WE ARE THE PROBLEM

I have been reading, of late, strident calls for "true" federalism. The callers say it must happen now now for peace to reign. The advocates are obviously swayed by our current security challenges – Boko Haram, Biafra, militancy, herdsmen and kindred security issues. In other words, their advocacy is more of panic button than of genuine quest for a lasting solution to the current challenges of our nationhood. 

To be sure, true (fiscal) federalism has its merits. It's advantages are overwhelming. I have no problem with it. I believe it will in the long run open up our economy and make us less dependent on oil. Our economy would become truly diversified, become export-oriented and we would truly become a great country.

 I do however believe that we should get it right and not act based solely on our current emotions. I do also believe that considering our heterogeneous nature, the authors of our subsisting political enterprise had good reasons to do so. That however is not to say that a review is not worthwhile now and then until we get a sustainable system that is suitable for us.

I believe any system will work if the people and their leaders are determined to make it work. No system is really good or bad, right or wrong, proper or improper or appropriate or inappropriate. What matters is the sincerity and faithfulness of the people and their leaders. More often than not, it is not the system that is bad, rather it is the operators of the system. 

The problem I have with the latter day advocates of true (fiscal) federalism is that they insist it must happen now. With immediate effect! And these are people who often accuse President Buhari of having military mentality. Yet they say true (fiscal) federalism must happen now! Is that not in itself a characteristic of dictatorship?

My second grouse with them is that they were conveniently silent less than 15 months ago. They say the last national confab report must be implemented now, but they forgot that the author and originator of the confab itself kept the report, it's final product, in the cooler, saying he would implement it only after he was voted for a second term. That again was a sort of dictatorship.

If these people are fair, they ought to know that any new administration, whether Buhari/APC or not, ought to be given a reasonable length of time to examine the report to see if it is implementable. Or have we forgotten so soon that there is as yet no legal framework for the confab and its report? 

Have we forgotten that even the constitution of the national confab itself was lopsided as the Federal Government alone handpicked about 90 percent of its members? Have we all forgotten so soon the controversy that greeted the structure and membership of the confab? 

To be sure, I repeat that true (fiscal) federalism is the way to go but I think we should plan for it and implement it in phases with specific timelines.

First of all, the  people have to be educated about it, there should be legal framework to it and it should not be done with immediacy. 

I also believe that the last confab did not actually produce what the greater majority of Nigerians want insofar as all the identifiable ethnic groups in Nigeria were not represented. If I remember correctly, the confab representation was based on the current state structure and interest groups. However, i admit that it did arrive at some far-reaching decisions which require a sort of referendum to implement. 

If we truly want to restructure Nigeria with  a truly federal system in mind, I opine that we should do so through a confab that is truly representative of all the identifiable ethnic nationalities in Nigeria and all the religions. I say so because the major problem we have with our system today is lack of trust among the ethnic groups/religions that make up Nigeria. There is this palpable fear of dominion of one or two ethnic groups/religion over the others. It is mainly because of this fear, real or imagined,  that our country is not working the way it should. So if we have to restructure the country we should do so beginning with having the proper foundation.

If we restructure the country the way some people are currently advocating and with the prevailing paradigm I fear it will produce the same thing as we have now; or two sure results, each of which is a threat to our national security. The first is that a few states (or regions – whatever system the restructuring would produce), probably less that 10, would become extremely wealthy while the greater majority would be extremely poor and may in fact face extinction. That alone is one threat to our national security. Even within the few "wealthy" states, there would still be  the "haves" and the "have not". In other words, the argument of I own this, you don't own that will continue. In the end, it may amount to merely devolving the current argument to the states or regions. 

The second effect is that the prospect of the country disintegrating would become very real and immediate. Again, that will not augur well for anyone, especially at a time the world is moving for a paradigm shift from the current state system to the continental nation state system. Ironically, it is exactly to avoid disintegration that the call for true federalism is germane. 

So what is the way to go now? 

The way to go in my opinion is Dialogue. Round table, not guns. We need to keep talking about it. We have to keep pushing for it until everyone is convinced about the need to review our current political structure. 

Rationality, not emotions and guns, will do it.