By Keem Abdul.
A rose by any other name, goes a much quoted Shakespearean line, will smell just as sweet.
Back in the day, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (both as a pro-democracy activist, and as the elected Governor of Lagos State) cultivated a well-earned reputation as a fervent advocate of fiscal federalism, constitutional reform and the restructuring of the Nigerian polity.
Over time, even as most stakeholders – including political actors such as elected office-holders and policymakers – agreed in principle that Nigeria needs a fundamental structural makeover (with some specifically advocating a return to the regional system that prevailed during the ill-fated First Republic of 1960-66), the idea of structuring (or TRUE federalism, as some prefer to call it) has, however, suffered a plethora of challenges ranging from lukewarm appreciation of its supposed benefits in some quarters, to outright hostility in others, depending on whose interest is being served.
The 2014 National Conference, which was convened by then-President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, was seen by its proponents as an attempt to rally nationwide consensus on the causes of Nigeria’s multifarious ills and to proffer lasting remedies with a view to positioning the country on the path to sustainable socio-economic development, political stability and national cohesion. The document that emerged from that assemblage of distinguished Nigerians identified, among other things, the over-centralization of executive power in Abuja to the detriment of the constituent units, and the ‘congestion’ (as some called it) of the Exclusive Legislative List of the Nigerian Constitution (which vests authority over most aspects of the nation’s affairs in the central government), as a major cause of Nigeria’s stunted progress, the contentions among its ethnic nationalities, and the toxic and prebendal nature of its politics. The document recommended the ‘decongestion’ of the aforementioned Exclusive List, the devolution of powers, and, yes, a fundamental restructuring of the Nigerian polity.
A common accusation leveled against political players in Nigeria (and perhaps in other jurisdictions) is that whatever ideals they claim to profess while still in the quest for power, tend to get thrown overboard as soon as that quest is attained. Since the advent of civilian rule in 1999, both the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which governed from then until 2015, and the All Progressives’ Congress (APC), which replaced it as the ruling party in 2015, have faced accusations of betraying their core principles and their stated motivations for seeking power.
Since the advent of his administration in 2023, however, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu seems determined to change that narrative. The actions he has taken so far to steer the country in the direction of true federalism have been instructive and indicative of the fact that he has not abandoned his principled stance on the issue. Late last year, he facilitated the implementation of Local Government Autonomy – to the acclaim of stakeholders, especially at the grassroots. The establishment of the Ministry of Regional Development in October 2024 (as a replacement to the erstwhile Ministry of the Niger Delta) whose original mandate was to oversee the activities of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), the North-West Development Commission (NWDC), the South West Development Commission (SWDC) and the North East Development Commission (NEDC), has now been expanded to include the newly-created North Central Development Commission (NCDC) – thanks to the extant bill that was signed into law a few days ago, and announced by Senate President, Sen. Godswill Akpabio.
Each Commission is mandated to conceptualize, plan and implement projects and programmes for the sustainable development of its region. Each is also required to identify factors inhibiting the development of its region and assist the member-states in that region in the formulation and implementation of policies to ensure a sound and efficient management of the resources of that region.
The President’s action has, understandably, elicited a wave of approval across the country, especially among those at the forefront of the quest for wholistic development at the grassroots, where the majority of the Nigerian populace lives. In a statement of support, for example, the leadership of the APC Forum in the North-Central geopolitical region said: “The President’s action shows that he is a listening leader. He has heard the cries of the North-Central APC Forum, which has long agitated for the creation of a development commission for the North-Central, as has been done for other geopolitical zones – for the sake of equity and justice. Just a few days ago, we raised concerns that the exclusion of the North-Central in the N2.493 trillion allocated to regional development commissions in the proposed 2025 budget amounted to injustice and marginalization… The establishment of the North-Central Development Commission will accelerate development in the region. It will also ensure that the North-Central does not lag behind … in terms of infrastructure and economic growth.”
In recent days, the Tinubu-led Federal Executive Council (FEC) has been fine-tuning the structures of the commissions – beginning with the appointment of persons to the Governing Boards of the North West and the South East Development Commissions.
These actions are indicative of the understanding on the part of the Tinubu Administration that development is a bottom-up (rather than a top-down) proposition, as well as the fact that the creation of regional development commissions is not an end in itself, but a means to an end. All over the world, according to political economists, the tried-and-tested way to promote regional development is to devolve powers to the regions in question through democratic, transparent and accountable regional governments – that is, via a system that affirms and enhances regional autonomy.
President Tinubu’s incremental approach may NOT be exactly what the aforementioned 2014 National Conference Report recommended, but it is a tacit recognition of the principle known in economics as agglomeration, namely, that states that are geographically contiguous are far more viable if they pool their resources together to achieve economies of scale than if each is on its own – and the sooner geopolitical entities across the nation worked more closely with others within their neighbourhood, the more salutary will be the impact of their collaboration on the fortunes of the country as a whole.
Many commentators are cautiously hopeful that, with his typically common-sense (rather than dogmatic) approach to national issues, the President will muster the political will to a) counter the tendencies of the respective development commissions towards corruption and patronage (as has been seen, unfortunately, in the various probes into the NDDC’s activities, in particular, since its inception in 2000); and b) promote a productive and result-oriented synergy between the Development Commissions and the Local Government Councils in their respective jurisdictions, in line with the President’s desire to foster greater autonomy at that level (in an environment where such autonomy is sometimes put in jeopardy, no thanks to the machinations of some state Governors).
We dare say that if President Tinubu, with the support of his team, and especially the cooperation of all Nigerians, is able to actualize on the raison-etre behind the establishment of the various Development Commissions, it would have taken a giant leap towards a Nigeria in which, as already mentioned, development is driven by democratic, transparent and accountable regional governments in a system that affirms and enhances regional autonomy, and the word ‘Federal’ in the country’s official name (the Federal Republic of Nigeria) is not a laughable misnomer, but finally takes on its true and proper meaning.
Restructuring, by any other name, will taste just as palatable to the Nigerian people’s developmental aspirations.
• Keem Abdul, publisher and writer, hails from Lagos. He can be reached via +2348038795377 or Akeemabdul2023@gmail.com
