WE all agree that unless there is good governance, there cannot be public or general security, public welfare , sustainable development and proper orientation of the youth. This is if universal veracity. Furthermore, patriotism is necessary, but not enough; there must, just as well, be competence in both the leadership and followership in order to achieve good governance . The degree of intricacy or complexity of governance at both the intranational realms has been increasing and is reaching a catastrophic climax, such that the critical ‘climate – security – peace building nexus’ has been recently noted. Sustainable development goals have been highlighted and aptly defined and analysed . The ecosystem is being disrupted and destroyed . The sanctity of human life has in realty become a farce in significant portions of the global space and global community, including Nigeria . Excessive population growth, extreme poverty, destitution, genocide, terrorism, general insecurity, kidnapping for ransom, state violence, criminalities, systemic governance incapacity, gross infrastructure deficits, mass illiteracy, unemployment, and uncivilised cultural practices; all combine in a highly complex manner to make the tasks of the United Nations and the Nigerian government appear impossible without radical and urgent reforms of the United Nations system and the Nigerian system .
The root of the socioeconomic problems of Nigeria is that there is a great phase difference between the stage of economic growth at which Nigeria ought to be , and the stage at which Nigeria is at present. Nigeria is at the stage of poor or bad pre-conditions for industrial economic take-off . The stages of economic growth of a nation is classically classified into five (1) stage of pre-conditions for take – off of industrialization (2) stage of take – off of industrialization (3) stage of tradition to industrial maturity (4) stage of industrial maturity, and (5) stage of search for quality . Functionally, the root of the socio-economic problems of Nigeria translates to the political abberation of unitarian system of government , disguised as a federal system for Nigeria, a multi- ethnic country of a comparatively large population, cultural, historically , and geo -climatically diversified. The foregoing means that without devolution powers of the national government of Nigeria , for a true federation , or safer , confederation , the suffering of Nigerians shall continue to worsen .
It was reported , on the Wednesday , 22 September , 2016 , ‘British Govt. Puts Nigeria’s Infrastructure Funding Deficit At Usd 70 Billion Yearly, “ Notwithstanding the fall in global oil prices , the Federal Government needs to source and invest USD 70 billion in infrastructure every year to address deficit in the country.” This is the only way Nigeria can compete and bring in needed infrastructure developed for business to thrive . Also, the UK Department for International Development (DFID) is of the same position. Team leader and senior economic adviser at DFID , Richard Ough , who also spoke at an event , stressed the need for government to work hard to win the confidence of the private sector to its aid to raise additional USD 70 billion to boost infrastructure. In the Nigerian peculiar context, it is necessary to state first that those elements that constitute social justice in order to appropriately analyse and understand the contextual requirements for the achievement of good governance of Nigeria . Universal high quality education; democracy (based on people’s constitution; empirically formulated electoral process; various legislations ( and policies ) on all sectors of the socioeconomic system are a concatenation , which constitutes social justice , without which there can not be peace or security .
The foregoing is easily understood by scholars who are steeped in the knowledge of political economy as applied to the Nigerian contexts. And it shall be necessary to explain at least briefly , what these abstractions mean. In a multi-ethnic or plural state, nation state where the exploitation of natural resources and administration of corporate affairs tax are centralised, especially where the literacy levels and technology capacity are low, there is bound to be systemic malfunction, extreme poverty, criminalities, corruption and pandemic violence, insecurity and the constitution of such state is not federal. Rather, it is unitarian or pseudo-federal ( confounded or confused federation ) and there would ultimately be systemic collapse, foreign indebtedness and intervention , state of emergency, militarisation, anarchy or civil war . The immediately foregoing is so because in a confused federation like Nigeria, the powers or duties of the federal government are unwieldy, so that the federal administration is inevitably inept, corrupt and ineffectual, while the subnational governments are consequentially impotent, with the urgent imperative of power devolution to the constituent units or ethnic or contiguous blocks , region’s in this case . The problem, however, is that in any socio-economic – political system, critical, structural changes therein, though necessary, are , if made abruptly, seldom without serious or grave undesirable consequences. Therein lies the national dilemma or test regarding the imperative of devolution of powers to the states, or six new regional governments of Nigeria .
The implications of the foregoing abstractions are that insecurity in Nigeria will continue to be aggravated until there is massive, high quality education, accelerated industrialisation and sustained employment. But how are the prospects of the foregoing in Nigeria , probable or improbable? The demographic and econometric indices of Nigeria, at present do not, under the 1999 constitution, portend good tidings for Nigeria . The country has been badly managed through out the past 60 years . The population of Nigeria is 250 million people and the land mass of Nigeria, unindustrialised, is very extensive, with the problem of desert encroachment in some parts of the North, and geological challenges in the Niger Delta, especially due to oil exploration , as well as environmental degradation and pollution. There is humongous infrastructure deficits in all major sectors of the economy. There is extreme poverty of the overwhelming majority of the citizens of Nigeria who are mostly illiterate and unemployed or underemployed. Accordingly, Nigeria is at the stage of poor or bad pre – conditions for take – off of industrialization . The constitution suitable for Nigeria is unique .
It is a confederal constitution . with an entrenched interim or transitional , innovative, unitarian constitution that is however different from the present unitarian. so called federal constitution , the 1999 constitution as amended; but only to be operated for the next ten or twenty years , as an interim period of interim constitutional order before the commencement of the confederal arrangement . After some time , then progressive transformation may begin to a federal arrangement. The broad objectives of good governance are three and interdependent ; and are constitutional order, security and public welfare .But the parochial minds think of insecurity or security as being independent of the order two broad objectives of good governance .
As has been ably submitted by one of profound social engineers : “ Economic science conclusively establishes that nations thrive best when they make the right policy choices ; when leaders share a consensus on progressive reforms that unleash the entrepreneurial energy of their people within the context of strong institutions, political stability, the rule of law, human rights and respect for property rights. We ( in Nigeria ) must plan for our future, otherwise we will perish.“
- Akande writes in via [email protected]
and then