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RESTRUCTURING NIGERIA: ISSUES, CHALLENGES AND THE WAY FORWARD
By
Ikenna Ukpabi Unya PhD
History Unit
School of General Studies
Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike
Umuahia, Abia State
bismarckaik@gmail.com
Abstract
Restructuring has become the latest most discussed word in the political history of Nigeria with political
and non-political actors pushing forward their ideas and perspectives of what they think the concept
mean. Basically, they are two basic models for restructuring Nigeria: a conservative model aimed at
maintaining the status quo by simply asking the federal government to shed off some of its exclusive
powers and the radical model which calls for a fundamental devolution of powers to the states as
federating units and a lean federal government with few exclusive powers over external relations.
However, the two models are in agreement that there are fundamental defects in the system because of the
over-centralization of the federal system following decades of military rule with its central command
structure; thus the call for the restructuring of the polity. The aim of this study is to investigate and
critically analyze the restructuring question in Nigeria by looking at the different conceptual perspectives
on restructuring; the benefits and the past restructuring efforts carried out in Nigeria since independence.
Basically, the study is qualitative, utilizing mostly secondary data in its analysis. The findings of the study
reveal that Nigeria has a plethora of frameworks on how to restructure, what is lacking however, is the
political will to implement the recommendations. The study, thus, concludes by recommending among
other things that Nigerian leadership should summon courage or have the political will to implement the
recommendations emanating from the past constitutional conferences; in addition, Nigeria should also
embark on restructuring of the mindsets of the people which will create in the citizenry the virtues of
honesty of purpose, dedication to duty and absence of corruption.
Key words: Restructuring, Issues, Challenges, Way forward, Nigeria.
Introduction
Restructuring has become the latest term used in describing and explaining all the ills presently
plaguing the country, and it is widely and variously used. Restructuring as a Nigerian concept for
restoration or addressing structural deformities in the system cries out for more analytical precision and
empirical rigour because of the many interpretations associated with the concept. It was this difficulty
associated with the precise meaning of restructuring that made El-Rufai (2017) to lament that some
Nigerians prefer to use other words such as true federalism, devolution of power, resource control,
regionalism, self-determination, and others, instead of the word “restructuring”. Political leaders too,
avoid the word “restructuring” while making presentations. For example, Oseloka (2017) reports that
President Buhari in his campaign manifesto, promised to “initiate action to amend the Nigerian
Constitution with a view to devolving powers, duties, and responsibilities to states in order to entrench
true federalism and federal spirit”. In all fairness, Buhari never used the word, “restructure”, but it was
implied.
To be sure, so many Nigerians believe that Nigeria has steadily and systematically moved from being a
country of great promise to a country of great problems where the entire regions and zones feel
sufficiently aggrieved, marginalized and therefore seek equity via the call for restructuring. For instance,
post-independent Nigeria had three, later four regions, which without the benefit of oil created wealth,
were self-sufficient in food and production of various cash crops and other exportable commodities. The
regions equally contributed effectively to bankrolling the central government through 50 percent
derivation formula. The 50 percentage derivation continued from 1960 at independence up to 1970 when
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*First Published in International Journal of Integrative Humanism, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2018
General Yakubu Gowon reduced the derivation formula to 45 percent and by 1975 it was reduced to 25
percent. During General Buhari’s regime (between 1983 to 1985), it had crashed to 1.5 percent and
General Babangida then raised it to 3 percent and thereafter it moved to 13 percent (Ikokwu, 2017).
Today, the reverse is the case. The regions no longer contribute in bankrolling the central
government. In fact, the central government is now more powerful than the 36 federating units put
together, taking the biggest chunk of national revenues (now about 56%) but do very little well. With the
increase of states from 12 to 36 by the military class according to Ikokwu (2017) and the accumulation of
the legislative list to the central government, the Nigerian states today have become so pauperized as
appendages that they cannot even pay the salaries of their workers let alone their gratuities and pensions.
The analysis above indicates that Nigeria must restructure in order to promote competition,
efficiency and productivity as the new federating units struggle to survive. But a lot of people are afraid
of the outcome of such exercise especially the leaders from northern Nigeria. Some of them believe that
there is no guarantee that such an exercise will succeed in moving the nation forward, and that it may
even be counter-productive or lead to unexpected consequences. For instance, Paul Unongo, the former
Minister of Steel in an interview with the Daily Trust on July 9, 2017, claimed that the call for
restructuring means secession, while Yakasai too claimed in the interview he granted the Sunday Sun of
September 25, 2016, that those people agitating for restructuring are unpatriotic and are doing so with
some hate in their mind.
This unfounded fear being expressed by some northern leaders may be the reason why Oseloka
(2017) warned that Nigeria is at risk unless it finds the courage to restructure. According to Oseloka, a
planned restructuring will be collaborative, systematic, and redesign Nigeria, yet keep it whole. Bello
(2017) supports Oseloka by reminding those who are afraid that consciously or unconsciously, most
Nigerian leaders since independence have implemented one form of restructuring or the other during their
reign. The reason why we did not know is that the decisions were not called or announced as
restructuring, and they were done in piecemeal making them un-noticeable by the general public.
Drawing from the above narratives, the aim of this paper is to assess and critically interrogate the
restructuring question in Nigeria. To achieve this aim, the paper is structured into sections. With this
introductory overview, the paper proceeds into discussing the theoretical perspectives of the word
“restructuring”. It is argued that restructuring means a lot of things to different people, thus, the
conceptual explanations in this section reduces the conceptual ambiguity associated with the word;
section three evaluates and examines the different types of restructuring that different regimes in Nigeria
have carried; section four discusses the benefits Nigeria can derive if restructured; then section five
concludes with policy recommendations.
Nigerian Restructuring Question: The Conceptual Explanations
The word “restructuring” connotes different things to different people and many Nigerians of
different backgrounds tend to ascribe different meanings to it. For instance, the first thing that comes to
the mind of people when they hear restructuring is political restructuring such as creating more states or
merging of states/LGA, resource control, regional autonomy, power devolution etc. The most sensitive of
which is resource control especially oil wealth. However, there are many dimensions to restructuring,
some of which include political restructuring, economic restructuring, educational restructuring, social
restructuring, accounting restructuring, administrative restructuring, restructuring of the security
apparatus etc. Since, there are many dimensions to restructuring, anybody agitating for it should tell
Nigerians the exact type or types of restructuring he or she wants (Bello, 2017).
Historically, this is not the first time that words with prefixes such as “Re” have found their ways
into national consciousness and reckoning. According to Yaqub (2016), after the bitter civil war which
lasted between 1967 and 1970, the Gowon Administration coined three “Re’s” namely, “Re-conciliation”,
“Re-construction”, and “Re-habilitation”, to depict the determination of the regime then to come up with
programmes that would, at least, be used to blunt the rough edges of the traumatic years of the civil war
on the war-torn erstwhile Eastern Region.
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What then is the meaning of “restructuring”? Bello (2017) asserts that restructuring is the process
of increasing or decreasing the number of component parts that make up a system and re-defining the
interrelationship between them in such a way that the entire system performs more efficiently.
Restructuring according to Unya (2011), means to effect a fundamental change in an organization or
system. Oyim (2013) sees restructuring as changing the way in which something such as government,
business, or system is organized. In other word, restructuring can lead to increased efficiency and cost
effectiveness. When Nigerians talk about restructuring, what then do they exactly mean? Before we
answer the question, we shall take a historical look at the formation of Nigeria, the system the founding
fathers established, how it worked in the past and how it is working now. From our historical past, we can
now appreciate the different perspectives and views Nigerians have on the issue of restructuring.
To be sure, Nigeria became a united British colony by the amalgamation of its Northern and
Southern Protectorates in 1914. In 1960, it attained independence, fashioned a federal constitution, which
had three and subsequently four regions as its federating units. Each of these regions had a written
constitution, emblem and an official representation in London. They had significant powers and were
authorized to raise the revenues needed to fund themselves and contribute to the central government. El-
Rufai (2017) reports that the political giants that led the old regions competed to do their best for their
respective peoples and each of the three original regions founded its own university, built industrial
estates, and developed hospitality businesses; and they tried to build the physical infrastructure needed for
modern economy.
Some of the most enduring institutions in Nigeria according to El-Rufai (2017) were built by
these regional governments, hence the understandable nostalgia in some quarters for the currently-
dysfunctional federal structure of Nigeria to revert to the regions of old. However, after the “Five Majors”
struck in 1966 and, a unitarist tendency gained influence in General Aguiyi Ironsi’s government, and a
unification decree was enacted in May 1966, unifying the public service across the country. Although a
counter-coup in July 1966 sounded the death knell for the unification decree, the remnants of unitarism
remained, enabled without doubt by the centralized structure of the military which inexorably further
distorted our post-independence federalism. The counter-coup was followed by widespread violence, the
creation of 12 states out of the four defunct regions, and civil war to prevent the southeastern region from
seceding.
To raise the resources for prosecuting the civil war which started in 1967, the taxation powers of
the former regions were changed in favor of the federal government, further strengthening the center at
the expense of the twelve states. The military sat tight for 13 years in their first coming. They ensured that
the Federal Republic of Nigeria, headed by a Supreme Commander, and ruled by the Federal Military
Government, became a strangely named, mainly unitary state. The four years of civilian democratic rule
between 1979 and 1983 saw some resurgence and reassertion of the federal spirit. The second coming of
the military lasted until 1999. In those sixteen years, the unitarist takeover was completed. A new
generation of citizens grew up knowing only the command-and-control system of the soldiers.
A psychological distortion made political deformation even worse. More powers had been
concentrated at the center, the federal bureaucracy had ballooned and there were now many states (from
12 to 36) whose evident limitations proved insufficient to discourage the demand for yet more states. As
states became many, smaller and less fiscally-independent, a powerful center, manifested in a federal
government that assumed ever more powers and responsibilities, took the biggest chunk of national
revenues (now about 56%) but did very little well. This is a brief summary of our national journey to
dysfunction (El-Rufai, 2017).
To be sure, this historical excursion we took is the background to the plethora of voices shouting
that Nigeria needs to be restructured and that the main reason why restructuring agitations has defied any
form of pacification by the federal government. We shall consider the views of Nigerians on what they
feel are the meanings of restructuring. Osuntokun (2017) explained that restructuring is simply a call for
the restoration of federalism – the foundational constitution structure to which all Nigerians subscribed as
encapsulated in the independence constitution of 1960. The 1960 constitution according to Osuntokun
was violated in 1966 and the violation set in motion a chain of events that has culminated in the present
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abnegation of a 36 states structure against the four regional structures that emanated from the
independence constitution. All the ills presently plaguing the country are directly or indirectly a
consequence of the wrong anti-federalist diversion Nigeria took in 1966. Similarly, Yaqub (2016) sees
restructuring as a process that requires Nigerian citizens to take a closer look at the national edifice or,
better still, the state of the nation with regard to how to address structural deformities, if any.
The imprecise nature of the word “restructuring” has arguably divided Nigeria into two opposing
camps – the southern protagonists who are strongly in favour of restructuring and the northern antagonists
who are apparently in opposition to restructuring. The protagonists and antagonists arguments have also
led to the emergence of two basic models for restructuring Nigeria. The two models according to Nwodo
(2017) are the conservative model aimed at maintaining the status quo by simply asking the federal
government to shed off some of its exclusive powers and radical model which calls for the fundamental
devolution of powers to the States as federating units and a lean Federal Government with exclusive
powers over external foreign relations.
Making argument in support of restructuring in an interview he granted Daily Sun, Professor
ABC Nwosu (former political adviser to President Obasanjo) starts by defining restructuring as “changing
the structure. What is the structure? There is too much power at the centre. The federal government has
too much power, too much responsibility, too much money, too much to waste…” When asked why
people are asking for restructuring, he answers by asserting that, “the structure that we have is anti-
development. The structure we have is unjust and unfair. I belong to the school of thought that regards
restructuring more of devolution of power than regionalization of Nigeria”. Therefore, the Nigerian
unitary system of administration which we have now is not only an illegal constitutional contraption, but
also an unworkable political system and a harbinger of perverse, chaotic, political and economic
conundrum”.
On the side of the antagonists are people who believe that restructuring is anti-north and should
not be debated. For instance, Yakasai (2016) argued persuasively that the people agitating for
restructuring are unpatriotic. He goes ahead to say that those who are calling for restructuring in Nigeria
today are doing so with some kind of hate in their minds. The thing that is working in their minds is to
find a way of denying states from the north from getting the kind of shares they are getting from the
federation account. Some of the factors that the government is using to distribute the revenue are God-
made. For instance, when they talk of population, the Nigerian people were not created by the Nigerian
government.
It is God who created the Nigerian people, Yakasai continued and concentrated some of them in
a particular area, which is the north and which always has more than 55 percent of the total population of
Nigeria. Now, if you go with the other factor, that is landmass, the north has two third of the total
landmass of Nigeria. You cannot deny a northerner those advantages given to him by God simply because
he gets some revenue based on those creations. Those talking about restructuring are actually hiding their
real intent under the slogan. They are yet to explain what this restructuring means. They are only shouting
and fighting restructuring because of the share of the revenue the north is getting.
Similarly, Unongo (2017) followed the same route Yakasai took when asked in an interview what
he understands by the word “restructuring”. According to him, restructuring is nothing but secession.
According to him:
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A young man by name Kanu wants to secede and resurrect Biafra and the Nigerian
press, international press, as well as other people are giving him much attention as if
he is doing something new. Some people also said it is all about fiscal federalism so
that they can control resources in their states. Yet others want presidential system of
government to be abandoned so that we can go back to regionalism just like
parliamentary system of government when the premiers such as the late Obafemi
Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe and Ahmadu Bello held sway. There are others who
don’t even like the old regional system but want autonomous regional powers for the
six geopolitical zones. Restructuring, to me, means nothing. It’s just politics to me.
Nigerians when they want to talk, they just talk and talk. We have been restructuring,
we had a three regional government and we have had a parliamentary system. When
the military intervened; they pretended that the system didn’t work because they
wanted to change governance…. So, what do you mean by restructuring? Do we
need reforms? Yes. Are reforms being made? Yes. Do we need all the noises being
made? No. Do we need all the people of Nigeria to be gathered and we truncate
constitutionalism and ask the people to rewrite the constitution? I have never seen a
country that has written so many constitutions as Nigeria. I would have sympathy for
argument that thinks that constitution handed to Nigerians by the military through a
fiat does not truly represent what we want. If the people also do not want the
leadership in place now, then the way forward would be for the country’s president
to organize a sovereign national conference.
What may perhaps be considered moderating viewpoints from northern Nigeria are the opinions
of Atiku Abubakar – a former Vice President and Ibrahim Babangida, the former Military President.
According to Atiku, “there is no doubt that many of our states are not viable, and were not viable from the
start once you take away the federation allocations from Abuja. We have to find creative ways to make
them viable in a changed federal system. We can constitute a body of non-partisan experts to suggest
other ideas. But in all, we must devolve more powers and resources from the federal government and de-
emphasize federal allocations the source of sustenance of states. We need to start producing again and
collecting taxes to run our governments in more sustainable way with greater transparency and
accountability”.
Similarly, General Ibrahim Babangida advocated for “devolution of powers to the extent that
more responsibilities be given to the states while the Federal Government is vested with the responsibility
to oversee our foreign policy, defence, and economy. Even the idea of having Federal roads in towns and
cities has become outdated and urgently needs revisiting. That means we need to tinker with our
constitution to accommodate new thoughts that will strengthen our nationality”.
To be sure, ever since the return of civil rule in 1999, this issue of restructuring has gained
momentum to the extent that any government that comes to power must convoke a conference to seek the
way forward. In 2005, Obasanjo organized a constitutional conference towards the end of his tenure. In
2014, Goodluck Jonathan convoked a constitutional conference that people believed if implemented
would have led to the restoration of true federalism but lacked courage to enforce it. When President
Buhari came to power in 2015, his party promised to “devolve more revenue and powers to the states and
local governments so that decision making is closer to the people”. To that end, the party set up a
committee in 2017 headed by the Governor of Kaduna State titled: APC Committee on True Federalism.
The committee was set to help the party articulate a roadmap for political and constitutional reforms.
After a careful review of history, literature, and reports of the previous constitutional conferences,
the APC Committee on True Federalism reduced the subject matter to the following twelve contentious
issues that have consistently featured in virtually all previous debates on the issues around restructuring
by whatever name or phrase:
1. Creation or merger of states and the framework and guidelines for achieving that;
2. Derivation principle, bordering on what percentage of federal collectible revenues from mining
should be given back to the sub-nationals from which the commodities are extracted;
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3. Devolution of powers: what items on the exclusive legislative list should be transferred to the
recurrent list, especially state and community police, prisons, etc.
4. Federating units: should Nigeria be based on regions or zones or retain the 36 state structure?
5. Fiscal federalism and revenue allocation;
6. Form of government – (parliamentary or presidential?);
7. Independent candidacy;
8. Land tenure system;
9. Local government autonomy;
10. Power sharing and rotation of political offices;
11. Resource control; and
12. Type of legislature – part-time or full-time, unicameral or bicameral? (El-Rufai, 2017).
On 25th of January, 2018, the APC Committee on True Federalism submitted its report to the
National Working Committee of the party. The APC Committee made several recommendations
according to Okogba (2018) which indicate that the party wants to listen to the yearnings of the people.
The Committee made the following recommendations:
1. Creation of State: The committee noted in its recommendation that the creation of new states
would weaken rather than strengthen true federalism by denying the federating units enough
resources to discharge additional responsibilities that may be thrust on them. But that in the case
of South East Zone which requires a new state in equity with other geopolitical zones may be
attended to through existing constitutional avenues if found necessary.
2. Merger of States: The committee found that opposition to the merger of states is very strong in
the 3 northern zones and it viewed the growing regional economic cooperation amongst states as
a way of merging their economic potentials.
3. Derivation Principles: The committee feels that the federal government should expeditiously
review the current derivation formula upwardly in favour of solid minerals and hydro-power.
That the Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Allocation Commission Act 2004 should be amended
to vest the commission with the power and responsibility to periodically review the derivation
formulas and make proposals to the President who shall then table same to the National
Assembly for necessary legislation.
4. Fiscal Federation and Revenue Allocation: Some of the zones preferred maintenance of the
status quo, while others preferred an upward review as a better developmental option. The
committee observed that the constitution presently provides for the principle of derivation of not
less than 13% in Section 162(2) of the Constitution but there is clearly room for its upward
review but did not state the extent. Some of the proponents of upward review have in the last
years proposed a return to our 1960 independence position of 60% derivation of resource control
to the resource owners while the rest is shared among the federal government and other states. It
should be noted that the current formula for sharing revenue is 56% to the Federal Government,
24% to the State Governments, and 20% to the Local Governments. Many contributors
nationally have felt that with the devolution of a lot of the present powers of the Federal
Government, its share should greatly reduce in line with its exclusive responsibilities reduction.
5. Devolution of Powers: The committee felt that more than 30 items had been variously identified
across the 6 zones for devolution from the Federal Government to the State Governments. The
items variously mentioned for devolution include the Police and Community Policing,
Education, Prisons, Health, Roads, Security, Agriculture, Railway, Mineral Resources, Trade and
Commerce and Housing. On an issue like roads, which should be ceded to the State, it was
generally agreed that the Federal Government should on this subject be limited to only a few
cross country interstate roads. This issue of devolution of powers has been the most contentious
among the various proponents and opponents. The committee quite rightly observed that the
major issue with the Nigerian Federation is the enormous exclusive legislative powers of the
Federal Government with resultant over-centralization of power and authority. It is generally
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believed that a further decentralization of some of these powers by devolving more powers,
autonomy, and resources to the federating units will foster efficiency and sub-national
responsiveness and local accountability. The committee therefore, recommends that this would
entail the transfer of various items on the exclusive legislative list, some to the concurrent list
and others to the residual list of the States.
We cannot at this juncture rejoice that APC has done what no other party did. A glance at the
Obasanjo’s 2005 constitutional conference and that of Jonathan of 2014 indicate that Nigerian leaders
have plethora of documents to restructure the system, what they lack is the political will to implement or
restructure the polity for efficient administration. Having extensively discussed the APC’s Committee on
True Federalism and its recommendations, our attention shall now be turned to the different restructurings
that had taken place in the past since independence to allay the fears of those who feel that the outcome
may be uncontrollable.
Past Restructuring Since Independence
Consciously or unconsciously, deliberately or in-deliberately, most Heads of State or
governments we have had since independence have implemented one form of restructuring or the other
during their reign. The reasons why we did not know is that the decisions were not called or announced as
restructuring, and they were done in piecemeal, making them un-noticeable by the general public. Even
those that made the changes did not know that they were actually restructuring Nigeria, either
economically, politically, administratively or otherwise. Bello (2017) listed different restructuring
exercises carried out unconsciously by each government since independence which we discussed below.
Tafawa Balewa (1960-1965), (Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe as Governor-General/ Ceremonial President)
a) Creation of Mid-Western Region from the then Western Region – Political Restructuring
General Aguiyi Ironsi: – Jan 1966-July 1966 (6 months)
1. Abolished the federating regions by Decree 32 suspended Federal and Regional parliaments. Power
became concentrated at the center (Political restructuring)
2. Cancelled Native Authority Police (Administrative restructuring)
3. Federal Government took over control of revenue from natural resources and corporate taxes from
regional governments. Shared national income among the regions (fiscal and economic restructuring)
4. Started unitary government with a strong center and weaker regions, a bye-product of military
dictatorship (political restructuring).
General Yakubu Gowon (July 1966-August 1975)
a. Creation of 12 states to replace four regions – (major political restructuring)
b. Universal free primary education (educational restructuring)
c. Started with 50% derivation payment to oil producing states, – (fiscal/ economic restructuring) (This
was later gradually reduced to 13% over a few years)
d. Changed currency from pounds to Naira (monetary restructuring)
e. Promulgated the indigenization decree (economic restructuring)
f. NCE introduced (educational restructuring)
g. NYSC introduced (socio-administrative restructuring)
h. Takeover of schools owned by private or religious organizations (educational restructuring)
i. Created Ministry of Petroleum Resources (administrative restructuring).
General Murtala Mohammed (July 1975-Feb 1976)
a. Started the process of relocating Federal Capital from Lagos to Abuja (political/administrative
restructuring)
b. Started the process of drafting a new constitution for Nigeria (political restructuring)
c. Created additional states(political restructuring)
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General Olusegun Obasanjo (1st reign)
a. Finalized and approved the change from British parliamentary to American Presidential system as
recommended by Nigerians through the 49-member constitution drafting committee and endorsed by the
constituent assembly (major political restructuring)
b. Land Use Decree: Takeover of urban land from land owners by Government and handling it over to
State Governors (socio-economic restructuring)
c. Strengthened and formalized an independent third tier of government – LGA with executive arm
(chairmen/ supervisory councilors) and legislative arm (councilors forming local government house of
assemblies and making laws) – major political restructuring
d. Moved the federal capital from Lagos to Abuja in principle (Political/administrative restructuring)
e. Introduced the sharing of central revenue among 3 tiers of government (Federal, State, LGA) – Fiscal
restructuring
f. Introduced free tuition in Federal Tertiary Institution (Educational restructuring)
g. OND and HND merged into one qualification (Educational restructuring)
h. JAMB established (educational restructuring)
i. Established the umbrella labour union NLC for junior workers. (Socio-economic restructuring)
Shehu Shagari (Oct 1979-Dec 1983)
a. Introduced Minister of State portfolio – (Administrative restructuring)
b. Introduced the 6-3-3-4 education system – (Educational restructuring)
c. Reversed OND/HND merger (educational de-structuring)
d. Established Federal Character Principle in federal appointments (political restructuring)
e. Cancelled Federal Scholarship scheme (Educational restructuring)
f. Created Ministry of Science and Technology (administrative restructuring)
Major-General Buhari/Tunde Idiagbon:
No major landmark decision or restructuring was done during their short reign, implemented
only minor administrative changes such as war against indiscipline, bringing corrupt civil servants to
book, introduced death penalty for drug trafficking (Judicial restructuring). Implemented strict control of
access to foreign exchange and naira exchange rate.
General Ibrahim Babangida (1985-1993)
1. Liberalized access to foreign exchange by introducing auctions for foreign exchange (economic
restructuring leading to 400 % devaluation of Naira within 24 hours)
2. Released the determination of naira exchange rate to market forces rather than government forces
(monetary restructuring)
3. Finally cancelled derivation principle for oil producing areas.(geo-economic restructuring)
4. Replaced derivation with the Creation of OMPADEC (now NDDC) so that federal government can
directly develop the Niger Delta region. (Fiscal/economic restructuring)
5. Created Federal Revenue Mobilization and Fiscal Commission (administrative restructuring)
6. Attempted to enforce 2-party system for Nigeria (failed political restructuring)
7. Breaking of NITEL monopoly and creation of NCC thereby attracting private sector investment into
telecoms (major economic restructuring)
8. Breaking of NTA monopoly and creating of Nigerian Broadcasting Commission, bringing private
investment into broadcasting (socio-economic restructuring)
9. Creation of Zayyad –led TCPC to privatize or commercialize government industries and parastatals
(fiscal and economic restructuring)
10. Decreased the year of service for qualifying for pension from 15 to 10 years and gratuity from 10 to 5
years (administrative restructuring)
11. Approved 100% of terminal salary as pension for army generals, permanent sectaries and university
professors (Administrative restructuring)
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Ernest Shonekan. August 1993-Nov 1993
No time to implement any restructuring during his 3 months tenure.
Abacha Nov 1993 to June 1998
1. Created 6 additional states and additional local government (political restructuring)
2. Introduced value added tax (economic restructuring)
Gen Abdusalam Abubakar June 1998- May 1999
1. Drafted a new constitution for Nigeria by modifying the 1979 constitution.
2. Removed local government autonomy through joint account with state government (fiscal
restructuring)
3. Licensed the first private university (Igbinedion University, Okada) (educational restructuring).
General Olusegun Obasanjo (2nd coming) (May 1999-May 2007)
1. Restored 13% Derivation to oil producing areas by sponsoring an executive bill in the National
assembly ( geo-fiscal restructuring) The same bill also extended derivation to other solid minerals
extracted in non-oil-producing areas.
2. Created Ministry of Niger Delta (administrative restructuring)
3. Started full and all-out privatization of Government parastatals (economic restructuring)
4. Implemented full monetization of Federal Civil Servant’s fringe benefits (economic restructuring)
5. Started the contributory pension scheme for civil servants (administrative restructuring)
6. Established EFCC (restructuring of security apparatus)
7. Introduced 8-year tenure for Federal civil servants (Directors and above)
8. Created Excess crude oil account (Fiscal restructuring)
Alhaji Umaru Musa Yar’adua (May 2007-May 2010)
His short-lived reign did not allow him to implement any major restructuring during his reign
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (May 2010 – May 2015)
No major restructuring done during his 6-year reign.
He is however being remembered for the bold step of convening a national conference and also as
the first African leader to conceded election defeat and congratulated the winner (– restructuring of
mindset)
We have gone into the above details in order to prove to Nigerians that restructuring Nigeria has
been happening since Independence. It is still work in progress, and as long as the earth remains, we shall
find reasons to continue to restructure Nigeria in one way or the other.
Political restructuring may in due course, stabilize like in the developed countries, but social,
administrative, fiscal and economic restructuring are likely to continue as long as the earth remains. I will
in the next part of this article enumerate examples of the various types of restructuring we need in Nigeria
which are far more important and more productive that the political restructuring that most people tend to
emphasize.
Benefits of Restructuring
Those asking for restructuring are of the opinion that it will make the nation more stable
politically and also bring more economic progress by encouraging hard work and competition among
federating units hence allowing each unit to develop at its own pace. However, political stability is not a
function of ethnic homogeneity or religious purity. Somalia is a nation in which over 90% of the
population speaks the same language. Also, Somalia is 99% Muslim by religion, yet, it is one of the most
unstable countries in the world. On the other hand, Switzerland consists of 3 major languages (German,
French and Italian). It has no single gram of mineral resource, yet, it is one of the most stable and one of
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the richest countries in the world. It can therefore be concluded that the mindset of the citizens of a
country is the major determinant of political stability and economic progress (Bello, 2017).
Nwodo (2017) sees restructuring as the only way to salvage Nigeria’s fledging economy.
According to him, the world is no longer driven by fossil oil but rather the proliferation of a knowledge-
based economy. For instance, Netherlands is the 18th largest economy in the world. It has over $100
billion from agricultural exports annually, contributed mainly by vegetables and dairy. Nigeria’s oil
revenue has never in any one year reached $100 billion. Northern Nigeria is the most endowed
agriculturally in Nigeria. Its tomatoes, carrots, cabbages, cucumbers, tubers, grains, livestock and dairy
feed the majority of Nigerians in spite of its huge reserve of unexploited export potentials. In a
restructured Nigeria, Northern Nigeria with the right agricultural policies will be the richest part of
Nigeria.
Odumakin (2017) identified the following as the reasons why Nigeria must restructure for
economic progress, social equity and sustainable development.
1. A Nigeria earnestly restructured, is a Nigeria positively restored: a country restored to a
previously-travelled path of developmental progress, rapid educational advancement, robust and
committed Public Service, which genuinely and competently served the Nigerian public – both at
Federal and regional levels. Restructuring will bring back THE CONDITIONS for a return to that
golden era of public service and effective governance, regionally and at the Centre.
2. A Nigeria restructured is a Nigeria with enhanced leadership-building culture, where a truly-
federal system allows each region to locally identify leadership for public governance, nurture
and closely monitor such leaders for hard work and spirit of public service, focused on the
development of each region, at a pace and a rate that reflect the quantum of each region’s effort
and efficient use of local resources; indeed, the rivalry-for-regional-success resulting from a
truly-federating Nigeria, will boost sustainable development across all zones of the country.
Because more public appointments and elected offices may likely be needed within the federating
Regions, with relatively less at the Centre, a Nigeria re-structured will be one where the process
of recruitment into public leadership could be better subjected to closer local scrutiny for
reputation, character and track record, as against the current practice where persons with dubious
reputations and questionable bona fides among their own people, are chosen into high national
office as leaders – presumably on behalf of their regions or localities – by a distant Central
government, which often knows relatively little (or, sometimes cares little) about the poor and
low-character reputation of such appointees among their own people.
3. A Nigeria restructured is a Nigeria where the Central Government, along with its lower-level
Federating Constituents, will, and must, be strong!! We seek a Nigeria where every level of
government is strong; BUT each level must be strong for the right reasons, and in the right areas
of responsibility. We all need a Central government to be strong in the defence of our nation, in
immigration and global diplomacy, and in other areas where a strong and competent Central
Government is in our collective national interest. But a restructured Nigeria does not need, for
example, a Federal Fire Service!! Fire? incidents occur at a very local level – on streets, in
neighbourhood and at community levels. Still on the Fire Service example, a restructured Nigeria
will ensure that appropriate state and local governance units are capable and strong to respond
adequately and promptly to fire incidents wherever they occur.
4. A Nigeria restructured is a Nigeria enhanced by the removal of the current PERVERSE-
INCENTIVES SYSTEM, where many people seek elected and appointive government positions,
not to develop the God-given resources of their local areas and local lands, or add to the wealth of
their communities, but instead to feed on, and loot the un-earned monthly allocations from the
centre; a restructured Nigeria will reduce the current mentality and room-for-maneouvre by
elected and appointed leaders to treat the Abuja monthly allocations, as part of Nigeria’s current
‘Awoof-Economy of un-earned monthly allocations’ – to quote the common-parlance reference
by a distinguished Yoruba development scientist and thinker, the Emeritus Professor Akin
Mabogunje; a restructured Nigeria will be a Nigeria in which the Central Government will no
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longer be able to automatically pool funds un-evenly from different parts of Nigeria, while re-
distributing the same funds unfairly and inequitably (at the expense of the larger contributors)
among the various states and local governments – regardless of the quality of policy choices and
good-governance efforts by state and LG leaders.
5. A Nigeria restructured is a Nigeria where every area, region or zone of the country will be able to
devote more thinking time, conceptualization, research, exploration and analysis to its mineral
and agricultural resources, with a view to developing an economic value-chain from them, which
is the first serious step towards the development of a manufacturing capacity across the country.
When governments and private investors in every part of the country, are challenged to look for
sources of wealth-creation PRIMARILY within their own region, and to work with international
investors to transform these natural endowments into real economic empowerment for millions of
their people, then we know restructuring is at work.
6. A restructured Nigeria is a Nigeria where we would no longer practice the current system of
FORCED EQUALIZATION of ‘ever-downwards’ educational opportunities across the country,
just to ensure federal character; a restructured governance structure will force or ensure
investment of extra efforts and programmes to bring low-performing students in the Northern
parts of Nigeria, up to the level of better-performing students elsewhere in the country. It’s a
cruel, future-damaging false help to the people of northern Nigerian states, for the Central
Government to continuously lower pass-grades and qualification standards for children of the
poor in that zone!! Nigeria’s people of power everywhere, including in the north, where the elite
repeatedly push achievements standards lower and lower for children of the poor, – these elite
policy makers and politicians DO NOT ask colleges and Universities overseas to lower admission
standards to enable their own children to be enrolled. Instead, the northern elite and politicians
invest money into extra coaching, encouragement, monitoring and similar efforts to ensure that
their own children meet and even surpass the academic-entry requirements into the best schools
overseas.
7. In a truly-restructured Nigeria, the negative effects of lowering academic and examination
standards will very quickly become obvious and untenable among the people in the states and
regions practicing this immorality, which offends the best of Islamic, Christian and indigenous
ethics of justice, equality of opportunity and fairness. Restructuring will therefore bring
EDUCATIONAL LIBERATION to the millions of poor children in the North – and everywhere
– who are funded by the Central government to wallow in under-achievement. In Yorubaland,
even the poorest persons strive to provide extra-teaching and learning support to improve their
children’s education. We advocate that a restructured Nigeria should aim for this type of effort to
promote achievement among all of Nigeria’s children, regardless of socio-economic status.
Restructuring will thus bring healthy rivalry in educational achievement to ALL children of
Nigeria and help us EQUALISE EDUCATIONAL SUCCESS, instead of failure. Current access
to easy central funds, regardless of local or state leadership performance, only encourages
policies and practices that artificially and irresponsibly impose a centrally-funded equalization of
low-performance for the children of the poor. Fiscal Restructuring will end the current
government-funded race to the bottom for all Nigerian children!!
Conclusion and Recommendations
This study has examined and assessed the restructuring question in Nigeria, the issues and the
challenges. The study took off by stating the anomalies in the system which led to a serious call for the
restructuring of the entire system. The study also analyzed the concept of restructuring; the different
debates on restructuring discussed and the benefits examined. The APC Committee on True Federalism
has given us good recommendations on the key areas that must be restructured; however, the study further
recommends that the principle of rotation be adopted as a means of power sharing. Bello (2017) rightly
observed that the principle of rotation is not new in Nigeria. The selection of the Obas, Ezes and Emirs
employ rotation among ruling houses. This is a good tradition we must inculcate and retain in the
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administration of Nigeria. The Secretary General of the United Nations is rotated among the five
continents – Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa and Oceanic/Australia. So, rotation is recognized even at
international levels by developed economies. Consequently, Nigeria should embrace an administrative
restructuring which will enable executive posts at the Federal, State and LGA levels to be rotated among
constituent units in line with the existing practice in most of our traditional geo-political institutions.
Again, no matter how much restructuring is done in constitutional and structural terms, if the
basic ingredients and values of development administration – such as honesty of purpose, dedication to
duty, absence of corrupt practices, discipline, decisiveness in taking and implementing acceptable
options, etc. – are still absent and/or are not cultivated, it is saying the obvious that one could have the
best structural arrangement in a federal setting, but it is the same thing or same result that one would
harvest (Yaqub, 2016). Therefore, restructuring of our mindset is as important as political cum economic
restructuring. Nigeria has the choice to remain without restructuring and break or mend with systematic
restructuring and remain stronger and whole. Let our leaders find the courage to restructure because a
wise man gets his umbrella ready before the rain starts.
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