State creation may be difficult —Usman Farouk
Usman Faruk is retired Assistant Commissioner of Police and former governor of the defunct NorthWestern State (Sokoto, Kebbi, Zamfara, Niger and parts of the FCT) who retired from public service in 1975 and a delegate representing Gombe State at the National Conference. In this interview, he faults registration of northerners in South-eastern states and explains the intricacies in state creation as recommended at the conference.
ow have you been able to address agitations for state creation and national security problems at the conference?
Well, I retired from public service in 1975 and since then I have participated in three national conferences. First, I was a member of the team that advised former Head of State late General Sani Abacha either to retire and contest election or give up power. I was also a member representing the federal government at the National Political Conference convened during the Obasanjo administration. Before then, from 1980 to 1983, I was the national chairman for the creation of states. The states created by the Babangida and Abacha administrations were part of the recommendations my committee made.
Insecurity has become a very important matter in northern states and those of us who have been associated with the business of security had to air our views, especially two years ago. The governor of Gombe State appointed me as a member of the committee of forming police divisions in the state and a year later I was the chairman of the Northern Summit which took place in Kano which dealt with the security situation in Nigeria. In the light of this, I have been able to gather evidence and from my experience as a security operative and a former governor during the civil war, the North-Eastern states and indeed the northern states excluding Kwara, have incurred a lot of expenditure judging from the vehicles they bought and accommodation they gave the security forces operating within their areas. In fact, I estimated that this came to the tune of N3 trillion and under the law, national security is the responsibility of the federal government. This means that whatever the states spend in terms of security should be refunded after the crisis because the governors had no vote for that purpose. The monies given to them are for civil development. And in addressing security matters, you don’t have to ask for permission as a governor.
The federal government should also adopt the 3Rs Policy (Reconciliation, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation) of the Gowon administration after the civil war in 1970 because the situation we find ourselves now is similar to that of the civil war. The situation we found ourselves after the war is the same problem we are going to encounter after the Boko Haram is over. If this is not done, there is no justice for us. As a former security officer, I urge the federal government to do more than what it is doing now to ensure safety.
Is it possible to create more states as recommended by the Conference?
As the former chairman of state creation in Nigeria between 1980 and 1983, I would like to mention that the conference actually made recommendations for the creation of states. I feel that for any state to be created and survive in Nigeria, the recommendation has to pass Section 8 of the Constitution, otherwise it would be an inferior state. So, you cannot sit down using ethnic minority groups to dash out areas as states. Any move made by any group to create state in their own area must pass through the houses of assembly of the 36 states with a simple majority. And if one state refuses to recognize the move, then the state will not be accepted. The mood was that the conference should amend Section 8 and if we amend the section any state created thereafter can’t be equal to the old states.
There was another move that we should create additional states in the South-East to make a balance. What balance are they talking about? The total population of the South-East is to up to the half of the population of Kano. Democracy, which is the background of state creation, respects two things; population and landmass. The will of the majority must prevail in a democracy while the views of the minority are noted. Therefore, if you are going to create a state based on the minimum population of one million as recommended, it means Kano should be divided. One senator in Kano is representing about four million people. So, if you create a state of one million people, it means a senator from the state cannot be a member of the House of Representatives. They are now telling us that senators should have equal powers. I cannot represent four million people in the senate and you represent 300,000 people and have equal powers. There is no equality in law. The population of Bayelsa is about 1.8 million while that of Kano is over 10 million and they are equal before the law but in terms ‘majority’ Bayelsa can’t match Kano.
They also said all ethnic nationalities should be given states which mean you will have 350 states. All the recommendations made on state and local government creation were wrong and anybody wishing to create a state should go through Section 8 of the constitution which was elaborate. Between 1980 and 1983 we went round all the states to canvass for support to create additional states. State is not a joke and as long as we are practicing democracy, population and land mass should be the basis of states, not because some people are alleging that they are being marginalized. What they are trying to do now is to amend Section 8 of the constitution. To do this, they have to convince the National Assembly to amend the section and five years after those who are agitating for state should abide by the constitution otherwise they will create inferior states that cannot be like the others, they cannot be like a senatorial district in Kano.
It is not ideal for Kano and Lagos to have three Senators each, equal to Bayelsa with 1.8 million people. A senator from Kano or Lagos is representing four million people with similar voting power as senators from Bayelsa. In other countries like the US, senators from states with high populations are given veto powers. So, senators from Kano and Lagos should be given veto powers or the senate seats should be increased in states with high population and revenue allocation should be higher in highly populated states because money is not used to feed stones, rather people. If people are suspecting census figures, then they should appoint the United Nations to conduct a fresh one. The allocation of three senators per state is illegal and undemocratic.
Why do you think the National Conference could not reach a consensus on the resource allocation formula and derivation?
The committee on devolution of powers which I belong to discussed and resolved the matter. The 26 members reached a peaceful conclusion on all the items deliberated upon, including resource allocation and when the matter was moved to the plenary, it got out of hand. We came out with good recommendations.
What were the recommendations on derivation?
I cannot discuss the recommendations now.
Does the committee foresee the possibility of the conference rejecting its recommendations?
We invited experts during our discussions and in the end we were able to present a unanimous decision. My committee was the most volatile of all and it was by miracle we reached a consensus. We thought our recommendations would be adopted because of how sensitive they are. What happened at the plenary was most unfortunate but I stood by the position of northern delegates.
What is your comment on the decision of some states in the South-East to register northerners living there?
Well, as an elder statesman and retired security officer, this matter has to be tackled seriously. We read in the newspapers that because of the insurgency in the North-East, some South-Easternstateshavedirectedthat every northerner should be registered after paying a certain amount of money for identity cards. Secondly, anybody wearing Hausa or Muslim attire is called names. So, we are appealing to the federal government that this thing should stop.
There is nothing stopping the northern states to do the same thing. The Igbos should be made to register in the North. We are advising our people to reciprocate this ugly gesture. The federal government should know that it is illegal for citizens to be subjected to scrutiny as if you are from a foreign country. Security matters should not be underrated and sooner or later the Igbo people will be called names in the North and the earlier the federal government stopped the intimidation, the better. Let us not underrate this as we underrated the beginning of Boko Haram insurgency.