THE RESTRUCTURING QUESTION: A CASE FOR CONSTITUTIONAL DISTRUPTIONS BY THE TINUBU

ADMINISTRATION.

The Nigerian state from its point of natality in 1960 till this moment, has continually evoked countless
arguments and counter arguments as to its governmental structure and the propriety or otherwise of
same. A vast majority belong subscribe to the school of thought that the super structure federalist
system which the nation currently maintains and which features an usually over concentration of power
at the center, is manifestly wrong. A good number however also hold the view that the current structure
of government in Nigeria today is the best it can get and requires no decentralization whatsoever. To
them, Nigeria must remain a pariah state and perhaps put more mildly, a fiefdom of whichever Fief
assumes control of the Aso Rock at any point. To properly analyze this issue and consequently develop
an unbiased yet healthy position, this article therefore seeks to unearth the governmental structure
present and operative in Nigeria, analyze the issues concisely and mathematically proffer solutions
where needed.

Nigeria practices a federalist system of government, or so it is said. However, not a few are of the
opinion that such assertion is only fit for academic purposes. In actual practice, it seems Nigeria's
governmental structure is very far from having any semblance of federalism. Federalism defined in the
simplest terms, is a system of government where power flows from the central government to the
component units, with each having its own independence and autonomy. An attempt to juxtapose this
with the reality in Nigeria and her government structure would betray the intentions of the framers of
the principle of federalism. Consequently, it may not be totally out of place to say, 'in Nigeria, federalism
met its untimely death'. Out system of government is replete with the most bizarre form of
gerrymandering, over concentration of power on the central government precipitating quantum or
near-quantum dictatorship and inequality of the greatest magnitude.

The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999 as amended) provides for the principle of
federal character, a strong indication that the nation's corpus juris recognizes the place of equality in
governance. It also makes a provision for a presidential system of government for the country and with
of course, very wonderful iterations as to how it is to operate. However, what is obtainable is a distant
relative of what is prescribed. In Nigeria today, across virtually all sectors and stratas of government,
there remains a sturdy concentration of power on a particular sect or bloc to the detriment of others.
For instance, as presently constituted in Nigeria, the Federal Government through the President
reserves full powers with respect to security, effectively turning Governors (who serve as Chief Security
Officers of their various states) into mere lame ducks in the face of pressing security challenges. No
Governor in Nigeria has powers over the police, civil defence, let alone any other military cum
paramilitary outfit. They and their states live at the mercy of the whims and caprices of the President
who at any point in time, unilaterally decides who heads the security architecture in each state. This
perhaps has been a major contributor to the agitations for a constitutional amendment to make room
for a decentralization of the security system in Nigeria and further establish state policing for the
federation in a bid to grant state Governors more control over the security affairs of their individual
states. This however has not yielded any fruit whatsoever. Hence many Governors across the country
have resorted to constituting mock security outfits for their various states to manage the security
situation which the Police obviously lacks the capacity to contain. At a time when insecurity plagues the
nation, with civil unrest in virtually all sections and an imminent danger of an even greater increase in
security disturbances owing to worsening and pressing economic challenges, it is commonsensical to
think outside the box, move away from the normal, rise from the ridiculous to the sublime and if in the
process, creative constitutional disruptions become necessary, then by all means do so. A rejig of the
security architecture of Nigeria is no longer the solution to the nation's perennial security woes. Time
and time again, we have seen Service Chiefs appointed and dismissed, yet the baby crying in the bush
only managed to increase the intensity of his wailing. To nip the dangerous trend in the bud, there must
now be a concerted effort towards restructuring the entire security framework of the country. The
overwhelming powers concentrated on the Federal Government with respect to matters of security
must be decentralized and further devolved to the component units. Even the issue of state police is no
longer the feasible solution, there must now also be a thinking towards the concept of community
policing. This is important as security is local and every person knows who is who within his or her
locality. The persons within a particular area are better positioned to assume responsibility for their own
safety (supported by government), than some other person from another place, with no inkling
whatsoever as to their common living and practices.

In addition to the issue of security, the oil and gas sector is another area in need of urgent restructuring
if the nation must make any meaningful progress in the near future. As presently constituted, the
federal government is in charge of the petroleum sector through its agency, the NNPC, leaving states
(majority of whom serve as host states of the oil itself) with no input whatsoever as to how the oil
(which remains Nigerians single largest economic contributor) is produced, managed and
commercialized. With the recent abrogation of the fuel subsidy regime and its attendant pains on the
citizenry, the need for local refineries became even more pronounced. Price of fuel took a more than
three hundred percent increment, a situation economic experts like the celebrated political enigma, Mr.
Peter Obi, argue would have been much more different if plans were adequately put in place to ensure
sufficient supply of crude for local consumption. Nigeria as of today has no functional oil refinery and
depends solely on importation of the product for its local usage despite its status as a major oil producer
globally. However, there are in place in the nation, several illegal refineries who have perfected the art
of refining as much as crude as they can loot and sell same off. Also, there are in existence modular
refineries which experts argue retain the capacity to offset the oil demands of Nigerians if adequately
supported. The restructuring of the petroleum sector in Nigeria, would demand giving private
establishments licences to refine crude oil for local consumption and usage. This way, the adverse
effects of the fuel subsidy removal coupled with the crazy exchange rate debacle, would have minimal
impact on the daily living of the common man. Again, as Mr. Peter Obi would say, "governance is no
rocket science". It requires just about the right amount and blend of intellect and sincerity of purpose as
well as willpower.

Again, arguments may be made for greater resource control by the states as against the current
situation where the federal government rakes in the whole and distributes whatever it wills to the
various federating units. However, on subsequent analysis of this assertion, questions may be raised as
to the extent of usage and the effectiveness of same, the various Governors have dispensed with the
resources distributed to them, talk more of considering extending even more to them. To this end, a
restructuring of the constitution to require compulsory account of state expenditure by the state
Governors becomes necessary.

Conclusively, I think restructuring will answer the national question. There is a national democratic &
constitutional crisis in Nigeria. The only way to solve this crisis is to restructure the federation in a bid to
isolate and expose corruption, drive good governance and democratic desires of all the elements that
constitute the federation. If we don’t do that, we will never be able to succeed in the anti-corruption
fight; we will never be able to succeed in our pursuit to have good governance; there will continue to be
stealing and corruption. No matter what you do, you can’t stop these until we restructure the entity,
Nigeria. This is so because the loophole in our nation is a direct consequence of a political structure
foisted on us by the military when it left the scene in 1998. The 1999 Constitution as developed by the
outgoing military government at the time is manifestly skewed and unreflective of the needs of a
modern nation. Issues of parochialism, irredentism and bigotry must be cast very deep into the pits of
historical forgetfulness, if the nation must make any meaningful progress. A continued tour on the path
of the present system offers us no more than a precipice for anarchy, destruction and doom. Nigeria as a
multi-ethnic, multi-faceted & multi-religious society requires the value of every element constituting it
in a bid to elicit an acceptable government. We must earnestly come to a point where we can beat our
chests & say loudly "we the people have agreed to do this or that in furtherance of our nascent
democracy. Until we do this, we would be merely chasing shadows.