Nigerians ‘write’ alternative Independence broadcast for Buhari

The compatriots, who spoke with BDSUNDAY, said their resolve to write the alternative broadcast for the president stemmed from their feeling of disappointment over many years of rehash of presidential lines that ended up addressing nothing.

“We would have been very glad to hand him our speech to read to the long-suffering Nigerians, but because we knew he would not receive our copy we decided to use this medium to send what we had loved him to tell us at this critical period of our time in Nigeria,” says one respondent.

They wanted to ensure that what they consider critical issues were mentioned in the broadcast to make it ‘the people’s broadcast’. This way, they may ensure that the President makes a pronouncement on restructuring, devolution of powers, and probably state a timetable on when restructuring, if any, would be started.

Some wanted Mr. President to state whether he wants restructuring to come before or after the 2019 elections and how such capital-intensive programmes such as restructuring, census, and elections would play between now and 2019 in view of high costs and budget provisioning.
Yet, many others surveyed by BDSUNDAY during the week want to ensure that the President makes a pronouncement on national unity. They say they want him to state how he wants to balance appointments and how he intends to stabilise the polity for economic progress and confidence-building.
Others wanted to help Mr. President put in a word on herdsmen invasion, unemployment, funds for local manufacture, agric revolution, privatisation, and other economic strictures, including how Nigerians can feel the impact of a recovering economy.

The structure and the restructuring

Nigeria is touted as a federal country but in operation, it is a unitary country. Nigeria has 774 local councils and 36 states plust the Federal Capital Territory Abuja, but the local councils are not autonomous and serve as fiefdoms for governors. They do not access funds directly, do not create wealth or resources for themselves, and do not conduct elections on their own. In most states, the chief executives of the LGAs are appointed by governors from term to term until the governor’s eight years are over.
Devolution of power
At the centre, the FG has kept most of the powers and carries out all activities like states. They build roads, schools, houses, grow food, in what is called recurrent list in the constitution, yet the FG runs the army, police, foreign affairs, corporations, banks & currency, oil wells, and company taxes in the exclusive list. This has given rise to an over-bloated federal system that gives little or nothing exclusive to the states.

Three strong efforts have so far been made in the recent past to reset Nigeria: by Sani Abacha in 1995, by Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005, and by Goodluck Jonathan in 2014. Many people are calling for restructuring but others including Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, say the callers have different things in mind or are outright opportunists. This is why opinion leaders have demanded for the resurrection of the recommendations of 2014 National Conference (confab) so as not to start the rat race again. Others have pointed to some other recommendations from the conferences convoked by Sani Abacha in 1995 and Olusegun Obasanjo in 2005.

Key issues that cause rancour in Nigeria that were addressed by the 492-member Confab led by Idris Kutigi include scrapping the current system of 774 local authorities (to save money and reduce corruption, and for states to set up their own local systems); creation of 18 new states including one for the south-east, permission for willing states to merge; reducing share of national income going to the federal government and increasing share for the states; modified presidential system of government that combines the presidential and parliamentary systems of government, (the president should pick the vice-president from the legislature); power should be shared and rotated at all levels of government. (Presidency should rotate between north and south and among the six geo-political zones of the country. Likewise, the governorship post should rotate among the three senatorial zones in each state.)
Now, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has set up a think-tank that came up with topics for discussion towards restructuring. This is to avert the bigger demand for cessation or confederacy. The committee has also said it will consult the report of the 2005 Political Reforms Conference, the 2014 National Confab and reports of previous national conferences in its assignment to determine the party’s position on restructuring.

The Secretary of the Committee, Senator Olubunmi Adetunmbi, unfolded the 12-point agenda at a news conference in Abuja that would lead to forums in Enugu, Ibadan and Abuja as if it has already recognised return to regional structure. The APC critical areas include creation/merger of states and the framework and guidelines for achieving that; Derivation principle bordering on what percentage of federal collectible revenue should be given back; Devolution of powers on what item on the exclusive legislative list should be transferred to the recurrent list and federating units, especially state and community police, prisons; Federation Units: Should Nigeria be based on regions or zones or 36-state structure; Fiscal federalism and revenue allocation; Form of government (parliamentary or presidential); Independent candidacy; Land tenure system; Local government autonomy; Power sharing and rotation; Resource control; and Type of legislature. Many say some of these are mere repetitions such restructuring, devolution of power, fiscal federalism, resource control and land tenure system, all being the same under restructuring.

Those who attempted to write today’s speech for Mr. President have already headlined it ‘Restructuring’, telling Buhari to announce his stand on this; telling El-Rufai committee that is looking into restructuring to submit report; to take stand on devolution of powers; set time lime on when restructuring could be possible (before or after the elections); etc. They warn that if he failed to take a decisive stand on restructuring, emerging candidates from other parties or even within the APC would campaign on restructuring and win attention. “Even if Buhari turns round to say he would do restructuring, it would be late,” said a lawyer.

National unity

The next sub-head Nigerians surveyed want to hear about is issue of national unity, balance and stability. Some want Buhari to call for a mini conference on national unity; invite the Council of State, meet with governors, commit to dialogue with IPOB/all agitators, withdraw the army from the streets of the South East, reassure all regions of equality, reduce lopsided appointments, and speak out to reduce regional fears.

Herdsmen

Another group mostly those from the middle belt wanted to insert into Buhari’s broadcast some decisive measures to curb herdsmen menace, to show anger at their menace and to make distance himself from such the herdsmen.

Unemployment and the economy

Others want a defining declaration on issues of mass unemployment. They want the president to unveil decisive measures to tackle unemployment, else, the high number of unemployed youths could turn into a threat in no distant time.

Some investors and business people have called for bold statements concerning the economy. Should they be allowed to insert paragraphs into the broadcast, they would reaffirm measures to boost local manufacture higher than the 55 percent capacity utilization at the moment which is however unprecedented in recent years. They would announce roadmap on privatization, declare an agric revolution, say exactly how the private sector can come into agric investment, speak on funding for industries, and announce soft loans. In all, they want Nigerians feel the rise of the economy.

Few others commended the president on the war against corruption and had wanted to remind him to state in his broadcast how he wants to retool the anti-corruption fight.

Each time President Buhari addresses the nation or even the United Nations, many people fault and pick holes in such outings. Now, the people have written alternative broadcast for him. Although he would and could not their speech, he should take time to peruse it and compare it what his script today contains. He should learn to touch the minds of critical masses of this country, otherwise, he could as well be speaking to himself.

 

Ignatius Chukwu

(Additional reporting by Our Correspondents)