The Search For An Answer To Project Nigeria -By Tony Osakpamwan Agbons

The history of mankind is replete with stories of one man or woman changing the narrative of a society both in medieval times and the modern day. Be it religion, politics, science, arts, and other fields of human endeavour. Step in Mikhail Gorbachev of the former USSR. Indira Gandhi of India, Dr Nelson Mandela of South Africa. Step in Jerry Rawlings of Ghana, Paul Kigame of Rwanda, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, and Dora Akinyuli of Nigeria. The list is rich with great names. These men and women of repute moved the goal post of their nations in a positive direction. They all changed the narratives and the status quo.

Nigeria is at a crossroad and in dire need of emancipation from the shackles of inept and visionless leadership. The country is unable to `breathe` in virtually all facets of developments and the populace are under the yoke of poverty, and general malaise of the land despite its huge material and human resources. The continuous failure of the Nigeria is due to its `sandy` foundations in the last six decades of nationhood. At the demise of the first and second republic when Nigeria had successive military governments, the citizens yearn for democratic freedom. Many Nigerians even paid the supreme sacrifice for this freedom form the men in Khaki.

However, after twenty-one years of unbroken civilian governance, it is obvious that the yoke of pains on the necks of the Nigerian people has not abated. Herein lies the unending calls for the country to be restructured as a true federation where the component parts or federating units (states) all grow at their comparative pace. The current government of President Muhammadu Buhari rode on a popular wave of mass support in 2015 as a major cardinal point in their campaign. Albeit the ruling All Progressive Party, APC used restructuring as a mantra to woo Nigerians. Security was the second mantra. How wrong we were! Notable politicians from the Southwestern part of Nigeria were also in the vanguard. Fast-forward to the year, 2020 and Nigerians now know that we were sold a dummy.

Talking of restructuring of Nigeria, the North of Nigeria are averse to it for reasons very well known. They are feeding fat from the `sweet pot of oil` coming from the South of Nigeria. Some of my Southern brothers and sisters may not be happy reading this. Truth is that many Southern political elites and apologists are also accomplices in this fallout. History however cannot be changed. In writing the independence constitution of post-1960, it was our Southern folks from the Eastern region led by the erudite, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe that refused the insertion of an opt-out clause (secession) by any region in the Nigerian project. That clause if it was allowed to see the light of day would have given constitutional backing to any of the four regions at that time to `take a walk` out of the Nigerian Union as and when they feel like doing so. With such a clause, probably we would not have had to grapple with a 3 years bloody civil war where we lost millions of lives.

Similarly, it was under a Southern-led Military government of the Late General Aguiyi-Ironsi that the first nails of unitary governance was hammered in Nigeria following the first Military incursion in 1966. The nails were further solidified by the Yakubu Gowon government few months later when our four dynamic regional governments were dismantled on the altar of political exigency. Our country has never recovered since from the `arterial bleeding` of those dual actions. Over the years, the clamour for the practice of a true, proper federal system in Nigeria has resonated with majority of Nigerians. However, the insatiable greed of our political elites has ensured that the dream has not seen the light of day. The political class of Nigeria is benefitting so much from the current flawed `octoporian` system been practiced in Nigeria. Well-meaning Nigerians with vision believe that except the country is restructured, the dream of building a virile nation will continue to be a mirage. As it is often said, “we cannot keep doing the same thing and expect a different outcome or result”. The pseudo federal-unitary system we practice in Nigeria today is anaemic and if not reversed, it may lead to the demise of the Nigerian project.

While many Nigerians of Southern extraction blame the North, it suffice to say that the latter are not exempt for the failure of Nigeria to practice true federalism. Under the current democratic dispensation, President Goodluck Jonathan from the South-South failed to do it. He had 6 years. President Olusegun Obasanjo from the South-West had 8 years. These men were Southerners. They failed to lead the way to restructure the country and summarily failed to take the bull horn and drive the process of restructuring Nigeria as a true federal state. How then do we think President Buhari, a core Northerner will do it. It will take a divine agenda for President Buhari to do it. In the last twenty-one years of democracy, the South of Nigeria has held various strategic political leadership position ranging from Vice-Presidents, Senate Presidents or Deputy, Speakers or Deputy in both chambers of the national assembly. The question is; what did these southerners do about restructure of Nigeria? Nothing!

The recent meeting between the Presidency officials led by Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari with the six Governors of the South-South geo-political zone, elders and other stakeholders in the region has come at an opportune time. The South-South via their Governors listed as a priority demand; the restructuring of the country as a sine-qua-non. This is the first time at that level of government in our history that such a time is made at such high level of governance. In the past, the demands have always been pockets of individual speeches that carried no weightings and lacked bite. In this moment, coming from the Governors, the people of the South-South are hoping for a better deal in the Nigerian project. The onus is now on the elected representatives and Senators from the South of Nigeria to get their acts together and toe the line of the South-South Governors. Truth is that restructuring is a constitutional matter which must be legislated. It is not something that can be achieved with executive fiat.

For those still groping in the dark about the restructuring of Nigeria, it is not a call for the breakup of the country. What will however snowball into that scenario (breakup) is if the country is not restructured. The centre may not hold. The current political leadership must therefore dust themselves up and think about the future of the country and not the pecuniary gains they enjoy in this present flawed pseudo-federal arrangement. Like it is done in football matches, there is nothing wrong in making a clever substitution to win a match which is almost slipping from grasp and time ticking away. For the Nigeria project to reset, we are in dire need of men and women of flair and charisma to change the narrative of our beleaguered nation. It is time for the sleeping giant called Nigeria to wake up as a creative, innovative, and productive land flowing with milk and honey for its citizenry. This is imperative because restructuring is an idea whose time has come.

Dr. Agbons writes from the United Kingdom