kanuri or Ebira or Igala or Jukun etc.
Again
Who are the North rejecting TINUBU?

Una go just open mouth talk North this North that as if there is One North.
No Be Juju Be Dat?

givedemwotowoto:
Is it the same chief security officer that Fubara was where a minister from Abuja through the IG was controlling the police in his state during LG elections?

Tinubu himself said it, the buck stops at the President’s table.

seunmsg:
In 2027, it will be Atiku/Binani vs Fintiri/Ribadu.

Bar1941:
Of course after 203127 he will become ex. No one rules forever but for now he’s current and he’ll be for the next62yrs by God’s grace.

9jatriot:
In the context of what he said, it was in reference to lamba king throwing lies around as statistics.

Think about it, between a philosophy graduate and an accounting graduate, who do you think will know the meaning of standard deviation, definitely not the guy that likes carrying plates around like a waiter

9jatriot:
Buhari did his part, he was mostly focused on infrastructure.

Tinubu, being an accountant, is more focused on economic stability.

2 good men with focus on different aspects.

What we will not have is one who will only focus on attending burials or serving food in international and local functions

helinues:
Make the nagging Independently without hiding under my comments to seek validation

helinues:
That's why he's Ex. The sore election losers dem.. Eish

WizardOfNG:
You are driving against traffic over a matter that is very simple. Wike is a stand-out appointee of Tinubu who has now become a fervent supporter of what the PBAT Presidency is trying to achieve.

He has resolved to work for this Presidency to complete a maximum two terms he believes will benefit Nigerians immensely.

No principled individual contests against a boss they believe is doing well. Rather they look to take over from that boss when his/her tenure is over.


Wike's has exhaustively explained his decision to not contest against Tinubu. Nothing at all to do with the bolded in your post.