FEATURE ARTICLE

Alfred AisedionlenThursday, May 19, 2016
[email protected]
London, UK

ANNOUNCE THIS ARTICLE
TO YOUR FRIENDS

SAFEGUARDING THE FUTURE OF NIGERIA

advertisement

igeria's being in perpetuity in the current geographical configuration depends on how her future is secured. As a country, we are not where we are supposed to be amidst of plenty because those who came before us failed to do what need to be done first. We cannot continue to talk about building a strong economy, institutions etc. when the formidable foundation upon which such would stand and thrive is non-existent. Therefore, for Nigeria to live in perpetuity; for each segment within her to live in harmony with each other; to realise her much envisaged enormous economic potential; we must at this point in time hedge against the factors that have over the years continue to militate against her future existence. Leaving the factors as they are and only hullabaloos over them would not see Nigeria in her present configuration for long.

The two main factors that have over the years retarded Nigeria are corruption and the North (North West & North East geo-political zones in particular). Corruption which permeate every sector of society, for example, does not allow the right people to emerge in the country and meaningful policies to be executed and public fund to be available for what we need to do. On the other hand, northern elite do not see Nigeria beyond their region. They refused to come out from the past; it is all status quo. Most disappointing these days is the way President Buhari in a supposed progressive Federal Government started and focused only in his northern region. His is not perturbed that the rest of the country exist nor as such sensitive to the Constitution, Laws and Federal Character principle.

Nigeria is first and foremost comprised of two regions; North and South. In this context, today's State and Local Governments' areas are only secondary. It is in recognition of the marked differences and to maintain harmony between the two originating regions of North and South Federal Character principle was enshrined in the Constitution. As some of the positions, offices or departments take precedence; they are either officially or unofficially ranked according to their importance. If the most important position, A, goes to any of the areas (States) in the South; the next most important position, B, would go to any of the areas (States) in the North, vice versa. Positions C, D, E, etc. in their order of ranking would continue to alternate between North and South until equilibrium is maintained at each stage for all the States of the federation.

Buhari has virtually thrown the harmonising policy of Federal Character out of the window. It is all only for his North. In our country, where you have different regions, tribes, languages, etc. if you plant your people in every key Federal position, what are your intentions? With these, how does Buhari expect the rest of the country to co-operate, vigorously and enthusiastically work and help his Government? Who bears the burden of these? It is the All Progressive Congress (APC) party and the country.

People from the rest of the country have feeling. But for their sensitivity to the fact that Nigeria is the capital country of Africa and black people in the rest of the world, they stay within their tolerant limit. Without Nigeria in her present geographical configuration, there will be no Africa as such. The colonialists would no doubt re-emerge in different shades to share the continent among themselves and hold her in eternal servitude. Therefore, the continuity of Nigeria in her current geographical configuration must be preserved, hence the exigency to now hedge against the factors that militate against her being in perpetuity.

Some of the issues that emanated from the two factors of corruption and the North glitches are imbalance Government and political structures, weak institutions, misinterpretation of our laws, misuse of official positions, regionalism and neglect of society. The continual abnormal segmental discontent, agitation, insecurity and criminality which today confront us in the country are genealogy of the above.

Although Buhari in some way started wrongly, he and APC, for only one year in power, can neither be fully blamed nor expected to remedy the People Democratic Party (PDP) people sixteen years' neglect of society, misrule, mismanagement and plundering of the country's fund into their pockets. Judging from what we have in terms of men and materials, it will not take more than four years to put in place the structures that would ensure Nigeria's being in perpetuity in the present geographical configuration. What are needed to put the country on a formidable foundation, which no segment of society will be able to again abuse, are generally honesty, political will and leadership. But if you say you have the political will and leadership and you continue to give everything to your people, area and region; where is the sincerity in such leadership?

Corruption, fraudulent practices and by extension criminality in the country cannot be solved by stick alone but more by balanced optimal Government and political structures; adequate systems of control; impartial and effective leadership. Autocracy will neither solve Nigeria's problems nor sustain her future. Therefore, there is the need for inclusive Government that equally embraced each segment of society.

APC is not supposed to be a theoretical progressive political party nor Federal Government. In as much as the PDP have not been able to do anything meaningful for the country for sixteen years, they will not be able do such in any future Federal Government. Hedging against the militating factors against Nigeria's being in perpetuity can only successfully take place in APC Federal Government. Therefore, the former Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) wing of the party whose progressive goodwill made the APC attractive to majority of the electorate need to come out and assert themselves to see the party and Government in pragmatic and an undiluted line of progressive, where things are done expeditiously and normally. Matters should not be left only in the hands of progressive neophytes who need time to acclimatise in undiluted progressive ideology.

What are then the key fundamentals and solid foundation we need to lay in order to ensure Nigeria's being in perpetuity and relative harmony in her current geographical configuration?

The Federal Ministries, etc. should be ranked in the order of their strategic importance. All the top positions therein should be filled and balanced on Federal Character basis. One person should not double or treble for two or three supposed key positions in the midst of abundant talents in the country. All the top vacant positions such as those of Federal Ministers, Chairmen and other members of boards of directors of Federal Government departments and agencies should be filled. Buhari does not need foreign exchange to do these. The people with which to fill these posts and money to paying them are there in the country. If there is money to be bailing out the prodigal State Governors, etc. there should be money to be paying those who are to fill those top Federal positions, who in their duties of management, control and supervision would be generating fund for the country.

If the Minister of Defence is from any State Government area in the North, the Minister of Interior should be from any State Government area in the South. If the Chief Justice of the Federation is from any State Government area in the North, the Attorney General of the Federation should come from any State Government area in the South. If the chief executive of Ports Authority is from any State Government area in the North, the comptroller of Customs & Excise should be from any State Government area in the South. As the last chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission was from the North, his successor should be from any State Government area in the South, vice versa. This also applies to the appointment of Permanent Secretaries of the Federal Ministries and to all other key Federal positions. We cannot continue to stoke the fire of discontent and expect people to remain silent. Therefore, Buhari should readdress all the appointments he already made in contravention of Federal Character and balance the appointments between the North and South.

Bahari made corruption fighting as his cardinal policy from which he cannot now tactically renege. We do not know who and which political party shall form the 2019 Federal Government. As corruption in the country is widespread and monumental, for the job to be at least two third complete during the remaining three years of the Government, Buhari needs to include every section of the country in his Government. The Economic & Financial, Crime Commission (EFCC) does not have enough personnel nor can the Commission alone satisfactorily solve the corruption problem.

As corruption in the country is departmentally based, Buhari should have asked and should ask his Ministers to setup their own individual panels to investigate and determine the stolen/ embezzled funds in their establishments. The EFCC would here be watching the panels. For example, the Minister of Finance should be able to setup panel(s) to investigate the funds that have been stolen at the Ministry of Finance, Ports Authority, Customs & Excise, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), etc. The CBN Governor should be able to setup panel to investigate the funds stolen by the present and past chairmen and other members of boards of directors of various commercial banks; many of whom are today running big businesses and have massive funds tucked in safe-havens. Buhari, himself, as the Minister of Petroleum should setup his panel to investigate the stolen funds at the crude oil industries.

Where any amount of money is found to be stolen, then the EFCC will be asked to arrest and detain the accused. The accused should not be released until they fully refunded the stolen money. Thereafter, the accused will be charged to Court for corruption/pilfering. In the guise of upholding apparent justice, the Courts must not again be allowed to delaying the process. The Courts should be asked to stay clear of investigations until the accused are summons to the Courts. That is the Court must not entertain any application of any accused for the EFCC, etc. not to arrest and detain them.

Documentation of the assets and funds held by the accused in foreign countries should be sent to the appropriate countries. At the same time the Government should advertise such on the newspapers of the foreign countries the stolen funds and assets are held. The foreign countries should be asked to repatriate the loots in cash. There is no need making general noises about repatriation of the stolen funds without proper documentation and identification of the corrupt in persons. Those holding public offices that are answering questions of corruptions and other criminal cases at the Courts should be asked to stepdown from the offices. With the above Buhari would be able to step up the pace of looted funds recovery to go beyond the term of office of the last Federal Government.

The country must have a balanced optimal Regions and Federal Legislators between the North and South. We are all aware that the current three tiers Government structure of the Federal, State and Local Government is not at all viable in the country. The thirty-six State Governments tier of the structure is simply wasteful in all their aspects. Much of the fund of the country here goes down the drain and into private pockets. It is not just only the pockets of the State Governors. The States prevent the Local Governments from functioning and the Federal Government from reaching the Local Governments and grassroots. The State Government structure need to be scrapped.

There is the option of a two tier structure of the Federal and Divisional Governments. Divisional Government areas here mean; the current Senatorial districts in the country would each become a Divisional Government area but with equal number in the North and South. With this structure, the Federal Government will still be too strong. It is, therefore, neither feasible nor optimal.

The second option is a three tier structure of the Federal, Regional and Local Governments. Here the current thirty-six State Government areas would be consolidated into ten Regional Government areas, five regions in each of the North and South. This is the feasible and optimal Government structure for the country, especially where the Federal Government shall not be too strong. The ten Regional Government areas would be as follow.

1 - Lagos Region - The present Lagos State with little expansion into the rest of the South West would become a full Regional Government area.

2 - South West Region - The State Government areas that would form this Region are Ogun, Oyo, Osun, Ondo and Ekiti.

3 - Mid-West Region - The State Government areas that would form this Region are Edo and Delta.

4 - South East Region - The State Government areas that would form this Region are Anambra, Enugu, Ebonyi, Imo and Abia.

5 - South South Region - The State Government areas that would form this Region are Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River.

6 - Middle Belt West Region - The State Government areas that would form this Region are Niger, Kwara, Kebbi south and Kogi west of river Niger.

7 - Middle Belt East Region - The State Government areas that would form this Region are Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue, Taraba, Kogi East, Kaduna south and Adamawa south.

8 - North East Region - The State Government areas that would form this Region are Bauchi, Yobe, Gombe, Borno and Adamawa north.

9 - Mid-North Region - The State Government areas that would form this Region are Kano, Katsina, Jigawa and Kaduna north.

10 - North West Region - The State Government areas that would form this Region are Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi north.

On the new Local Governments; the capital territory of Abuja and other big cities or towns in the country would each become one City Local Government area. Their present Local Government areas would be local administrative offices (branch or district offices) responsible for their local areas. Those small two or more towns that are currently under one Local Government area shall stay under such one Local Government. Lagos City Council, which saw a clean Lagos, orderly transport, adequate road and streets maintenance and pipe water supply, etc. would be resurrected. There would be Ibadan, Benin City, Onitsha, Port Harcourt, Kano, etc. City Councils. There would no longer be a Minister for the Federal Capital Territory (Abuja). The Local Government of Abuja (City Council) would take full charge of the city

Looking at things as they are today; how many of our towns or cities are more than 10 kilometres radius from their centre. With this measure, the number of Local Government areas in the country would be far less than the present seven hundred and seventy-four (774) areas. Abuja as it is now too small for today Nigeria and future capital territory requirement. It shall absorb part of Nassarawa, Niger and Kogi States, enough for a big city and capital of Nigeria.

The elected and staff of Abuja City Council (Local Government) and its establishments would compose of people from different parts of the country, elected, appointed and employed on Federal Character basis from those that are resident in the territory for a minimum of about five years, This Federal Character principle shall also apply to Lagos Region, which is the former capital and now the commercial capital of the country.

In order to maintain a balance of legislative power in the country among the North and South, and the new ten Regions, there shall be equal number of Senatorial districts and Federal constituencies in each of the ten Regions of the country. For every Senatorial district there shall be three Federal constituencies. For every Regional Government, there shall be forty Regional Constituencies. For the Local Council, there shall be two Councillors for each electoral Ward.

Within the three-tier government structure of the Federal, Regional and Local Governments, the new nationwide Federal and Regional Legislature structure would look as in the following table.

As in the table; at the Senate, there shall be 50 members each from North and South. At the House of Representatives, there shall be 150 members each from North and South. This would at least help to ensure that issues are first decided upon for national interest rather than for only regional benefit. There shall be fewer legislators from Abuja. The Federal legislators from the Federal Capital Territory as in the table shall be distributed on Federal Character basis; half from the North and half from the South but among those that are resident in the territory.

Within these, rotational leadership is imperative in the country. If you analyse the discontents in the country, you will trace the genesis to leadership. That is who leads at a particular point in time and from which section of the country the leader comes. Official rotational leadership is one of the key answers to the problem. The formalisation of rotational leadership at Federal Government level would minimise political tension, division and spread qualitative advantage to every part of the country. It would create political stability and promote confidence in our country as a stable place in which to invest and conduct business. Rotational Leadership must, therefore, be enshrined in a new constitution. As the voters have virtually pruned the political parties to two, to reduce political tension, corruption, cost, etc. we should then officially affirm Nigeria a two-party state of APC and PDP. Within this, there should be permission for individual independent candidates of not more than two per elective seat for those who do not want to have political home in any of the two permissible political parties.

Security of the nation is paramount. We should ensure that the Nigeria Police Force, which is fundamental to security of the country, is adequate and decentralised. There should be several Independent Police Commands in the country. This is where every head of each Independent Command is accountable only in his area and responsible to the President. We are not here talking about State or Regional Police forces. Moreover, the number of Police personnel should be increased by at least half of the present number. The rest of the forces; Military, State Security Services and Customs personnel should be increased by at least one quarter of their present numbers. The personalisation and privatisation of our Police and Military must stop. They must no longer be assigned to some private individuals as their domestic servants and bodyguards. The National Assembly should immediately extend capital punishment laws to cover kidnappers and their accomplices.

We need to establish a National Charity Commission in the country. For example; the Commission would check the menace of many Non Governmental Organisations (NGO) and religious bodies in the country. The northern Emirs should not be allowed to double as traditional rulers and Islamic religious heads in their domains. The Islamic Religious Clerics should be allowed to choose their leader among themselves and individually be the religious head in their parishes and districts, and to be fully accountable in the circumstances where their Islamic religion is being misused. Islamic religion should not be mixed with Government and official matters in the North. The dual laws practice by all the State Governments of the North should stop. Their Islamic police should be disbanded. We cannot have parallel and religious laws and police force in the country. Any reference to any Islamic courts, laws and practices in our Constitution should be expunged even before any new Constitution is written. All of the above should be formalised in a brand new Constitution. The general basis of the new Constitution shall be changing the weaknesses we experienced in our systems since independence in October 1960 and hedging against the factors that would endanger the present geographical configuration of the country. For the Government to write the new Constitution, it need to assemble a six expert in constitutional matters; one from each geo-political zone in the country; to draft it. The new Constitution should be drawn on two basis of Presidential and Parliamentary systems of government in a three-tier system of the Federal, Regional and Local Governments. The people would in a referendum vote by a simple majority to choose one of the systems of government they want and the related Constitution. As we have had several conferences and volume of materials from which to draw issues, the new Constitution would be a matter for the Executive and not the National Assembly. The National Assembly should no longer here waste our time and money on any constitution, drafting and writing. It should be largely preoccupied by amending the existing laws, where necessary. The above promulgations are not exhaustive. All the other essential issues which are generally matters of routine procedures, annual and term policies of the Government of the day such as in the Economy, Education, Health, etc. upon which any Government survive or fall can be carried during each term of each Government in accordance with the manifesto upon which the Government was elected.

advertisement
IMAGES IN THE NEWS