Dear Readers,

We find ourselves at a crucial juncture, contemplating a true reflection on our 25-year democratic journey towards a more perfect democracy. Let us state clearly that with all its triumphs and challenges, this journey is a testament to our commitment to the democratic process. 

Advancing towards a more perfect democracy necessitates a rigorous examination of the key players in this journey. A candid and profound introspection will unveil the areas that demand our reconsideration and vigilance in our democratic process. 

An excellent place to start such honest and deep reflection is to consider the role and impact of politicians and political parties in our democracy. 

General education does us a disservice by insisting on defining democracy as “the government of the people by the people” That definition, taken from Abraham Lincoln’s November Gettysburg 1863 speech, does not allow for reflection in our times; yes, it rhymes, and it is evocative and stimulating, even romantic, but it does not allow us to put into focus the crucial elements that make democracy what it should be. It does not talk about the role of parties and politicians, nor does it dwell on the Constitution or the duties and limits of government. 

Most Nigerians and those who observe Nigerian affairs will, on reflecting on the role and impact of politicians and political parties in the last 25 years of uninterrupted democracy, hardly give politicians and political parties a pass mark on their performance. The most common reason is their inability to provide the most basic services that the modern state they contested and won to manage should deliver.

I refer to security, constant electric supply, good roads, reduction of poverty and level of illiteracy, etc. That is about services of good democratic government, or “dividends of democracy”, as most say in Nigeria. 

Beyond the services of a government, we have other intangible but more significant and debilitating issues, like the fact that rather than helping unite the country, politicians have, in the past 25 years, divided the people more along ethnic and religious lines in a bid to get into power not through vision, merit, and rigour but indolently through mere identity politics. 

Let us note here that political parties conceived as a platform to bring ideas to the commonwealth table and unite people of like mind based on ideologies or visions of the world have become, in Nigeria over the past 25 years, mere special-purpose vehicles that individuals use to achieve their very personal ambitions: A total corruption what political parties ought to be. 

With this in mind, it is easy to see why politicians will and can easily defect, disappoint, and betray so many of what they purport to stand for the day before. It is also easy to see why those leading our political parties, referred to as leaders and parading themselves as such, are nothing but boys and girls doing the bidding of their sponsors (aspirants and candidates) too many times to the detriment of conscience and nation. 

To move towards a more perfect democracy, it is crucial that we, as observers, politicians, and citizens, spend more time following the formation and procedures of political parties and those who manage them. It was, and still is, a significant and dangerous error to consider issues of any political party affair a “family affair,” as was declared and believed. 

A major peculiarity of Nigeria’s peculiar democratic system that has offered the world is the role and prominence of the election regulator and manager, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Let us start by noting that unlike most countries and in their normal times, where anyone rarely talks about the election regulators, Nigeria’s election regulator is visible and prominent. 

Our INEC is amazingly expensive, largely disorganised, untrusted by too many people, and involved in too many controversies. 

INEC is a body that has too often done a major disservice not only to election management but to the image and reputation of professors in Nigeria that have brought little of professorial to the election process.

In our journey towards a more perfect democracy, we must review INEC and reset it towards a lighter, less expensive, more decentralised, and more digital organisation with many functions outsourced. 

As said elsewhere, I propose that BVN should be linked to voter cards and that registration for and retrieval of voter cards should be managed by banks where possible. 

We do not need a central body keeping us up in a hall all night to announce results. Let us devolve this function to the local arms of the commission and let parties and media announce certified results. 

How have we, the people, fared in this 25-year democratic journey in the country? Truth be told, not very well. Sadly, too many people who should be involved based on conscience and knowledge are not. Scarily, too many people who, based on character and capacity, should not be anywhere near matters of the commonwealth are right in the middle of our democratic process. I am not one who believes in the generally accepted platitude that wants to get millions and millions of people to vote and participate in politics just because they are citizens of the country. There are other ways to exercise our citizenship. 

If we want to move towards a more perfect democracy, we must realise that it is time to consider what our experience has taught us about voters in the last 25 years, but we refuse to learn based on a received but poorly digested value: universal adult suffrage. I propose we consider voting and participating in politics a duty and a qualified earned right, not a natural right. 

A voter’s card should be treated not as proof and right of citizenship but like a driver’s license that requires demonstrable commitment and capacity. Yes, I know it’s not a popular idea, but let us think about it…

Many complain and moralise about vote buying and selling, but what do you expect? What do you expect in a system where so many voters are in a state of abject poverty and are primarily illiterate? How do you think voters who do not know what the Constitution says and pay no tax will vote? 

President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointment of eight new Federal Permanent Secretaries to fill in existing and impending vacancies of some states and geo-political zones in the top administrative cadre of the Civil Service of the Federation.

The new Federal Permanent Secretaries appointed after a diligent selection process by the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation are:

(1) Dr. Emanso Umobong Okop - Akwa-Ibom 

(2) Obi Emeka Vitalis - Anambra 

(3) Mahmood Fatima Sugra Tabi'a - Bauchi 

(4) Danjuma Mohammed Sanusi - Jigawa 

(5) Olusanya Olubunmi - Ondo 

(6) Dr. Keshinro Maryam Ismaila - Zamfara 

(7) Akujobi Chinyere Ijeoma (South-East)

(8) Isokpunwu Christopher Osaruwanmwen (South-South)

The President anticipates that the new Federal Permanent Secretaries will exercise absolute dedication, diligence, and fidelity to the nation in the discharge of their functions and ensure optimum service delivery to the Nigerian people.

Chief Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

The Debt Management Office (DMO) of Nigeria recently announced that the nation’s total public debt increased significantly to N121.67 trillion (approximately $91.46 billion) as of March 31, 2024.

This figure encompasses the combined domestic and external debts of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), the thirty-six state governments, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

In comparison, the total public debt as of December 31, 2023, stood at N97.34 trillion (approximately $108.23 billion). This represents an increase of N24.33 trillion or 24.99% within a three-month period.

The increase is driven majorly by naira devaluation, as the total debt was reduced in dollar terms by $16.77 billion or 18.34%.

Amid concerns over rising debt service costs, states have been working to decrease their debt stock. In Q1 2024, states’ total domestic debt dropped by 31% from N5.86 trillion in Q4 2023 to N4.07 trillion and by 26% from N5.48 trillion in Q1 2023.

Despite the decrease, some states still have high debt stock. Below is the ranking of the top 10 Nigerian states with the highest domestic debt in Q1 2024:

#10 Bauchi

Bauchi’s domestic debt decreased significantly from N144.54 billion in Q1 2023 to N108.39 billion in Q1 2024, representing a 25.01% decrease. Additionally, there was a decrease from N160.81 billion in Q4 2023, a 32.62% decrease.

#9 Abia

Abia experienced an increase in domestic debt from N99.54 billion in Q1 2023 to N113.71 billion in Q1 2024, reflecting a 14.22% increase. However, from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, there was a decrease of 17.99% from N138.64 billion.

#8 Benue

Benue’s debt reduced from N141.29 billion in Q1 2023 to N116.73 billion in Q1 2024, a 17.38% decrease. Compared to Q4 2023, which had N187.18 billion, there was a decrease of 37.62%.

#7 Akwa Ibom

Akwa Ibom’s domestic debt decreased from N206.64 billion in Q1 2023 to N142.93 billion in Q1 2024, which is a 30.83% decrease. From Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, the debt also decreased from N190.48 billion by 24.96%.

#6 Cross River

Cross River’s debt decreased from N196.27 billion in Q1 2023 to N156.17 billion in Q1 2024, showing a 20.42% decrease. From Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, there was a decrease from N220.20 billion by 29.08%.

#5 Imo

Imo saw a decrease in domestic debt from N202.55 billion in Q1 2023 to N163.06 billion in Q1 2024, which is a 19.53% decrease. The decrease from Q4 2023’s N217.11 was 24.89%.

#4 Ogun

Ogun’s debt decreased from N293.20 billion in Q1 2023 to N221.22 billion in Q1 2024, reflecting a 24.55% decrease. Compared to Q4 2023, which had N278.68 billion, there was a 20.62% decrease.

#3 Rivers

Rivers remained constant at N232.58 billion from Q4 2023 to Q1 2024. However, there was a slight increase from N225.51 billion in Q1 2023 by 3.14%. The DMO in its latest debt report noted that the domestic debt stock figure for Rivers State was as of March 31, 2023.

#2 Delta

Delta’s domestic debt decreased from N421.78 billion in Q1 2023 to N334.90 billion in Q1 2024, a 20.62% decrease. From Q4 2023 to Q1 2024, the debt also decreased from N373.41 billion by 10.31%.

#1 Lagos

Lagos, with the highest domestic debt, saw an increase from N812.38 billion in Q1 2023 to N929.41 billion in Q1 2024, which is a 14.41% increase. However, there was a decrease from Q4 2023’s N1.05 trillion by 11.38%.

[Nairametrics]

Hajiya Halima Adamu, mother of the famous Hausa Singer Dauda Adamu, popularly known as Rarara, has been abducted, Daily Trust can report.

She was abducted at her residence in Kahutu village, Danja local government area of Katsina State, according to a source in Kahutu village.

According to the source, the bandits stormed the village around 1am Friday and abducted the aged woman.

“The bandits came on foot and silently because they did not fire a single shot during the operation that lasted for just a few minutes. The woman did not resist when the bandits requested her to go along with them.”

“Although the bandits met other people at the house, they only picked Rarara’s mother, leaving behind others. No attempt to confront the bandits while leaving the house because they were armed with guns.

“They probably kept their motorcycles from far away and then trekked to the village. We are praying that the woman will return to us in condition because she is very helpful to us in this village. Her son, Rarara is very generous to us; he has brought so many developments to this village for our wellbeing.”

Efforts to reach the famous Hausa singer on phone proved abortive, as his phones rang severally without any response.

Katsina is one of the states with a high level of insecurity in the North West region.

[DailyTrust]

The Nigeria Customs Service, Joint Border Patrol Team Sector 2, said it intercepted 1,410 litres of premium motor spirit worth N30.4m within one week.

The Coordinator of the team, Mohammad Shuaibu, disclosed this while addressing journalists at the Customs Training College in Ikeja on Friday.

He said that the team intercepted these contraband within their area of jurisdiction adding that some were intercepted at the creeks.

Shuaibu added that the team also seized other contraband worth N1.12bn and arrested five suspects in connection with the various seizures.

“In our effort to actualise the mandate of combating smuggling and trans-border crimes, we intercepted some goods for violating various sections of the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023 and the Federal Government’s Import and Export Guidelines, the goods worth, N1.12bn

“They were intercepted across the borders of the six states of the South-West geo-political zone,” he said.

According to him, the arrested suspects are undergoing investigation and prosecution.

“Other items seized include, 4, 051 bags of foreign parboiled rice, 3, 751, Jerry Cans of PMS, 425 cartons of frozen poultry products, 912 pieces of used tyres, 30 sacks of cannabis sativa

“30 units of cars as means of conveyance, seven units of imported (tokunbo) cars, four units of motorcycles among others,” he said.

The coordinator stated that the team also recovered a total of N11.5m as revenue through the issuance of debit notes on vehicles and other goods improperly imported into the country.

However, Shuaibu disclosed that the team intercepted 30 illegal immigrants.

“With the Nigeria Immigration Service as a critical component of the joint border patrol team, we intercepted 30 illegal immigrants suspected to have violated immigration laws and were immediately handed over to the NIS for further investigation and prosecution” Shuaibu disclosed.

He warned smugglers to desist from the crimes adding that they have multiple effects such as, “undermining national security through the movements of illicit goods, such as drugs, weapons, and human trafficking, across the international borders, which impacts negatively on the economy by depleting the nation’s revenue base through evasion of duties and taxes,”

[Punch]

UEFA has dismissed two Spanish referees, Alejandro Hernández Hernández and Jesús Gil Manzano, from officiating at Euro 2024 after receiving complaints about their performance.

Hernández, who served as the VAR official, faced criticism for dismissing Scotland’s penalty claim in their 1-0 loss to Hungary last Sunday. Manzano was under fire for his error during France’s 1-0 victory over Austria.

Alongside the two referees, their assistants, Diego Barbero Sevilla and Ángel Nevado Rodríguez, have also been sent home.

This decision leaves Martínez Munuera, a VAR official, as the only Spanish representative for the remainder of the tournament.

Former La Liga referee Iturralde Gonzalez has called on the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) to improve relations with UEFA following the dismissal of four out of five Spanish officials after the group stage.

“There is an urgent need for a Spanish representative on the refereeing committee,” Gonzalez told Spanish radio network Cadena SER.

In related news, Argentine referee Facundo Tello, who dismissed Scotland’s penalty protests against Hungary, has been named the fourth official for Italy’s last-16 tie against Switzerland on Saturday, despite earlier reports suggesting he had been dropped by UEFA.

Scotland manager Steve Clarke was visibly frustrated after his team was denied a penalty when Stuart Armstrong was brought down inside the box by Willi Orban.
Tello dismissed the claim, and lead VAR Hernández did not advise a review.

Clarke commented, “In a European competition it might have been better to have a European referee. But we had European VAR. Maybe the referee didn’t see the challenge clearly on the pitch, but what’s the purpose of VAR if they’re not going to come in on something like that? It’s a penalty. It’s 100 percent a penalty.”

Austria also expressed their displeasure with Manzano’s officiating in their 1-0 defeat to France, after they were not awarded a corner shortly before Max Wöber’s own goal secured the win for Didier Deschamps’ side.

Vanguard News

Shehu Sani, a former senator who represented Kaduna central, says he saved former President Olusegun Obasanjo from being assaulted by inmates of the Kirikiri Maximum Security prison in 1995.

The former senator spoke during a lecture in Abuja on Thursday.

Obasanjo was Nigeria’s head of state from 1976 to 1979. He returned as civilian president in 1999 and handed over the reins of power in 2007.

Sani was among pro-democracy activists and dissidents who were rounded up and jailed by the military junta led by Sani Abacha, who was president from 1993 to 1998.

Obasanjo was arrested in 1995 for allegedly plotting a coup and was jailed.

‘THEY INSULTED OBASANJO’

Recounting events from the era, Sani said himself, Shehu Musa Yar’Adua and Obasanjo were moved to Kirikiri prison after their arrests.

He said “armed robbers” in prison began “shouting and insulting” the former president when they saw him.

Sani added that he “talked to the inmates to calm down, that no matter their grievances with Obasanjo, he was now an inmate”.

“In 1995, a team of soldiers, policemen and DSS visited my house in Kaduna. It was a journey that began and lasted for four years,” he said.

“I was picked up from Kaduna and brought to Lagos with the late General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua. From the airport, we were led to the DSS headquarters, where we met President Olusegun Obasanjo.

“Unfairly from the soldiers, they handcuffed me but did not do so for Obasanjo or Yar’Adua. Obasanjo looked at me and asked me who I was and if I had stolen something for them to have handcuffed me. I told him I was an activist.

“I was then the deputy chairman of the Campaign for Democracy. We were taken to Kirikiri Maximum Prison. We stayed there without anybody saying anything to us. When we arrived at Kirikiri, we were given a blanket and a plate of food.

“We were then allocated our cells. When the armed robbers there saw Obasanjo, they started shouting and insulting him.

“Naturally, for those of us who were human rights activists, we were popular with inmates. I told him, ‘You are a commander outside, but this is where I command’. I then I talked to the inmates to calm down, that no matter their grievances with Obasanjo, he was now an inmate.

“I got 15 years, Obasanjo got 15 years, Yar’Adua got life imprisonment. Those of us from the north were sent to southern prisons and those from the south were sent to northern prisons. That was how I found myself in Port Harcourt prison.

“I was in Port Harcourt prison when Ken Saro-Wiwa was brought in and hanged. I could see them from the window.”

‘ACTIVISTS MADE A MISTAKE IN 1998’

Sani added that pro-democracy activists of the era made a mistake by not putting themselves forward for political leadership as the military prepared to hand over power to civilians after Abacha’s death.

“Abdulsalami Abubakar, military head of state, invited all of us who fought for democracy, that he was going to hand over power to a democratically elected government and that he wanted all of us — the freedom fighters — to come together and take over power,” he said.

“At that very time, Gani Fawehinmi opposed it. Three times, Abubakar invited us. We even refused to answer his calls. Meanwhile, the politicians who were not invited were knocking on his door.

“After we decided to listen to him, we came and sat down. What do we do? After the struggle, the ANC in South Africa took over political power. But after our struggle, in 1998/1999 we made a fundamental mistake and said we were not going to cooperate with the military.

“Mike Ozekhome was one of those who said we should not join politics. Gani opposed as well, Falana opposed, Olisa Agbakoba… all opposed.

“It was Bola Tinubu who said ‘if we don’t get in, who is going to be there?’ By the time we all agreed to join politics, politicians had taken over all positions.

“Ozekhome tried to be governor of Edo state, he couldn’t; Olisa tried to be president, he couldn’t; Gani tried to be president, he couldn’t; Falana tried to be governor of Ekiti, he couldn’t; I tried to be governor of Kaduna — but the spaces had all been taken over.”

 [TheCable]

Peter Obi, the 2023 Labour Party presidential candidate,  has criticised the federal government’s handling of the health sector and called for immediate reforms to improve access to quality medical care for all Nigerians.

Expressing his views as a guest speaker at the 6th Public Lecture of the Board of Fellows, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, held in Awka, Anambra State on Wednesday, Obi pointed out that Nigeria’s Human Development Index (HDI) ranking remains low, even after 25 years of democratic governance.

He emphasised that health, particularly life expectancy, is a critical measure of development.

“When you want to measure this Human Development Index, the most critical measure number one is Health – life expectancy.

“Life expectancy as we know today in Nigeria is among the lowest in the world. We are about 65 years, compared to India at about 70, Bangladesh at about 72, Egypt at about 71, and the Philippines at about 70,” Obi stated.

Obi outlined several issues plaguing Nigeria’s healthcare system, such as the country’s minimal functioning primary healthcare facilities, alarmingly high infant mortality rates, that the majority of drugs are imported, making them costly and frequently out of reach for many Nigerians, and the impediments to local drug manufacturing caused by government support gaps and regulatory obstacles.

The former Anambra State governor criticised the government’s approach to healthcare, stating, that the government does not understand what they are supposed to do to help our citizens.

Obi also highlighted the economic impact of poor healthcare.

“Many people with many illnesses can no longer be able to afford treatment. Nigerians now spend more than their income on food because everything has tripled.”

Obi further called for a complete overhaul of the system, emphasising the need for committed and compassionate governance.

He suggested several solutions including, investing in critical areas of healthcare, supporting local drug manufacturing, designing affordable insurance schemes and lifting people out of poverty to enable their participation in healthcare programs, among others.

“We must dismantle this criminality called Nigeria today and make it a country where people will know that they are elected to serve the people and they focus on doing the right thing,” Obi added.

Taking to his X page on Wednesday, Obi added, “Access to quality medicines remains vital for all human beings whether sick or well, who seek medical consultation, and it is proven that 90 per cent of all medical consultations end in one form of prescription or another. Therefore, the availability of quality medicines remains the key armoury for the fight for well-being, while pharmacists remain the armourer.

“The reason we lack quality medicines is due to the same socio-economic problem affecting production in the country, where regulatory agencies now function as revenue collectors rather than as enablers and access to financing is not available or at an excessive rate.

“There is hardly any health insurance regime in place to guarantee access to those who cannot afford immediate cash payments.

“Excruciating poverty and severe economic hardship have also kept functional healthcare and quality medicines out of the reach of the poor. The only medicine our people take now is prayer,” he wrote.

[Businessday]

There aren’t many subject-matters as extensively and persistently discussed as federalism. As a matter of fact, ‘in its original form, the federal idea was theopolitical, defining the relationship between God and man as one in which both were linked by covenant in a partnership designed to make them jointly responsible for the world’s welfare’. Properly understood and in the context of contemporary Nigeria, the restructuring we labour to define, is, in the first instance, the constitutional restoration of federalism, exclusive of geophysical alterations. The latter is not generalisable and can only be speculative at this stage. Who will determine the legitimate representation of proposed mergers and recreations? This problem hacks back to the  fundamental problematic of the Nigerian federation. As in the classic instance of the original thirteen states pooling together to foster the American federation, Nigeria was not formed by Nigerians coming together to form a federation. ‘Nigeria presents an almost classic case of the establishment of a state prior to the existence of a real nation’. According to Richard Sklar, the Federation of Nigeria is one of the few federal governments in history to have evolved from colonial unitary foundations. 

As a generic terminology, restructuring means the restructuring/redistribution of power relations between the two tiers of government namely the national and the coordinate subnational units and implies the abrogation of an autonomous third tier of government. These powers fall in three categories namely exclusive, concurrent and residual. The first category is exclusive to the federal government ie foreign affairs, military, currency etc. The concurrent category refers to those powers that can be concurrently undertaken by the national and the subnational governments, i.e. education, agriculture, communications, etc. Those that are not listed in either category constitute the residual powers and revert solely to the sub-national government. Since 1966, with the facility of military dictatorship, most of these powers have been centralised and are reflected as such in the 1979 and 1999 constitutions and landed us with the prevailing quasi unitary constitution.

Haven championed the cause of the constitutional restoration of federalism before he became the President of Nigeria, there is the renewed expectation that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be readily disposed towards giving effect to the realisation of this expectation. There is also the compelling backdrop of the anarchical security breakdown of Nigeria with which extant security architecture has woefully failed to grapple with. Doubts on his commitment to this restoration began to surface in the course of his Presidential campaign when in deference to the realpolitik of winning the status quo bound Northern Muslim constituency, he had to distance himself from the imperative of constitutional reforms.

The more categorical evidence of his latter stance was the recent instruction to his attorney general, Lateef Fagbemi, to seek the enforcement of local government autonomy as the third tier of government at the Supreme court. 

Instructively and ironically, this was a complete departure from the position he took as the Governor of Lagos over twenty years ago. The abiding rumour is that the fastest way to earn the status of a persona non grata at the Presidential villa these days is to find virtue with federalism. Given the associated pomp and pageantry and the near sovereign powers of the President in the extant Nigerian constitution it is difficult for any non sacrificial Nigerian President not to default on the side of preserving the attendant massive perks and perquisites during his incumbency. 

The bad news is that any proposal for restructuring without the active buy-in of the incumbent President is dead on arrival. The proponents of this constitutional reform are also not helping matters with their deficient advocacy. They give the impression that so-called restructuring is less about the redistribution of powers between the first and second tiers of government and more about inter regional boundary demarcation. In the context of the restoration of federalism, as earlier reiterated, what restructuring means is first and foremost, the restructuring of power relations between the first and second tier of government. If a constitutional amendment towards the devolution and decentralisation of powers were to take place today it can only be effected within the extant structure of the national and the thirty six subnational governments. 

As it is widely known, the constitutional procedure of creating regions or states is through referendum not external proclamation or military diktat. The 1963 prototype constitution, for instance, can only be restored in spirit, not in letters. We can not physically recreate the 1963 constitutional structure. Over the years, these powers have been redistributed  in a trend of increasing centralisation and are heavily skewed against the sub-national governments. A reversal of this trend is the goal of restructuring and geographical restructuring cannot be undertaken pari passu. It can only follow with the conduct of a referendum between/ among the states desirous of merger and recreation. 

The tendency ab initio of placing emphasis on geographical restructuring, therefore, amounts to putting the cart before the horse and plays into the hands of those reducing restructuring to a redrawing of the geophysical map of Nigeria. There is a constitutional provision through which this can be accomplished. Assuming the six states comprising the South West geopolitical zone are desirous of merger. The procedure is that a referendum, first, has to be conducted within the zone to ascertain their support for the merger. This must then be ratified by the 2/3rd concurrence of the rest of the country. You cannot slice and dice the country as it was the case under military dictatorship within which syndrome many of us are still mentally steeped. This mentality is understandable given that for the better part of the amalgamation of Nigeria, the country has been answerable to one dictatorship or another. Be it the dictatorship of colonial rule or that of the Nigerian military. 

“We agree with Jide Osuntokun that “whilst the factors of history and geography more than anything else determined the constitutional evolution of Nigeria, these factors did not determine the shape and form of the Federation that the British helped to create in Nigeria”. What then are the factors that determined the shape and form of the Nigerian federation? 

Federalism as Tragedy 

Much of the argument and debate on the “Restructuring of Nigeria” has followed from the confusion, arbitrariness and illogic attendant on the emergence of Nigeria as a country. Other than the concern with the bureaucratic administration of a large expanse of an African territory, a war booty, that accrued to the British from the Berlin conference, the British colonialists had no vision or template whatsoever for the sociopolitical development of Nigeria.  What had happened to Nigeria in the interim is what is largely understood in the Internet age as ‘cut and paste’. Following this irrationality, (the mistake of 1914) discussions on the constitutional development of Nigeria has had little to do with reason or rhythm. I have forgotten the Latin expression but the English translation is that you cannot build something on nothing. Thereby, the originating tragedy of Nigeria is that those who conceived Nigeria and brought Nigeria into being knew that it was an ill conceived child. 

Over the years, the tendency in the debate over the restoration of federalism is the adversarial communication between those in support and those opposed in a situation in which the ayes need the collaboration of the nays to realise the objective. This adversity is integral to the foundational amalgamation of Nigeria where Frederick Lugard adopted one half of the country as its protégé while his relationship with the other half was governed by malice and exploitation 

This was how Lugard described the Southern genetic in the Nigerian baby they had given birth to in a letter to his wife on 9 December, 1916: “These people here are seditious and rotten to the core… the people of Lagos are the lowest, the most seditious and disloyal, the most prompted by pure self-seeking money motives of any people I have met.” Lugard would further characterize Nigeria as a marriage between the “rich wife of substance and means” (the South) and the “poor husband” (the North) would lead to a happy life for both. Subsequently, this fundamental bias was the answer towards which the constitutional development of Nigeria was dedicated

Consistent with this ideology, ‘the final date of independence was fixed not only to accommodate the Northern Region in respect of its own date of self-government in 1959 but also to enable the leaders to agree to certain provisions in the Constitution whereby the Northern Region has been assured of a predominating voice in the Federal Government…Accordingly, the Northern Representatives in the Federal House of Representatives are in a numerical majority (174 out of 313 ). The constitution safeguards adequately this numerical superiority since a constitutional amendment to alter the regional boundaries or to create new states would require the virtual consent of the whole country and in particular the people most intimately affected. In other words, the constitution cannot be changed to the disadvantage of the North without its consent”. The late distinguished international legal scholar and first attorney general of Nigeria, Dr Taslim Olawale Elias made the point on the floor of the Nigerian house of representatives in 1962-“I think I would remind you that the only region, perhaps in practice not in theory, it may be difficult for the house to secure a two thirds majority to deal with is the Northern region”

‘The creation of the Midwest region in 1963, while giving satisfaction to ethnic-minority aspirations in the old Western region, intensified the overall imbalance in the structure of the Federation”. Were the Northern Christian minorities to have been carved out of the Northern region; the Eastern minorities extracted from the Eastern Region and the Yoruba minorities that preponderantly populate Kwara and Kogi restored to the Western region, the cause of parity would have been better served. In the event, the Northern and Eastern regions collaborated to weaken the Western region. “This imbalance played a large role in bringing about the collapse of the First Republic and the imposition of military rule in January 1966” 

Ideally, Nigeria shouldn’t have been a country to begin with but if it must, the irreducible minimum is a robust federalism. It is with particular regards to instances like Nigeria that Federalism is construed as ‘tragedy’. ‘Identifying Federalism as tragedy is intended to make the point that it is a response mechanism to political conflict not an optimal strategy. It is a suboptimal compromise in the effort to defuse real and potential situations of conflict and ensure that such situations degenerate into less attractive possibilities’¹