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President Yar’adua And The Sixth State For The Southeast Zone By Benedict Okereke Padua, Italy. President Umar Yar’adua was on his first official visit to Imo state as president of Nigeria when leaders of thought in the state renewed their demand for another state in the Southeast zone. Throughout his visit, one watched the president speaking extempore on a range of issues. He berated operatives of governments over what many have tagged the greatest obstacle to Nigeria’s development – the fiscal sin of governments at the various levels abandoning meaningful projects started by their predecessors. The president’s response to the demand for another state in the Southeast was that the issue was a matter to be resolved by the National Assembly. At that juncture, one could not expect the president to lose sight of the reality that this age-old clamour for the creation of another state in the Southeast zone is a political matter, and that in a democracy such as we have in Nigeria, the will to resolve such a political issue must first be demonstrated at the executive level of government, then at the political party level before it goes to the National Assembly. The leaders of thought that brought the matter before the president were very much aware of the foregoing order of resolving political matters of such magnitude. They were also not unaware of the fact that if such matters are left for a long time unresolved, the grievances that arise therefrom may with time churn out a big embarrassment for the national government of the day. Justice delayed is justice denied. The non commensurate number of states in the Southeast zone, and the delay since the return to democratic governance in correcting this injustice enacted by military dictators have created in the zone a massive population of people disenchanted with the Nigerian project. We must not always wait for the fire brigade when we had the good chance to prevent the scintilla. We ought to learn from experience. The past administration headed by Olusegun Obasanjo realised this fact and was about to bring the matter of another state for the Southeast to come to fruition before the ‘baby was thrown away with the bath tub’ at the National Assembly. Political solutions and constitutional amendments targeted at satisfying a legitimate agitation of the people, or part of the people, are the only recipes for national stability and attendant economic development. We must not prefer political instability to economic and national development.
That the Southeast zone deserves another state in Nigeria has been stated in various fora. A Mr. Simpleton would posit that the clamour for an extra state for the zone was to bring the number of states in the Southeast equal to those of the other zones. It is not just that. For the people of Southeast origin and others that realise the importance of synergism in national development, the reasons for the clamour for another state are much more complex than that.
(1) If the last census exercise in Nigeria was allowed to reveal the states of origin of those enumerated, it should have thrown up the reality that the number of people that are meant to share the five states structure in the Southeast zone is more than double the number we have in any other zone in Nigeria. Again, if a count is taken, people originating from the Southeast zone may account for about half of Nigeria’s Diaspora. (2) The ever-increasing emphasis by Nigeria’s national and state governments on a citizen’s state of origin, and Nigeria’s non recognition of the residency system, (a system long adopted by other stable, progressive and prosperous nations), ensure that millions of people originating from the Southeast zone are mere paper citizens of Nigeria. For these paper citizens to give to and get from the Nigerian state, their states of origin are too crowded to get a foot-hold to operate, and outside their states of origin they are considered outsiders. (3) Given the Federal Character principles enshrined in Nigeria’s constitution, there is a comparatively very high population of people in and outside the five states of the Southeast zone who must depend on, or have a foot-hold within these five states in order to compete positively with their counterparts in the other zones. This absence of fair competition is negating development in the Southeast zone, and in various forms, impacting negatively on the overall interests of Nigeria. (4) Given the absence of fiscal federalism and Nigeria’s revenue sharing formula, the Southeast zone has been meant to lose fortunes on yearly basis to the benefit of the other zones of the country.
The importance of continuity in the art of governance must be emphasised here. The last federal administration sought for and got a nation-wide consensus on the matter of another state for the Southeast zone. It did not do that to solicit for support for a Third term in office as some would see it, it rather took a just course for Nigeria’s unity and development. Therefore, one would expect the leadership of this administration to build on the positive moves of its predecessor and steer this nation to the part of justice, unity and progress. It needs not take so long to correct the errors of military dictators. Benedict Okereke Padua, Italy. |