Jonathan Nwokpor
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Senators from Nigeria’s southern and northern regions have voiced varying opinions about the push to bring back a regional form of government.
They voiced their thoughts on the fringes of a two-day retreat on the 1999 Constitution changes, which was arranged by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC) in Kano and the Senate Committee on Constitution Review.
Senators from southern Nigeria viewed the proposal as a positive step that would boost the country’s infrastructure, combat insecurity, and boost the economy, despite the strong opposition of their northern counterparts.
Opeyemi Bamidele, the Senate Leader, reassured Nigerians that the regionalism problem was not included in the current constitutional review.
According to Abdul Ningi, a ranking senator from the Bauchi Central Senatorial District, his people would never accept the concept because they did not benefit in any way from the system’s implementation during the First Republic, which is now in disuse.
Ningi said, “I have heard so much about regional government or federalism, and I have heard people canvassing for such ideas.
“For a start, no matter how you see it, the current document (1999 Constitution) is still the grundnorm. It has also stipulated how it is going to be amended.
“Having said that, it is also imperative to know that it isn’t just enough for anybody to come and say they are the representative of one ethnic group or another at the National Assembly.
“The question that arises is: when was this mandate canvassed? When was it received? You are a representative of a particular ethnic group in Nigeria, at what time were you given the mandate to canvass that?
“The only people that are given this mandate to look at the Constitution and amend it are, of course, members of the National Assembly.
“Therefore, it is important for those who go about selling these ideas, false ideas in my opinion, that they are representatives of the people, to let Nigerians know where they are coming from, on whose mandate, and when was this mandate given to them.
“We have seen how the regional government was operated in the past. My part of the country that I am representing didn’t enjoy the development of that so-called regional government that was based in Kaduna.
“We aren’t going back there again! I am speaking for my senatorial district. It is either the Nigerian Federation or nothing. We can’t go along; my senatorial district will be satisfied independently with Nigeria, if that is what is required.
“As far as regional government is concerned, my constituency, my people aren’t for it. What we need is reform of the current Federal Government structure and fiscal federalism because there is nothing like true federalism.”
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, Senator Sani Musa, advised Nigerians against mistaking the establishment of zonal development commissions for regionalism.
He said the various geopolitical zonal development commissions were strictly for the social and economic development of their areas.
He said, “It is wrong for anybody to think that the development commissions being established for the six geopolitical zones are a plan towards regionalism. It is not.
“Those who are advocating for it should come up with bills through their representatives in the National Assembly and test the popularity of their proposal.”
In a similar vein, former Senate Leader Ali Ndume claimed that since many African nations had abandoned the concept of true federalism, it was out of style.
He promoted the establishment of powerful institutions to improve government and reduce crime and instability.
“When the government puts these in place, there won’t be clamour for true federalism because there will be justice, equity, and fairness in all regions of the country.”
Regional government proponents were not shared by Senator Muntari Dandutse, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Tertiary Institutions and TetFund, who represents the Katsina South Senatorial District.
According to him, the main goal of the current retreat is to fix the flaws and irregularities that have been found in the country’s constitution over time.
He said, “We should not have myopic thinking about ourselves. There is no section of this country that is not blessed.
“What is important is that we should have good governance and credible and responsible access to the resources that we have because Nigeria is blessed.
“We have all the comparative advantages that will move this country forward unless, of course, we are serious and determined.”
However, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, representing Oyo North Senatorial District, disagreed with those condemning the regional system of government.
Buhari said, “Recall that the regions were able to harness their resources in the First Republic.
“We were able to harness all our resources. There was no dominance of particular resources.
“In those years, the North was known for the groundnut pyramids, the South West for cocoa. We should be able to do that.
“When you make the center less attractive, you cut off corruption. You can’t wipe it off, but you can cut it down, because there is what is called ‘watch your team.’ People will watch their team within their locality or within their region.”
When asked if the South West area had a plan for the current constitution revision, Buhari replied that it will be given when it was time.
He said, “We don’t want to disclose that agenda yet, but we have agreed among ourselves that the person who will present it is the Chairman of the South West Forum when the time comes. It would be very unfair for me now as a member to start discussing that.”
The Senate Leader did stress, though, that a constitutional amendment could not address the regionalism issue.
He said, “There are some decisions in the state where an executive bill cannot come to the parliament unless there is some political consensus.
“For me, going back to a regional form of governance is something that will go beyond a bill being sponsored, either as a member’s bill or as an executive bill.
“It’s also not something that you sit down in a public hearing room and organize a public hearing to take a decision on.
“An example is when people say, ‘Oh, you are in parliament. As a parliament, you cannot discard the entire constitution. Nigeria needs a new constitution because this one cannot work.’
“It’s easy for people to make such arguments, but that is not something we can sit down in parliament and do.
“We aren’t changing the constitution because that would require political consensus, and it would also require the buy-in of the Nigerian people themselves.
“Why is it so difficult to amend even one section of the constitution, let alone discard the entire constitution?
“To amend a single provision in the constitution today, the National Assembly and all chambers have to go through this entire process, which we go through in every legislative assembly, and many of you have been a part of this process.”
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