By Polycarp Onwubiko
I am very sad. Why? Because the amiable Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the "Jagaban" of Lagos and the "Lion King of Bouillon," was once a NADECO chieftain, energetically challenging the military to restore power to civilians.
In addition, he advocated for immediate restructuring of the dysfunctional Federation to restore True Federalism before contemplating being a Senator.
Now, courtesy of
"Emilokan," the Federalists in Nigeria heaved a huge sigh of relief,
expecting that within a few weeks or months, Tinubu would kickstart the
immediate restructuring of the lopsided Federation with a decentralized
security architecture. This approach is seen as the effective and efficient
security arrangement to combat the terrorists masquerading as herdsmen imported
from the Sahel region of West Africa to a standstill.
How sadly disappointed we, the
"Federalists," have become upon reflecting on how he went about the
strident agitation for the restructuring of the dysfunctional polity. The aim
was to reinvent True fiscal federalism through rambunctious, rampageous,
boisterous, irrepressible, exuberant, uproarious, riotous posturing! The
central question is: when did the flame of restructuring for true fiscal
federalism in "Jagaban" die?
Thanks to the Guardian
editorial Board for unrelentingly writing in favor of the restructuring of the
dysfunctional Unitary-Federal contraption. They urged President Tinubu to
remember his robust posturing on the critical issue that concerns the survival
of this quirky country.
Tinubu, apparently confused,
cannot be taken seriously as a committed patriot striving to birth a Nigeria
where all ethnic nationalities will have a PEOPLE'S CONSTITUTION similar to the
1960 Independence Constitution, later renamed the 1963 REPUBLICAN CONSTITUTION.
This constitution should embody realistic principles of a federal system of government
as practiced worldwide.
The incontestable fact staring
Tinubu in the face is that ethnic nationalities must have a NEGOTIATED FEDERAL
CONSTITUTION to replace the current warped, skewed, and lopsided national
structure, which MUST be reconfigured to "give hope and a sense of belonging
to all Nigerians," according to the editorial of a newspaper. Nigeria has
to be rescued from "the pedestal of Unitary governance to a genuine
federal structure, addressing the contradictions of the Nigerian
Federation."
Polycarp Onwubiko, Public
Policy Analyst
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