Restructuring Nigeria, a call to another civil war – Prof. Izah
Paul Izah is a professor of Political Science and International Relations at the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria. In this interview with Daily Trust on Sunday, he says restructuring Nigeria as being clamoured in some quarters is not the solution to t
There is currently the agitation to restructure Nigeria, largely because the centre is said to be too powerful while the states cannot even pay salaries of their workers. What is your take on that?
Nigeria has been restructuring since 1967 when the Midwest was created. And this continued up to the 36 states and the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT) we have now. I don’t understand this agitation because the country has been through different restructuring, which has led to the expensive nature of running the government at all levels. This has consumed a lot of the country’s resources.
In my view, what we need is good and purposeful leadership, not restructuring. I know that some years back, some people said states were not viable, so we should go back to the six geo-political zones. Those holding this view are saying that when we have six states we can give them more powers and responsibilities.
These people have to remember the reasons that informed restructuring in Nigeria. Some of these reasons were that a section of the country wanted to secede from Nigeria with unwilling partners. The Ibibio, for example, do not want to secede from Nigeria; therefore they don’t want to go with eastern Nigeria. This was why a state was created for them in order to give them independence. It was the same thing in Rivers - the Ijaw, Kalabari and the Ogoni were given a state of their own.
So that restructuring was done in order to make the states weaker and the centre stronger so that no single state would have the capacity to challenge the centre and even attempt secession. This was made in order to enhance the process of nation building.
It is a reality that some of these states are not viable, but there is need for a strong centre that would keep Nigeria as a single entity. This is in the interest of all the components. Of course, an external power may want Nigeria divided to achieve the divide-and-rule syndrome. It is easier to exploit smaller units that break out of Nigeria.
So there may be some external powers that may be supporting the restructuring because it would be easier for them to exploit the resources of the smaller units. A stronger Nigeria can have the capacity of bargaining for more benefits. This restructuring can benefit those powers because divide and rule has been a way of exploitation.
Are you saying that some external powers are behind the agitation?
I have no evidence to that, but weaker nations in international system are easily exploited than stronger ones. This is common in international relations. We should, therefore, on our own, do everything that would enhance our development. The reason for the restructuring we had was to give every component a sense of belonging and make it impossible for any component to challenge the other components as the eastern part of Nigeria did.
This was the reason why Nigeria changed from three regions to many states. We now have up to 36 states. Therefore, going back to the old order may result to what happened before the restructuring, which we all know was the civil war.
On the other hand, we cannot continue to create more states because when you create new states you are creating new majorities and minorities, and more demands would come up. At this stage, what we need is a purposeful leadership.
The recent revelations about arms purchase and campaign funds demonstrate that the larger portion of our resources have been cornered by a few individuals. The current government is determined to ensure a new lease. I think what Nigerians need is to continue to clamour for good leadership. We now have a leader that is determined; we should, therefore, give him a chance to see what he would offer us.
One of the arguments of the agitators is that some of the states are subservient to the federal government. They go to the centre begging because it controls the resources they could have used in maintaining themselves...?
That is not true. It is not true that these states have not received enough resources. Some of the governors have billions stashed outside Nigeria. Take for instance, Bayelsa, Rivers, Edo, Akwa-Ibom
It is a reality that some of these states are not viable, but there is need for a strong centre that would keep Nigeria as a single entity. This is in the interest of all the components
and others that receive 13 per cent derivation. Each of these states receives allocations five or more times bigger than others.
Some of these states are still unable to pay salaries, but their governors were cornering these resources. For example, Ibori and Alameyeseigha were found guilty of siphoning the resources of their states and were jailed.
I think the most important thing is for the governors of these states to judiciously use the resources of their states for development, not the other way round.
What about other states like Zamfara, Yobe, Borno, among others, that don’t receive derivation?
If we pay serious attention to agriculture, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kebbi, Taraba, Ebonyi and others can feed this country in one commodity or more. Benue and Nasarawa can supply all the yams we need. Kebbi, Sokoto, Kano, Niger and Ebonyi can give us all the rice we need. So our challenges are because we have not gotten our priorities right. We have abandoned what sustained us before money came.
Two things are happening rapidly. Technology is developing to the extent of making fuel less relevant. Agriculture is renewable and each of our states is capable of producing something.
I understand the wisdom behind the clamour for six states instead of the 36, but the reasons for creating the 36 states are still valid. The reasons for creating 36 states, as I said earlier, are stronger than the reasons for collapsing them to six.
Even if you collapse the 36 states to even four or three, they would still be dependent on the centre as long as the state governors are not willing to utilise their resources for development. As long as the states’ resources are continuously taken out of the country, we would continue to have the same problem.
Are you at home with confederation as an option?
Confederation has not worked anywhere in the world, so it is out of the question. Part of the reasons for the clamour for this restructuring is revenue allocation. The formula we had in 1970, which was based on landmass, population, enrolment in schools, was sponsored at the Supreme Military Council by General Ogumodia, the then governor of Bendel State. At that time he was the governor of the largest oil producing state.
Coming out from the civil war, they were committed to even development across the country. They also knew that oil is a temporary wealth, and if we don’t utilise it well, it would end up creating problem.
Based on this, they opened up the country, with roads from Lagos to Maiduguri, Lagos to Calabar and Benin, and so forth. They introduced the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). They opened more unity secondary schools in the country. Since then none of these issues has been given the required attention to achieve the target goal of the unity of the country.
The Unity schools now virtually belong to the states. A graduate can do his youth service at his own state of origin. So I think, without overemphasising it, that what we need is not restructuring but a purposeful leadership that would uplift the living standard of the citizens. A situation where the resources of the country are stashed outside, restructuring cannot solve our problems.
I always say that if we had utilised at least 50 per cent of our budgets, Nigeria would have been somewhere completely different from where she is today. Don’t forget that in 1964, Malaysia collected palm oil seedlings from Nigeria, but that country’s export of palm oil is twice better than ours. What this tells us is that we have not utilised our natural resources to the fullest.
I have listened to the minister of agriculture say that within the next four years there would be several agricultural products that we won’t need to import anymore. I think this type of commitment is what we need to move the country forward. The determination of the present administration is what we need, not restructuring.
Do you see the resurgence of militancy in the Niger Delta as part of the move to pressurise the government to succumb to restructuring?
These Niger Delta Avengers is a group set up by politicians.
The problem is that people who have been illegally benefiting from the resources of this country for the past six years are not ready to change. These people are scared to account of their stewardship. Why are they avengers? Why didn’t they exist before? It is because the game at the centre has changed.
Avenues for corrupt practices are being closed. People that lost out from change generally resist the change.
What do you think the government should do to address the problem?
Governors of these Niger Delta states should be more responsive and give priority to the plights of their people rather than the achievement of their political goals. Dialogue is the best way to address the problem. All these militants are unemployed youths and they see wealth around them.
If someone now decides to give them some thousands of naira, they would do his bidding. If we can carry these youths along, it would be better for us. Though we are practising a federal system, the misdeed of the states should continue to be exposed so that we can hold these governors accountable. Dialogue is always better than confrontation.
Is the agitation for Biafra the same thing as what is happening in the Niger Delta?
These are people who don’t have enough land to accommodate their people. The eastern region is the most densely populated area in the country. There is no space. Most Igbo people are outside their land with various assets. Perhaps, the most expensive assets in Abuja are owned by the Igbo. If that is so; how many of them would want to go back? The Igbo are just using Biafra as a bargaining chip.
President Buhari has been accused of handling the crisis between Fulani herdsmen and farmers with levity, what is your take on that?
The issue of the herdsmen and farmers is a complicated one which every president needs to handle carefully. You have to understand that these are Nigerians whose livelihood depends on pastoral practices. Believe me, these people provide more than 70 per cent of the protein we consume in this country.
They are a vital component of the economy of Nigeria. There is no denying that fact. What we need is to pay attention to their livelihood. Population explosion and increase of farming activities have deprived them of grazing lands, and this has brought them in conflict with farmers.
Because of the lack of land, these people move as far as the South in search of pasture for their animals. If we can provide grazing lands, these people would not be moving around. Moving from one place to another affects the productivity of their animals. Proper agricultural policies should be able to solve this problem.
When I was a young person, the relationship between herdsmen and farmers was so cordial that farm residues were exchanged for animal dung as manure.
The Fulani herdsmen move to the South because they have no alternative. Now that it is rainy season, you would see them coming back to the North.
What would you say about President Buhari’s one year in office?
As a lecturer I will give his administration an A. The reason is that it is easy to destroy, but not to rebuild. In the past one year, they have been laying the foundation for solid governance based on the principle of honesty and patriotism.
This administration deserves commendation in the area of fighting corruption and insurgency. I am from Borno, so I am in a good position to commend the military for arresting the situation within six months. We now have a situation where there is no local government under the control of the insurgents. They are now confined to forests.
What people don’t seem to understand is that these insurgents had kidnapped many people, not only Chibok girls. They kidnapped thousands of innocent young people. The issue of Chibok girls is just a drop in the bucket. They are getting attention because they were schoolgirls.
Now, the difficulty is that the military cannot use fighter jets to bomb the hideouts of the insurgents because there would be collateral damage. And that would not be accepted.
Many civilians are held as human shield, so the military has to go slowly and methodologically. Face to face combat is over because the territories have been recovered. What is happening now is clearance and confidence building.
People in those areas suspect one another, to the extent that parents suspect their children and brothers suspect their brothers. We are now in the process of peace building, which is not an easy one. Remember that for many years, there was no economic activity in many parts of the North-East. Most of the dwellers are farmers, and for many years, farming activities did not take place.
One of the fundamental duties of any government is to secure lives and property, and the Buhari government is doing that. It is a huge achievement.
We agree that there is politically motivated resurgence of militancy, but we are confident that the administration has the capacity to handle it.
It is on this ground that we should continue to pray for our president and his lieutenants. The president was so open that he informed the Senate that he was going out of the country for medical attention.
I think we should congratulate him for that. This is the first time in the life of this country that a leader is telling us what we need to know.
We cannot continue to create more states because when you create new states you are creating new majorities and minorities, and more demands would come up. At this stage, what we need is a purposeful leadership