By Clifford Ndujihe
TOMORROW is the 63rd anniversary of Nigeria’s independence but there is little or nothing to celebrate, some eminent Nigerians have said.
Tearfully, Dr Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, a former frontline democracy and human rights activist, said, “we have not done well at all. This is terrible,” when asked his thoughts on Nigeria at 63. He disclosed that he started the struggle to ensure democracy and good governance at the age of 29 but regretted that at 70, the Nigeria he fought to change is better than Nigeria of today.
Also in his 70s, Chief Chekwas Okorie, founder of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, who disclosed that he was seven years when Nigeria gained independence in 1960, lamented that the dreams of Nigerians have been aborted by bad leaders, who he said, have unleashed “irreversible retrogression” on the country.
To former political adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo, Chief Akin Osuntokun, the time is ticking for the world’s largest black nation and decisive actions are needed to halt the nation’s speedy slide into the abyss.
At the beginning
Nigeria started on a very promising note in 1960 when the Union Jack was lowered and our Green-White-Green flag was hoisted.
Founded on a tripod, she had three strong regions, which competed healthily in terms of socio-economic development and emancipation of their citizens. The regions were Northern, Eastern and Western. The Northern region covered all parts of today’s 19 northern states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The Eastern region had all the five states of the South-East geo-political zone- Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo, and four South-South states -Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Rivers and Bayelsa. The Western region covered six states of the South-West zone, parts of Lagos, Edo and Delta states.
In 1963, by plebiscite, a fourth region – Mid-West (covering today’s Edo and Delta states) was carved out of the Western region. Then, the nascent Nigerian nation was the envy of the world as the regions, rooted in fiscal federalism, tried to outdo one another in terms of the provision of world-class infrastructure and facilities
Tertiary institutions such as the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (1960); the University of Ibadan (established as a college of the University of London in 1948 but became full-fledged in 1962), Ahmadu Bello University (1962), and Obafemi Awolowo University (1962) among others attracted students from all over the world and were easily among the best in the globe then.
Today, these universities are still among the very best in Nigeria but their world ratings have gone down drastically. In the 60s, the University College Hospital, Ibadan, was a haven of medical tourism for foreign heads of government including the King of Saudi Arabia.
Now, 63 years down the line, the four regions have morphed into six geo-political zones, 36 states, a federal capital territory and 774 local councils. Fiscal federalism that drove the development and shape of relations between the regions (federating units) and the centre has been replaced with unitary federalism where the centre wields humongous powers and corners 52 per cent of revenue allocation.
Hitherto, the regions controlled their resources, contributing 50 per cent to the distributable pool at the centre, from which they also got a share. Distortion of the independence template, some observers argue, is one of the reasons the country is currently wriggling in a mire of ethno-religious, socio-political and economic cesspool.
Differences among political leaders created the major fissures that arrested the country’s development. The problem started less than six years into Nigeria’s self-rule and birthed the aborted coup of January 1967 and revenge coup of July 1967. The coups precipitated the 1967-1970 Nigeria-Biafra civil war that claimed no fewer than an estimated three million lives on both sides.
The Igbo-dominated Biafran side was the former Eastern Region,and parts of Delta.
At the end of the war, the military government of General Yakubu Gowon unveiled a 3Rs policy of Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Reconciliation to rebuild the nation and reconcile aggrieved Nigerians.
More than 53 years after the 3Rs policy, Nigerians are still divided with some observers claiming that the 3Rs policy has become Repression, Retrogression and Rejection. The polity is awash with agitations and counter-agitations for restructuring, devolution of powers to the federating units, return to full-blown fiscal federalism as was observed in the First Republic (1960-1966), resource control, state police and self-determination by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, and Ilano Omo Odua/Yoruba One Voice, YOV among others. There is also religious fundamentalism in some parts of the North.
These agitations have been further fuelled by raging ethno-religious crises, insecurity, banditry, kidnapping, and herdsmen/farmers clashes among others in many parts of the country.
We’re 63 but acting like 3-year old — Agbakoba
Asked his thoughts on Nigeria at 63, where we went wrong and how to make amends, Dr Agbakoba said: “We have not done well at all. This is terrible. We are 63 but acting like a three-year old baby. Nigeria is politically and economically broken. Our leaders have let us down.
“We are a potential great country. We have a huge human and natural resources that if put together we can be among the first 10 countries in the world.
“Now, can our leaders change things for the better? That is why people are waiting for the decision of the Supreme Court. A lot of people don’t know President Bola Tinubu, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, and Mr. Peter Obi. All they want is who will put food on their table. Can whoever emerges at the Supreme Court among Tinubu, Atiku and Obi take Nigeria out of the woods? We want to hear positive news.
“When I look at everything, I strive to have hope but I am not a happy man. I started the struggle to enthrone democracy and good governance in Nigeria at 29. Now, I am 70. When I started the struggle Nigeria of then is better than Nigeria of today. I bought my first car, a Volkswagen Beetle with N400. We need to rebuild and recreate a Nigeria of our dream.”
Attributing Nigeria’s problems to the misunderstanding of the political framework we started with in 1960, Agbakoba said our leaders made many mistakes and “there was no clear vision or plan as things moved round and round.”
He continued: “We are faced with the consequences of those mistakes. We need a political class that understands that there are huge challenges and move headlong to address them. At 63, we can turn things around but we need committed leaders.”
Irreversible retrogression
On his part, Chief Chekwas Okorie said: “Nigeria’s 63 years of independence is checkered. I was already seven years old at independence. The celebration was palpable and widespread.
As a pupil in a primary school, we were assured of a glorious future. Civics, a social science subject dealing with the rights and duties of citizens, was part of our primary education curricula during our time. We were nurtured with a high sense of responsibility and patriotism.
“At the turn of 1963, barely three years after independence, Nigeria had become a Federal Republic made up of four regions, namely, the Northern region, Western region, Midwestern region, and Eastern region.
Healthy competition
“The regions enjoyed substantial levels of autonomy. There was healthy competition among the regions. Development was rapid. At the level of the Federation, revenue allocation was based on the formula of 50 per cent by derivation.
“The eastern region became the fastest growing Third-world economy based on the Guinness world records. The other regions also recorded impressive developmental strides in education and human capital resources.
“With the benefit of hindsight, the leadership Nigerians had at that time was the best ever. My generation still refers to that era as the good old days. Nigeria held great promise.
Shattered promise, irreversible retrogression
“The military coups of 1966, which toppled the Federal Government led by Alhaji Tafawa Balewa as Prime Minister and Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, as President, shattered the great promise Nigeria held and plunged the country into what has become an irreversible retrogression in all conceivable respects.
The erstwhile fast developing Northern Region, which is now made up of 19 States, has the unenviable tag of the poverty capital of the world.
Worst event
“The worst thing that hit Nigeria hard is the imposition of the 1999 Constitution on the people without their consent. A national referendum on the document would have resolved the vexed issue of its acceptability or rejection. Nigeria lost its essence as a Federation since the military incursion in the governance of the country. The 1999 constitution was mischievously designed to either retrogress or stagnate development with the overwhelming majority of the citizens holding the short end of the stick.
Way out
“Many well-meaning Nigerians look up to President Tinubu to initiate without delay the process of restructuring Nigeria. The President’s efforts to heal the nation and close the gaping divisions must be sustained to restore a sense of equal citizenship to Nigerians.
“Similarly, the National Assembly must prioritize the review of the electoral laws. They must make full electronic voting system a mandatory provision in our electoral laws.
“I urge President Tinubu to use every presidential dispensation available to him as President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces to introduce State Police/Community Police to tackle squarely insecurity from the grassroots.
The present arrangement of deploying Police personnel to areas they are resented and suspected of being an occupation army makes intelligence gathering and policing ineffective and unproductive.
“The President may start by directing the Inspector General of Police to carry out the immediate redeployment of police personnel from the position of Divisional Police Officers downwards to their respective States of Local governments of origin. This should be treated as a matter of national emergency. This singular measure will douse the tension of insecurity in the country to the lowest ebb.”
Clock ticking away for Nigeria — Akin Osuntokun
To Osuntokun, “the only utility of independence anniversary remembrance is to serve as a reminder that the clock is ticking away for Nigeria.
The problem is that the prevailing political circumstances, especially the legitimacy controversies, bedeviling the Tinubu presidency, is drawing attention away from confronting the root cause of our problems, which is constitutional.
Whether it is called restructuring or the restoration of true federalism, Nigeria urgently needs to find a way of taming the monster of over centralisation and consequent runaway powers invested in the Kabiyesi presidency. Nothing bears Lord Acton’s dictum that power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely, than the presidency of Nigeria.
“There is too much destabilising desperation in acquiring it and holding onto it. More than any factor, it is the direct source of Nigeria’s political instability.It is nearly totally consumed in the dysfunction of zero sum, winner takes all politics.”
Source: Vanguard