With recent developments in our polity, I am more convinced that those opposing the restructuring of the country seems to be fighting a moving train! They can only delay it because Nigeria’s restructuring is ongoing and cannot be stopped. It is something that its time has come and most interestingly, the phase that is currently taking place is being done possibly obliviously by those that cannot be described as advocates of restructuring- PMB and his APC government! Of the many actions of the government, I will use only two to illustrate.
While the first is the plan to build six industrial parks as contained in PMB’s 2019 Next level plan, the second is the emerging proliferation of regional development commissions due to increasing demands for their creations. According to PMB’s next level plan, the need to create one industrial park in each of the six regions of the country is to ‘exploit the comparative advantages of the regions and states’ for the industrialization and economic development of the regions and Nigeria. To enhance the functioning of the regional economic zones, one Special Production and Processing Centre (SPPCs) will be built in each of our 109 senatorial zones. I pray that the plans are achieved as Nigeria’s industrialization and economic development will be truly enhanced with effective implementation of the plan. The interesting aspect of the plan is that it is being proposed and championed by the PMB APC led federal government.
On the emerging proliferation of regional development commissions, it seems that only South-West and North-Central are yet to get or commence proper demand for their own development commission. While South-South has NDDC and North-East waiting for the take-off of the North-East Development Commission (NEDC), the South-East one has just been passed by National Assembly and the North-West is intensely lobbying for the passage of the bill for North-West Development Commission (NWDC). Again, note that of the three bills passed or being considered by the National Assembly, two (NEDC and NWDC), are from APC members who to a large extent oppose the call for restructuring of Nigeria. The latest one- NWDC bill is being championed by Senator Jibrin Barau (APC Kano North).
The interesting question that comes from a deep retrospection of the above issues is why the pursuit for such regional development initiatives are from both the executive and legislative arms of a government that seems to oppose restructuring? The simple answer is that it is obvious that Nigeria cannot be effectively governed or developed through the present centralized form of government disguised as a federal system. By proposing to build one industrial park in each of our six regions in addition to one SPPC in each of the 109 senatorial zones, PMB’s APC led federal government is simply indicating that the industrialization and economic development of the country will be better achieved through the regions. In the same vein, the increasing demand for the creation of a regional development commission for each of our six regions is also a further affirmation that the development of the country might be better achieved through the regions. The centre cannot hold and unable to develop Nigeria! The more interesting aspect of the demand for the creation of regional development commissions is that it is not based on an empirical assessment of the success or failure of the already existing one-NDDC.
As NDDC is generally perceived to be performing below expectation, the further question which would have helped the effective creation and functioning of other ones such as NEDC or SEDC is the reason(s) why NDDC cannot be said to be functioning well and perceived as another avenue to settle the boys and their related interests. From research and interactions with Niger Delta stakeholders, a key reason why NDDC is performing poorly is the law and the way it is set up. Particularly, its control by the Federal government which creates a sense of very limited or no ownership, responsibility and accountability. As the proposed regional economic zones will have similar ownership and operating structure as NDDC, they might unfortunately suffer the same fate of poor performance, waste and no accountability as NDDC. The problem with Nigeria is that we are always inventing solutions through a reactive assessment of symptoms instead of a proactive examination of root causes.
Nigeria is a plural society and the only way to govern a plural society is through effective deep-rooted and long-lasting integration of the different components of the society or proper restructuring of the country. As the former should effectively start at the creation of the nation, we missed it as neither were the different ethnic groups in Nigeria properly integrated before the creation and independence of Nigeria nor after independence. For those opposing restructuring, it might be important to reiterate what a plural society is-
“A society is pluralistic to the extent that it is structurally segmented and culturally diverse. In more operational terms, pluralism is characterised by the relative absence of value consensus; the relative rigidity and clarity of group definition; the relative presence of conflict, or, at least, of lack of integration and complementarity between various parts of the social system; the segmentary and specific character of relationship, and the relative existence of sheer institutional duplication( as opposed to functional differentiation or specialisation) between the various segments of the society” (Van Den Berghe, 1964: 2)
If the above is our society and we have missed effective integration of the different components of Nigeria, we are therefore left with the only option which is proper restructuring if we are really interested in the growth and development of the country. It is the route that every developed or properly developing or emerging economy has passed- either restructuring or effective integration of the different components of the society. And for some such as USA, UK and Canada they have pursued both restructuring and effective integration of the components of the society. UK where we adopt majority of our laws and systems is a properly restructured plural society with powers and control largely devolved to Wales, Scotland, England and Northern Ireland leading to their name as United Kingdom. For the proposed regional economic zones and development commissions to properly function and meaningfully contribute to our economic development, Nigeria first need to be properly restructured with significant powers devolved to the regions. Denying or rejecting the importance of this as presently done by PMB led APC government is just a delay to something that its time has come-the demand for sustainable and inclusive growth and development of Nigeria!
Franklin Nnaemeka Ngwu (PhD)
Dr. Ngwu is a Senior Lecturer in Strategy, Finance and Risk Management, Lagos Business School and a Member, Expert Network, World Economic Forum.
