That NIPSS think-tank conference on federalism

Established in 1979 as a “high level centre for reflection, research and dialogue” on pertinent issues of significance to the growth, development, peace and stability of the country, the 30th of May, 2017, conference: “Federalism and Challenges of Dynamic Equilibrium In Nigeria”, organized by NIPSS, must be seen as in furtherance of its obligation to seek intellectual, pragmatic and feasible solutions to issues of critical bearings on the nation. The conference couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time.

The Nigerian nation-state is certainly at another cross road in her political history where collective decisions must be made by the citizens and component units on the path to go. The country has been led to this point, by the long and orchestrated agitations, by what scholars at the conference, variously called centrifugal and centripetal forces. That is in reference to the sustained campaign from some sections of the country for a review or, a revisit to the structure, or fundamentals of the country on the basis of its federal architecture.

Proponents of restructuring the nation’s federal constitution and structure have been variously advocating for a redefinition of the pattern of co-existence between component units of the country. While some have been calling for “true federalism” or “fiscal federalism”, some have been agitating for what they call, “resource control”. There have been the shades that want the whittling down of the powers of the central government, in favour of the states. The bottom line of all the demands is a restructuring, such that would allow component unit’s greater autonomy, self-control or selfdetermination, in ways that every unit “can choose to develop at its own pace”. That is, something of a loose federation or, even a confederation.

The tone of the paper presentations was set by a renowned intellectual, Professor Sam Egite Oyovbaire, who in sum, did not as such submit to the idea that Nigeria presently is in a political quagmire as a result of inherent fault lines on its federal system.

Professor Oyovbaire also stressed the problem of disconnect between knowledge and lived experience, the challenges of relationship, autonomy or dependence, rights and obligations of the federating units. These challenges, he concluded, can be found in the instrumentality of leadership, that is, persons in power and authority endowed with commitment to the challenges of federalism, and “of a dynamic equilibrium.”

Professor Dakas C.J. Dakas, SAN, in his submission, apparently aligned with the Justice Niki Tobi’s 1999 constitution Review Committee Report that: “Nigeria should be restructured into a true federation and that, “so strong and is the concern and agitation… that Nigerians cannot seem to wait longer for them to witness the emergence of a True Federation.” The world renowned scholar however, warned against “the Machiavellian mantra that the end justifies the means which is, in the circumstances, a recipe for disaster.” Thus, his recommendation that, the hallmark of the process of restructuring the Nigerian federal constitution, “must of necessity, be genuine, constructive and productive engagement with the Nigerian people.”

Failure of public security provisioning, political manipulation and abuse of security, consequent on the centralization of major security apparatuses in the federal government, formed the focus of the presentation of Okechukwu Ibeanu. The present security set up, according to him, has manifested in, “prioritizing national or state security over the security of citizens.”

Ibeanu attributes the campaign for devolution of security especially, the call for State Police, to the “widespread feeling among many Nigerian communities of partiality and discrimination in recruitment into security agencies.” The future or solution to the existing grievances over security management in Nigeria’s federal system, in his conclusion, “lies in getting the right balance among centralization, decentralization and deconcentration.”

Professor Adele Jinedu of the Babcock University sees the crises of federation as arising more from the failure of the power elite to adhere to the tenets and logic in the universal operation of the federal system. “This weakness” he says, “has created the massive problem of the structural condition of Nigeria, with deep roots in the way state power, with its induced behavioral correlates of primitive accumulation or ‘booty capitalism’ has been organized to undermine human security and the sovereign rights of citizens at all levels of the country’s federal system.”

Jinedu’s paper also points to the problem of lack of internal democracy in the country’s political parties; the misapplication of the federal character provisions in the constitution; the challenge of failure to cultivate and nurture a democratic culture, “which binds and restrains all, and which anchored at much on the letter and sprint of the laws, on the ‘rules of law’ and ‘not rule by law’. The non-involvement or recognition of the local governments as a tier in the federal set up, which has led to alienation of the grassroots from the process of governance has as well as, contributed to the widespread discontent with the federal system as being practiced in Nigeria.

In a nutshell, all the papers presented at the NIPSS think-tank Abuja Conference somewhat, unanimously acknowledged existence of myriad of structural defects in the extant Nigerian Federal arrangement. The scholars and other speakers were also agreed on the imperatives of reforms or tinkering with the system as a compromise mechanism between the centrifugal forces, the campaigners for “true federation” and the centripetal forces identified as those who believe in the retention of the status quo. It is very telling however, that none of the eminent scholars and other speakers at the conference, pointedly, showed the way out of the woods. Just so, none aligned with the panacea of the convocation of a “National Sovereign Conference”.

Be that as it may, the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, NIPSS, through its think-thank conference on Federalism and the Challenges of Dynamic Equilibrium in Nigeria, no doubt, hugely succeeded in bringing to the front burner, forcibly bringing to our collective consciousness, an issue that Nigeria may have been compelled to address at this point of our collective journey as a nation. The question of adjusting, modifying or tinkering with the Nigerian Federalism appears to be one that all sections of the country should be agreed. As Atiku Abubakar, former vice President has put it: “No section of this country can claim accurately that people are better served by the current situation of our federation.” For what it is worth, recommendations of the conference should not go the way of the many similar endeavours before it.

Adamu Joseph wrote this piece from Abuja.