“For to be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains but to live in
a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” ~ Nelson
Mandela
When President Goodluck Jonathan announced to the nation, that he
would convene a national conference, I belonged to the group of persons
who believed such a conference was very important considering that the
amalgamation treaty of 1913 had expired on 31st December 2013. I viewed
the conference as an opportunity for various groups and ethnic
nationalities who were forced to come together by the British, to
renegotiate their future, and avoid the mistakes of the past.
As a nation already dangerously polarized, President Jonathan had
given the people a chance to liberate themselves and possibly create a
‘people’s constitution’, but we all watched as some of ‘yesterdays men’
tried to scuttle the whole arrangement; whether they succeeded or not
depends on the perspective an individual decides to consider.
Personally, I do not think the conference failed totally, at least the
government made it possible for the people to voice their grievances
without agitation. The conference made huge progress in certain areas,
although the most important issue that ought to have been addressed was
left ‘uncompleted’ and thrown back to the President. Whether we accept
it or not, the most important committee in the national conference was
the DESOLUTION OF POWER committee – which had a duty(amongst other
things) to set a new revenue derivation formula for ALL natural
resources found in ANY state of Nigeria. That the committee/conference
could not arrive at any conclusion on this, are a pointer to how
important the issue is and an indicator to how dangerous trying to sweep
it under the rug could be.
The map of Nigeria shows that the whole nation sits on the
Niger-Delta region and by coincidence, the Niger-Delta has bear the
burden of the entire nation pre and post independence. This has led to
agitation in various forms by the Niger-Delta people for a better deal
from the Nigerian state, a demand that has been vehemently and selfishly
resisted by the other regions that contribute NOTHING to the national
cake. An injustice the national conference was expected to address but
failed to. Nigeria has 36 states, only 6 states(Akwa-Ibom, Rivers,
Cross-River, Delta, Edo, Bayelsa) contribute almost the entire wealth of
the nation, with another 4(Lagos, Imo,Abia,Ondo) contributing a
‘negligible’ percentage and yet the others feel, they should dictate to
the contributors to the national cake what to get and when to get it.
How this has continued till now is unfathomable.
This group has failed to realize, that those who make equity
impossible, make the dissolution of Nigeria seemingly inevitable. The
current state of unitary Nigeria is a fraud, aimed at perpetually
putting in bondage the very same set of persons who feed the nation and
who have suffered and will continue to suffer in event of any natural
disaster coming through the atlantic; a situation totally unacceptable.
Every state of this country is blessed with natural resources; therefore
there is no reason why a state should not contribute to the national
cake yet takes (in some instances ‘lion share’) from what it did not
contribute. Revenue sharing and derivation are alien to federalism. You
don’t take from a group of people to pay another group of persons.
Regional autonomy/100 percent resource control seems like the only
way forward for Nigeria. Regions should be allowed to develop at their
own speed, contributing a certain percentage to the centre. Dubai would
not be as developed as it is today but for the autonomy it enjoys to
harness it resources, just like other states of the UAE. The ‘death’ of
the current type of Nigeria is what should matter most to every
discerning mind. We have failed so far and will continue to fail until
we begin to do something different.
It is rather ironic that states are deriving benefits from things
they are opposed to; Zamfara state for instance operates a law that bans
the sale of alcohol, yet shares part of the money coming from a state
like Lagos(that accepts the sale of alcohol and cigarettes and taxes the
retailers/producers/importers of such products) in the form of federal
allocation. Bayelsa state contributes a large percentage of the money
shared to local government areas in Nigeria, yet it receives the least
share because it has only 8 local government areas, while Kano state
which contributes nothing takes more because it has 44 local government
areas. This to me is the height of injustice to the contributors.
What Nigeria needs now is outright reconstruction. An already
collapsing structure cannot be restructured. In my opinion regional
autonomy/total resource control is the way forward. That way every
state/region will know they have to work hard so as to generate money to
take care of themselves rather than lazying around simply because they
are sure of getting something and feeding fat at the end of the month.
Since the amalgamation treaty has expired, to move forward, the
Nigerian state must do the needful, to avoid the people doing the
necessary. We have to start rebuilding – and a key part of the process,
is allowing people use what they have to develop themselves. The present
arrangement is meant to favour a few and will always lead to chaos.
“It always seems impossible until its done.” ~ Nelson Mandela
Enenim Ubon is on twitter @enenimubon
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