Southern Intellectuals and the Perils of Intellectual Absentia: A Review of Governor Fayemi's Speech at Arewa House, Kaduna on October 31, 2020.

A few years ago, Governor El'Rufai came to Lagos for a conference and he took the opportunity to lecture Lagosians on how to overthrow a godfather. It made major headlines at the time. It still does today. And no one is in a hurry to forget the speech. A few days ago, however, Dr. Fayemi, the Governor of Ekiti State, was invited to Kaduna by the "Centre for Historical Documentation and Research (Arewa House), Kaduna", as the 2020 speaker. And thanks to Governor El'Rufai of Kaduna State, I reproduced the speech verbatim and my Wall.

In the past few days, I searched for the speech on WhatsApp groups and on Facebook to see if it is making the rounds as usual, but nothing pop up. Hate him or love him, when Governor El'Rufai went to Lagos to lecture them on how to overthrow a godfather, it wasn't for the fun of it or because he so much loves Lagosians. It was in the fulfillment of work in progress, of power grab at the center that he envisioned, and to demystify a major challenger ahead of time.

So, when Dr. Kayode travel to Kaduna to drum the overdue concept of True Federalism and equitable sharing formula of our natural resources into the ears of the Arewa Power Brokers, one expects the public affairs analyst of the Southern intelligentsia elite to give it the same wide coverage they gave Governor El'Rufai's sermon on the demolition of a godfather? Chances are that they didn't see or read the essay or that it is too long to worth their while or data/wifi usage.

First, most Southern public affairs commentators, lack, or highly deficient in the proper True Federalism or Restructuring narrative, and when they see one who does, they're easily distracted, or simply believe he has nothing to teach me.

Show me another Southerner in government today, who, in recent times, had the audacity or the intellectual wherewithal to dwell on Restructuring and power-sharing formula as vigorously and extensively as Governor Fayemi did a few days ago in Kaduna State? It is not just that he did or that he did it vigorously, but for the fact that he took the message to the major adversaries of True Federalism. They have a team and they speak in one voice and take a stand. We assemble a team on an Adhoc basis and we are not adept at fighting to win. We give press conferences without taking a stand. And that's why what we have and who we are as a nation-sate are the true definitions of what they want.

First, we must learn to cherish creditable work when we see one. Until we learn to embrace others and take concrete steps to overcome our Mr. Know It All Syndrom, we will not be able to garner a concerted synergy to wage a formidable battle for the culmination of what we truly want out of the geographical expression called Nigeria.

Please, find below, some excerpts from "UNFINISHED GREATNESS: Towards a More Perfect Union in Nigeria." Text of the Address by His Excellency, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, CON Governor, Ekiti State, Nigeria and Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum on the 50th Anniversary of the Centre for Historical Documentation and Research (Arewa House), Kaduna, Nigeria | Saturday, October 31, 2020

"Precisely because we have refrained from heeding the wise counsel of Shehu Usumanu Dan Fodiye in his book Bayan Wujub al-Hijra “One of the swiftest ways of destroying a State is to give preference to one particular tribe over another or to show favour to one group of people rather than another.” Reading through the research conducted by the Arewa Research Development Project, one of the foremost, contemporary research projects in Northern Nigeria, I was struck by the conclusion on one of the research projects, “In the contemporary world, issues of nation-building are increasingly being centred around citizenship rights and equality in accessing these rights, special and conscious efforts to safeguard minorities and disadvantaged groups, gender equality in political and socio-economic spheres of a nation, protection of cultural assets….” These are indeed conditions that will ensure political integration and progressive development."

"The evolution of Nigeria’s federalism has not served our best interests and it is not surprising that there have been protests and attempts at constitutional reengineering. Two prominent examples were the 2005 Constitutional Reform Conference convened by President Obasanjo’s administration and the 2014 National Conference at the instance of President Jonathan’s. In the two conferences, one recurrent and topical issue remains how to remake and allocate powers and resources."

"However, the truth is that in a democratic dispensation, roots and branch structural changes (like region or state creation) would appear to be unrealistic as we cannot easily go back to the pre-1966 regional structure nor is the 54 federating units proposal of the 2014 conference realistic, no matter the appeal or attraction. Rather, our preoccupations should be, how can we better organize, mobilize, and collaborate for the inevitable task of stability, nation-building, and economic productivity?"

"Even at that, the more contentious parts of our quest for a more perfect union resonates/revolves around devolution of powers – that is, re-allocation of powers and resources and reconfiguring the country’s federating units. The reasons for this are not far-fetched. First, long years of military rule have produced a concentration of powers and resources at the centre to the detriment of the federating units. Two, the 1999 constitution, as has been argued by several observers, was hurriedly put together by the departing military authority and was not a product of sufficient inclusiveness. Part of the focus of the reconfiguring exercise should be: what items should remain on the exclusive legislative list and which ones should be transferred to the concurrent and residual lists? Other topical issues include derivation principle; fiscal federalism and revenue allocation; land tenure, local government creation, and autonomy; etc."

"Again, in arriving at a position on what ought to be in the quest for a more perfect union, I wish to further say that my sentiments are more associated with strengthening the sub-national units in the re-allocation of powers and resources. The assignment of functions that would be consistent with a devolved but strengthened federal system would have a short, exclusive federal list focusing on national defence and security, macroeconomy, foreign affairs, customs, and excise; joint responsibility in respect of certain functions that are currently assigned exclusively to the federal government (for example, internal security and policing) and primary responsibility of the sub-national governments in respect of the other functions in the second schedule of the 1999 constitution whilst the remaining powers devolve to states."

"On revenue collection and sharing, the position of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum bears restating. It is that the sharing formula should be reviewed in favour of the states, especially given the argument of devolved responsibilities to the sub-nationals. In the context of the proposed new Federal structure, Governors’ have argued for a formula along the lines of 42% to states, 35% to the Federal, and 23% to Local Governments."

"Remaking Nigeria through the devolution of powers and re-organisation of the federating units is an idea whose time has come. To quote Professor Attahiru Jega, again,, “by working hard and rationally, scientifically, to remove all the distortions in our federal system, we would have a better functioning federation with only states as federating units; with a conscious commitment to zonal cooperation among contiguous states, with local governments subsumed under states…with substantial devolution of power, responsibilities, and resources from the federal government to the states, and with mechanisms of ensuring greater equality of opportunity for all and affirmative action for the inclusion of the marginalised, minorities and groups discriminated against in the country…”[Jega:2017]"

"Equity, fairness, and justice are imperatives of a prosperous and progressive society. Peace is definitely not the absence of conflicts within a polity but indeed the presence of social justice. Excellencies, Royal Highnesses, Distinguished Guests, I leave you with another famous quotation from Shehu Usmanu Dan Fodiyo which I understand had been the guiding principle of Sardauna’s leadership style in life. In his book, Bayan Wujub al-Hijra, the great Islamic reformer said “A kingdom can endure with unbelief, but it cannot endure with injustice.” May we have the courage and the conviction to confront injustice in our country. I thank you for listening."

Dr. Kayode Fayemi, CON

Governor, Ekiti State, Nigeria

Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forum

Kaduna, Nigeria

October 31, 2020.