- N.Assembly’s attempt to ignore the loud campaign for stronger states is a recipe for failure
In spite of strident calls for structural alignment of the Nigerian political space, the National Assembly spoke last week, loudly rejecting the popular clamour. The Senate, while allowing a few amendments to the 1999 Constitution, saw no justification to bring the country at par with other federations where multiculturalism has found expression in a delicate distribution of power between a central government and the federating units.
As K. C.Wheare, the man generally regarded as the father of contemporary federal theories defined the concept in His famous book; Federal Government, it is regarded as “the method of dividing power so that general and regional governments are each within a sphere co-ordinate and independent”. He further expounded that no tier of government should be so strong as to subsume the others, thus provoking the feelings of marginalisation.
The agitation for equitable distribution of powers preceded the country’s independence in 1960, as protestation by minority groups over fears of domination in an independent Nigeria led, in 1957, to the empanelling of the Willinks Commission. It was felt then, by the departing colonial officials, that features of a federal system, including a fairly rigid written constitution, supremacy of the constitution that contains a Bill of Rights and a bicameral legislature would assuage the feelings of the minority people.
In the 1960 and 1963 constitutions, there were fair guarantees for the powers of the regional governments. Indeed, the regions were almost at par with the Federal Government, as they were largely financially strong and had as much power as to legislate on almost all items, including the setting up of diplomatic channels in major metropolitan cities of the world. The Western Region, for example, had an Agent-General in the United Kingdom. The region also had its own Court of Appeal.
It was expected that the on-going review of the constitution would avail the country an opportunity to make a fundamental statement on restoration of the federal principle. But, this has been thrown away by the Senate that has rather opted for cosmetic tinkering with the system, by ratifying independent candidacy, reducing the age for qualification to contest for political posts and strengthening of the local governments through direct allocation of revenue from the federal purse.
The legislators appear not to understand that a federal system is hinged on a two-tier structure. The review by both Houses of the National Assembly appears to have overlooked the imperative to devolve powers to the states as federating units and thus empower them to control resources generated at that level, while a fraction is paid into the federal coffers to cater for foreign affairs, defence and similar unifying responsibilities.
As things stand, Nigeria is a laughing stock in the comity of nations as it is only federal in name. The Federal Government can legislate on any matter, and on the few matters over which the states have the power to legislate, they share concurrent power with the centre and, in case of conflict in the laws made at both levels, the federal legislation prevails. The states’ legislative capacities are therefore more theoretical than real. The insurgency and separatist moves are extreme reactions to an unfair and unjustifiable governance system. Unless this is addressed, the future of the country remains bleak.
While we agree with the state governors that they should not be called Chief Executives and Chief Security Officers merely by name, we wish to point out that the structural incongruities run deeper than they are treating it. Every state deserves to have its own civil security outfit that would conform to its culture, with the policemen recruited from the local environment.
We call on the state governors not to limit their agitation to this. Unless there is a wholesale restructure of the polity, by which the state police fits into a new system that devolves more power to the federating units, state police may be a farce as many of the states might not even be in a position to fund the new outfit.
