Nigeria’s problem is failed leadership, lack of patriotism and the will to do what is right in the interest of the nation, instead of the interest of a few. Those who parade themselves as leaders are shortsighted tribal bigots who look at every attempt to move the country forward from tribal point of view. These failed and tribal leaders have become virus in our system. They have successfully infected every cell in our national body, and have polluted the minds of their infected followers, brainwashed them against the growth of the country. Under their infected and polluted status, they oppose every suggestion made to effect a change and move the nation forward for the good of all. Dr. Alex Ekwueme has been vindicated.
The civil war mindsets who opposed his suggestion that Nigeria should be restructured along six geopolitical zones, for effective, equal, fair and responsive governance, for the interest of more than 250 ethnic groups, have confessed that they did that because of their naivety, sectional reasoning and fear of losing political powers.
Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, one of the leaders of the North, recently confessed and explained why the North, with their civil war mindset, shouted Ekwueme down during the 1994/1995 Constitutional Conference and vehemently opposed his suggestion. Hear Abubakar: “I want to recall that during the 1994-95 Constitutional Conference, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the Second Republic vice-president of this federation, introduced and canvassed for the concept of geopolitical zones. I was among those who opposed it because I thought that Ekwueme, coming from the defunct Republic of Biafra, wanted to break up the country again. Now, I realise that I should have supported him because our current federal structure is clearly not working. Dr. Ekwueme obviously saw what some of us, with our civil war mindset, could not see at the time. There is indeed too much concentration of power and resources at the centre. And it is stifling our march to true greatness as a nation and threatening our unity because of all the abuses, inefficiencies, corruption and reactive tensions that it has been generating. There is need, therefore, to review the structure of the Nigerian federation, preferably along the basis of the current six geopolitical zones as regions and the states as provinces. The existing states structure may not suffice, as the states are too weak materially and politically to provide what is needed for good governance.”
Abubakar didn’t stop there. He went further to say: “Why should we be talking of federal roads and federal secondary schools? Decentralisation is not an invitation to the breakup of the country and national unity should not continue to be confused with unitarism and concentration of power and resources at the federal level. Hmm! What is my intuition telling me? Can Atiku still be trusted? Can anybody take his confession serious? I hope this is not another lip-service, or an attempt to try to curry favor from some quarters for your supposed 2015 presidential ambition? It makes sense to hear Atiku criticize a system he supported and enjoyed for eight years as Vice President, and also speak against the wish of the north. But Nigerians must not succumb to confession of political desperadoes!”
This writer is in total agreement with the two former vice presidents for making the suggestion and for supporting it in the manner Abubakar has just done. But one thing that baffles me is the level of hypocrisy and double-standard of our so-called political leaders.
Despite Abubakar’s confession, some sections of this country are still locked up in their civil war mindset, which has made it impossible for them to see reason for restructuring Nigeria along six geopolitical zones, yet they enjoy the zonal arrangement in the National Assembly and in all political parties. Principal offices of both chambers of the National Assembly are elected or selected along the line of six geopolitical zones for better representation of each zone.
Political parties have also adopted the six geopolitical zone arrangement in sharing of principal offices. If the National Assembly and the political parties are at home with the Ekwueme suggestion, why are some sections of this country oppose to it? Much as I recognise the fact that person or persons have right to disagree and oppose what they feel will not serve their interest, let Nigerians, in firmness, should resolve that a few minority should not stand in the way of any thing that will make Nigeria work.
Recently, I engaged Hon. Uzo Azubuike one of the vocal members of the House of Representatives, in a discussion on this matter. Hear what he told me: “I will support that since we already acknowledge that we have six geo-political zones…we can adopt the arrangement we already practice in the political parties, where all the political parties today agree to the structure of national, zonal and state. There is one national chairman of a political party and six zonal chairmen for the six zones. In the national assembly for instance; we also maintain the same structure, where presiding officers in the both chambers are selected on zonal basis, and you see that every zone is represented same way every zone is represented in every political party. I will agree with the Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s suggestion that we should retain the states, and have regional arrangement, which like I said is already in practice in the political parties and in the national assembly, where resources will be distributed equally according to zones and not states. This system will end the agitation for creation of more states. Any zone that wants to create states can do so at it’s own cost. This arrangement will also reduce the pressure on the presidency, reduced the pressure in Abuja because not every issue will come to the presidency since there’s a zonal leadership of government. This arrangement will encourage rapid development and decongest Abuja.
In another discussion I had with Chief Chekwas Okorie, national chairman of the newly registered United Progressives Party, on the same issue, he shared Atiku’s and Azubuike’s view, in making case for six geopolitical zones. This is what Okorie told me: “I will go with Dr. Alex Ekwueme’s six zonal structure and to have it embedded in the constitution in this ongoing constitutional amendment. By this structure, a certain level of equality would have been introduced…My take therefore is for us to maintain the presidential system, but let there be devolution of power, because there is too much concentration of power at the centre. If this is done, development will come in and be rapid because there is no state or zone in this country that does not have what it takes to function as a country of its own. There is no reason why every state in this country should not be viable, but because of over dependent on oil, many states can’t even pay salaries, and this is used as an argument against creating additional state in the southeast.”
My submission is: these views are tenable and sensible. There is need to decongest this lopsided structure, and put up a structure that will promote rapid development in every nook and cranny of Nigeria. Let us tell ourselves the truth: this over centralized power in Abuja is seriously working against the tide of development in Nigeria, and we must resolve to redirect the ship of this state. Let the zones be constitutionalized, and equally allowed to operate for the interest of all.
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