Reading the communiqué that emanated from the Asaba summit of elected governors of the southern divide of Nigeria gives one hope that, somehow, the governors have started listening not to Abuja but to the electorate. It was heartwarming to hear them speak in accord on the needs of Nigeria as it walks steadily towards the edge of the cliff. Will it trip over? I do not know. Some say it soon will. Some say we shall get over whatever the challenge is by merely praying to God. Well, while it is believed that there is nothing God cannot do, I personally do not share the believe that God will magically turn Nigeria into the land of everyone’s dream overnight, if Nigerians, the leaders and the led, do not consciously work to right wrongs and deliver a truly egalitarian society.
But I believe that whatever position one takes is directly dependent on the quality of information available to one at the time. In this wise, those who believe that Nigeria will hit the cliff sooner than later are right and wrong. Those who say it is not possible are also right and wrong. This is why the communiqué of the southern governors makes some deep sense. To my mind, it is a demonstration of leadership. It shows that the governors are beginning to listen to the people and also echo their views. After all, that is what democracy is about, government of the majority and not of the tyrannical few.
However, I do not think the governors were genuine in their call for a national conference to discuss Nigeria. That was a wrong call. I am sure that delegates to the 2014 National Conference will view that call with suspicion. This is because it could pass as another plot to create a circus to entertain Nigerians with rhetoric while glossing over the real issues. The issue here, for me, is that no national conference in Nigeria ever fixed anything. The 2014 version cost Nigerian about N8 billion. The report is contained in more than 10,000 pages and as you read this it is neither thought to be a document worth the time of the Nigerian parliament nor of the President. (Does he even read? Remember that?). So, asking for another national conference, when the report of the 2014 version has not been implemented, would be taking Nigeria through another merry-go-round, waste a few more billions, put some millions in the pockets of a few people and set the country on a three-month circus with the puppet masters sitting somewhere over sparkling champagne and laughing at our collective foolery.
See, the 2014 Conference had about 500 delegates. More than half of the delegates were not politicians but professionals drawn from the diverse professions, including the military and paramilitary groups. Many of them have never had any contact with an elective office or politics. It also had representatives of civil society and persons living with disabilities. Youth organizations were also properly represented, including the National Association of Nigerian Students. Prior to the commencement of the conference, the committee set up to organize it, led by Sen. Femi Okunronmu, toured Nigeria and collated views from every geopolitical zone. The conference sat over three months and had a very robust discussion on Nigeria and the way forward. It hosted 20 committees to dissect the thematic issues about Nigeria’s future and make recommendations. The only snag was that APC, as a political party, boycotted the conference though all APC-controlled states were duly represented.
In the end, leader of the northern delegation and chairman of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Alhaji Ibrahim Coomassie, lauded the achievements of the conference and said, “We did it for one Nigeria.” His counterpart in the South, Chief Edwin Clarke, said, “We came in, we came out and we conquered,” while conference chairman, Justice Idris Kutigi, said, “We have held a conference and we are more united today than ever.”
Part of the over 600 recommendations for the progress of Nigeria include the proposal reducing the share of income going to the Federal Government and increasing the share for states; the removal of the 774 local governments as a tier of government for the purpose of revenue allocation and sending same as a state matter, the purpose was to save money and reduce corruption while states were empowered to administer local governments and even create as many as they wanted. Funding was to be exclusively a state issue.
The conference recommended also the creation of 18 additional states to be equally spread as per geopolitical zones and gave option for merger of states for those that wished to do so. With that, every geopolitical zone would have equal number of states. The implication is felt more in revenue allocation and federal character issues. It further recommended a modified presidential system of government, which combines the presidential and parliamentary system of government with the president picking his vice president from the legislature. On power rotation, the conference agreed that presidential power should rotate between North and South and among the six geopolitical zones in equal number of years while the governorship of state must rotate among the three senatorial districts of each state likewise. There were also decisions on devolution of powers, open grazing, state police and many more.
Implementation of the recommendations was broken into three. One was for those that simply required executive orders by the President to implement. The second were those that required new legislation to implement and needed to go to the National Assembly and, third, those that required an amendment of the constitution and laws of the federation to take effect. The last two were to go to the National Assembly for action. Till date, neither the ones that required the President’s executive order nor the ones that required legislation have been considered for implementation by the President and the National Assembly. And, given the Senate President’s disposition to approving everything that emanates from the Presidency, it is obvious that even the Ahmed Lawan Senate will not look the way of those recommendations. So, why ask for another national conference?
I think that the call for another national conference is a good plot to divert attention. I may be wrong on this and would like to be told so. My feeling is that, with another conference, Nigerians will have themselves fixed on issues coming from the talk shop while the real problems of insecurity and the need to restructure the country are unattended to. It has become part of our national lifestyle to creatively waste resources and drive through a very long route just to avoid fixing immediate problems. For instance, with the call for restructuring, we have seen governors, on both sides of the divide, as well as legislators from both the national and state assemblies openly call for restructuring of the police structure to create state police across the country. Good calls. But ask, how many of these people have initiated bills before the national or state assemblies to propose a new law that would unbundle the federal police and create state police structures? Many states had promulgated laws banning open grazing. What is the enforcement level?
How many have legalized instruments to enforce same? Do we expect the federal police to enforce those laws? If Lagos state was able to create LASTMA and Kano created Hisbah, through legislation, to enforce certain state laws, why has it become impossible for states to create institutions that would enforce the law on open grazing? Why wait on Buhari and NASS?
This is why the communiqué of the southern governors may remain rhetoric to give us all a sense of satisfaction that they also listen to us. If they are deeply concerned, they must begin by initiating action towards getting report of the 2014 National Conference implemented; not to seek another national conference. The 2014 edition covered a lot of grounds and created the balance needed for a true federal structure of government. They could also send bills to their various assemblies to create the enforcement organs just like Hisbah is doing against private business owners selling alcoholic beverages in parts of northern Nigeria.