Plato, Greek Philosopher and Founder, Platonist School of Thought and the Academy, the first institution of higher learning in the Western world, had opined: “If you do not take an interest in the affairs of your government, then you are doomed to live under the rule of fools.”
As I write, both chambers of Nigeria’s National Parliament- The Senate and House of Representatives are currently seeking to amend Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution.
At the last count, of 68 bills voted on by parliamentarians of both Houses, 49 unanimously scaled through, when voting occurred.
Some of the bills being considered for Amendment are: Financial autonomy for local government areas, etc; Time for determining pre-election matter appeals, etc; Timeline for Executive to present treaties to the National Assembly for domestication, etc; Creation of office of Mayor of Abuja, etc.
Ahead of the 2023 General Elections, it’s apt to state that Nigeria is at the crossroads, but her ruling political elites seem to be playing the ostrich games. They carry on as if all is well with the country, wining and dining, as in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Having copiously and religiously gone through the recent ongoing amendments, I agree with Constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, who in a recent interview with Channels tv argued that some items proposed by the National Assembly as amendments to the 1999 Constitution are “totally irrelevant” to Nigerians.
With all the social-political and economic ills bedeviling Nigeria, particularly, her broken internal security architecture, me thinks, the abovementioned 49 bills that scaled through amendment proceedings seem not all-encompassing.
There are over 68-line items in the Exclusive Legislative List, an exclusive preserve of Nigeria’s Federal Government. For internal improvements and good governance across Nigeria’s 6 geo-political zones, 36 States and 774 LGAs, me thinks many a line items in the Exclusive Legislative List must be devolved to the Concurrent Legislative List.
For constitutional context, by Concurrent Legislative List, I mean: Health, Education, Agriculture, Road, Housing- the five major areas where powers are shared jointly by Nigeria’s Federal Government and the 36 State Governments.
Contentious Issues?
How did the National Assembly fail to review Nigeria’s skewed and unworkable Revenue Sharing Formular, where FG takes 52.68%, States- 26.72% & Local Governments- 20.60%, with 13% derivation revenue going to oil producing States? This formular has not worked since the return of civil rule in 1999. It must be revisited, if Nigeria is to make any meaningful progress.
On this issue, I also agree with Prof. Sagay, when he opined that Nigeria must go back to the provisions of the 1963 Constitution under which Regions, now States, retained 50 percent of their resources; sent 20 percent to the Federal Government, and sent 30 percent to a distributable pool.
That 30 percent sent to the Distributable Pool is distributed among the Regions- now States of the Federation, in accordance with their levels of sufficiency, in terms of provisions.
Under the distributable pool, poorest States should get more from that pool. Every state, even the rich, will also get some share. This is no Rocket Science. Time and tax payers Naira spent to amend the 1999 constitution without revisiting Nigeria’s skewed and unworkable Revenue Sharing Formular is arrant nonsense.
Exclusive Legislative List Item 45: Giving Nigeria’s present broken internal security architecture, I’m discombobulated whether the National Assembly isn’t deeply worried that it’s high time Nigeria’s Centralised Police Force is decentralised, as it operates in saner climes such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, et al.
A Nigeria with 36 Independent State Police, 774 Local Police Departments, with residents/indigenes of the respective States and Local Government Areas, making up the personnels, will be better secured that this current corruption-riddled, unprofessional Abuja-controlled Police Force.
Funding Issue?
A Nigeria where States & Local Governments have a large share in revenues accrued from Mines and minerals, including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys and natural gas, naturally deposited on their lands, can fund this Decentralised Police. The 1963 Constitutional Model is highly needed today.
Tyrannical State Governors and Local Government Chairs?
Members of the National Assembly should fear not. A decentralised Police won’t gift tyrannical powers to State Governors and Local Government Chairs.
An Independent Federally-controlled Department of State Services (DSS); Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC); Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC); Offices of the Attorney General of the Federation and the Inspector General of the Federation will tame them, in and out of public office.
In Representative Democracies, globally, for Law Enforcement, one of the major constitutional powers of the Executive Arm, strong, independent institutions are needed, not strong men nor women. Even in the United States, the fear of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the beginning of wisdom for serving and ex Governors, among other public office holders across Federal, States and Local Government levels.
The National Assembly must revisit Item 45 in the Exclusive Legislative List, thus, decentralising the Police Force, as it operates in saner climes such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, etc. Save for this, Nigeria’s internal security architecture will continue to tank.
Similarly, for prompt and effective emergency fire services, me thinks the Federal Fire Services must be decentralised. There is an urgent need to establish Fire Service Departments across all Nigeria’s 774 LGAs. In saner climes like the U.S., the Fire Service is local, and they offer emergency services, alongside the Local Police Departments, and other law enforcement agencies.
Exclusive Legislative List Item 33: Me thinks Insurance should be devolved to the Concurrent Legislative List. All 36 States, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, should make it compulsory for operators of automobiles resident in their States to purchase a Comprehensive or Liability Insurance Policy.
In a 2018 report by Nigeria’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), it was revealed that every four hours, no fewer than two lives are lost on Nigeria’s roads. And every year, about 20,000 of the 11.654 million vehicles in the country are involved in road accidents.
Compulsory Insurance Policies for motorists across States will sanitize Nigeria’s roadways. States can also generate Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) through the taxes from Insurance Policies, and taxes paid by insurance agencies. The Federal Government should have no business with Insurance Policies.
Exclusive Legislative List Item 39: On control of Mines, minerals, including oil fields, oil mining, geological surveys and natural gas, Nigeria should re-adopt the (50:20:30) Revenue Sharing Formular in the 1963 Constitution.
This will give States more IGR to survive without going caps in hand to Abuja, monthly.
I agree with the National Assembly as it reviewed the Exclusive Legislative List Item 48, devolving the Prisons System to the Concurrent Legislative List. Doing this will go a long way to curb Abuja’s red-tapisms, thus, cleansing the age-long rots within Nigeria’s Federal Prisons System.
Tied to this, Nigeria’s Criminal Justice System needs urgent Reforms. As at April 2020, there were 73,726 inmates held across Nigeria’s prisons. Of this, over 51,983 (70%), mostly youths, are held without trial. Only about 22,773 inmates have been convicted. This is grave injustices.
Me thinks Exclusive Legislative List Item 51 needs an urgent ammendment. Nothing should bar States from establishing Public Holidays to cater for the immortalization of icons from their States, among other reasons best known to them.
In our own Anambra State, for instance, our incoming Governor, Prof. Charles Chukwuma Soludo would agree with me, that icons such as our own Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe; Chief Odimegwu Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, etc, need to be immortalized via Public Holidays.
I agree with the National Assembly, as it devolved to the Concurrent Legislative List, Exclusive Legislative List Items 3 (Aviation); 55 (Railways); Power Generation/Transmission, in areas covered by national grid. These moves as they were between 1960-1966, would certainly drive a healthy competition among States.
Me thinks Exclusive Legislative List Items 11 and 63 must be revisited. Rather than waiting for Abuja, States should be allowed to construct and maintain all the so-called Federal Trunk Roads, while FG provides the funding up-front or reimburses States, without unnecessary delays.
According to America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), as at 2017, of Nigeria’s 195,000 kilometres of Road Networks, just about 60,000 kilometres were paved and over 135,000 kilometres were unpaved. This is a massive deficit. Such deficits portend a huge negative impact on the lives of Nigerians, as well as the country’s economic outlook.
Exclusive Legislative List Item 63: Traffic on Federal Trunk Roads should be devolved to the Concurrent Legislative List. There is an urgent need to morph the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSCN) into States’ Departments of Motor Vehicles (VIOs). Let States issue Drivers Licenses, Number Plates, Automobile Ownership Titles and Drivers Tests.
Repealing the Act establishing FRSC and devolving Exclusive Legislative List Item 63 (Traffic on Federal Trunk Roads) to the Concurrent Legislative List, ushers a huge IGR opportunity for States, as they issue Drivers Licenses, Number Plates, etc.
There is also need to devolve Exclusive Legislative List Item 61 to Residual Legislative List. FG should hands-off the formation, annulment and dissolution of marriages. Local Governments should knot all forms of Court marriages. Islamic/Christian/Customary marriages must get their licenses from Local Governmens. Doing this portend a huge IGR for Nigeria’s 774 Local Governments.
Exclusive Legislative List Item 62 e & f: States and Local Governments should not be barred in the control of the prices of goods and commodities designated by the National Assembly as essential goods or commodities; and registration of business names. FG should regulate only International Commerce.
To forestall constant reoccurring petrol scarcity across the country, me thinks there is an urgent need to deregulate Nigeria’s oil industry. This will lure more local/foreign investors, including States, to building more functional refineries.
When more refineries are built, market forces drive petrol prices at the pumps. As price of crude rises at the International market, petrol price increases at the pumps, and vice versa.
With deregulation of Nigeria’s oil industry, Nigerians can finally say goodbye to the age-long corruption-riddled petrol subsidies.
Me thinks there is an urgent need for the National Assembly to revisit its refusal to give legal teeth to the long-awaited National Gender Policy, thus, promoting 35 per cent affirmative action for Nigerian women, at all branches/tiers of government, in politics and governance.
Amid the foregoing, me thinks, another major elephant in the room, which Nigeria’s ruling political elites run away from, but which rears its ugly head every election season, remains Power Rotation at the centre. Let’s go back to some proposals at the 1994/1995 Constitutional Conference.
At that conference chaired by late Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte, Mkpoko Igbo, et al, proposed that for Equity, office of Nigerian President should be rotated among the six geo-political zones: South West, South East, South South, North West, North East and North Central.
They had proposed that office of the President should be rotated among the 6 geo-political zones, for a single term of 5 years, arguing that there should be a 30-year experiment from 1998/1999. In their thinking, such arrangement will pacify all zones to wait for their turn.
Had Nigeria implemented that arrangement with the return of civil rule in 1999, by 2029, all Nigeria’s 6 geo-political zones would have produced the President; Vice President; Senate President; Deputy Senate President; House Speaker and Deputy House Speaker.
That said, giving Nigeria’s today’s economic realities, me thinks it’s high time the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) reviewed the basic salaries and emoluments of Nigeria’s elected office holders at all branches of government. States and Local Governments must follow suit too.
In 2011, at the 50th Birthday Anniversary Lecture of Sen. Opeyemi Bamidele (APC-Ekiti Central), Constitutional lawyer, Prof. Itse Sagay, first exposed the bogus emoluments of National Assembly members. This is 2022, nothing has changed, despite the epidemic economic hemorrhage hitting Nigeria and hapless Nigerians, hard.
It makes no economic sense for a University Professor to take home a paltry N400,000 ($689) monthly, whilst a Nigerian Senator goes home with a whopping N29.48 million ($50,000) monthly in basic salary and emoluments- (N580/$1).
Conclusively, among other things, reports of the 2014 National Confab, among others, should stop gathering dusts in Abuja. These conference reports and White Papers should be revisited and their good models implemented.
Ahead of 2023, Nigeria is sitting on a powder keg. Before it’s too late, there is an urgent need to transmogrify Nigeria from a Unitarist, Feeding Bottle State into a Nation-State, where there is Healthy Competition among the 6 Geo-Political Zones; 36 States, including FCT Abuja, and all 774 Local Government Areas.
Ikenna Asomba is a Journalist and Student of Compound Republicanism, he writes from Charleston, Illinois, United States.
