IN the pre-independence era was Nigeria run on a regional government arrangement with namely the Western, Eastern and Northern Regions before the Mid-Western Region, which was carved out of the Western Region, was added. The two constitutions which came into effect in pre- and post-independence — the 1960 and 1963 Constitutions — recognised Nigeria as a federation comprising three and later four regions respectively.
Each of the Regions was largely autonomous, just as each developed at the pace envisioned and made possible by the kind of leadership it had. Ibadan became the capital of the Western Region; Kaduna, the Northern Region and Enugu for the Eastern Region. Each region controlled its resources and determined its policies and programmes for its people.
A team of progressive-minded politicians led by the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, shot the Western Region to stardom in terms of policy formulation, implementation and pioneered many firsts in the country as well as Africa. Under Awolowo, education flourished following the 1955 Free Education Programme, the economy boomed and unemployment was almost unheard of.
Western Region’s firsts soon sparked a healthy rivalry among the regions with the replication of many of the programmes and policies in other regions. In some accounts of that era, a plot to stifle the fast-pace development in the Western Region informed the excising of Lagos and later the Mid-West from the original geography of the Western Region.
Then came the military junta led by Aguiyi Ironsi which seized power and replaced the regional political arrangement with the infamous Unification Decree (Decree 34) and consequently foisted a unitary design on a hitherto federal system. The regions were retained and had appointed military governors, but they had been castrated and had their power usurped by the central military government. Thenceforth, the regions, which were later balkanised into states unevenly distributed among the regions by subsequent military chiefs, lost their power of autonomy till now.
Efforts to have the awesome powers wielded by the central government devolved to states to fast-track development led to the clamour to restructure the country from a unitary arrangement with overcentralised power at the centre to a truly federal set up. Under the Muhammadu Buhari administration, the clamour has grown louder, particularly in the southern part.
It is against the historical background that the Yoruba nation, on Thursday, converged on Ibadan, its political headquarters where it all started, to proffer solutions to the unending agitation for restructuring of the country.
At the break of the day, a cumulonimbus cloud threatened the event billed 10:00 a.m. at the Lekan Salami Stadium, Adamasingba. Soon, it began to rain torrentially. As though a celestial confirmation that the event must hold, a few minutes past 11 a.m, the torrents reduced to drizzles. In groups of four, five and more, participants began to pour into the venue. They were from all the social classes. There were political elite from all parties, traditional rulers, religious leaders, leaders of socio-cultural groups from the southern part of the country, market women, artisans, and representatives from the academia, youth groups and among others. And the programme began.
In his welcome address, chairman of the Planning Committee, Dr Kunle Olajide, stated that the summit was not a political or religious gathering, but a meeting called to deliberate on how to give “a breath of fresh air to a country suffocating in distress.”
“We are here gathered to do an honest review of our past, frank appraisal of the present and a telescopic view of our future. Yoruba from pre-independence era have labored along with other Nigerian patriots to build this potentially great country. Has Nigeria’s potential ben realised? No.
“Centrifugal tendencies have often threatened to tear this country apart, but the Yoruba people, our founding fathers and patriots at all times have always risen to the occasion to stem such tendencies.
“The ship of the Nigerian State is floundering. It is in fact heading towards a titanic rock and Nigerians from all parts of the country must rise up to halt a drift. All Nigerians must speak up. Silence cannot be golden at these times and silence in this time is crime against humanity.
“In a heterogeneous country like Nigeria, national building is an unending process of negotiation. Our elders in Yorubaland motivatedby a burning desire to save the sinking ship of the Nigerian State put the planning committee of this summit together to arrange this historic event.
“The committee has painstakingly prepared a document which captures the essence of Yoruba aspiration for a progressive, peaceful and just Nigerian society. This document is expected to stimulate a national debate from other Nigerians. The document is our basis for negotiating a new Nigeria.
“Change is often the most difficult scenario to achieve because human beings generally resist change even if it is good for them. We are under no illusion that this struggle for change will be easily achieved. We realise it may be a long haul, but we are prepared for it,” he said.
Chairman of the summit and legal luminary, Afe Babalola SAN, stressed the need for the current leaders to resolve the issues about Nigeria’s existence to avoid being condemned by the coming generation.“In the next sixty years, when most of us all sitting here today will have left the scene, some vocal leaders coming after us will ask, why we kept silent. In law, we would be adjudged guilty as accessories after the fact.
“Our fathers who fought for independence meant well and acted well. They bequeathed to us the 1960 and 1963 Constitutions that with time would make different nations in Nigeria to eschew tribalism and permit the evolution of unity among all nations and tribes in the country as well as emergence of one nation from many.
“As I said, the 1999 Constitution was handed over by the military. It is not the people’s constitution. Of course the legislators who are benefitting from the military constitution are not interested in substituting the people’s constitution for the military constitution. Even the military in Section 14 (2) of the 1999 Constitution acknowledges that sovereignty remains with the people.
“The agitation for secession is an ill wind that does no good. It is better to dialogue and restructure the country. No woman wants dissolution of marriage if the parties live in comfort and are prosperous. It is incumbent on the leaders to make the country prosperous that nobody would agitate for secession.It is my view that the people’s constitution should be in place before we attain 60 years after independence,” he said.
As Chief Afewas speaking, a loud shout of “Yoruba language” erupted from the trade association members who felt that at a summit of the Yoruba, the Yoruba indigenous language should be the means of communication. It took the intervention of the planning committee secretary, YinkaOdumakin, to calm them down. Odumakin assured them what Afe said in English would be translated into Yoruba, adding that English language was chosen to reach wider non-Yoruba audience.
Then came the session of goodwill messages and the first to speak is the co-chairman of African Newspapers of Nigeria (ANN) plc, Dr Olatokunbo Awolowo Dosumu. As she began her extend courtesies in Yoruba language, a thunderous applause boomed from the artisans. She, however, told them she would read her address already prepared in English.
She underscored the essence of the gathering thus: “We are here today to declare to the entire nation our desire to, peacefully, reclaim the constitutional provisions that made it possible for our father, the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, to set the pace-setting record in public office that is, for us, a source of enduring pride, and which remains unparalleled in Nigeria to this day. A record that we all still yearn for and would love to see replicated, and even surpassed, by our current and future leaders.
We are here, therefore, to declare our resolve to regain our giant development strides, which were the envy of our compatriots in other regions of Nigeria and which were admired and, indeed, emulated by other developing nations who today have, embarrassingly, streaked past us into the modern age.
In his book, Thoughts on the Nigerian Constitution (1966), Chief Awolowo had this to say, ‘… a unitary constitution will not work in circumstances which warrant a federal constitution… Suitability is, therefore, the essence of a constitution. This is so for all countries of the world. It is so for Nigeria where the search for a suitable constitution has gone on for more than 20 years, and still goes on today with renewed vigour and reanimated fervour. We predict that the search will go on … unless we are realistic and objective enough to give ourselves now a constitution which is suited to the circumstances of our country and which will, therefore, endure.’
“He continued, ‘…in any country where there are divergences of language and of nationality …a unitary constitution is always a source of bitterness and hostility … On the other hand, as soon as a federal constitution is introduced … any bitterness and hostility against the constitutional arrangements as such disappear.’ Remember, the book was written in 1966,” she said.
Leader of the delegation from South-South, Chief Albert Horsefall, canvassed the view that the regions should be allowed to own and exploit the resources in their domain. “The whole issue of restructuring depends on resource control. We of the South-South believe that what our soil produces should be used for the development of our area. We have been the economic engine room of the country for decades, yet we are still expecting to be given the right and privileges to run our affairs. That is the restructuring we are talking about.
“We now speak with one voice. We believe in one Nigeria. But we should use part of what we produce should be contributed to run Nigeria. Anyone who wants to benefit from Nigeria must contribute something to the federal purse.We don’t want a federation that is based on unitary system of government.
“We don’t want a situation where somebody who does not contribute but benefit because of population that is not even proven will be administering our resources. We in the South-South are in total support of what you have done here today,” he said.
John Nwodo, President General of pan-Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze, cited two examples of what would happen if regions or states are given the rights to exploit and develop the resources located in their domains.
“The value of Netherlands’ total agricultural products output in a year comes to $100billion. The entire oil revenue of Nigeria has never reached a $100billion in any single year. Netherlands has 34, 000 square kilometres of land. Niger State in Nigeria has 73, 000 square kilometres.
“The trajectory of the world is moving away from minerals to human capital development and agriculture. In a restructured Nigeria, only those who can till their land and produce food will be rich and every part of Nigeria is endowed with agricultural resource.
“California is the 18th largest economy in the world. It is only a state in the United States. California has given birth to Silicon Valley, Nollywood, Google, Apple. In the US Stock Exchange, these companies are the richest and they all grew out of a university in California.
“If we people the power to develop themselves the way they find fit, they will do well. Every area in Nigeria that has relative advantage will export its advantage to the rest of Nigeria. I want to tell you that the South-East support your motion for the restructuring of Nigeria,” Nwodo said.
Professor Banji Akintoye, who has been vocal on restructuring issue, moved that all resolutions be documented in history as Ibadan Declaration, a motion that was supported by all. But a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and prominent legal icon, Chief Niyi Akintola moved the motion for the adoption of the communiqué, Ibadan Declaration and a unified document on Yoruba position on sundry issues.
Prominently carrying banners with different inscriptions such as “On Oduduwa Republic We Stand,” were various Yoruba self-determination groups who stormed the venue to press home demand for an autonomous Yoruba Republic.
Ambassador Babatunde Fadumiyo and Adebayo Daramola who led the delegations of the Yoruba in Kogi and Kwara states respectively, presented the views of the Yoruba in the states. They requested to be merged together under a state or be allowed to be part of their kith and kin in the South-West.
A communique issued at the end of the summit and read by Odumakin stated among others:
Summit convinced that Nigeria is careering dangerously to the edge of the slope except urgent steps are taken to restructure Nigeria from a unitary constitution to a federal constitution as negotiated by our founding fathers at independence in 1960, it was resolved as follows:
“That Yoruba insists that Nigeria must return to a proper federation as obtained in the 1960 and 1963 constitutions. This has been our position since 1950 Ibadan conference and developments in Nigeria over the last fifty years reinforce our conviction.
“That Yoruba are clear that restructuring does not mean different things to different people other than that a multi-ethnic country like Nigeria can only know real peace and development if it is run ONLY along federal lines.
“That the greatest imperatives of restructuring Nigeria is to move from a rent-seeking and money sharing anti-development economy to productivity by ensuring that the federating units are free to own and develop their resources. They should pay agreed sums to the federation purse to implement central services,” it said among others.
Apart from Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State who attended the summit, others South-West governors were represented by their commissioners except Governor Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos State.
‘Summit, a giant step towards national consensus’
A torrent of spontaneous reactions across the country trailed the outcome of the epic summit of leaders from the Yoruba nation held last Thursday in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, following the communiqué of the session. The reactions also cut the semblance of the personage that converged on the political headquarters for the summit. Fundamental issues raised in the communiqué was subjected to rave review with some of the analysts submitting that the outcome of the summit was not just a watershed in the annals of the Yoruba race was remarkable in the search by critical stakeholders in the Nigerian project towards building a national consensus of the persistent demand for restructuring and devolution of powers in the country.
Nonetheless, the analyses were a mixture of commendation, cautions optimism by most observers, as well as expressions of outright reservation by a few. Major social media platforms served as avenues for the analysts to engage one another in major dialectical debates, which in a few cases, reflected the ethnic heterogeneity of the country and political pluralism of the federation. In the opinion of some observers, the summit represents a major leap towards building a national consensus on the clamour for restructuring and power devolution because of the livelihood of other major stakeholders in the federation taking a cue from the standpoint of the Yoruba nation.
The key issues in the 16-point communiqué of the summit that came under serious and extensive scrutiny included: that Nigeria must return to a proper federation as obtained in the 1960 and 1963 constitutions; that the federating units- whether states, zones or regions must themselves be governed by written constitution to curb impurity at allleve1s; that Nigeria shall be a federation comprising six regions and the federal capital Territory, Abuja; that the Federal Government shall make laws and only have powers in relation to items specified on the legislative list contained in the constitution of the Federation; that each Region shall have its own constitution containing enumerated exclusive and concurrent legislative lists regarding matters upon which the regions and the states may act or legislate.
Many of the analysts also focused on the demand that the States with a region shall determine the items on the legislative lists in the Regional constitution for the purpose of good government and the administration and provision of common inter-state social, economic and infrastructural requirements; that States shall be entitled to manage all resources found within their boundaries and the revenue accruing therefrom. The issue of the entitlement of littoral states to offshore resources and the extension of such rights from the continental shelf and rights accruing to the Federal Government shall be determined by the national assembly; the sharing ration of all revenues raised by means of taxation shall be 50 per cent to the states, 35 per cent to the regional government and 15 per cent to the government of the federation; that for a period of 10 years from the commencement of the operation of the new constitution (or such other agreed period to be enshrined in the federal constitution) there shall be a special fund for the development of all minerals in the country.
Taking a holistic view of the position of the Yoruba nation, Head of the College of Social and. Management Sciences, Afe Babalola University, Ado Ekiti, said the demands were informed by the precarious condition of the present federal arrangement. He said there pervasive evidence that all was not well with the structure;
His words: “The conditions are almost the same everywhere in Nigeria today. Agitation for restructuring is just a manifestation of a failed state. He observed that over the years, there was no conscious efforts at state building especially on the part of political leaders, as the structure of the country would not have been a problem ab initio if development, cohesion, unity, service had been the interest of leaders, rather, greed, ethnic and religious chauvinism, strong desire to overdo another person from elsewhere in corruption and cheating.
He added: “The constituent units were not encouraged to develop at a level of healthy competition because there is so much to steal from monies not worked for. However, what are the proposed regions and state going to do to the same leaders that will be coming back to run them. The mentality to take advantage of others is still there in their blood. What business will they do to keep them away from the corridor of power? Are they skilled in any vocation that van guarantee the same wealth they can vet to meet their exorbitant taste. How are we going to address minority interests, they are everywhere.”
Speaking on the outcome of the summit, the leader of the Yoruba Patriots Movement also said the communiqué of the well-attended occasion would send the correct signal to some elements in other regions in northern part of Nigeria currently opposed to Nigeria’s restructuring that all Yoruba leaders are not only united but resolute in pursuing every word, phrase, clause, paragraph of the communiqué.
He said, “Our resolve is that all Nigerians, including President Muhammadu Buhari, the Sultan of Sokoto, and other emirs, as well as the Senate, the House of Representatives along with all right-thinking Nigerians, desirous of a united, peaceful and prosperous Nigeria, must give the outcome of the Yoruba Declaration at Ibadan the prompt attention for its rapid and systematic implementation for a future sustainable Federal Republic of Nigeria of equity, fairness and just.”
Another observer, who craved anonymity, said the demand of the Yoruba for regionalism tallies with the existing six geopolitical zones in the 1999 Constitution, stressing: “The framework allow states to control their resources, as well as the creation and management of their local governments according to their capabilities.”
Another analyst said the Yoruba, through the outcome of the summit, had overcome the challenges of the antics of a manipulative elite because of political contests. ”Now, the Yoruba have taken the first of The Long Walk For their Freedom to achieve Life More Abundant like they did experience from 1952- 66 before an imposed unitary government,” he said.
According to yet another analyst, the summit is a culmination of painstaking planning spanning many years and involving a large number of Yoruba groups, especially the last four years. “You surely do not expect 56 million Yoruba to have a meeting in one day to prepare a position. This is the product of years of diverse and divergent consultations between diverse and divergent Yoruba groups culminating into a crystallisation. This is the Yoruba position and suggested framework for national unity.
“If you are a non-Yoruba and this does not work for you, plead tell us why. If it does fit into a framework that your respective regions and states can work with, then let’s move to the next level and stop wasting time.”
and then