As is generally known, Nigeria operates a deformed federal system, where not even lip-service is paid to the tenets of federalism.
The long years of military dictatorship coupled with the imposition of constitutions which reflect unitary, militarist nuances and attitudes have resulted in a situation in which Nigeria’s mode of operation is a mockery of true federalism and veritable example, as our people say, of passing off a dog for a monkey.
The division of powers enshrined in the 1999 Abdusalami constitution lists 68 items exclusively for the Federal Government, including matters such as aviation, banks and banking, construction, alteration and maintenance of federal trunk roads, census, including registration of births and deaths, import and export of commodities, insurance, labour matters, marriage and divorce, mines and mineral, nuclear energy, police and other government security services, public holidays, railways, etc. On the other hand, the Constitution stipulated certain critical subjects over which the Federal Government and states were deemed to have concurrent powers. These included collection of taxes, generation, transmission and distribution of electricity, establishment of universities and other tertiary institutions.
When to all this is read the doctrine of “covering the field,” it becomes clear that we have a suffocating Federal Government, leaving little autonomy of action for the constituent units of the federation. Even in the area of maintenance of law and order, where governors are frequently described as “chief security officers” of their respective states, they have been effectively emasculated under the Constitution which removed control over Commissioners of Police in the states by subjecting directives from governors regarding public safety and public order to the federal authorities before being complied with. More pointedly, as recent events in the polity have shown, a President can deploy troops to the streets to intimidate protesters or quell an imminent uprising, shoving aside the governor(s) of the state(s) without feeling the need to seek the consent of the authorities of the state(s) concerned.
It is on account of the skewed nature of Nigeria’s federalism that those at the forefront of regional integration must evince tremendous circumspection and ingenuity, if they do not wish to play into the hands of those that do not wish them well. As a commentator recently wondered aloud: “Do we wish to see a fully centralised system with all legislative and executive powers concentrated at the centre, or do we wish to develop a federal system under which each different region of the country would exercise a measure of internal autonomy?”
It is quite obvious that Nigeria as currently constituted would hamstring and thwart all initiatives aimed at regional autonomy and collective self-reliance. Accordingly, every effort should be made immediately to redress the infelicities and rough edges of Nigeria’s federalism in order to give this country a new lease of life. The attractions of more devolution of powers, fiscal federalism and regional empowerment make a re-configuring of the present set-up a matter deserving of immediate and relentless pursuit. Whether it is a Sovereign National Conference, Constituent Assembly or just a big family meeting of the multifarious ethnic nationalities that comprise Nigeria, the fact of the matter is that ignoring the central issue of our time could very well spell doom for and herald the dirge of Nigeria as we know it.
Of course, there are those who would continue to mouth the shibboleth of Nigerian unity being non-negotiable, but to such, the simple riposte is that, as Mark Twain ruefully once observed, only two things are non-negotiable in life -death and taxes! The demise of the Nigerian Federation, which has been variously predicted, can only be hastened by inaction and in light of the fissiparous tendencies clearly visible in contemporary times. The opportunity has to be speedily provided for the inhabitants of this vast country to basically address two issues: Do they wish to live together and if so, how?
Law as a Tool for Regional Integration
To the extent that law remains the instrument for socio-economic transformation and development, to that extent should it play a critical role in any attempt towards regional integration, even in a polity as convoluted as Nigeria’s where lip-service is still paid to fidelity to due process of law. This explains the need to pay credence to the harnessing of law in realising the laudable goal of regional integration, more so as without a legal framework, all actions pursuant thereto would jolly well amount to nothing.
Accordingly, there is a necessity for hammering out an agreement among all parties regarding the broad goals of integration before deploying law to the attainment of same. Without such consensus, all efforts thereto would amount to little more than pouring water on the back of a duck. The agreed goals would form the leitmotif of legislation to be enacted by the legislative houses of all the participating states towards attainment of the agreed goal. Such harmonised law-making constitutes an effective panacea to the difficulties which might lie along the path of regional integration.
We are told that plans for the integration of these states include trans-regional road networks, a regional railway system, generation, transmission and distribution of electricity within the region and common agriculture, trade and commercial policies. Later, integration could also involve matters such as human capital development, cultural exchange, research and development, optimisation and rationalisation of institutions, etc. The endeavour towards regional integration would, no doubt, require data collection and processing for planning and other purposes, an activity which, if undertaken by the respective states, could engender hostility and resistance from the federal authorities.
A critical issue here relates to the need to establish a central organ or clearing house for all matters pertaining to integration in the region. It is this body that would monitor, supervise and ensure compliance with all decisions taken pursuant to the goal of integration. It is suggested that enabling legislation be passed by all the Houses of Assembly of the participant states, spelling out the composition of the body, its functions and mode of operation and ancillary matters in order to speedily realise the goals of regional integration.
As regional integration schemes in different parts of the world have shown, the law would have to respond to felt needs as the process of integration progressively intensifies. The necessity for proactive action on the part of the parties concerned becomes, therefore, self-evident if the chances of attaining the goals and objectives of the exercise are not to be hamstrung or stymied by forces inimical to the whole idea and anxious to maintain the status quo.
Conclusion
In the final analysts, law can energise the process of regional integration, but its level of success in this endeavour would perforce depend on the political will demonstrated by the players. The law is generally agreed to be an instrument of social change and effective tool of political transformation. Nevertheless, it should be emphasised that it is not a cure-all and has well-known limits. This must be fully appreciated in order for correct decisions to be taken, which law can assist in realising.
The difficulties Nigeria is experiencing at the present point in time need to be tackled headlong in order to create a better society able to meet the expectations and aspirations of its people. The decision by policy-makers in the Southwest and Edo State, the bulk of the old West to recreate the success story of the region by harnessing the abundant human and material resources in the area in a coordinated and harmonised fashion, therefore, portends great possibilities and a proper grasp of the scope of law in facilitating the process and only be to the benefit of all concerned.
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