Tinubu, ruling party and restructuring albatross

There is overwhelming consensus on the importance of restructuring, if the Nigerian State must experience true development. Yet, successive leaders of governments have found it a tough assignment to accomplish. With strong antecedents in the clamour for restructuring and urgency to salvage the State today, the subject-matter of restructuring remains a burning issue that President Bola Tinubu and the ruling party cannot wish away, SEYE OLUMIDE writes.
The clamour for restructuring as a necessity for effective governance in Nigeria is time-tested. Yet, successive occupants of Aso Rock, the seat of power, have not had the will power to see through its implementation. Interestingly, before President Bola Tinubu got elected as the first citizen, he had been an avowed evangelist of the restructuring gospel through the years.
Aside from his individual campaigns, and the years spent in the trenches as a former stalwart of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), vociferously demanding that Nigeria be restructured, he also faced persecution from a sitting President, Olusegun Obasanjo, when, as governor of Lagos State, he attempted to put to practice some of the ideals of the gospel through the creation of Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).
Tinubu’s efforts in the crusade for restructuring is well documented. Perhaps, his name will go down in history as one of the few democrats, who have taken bold steps both in and outside government to implement it. His bold re-arrangement of the political and governing structure of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007 is a reference point.
One of such steps was the creation of additional 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) from the existing 20 local councils, a decision that pitted him against the administration former President Obasanjo, who withheld the council allocations meant for Lagos for years. The matter was argued up to the Supreme Court and the Lagos government won.
The President also created agencies like LASTMA, KAI, the Neighborhood Watch among others just as he re-organised the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of Lagos state. He also encouraged his successors to challenge the Federal Government on the issues of Value Added Tax (VAT), internal waterways and other critical constitutional issues. These moves perhaps portrayed Tinubu as a man who would be able to see through the restructuring of Nigeria’s governing system.
With Tinubu now in the saddle, and with restructuring talks having assumed a ridiculously low tempo, there are growing concerns as to whether the former governor of Lagos State will also play politics with the issue like his predecessors.
While former President Obasanjo just never saw the workability of the idea, former President Goodluck Jonathan, Convener of the 2014 National Conference, chose to stay on the fence rather than make a bold move with implementation of the conference report. On another hand, other leaders merely swept the debate under the carpet, especially the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari, who simply said the reports of the 2014 National Conference are best for the archives.
While it might not be too clear whether the incumbent would also allow the pressure of office to get the better of him in taking a firm stand on restructuring, keen followers of political development have warned Nigerians not to trust President Tinubu just like past presidents.
They hinged their sentiments on the fact that Tinubu once openly condemned the 2014 National Conference organised by Jonathan because of his inordinate quest for power, noting that, “A Leopard will never change his spots.” For them, the incumbent may possibly be willing to do everything necessary to negotiate his re-election with the North come 2027.
The skeptics also wondered why President Tinubu deliberately kept quiet when former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was promoting diversification instead of restructuring during the last administration. Recall that Osinbajo was the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice under Tinubu in Lagos State and they were both in the trenches against former President Obasanjo over the issue of council creation.
It was also argued that the decision of President Tinubu to set up a cabinet filled with technocrats and political Lilliputs, who perhaps may be scared to challenge him or speak the truth to him when necessary, is an indication that whenever the issue of restructuring is out on the table, his unilateral stance will hold sway.
Another argument being pushed by skeptics is the President’s untoward disposition to the creation of the new Southwest security outfit, codenamed Operation Amotekun in 2021.
Amotekun was founded by the Southwest governors to resist the menace of armed Fulani herdsmen, who were terrorising Yoruba land. Lagos did join the five other Southwest governors to launch the security outfit.
However, for those who believe President Tinubu has a good antecedent on the issue of restructuring, there is the counter argument that his disposition towards Jonathan’s 2014 National Conference was a mere political strategy and not that he doesn’t believe in the need to restructure Nigeria at that time or even now.
Commenting on the issues, President, Middle Belt Forum, Births Porgu, noted that, “the six months experiment of President Tinubu has shown that the present system and the Constitution is not sustainable at all for the growth and development of the country.” He observed that despite the good intention of President Tinubu in removing oil subsidy, the lopsided system itself is fighting back and also prevailing.
He disclosed that the Southern and Middle Belt Leadership Forum would start rigorous interactions across the nation as from January 2024 to educate and enlighten Nigerians on why the country must be restructured.
Porgu said it would be suicidal for the incumbent president not to start the process of restructuring Nigeria to true federalism as early as he can.
He also appealed to those who see restructuring as an attempt to balkanise the country, to understand the fact that no one can develop the country under the current lopsided governing arrangement.
He said: “It is not that previous leaders don’t mean well for the nation, but the system is the bane of their good intentions.” He warned the President to avoid political greed like former President Obasanjo, who traded off restructuring for his alleged third-term ambition, which he didn’t get, just as he also cautioned the former governor of Lagos not to be timid like Jonathan, who had all opportunity to implement the 2014 confab report but didn’t out of fear.
In another reaction, spokesman of Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF), Ken Robinson disclosed that the Niger Delta region is fully in support of restructuring and would do everything to back the incumbent president anytime he is ready to do it.
Robinson pleaded with every section of Nigeria, especially the core North, to understand the reason why Nigeria needed to be reorganised and allow the component states to grow at their speed. He assured skeptics that contrary to their fears, restructuring will not disintegrate Nigeria but rather make it more solid and flexible for growth and development.
In a similar vein, apex Igbo socio-cultural organization, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, renewed its call for the restructuring of the country, saying it is key for its survival.
Ohanaeze insisted that solid development and progress will continue to elude the country if it is not restructured to give citizens a sense of belonging.
National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Dr Alex Ogbonnia told The Guardian that restructuring would address current agitations and stimulate the needed competition among the various regions.
He stated: “We made some level of progress when the various regions were conferred with power over their own resources. As at then, regions developed on their own, ensuring that they take advantage of the natural and man-made resources for the benefits of their regions. It was not like today because they are not allowed by the constitution to develop on their own. Everything is now centrally-owned, making states dependent on the federal government for survival.
“That is why Ohanaeze’s position has always supported restructuring of the country. We cannot change from it. For instance, we are talking about the local government system in Nigeria, which is not acceptable to us. Each geopolitical region should manage its local government affairs. So, when you talk about revenue generation, it should go to the regions. The geopolitical zones should have authority over revenue and expenditure profile. When you talk about security architecture of the country, there should be about four or five levels of security outfits – federal, state, local and we think institutions like universities should be able to manage their own security outfits.
“We think that security should be unbundled because the current security management system has failed to contain the level of insecurity in Nigeria. There must be a paradigm shift. That is the kind of thing we are looking at.
“Ohanaeze Ndigbo thinks that appropriate legislative backing should be sought by the presidency to restructure the country, stressing that Nigerians would be better for it should the federal government, pioneer by a southerner, begin the process.”
On whether power rotation or zoning should be part of the restructuring, he said that the idea is already entrenched in the constitution of the political parties and in the governance of Nigeria.
“That is why you talk about federal character to take care of the diverse ethnic groups in Nigeria. No area should be left without representation to enable the area to contribute to development. Through that, you will have cohesion that will bring about the needed progress and unity; not the type we have now where various interests are saying various things and in the process undermining the unity of the land,” Ogbonnia added.
Chairman, Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG), Wale Oshun, also expressed that hope that Tinubu will take the issue of restructuring seriously, else whatever he thinks he wants to achieve could be reversed after he leaves office.
Oshun noted that beyond the fact that a Yoruba man is now the president, the ultimate desire of the Southwest is for Nigeria to restructure to true federalism. “Anything short of this, is nothing to rejoice over.”
Giving assurance that President Tinubu has taken some steps so far that indicates seriousness to restructure Nigeria, Director General, Development Agenda for Western Nigeria commission (DAWN), Seye Oyeleye, said he is sure that the incumbent would not want to miss the great opportunity to restructure the country like some of his predecessors did and are now regretting.
On the other hand, Oyeleye said rather than abandoning the 1999 Constitution, the reports of the various constitutional conferences can be dusted off and used as an amendment to the present Constitution.