On True Federalism and Restructuring: What They Were Writing and Saying When A Minority (President Jonathan) Was the President. Below, you will find the views of Mr. Fashola, Mallam El'Rufai, and Professor Wole Soyinka

Ombuds-Man

8 hrs · 

1. “Liberating and Coordinating Diversity”, By Governor Fashola at Johns Hopkins University, SAIS, DC. United States - April 2013

"As a result of the current lopsided federal system of government in the country which has concentrated all powers in the Centre, the federating states and local governments are unable to fully utilise the potentials inherent in them for development."

“The 36 state governors are demanding a truer federal system in terms of fiscal and political federalism. I associate myself with this demand in its entirety”.

“The realization of these demands on their own may not necessarily leapfrog us into El Dorado, but without them the journey will be tortuous. If they materialize, they liberate the possibilities that lie inherent in the diverse capacities that the Nigerian states and local governments are blessed with”, In that event, the Federal Government will not be without authority or responsibility but, in my view, it will be better able to coordinate the diversities for mutual prosperity”.

2. Between Terrorism and Corruption.” By Mallam El’Rufai, Sahara Reporters, May 10, 2012.

“Fourthly, as a medium term, structural measure, we must work to restore our federalism to the broad outlines embedded in the 1963 republican constitution, devolving more powers and responsibilities to the states and making the federal government less of a busy body. This would require that states like Bauchi whose annual internally-generated revenue is N7 billion should not run a government costing N58 billion because of monthly hand-outs from Abuja. Each state should learn to live within its means and seek to actively develop its comparative endowments. State governors will then be compelled to use their resources better and not point fingers at the federal government.” “

3. A Federation without Federalism By Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai, April O6, 2012.

"A sound federal structure with balanced devolution of powers among the federating units would provide a respite for the security challenges currently facing the country. In our pieces on the armed forces, the Police and the paramilitary agencies, this column advocated reforms which would encompass decentralization of the police structure close to what was obtainable under the 1963 Constitution as a panacea to the current heightened level of insecurity in the nation. Without question, I believe the situation would have been different if true federalism in which every state generates the bulk of its recurrent needs, lives within its means and gets help from the centre on need basis; operated as in the 1963 Constitution. Rather than blame the government at the centre for the woes of the states, citizens would have learnt to hold state governors and local government chairmen responsible for their neglect, and the incessant scramble for political positions at the federal level would have been less desperate and divisive. As it is, the attitude is one of “it is our turn to rule and chop” - with dire consequences for national cohesion, transparency and accountability in governance." -

4. "Mission The Future" - A Speech Delivered at the 2nd South-South Economic Summit in Asaba by.Professor Wole Soyinka:

“Each regional grouping should, by its policies, declare an uncompromising developmental autonomy – I repeat, Autonomy - leaving the centre only with its competence provenance – foreign policy, national security and inter-state affairs ....”

”Nigeria has proved too large and inefficient for the centralized identification and management of such human skills and material resources, the centre having become self-aggrandizing, bloated, parasitic and alienated. Now is the time to put into practice that ancient saying: Small is beautiful. We must return to the earlier days of creative rivalry that pronounces that vanishing past an interrupted project of promise, creativity and productivity. Then, it may be possible for your generation to say contentedly, even while the harvest is still distant but the soil is cleanly prepared, the seeds implanted and germinating: Mission? Accomplished!” 2013 or thereabout.

My Comment

Have you heard from these gentlemen on the issue of True Federalism and Restructuring in the last four years? I don't think so.

There is no debating the fact that our Federal system is over bloated for effective leadership to be sustainable. They know that. That they lack the capacity to govern Nigeria as one Unitary model nation-state, is not debatable. The trouble is that when they are in government at the federal level, the talk of True Federalism and Restructuring becomes an aberration. When they are out, it is a different matter entirely. And that is the only time when the intellectual in them suffices. Please, see the papers above.

In other words, they know what is wrong, but articulating what is right as well as the solutions is only applicable when a different political party is in the saddle of power.

President Buhari, acting on the pessimism expressed by the Northern Traditional Rulers, singlehandedly frustrated the True Federalism campaign promise made by APC in the 2015 Presidential election. See his 2017 New Year Message to the nation, not part of this essay. (By the way, the communique issued, and the group picture taken by the Northern Elders after their meeting and deliberations on True Federalism and Restructuring are available on my Facebook Timeline. Reading the communique, and conversant with the antecedent of my President on North-South debates or dialogues, as well as the indomitable influence of Northern Traditional Rulers on our political affairs, I knew his next action on True Federalism would rhyme with the content and goal of the communique of the Traditional Rulers and Elders. Lo and behold, it did within a short time. And it was buried inside his New Year message to the nation. And that was how the True Federalism promise made by the APC to Nigerians in 2015 became a non-issue in the Buhari Administration).

Today, Zamfara State is a no mans' land. His Katsina State is in a state of anomie. Southern Kaduna, like the rest of the Middle-Belt, is now a killing field. And Borno State indigenes continue to pay allegiance to two sovereign powers - the Boko Haram sect and the laughing stock called Abuja. Please, see Mallam El'Rufai's second paper, above. These are emblematic of the deformities consistent with Centralization of Power as was the case in the old Soviet Union.

President Buhari and Buratai have corrupted and crippled our Armed Forces in their quest to preempting and eliminating potential Nzeogwus and Orkas from every unit. The Police Force has become a Nazi Gestapo, killing innocent Nigerians in broad daylight with impunity. While bandits and insurgents roam and govern our countryside unchallenged.

It is no longer newsworthy; Nigerian citizens are slaughtered like animals in their hundreds every day in most African countries, and no Ambassador is facing summon or an Embassy contending with closure or facing a threat of closure. Now, we have become the butt of crude and ridiculous jokes, courtesy of most African Heads of State and Government, and Abuja is not worried or paying any attention.