As the National Assembly begins another process of review of the 1999 Constitution, Senators have been divided sharply over renewed calls for a return to the regional system of government.
Recall that there have been calls in some parts of the country that since regionalism had been tested and discovered to be a system of government that can tackle the challenges of a heterogeneous nation like Nigeria, it should be reintroduced to solve the country’s numerous challenges.
Speaking separately on Saturday to Journalists as the Senate Adhoc Committee on Constitution Review ended its two-day retreat in Kano, some Senators spoke in favour of regionalism as a panacea to the problems in the country while others vehemently kicked against it.
While the Senate leader, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele, APC, Ekiti Central; Senator Abdul Ningi, PDP, Bauchi Central, and and Senator Muntari Dandutse, APC, Katsina South kicked against return to Regionalism, Senator Abdulfatai Buhari, APC, Oyo North was fully in support.
The Senators spoke at the event, jointly organised by the Senate Committee on Constitution Review in collaboration with the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC).
Speaking on the issue, the Senate leader cautioned that no legislative action should be encouraged on the issue of regionalism so that it does not become an exercise in futility, just as he said that if it must come up, the political stakeholders, the civil society, as well as other stakeholders in the country, would have to debate on it and come to a conclusion.
According to him, going back to regional form of governance is something that will go beyond a bill being sponsored, either as a parliament member bill or as an executive bill adding that it is also not something that you sit down in a public hearing room and organize a public hearing to take a decision on.
He said that the question of whether or not to go back to Regionalism for now, can only remain within what he termed, “the realm of debate”.
Senator Bamidele said, “There are some decisions in the state of which an executive bill cannot come to the parliament unless there are some political consensus. For me, going back to regional form of governance is something that will go beyond a bill being sponsored, either as a parliament member 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 tell us, oh, you know, you are in parliament. As a parliament, you cannot discard the entire constitution. Nigeria needs a new constitution.
This constitution cannot work. It’s easy for people to make such arguments, but that is not something we can sit down in parliament and do. So we are changing the constitution because that would require a political consensus, and that would also require the binding of the Nigerian people themselves.
”I mean, why is it so difficult to amend even one section of the constitution, not even talk of discarding the entire constitution? So, to amend a single provision in the constitution today, the National Assembly, all chambers, will have to go through this entire process we are going through, which we go through in every legislative assembly, and many of you have been a part of this process. And after all these things that we have to do in the National Assembly, we still have to go to the public to organize a public hearing. We just decided now that we are going to be organizing a public hearing on geopolitical, zonal levels, you know? And apart from that, what we are also doing with all of these public hearings at the zonal level, we come back here to vote.
“And after voting, we still have to go through, I mean, all the 36 chambers of the Assembly, and we need at least two-thirds of them to endorse. The reason our forefathers and the writers of our constitution, you know, did all of that, is to make it difficult, not difficult, not easy, for a few people to just sit down, or people in one section of the country, you know, to just sit down and change the constitution. So if we are to go through all of that, you know, to change one provision of our constitution, how much more? You know, if we are talking about changing, I mean, the type of governance that we are going to have.
“Some decisions were taken, you know, under the military regime, because there was no democratic process in place. And when you are in a democracy, especially a democracy that remains so nascent, you know, almost 64 years after independence, you see that the need for political consensus cannot be overemphasized. So, for me, the question of whether or not to go back to Regionalism for now, can only remain within the realm of debate, you know, and no legislative action should be encouraged in that regard so that it doesn’t become an exercise in futility.
But, you know, the political stakeholders, the civil society, as well as other stakeholders, in the country, would have to still debate this and come to a conclusion.
Also kicking against regionalism, Senator Ningi said, “I have heard so much about regional government or federalism and I have heard people going about, canvassing for such ideas. For a start, no matter how you see it, the current document is still the grundnorm of the Nigerian Constitution (sic). 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 he is representative of one ethnic group or another.
“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 and in whose mandate and when was this mandate given to them.
“As for the regional government, we have seen how the regional government was operated in the past. My part of the constituency 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 go along, my senatorial district will be satisfied independently with Nigeria, if that is what is required.
“As far as regional government, my constituency, my people aren’t for it. What we need is the reform of the Federal government, fiscal federalism and there is nothing like true federalism.
“I have visited India, Argentina, Singapore, and the United States, all in trying to understand federalism. Federalism is done according to the history of each particular country. But what is important about our federalism is serious reforms but the bottom line is not what you see on paper that is important. It is the practitioners and the implementers, otherwise, the Constitution has been able to sustain us over 25 years. That means that there is something germane and important about it. What it needs is that at every given time you look at it in particular, the devolution of power is so much more important, from the State to the local government level. There is no clear distinction of power between the state and the local government but there is distinctive separation of power between the Federation and the sub-nationals.”
Also kicking against regionalism, Senator Dandutse said, “As responsible elites and citizens, we must collaborate to ensure the nation’s well-being. Narrow thinking will not get us anywhere. Every region in this country is blessed, and what we need is good governance, responsible leadership, and fair access to resources. Nigeria has immense potential, and unless we are serious and determined, we won’t move forward.
“This is our moment to advance. We’ve seen how many countries have failed due to limited thinking and negative attitudes, especially in Africa and other developing regions. If you look at countries like Japan, they have developed without significant natural resources, relying instead on intellectual capacity. Germany too, despite lacking the resources Nigeria possesses, has progressed.”
Supporting the return to regionalism, Senator 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 a particular resource(s). In those years, the North was known for the pyramid of groundnuts, and the south west was known for cocoa, we should be able to do that and then when you make the centre less attractive you cut off corruption– you can’t wipe it off, but you can cut it off, because there is what is called, watch your team. People will watch their team within their locality or their region.”
Recall that Nigeria practised a more regional form of government between 1954 and 1966, in the Western, Eastern, and Northern regions. The Mid-Western region was later carved out of the Western region in 1963.
The model lasted until 1966, but when rebellious soldiers killed national political figures based mostly on tribal and regional affiliations. After this, Nigeria’s first military Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi, promulgated the “unification decree” to eliminate tribal and regional loyalties, the interests perceived to be encouraged by regionalism.
This led to the Biafra War – when the southern part of Nigeria dominated by the Igbo people declared independence. A violent conflict from 1967–1970 led to millions of deaths before the separatist movement was suppressed.
Vanguard
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