The States in the Nigeria S Federation

THE STATES IN THE NIGERIA’S FEDERATION

BEING A LECTURE DELIVERED ON THE EIGHTEENTH FOUNDATION DAY OF THE IGBINEDION UNIVERSITY, OKADA

BY HIS EXCELLENCY DR. IBRAHIM HASSAN DANKWAMBO, Bsc, Msc, FCA, FCIB, FCIM, FNES FCIT, OON(TALBAN GOMBE)

ON

10TH MAY, 2017

INTRODUCTION

Nigeria’s Federal system is today, slightly over sixty-two (62) years old having been initially introduced in the Lyttleton Constitution of 1954, gradually refined and finally adopted in the constitutional conferences that worked out the constitution that led to Nigeria’s independence in 1960. For political exigencies the Regional federation system was abandoned and twelve states were created, thus Nigeria moved from larger federating units to smaller units. After the unfortunate civil war, which was a statement by Nigeria that it wants to be a united federal country, creation of states became more or less a regular affair until 1996 when new states were created last. But during the 2014 National Conference 45 requests for state creation were received and 18 were recommended.

The choice of this topic is apt because in recent years it has become a topical issue that is shaking the foundations of the Nigeria’s Federal system. One never thought that disagreements and the demand for fairness in a system that has been operated for over 60 years will generate such bad blood and extremism. Instead of searching for the solutions to our problems in the functional lapses of the system and in the behaviour and attitudes of leadership, in accountability, transparency and other political and social values in the society, people engage in false accusations to unnecessarily heat-up the polity.

I have no doubt that states are the strongest tier and building blocks of Nigeria. States in the Nigerian constitution and federal system occupy a pivotal position in the operations of the federation and as agents of development in the country. It is out of the recognition of the role states have played in the political and socio-economic development of the country that the demand for creation of more has not ceased up to now. I will argue for strengthening the states while upgrading the capacity of the local governments; alongside institutional reforms and strong rule of law. A combination of these, I believe, will properly address the numerous agitations in the country. Mr. Chairman, permit me to give a brief overview of what a federal system is said to look like.

THE FEDERAL SYSTEM: A GENERAL OVERVIEW

Federations have been established in many countries of the world because of the obvious advantages in terms of the significance of size of population and landmass that could contain vast resources for the development of the Federation which could confer it economic and political clout among the comity of nations. The federal system, like other aspects of human society is not perfect and infallible, it has advantages and disadvantages. Due to considerations of advantages such as economies of large-scale, groups come together as federating units to form a country. Smaller units agree to come together for the mutual benefit of unity.

Federalism has been known to be the best system that caters for diversities of language, culture, religion and in some cases race. It engenders unity in diversity. It uses or applies division or devolution of powers between the centre and the federating units for effective administration of the national territory. It promotes popular participation by providing opportunities for local representatives to run the affairs at all levels of the system. In a federation, small and otherwise inconsequential units come to limelight, acquire size and status which would not have been possible if they were left on their own. It allowsthe pooling of human resources and skilled manpower to enable the effective management of the economic development of a country,which could play a significant or even a big role in international trade and politics. For these and many more reasons federalism has become the most preferred system for most of the large countries of the world today.

The Federal systems have usually been created by the process of aggregation or disaggregation or by a mixture of both. Over 40% of the world’s population live in federal countries, the leading ones being the United States of America, India, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Canada, Mexico, Switzerland and of course Nigeria. It is worthy to note that no existing federal systems of government are identical. Each one differs according to the circumstances of its formation and history. However, the most successful federal polities actually reflect a unifying political structure and a set of explicitly federal political values.

However, this is not to say federalism is perfect and has no problems. There is the problem of conflict of authority between the centre and federating units, which is a major feature of the system. The smaller units complain of the over-bearing power of the central government and the usurpation of some powers and functions of federating units. If not carefully handled, federalism could erode national patriotism, lead or resort to regionalism, provincialism, ethnic and religious cleavages; and, the development of conflicts and tensions. But these types of conflicts and tensions are deliberately promoted by greedy and unpatriotic elites, for their social, political and associated pecuniary advantages while the majority of the population on whose behalf the elite claim to fight is marginalized, left out and behind and even trampled upon. In some cases federalism could lead to duplication, over-lapping and even contradictory policies and projects that amount to waste of scarce resources. However, federal arrangement in a country presupposes that there is division of powers among levels of government with a written constitution showing the division and coordinate relationships between the levels with regard to their respective functions. This means that each level of government can decide and act on issues within its defined jurisdiction to accelerate participation and development.

Notwithstanding the problems of the federal system the establishment of multilateral international organizations at the global and Regional levels such as the United Nations Organization, the European Union, North America Free Trade Zone, Association of East Asian Nations, the African Union, G7, BRICS etc.; are all mimicry of federalism due to the obvious advantages size confers on member states/nations. At the level of individual nations, all federal countries are doing all they could to maintain the system because of the idea of the bigger the better.

NIGERIA AS A FEDERATION

The adoption of federalism by Nigeria can be ascribed largely to its considerable diversity in terms of geography, ethnicity and culture. The country has over 170Million people of over 300 ethnic groups, occupying over 900 thousand square kilometers of land. This makesit compose of different social and cultural values and occupying distinct geographical/ecological zones. With such ethnic plurality, as well as cultural and regional diversity, it becomes a polyglot nation. The country can hardly be governed effectively and efficiently as a political unit by a centralized authority. Federalism has, therefore, been generally accepted by Nigerians as the most suitable political arrangement that would allow diverse elements to retain some identity and at the same time remain a united country with ample benefits from the complementarities of resources and large domestic markets arising from the large diversities in the federating units.

Although the rationale for federalism in Nigeria can be ascribed to the pluralistic and heterogeneous nature of the society, it can also be derived from the diversity of functions which a modern government is expected to perform. Some of the functions can be more efficiently performed at the national level, others at the lower levels such as the States and/or Local Governments. In recognition of this principle, efforts have been made in the Nigerian Federal system to define the powers and functions of the various tiers of government, with the constitution classifying the powers and responsibilities of the levels into exclusive, and concurrent as well as implied residual list.

The devolution of functions to different levels of government in any federal political system has fiscal implication. This is due to the fact that discharge of the assigned functions involves expenditure and revenue. Consequently, in addition to specifying the division of powers and functions as between tiers of government, a federal system has to deal with the counterpart issue of fiscal federalism, which has become a threat to the Nigerian Federalism.

In general,Federalism provides space for representation to different or diverse groups and interests. It facilitates the nurturing and development of collective common values among wide varieties of peoples and cultures. It offers room for democratic pluralism, offers room for moderation of differences, caters for better approach to solving diverse problems and, provides for bigger and stronger nation.

ROLE AND FUNCTIONS OF STATES IN THE NIGERIAN

FEDERAL SYSTEM

States in the federal system the world over constitutes the second tier of the government of a federation. Federal constitutions provide for division of power between the centre and the constituent federating units; that is the state and local governments. In the hierarchy of the federal system, the state occupies a strategic position; it is the link between the local governments and the central government. It is the tier of government that attends more to the daily dealings or affairs of the people than the federal and even the local governments.

States were created in Nigeria in 1967, 1976, 1987, 1991 and 1996 not with the intent of dismembering the country, but with the vision and hope that the federal system could be made to work better and be more prepared to meet the challenges of development. It was also meant to enhance political stability by reducing inter-ethnic and regional tensions. States were created under the principle of creating administrative units and machinery to increase, proportionately, opportunities of social and economic development. Considering the foregoing a lot of sacrifices were made in various ways to sustain the system over the decades. Therefore, there is no reason or basis for some of the negative divisive ideas and views some elites are clamouring for. Public service delivery is the core function of governments at all levels. How effective these services are depending on a number of variables. It is true that the central government is big and strong, but it can reach out the citizens much easier only through the state governments. It is a demonstration of the realization of this fact that the Nigerian Constitution devolved significant aspects of service delivery to the states and shared some between the States and the Federal Governments. The constitutional provision for the role and functions of states were clearly spelt out in Part II of the Second Schedule under the Concurrent Legislative List in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended, which can be summarized as follows:

1. Provision of security and protection of lives and properties of the people. This is the primary responsibility of all levels of government, but state governments are usually the first to respond to any threats to peace. That explains why they are provided with special funds called security vote.
2. Provision of infrastructure such as roads, electrification and transport system in both rural and urban areas.
3. Provision of basic social services such as education, health care and clean drinking water. Primary and secondary schools are built, maintained, staffed and provided with working materials by state governments.
4. Generation of revenue and attraction of investments. They are expected to encourage and support the establishment of small, medium and even large scale businesses and industries. This necessarily involves creating conducive environment by ensuring the provision of functional infrastructure, basic amenities and services as well as adequate security for businesses to operate successfully.
5. Encouragement of agriculture and industrial production in their areas of jurisdiction.

It stands out clearly that states play a critical role in providing and regulating the operations of vital sectors of the economy and society. While doing these they are not competing with the central government. Their efforts complement those of the centre in these aspects of social and economic development.

In practical terms states do much more than these functions. They are involved in maintaining public order and security. They are usually the first in responding to threats to security. A typical example is the role states played in the North East during the Boko Haram insurgency which demonstrates the important role states could play in the responsibility of providing security to the people in the frontline of conflict, war or insurgency. The states in the region since the beginning of the insurgency were on the frontline confronting the situation. However, later on they worked in collaboration with the Federal Government, in providing support to the security forces and agencies in dealing with the problem.

States in Nigeria under the leadership of Executive Governors promote good governance and integration, inclusive and participatory administration, accommodation of diversity and consensus building all in effort to build workable and effective society. States are also concerned with social justice and the provision of facilities, infrastructure, goods and services to improve the well-being and welfare of the citizens. States plan and provide jobs, health care, clean drinking water and environmental sanitation and empower its citizens through various economic and social empowerment programmes. They assist small and medium scale entrepreneurs to boost the economy of the nation. In summary, sates are into all aspects of human social, economic, political and cultural developments. Any serious minded state chief executive has all these on his agenda and should wish to leave behind some indelible marks in these aspects during his tenure.

Going by the constitutional arrangement on distribution of responsibilities between the three tiers of government, the pivotal role of states can be clearly discerned. States share responsibilities with both the federal and local governments. It is the only tier that has that responsibility. The states have responsibilities that are key components of national development such as electricity, industrial, commercial and agricultural development, science and technological research, university and post-primary education, health and social welfare they share with the federal government. With local governments they share primary, adult and vocational education, health services, and development of agriculture and non-mineral natural resources.

Currently, there are thirty-eight (38) state universities, over forty (40) state polytechnics and over forty (40) schools of Nursing and Midwifery. States also man about 62, 406 primary schools with total enrolment of about 23, 129, 927; there are a total of 11, 874 Junior Secondary schools with a total enrolment of 4, 434, 979. By March, 2016, the Federal Government owed sixteen states a total sum of ₦580.5 billion for rehabilitation works carried out by the states on some federal roads in their territories. Sometime in July, 2016 the federal government was thinking of pleading with the states to take over some of the federal roads to ease its burden.

No national or Federal Government programme, project or policy is developed and adapted without the input and endorsement of the states. This demonstrates the collaboration, cooperation and complementary relations between the states and the Federal Government. It is also the states that transmit and implement these at the grassroots by working in collaboration with the local governments. Local governments in Nigeria today lack the necessary or requisite human resources to operate effectively and efficiently even if material resources are deployed to them. States have been the bull-work of implementation of policies and most effective agents of development in the nation and this role will take time to change.

TENSIONS AND CONTENTIONS OF NIGERIA’S FEDERALISM

There have been tensions and contentions about the viability of Nigeria’s Federal system in the last decades. The debates have caused unwarranted bad blood and violent reactions. The atmosphere has been charged as if the country will burst any moment. People and groups propose solutions some of which border on the extreme such as the dismembering of the country. In summary the main issues of contention include, but are not limited to the following:

1. Over concentration of power at the centre;
2. Undue Federal interference in the affairs of states;
3. State governments overshadowing of local governments; and

1. Skewed distribution of national revenue in favour of the Federal government.

Ethicists and Regionalists contend that the over concentration of power at the centre has led to the dominance of a section of the country’s leadership for too long due the unequal division of the country’s federating units, especially states. Thus there is the need to restructure the federation. Some suggest that Nigeria should revert to the twelve states structure. Others advocate the adoption of the six geopolitical zone system as federating units. Yet others are of the view that the country reverts to the earlier Regional system. These will cut cost of governance, give the federating units more autonomy to generate revenue and prepare budgets with more capital expenditure than recurrent which in turn would promote rapid development. There are also suggestions to abolish states and retain local governments thus having a two-tier system. While some are advocating for reduction of federating units some are demanding for the creation of more states. Thus,the whole debate is confused and disoriented, showing only the diverse perspective, even though unhealthy on the federal system.