An age long apophtegme had it that "You can fool some of the people some of the time but not all the people all the time" applies on all fours with contraption in the name of Federal Constitution which is really a "Federal-Unitary contraption referred to as the 1999 Constitution supposedly under Amendments ostensibly to pander to the inanities, preferences, venality and choices on how to pilot the corporate affairs of Nigeria on the tapestry of the proverbial "Russian Roulette" ; or better called "on the Stony Golgotha or a "Banana Republic ".
Nigeria before it secured
Political Sovereignty from the British colonial masters in 1960, after series
of Constitutional Conferences in and outside the shores of the country, settled
for a FEDERAL SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT MADE UP OF TWO TIERS OF GOVERNMENT viz: (1)
Federal Government, and (2) Regional Governments. Revenue Sharing Formula was
between the Federal Government, and Regional Governments.
Although, Nigeria being a TRULY
FEDERATION, practiced "Resource Control " whereby the respective
Regional Governments explored and exploited the vast natural and mineral
resources within their jurisdiction to create wealth, prosperity and massive
employments for their people. A given percentage of the proceeds from the
respective Regional Governments public funds was remitted to the Federal
Government to enable it run joint services namely: Immigration, Foreign Affairs,
Defense.
It is needless recounting what
led to political crises that snowballed into Military coup d'etat,
ETHNO-RELIGIOUS conflagration that triggered mindless slaughtering of people
from the then Eastern Region that eventually led to the unfortunate and needles
Nigeria-Biafra war.
The clearly stated and recorded
fact was that the Military Regime did not destroy the Independence Constitution
which was later renamed Republican Constitution; rather they SUSPENDED the
truly Federal Constitution. Consequently, it was the general understanding by
Nigerians that the military regime would be a temporary affair while they would
put structures in place to return the country to the truly Federal arrangements
with the Republican Constitution with TWO TIERS OF GOVERNMENT viz: (1) Federal
Government and (2) Regional Governments .
Curiously, of course covertly
prodded and teleguided by the "Northern Political Emirate Establishment
and Fulani Feudal Oligarchy", the truly Federal Constitution (the
Republican Constitution)was surprisingly dumped by the military autocrats who
handpicked bootlickers and brazen-faced sycophants and cheerleaders of the
military autocrats to craft a "Federal-Unitary" Constitution called
"1999 Constitution" which was deliberately skewed to favour the
preferences, venality and choices of the Cabal on how to turn Nigeria into an
Islamic Theocracy or Caliphate irrespective of the feelings of other ethnic
nationalities that came together before the Independence Constitution was made
to suit everybody.
Needless to say that all the
people of the four Regional Governments were very happy with the political
arrangements as each had a measure of AUTONOMY and CONSTITUTION, explored and
exploited the vast natural and mineral resources within their jurisdiction
hence the term "Competitive Federalism".
It was the vaulting and
vaunting ambition of the "Fulani Feudal Oligarchy" that laid the
foundation of rigging of census figures and the general election of 1964. The
population census which triggered worldwide condemnations was nullified.
Similarly the 1964 general election was brazenly truncated and mindlessly
falsified to the extent that it triggered uncontrollable violence in the
Western Region where people were murdered in their thousands and property reduced
to ashes, all in the name of the brazen-faced quest of the Northern People's
Congress NPC to take control of the entire country to impose Islamic Theocracy
at the expense and detriment of other ethnic nationalities.
This arrant madness compelled
the Army to strike; the rest is history, as it were. To come down to
"brass tacks", as the saying goes, Nigerian from the middle belt
ethnic nationalities down south expected that the Republican Constitution which
was SUSPENDED by the military jackboots should be REINVENTED with two tiers of
government viz: The Federal Government, and The State Governments since the Gen. Yakubu Gowon Military Regime threw
away Regional Governments.
The critical question remains:
Why not return the Republican Constitution with TWO TIERS of government and TWO
levels of monthly Statutory Revenue Sharing Formula? Why should the Military
Regime empaneled the so-called "Dasuki Local Government Reform (1976)
which increased the tiers of government to THREE without sounding the opinions
of people from the southern part of the country? Furthermore, why should the
Military junta create surplus local government councils only in the northern
part of the country while no local government council was created in the
southern part of the country.
For instance, Kano state and
Lagos state had twenty (20) local government councils but the Fulani Feudal
Oligarchy teleguided Military jackboots created additional twenty (20) local
government councils in Kano while Lagos state still retained twenty? Of course
nobody would speak out or condemn the all-powerful Military junta. Zik was
reported to have said that "it is only a mad that confronts a man with
gun".
The teleguided Military had
their way to have surplus local government councils in the northern and further
more used the local government councils to carve out Federal Constituencies to
the extent that during the civilian administration when National Assembly
comes, the north will have majority members in both the Senate and House of
Representatives at the expense and detriment of the members from the southern
part of the country. Consequently, the deft strategy and manipulation is that
voting on Bills, Motions and Resolutions in the upper and lower Chambers of the
National Legislature will be in favour of the North.
Since the operation of the
"Federal-Unitary" contraption referred to as 1999 Constitution
supposedly under Amendments ostensibly to contain the venality, preferences and
inanities of the supposed "Caliphate Colonialists, Northern Political
Emirate Establishment and Fulani Feudal Oligarchy with THREE TIERS OF
GOVERNMENT out of sync with Federations the world over even the Nigerian
Republican Constitution with TWO TIERS OF GOVERNMENT AND TWO LEVELS OF REVENUE
SHARING FORMULA, they don't want the Restructuring of the lopsided Federation
because it would bring back TWO TIERS OF GOVERNMENT AND TWO LEVELS OF REVENUE
SHARING FORMULA with the result that the quantum monthly payment to the surplus
local government councils in the North will stop.
Restructuring the lopsided
Federation, with two tiers of government and two levels of monthly Statutory
Revenue sharing formula between the Federal Government and State governments,
State Governors along with the House of Assembly will now RESTRUCTURE their
"Local Administration, formerly known as"Divisional Administration
Department DAD during the First Republic with the Republican Constitution (now
no longer to be called "Local government council") , design the
personnel structure, responsibilities, and funding design according to their
respective revenue allocation and internally generated revenues.
In other words, like it was in
the First Republic, the issue of LOCAL ADMINISTRATION should be the SOLE
AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY OF THE GOVERNORS. This is what FEDERAL SYSTEM OF
GOVERNMENT is all about the world over and Nigeria CANNOT BE DIFFERENT. Time
for brazen-faced exploitation by the "Northern Political Emirate
Establishment, Fulani Feudal Oligarchy and Caliphate Colonialists" are
over and ethnic nationalities in the Middle Belt down south should now be free
from the iron grips of the Cabal that deluded themselves that Nigeria belongs
to them alone while other ethnic nationalities would remain their slaves while
the terrorists masquerading as herdsmen from the Sahel region of West Africa
will be mindlessly slaughtering indigenous people and occupying their ancestral
homelands while the survived ones would continue to die in droves in the IDP
ramshackle while the Aso Rock Landlord would be clinking glasses of wine
pretending that the fortunes of the IDP privations is a non-issue.
Polycarp Onwubiko JP, a veteran journalist, author and public policy analyst writes from Awka, Anambra State.
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