₦airaland Forum

Maazieze:
I think i can get behind this, though one issue that needs to be addressed is the autonomy of LGA's, currently their stifled which retards local development, simply creating regional zones of administration wont be enough, their 3rd level of administration must have adequate autonomy.

I believe LGA's should have their roles more clearly defined. Probably by each regional government.

BentizilL:
I disagree with Lagos turning to federal territory, I'm okay with the rest..

I respect your view. I do not fully agree with it due the unique history of Lagos compared with the rest of the South-West

In any case, Kaduna and Port Harcourt must then be reintegrated to their respective regions if Lagos remains a state in the Yoruba Region

Maazieze:
How does a federal territory differ from a state?

The only example we have for now is FCT. It is directly managed by the Federal Government through a Ministry and a Development Authority with various departments

Abuja may not be perfect. But it is the closest thing we have to a planned and organised place in Nigeria...

karfe:
I respect your view. I do not fully agree with it due the unique history of Lagos compared with the rest of the South-West

In any case, Kaduna and Port Harcourt must then be reintegrated to their respective regions if Lagos remains a state in the Yoruba Region

Unless you're suggesting a general turning of one state in each region to federal territory, there's no way the West will agree with your submission...

BentizilL:
Unless you're suggesting a general turning of one state in each region to federal territory, there's no way the West will agree with your submission...

No. Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kaduna have unique histories and locations

5 AUTONOMOUS REGIONS:

1. Arewa / North
2. Middle Belt / Central
3. Yoruba / West
4. Niger Delta / South
5. Igbo / East

.

karfe:
5 AUTONOMOUS REGIONS:

1. Arewa / North
2. Middle Belt / Central
3. Yoruba / West
4. Niger Delta / South
5. Igbo / East

I align with the proposals expect the aspect of making Lagos a Federal territory and that the Senate should be scrapped, leaving us with a unicameral legislature.

You have to take into consideration the wishes of the land owners. The Kanuri have Boko Haram the Fulani responded with Lakurawa. The Kanuri could not have agreed to be yoked with the NW if not for the British. You are not the military. Only the military can draw borders as they wish. Any voluntary reorganisation will see the Yoruba land bound together, Igbo land bound together and etc and if it is not voluntary it will create more problems than it solves.
The minimum is that people align as they wish. The best is breakup

kayusely70:
I align with the proposals except the aspect of making Lagos a Federal territory and that the Senate should be scrapped, leaving us with a unicameral legislature.

Thank you.

Apparently, the Yoruba will not want to relinquish Lagos from my findings here. But my proposal is based on the perceived reluctance of Lagos to be merged with the rest of Yorubaland in a regional structure. And also the fact that Lagos should have a special status due to historical factors.

lawani:
You have to take into consideration the wishes of the land owners. The Kanuri have Boko Haram the Fulani responded with Lakurawa. The Kanuri could not have agreed to be yoked with the NW if not for the British. You are not the military. Only the military can draw borders as they wish. Any voluntary reorganisation will see the Yoruba land bound together, Igbo land bound together and etc and if it is not voluntary it will create more problems than it solves.
The minimum is that people align as they wish. The best is breakup

Thank you.

You are right. I am not the military. But we need to speak up as citizens regarding proposals that could help us.

The proposal brings all the Yoruba and all the Igbo together as you stated. As for the Kanuri, their uniqueness will only be evident when the Far North is separated from the rest of the country.

However, even in a voluntary reorganisation, not every ethnic group will have a region to itself. Some ethnic groups will have only a state / province and some only a local government / district.

karfe:
Thank you.

You are right. I am not the military. But we need to speak up as citizens regarding proposals that could help us.

The proposal brings all the Yoruba and all the Igbo together as you stated. As for the Kanuri, their uniqueness will only be evident when the Far North is separated from the rest of the country.

However, even in a voluntary reorganisation, not every ethnic group will have a region to itself. Some ethnic groups will have only a state / province and some only a local government / district.

The uniqueness is always there despite being of the same religion. No ethnic group is too small to take charge of it's territory because it was so before Nigeria. Every group should take charge of it's territory and align it as they wish for lasting peace. No body conquered anybody

karfe:
Thank you.

Apparently, the Yoruba will not want to relinquish Lagos from my findings here. But my proposal is based on the perceived reluctance of Lagos to be merged with the rest of Yorubaland in a regional structure. And also the fact that Lagos should have a special status due to historical factors.

There is actually no relinquishing Lagos for Yoruba since there is no doubt they are in control of the place. It is not as if any other group is in control that they want to take over from.

karfe:
Please, find below a possible new political arrangement in the event of anticipated restructuring of the Nigerian federation

REGIONS should be Nigeria's federating units, and should be autonomous with most of the powers currently in the Exclusive list vested upon them. They should have control of resources and pay an agreed sum to the centre (FEDERATION) and the states in each region (possibly 30% for Federal, 50% for Regional and 20% for the specific State)

STATES should be retained and be below regions and used to define intra-regional revenue sharing (as suggested above). Heterogeneous regions may also choose to have States controlling resources instead of the Region

The objective is to create autonomous regions which are largely unaffected by interference from other regions, even while being accountable to the larger Nigerian state.

"Each region must be allowed to develop in accordance with its own cultural and ethno-religious mindset. The federal centre should focus mainly on national defence, foreign policy, customs and monetary economics." - Obadiah Mailafia

MAIN HIGHLIGHTS
1. Create Gurara State from Southern Kaduna State

2. Create Kaduna FT from Kaduna City and environs

3. Create Anioma State from Northern Delta State

4. Create Port Harcourt FT from Northern Rivers State

5. Convert Lagos State to a FT

6. Combine Yoruba parts of Kwara and Kogi States into a New Kwara State

7. Transfer non-Yoruba parts of Kwara State to Niger State

8. Transfer certain defined southern parts of Kebbi, Bauchi, Gombe, Yobe and Borno State to the new autonomous Middle Belt Region

9. As a start, no other state should be created apart from those defined above for 10 years after adoption of the new constitution

10. Retain the same number of House of Representatives' members even with the new states

11. New Senators for the 2 new states and the 2 new FT's (3 each).

12. National assembly members to be paid by region. Salaries and allowances to be defined by each regions Public and Civil Service standards

13. No State Assemblies

14. Regional assemblies to be made up of 1 person per state

NB. FT is Federal Territory

5 AUTONOMOUS REGIONS:

1. Arewa / North (11 States) = Current NW GPZ + Bauchi + Gombe + Yobe + Borno (without Kaduna FT and Gurara)

2. Middle Belt / Central (8 States) = Current NC GPZ + Taraba + Adamawa + Gurara (without New Kwara State)

3. Yoruba / West (6 States) = Current SW GPZ + new Kwara State (without Lagos FT)

4. Niger Delta / South (6 States) = Current SS GPZ (without Anioma State and Port Harcourt FT)

5. Igbo / East (6 States) = Current SE GPZ + Anioma State


4 SPECIAL / FEDERAL TERRITORIES (to be governed by the Federation / Centre):

A. Kaduna FT

B. Abuja FCT (Current FCT)

C. Lagos FT

D. Port Harcourt FT

All decisions stated above to be subject to several referendums depending on which aspects

Kindly send in your comments. I will also attempt to respond to clarification requests

Replace PPH FCT with Calabar. Remove Edo from Niger Delta and tear it into three. One part to join Kogi (Auchi to Owan), second part to join Anioma, and remaining part to join Ondo

JOKERS EXTRA-ORDINAIRE