Thread by @RestructureNGR

Dear @ProfOsinbajo, this is a lecture about #TrueFederalism. You should find it useful in understanding the issues about restructuring. I encourage us to ask questions rather than criticize what we not fully understand. What is RESTRUCTURING & TRUE FEDERALISM?

This is a thread.

‘Restructuring’ is simply whatever process we adopt towards achieving ‘true’ federalism. RESTRUCTURING is the mission. FEDERALISM is the vision. Legally, we can only restructure through constitutional amendments and we need the support of the Parliament and Mr. President.

A large heterogeneous country like Nigeria cannot and should not be administered in a highly centralized manner. The rights of small communities, towns, cities, states and even tribes to administer themselves LOCALLY must be guaranteed by the federal constitution. Local Control

Federalism simply means recognizing the rights of localities to govern themselves within a larger society. For instance, within a state, every communities, city or town should have a locality government within the community as a last tier of government. This idea of lumping...

...several communities under the name of LGA is not compatible with our hometown and tribal sentiment. Community governments should have the power to raise taxes, have budgets, hire & fire basic school teachers, manage the PHC, maintain roads, manage security (community police)..

...and even generate their own electricity if possible. There should be no limit to what our community governments can do for us in the localities. The concept of community based governance is the most important feature of federalism. It is what has made America great!

A locality having the constitutional right to take charge of their own development is the greatest catalyst of real grass root development. REMEMBER; Community governance must be a product of the STATE CONSTITUTION. Yes! We need to have constitutions in our states!

One reason why many people fear that restructuring will lead to anarchy in our states is because they fear that our governors will become greater EMPERORS! True. I share in that sentiment too! However, our approach should be on HOW to mitigate such hazards rather than reject...

...then entire idea. This is why we need STATE CONSTITUTIONS! We must democratize our states first before we devolve those powers. State constitutions are not a threat to the unity of Nigeria. The aim is to impose checks and balances in the states and give the people the power..

...to control their state and community governments. For instance, many fear that governors will abuse state and community police. The state constitution should take care of that fear, and many others.

REMEMBER! The ultimate aim of restructuring is not just to devolve powers to the states but also to devolve powers from the state governments to the community (locality) governments. Federalism means local control and not necessarily state government control. State constitution..

...will give us the power to fund our local governments and in turn demand accountability from the government.

True Federalism has several features; state police, resource control, electoral independence of federating units, fiscal federalism, financial autonomy, and many more

This picture says a lot about the feature called STATE & COMMUNITY POLICE. As for the fear of it’s abuse. We will deal with that when establishing the institutions through the state constitutions and federal laws.

RESOURCE CONTROL does not mean giving resource rich states and communities a 100% control of the wealth, NO! If every part of the country cannot share in OUR natural resources, then where is the brotherhood in the nationhood? Resource control simply means giving the original...

...owners a sense of ownership while allowing every tier of government benefit from the wealth through a re-distributive tax system. WE would like to say a little more about every feature of federalism and how it can help improve governance in our localities...

...But WE have to go for now. Let us add this ‘Corruption is not the BIGGEST problem in Nigeria. The unitary feeding bottle system is.’ You cannot defeat corruption when you practice a system of government that survives on PREBENDALISM.

LASTLY; If you do not understand an issue, ask questions. Do not criticize what you do not fully understand. True Federalism will FIX NIGERIA.
We are available for more engagement. Visit RestructureNigeria.ng to learn more about RESTRUCTURING.
We will continue this lecture...