The Talk of True Federalism By Northern Nigeria Governors in Rivers State is a Classical Case of Wanting to Eat Omelet without Breaking an Egg
nkem360@googlemail.com
First, let me
underscore the fact that the military-baked Nigerian Constitution guarantees
every Nigerian the right to freedom of movement. Therefore, the four Northern Nigeria
governors - Babangida Aliyu (Niger), Murtala Nyako (Adamawa), Sule Lamido
(Jigawa), Rabiu Kwankwaso (Kano) - who visited
their colleague, Chibuike Amaechi `of Rivers State on July 16, 2013, in what a
section of the Nigerian media termed “Solidarity Visit,” are entitled to the
right of freedom of movement as enshrined in that Constitution. That these
governors ran into a swarm of protesters at the Port Harcourt International
Airport was unfortunate but was quite in character with politics in Nigeria,
which is a “do-or-die affair” and, of course, played not to render service to
the people, but for personal aggrandizement, mostly.
That said, I think it
is imperative that one reminds Governors Aliyu, Nyako, Lamido and Kwankwaso that
onye ulo ya n’agba oku anaghi achu oke, meaning that someone whose house is on
fire should not be chasing rats. It is imperative that one reminds the four
Northern governors that what is happening in Rivers State is of less importance
compared to the security challenges in their region. While one is not proud of
what happened in the Rivers State House of Assembly on July 13, 2013,
particularly the savagery displayed by one of the legislators, (dis)Honourable
Chidi Lloyd, it is quite laughable for these governors to have described the
events in Rivers State as “threats to peace, security and democracy” as
reported by the Nigerian media.\
Perhaps, apart from
Governor Lamido of Jigawa State, innocent people have been blown sky-high in
the respective domains of the other three governors. The worst of this
disregard for the sanctity of human life was the bombing of five fully loaded
luxury buses at a luxury bus station in Sabon Gari, Kano, on March 18, 2013, in
which hundreds of innocent lives, mainly Igbo lives, were lost. I don’t remember
any of these governors describing such a horrific act and similar acts of
terror apparently perpetrated by the Islamic fundamentalists, Boko Haram, as
“threats to peace, security and democracy” in Nigeria. Governor Kwankwaso even
went missing when that attack happened and drew the ire of members of the upper
arm of the Nigerian legislature. We have only witnessed a lull in the inhuman
activities of the Islamic fundamentalist sect after President Goodluck Jonathan
belatedly declared a state of emergency in the worst affected states of Borno,
Yobe and Adamawa. It was belated possibly due to the opposition of the Northern
“rulership”. Is it not strange that Governor Nyako was comfortable in being a party
to the declaration of the events in Rivers State as threats to peace, security
and democracy in Nigeria?
The governors did not
only visit the Rivers State governor, but have also been reported to have visited
former Nigerian military dictators, namely Retired Generals Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim
Babaginda and Abdulsalami Abubakar. These dictators have had their time in
ruling Nigeria. And I do not think that the Nigerian people consider what they
achieved during their time as good enough. Therefore, for anyone or group of
people to dress these former dictators in oracular robes through such visits, projecting
those people as repositories of the magic wand needed to provide enduring
solution to the Nigerian problems, amounts to insulting the collective intelligence
of the Nigerian people.
Even more ridiculous and
quite insulting to the collective intelligence of the Nigerian people is what
was contained in the statement the governors were reported to have distributed
to journalists before departing Port-Harcourt. In the said statement, they were
reported to have said that recent developments in Rivers State had brought to
the fore the question of true federalism and the need for institutions to be
allowed to perform without undue interference. They were reported to have expatiated
that, “As federating units, we must be allowed the space to guarantee our
people’s sustainable development as provided by the constitution.”
As I read Nigerian
newspapers’ reports of the visit of the governors to Rivers State, I found the
mention of “true federalism” by the Northern governors less than soothing. I
wondered what manner of true federalism the governors were talking about. And the
questions that readily came up were: Does it really make sense for anyone or
group to talk about true federalism without throwing the military-baked
Constitution now under contentious review into the Atlantic and getting the
peoples of Nigeria to come together to discuss if they want to continue to live
together and under what terms? Really, should anyone or group of people be
talking about “true federalism” without the federating states/zones/regions
controlling at least 50% of their resources and contributing the other part of
their resources to the running of the centre? Would an arrangement where people
control their resources and contribute partly to the running of the center not
be a better guarantee for “sustainable development” than the current arrangement
where some states/zones/regions are stifling the growth and development of
other states/zones/regions?
Regrettably, these
governors did not visit the former military dictators to discuss the
fundamental issues plaguing Nigeria, notably an unjust structure and a fraudulent
federalism. It is obvious to even goat and chicken that Nigeria’s structure is
unjustly skewed in favour of the North. There are unjustifiable number of local
governments, constituencies and states in the North than in the South. Must we
continue to move this historical injustice to every phase of Nigeria’s march to
nationhood? Of course, it is as clear as a piece of crystal that the so-called
federalism Nigeria practices is as fraudulent as the scam letters that
originate largely from jobless Nigerian youths to all parts of the globe. As
being reported by the media in Nigeria now as I write (Tuesday July 23, 2013),
these governors went to visit these former military dictators to see if the
crack in the Peoples Democratic Party, especially in the PDP in Rivers State,
could be filled. A section of the media reported they had gone to ask the
former military dictators to prevent President Jonathan from truncating
democracy in Nigeria. Others believe they had gone on these visits to explore
ways of ensuring that power returns to the North and, possibly remains there
forever, in accordance with the comments made by the Northern Elders Forum
spokesperson, Professor Ango Abdullahi.
Like many other keen
watchers of events in Nigeria, one believes that the refusal to address the fundamental
issues noted above is not just the greatest threats to peace, security and
democracy in Nigeria, which the governors claimed took them to Rivers State,
but also the nails that will ultimately fasten the coffin of the Nigerian state
before the latter is buried. Therefore, the call for true federalism by the
four Northern governors who visited Rivers State on July 16, 2013, should not
be taken seriously since that call and their visitation to the former military
dictators were not predicated on the aforementioned fundamental issues plaguing
Nigeria. If anything, the governors should just be seen as a group trying to
eat omelet without breaking an egg. Factually, that call is as worthless as their
trip to Rivers State where the pronouncement was made as there are more problems
in their states/zones/regions than in Rivers State.
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