Nigeria: This edifice will fall if…

ON  May 4 and May 11, the governors of the states in southern Nigeria met virtually and physically, respectively, to address the deteriorating and alarming security situation in the country.  Fifteen of the 17 southern states from the three geopolitical zones in the South were in Asaba, the Delta State capital, to “harmonise their positions on the issue.” At the end of the Asaba meeting, the chairman of the Southern Nigeria Governors’ Forum (SNGF), Oluwarotimi Akeredolu (SAN), governor of Ondo State, read out a communique issued by the Forum. In the communique, the Forum bemoaned the severe security challenges, stating that “citizens are not able to live their normal lives, including pursuing various productive activities leading to a threat to food supply and general security.” It affirmed the ban on open grazing of cattle, including cattle movement by foot across southern Nigeria, and called on President Muhammadu Buhari to address Nigerians on the challenges of insecurity  in order to restore the confidence of the people.

The Forum insisted that “urgent and bold steps be taken to restructure the Nigerian federation, leading to the evolution of state police, review of revenue allocation formula in favour of the sub-national governments and creation of other institutions which legitimately advance our commitment to the practice of true federalism.” The governors also “affirmed that the peoples of southern Nigeria remain committed to the unity of Nigeria on the basis of justice, fairness, equity and oneness and peaceful coexistence between and among its peoples, with a focus on the attainment of shared goals for economic development and prosperity.”  Furthermore, they asked President Buhari to “review appointments into Federal Government agencies (including security agencies) to reflect federal character, as Nigeria’s overall population is heterogenous.”

As part of the process of bringing these recommendations to fruition, the Forum called on the Federal Government to  convoke a national dialogue as a matter of urgency. The communique received immediate response from various groups and individuals across the country. Southern senators and members of the House of Representatives threw their weight behind the proposals put forward by the SNGF, and members of the minority caucus in the House of Representatives from the 19 northern states followed suit.

We think that the SNGF’s declaration is a step in the right direction. We encourage dialogue on the steps to move the country out of the current security quagmire in which it is immersed. The SNGF’s  recommendations, including the ban on open grazing and restructuring, are quite germane. They highlight the urgency of the problems and the need for President Buhari to address Nigerians on them. Indeed, if the Federal Government does not respond to the proposals of the SNGF and the drift in the polity continues, it is unlikely that the state would recover from the deep-seated suspicion, distrust and animosity that characterise inter-group relations in the country today. Nigeria has frittered away its social capital while accumulating dangerous capital. The country is riddled with self-determination groups calling for its balkanisation. These groups regularly fill the media space with views about the unworkability of the Nigerian contraption.

Predictably, however, not everyone shares the SNGF’s view on measures to revive the country. Typically, some members of the northern political establishment have opposed some of the proposals. Some have even argued that the SNGF should have consulted nomadic herdsmen before holding its last meeting. Others argued that the governors should have aired their views in the National Economic Council or similar national intergovernmental councils such as the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. The fact that the governors have chosen a regional forum shows that their voices are better projected through this forum than in another national forum. It shows that the proverbial shoes are not pinching the feet in the same way across the country. There are indeed situations where the police fail to enforce laws enacted by the 17 southern governments, such as the ban on open grazing.

We call on President Buhari to consider the recommendations contained in the Asaba Declaration. Some of the recommendations have indeed been accepted by the Northern Nigeria Governors’ Forum and the Arewa Consultative Forum. We commend the governors on this bold move. This country will fall if the president does not hearken to the demands because, in the first place, the alert contained in the Asaba Declaration has come very late.

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