Even in a true federation where there are minorities with the unique attributes like culture, language, religion, etc, the minorities are accorded autonomy so as to maintain their identities— Kurds in Iraq, Chechen in Russian, and Quebec in Canada –and to preserve the federations. Acknowledgment of the pronounced differences among richly diverse citizenry of a nation informs the wisdom of true federalism. Since Nigeria is a profound omni-gatherum, federalism becomes a sine qua non. Failure of India to adopt federalism after independence caused the disintegration of India into three nations (India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan) along religious line.
In the Southwest, the Yorubas would like their traditional religions be on equal footing with the exogenous and foisted Christianity and Islam. In addition to the Nigerian Constitution, each state can formulate its constitution as it was done in the First Republic and is done in the USA, etc. Pluralizing security along the three tier of government would offer effective and efficient policing. In the USA, the center has its security agencies, ditto the states and the counties (local governments) without resulting into threat of dissolution.
The relationship between dishearteningly poor standard of governance and disintegration of Nigeria is not only causal, linear and beeline but also dangerously short. The sole viable intervening variable to keep us together is restructuring along true federalism. Nothing more, nothing less! Restructuring now and fast can head off the ominous disintegration, not conceding presidency to any region to muzzle the agitation for succession. The decibel of agitation for succession is so frighteningly deafening and malignant that only a rapid restructuring can occlude the minatory burst into pieces.
If importunate action in form of true restructuring is not taken, Buhari may be our last president. With the suffocating aliments pulverizing Nigeria and its citizenry spawning misgovernace and dystopia, our country may implode into several and disparate countries. This time, reliance on threatening and actual violence (agumentum ad culum) to mend the fault-lines may be nugatory and too late.
Any constitution that omits the involvement of the popular or foremost sovereignty (substructure) is on borrowed time. The popular sovereignty provides individuals for drafting committees, ratifies the drafted constitution, and ultimately votes for their representatives, and in some countries like USA, the popular sovereignty is entrusted with recallability authority to rescind or recall errant representatives as mechanism for accountability and propriety.
Ditto, the popular sovereignty has recallability power over judiciary in some climes like the USA. They can vote out any corrupt or indolent judge during electioneering period or referendum. In a null shell, we have four-tier of government: Center, state/provincial, local, and the people (the electorate). The major reason for socialization of the public for attitudinal change is paramount and endless: well-informed electorate is the life-blood of functioning democracy.
Suffice to conclude that failure to restructure now may lure the military into taking over, or the country errupting into fragments. Any intervention by the military cannot retard the inevitability of the impending burst because of ethno-religious or geo-regional or political coloration of the military usurpers, just like bribery to concede presidency to a region for divide and conquer purposes. Regardless of the motivation behind the procrastination of restructuring of Nigeria—ethno-religious or geo-regional or personal or class interest—the stacking, stinking, and hopelessness of the unbearable status quo makes restructuring urgently imperative or risks dismemberment. Without more, our desideratum is restructuring in fact for development in effect, or de facto burst!
Concluded.
Olatunji is of UniWorld Legal Services, Lagos.
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