BODE OLAGOKE, in this piece, examines the repeated calls by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar for restructuring of the country, alongside his strong desire to rule Nigeria, wondering if Atiku would cave in for what is considered to be more of a Southern agenda
The repeated calls for frank talk to lead to restructuring of Nigeria by the former Vice President and a prominent chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is becoming had become suspect owning to the fact that the caller (Atiku) has always had his eyes at the exalted seat of the country’s presidency.
Trully speaking, if there is one thing a politically conscious southerner (South-west, South-south and South-east) earnestly pray for is one form of restructuring or the other.
For the South-west, regional government is preferable to the existing structure.
The South-south wants control of the resources of his region while the South-east craves self determination.
To reconcile all these have been several calls from different quarters for restructuring even though the voices of dissent, cutting across the regions against the calls are also laud enough.
The voice of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, has become so loud in support of restructuring since the present administration of APC emerged, accrueing more support for himself, which pundits say might work in his favour if he again throws his hat in the ring to contest the presidency in 2019.
Atiku has, however, chosen to use every opportunity, public outing and even through press releases, when the need arises to emphasize his call and support for that which is believed to be dear in the minds of the southerners.
The Adamawa state born politician had on December 12 ia n speech entitled: “Strength and Unity in Renewal: Towards a Rebirth of Nigerian Federalism”, delivered at the presentation of a book ‘The Nigerian Federalism: Continuing Quest for Stability and Nation-Building”, at NAF Conference Centre & Suites, Abuja” stated clearly that the ethnic nationalities in the country need to come together and determine jointly how the nation must be run.
He unapologetically declared that it’s unthinkable to believe that Nigeria’s unity is non-negotiable.
The ex-number two man it would be recalled had noted earlier in the month that there is nothing sacrosanct about Nigeria’s unity just as he noted that there were inherent weaknesses in the running of the government.
In making the observations, at the book launch on December 12 the former Vice President, insisted that federalism as being practised in Nigeria is a bastardised form and not working because power at the centre is too concentrated, not for the interest of the people but for the economic interest of those in position of authority.
He was categorical in faulting the modality being used for the distribution of money collected for Value Added Tax (VAT).
He noted that some states are being cheated of their resources in terms of VAT distribution by the Federal Government noting that states who do not contribute to funds raised through VAT on some items should not benefit from its sharing.
He stated that those calling for renegotiation of the Nigeria unity have a right to do so, as he noted that relationship of any kind cannot flourish in an environment where negotiations is not allowed.
Speaking on the real challenges of proper practice of federalism in Nigeria, the Turaki Adamawa highlighted the identified problems with Nigeria and it’s practice of federalism saying a home grown federalism must developed in Nigeria for the nation to grow.
“We must acknowledge that what got us to our current over-centralized, and centre-dominated federal system is political expediency and fear, and bolstered by the command and control character of military regimes. But after 50 years of “unitary federalism” we are now in a position to clearly see that it has not worked well.
“The federating units in the First Republic had their disagreements but none claimed to lack autonomy of action, and none waited for federal fiscal allocations before it could implement its programs and pay salaries.
“The current structure may be working for some elite but certaimly not for any section of this country and the country as a whole.
“We should take deliberate steps to change this structure to serve us better. And we should not dither for too long that we let fear and expediency stampede us into another disastrous policy shift that may not serve us well either.
“We have to acknowledge that federalisms are works in progress: there is no ideal federal system or so-called true federalism. Each nation has to work out the best federal system suited for it. In Nigeria’s case we must acknowledge that it is disingenuous if not outright dishonest to say that the system is not the problem.
“If the problem is just the operators how come we have failed for 50 years to produce the right people? Should we import them from outer space? A look at our 1999 constitution, specifically Section 7, which, as the Introduction to this book notes, has 83 legislative items as against 15 for the states (which the Federal Government can also override) shows that there is a huge problem with the system.
“I challenge anyone who is against restructuring our federation to show me another well-functioning federal system in the world with that level of lopsided central dominance. Individuals operate within certain structural and institutional constraints. If all we lack are good operators, as these people argue, would anyone advocate doing away with constitutions altogether so we rely on fantastic individuals to do the right things.
“We must acknowledge that agitations for more states across the country, the clamour for more federal take-over of state institutions, and the clamour for local government autonomy (i.e. autonomy from state governments) are inconsistent with establishing a viable and well-functioning federal system.
“We already have too many weak and unviable states. What we need are stronger federating units (be they existing sates or zones) with a greater share of resources and responsibilities.
“I have been shouting myself hoarse asking why we should have federal roads, federal schools, federal hospitals, etc. I have called for state police, for the states that so desire, to help us provide more effective security.
“In 2012 I went before ALGON in Enugu and told them that their clamour for local government autonomy from state governments is misguided. I told them that it is wrong for the federal government to be creating Local Governments and giving them money directly from the Federation Account. What is the meaning of “local” then, I asked?
“How does the transfer of local government dependence on state to central government translate to autonomy? Even our state governments are nearly totally dependent on the federal government, meaning they do not even have the autonomy that we are trying to give to the local governments that are below them. This is a complete absurdity.
“Can anyone honestly claim that our local governments have performed better since the introduction of the joint state/local government account than they did prior to the coming into effect of that constitutional provision? We must end our culture of institutional escapism in this country. By that I mean our tendency to create new institutions to solve problems for which we already have institutions just so we avoid dealing with the shortcomings of the existing institutions.
“We must acknowledge that in federal systems that work, federating units cede certain powers to the centre. In our strange federal contraption, it is the centre that is creating federating units, giving them money and monopolizing most power and resources. Thus our state governments are no longer performing as federating units. Rather they currently seem like dependent provinces of the central government in Abuja.
The stalwart of the All Progressives Congress (APC) noted that the current arrangement is not beneficial to anyone, and therefore must be changed if progress must be made.
“No section of this country can claim correctly that its people are better served by the current structure of our federation. When we were not dependent on oil revenues and when the federating units had greater autonomy of action and were largely responsible for their affairs, they, that is our regional governments, did not owe workers their salaries for several months. They did not shut down schools and universities for several months because of teacher strikes and inadequate funding.
“Take a look at the industries that the regional governments established and ran and the quality of schools that they established, and see if you can see a state government or a group of state governments that have bested them since the emergence of our unitary federalism. And also ask yourself which of those establishments taken over or established by the federal government since, has performed as well as they did under our pre-1966 federal system.
“National unity does not mean the absence of disagreement or agitations. In fact disagreements and peaceful agitations indicate vibrant and living relationships. The key to making national progress is to manage those disagreements in peaceful and mature ways.
“Political and civic leaders from across the country must come together, discuss, negotiate and make the necessary compromises and sacrifices needed to restructure our federation to make us a stronger, more united, productive, and competitive country. Perhaps we might start with making our grievances and fears apparent. When each section or party to a dispute airs its grievances and expresses its fears and concerns, the outcome may be better understanding by others, and a quicker route to a resolution or agreement. That’s perhaps how we should proceed with the much needed rebirth and renewal of our federation” he said further.
He went further to condemn the current situation where some states do not allow sales of certain goods but always wish to participate in moneys raised from VAT collected on such item.
It is obvious that some states in the northern part of the country do not allow the sale and consumption of alcohol in their society but are still collecting funds from the VAT raised from sale of alcohol.
Atiku said: “Think about this: sales taxes ought to be collected and used by states and local governments. Of course there is nothing inherently wrong in a federal sales tax but states must agree with the federal government what items should be taxed, at what rate and how the proceeds are to be shared. They ought to be uniform.
“If a state is opposed to cattle tax or bicycle tax or alcohol tax, or pollution tax, for instance, it should not expect to share in the tax proceeds from those items. That is called fairness.
“In fact, states should be the ones collecting those taxes on behalf of the federal government and get compensated for their work, through an agreed sharing formula, rather than duplicating the cost of collection. Federal intrusion makes it more difficult for a state to collect taxes from items that may be peculiar to it, thereby narrowing the tax base. And it makes enforcement even more difficult” he said.
In another day, the former VP continued in same stream in four consecutive tweets, tracing the problems of the nation to the vague unity and unitary federalism being practised in the country, questioning it’s sustenance now.
The tweets reads “Our Federal Government can no longer afford to meet many obligations. Does it still make sense to have a centrist FG?#Restructuring
-Atiku Abubakar (@atiku)December 22, 2016
“The economic consequence of over-centralization is that FG may collapse under the weight of too many responsibilities it burdens itself with
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku)December 22, 2016
“If they do the same thing – reduce FG control on the economy, thereby making it more efficient, I don’t see a problem.
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku)December 22, 2016
“So not only is our FG too large, the economic downturn has exposed fundamental weaknesses. Yes, FG duties need to be reduced/devolved.
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku)December 22, 2016”.
Again recently, the former number two man in Nigeria openly expressed his willingness work with Ndigbo to realise “national agenda”
Through a statement signed by the Atiku Media Office in Abuja to congratulate the new leadership of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, “The Turakin Adamawa pledges his readiness to work with the new leadership of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo to further a national agenda that will make all Nigerians proud of their country.”
He added that Nnia Nwodo’s election was coming at a time when the Igbo nation, nay, “he entire Nigerian federation is facing challenges of nationhood, and needs men and women of knowledge and goodwill to get the country out of this challenge.” Saying Nwodo could not have assumed leadership at a better time.
With less than two years to another general elections, the questions political analysts are asking are many. While some want to be sure that Atiku’s agitation for restructuring is not only to gain power at center which he has been struggling to get, others are asking: “Can Turaki Adamawa if given the opportunity to rule, genuinely restructure the country to the disadvantage of the north?”
