· Insists on restructuring of the country
Amid public outcry against the military and police killing of
agitators on Monday during processions to mark the 49th anniversary of
the declaration of Biafra Republic, the Senate has failed to entertain
any debate on the massacre.
Media reports indicate that over 50 pro-Biafra protesters, three
policemen and a soldier were killed on Monday in clashes between the
security agents and the agitators in some South East and South-South
states.
When the matter was tabled before the Senate on Tuesday by the Deputy
Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, the Upper House refrained
from discussing it.
Ekweremadu had condemned the security agents’ handling of the protests and urged them to apply caution in quelling such crises.
Acting under Order 43 of Senate Rules, Ekweremadu had drawn the
Senate’s attention to the bloodbath in the South East and South-South
on Monday.
He said: “If you go through many newspapers this morning, the leading
headlines refer to the death of many people both young men and security
agents. I will from the past has led to the resurgence of both civil
and militant agitations in the country.
He warned that these negative occurrences could draw the country backward.
The event was attended by the former Chairman of the National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC), Chidi Odinkalu and former Minister of
Education, Oby Ezekwesili who extolled the character of the author,
Chido Onuma.
The author noted that all Nigerians are Biafrans in the way the people
have faced maltreatments in one form or the other from the government.
Atiku described the book as a metaphor for the legitimate feelings of
marginalisation by diverse segments of Nigerians who cut across the
country, adding that agitations by many right-thinking Nigerians, “call
for a restructuring and renewal of our federation to make it less
centralised, less suffocating and less dictatorial in the affairs of the
country’s constituent units and localities.
“As some of you may know, I have for a long time advocated the need to
restructure our federation. Our current structure and the practices it
has encouraged have been a major impediment to the economic and
political development of our country. In short, it has not served
Nigeria well, and at the risk of reproach, it has not served my part of
the country, the North, well.
“The call for restructuring is even more relevant today in the light of
the governance and economic challenges facing us. And the rising tide
of agitations, some militant and violent, require a reset in our
relationships as a united nation.
“Some may say that we are saddled with more urgent challenges,
including rebuilding our battered economy, creating jobs, fighting
corruption and securing our people from terrorism and other forms of
serious crimes. I believe, however, that addressing the flaws in our
federation will help us address some of those very economic and security
challenges facing this country.
“Nigeria must remain a united country. Our potentials are enormous.
But, I also believe that a united country, which I think most Nigerians
desire, should never be taken for granted or taken as evidence that
Nigerians are content with the current structure of the federation.
Making that mistake might set us on the path of losing the country we
love or, result in our country sleep-walking to disaster.”
“Let me quickly acknowledge that no federal system is set for all
time. There are always tensions arising from matters relating to the
sharing of power, resources and responsibilities. But, democracies
have developed peaceful mechanisms for resolving such conflicts among
the tiers of government. They recognize that negotiations and
compromises are eternal”.
The former Vice President, who blamed the past military
administrations in the country for dislocating the regional structure
of Nigeria, insisted that while he believes strongly in one united
Nigeria, he is of a strong belief that the country cannot be strong
under the present setting.
“The vast majority of Nigeria’s young population will be forgiven for
thinking that our lives have always revolved around oil and that the
federal government has always been this domineering and controlling.
They may not be aware that the federal system which we inherited at
independence allowed the regions to retain their autonomy to raise and
retain revenues, promote development, and conduct their affairs as they
saw fit, while engaging in healthy competition with others.
“And they may not know that it was the emergence of military rule and
the intervening civil war that led to the splintering and weakening of
the federating units, centralization of resources and concentration of
power at the federal level. The enormous revenues from oil rents
encouraged the central government to play an increasingly domineering
role in the economy and society. It assumed more responsibilities for
infrastructure provisioning, education, social services and business
investment.
“More critical is the distortion of our federal structure by our
dependence on oil. We now have the ridiculous situation where the
federal government creates local governments, enshrines them in the
constitution and allocates resources directly to them, with people even
calling for more autonomy from state governments. Today, virtually
every section of our country feels marginalised–meaning they believe
that other segments of society are prospering in ways they are not. We
often interpret marginalisation along regional, ethnic or religious
lines, but experience has shown that this perception can exist even
within homogenous communities due to uneven access to opportunities. For
example, we have communities feeling marginalised within their states
or regions.
“Having established the ‘federal character” of marginalisation in
Nigeria, it is imperative that our response to the issues raised by our
various ‘Biafras’ across the country is holistic. I have long advocated
for greater autonomy, powers and resources for our federating states.
Some have retorted that state governors will abuse those powers and
resources. Well, the same logic applies to the federal level, which, as
recent revelations show, is not without blemish. In fact, the current
situation encourages governors to abuse their power, do little to raise
revenue and point fingers at the federal government, thereby making it
more difficult for their people to hold them to account,” Atiku said.
Continuing, the former Vice President noted that, “Nigeria is not
working as well as it should and part of the reason is the way we have
structured our country and governance, especially since the late 1960s.
The federal government is too big, and too powerful, relative to the
federating states. That situation needs to change, and calling for that
change is patriotic. We must refrain from the habit of assuming that
anyone calling for the restructuring of our federation is working for
the breakup of the country. An excessively powerful centre does not
equate to national unity. If anything, it has made our unity more
fragile, our government more unstable and our country more unsafe. We
must renegotiate our union in order to make it stronger. Greater
autonomy, power and resources for states and local authorities will
give the federating units greater freedom and flexibility to address
local issues, priorities and peculiarities. It will help to unleash our
people’s creative energies and spur more development. It will reduce
the premium placed on capturing power at the centre. It will help with
improving security. It will promote healthy rivalries among the
federating units and local authorities. It will help make us richer and
stronger as a nation.
On measures that are needed to ensure that Nigeria does not break up,
Atiku advocated that the country should be composed of: “First, a
smaller, leaner federal government with reduced responsibilities. This
means devolution of powers and resources to states and local
governments. State and local governments should control education,
health, agriculture, roads and other infrastructure. A true federal
system will allow the federating states to keep their resources while
the federal government retains the power of taxation and regulatory
authority over standards. The result will be a political and
governmental system that empowers local authorities and gives them
greater autonomy to address peculiar local issues, while enhancing
accountability and contributing to the general good of the country. Such
a robust federal system would reduce the tensions that are built into
our current over-centralized system.
“Second, autonomy for the component states and localities to determine
their development priorities and wage structures. For instance, there is
no reason for the governor of Akwa Ibom State to earn the same salary
as the Governor of Benue State or for a teacher in Orlu to earn the same
salary as the one in Abuja or Port Harcourt. The costs of living and
revenue generating capacities vary widely across the country.
“Third, a tax-centred revenue base. Modern democracies derive their
revenues from taxation whether or not they have fossil fuels and other
natural resources – personal income tax, property tax, sales tax,
corporate tax, licences, and duties. Taxation is a sustainable revenue
base and one that compels governments to promote increased economic
activities, and respond to the demands of their tax-paying citizens.
“Fourth, enhanced, diversified economic activities and productivity
in order to enlarge the tax base. The US, UK, Canada, Malaysia, and UAE
are all oil producers. But because they have diversified economies,
oil does not dominate their government revenues and does not have the
same distortionary effect it has on our own.
“Let’s compare Malaysia with Nigeria. Both countries were at a
comparable level of development at independence but now, Malaysia’s GDP
per capita is $11,000 while Nigeria’s is $3,000. Malaysia has foreign
reserves of $100 billion and a sovereign wealth fund of $41 billion.
“In Malaysia, manufacturing accounts for 40% of GDP and the country is
rated 14th most competitive economy in the world. In Nigeria, however,
manufacturing accounts for a mere 10% of GDP, and only 12% of the
labour force. And Nigeria ranks 127th out of 144 in global
competitiveness. Think about this for a moment: If the bulk of the
revenues of our federal and state governments are dependent on the
level of economic activities in the country, would we be shutting down
the entire country or a state on election days, on census days and
during environmental clean-up?
“I wish some of our researchers would calculate the resulting loss of
productivity and incomes to individuals, families and the economy as a
whole, and, therefore, potentially government revenues.
“Fifth, an end to the indigene-settler dichotomy. A modern united
Nigerian society can only be built on the basis of common citizenship
for all based on residency in a state or locality rather than the local
government or ethnic group one is born into. Nigerians should be free to
live, study and work anywhere in the country as long as they are
law-abiding. We cannot claim to be promoting national unity while also
promoting policies that tend to confine people to their places of
birth,” Atiku concluded.
