Still On Constitution Review

For decades now, a near-frequent cause for avoidable political bickering in Nigeria has been the choice and tenure of executive power holders like the President, the vice, State Governors and their deputies. Even local government councils are not spared. The argument has always been between choice of leaders by merit or zoning, which some argue would help accommodate minority’s fears of integration.

This issue, has time and again created suspicion within  the ethnic, political and cultural divides and also created inter-ethnic strife among the people. The constitution should, therefore, identify and endeavour to heal such ethno-political rivalry between the North-South divide or among the various geo-political zones, and come up with ways of how a more mutual co-existence can be fashioned and sustained.

If zoning is preferable, the constitution should identify the constitutional participants: be they the States or the geo-political zones, as suggested by some elders who favour a return to the religionalism of the past. What are the implications, if the latter is preferred? Should the six geo-political zones now function as a second tire of government and the States, third?

Would that not amount to quasi confederalism and a partial return to the defunct regional governments that gave birth to States? What then will be the essence of States as basis of the union? On the other hand, if States must be used as basis for such rotation, how long should a given State wait before producing a President?

These, we think should be some of the issues the media ought to focus greater attention on, and not the endless clamour for more States and local government areas, in spite of their exaggerated advantages. What the people want is a constitution that eliminates near-frequent encumberances to peaceful co-existence, development and true sense of integration.

The amendments to the 1999 constitution therefore, should seek, first and foremost, to re-affirm true federalism as a mode of government and remove all obstacles to its true practice by abrogating the land use act, empowering States to control their resources and determine which development units to create, by way of local government areas.

Knowing the challenge the country was having with the running of the Local Government system, we think that the constitution needs to take another look at the listing of names of States and Local Government Areas in the country, especially, since the ceding of the Bakassi peninsula has already made nonsense of that section of the constitution.  Also, we agree with some experts that the stipulation of Local Government Areas in the constitution limits the country and tends to perpetuate the in-excusable disparity in the spread of local governments across the country, especially because of their use as a basis for sharing of national resources.

Instead, if  in the process there appears to be a greater need to ensure parity of States among the geo-political zones as against what they are today, without executive or parliamentary responsibilities, but simply for political exigencies, then such number of States could be created to ensure equality of zones, mainly, for purposes of zoning political offices, while States be left to determine the number of local government areas they require. That too, must depend on such States’ resources and not to be depended entirely on hand-outs from the centre.

Unless these facts of federalism are internalised and embodied in the constitution, the process would simply be seen as yet another avenue to waste scarce public funds.

     This is  why we expect the Nigerian media, like other professional groups to play roles that will properly direct this national discourse. The media will have no excuse in not being able to properly articulate the ideas and actually advocate for the production of a peoples’ constitution that is capable of placing Nigeria among the flourishing democracies of the world.

Most importantly, being a document that would claim to be a product of the people, it would be against the spirit of the process if the National Assembly would forbid the people from addressing particular issues, especially if such issues could only be resolved by referendum.

Furthermore, the National Assembly needs to be cautious in handling of some issues that are capable of destroying the review process itself as was the case in previous attempts. Thorny issues like State Police, Immunity Clause, Death Penalty for Corrupt Officials, Tenure of Heads of Government and indeed Local Government Autonomy that have polarised the polity already, need to be handled with tact.

However, as rational beings anything that the lawmakers find that had worked against the best interest of the people for this long should be changed without any sentiment.

These are the expectations of many Nigerians, far and above the now over-exaggerated media hype in favour of States Creation. A structurally defective federation can not possibly nuture economically viable and socially responsible States and Local Government Areas.

Only true Federalism that empowers States to hit their full economic potentials through competitive resource development, management and control can achieve such tall development order.