By Pastor Yemi Olayinka
I hope this letter meets you well. In recent time, I have been bothered about the situation of our dear country and I have a firm belief, the trust and confidence, while I don’t have any doubt in my mind, that you mean well for Nigeria, and I have an assurance in my spirit that you will surely succeed.
The current fume and body language from the North is scary, very worrisome. They can’t wait for your exit to serve the South a breakfast.
In Nigeria, this is the very first time, a Southerner would assume power solely without being a preferred candidate of the Northern power structure. Asiwaju was independent in his quest to rule and not to be a puppet in the hands of the Northern power bloc.
The reform in different sectors is a big problem for them to comprehend. For some of them, putting a round peg in a round hole is unimaginable. For the Northern power bloc, all that matter is “get power and stay on to power.”
My dear President, you have the rare privilege to write your name in Gold by giving us true federalism. Beyond the economic reforms, from subsidy removal, in which the administration ended the very long standing costly fuel subsidy that gulped an average of about N2 trillion every month, to Foreign Exchange Market Unification in which the naira was floated that help in stabilizing the currency on a long term, to the current infrastructural development in all the geopolitical zones, one of the legacy projects ongoing is the Lagos–Calabar Coastal Highway and the Sokoto–Badagry Highway to boost the road connectivity, to mention but a few.
Your government has also done well in the area of social welfare and capital development. The Nigerian Education Loan Scheme that assists students in tertiary institutions with interest-free loans that broadens access to education. So also is the new minimum wage of N70,000 per month that was signed into law.
Mr. President, I believe true federalism is required now; with this, you can write your name in gold and also save the people of Southern extraction from imminent torture after your tenure.
Forget about the “Omo ologo tune.” There is a big challenge ahead, the fragility and the resultant effect is immeasurable.
True federalism is the principle of the constitutional division of power between a national government, the state government and the local government.
Each of these units has its own autonomy backed up by the Constitution, to balance national unity. There are clear divisions of responsibilities which is distinct among the federal, state and local governments.
We have not seen the effect and result of the pronouncement of the Supreme Court on the issue of local government autonomy. Has it been swept under the carpet like every other…?
It is no longer news that the structure of Nigeria at independence was lopsided. The then Northern Region was created deliberately to be bigger than the two other Regions combined; the Northern Region accounted for about 55 per cent of the country’s population.
The resultant effect of this is that the North would constantly dominate the central government, because the voting pattern in Nigeria is usually toward the ethnic and religious divides.
At the same time, the House of Representatives, at inception, had 312 members and 174 seats were allocated to the Northern Region which clearly was above half of the available seats.
The British deliberately favored the North in the political arrangement so as to continue with their divide and rule tendencies. Such configuration was against the principle of true federalism.
This lopsidedness in structure was open and known to some of the leaders then. Before 1960, minority groups within the Southern Region had agitated for the creation of more autonomous Regions. The likes of Chief Obafemi Awolowo made a case for the creation of new Regions from the existing ones since 1940s.
Also, people from the Mid-West, Calabar-Ogoja and the Tiv made strong presentation for new Regions.
The vigorous agitation by the minorities led to the formation of the Minorities Commission headed by Sir Henry Willinck. The 1957 Constitutional Conference in London witnessed this agitation and the commission agreed that the agitations were genuine and that the best way to allay the fears of the minorities was to create more regions.
If the colonial government had gone with the recommendation and created more independent autonomous regions, the flaws in Nigeria’s structure would have been corrected.
Their refusal, based on a very flimsy excuse that it would affect the set date for independence, led us to the current problem.
Had the colonial masters made the corrections as recommended, these major flaws would have been corrected.
Since Nigeria’s Independence in 1960, the greatest challenge politically has been the lopsidedness of this structure. After 60 years of independence, one would have expected that our leaders would allow reason to prevail and do the needful, correct the abnormalities and move the country forward. The Bible says in Psalm 11:3, “IF THE FOUNDATION ARE DESTROYED, WHAT CAN THE RIGHTEOUS DO?” Our foundation is faulty and requires urgent attention.
Mr. President, there’s an urgent need for restructuring; the current structure does not consider our diverse status. We cannot continue in this self-denial. We need to redefine our dear country, and get things right.
The current structure is no longer sustainable. I hereby admonish you to do whatever you can within your constitutional power to rescue Nigeria.
The time is not on your side, sir. The time is now. You have confronted demons in time past and overcame. Now give us a true FEDERAL STRUCTURE.
I know you are bold. I know you are courageous. I know you are sincere with the Nigerian Project.
Posterity will not forget you.
Thank you.
*Olayinka, PhD. (08033001165), writes from 13, Ereguru Street, Ado-Ekiti.
