Hamiltonatlarge.blogspot.com came into existence on May 05, 2011 as a private Blog, but was opened to the general public on January 2012. We set it up to address the perversion of our federal system of government by successive Military administrations, and at the same time, cover some fundamental issues in our body politic that, in our opinion, do not enjoy adequate coverage by the regular press, our established writers, and public affairs commentators. The reasons for that are not far-fetched: ignorance of the contentious issues posing the greatest threats to our fragile unity in diversity, pandering to political correctness, the urge to be dubbed a detrabilzed commentator/writer, and above all, the fear of being blacklisted by the Federal Government on employment or job placement opportunities.
Indeed, we see weakness. And we see neither strength nor patriotism in pandering to political correctness and courting Federal Government's jobs; thus, creating rooms for the man to die in you. Time and time again we have been vindicated; prominent objective opinion leaders have come to add weight to our line of reasoning - reinstating the views that we share on this Blog. For instance, our opinion on the modalities for bridging the education gaps between the northern and southern regions of Nigeria are consistent with the views of Elder statesman, Chief Balarebe Musa on the same subject in his interview with the Guardian Newspaper of Nigeria. See "Bridging the Educational Gap Between Southern and Northern Regions of Nigeria: The Need for an Integrative Model and a Progressive Political Option."
Also, this Blog blew the lid off the desecration of our criminal justice system by powerful, influential, and not so influential lawyers via the application of some nebulous procedural rigmarole and delay tactics, otherwise known as injunctions, ex parte orders, and adjournments. Hitherto, the focus was on the Immunity Clause (Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria). And we said no. The Immunity Clause is the least impactful of our criminal justice system or the perversion of it. And we won the argument, culminating in the retention of the section by the National Assembly Committee on Constitutional Review in 2014. See "IMMUNITY: THE SCOPE AND EXTENT OF SECTION 308 OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA", the number one essay on this Blog.
In a similar vein, in our maiden essay, "The Search for True Federalism: Balancing Feudal Interests with Southern Greed and Opportunism in Nigeria," we unmasked the derailment of our Federal system of government by successive military regimes and how they supplanted a tested true federal model with a unitary option. We simplified the distinctions between the unitary system, the confederal option, and the disappearing true federalism, knowing full well that the majority of our writers and commentators are not lawyers or did not take Governments as a subject or course in Grammar School.
We faulted the calibration of the Nigerian Federation into smaller, weaker units - insolvent units, collectively and individually dependent on the almighty, all-powerful Abuja for monthly handouts and sustainability.
In hindsight, the creation of state or local government councils was not executed with a view to bringing government closer to the people or making governance more efficient, but to create a culture of dependency - weaken resistance from the fringe and to redistribute the national wealth disproportionately for not so hidden agenda.
How can you reconcile an arrangement where Kano State, for instance, has 44 Local Government Councils, while Lagos State, with a little over Kano State in terms of population and head counts, has 20 Local Government Councils. It doesn't make sense. But to General Abacha, the late Military dictator, a northerner and of Kano State original, who presided over the last creation of states and local governments exercise as the Head of State, knew exactly what he was doing. Interpretation: The more states and the more local govt councils a region has, the more of federal revenue allocations to the region. What if there was no crude oil?
Today, Abuja has appropriated so much power at the center; cornered so much of the nation's oil wealth than it has the capacity to manage. That is the crux of the matter - the structural deformity, defined as the Nigerian question. A national question we shouldn't be addressing in whispering mode. It's about the narrative. And we helped to place the call for decentralization of power at the pedestal that it is enjoying today.
Be that as it may, I would insist we focus unfailingly on the bigotry and the ill-defined policies that are seemingly corrosive of the true essence of our cohesion as a Federation, and endeavor to proffer commonsense solutions and exit strategies as appropriate. It is not enough to make demands for Sovereign National Conference (SNC) and Restructuring, without, first, articulating the inequality in the system that promotes your grievances and demands.
Indeed, we see weakness. And we see neither strength nor patriotism in pandering to political correctness and courting Federal Government's jobs; thus, creating rooms for the man to die in you. Time and time again we have been vindicated; prominent objective opinion leaders have come to add weight to our line of reasoning - reinstating the views that we share on this Blog. For instance, our opinion on the modalities for bridging the education gaps between the northern and southern regions of Nigeria are consistent with the views of Elder statesman, Chief Balarebe Musa on the same subject in his interview with the Guardian Newspaper of Nigeria. See "Bridging the Educational Gap Between Southern and Northern Regions of Nigeria: The Need for an Integrative Model and a Progressive Political Option."
Also, this Blog blew the lid off the desecration of our criminal justice system by powerful, influential, and not so influential lawyers via the application of some nebulous procedural rigmarole and delay tactics, otherwise known as injunctions, ex parte orders, and adjournments. Hitherto, the focus was on the Immunity Clause (Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria). And we said no. The Immunity Clause is the least impactful of our criminal justice system or the perversion of it. And we won the argument, culminating in the retention of the section by the National Assembly Committee on Constitutional Review in 2014. See "IMMUNITY: THE SCOPE AND EXTENT OF SECTION 308 OF THE 1999 CONSTITUTION OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA", the number one essay on this Blog.
In a similar vein, in our maiden essay, "The Search for True Federalism: Balancing Feudal Interests with Southern Greed and Opportunism in Nigeria," we unmasked the derailment of our Federal system of government by successive military regimes and how they supplanted a tested true federal model with a unitary option. We simplified the distinctions between the unitary system, the confederal option, and the disappearing true federalism, knowing full well that the majority of our writers and commentators are not lawyers or did not take Governments as a subject or course in Grammar School.
We faulted the calibration of the Nigerian Federation into smaller, weaker units - insolvent units, collectively and individually dependent on the almighty, all-powerful Abuja for monthly handouts and sustainability.
In hindsight, the creation of state or local government councils was not executed with a view to bringing government closer to the people or making governance more efficient, but to create a culture of dependency - weaken resistance from the fringe and to redistribute the national wealth disproportionately for not so hidden agenda.
How can you reconcile an arrangement where Kano State, for instance, has 44 Local Government Councils, while Lagos State, with a little over Kano State in terms of population and head counts, has 20 Local Government Councils. It doesn't make sense. But to General Abacha, the late Military dictator, a northerner and of Kano State original, who presided over the last creation of states and local governments exercise as the Head of State, knew exactly what he was doing. Interpretation: The more states and the more local govt councils a region has, the more of federal revenue allocations to the region. What if there was no crude oil?
Today, Abuja has appropriated so much power at the center; cornered so much of the nation's oil wealth than it has the capacity to manage. That is the crux of the matter - the structural deformity, defined as the Nigerian question. A national question we shouldn't be addressing in whispering mode. It's about the narrative. And we helped to place the call for decentralization of power at the pedestal that it is enjoying today.
Be that as it may, I would insist we focus unfailingly on the bigotry and the ill-defined policies that are seemingly corrosive of the true essence of our cohesion as a Federation, and endeavor to proffer commonsense solutions and exit strategies as appropriate. It is not enough to make demands for Sovereign National Conference (SNC) and Restructuring, without, first, articulating the inequality in the system that promotes your grievances and demands.
To move this country forward, to make it stronger once again as one nation, one destiny, and indivisible under God, we cannot and we must not be afraid to confront issues that divide us or creating in some of us feelings of rebellion, of insurrection and of secession. That spirit of cohesion under a true federal structure, informs the tone of the essays that you are about to read. It is Moving Forward, with a progressive tone, and certainly not to disparage any individual, incite ethnic hatred or impugn the integrity of anyone or group.
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