Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State and Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State clamour for restructuring of Nigeria in a peaceful way before it is too late

|  By Anayo Ezugwu  |  May 15, 2017 @ 01:00 GMT  |

IT was a gathering to honour retired Lt. General Alani Akinrinade at the launching of his book, “My Dialogue with Nigeria” but it turned out to be a political gathering where demands for restructuring Nigeria was paramount.

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State set the tone for the political demand which was echoed earlier when Ray Ekpu, chief executive officer of MayFive Nigeria Limited, publishers of the book, spoke. Akeredolu stressed the need to restructure peacefully, adding that this best time set for restructuring of Nigeria was now.

The governor said a number of governors in the country are of the opinion that the country needs to be restructured urgently.  “To every Nigerian there is need to have this country restructured, there is need for us to sit down and talk. All these calls for sovereign national conference session and the likes, is all about restructuring this country. We must sit down to agree on a proper way that will allow for the development of this country.

“This is what everybody is clamouring for and we are one and we will not stop being one. This is Nigeria, it remains Nigeria but from the way things are being done, there is need to change our attitude; change a lot of things and that is why we are clamouring for restructuring. At this age if anyone tells us that a federal police is the best for Nigeria the person is not being fair to Nigerians. We cannot have one man controlling police from Abuja. These are the issues, but we will remain one Nigeria.”

Similarly, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State said it was impossible for him to accept anything apart from restructuring of Nigeria. He said Nigeria is the only federation on earth where the police system is unitary, noting there is no other country in the world where the internal security arrangement is directed from the center.

The governor said, “I believe as we are calling for total overhaul of our federal system. Let us start by making some demands that will restructure the Nigerian police as the first step. It is not only about state police, even the structure of the police can be improved even as it is. Why must the commissioner of police in a state report only to the inspector general of police, IG? After all we have zonal police commands. What is the duty of the zonal police commands when the command in a state is not in any way connected to it. Let us federate the police system even within this unitary structure. I’m not saying that is the best but let us even start from there. Let it be possible for the zonal commands to have a say in how the police system works.

“I want to go into the most critical disorder in our federation and blaming an individual will not solve it. We are all collectively affected. The Guardian Newspaper on April 24, did a beautiful editorial comment on the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, NEITI, report and I what to believe that in occasions like this we must always draw attention to burning issues. NEITI reported that N360 billion, $21.8 billion by 2017 exchange rate, that is about N7 trillion, is missing from the account of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to the federation account. And Nigerians are taking this for granted.

“If we are actually interested in our development and progress we must not fail to act on this anomaly in our account for, and managing federal resources. To me restructuring is important but productivity, accountability and transparency are quite important and we must not fail to draw attention to such things in gathering like this,” he said.

According to him, “We are in an interesting time as a people and as a nation. We are in an interesting time and at moments like this all those who genuinely believe that life is nothing, but your impact in whatever position you find yourself in must not fail to add their own. Nigeria cannot and must not fail, if not only for the interest of Nigerians, but for the fact that we are the only nation that can make the black man anywhere in the world proud. Of course, South Africa is important economically but they don’t have the capacity of Nigerians to liberate the black man.”

On his part, Ekpu, said restructuring is an idea whose time has come.  He said when states buy equipment for federal government hospitals, when they pay for accreditation of courses in federal universities, those actions represent an unspoken call for restructuring. “Now look at this: several states are setting up local policing infrastructure by different names – Hisbah or Sharia police in Kano, environment police in Cross River and local vigilante groups in Lagos and several other states.

“The states tell us that these state police forces will work with the federal police for whom all the states now buy equipment and offer allowances. Why are we deceiving ourselves? Why are we burying our heads in the sand like the ostrich while the rest of our body is exposed? Why are we running away from state police when we already have it? Haven’t you ever seen a signboard in any of the states that says: This is a federal road but we are fixing it? Please bear with us. That is a cynical, condemnatory view of our unitarist federalism and its absolute unworkability,” he said.

According to Ekpu, “last week, we were informed that President Muhammadu Buhari has approved 13 percent derivation for all states on solid minerals. That is a bold step but he must go further. Solid minerals exist in all the 774 local governments and those local communities must be accommodated in the sharing formula if we are to avoid the kind of disruption that we have had in the Niger Delta.”