Introduction
Fellow citizens of Nigeria, Happy Independence Day to you
all.
At crucial moments such as this, I have, by the grace of
God, stood on this platform to bring timely admonitions to
our beloved nation. I stand here once again at this defining
period in the evolution of our nationhood to bring the mind
of God to a nation in the valley of decision. I stand here
today as a patriotic citizen of Nigeria, as an ardent believer
in her great future, and as an unrepentant optimist in the
God-given potential of the Nigerian people to surmount the
present challenges and build a great nation.
Let me begin this address with gratitude to God for the
recovery and return of our dear President Muhammadu
Buhari. As I have done privately, I once again congratulate
Mr. President on this pleasant climax to a trying period in
his personal life and that of the nation. Together with all
well-meaning Nigerians, I pray for a continuous supply of
health, vitality and wisdom as he resumes his duties. Let
me also use this opportunity to commend the vice president,
Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who, as Acting President, courageously
held the fort and steered the ship of state with grace and
skill on behalf of his principal.
Furthermore, I congratulate the nation on the victory of
constitutionalism over conspiracies. The correspondence
between the president and the National Assembly in line
with section 145 of the constitution each time the president
left to attend to his health indicates some progress in our
democratic experience, compared with almost eight years
ago when a cabal hijacked power in circumstances
bordering on the health of a sitting president. In this regard,
credit must be given to President Muhammadu Buhari for
his compliance with due process, and to the leadership of
the National Assembly, including the Senate President,
Senator Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, for making the
most of the constitution despite its flaws. This evident
growth is a shimmer of hope at a very sensitive period in
which the destiny of the nation is at stake.
The State of the Nation and the Quest for Leadership
Undoubtedly, Mr. President has returned to a nation hanging
in a precarious balance. Indeed, our nation is enmeshed in a
prolonged war against the retrogressive effects of a structure
that was created by the fear of the past, has become
institutionalized by the fear of the present, and is being
perpetuated by the fear of the unknown. These fears have
morphed into a horde of agitations which, in an address
upon his return in August, Mr. President charged aggrieved
persons to channel to the National Assembly and the
Council of State.
However, due to the reputation that members of the
hallowed chambers have created in the minds of Nigerians,
many have expressed doubts as to the ability and
willingness of the National Assembly to midwife the
structural, institutional and constitutional solutions
demanded by Nigeria’s historical and present
circumstances. As a result, Nigerians from all walks of life
are questioning Mr. President’s recommendations as to
proper channels for agitations, even though the National
Assembly and by extension the State Houses of Assembly
are the only available constitutional avenues for making
peaceful change possible and violent change inconceivable.
We can only keep hope alive by reminding ourselves that
the National Assembly has, in the past, risen to the
occasion and intervened at crucial moments such as this.
From the decisive death blow dealt the third term agenda of
the then president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, by the 5
National Assembly, to the doctrine of necessity invoked by
the 6 National Assembly, the 8 National Assembly has
sufficient precedents on how to act in the best interest of
Nigeria. We believe that the distinguished and honourable
lawmakers will rise to the occasion and work closely with
the president to pilot Nigeria into stable and prosperous
nationhood.
Having laid the foundation of the need for legislative
responsibility, I must state that, as far as championing the
far-reaching structural, institutional and constitutional
changes necessary to salvage the soul of our nation is
concerned, the words on the desk of the 33 president of
the United States, Harry Truman: “THE BUCK STOPS HERE!”,
are relevant to President Buhari whose legacy is at stake.
Mr. President, the buck stops at your desk and, as always,
my earnest prayer is that you find the courage and political
will to do what is right at this momentous period in the
history of our nation.
Against this backdrop, we shall now examine the latest
buzzword in Nigeria’s political lexicon with a view to
distinguishing the noise from the voice, separating the
wheat from the chaff, and presenting practical steps towards
building a strong and stable nation.
The Clamour for Restructuring
Some years ago, the word “restructuring” was the exclusive
lingo of pro-democracy groups like the National Democratic
Coalition (NADECO), the Pro-National Conference
Organisation (PRONACO), and The Patriots. The leading
individual voices in this call emerged mainly from the
southern part of the country, including the likes of Chief
Rotimi Williams, Chief Gani Fawehinmi and Chief Anthony
Enahoro, all of blessed memory. Others included the likes of
Prof. Ben Nwabueze, Prof. Wole Soyinka and Chief Emeka
Anyaoku. However, in more recent times, leaders from the
northern part of the country have increasingly lent their
voices to this call. From former vice president, Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar, who has aired this opinion since around 2012 [1] ,
to a former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa,
and, most surprisingly, former Head of State, General
Ibrahim Babanginda, the call for restructuring appears to be
reaching a tipping point.
Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that the restructuring of the
polity is implied in the manifesto of the All Progressives
Congress (APC), the government has, for a long time, been
silent on the matter and has, very often, drawn the attention
of Nigerians back to the tripodal policy agenda of President
Buhari, namely, anti-corruption, security, and job creation
through diversification. However, after much evasion, the
APC, two months ago, eventually constituted a ten-member
committee headed by Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the current
Governor of Kaduna State, to address the increased
agitations for restructuring.
As we await the submission of that committee, I
acknowledge that some opponents to the call for
restructuring, including serving officials, have ascribed
ulterior selfish motives to those calling for it. Whether or not
this is the case, not only must we not allow the counterfeit
overshadow the genuine, we must also not allow the voice
of cynicism drown the voice of reason. Thus, the words of
David, the shepherd boy, when he was confronted by his
brothers as he was about to take on Goliath, should be the
response of every genuine advocate of restructuring to the
criticisms. David said, and I quote: “Is there not a cause?” (I
Samuel 17: 29; NKJV)
Moreover, the hue and cry over President Buhari’s address
to the nation on August 21, 2017 suggests Mr. President is
perceived by some stakeholders as opposed to restructuring
[2] . But, from my interactions with the president in the past
seven years as an advocate of a properly structured polity, I
am convinced that this is not the case. Not only does the
president want agitations managed through appropriate
constitutional channels, he also wants a clarification of
demands in concise terms, as well as propositions on
practical pathways towards achieving those demands. That
is the essence of this address and I believe that Mr.
President’s expectations are valid.
However, before I proceed to elucidate on the practicalities
of restructuring, permit me at this juncture to cast our minds
back to our consistent calls for the restructuring of the
polity, long before the current bandwagon effect.
Our Calls for Restructuring
In 2010, the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) presented a
“Contract to Save and Transform Nigeria” to President
Goodluck Jonathan which, among other demands, made a
case for devolution of powers, called for a review of the
revenue formula, and advocated the convocation of a
national conference towards the creation of a draft
constitution that would be adopted through a referendum.
Following the inaction of the government, we subsequently
convened a Dialogue of the Nobles attended by Donald
Duke, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,
Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, and Fola Adeola,
among others. As part of a series of dialogues, in a bid to
seek the best of the North and the best of the South as an
alternative to the then incumbent administration, we also
engaged the major candidates ahead of the 2011 elections
in search of commitment to the restructuring of the nation,
among other desirables.
General Muhammadu Buhari stood out among the available
contenders and, on October 10, 2010, we expressed our
conviction that he was best suited to lead. On January 15,
2011, I was invited by General Buhari to be his running
mate and I initially declined because I had engaged the
polity not with the intention to contest elections but to
midwife genuine national rebirth. My eventual acceptance
was contingent on the mutual understanding that the
restructuring of Nigeria would be top on the agenda. This
was reflected prominently in the manifesto of the Congress
for Progressive Change (CPC) in which we promised the
initiation of “action to amend our Constitution with a view to
devolving powers, duties and responsibilities to states and
local governments in order to entrench Federalism and the
Federal spirit[3] ”. This provision subsequently made its way
into the APC manifesto.
In 2014, we took our demands for restructuring to the
National Conference, where a case was made for a
unicameral parliamentary system of government to reduce
the cost of governance, and for a federal structure
comprised of a strong central government with six
geopolitical zones as federating units. In addition, we
sponsored a Nigerian Charter for National Reconciliation and
Integration as the basis of our union as a nation, as against
Decree 24 of 1999 by which the current constitution was
promulgated.
Following heated debates, in the spirit of trustful give and
take, the conference adopted a modified presidential system
that would harness the separation of powers inherent in the
presidential system, while guaranteeing the needed
cooperation between both arms of government as intended
in the parliamentary system of government. We
recommended the selection of the Vice President from the
legislature and advocated the institutionalization of the
principle of zoning in the Electoral Act. Furthermore, the
Nigerian Charter for National Reconciliation and Integration
was unanimously adopted. This address will use the
propositions at the National Conference as a springboard
but will necessarily include bolder and more far-reaching
recommendations given the current state of the nation.
On January 4, 2015, in a message titled “The Gathering
Storm and Avoidable Shipwreck – How to Avoid
Catastrophic Euroclydon,” I sounded a note of warning at
the height of the electioneering campaign. I charged the
nation not to place the cart of elections before the horse of
restructuring, proposing “true federalism under Zonal
Commissions as well as fiscal federalism…” [4]
Rather than pay heed to the warnings, many of our
politicians kept on with their “business as usual” attitude
that brought the nation very close to the brink of disaster.
Fortunately, by divine intervention through the efforts of
distinguished Nigerians, the international community, and
through a demonstration of statesmanship unprecedented in
Nigeria’s history, we scaled through the 2015 elections by a
hair’s breadth. Mindful of our narrow escape and the
festering socio-political and economic challenges, soon after
the inauguration of this administration in 2015, we
submitted to Mr. President an extensive document that
called for a Presidential Commission for National
Reconciliation, Reintegration and Restructuring comprised of
eminent Nigerians, and guided by the Nigerian Charter for
National Reconciliation and Integration which was adopted
by the 2014 National Conference.
Our submission anticipated the need to reconcile
contentious interest groups, foster the integration of the
diverse sectional groups into true nationhood, and facilitate
the evolution of an acceptable functional governmental
structure for Nigeria. We proposed that the new structure
would be contained in a new constitutional framework
which would come into effect by way of an executive bill to
be submitted to the National Assembly by Mr. President and
decided upon by the Nigerian people through a referendum.
All our efforts have been inspired by our belief that, as a
nation, we are better off together and should find acceptable
ways to stay together. We are driven by an urgent
responsibility to find, within the constitution, pathways to a
more perfect union. Having laid this background we shall
proceed to further simplify the seemingly complicated but,
indeed, simple concept of restructuring.
Understanding Restructuring:
The Basis
Restructuring simply means to change the way an entity is
organized or arranged. In the corporate context, restructuring
is a management term “for the act of reorganizing the legal,
ownership, operational, or other structures of a company for
the purpose of making it more profitable, or better organized
for its present needs” [5] . In the context of a nation,
restructuring requires redefining the relationship between the
people and the government, including taking another look at
the structures and systems of governance as encapsulated
in the constitution. The diverse positions on the restructuring
debate are being championed by at least ten categories of
advocates, give or take a few overlaps, namely:
The Conservatives
. The Economic Structure Reformists
. The Non-Structural Constitutional Reformists
. The Political System Reformists
. The Devolutionists
. The State Creation Advocates
. The Resource Control Activists
. The Regional Federalists
. The Regional Confederalists
. The Secessionists
We shall now examine these positions and then proceed to
present our prescription on the way forward for Nigeria.
Category #1 : The Conservatives
The Conservatives are generally satisfied with the systems
and structures of governance, current challenges
notwithstanding. They generally hold the view that
attitudinal adjustments, not necessarily systemic or
structural changes, are required. This position is held by the
likes of former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo [6] , and
Kano State Governor, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje [7] , who believe
Nigerians need a “restructuring of the mind.”
Category #2 : The Economic Structure Reformists
The economic structure reformists frown at the focus on
politics and emphasize the need to restructure the systems
and structures of economic governance, in order to diversify
from an oil-based economy, reduce the size and
bureaucracy of government, and loosen government’s grip
on the economy through the privatization of key sectors
while the government simply plays a facilitatory role.
Proponents include policy and economic experts like my
friend and sister, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, who has said: “We
need economic governance as the basis for any political
grouping the country may need [8] ”, or, in the words of
James Carville, chief strategist for the Bill Clinton campaign
in 1992: “It’s the economy, stupid.”
Category #3 : The Non-Structural Constitutional Reformists
These are those demanding amendments in certain aspects
of the constitution that have no direct bearing on the
structure of governance. They include young people
advocating a reduction of the age qualifications into certain
political offices through movements such as Not Too Young
To Run; they include advocates for such affirmative action
that reserves a percentage of political offices for women;
they include those advocating the removal of the Land Use
Act from the constitution, as well as those advocating the
separation of the office of the Attorney General of the
Federation from that of the Minister of Justice, and so on.
Category #4 : The Political System Reformists
Political System Reformists make a case for such
constitutional changes that include a unicameral, rather
than a bicameral, legislature to reduce the size of
government. Others prescribe part-time legislature while
some make a strong case for the parliamentary system of
government or, as the 2014 National Conference resolved, a
modified parliamentary system.
Category #5 : The Devolutionists
These are multi-state federalists making a case for ceding
more powers to the federating units even if such units are
the current 36 states. Many of the current advocates of
restructuring, including former vice president, Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar, belong to this school of thought. The
devolutionists envisage a constitution with a leaner
exclusive legislative list, a more robust concurrent list, and a
workable residual list. Also on the agenda of the
devolutionists is the review of the revenue sharing formula
in favour of the states and local governments.
Category #6 : The State Creation Advocates
At the last National Conference, 18 demands for state
creation were approved, taking the possible number of
states in the nation to 54. Some advocates are regionalists
deploying multi-state strategies in the quest for equitable
allocation of resources to the respective regions from the
centre, including the leaders of the South-East calling for
one more state so each region would have six states apiece
except the North-West, which has seven. The Middle Belt
states seeking regional autonomy from the North-Central
also fall into this category. They recognize that, given the
current revenue allocation system, the more states a region
has, the more allocation goes to that region or geopolitical
zone. Other advocates of state creation are motivated by the
need to give geographical expression to ethnic identities.
Category #7 : The Resource Control Activists
This is a more radical group that swings between devolution
and secession. They include the Niger Delta activists and
militants demanding outright resource control, which is the
exclusive right to regulate the exploitation of resources in a
geographical area. Their clamour simply reminds us that we
need a more pragmatic resource distribution and
management system.
Category #8 : The Regional Federalists
The Regional Federalists argue not only that the current
system falls short of true federalism, as the devolutionists
point out, but also that the vast majority of the current 36
states are not viable. Recent reports indicate that Lagos
State, where the commercial activities of Nigeria are
concentrated, generates more internal revenue than 32
states combined [9] . This school of thought therefore makes
a case for the integration of states along geopolitical zonal
lines to create economies of scale. A number of options
have been thrown up as to possible number of zones but
the six geopolitical zonal formula featuring the North-West,
North-Central, North-East, South-West, South-South and
South-East, has been the most advocated. Proponents
envisage a strong central government catering for matters
like defence, foreign affairs and monetary management, with
six strong zonal federating units having concurrent
legislative powers in such matters as policing, mineral
resource management, electricity generation, and
transportation. Groups such as Afenifere are inclined in this
direction, taking a cue from the 1963 Constitution.
Category #9 : The Regional Confederalists
These also advocate a regional or geopolitical zonal
arrangement. However, advocates of confederacy prefer a
weak central government and strong regional governments
with each region having its own army and as such able to
defend itself in cooperation with other regions.
Category #10 : The Secessionists
These are those calling for Biafra Republic, Oduduwa
Republic, Arewa Republic, Ijaw Republic, Ogoni Republic and
so on. This is because sectional identities have survived
independence and are still reflected in our social interactions
and intensified by perceptions of marginalization. Decades
after the civil war, we are yet to forge true nationhood and
Nigerians still tend to think of themselves as Yorubas, Igbos,
Hausas, Fulanis, Kanuris, Tivs, Idomas, Nupes, Ijaws, Edos,
Urhobos, and so on, within the Nigerian state.
Some of the ongoing calls for restructuring are motivated by
the aim of finding geographical expressions for these
sociocultural identities. Although we can compel statehood
by show of force, we cannot force true nationhood into
existence. Relationship cannot be legislated; it can only be
cultivated. Nationhood can be built only through good and
equitable governance.
Therefore, those asking for the opportunity to negotiate their
existence within the Nigerian state based on their ethnic or
cultural identities have a right so to do, as captured in
international legal instruments such as the International
Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to which
Nigeria is a signatory.
However, these negotiations must be handled with decorum
and all the sensitivity required so that the Rehoboams in the
polity do not play into the hands of the Jeroboams and
push the nation from bad to worse as it happened to Israel
of old (I Kings 12:1-24 & 14:1-11, 14).
As for those calling for secession, they should bear in mind
the fact that, before the creation of the Nigerian state, there
was no Yoruba nation, there was no Igbo nation, there was
no Hausa nation, neither was there an Ijaw nation. We must
not be misled by nostalgia for a spurious harmonious past
or the myth of homogenous ethnic groups that is far
removed from reality. The area around the Niger was
marked with unrest, continuous intergroup conflict,
subjugation, enslavement and oppression of the weaker by
the stronger until Nigeria provided the possibility for peaceful
coexistence. For this, we must appreciate the Nigerian state,
we must celebrate our Nigerian-ness and we must gravitate
towards strengthening our nationhood rather than cursing
our blessing.
Be that as it may, there is no doubt that the current
structure cannot hold the greatness that awaits the nation
but could hinder it. The demand, however, should not be for
secession. The question should be: How best do we
organize ourselves for equitable, peaceful and productive
coexistence? This takes me to our position on the pathway
to a stable and prosperous Nigeria.
Pathway to a New Nigeria
Each of the schools of thought on restructuring reminds one
of the story of blind men who visited a zoo to “see” an
elephant. One grabbed its trunk and concluded the elephant
was like a snake. Another touched its ear and concluded the
elephant was a fan. A third touched one of its legs and
concluded the enormous animal must have been a pillar.
Rather than resolve that they were all wrong, we believe
there is a measure of wisdom in the various perspectives
and that, like a jigsaw puzzle, the bits must be put together
to achieve a desired objective.
For those who care to know where I stand in all this, I am
an advocate of progressive and pragmatic restructuring;
progressive because ours is a long-term approach, and
pragmatic because the interests of every segment of the
country are taken into consideration. It is to this end that we
reiterate, and even expand the scope of, our call for the
creation of a Presidential Commission for National
Reconciliation, Reintegration and Restructuring by the
president through an executive order, in full consultation
with the Council of State and the National Assembly.
The Presidential Commission should be given the mandate
and the powers to facilitate, within ten years, the evolution
of a functional and acceptable geopolitical structure subject
to constitutional provisions while the 1999 Constitution is
progressively amended. This Commission shall undertake a
geoeconomic and geosocial path to geopolitical
restructuring by creating geoeconomic frameworks, mending
geosocial faultlines, and attaining a geopolitical climax.
Creating Geoeconomic Frameworks
The Nigerian economy is clearly regional in structure with
comparative advantages defined by climate, geology,
biogeography, population and culture. It is why, in the era of
the regions, even though agriculture and mineral production
were the mainstays of the economy, there were areas of
specialization.
The six geopolitical zones not only roughly reflect six
sociocultural zones but also mirror six geoeconomic zones
that can be deliberately cultivated over a period of about ten
years within which political structures can be designed. The
ten-year window is meant to cater for the concerns of parts
of the country where the notion of restructuring is opposed
due to perceived economic disadvantages. Within the ten-
year period, the six zones would have been aided to develop
areas of comparative advantage. Therefore, in the interest of
sustainable economic development over the next ten years,
we propose the following seven-point agenda:
The federal government will progressively devolve powers to
the existing 36 states, which will themselves progressively
evolve into a zonal arrangement. To facilitate this, we
propose the creation of 6 zonal commissions to be headed
by zonal commissioners appointed from each zone, to work
with the 36 state governors to facilitate integration. The
zonal commissioners will be charged with a mandate to
map out the economic potential of each zone, design or
update, as the case may be, a zonal economic master plan,
and coordinate federal and state efforts towards
transitioning into zonal economies within ten years, thereby
harnessing the comparative resources of each zone to
achieve globally competitive economies of scale and scope;
. Instituting a social bond to fund the transition to zonal
economies, thereby attracting local and international
investments to the possibilities of vibrant zonal economic
clusters;
. Within the financing framework, instituting a 5-part
Transitional Zonal Economic Fund focused on key sectors
with unique expressions in each of the six geopolitical
zones, including extractive minerals, agriculture,
industrialization, creative and cultural development, and
human capacity development;
A progressive increase in percentage of funds from mineral
extraction accruing to the state from which it originates such
that, by the tenth year, either by derivation or by partial
resource control, subject to constitutional provisions, 50% of
revenue will be returned to or retained in the zone of origin
as it was at independence and in the First Republic;
. Consequently, a progressive shrinking of the distributable
pool account over ten years based on recommendations by
the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission
in line with the restructuring thrust;
. Aside the Transitional Zonal Economic Fund, the creation of
a special Internally Generated Revenue Grant aimed at
rewarding the efforts of the states in each zone at
generating internal revenue as against compensating non-
viable states for economic laziness. This grant will be in the
form of counterpart funding;
. The national infrastructural development thrust will thus be
managed by the federal government in conjunction with the
Zonal Commissions and the state governments towards
ensuring seamless linkage.
Mending Geosocial Faultlines
--------------, ------------------
While the economic component of the restructuring agenda
is being implemented, the geosocial component, which calls
for a resolution of the inter-zonal and intra-zonal aspects of
the Nigeria Question, should be immediately activated. This
will entail harnessing the collective strengths of statesmen
and nation builders across the nation to reconcile historical
and current grievances and to reintegrate the diverse
components of our nation into united nationhood. The
details of this component are beyond th e scope of this
address but are contained in the framework for a
Presidential Commission for National Reconciliation,
Reintegration and Restructuring.
Attaining a Geopolitical Climax
The climax of the work of the Presidential Commission will
be to codify the geoeconomic and geosocial outcomes and
facilitate their evolution into vibrant geopolitical zones as
federating units, each with rich sociocultural expressions
and viable, world class economic clusters, all knit together
by a strong federal government. The geopolitical zones will
have the power to organize the constituent states and local
governments as districts and counties based on the models
created by the geoeconomic and geosocial aspects of the
process. By the tenth year, the codified outcomes will be
presented to the president who, in conjunction with the
National Assembly, will have, within the ten-year period,
championed the necessary constitutional amendments for
progressive development of good governance, including
allowing for a referendum in which the Nigerian people will
eventually adopt the framework as a new constitution for a
New Nigeria.
Sustainability
The proposed ten-year transitional window is expected to
kick in from 2018 to 2028. I understand that this translates
to the administrations of at least two, or at most four,
presidents spanning three election cycles. Therefore, if the
policy is flagged off by the current administration, there is
the clear danger of policy discontinuity unless the process is
institutionalized. However, the 1976 Abuja Master Plan
offers an example of collaboration and continuity spanning
fifteen years and five administrations.
In the early 1970s, the Nigerian government began to mull
the idea of relocating the federal capital from Lagos. It felt
that the capital had become congested in terms of
population and available land. It sought a new capital that
would be sited in the centre of the country, thus providing a
surer guarantee of security and ensuring a more balanced
representation of the country’s ethnic and religious diversity.
To this end, in 1976, the government of General Murtala
Muhammed identified a site for the proposed new capital
and established the Federal Capital Development Authority
(FCDA) to mastermind the process. Policy execution of this
restructuring spanned the administrations of General
Olusegun Obasanjo, President Shehu Shagari, General
Muhammadu Buhari and, eventually, General Ibrahim
Babangida under whose watch the relocation phase
commenced in 1991.
The fact that such policy consistency occurred during
Nigeria’s unstable political history, characterized by
successive military takeovers and a truncated democracy,
shows that the right dose of political will can sustain a
policy when the need is universally appreciated. Therefore,
the following points should be noted in the quest for
sustainability.
We expect that the project will be flagged off under the
administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in the
period leading to the next governmental fiscal year;
. Alongside the kickoff of the project, the President may send
to the National Assembly a Bill for the Establishment of the
Commission for National Reconciliation, Reintegration and
Restructuring, however so named, to provide
institutionalization, continuity and legislative guarantee for
the objectives of the restructuring agenda;
. To further safeguard its operations and objectives, we
charge Nigerians to hold as a standard for electoral decision
making the commitment of aspirants and candidates
towards the ten-year framework for a restructured Nigeria;
. Finally, we expect subsequent holders of public office at all
levels of government to demonstrate the desired political
will, drawing lessons not only from the Abuja story but also
from more recent policy transitional success stories,
including the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information
System (IPPIS), the Government Integrated Financial
Management Information System (GIFMIS), and the Treasury
Single Account (TSA) which were enacted by the preceding
administration but are being implemented by the current
government.
Conclusion
Recently, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, was
reported [10] as stating that the Nigerian economy has
struggled so far because it is not structured to meet
demographic needs. She therefore cited, as regards respites,
the government’s policies aimed at diversification from an
oil-based economy. However, I am confident that the
success of its diversification programme is dependent on
the ability of the government to embrace the zonal
geodemographic nature of the economy as we have spelt
out in this proposal. This entails a revisiting of existing
plans and policies including the Medium Term Expenditure
Framework (MTEF) and the Economic Recovery and Growth
Plan (ERGP).
I believe that as we adopt these proposals and take these
steps towards building a new nation, we will see
breathtaking economic miracles. With the world transiting
from crude oil, the northern zonal economies will become
hubs of sustainable energy harnessing solar power and
biomass while deploying solid minerals like lithium in the
emerging electric automobile industry. Meanwhile, the
southern zones will harness the huge gas reserves while
optimizing the vast coastal waters for wind turbines.
The president, the National Assembly, the Judiciary, the
state governments, the State Houses of Assembly, the
Council of State, political parties, the private sector, and the
generality of Nigerians all have a critical role to play in
initiating, implementing, sustaining and defending the
process and its outcomes. We must think, not as
sectionalists but as nationalists; not as skeptics who only
see obstacles, but as optimists, who see opportunities; not
as politicians, mindful only of the next election, but as
statesmen mindful of the next generation.
By the grace of the Living God, who calls those things that
be not as though they are, and according to the proportion
of my faith in Him who cannot lie, I call forth today, the 1
of October, 2017, the New North and the New South to come
together to the table of brotherhood and negotiate the
destiny of a New Nigeria with mutual respect and trustful
give and take void of mutual suspicion.
Finally, I urge all Nigerians, with unassailable courage,
unalloyed patriotism and unrelenting faith in the destiny of
our nation, to arise and seize this opportunity to build a
great nation, with the confident assurance that “there is no
army powerful enough to stop an idea whose time has
come.” (Victor Hugo). For, in the words of President
Theodore Roosevelt, “The government is us; we are the
government, you and I.”
Thank you, God bless you, and God bless our country,
Nigeria.
Pastor ‘Tunde Bakare
Serving Overseer, The Latter Rain Assembly;
Convener, Save Nigeria Group (SNG)
photos source google.com
Happy indepence @psalmmuel ☺
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Nice write up bro@psammuel
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