Fabian C. Nworah
There is no doubt that the ENDSARS protests across Nigeria indicated the parlous state of affairs in Nigeria. The wave of the protests and the gruesome revelations further indicated the volatility and weakness of the fabrics of the country and the reasons foreign investors do not show much interest in the Nigerian market. Where then can Nigeria go from here? Are there serious lessons to learn from the scenarios that played out vis-à-vis current and past events from other climes? Are we going to sit down and think that normalcy has returned once there are no more protests, burning and looting? Or are we going to see the events of dark Tuesday in Lagos as a mere part of the debacle or are we going to seize this as a golden opportunity to attain greatness? Whatever Nigeria decides to do will determine the kind of change we clamour for in this country.
According to President JFK Kennedy, “Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.” The government should realise that the internet has given everyone freedom and opportunity for liberation from political bondage. The government must also realise that the era of impunity in governance is over and that people are ready for the optimum sacrifice to achieve their freedom and liberty. Those in government must be aware that there must be a day of reckoning. A day to account for services provided to the people. They should remember the likes of Former president of Sudan, Mr Bashir, former president of Egypt, Mr Mubarak and others. The government must come to the reality of the day. They must realise that the over 200 million Nigerians and their youths are now free and would expect those things offered in a free and egalitarian society governed by rule of law. The government of the day from the councillor to the chairman of a local government to governors and the president of the country must realise that they have an obligation to the masses and that they must carry out their duties accordingly based on the social contract that put them in the position they occupy..
The ENDSARS protest is not all about police brutality so to say but about poor governance, economic and political decadence and abuse of social contract between Nigerian leaders and those governed. It is clear that the incidents of the last few weeks are just a tip of the iceberg of what could happen in the future if situations are not addressed properly. We can see clearly, that the government now has the privileged opportunity, to deal with the problems faced by the Nigerian state, in a carefully monitored and structured manner without allowing impending implosion. The government has an opportunity now to put things in order and avoid such incidents in future. The government and all stakeholders must seize this opportunity to put the country on the part of restructuring as a tool for stabilisation of the country.
Let the truth be told. Nigeria needs to be restructured urgently. Our research indicated that devolution of powers into six regions with a weak central government will help to bring sanity in the polity and government closer to the people. This will also enable the people to feel the benefits and positive impacts of government across the regions with less attraction to the central government while ensuring accountability in governance. Anything short of this is brewing anarchy and waiting for a day of reckoning. Life is meant to be lived. We have also observed that the current structure of Nigeria has reached its life span of existence. There is no doubt that enormous sacrifices were made in the past to keep Nigeria as a country resulting to loss of lives and properties. However, we have all seen that it was all efforts in vain.
It is clear that the ENDSARS protests serves as a great opportunity to restructure the country in a fair and equitable manner. Our team of experts are willing and ready to proffer workable solutions that would result to a win-win situation to all regions notwithstanding that a particular region currently lays the golden eggs for Nigeria. The government needs to seize this golden opportunity to create a workable system to avoid potential calamitous situation that would arise sooner than later. The government must not leave this sensitive exercise for the youths to carry out. It needs to be done now in a clear, transparent and orderly manner for the good of all Nigerians.
Some schools of thought had earlier believed that restructuring would put some regions in a disadvantage position than others but this is far from the truth. Our research indicated that all the six regions of Nigeria are unique and abundantly blessed with human and material resources. All that is required is the political will by each region to develop her resources. In the unlikely event that a region would need help, this must be part of the issues that must be put into consideration during the restructuring process. Our team of experts are willing and ready to deal with issues of this nature.
The fact remains that in the modern world, fair competition is the father of creativity and innovation for the good of all mankind. This is the potential we see in a restructured Nigeria where everyone has the opportunity for growth and success. We want a restructured Nigeria where the youths aspire with vigour, sense of responsibility and optimism for the future to attain the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals and not a Nigeria where growth and success are deliberately stunted.
We need to learn from the experiences of our colonial masters, the United Kingdom with a population of about 67 million people. However, they realised the issues associated with diverse culture and need for peaceful co-existence. As a result, they decided that the best option for them lies in having four nations in the United Kingdom for peaceful coexistence and better economic development. As such, the UK is a devolved country made up of four nations with each having a separate government under a central government. England has about 56.6 million people, Scotland about 5.4 million people, Northern Ireland about 1.8 million and Wales about 3.2 million. Can’t we see the wisdom and the progress of these nations in the United Kingdom? In the United States of America, they operate true federalism and not quasi federalism as observed in Nigeria. Today, the United Kingdom and America are among the greatest economies in the world.
Nigeria has a population of over 200 million people. It is curious and demoralising that the Nigerian government and the elites have not yet realised or factored in the consequences of a potential implosion in the Nigerian population come 2050 as the country is expected to be about 402 million people at 3.2% growth per annum. One wonders the consequences of 402 million people in an unstructured society when the present arrangement cannot handle fairly the basic necessities of life for 200 million people.
Nworah writes from UK