Re: Restructuring Nigeria is Not Rocket Science, the Template Already Exists

– If Nigerians elect a female president, THE NATION WILL BE RESTRUCTURED —Adsanya-Davies

I read with keen interest an article on, “Restructuring Nigeria is not rocket science, the template already exists” published on
February 3, 2022 by Olu Fasan which I found quite interesting because, if Nigerians elect a Woman as president in 2023, THE NATION WILL SURELY BE RESTRUCTURED.

It served to clarify the issues on restructuring to THOSE who are so opposed to it in Nigeria. They often taunt proponents of the idea with the cynical question: “What do they mean by restructuring?” President Muhammadu Buhari, who once described advocates of restructuring as “ignorant and naïve”, is the chief scoffer.

In his recent Channels Television interview, President Buhari said: “Those who talk of restructuring, I want them to define what they mean.” In June last year, he said: “If you ask many Nigerians what they are going to restructure, you will find that they have nothing to talk about.” And in November 2018, Buhari said in France: “There are too many people talking lazily about restructuring in Nigeria; they couldn’t define what they meant”.

May we seize this opportunity to clarify the issue of restructuring to President Buhari and co. “Arguing against Restructuring is a fallacious argument, an argumentum ad ignorantiam. It’s an appeal to ignorance whereby opponents of restructuring argue that the concept is meaningless because no one defines it. Restructuring defines itself! Literally, it means an entity’s structure is flawed, and, thus, must be re-structured.

In ‘Political Restructuring in Europe’, Professor Chris Brown of London School of Economics argues that a political structure that’s not working must be restructured because a political system must serve a functional purpose, meet needs, and if it can’t, then it lacks the ethical or moral basis to exist. Which is why countries worldwide reform their governance systems.

Take France. In 2002, the presidential term was reduced from seven years to five years because “seven years is too long” and “five years is more modern”. Later, in 2008, the Constitution imposed a two-term limit on the president. That’s political restructuring.

In the UK, before 1997, powers were centralised in Westminster. But full-fledged devolved governments were later established in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and powerful mayoralties were created in the English regions. Today, there are plans for more radical devolution to give more powers to the nations, regions and local governments. Other examples of restructuring abound all over the world.

Indeed, Nigeria itself is not a stranger to political restructuring. Throughout its history, it has had several “restructurings”; some good, some bad. In 1951, the British introduced the Macpherson Unitary Constitution, which overcentralised powers. But the constitution was so unpopular that it was abrogated three years later and replaced, in 1954,with the Lyttleton Federal Constitution, which established three autonomous regions.

The 1960 Independence Constitution mirrored the Lyttleton Constitution and was based on a Federation of three regions, “with each region self-governing in its own concerns,” as Iain Macleod, Britain’s Secretary of State for the Colonies, put it. Similarly, the 1963 Republican Constitution was based on a Federation of autonomous regions, each controlling huge resources and self-governing in its own concerns.

As we know, the above restructurings were led by Nigeria’s founding fathers and leaders of Nigeria’s ethnic groups. The complex but inclusive negotiations culminated in great political and constitutional settlements under which various interests were reconciled to ensure peaceful coexistence, and relationships between the regions and the federal entity were properly defined and balanced in the true spirit of federalism.

Sadly, political intolerance and military adventurism led to the coup of 1966 that torpedoed the 1963 Constitution and, with it, the system of strong, autonomous regions within a Federation. In other words, the death of regional autonomy and federalism.

Notably, from 1966 to 1999, “political restructurings” in Nigeria were orchestrated by the military. First, General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi imposed a unitary system following the January 1966 coup. In 1967, General Yakubu Gowon introduced the 12-state structure. In his speech in May 1967, Gowon said he split Nigeria into 12 states, from four regions, “as a basis for stability … to remove the fear of domination”.

However, if splintering Nigeria into several states was the solution to instability, fear of domination and structural imbalance, why is Nigeria not united and stable today despite having 36 states? Truth is, the fear of domination hasn’t disappeared, deep concerns about structural imbalance remain, and Nigeria is more disunited and unstable than before 1966.

What’s more, instead of strong and economically viable regions, we now have weak and dependent states that are mere appendages of an over-powerful Federal Government.

Rochas Okorocha has once said that, he was richer than Imo State as its governor, and Bola Tinubu reportedly said he was richer than Osun State. Yet, some think having glorified local governments called “states” would develop Nigeria. No, it won’t! The state structure doesn’t tackle poverty; it just creates jobs for politicians as governors, commissioners, etc.

So, where am I going? Well, my first point is that Nigeria has always had political restructurings, good and bad. The founding fathers negotiated the good ones under the 1954, 1960 and 1963 Constitutions. The military imposed the bad ones, including the state structure, the presidential system and the deeply-flawed, quasi-federal 1979 and 1999 Constitutions. Thus, my second point is that we now need a good restructuring; that is, one based on enduring political and constitutional settlements that will transform Nigeria.

Well, the good news is that there’s already a template for such a nation-transforming restructuring: the six geo-political zones. Today, virtually all federal political offices and appointments are based on the six zones. Indeed, section 5(1) of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018 explicitly states: “All Board Members … shall be appointed … from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.”

Now, isn’t it strange that an Act of parliament recognises the zonal structure, but the Constitution doesn’t? That’s anomalous.

The Constitution will have to recognise the six zones as Nigeria’s federating units and devolve significant powers, resources and responsibilities, including on policing, to them. The regions should have their own constitutions and organise themselves administratively to achieve economies of scale, prioritising their internal security and economic growth, and the prosperity of their people.

Of course, adopting the zonal structure would mean streamlining the Federal Government. Expect those living off Abuja and the state-structure to resist change. But Nigeria’s future lies in having regional powerhouses, not over-powerful centre and vassal states.

In a similar Openion, Chief Olu Fala, “In a piece, the presidential candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1999 remarked that the constitution Nigeria adopted at independence came as a result of painstaking negotiation between the British colonialists and the leaders of the Nigerian nationalities between 1957 and 1959 regretting that the military jettisoned it in favour of the unitary system that is being used today.
Noting that the constitution currently in operation is unacceptable, the octogenarian asserted that it was produced by a single person (former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha) and people from a section of the country, which he said they did to favour their section.

Going into the nitty-gritty of a federal constitution, Falae, who was the head of the Southwest delegation to the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s National Constitutional Conference in 2014, hammered that such a constitution is the only panacea to peace in Nigeria.
Read the full text:
“You know I am a leader in the South West and at the National Convention; I was elected as the leader of the Yoruba delegation. So, I am central to the Yoruba position. The Yoruba position is my position and it is the same position I canvassed in my book, ‘The way forward for Nigeria’ which I launched since 2005 in Lagos. What we mean by restructuring is going back to the Independence Constitution which our leaders negotiated with the British between 1957 and 1959. It was on that basis that the three regions agreed to go to Independence as one united country. So, it was a negotiated constitution.

This is because, if the three regions were not able to agree, there would not have been one united independent Nigeria. But because the three regions at that time negotiated and agreed to package a constitution, that is why they agreed to go to Independence together. When the military came in 1966 and threw away the constitution, they threw away the negotiated agreement among the three regions, which was the foundation of a united Nigeria.

“So, the military did not only throw away the constitution but a political consensus negotiated and agreed by our leaders of the three regions in those days. When we say restructuring now, we are saying let us go back substantially to that constitution which gave considerable autonomy to the regions. For example, each region at that time collected its revenue and contributed the agreed proportion to the centre. But when the military came, they turned it round and took everything to the centre. That could not have been accepted by Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikiwe or Obafemi Awolowo.

“This constitution we are using was made by late Gen Sani Abacha and the military; and Abacha came from only one part of Nigeria, so he wrote a constitution that favoured his own part of Nigeria. That is why I am saying, let us restructure and go back to what all of us agreed before. That is the meaning of restructuring. The regions used to be federating units, but in today’s Nigeria, they would now be called federal regions because states have been created in the regions. So in the West, you now have federation of Yoruba states which would belong to the Nigerian union at the centre. So, it is not like the region of old with all the powers. No. It is now going to be a coordinator of the states in the zone.

That is what we mean by restructuring. And the regions would have a considerable autonomy as they used to have. For example, for the younger people, they may not know that every region then had its own constitution.
“There were four constitutions at independence –the Federal constitution, Western constitution, Eastern constitution and Northern constitution. That was how independent they were and every region had an ambassador in London. The ambassadors for the regions were called Agent General so that you do not confuse them with that of Nigeria then called High Commissioner. So, Nigeria had four ambassadors in London. The ambassador for Nigeria then called a High Commissioner was M.T Mbu.

The ambassador for Eastern Nigeria then was Mr. Jonah Chinyere Achara, Western Nigeria was Mr. Omolodun and for Northern Nigeria, it was Alhaji Abdulmalik. There were four of them. That was the kind of arrangement we agreed to, but the military threw it away and gave us this over-centralised unitary constitution. So, we said this is not acceptable anymore; we must go back to the negotiated constitution which gave considerable autonomy to the regions, so that they can compete in a healthy manner. For example, Chief Obafemi Awolowo wanted to introduce free education in the West and other regions said they could not afford it, but he went ahead to introduce it in the Western region. He said he wanted to pay a minimum of five shillings a day, while others were paying two and three shillings. He went ahead and passed the law, making five shillings the minimum wage in Western Nigeria.

“There was no problem with that. In Western Nigeria, the constitution provided for a House of Assembly and the House of Chiefs. In Eastern Nigeria, there was no House of Chiefs because they did not think they needed one. There was no problem with that and that is the kind of Nigeria we negotiated in London, but that is different from what we have today. So, we are saying let us go back to that arrangement which all of us agreed at independence and not what Abacha imposed on us, which is very partial, unfair and one-sided.

That is the meaning of restructuring; it is to restructure unfairness and give semi-autonomy to the federating units.” piece, the presidential candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1999 remarked that the constitution Nigeria adopted at independence came as a result of painstaking negotiation between the British colonialists and the leaders of the Nigerian nationalities between 1957 and 1959 regretting that the military jettisoned it in favour of the unitary system that is being used today.

Noting that the constitution currently in operation is unacceptable, the octogenarian asserted that it was produced by a single person (former Head of State, Gen. Sani Abacha) and people from a section of the country, which he said they did to favour their section.
Going into the nitty-gritty of a federal constitution, Falae, who was the head of the Southwest delegation to the former President Goodluck Jonathan’s National Constitutional Conference in 2014, hammered that such a constitution is the only panacea to peace in Nigeria.
Read the full text:

“You know I am a leader in the South West and at the National Convention; I was elected as the leader of the Yoruba delegation. So, I am central to the Yoruba position. The Yoruba position is my position and it is the same position I canvassed in my book, ‘The way forward for Nigeria’ which I launched since 2005 in Lagos. What we mean by restructuring is going back to the Independence Constitution which our leaders negotiated with the British between 1957 and 1959. It was on that basis that the three regions agreed to go to Independence as one united country. So, it was a negotiated constitution.

This is because, if the three regions were not able to agree, there would not have been one united independent Nigeria. But because the three regions at that time negotiated and agreed to package a constitution, that is why they agreed to go to Independence together. When the military came in 1966 and threw away the constitution, they threw away the negotiated agreement among the three regions, which was the foundation of a united Nigeria.

“So, the military did not only throw away the constitution but a political consensus negotiated and agreed by our leaders of the three regions in those days. When we say restructuring now, we are saying let us go back substantially to that constitution which gave considerable autonomy to the regions. For example, each region at that time collected its revenue and contributed the agreed proportion to the centre. But when the military came, they turned it round and took everything to the centre. That could not have been accepted by Ahmadu Bello, Nnamdi Azikiwe or Obafemi Awolowo.

“This constitution we are using was made by late Gen Sani Abacha and the military; and Abacha came from only one part of Nigeria, so he wrote a constitution that favoured his own part of Nigeria. That is why I am saying, let us restructure and go back to what all of us agreed before. That is the meaning of restructuring. The regions used to be federating units, but in today’s Nigeria, they would now be called federal regions because states have been created in the regions. So in the West, you now have federation of Yoruba states which would belong to the Nigerian union at the centre. So, it is not like the region of old with all the powers. No. It is now going to be a coordinator of the states in the zone. That is what we mean by restructuring. And the regions would have a considerable autonomy as they used to have.

For example, for the younger people, they may not know that every region then had its own constitution.
“There were four constitutions at independence –the Federal constitution, Western constitution, Eastern constitution and Northern constitution. That was how independent they were and every region had an ambassador in London. The ambassadors for the regions were called Agent General so that you do not confuse them with that of Nigeria then called High Commissioner. So, Nigeria had four ambassadors in London. The ambassador for Nigeria then called a High Commissioner was M.T Mbu. The ambassador for Eastern Nigeria then was Mr. Jonah Chinyere Achara, Western Nigeria was Mr. Omolodun and for Northern Nigeria, it was Alhaji Abdulmalik. There were four of them. That was the kind of arrangement we agreed to, but the military threw it away and gave us this over-centralised unitary constitution.

So, we said this is not acceptable anymore; we must go back to the negotiated constitution which gave considerable autonomy to the regions, so that they can compete in a healthy manner. For example, Chief Obafemi Awolowo wanted to introduce free education in the West and other regions said they could not afford it, but he went ahead to introduce it in the Western region. He said he wanted to pay a minimum of five shillings a day, while others were paying two and three shillings. He went ahead and passed the law, making five shillings the minimum wage in Western Nigeria.

“There was no problem with that. In Western Nigeria, the constitution provided for a House of Assembly and the House of Chiefs. In Eastern Nigeria, there was no House of Chiefs because they did not think they needed one. There was no problem with that and that is the kind of Nigeria we negotiated in London, but that is different from what we have today. So, we are saying let us go back to that arrangement which all of us agreed at independence and not what Abacha imposed on us, which is very partial, unfair and one-sided. That is the meaning of restructuring; it is to restructure unfairness and give semi-autonomy to the federating units.”

In conclusion Prof. Funmilayo Adesanya–Davies say, we can explore to adopt the four constitutions as at independence OR the current zonal structure of the six geo-political zones whichever OR we can even rename into
five (5) new nations viz:
1. Arewa-Hausa Islamic Republic
2. Yoruba Oduduwa Republic
3. Middle-Belt Republic
4. Biafra Christian Republic
5. Niger Delta Republic
(In an ADVANCED RESTRUCTURING AGENDA). However, when going into the nitty-gritty, the Report of former President Goodluck Jonathan’s National Constitutional Conference of 2014 would be useful in supplying the detailed support for the new structure.

Funmilayo Adesanya- Davies is the Mass Action Joint Alliance (MAJA) Presidential Candidate in 2019, a presidential aspirant under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for 2023 presidential election. An Excerpt from an interview on Restructuring with Adesanya-Davies reads:

1. Do you believe in restructuring?

Yes I do because, “Restructuring stems from the concept of true federalism. True federalism is a system that operates based on the shared responsibility of individual units while having a central core that binds everyone together. What Nigeria currently operates is the direct opposite, but we need true federalism.”

2. Some antagonists of restructuring are saying it can cause division among Nigerians. How would you react to this?

Antagonists believe that the restructure advocates essentially anchor their arguments on certain misgivings and perceptions, style of governance and perceive intolerable imbalance in the federal structure, as currently constituted. They also speak about imbalance in appointments and imbalance in the distribution of resources; while they equally perceive the system of governance in practice as Unitary, contrary to their yearnings for true federalism.

But this is not true, restructuring has several advantages that would overwhelm it’s disadvantages. It would rather result in actualisation than division. Incredibly, restructuring and federalism have become the most misrepresented words even by those who should understand and work for their actualisation in the interest of peace and progress of Nigeria.

If the 36 federating units are not allowed to exploit all the natural endowments in their states and develop state policies based on priorities and then pay their workers according to what they can afford, development even at the centre will be a mirage. At the moment, poverty in the federating units which keep asking for bailouts from the centre before they can pay even basic bills is disgraceful, shameful, and unacceptable. True federalism is what Nigeria needs as a matter of urgency.

This was the competition which used to exist when Nigeria was a really federal entity, Lagos and Kaduna states are now setting some instructive examples, just as the Western Region did in those days. We need to and must restructure Nigeria now.

3. The President appears not to be interested in restructuring. What are the advantages in restructuring the country?

The president needs to wake up, because that was one of the cardinal campaign promises of the APC in 2019 election and the electorates are awaiting it’s fulfilment. The restructuring debate can never end in the Nigeria’s political discourse especially now following secessionists agitations in the southeast and southwest and biting recession after COVID-19. There is no doubt that it will form the basis of sustained growth, wealth and prosperity. Restructuring stems from the concept of true federalism. True federalism is a system that operates based on the shared responsibility of individual units while having a central core that binds everyone together. What Nigeria currently operates is the direct opposite, but we need true federalism.

We could recall the idea of this was considered in January 1967 before the war broke out in July of that year and the idea was for every region to run their affairs, create wealth by harnessing and managing their resources while making some commitments to the federal and central government. Economically, these units must be distinct and independent while other areas can be negotiated like the Military which is always the purview of the central government with the President as the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces for any Federal Republic. This is the major way to tackle insecurity with state policing. So we need to revisit the 2014 National Convention.

Nigeria today does not run a truly federal government and this has been proven with the federal police, power issues and the compulsion to connect to the national grid, education, agriculture, mineral resources which the states cannot mine and other areas as contained in the Exclusive Legislative List. Power, resource control, education, mineral resources, police autonomy, re-adjustment of boundaries, state creation, federal character etc., are all within the purview of restructuring.

“We therefore plead as all well meaning Nigerian that, restructuring in now or never and enjoins all the President’s aid to please appeal to him to see reason. Presidential Buhari should stop borrowing and restructure Nigeria, now!” Borrowing is definitely not a sign of strength, influence or affluence but indignity and poverty which the unborn generation would definitely need to account for and regret one day.” Adesanya-Davies adds. She is the Country President and International Director of United Nation Positive Livelihood Award Centre (UN-POLAC).

We would recall that towards 2019 elections, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) had endorsed my Presidential candidacy on the 8th day of June, in Port Harcourt and at the same event, I was awarshed with an Award of Excellence in Service and Outstanding leadership; with the inscription on the plaque “In recognition of her consistency, steadfastness, developmental strides, motherly disposition and mentorship towards the students community and society at large.” I once again say thank you to the Youths and Students community as I continue to enjoy their unalloyed and massive support. At the same event. she was endorsed for the Presidency by the Niger Students Union Government, National (NSUG) I also serve as their matron.

May I conclude that I have a dream, that one day, a woman will emerge as the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and the dream is now! This is because, if Nigerians elect a female president, THE NATION WILL BE RESTRUCTURED it will be a turning point in the nation’s history. It will also be an honour to have Nigeria’s first female president. If Nigeria can give women a chance to rule, I am sure we will never regret it.

AGAIN, I HAVE A DREAM, THAT ONE DAY, I WILL EMERGE AS THE FIRST FEMALE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AND THE DREAM IS NOW !!!