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BEING TEXT OF SPEECH BY PASTOR ‘TUNDE BAKARE

AT THE STATE OF THE NATION BROADCAST

ON SUNDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2017.

VENUE: THE LATTER RAIN ASSEMBLY, END-TIME

CHURCH,

4, AKILO ROAD, OFF OBA AKRAN AVENUE,

OGBA, IKEJA, LAGOS, NIGERIA.

THEME: PRAGMATIC STEPS TOWARDS RESTRUCTURING

NIGERIA.

TEXTS: I KINGS 12:1-24, EZEKIEL 37:15-22, and HOSEA 6:1-3.

Introduction

Fellow citizens of Nigeria, Happy Independence Day to you all.

At crucial moments such as this, I have, by the grace of God, stood on

this platform to bring timely admonitions to our beloved nation. I stand

here once again at this defining period in the evolution of our

nationhood to bring the mind of God to a nation in the valley of

decision. I stand here today as a patriotic citizen of Nigeria, as an ardent

believer in her great future, and as an unrepentant optimist in the God-

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given potential of the Nigerian people to surmount the present

challenges and build a great nation.

Let me begin this address with gratitude to God for the recovery and

return of our dear President Muhammadu Buhari. As I have done

privately, I once again congratulate Mr. President on this pleasant

climax to a trying period in his personal life and that of the nation.

Together with all well-meaning Nigerians, I pray for a continuous

supply of health, vitality and wisdom as he resumes his duties. Let me

also use this opportunity to commend the vice president, Prof. Yemi

Osinbajo, who, as Acting President, courageously held the fort and

steered the ship of state with grace and skill on behalf of his principal.

Furthermore, I congratulate the nation on the victory of

constitutionalism over conspiracies. The correspondence between the

president and the National Assembly in line with section 145 of the

constitution each time the president left to attend to his health indicates

some progress in our democratic experience, compared with almost

eight years ago when a cabal hijacked power in circumstances bordering

on the health of a sitting president. In this regard, credit must be given to

President Muhammadu Buhari for his compliance with due process, and

to the leadership of the National Assembly, including the Senate

President, Senator Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of

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Representatives, Honourable Yakubu Dogara, for making the most of

the constitution despite its flaws. This evident growth is a shimmer of

hope at a very sensitive period in which the destiny of the nation is at

stake.

The State of the Nation and the Quest for Leadership

Undoubtedly, Mr. President has returned to a nation hanging in a

precarious balance. Indeed, our nation is enmeshed in a prolonged war

against the retrogressive effects of a structure that was created by the

fear of the past, has become institutionalized by the fear of the present,

and is being perpetuated by the fear of the unknown. These fears have

morphed into a horde of agitations which, in an address upon his return

in August, Mr. President charged aggrieved persons to channel to the

National Assembly and the Council of State.

However, due to the reputation that members of the hallowed chambers

have created in the minds of Nigerians, many have expressed doubts as

to the ability and willingness of the National Assembly to midwife the

structural, institutional and constitutional solutions demanded by

Nigeria’s historical and present circumstances. As a result, Nigerians

from all walks of life are questioning Mr. President’s recommendations

as to proper channels for agitations, even though the National Assembly

and by extension the State Houses of Assembly are the only available

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constitutional avenues for making peaceful change possible and violent

change inconceivable.

We can only keep hope alive by reminding ourselves that the National

Assembly has, in the past, risen to the occasion and intervened at crucial

moments such as this. From the decisive death blow dealt the third term

agenda of the then president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, by the 5th

National Assembly, to the doctrine of necessity invoked by the 6th

National Assembly, the 8th National Assembly has sufficient precedents

on how to act in the best interest of Nigeria. We believe that the

distinguished and honourable lawmakers will rise to the occasion and

work closely with the president to pilot Nigeria into stable and

prosperous nationhood.

Having laid the foundation of the need for legislative responsibility, I

must state that, as far as championing the far-reaching structural,

institutional and constitutional changes necessary to salvage the soul of

our nation is concerned, the words on the desk of the 33rd president of

the United States, Harry Truman: “THE BUCK STOPS HERE!”, are

relevant to President Buhari whose legacy is at stake. Mr. President, the

buck stops at your desk and, as always, my earnest prayer is that you

find the courage and political will to do what is right at this momentous

period in the history of our nation.

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Against this backdrop, we shall now examine the latest buzzword in

Nigeria’s political lexicon with a view to distinguishing the noise from

the voice, separating the wheat from the chaff, and presenting practical

steps towards building a strong and stable nation.

The Clamour for Restructuring

Some years ago, the word “restructuring” was the exclusive lingo of pro-

democracy groups like the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO),

the Pro-National Conference Organisation (PRONACO), and The

Patriots. The leading individual voices in this call emerged mainly from

the southern part of the country, including the likes of Chief Rotimi

Williams, Chief Gani Fawehinmi and Chief Anthony Enahoro, all of

blessed memory. Others included the likes of Prof. Ben Nwabueze, Prof.

Wole Soyinka and Chief Emeka Anyaoku. However, in more recent

times, leaders from the northern part of the country have increasingly

lent their voices to this call. From former vice president, Alhaji Atiku

Abubakar, who has aired this opinion since around 20121, to a former

governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, and, most surprisingly,

former Head of State, General Ibrahim Babanginda, the call for

restructuring appears to be reaching a tipping point.

Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that the restructuring of the polity is

implied in the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the

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government has, for a long time, been silent on the matter and has, very

often, drawn the attention of Nigerians back to the tripodal policy

agenda of President Buhari, namely, anti-corruption, security, and job

creation through diversification. However, after much evasion, the APC,

two months ago, eventually constituted a ten-member committee headed

by Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, the current Governor of Kaduna State, to

address the increased agitations for restructuring.

As we await the submission of that committee, I acknowledge that some

opponents to the call for restructuring, including serving officials, have

ascribed ulterior selfish motives to those calling for it. Whether or not

this is the case, not only must we not allow the counterfeit overshadow

the genuine, we must also not allow the voice of cynicism drown the

voice of reason. Thus, the words of David, the shepherd boy, when he

was confronted by his brothers as he was about to take on Goliath,

should be the response of every genuine advocate of restructuring to the

criticisms. David said, and I quote: “Is there not a cause?” (I Samuel

17:29; NKJV)

Moreover, the hue and cry over President Buhari’s address to the nation

on August 21, 2017 suggests Mr. President is perceived by some

stakeholders as opposed to restructuring2. But, from my interactions with

the president in the past seven years as an advocate of a properly

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structured polity, I am convinced that this is not the case. Not only does

the president want agitations managed through appropriate constitutional

channels, he also wants a clarification of demands in concise terms, as

well as propositions on practical pathways towards achieving those

demands. That is the essence of this address and I believe that Mr.

President’s expectations are valid.

However, before I proceed to elucidate on the practicalities of

restructuring, permit me at this juncture to cast our minds back to our

consistent calls for the restructuring of the polity, long before the current

bandwagon effect.

Our Calls for Restructuring

In 2010, the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) presented a “Contract to Save

and Transform Nigeria” to President Goodluck Jonathan which, among

other demands, made a case for devolution of powers, called for a

review of the revenue formula, and advocated the convocation of a

national conference towards the creation of a draft constitution that

would be adopted through a referendum. Following the inaction of the

government, we subsequently convened a Dialogue of the Nobles

attended by Donald Duke, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-

Iweala, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, and Fola Adeola,

among others. As part of a series of dialogues, in a bid to seek the best

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of the North and the best of the South as an alternative to the then

incumbent administration, we also engaged the major candidates ahead

of the 2011 elections in search of commitment to the restructuring of the

nation, among other desirables.

General Muhammadu Buhari stood out among the available contenders

and, on October 10, 2010, we expressed our conviction that he was best

suited to lead. On January 15, 2011, I was invited by General Buhari to

be his running mate and I initially declined because I had engaged the

polity not with the intention to contest elections but to midwife genuine

national rebirth. My eventual acceptance was contingent on the mutual

understanding that the restructuring of Nigeria would be top on the

agenda. This was reflected prominently in the manifesto of the Congress

for Progressive Change (CPC) in which we promised the initiation of

“action to amend our Constitution with a view to devolving powers,

duties and responsibilities to states and local governments in order to

entrench Federalism and the Federal spirit3”. This provision

subsequently made its way into the APC manifesto.

In 2014, we took our demands for restructuring to the National

Conference, where a case was made for a unicameral parliamentary

system of government to reduce the cost of governance, and for a federal

structure comprised of a strong central government with six geopolitical

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zones as federating units. In addition, we sponsored a Nigerian Charter

for National Reconciliation and Integration as the basis of our union as a

nation, as against Decree 24 of 1999 by which the current constitution

was promulgated.

Following heated debates, in the spirit of trustful give and take, the

conference adopted a modified presidential system that would harness

the separation of powers inherent in the presidential system, while

guaranteeing the needed cooperation between both arms of government

as intended in the parliamentary system of government. We

recommended the selection of the Vice President from the legislature

and advocated the institutionalization of the principle of zoning in the

Electoral Act. Furthermore, the Nigerian Charter for National

Reconciliation and Integration was unanimously adopted. This address

will use the propositions at the National Conference as a springboard but

will necessarily include bolder and more far-reaching recommendations

given the current state of the nation.

On January 4, 2015, in a message titled “The Gathering Storm and

Avoidable Shipwreck – How to Avoid Catastrophic Euroclydon,” I

sounded a note of warning at the height of the electioneering campaign. I

charged the nation not to place the cart of elections before the horse of

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restructuring, proposing “true federalism under Zonal Commissions as

well as fiscal federalism…”4

Rather than pay heed to the warnings, many of our politicians kept on

with their “business as usual” attitude that brought the nation very close

to the brink of disaster. Fortunately, by divine intervention through the

efforts of distinguished Nigerians, the international community, and

through a demonstration of statesmanship unprecedented in Nigeria’s

history, we scaled through the 2015 elections by a hair’s breadth.

Mindful of our narrow escape and the festering socio-political and

economic challenges, soon after the inauguration of this administration

in 2015, we submitted to Mr. President an extensive document that

called for a Presidential Commission for National Reconciliation,

Reintegration and Restructuring comprised of eminent Nigerians, and

guided by the Nigerian Charter for National Reconciliation and

Integration which was adopted by the 2014 National Conference.

Our submission anticipated the need to reconcile contentious interest

groups, foster the integration of the diverse sectional groups into true

nationhood, and facilitate the evolution of an acceptable functional

governmental structure for Nigeria. We proposed that the new structure

would be contained in a new constitutional framework which would

come into effect by way of an executive bill to be submitted to the

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National Assembly by Mr. President and decided upon by the Nigerian

people through a referendum.

All our efforts have been inspired by our belief that, as a nation, we are

better off together and should find acceptable ways to stay together. We

are driven by an urgent responsibility to find, within the constitution,

pathways to a more perfect union. Having laid this background we shall

proceed to further simplify the seemingly complicated but, indeed,

simple concept of restructuring.

Understanding Restructuring: The Basis

Restructuring simply means to change the way an entity is organized or

arranged. In the corporate context, restructuring is a management term

“for the act of reorganizing the legal, ownership, operational, or other

structures of a company for the purpose of making it more profitable, or

better organized for its present needs”5. In the context of a nation,

restructuring requires redefining the relationship between the people and

the government, including taking another look at the structures and

systems of governance as encapsulated in the constitution. The diverse

positions on the restructuring debate are being championed by at least

ten categories of advocates, give or take a few overlaps, namely:

1. The Conservatives

2. The Economic Structure Reformists

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3. The Non-Structural Constitutional Reformists

4. The Political System Reformists

5. The Devolutionists

6. The State Creation Advocates

7. The Resource Control Activists

8. The Regional Federalists

9. The Regional Confederalists

10. The Secessionists

We shall now examine these positions and then proceed to present our

prescription on the way forward for Nigeria.

Category #1: The Conservatives

The Conservatives are generally satisfied with the systems and structures

of governance, current challenges notwithstanding. They generally hold

the view that attitudinal adjustments, not necessarily systemic or

structural changes, are required. This position is held by the likes of

former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo6, and Kano State Governor,

Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje7, who believe Nigerians need a “restructuring of

the mind.”

Category #2: The Economic Structure Reformists

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The economic structure reformists frown at the focus on politics and

emphasize the need to restructure the systems and structures of

economic governance, in order to diversify from an oil-based economy,

reduce the size and bureaucracy of government, and loosen

government’s grip on the economy through the privatization of key

sectors while the government simply plays a facilitatory role. Proponents

include policy and economic experts like my friend and sister, Dr. Oby

Ezekwesili, who has said: “We need economic governance as the basis

for any political grouping the country may need8”, or, in the words of

James Carville, chief strategist for the Bill Clinton campaign in 1992:

“It’s the economy, stupid.”

Category #3: The Non-Structural Constitutional Reformists

These are those demanding amendments in certain aspects of the

constitution that have no direct bearing on the structure of governance.

They include young people advocating a reduction of the age

qualifications into certain political offices through movements such as

Not Too Young To Run; they include advocates for such affirmative

action that reserves a percentage of political offices for women; they

include those advocating the removal of the Land Use Act from the

constitution, as well as those advocating the separation of the office of

the Attorney General of the Federation from that of the Minister of

Justice, and so on.

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Category #4: The Political System Reformists

Political System Reformists make a case for such constitutional changes

that include a unicameral, rather than a bicameral, legislature to reduce

the size of government. Others prescribe part-time legislature while

some make a strong case for the parliamentary system of government or,

as the 2014 National Conference resolved, a modified parliamentary

system.

Category #5: The Devolutionists

These are multi-state federalists making a case for ceding more powers

to the federating units even if such units are the current 36 states. Many

of the current advocates of restructuring, including former vice

president, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, belong to this school of thought. The

devolutionists envisage a constitution with a leaner exclusive legislative

list, a more robust concurrent list, and a workable residual list. Also on

the agenda of the devolutionists is the review of the revenue sharing

formula in favour of the states and local governments.

Category #6: The State Creation Advocates

At the last National Conference, 18 demands for state creation were

approved, taking the possible number of states in the nation to 54. Some

advocates are regionalists deploying multi-state strategies in the quest

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for equitable allocation of resources to the respective regions from the

centre, including the leaders of the South-East calling for one more state

so each region would have six states apiece except the North-West,

which has seven. The Middle Belt states seeking regional autonomy

from the North-Central also fall into this category. They recognize that,

given the current revenue allocation system, the more states a region has,

the more allocation goes to that region or geopolitical zone. Other

advocates of state creation are motivated by the need to give

geographical expression to ethnic identities.

Category #7: The Resource Control Activists

This is a more radical group that swings between devolution and

secession. They include the Niger Delta activists and militants

demanding outright resource control, which is the exclusive right to

regulate the exploitation of resources in a geographical area. Their

clamour simply reminds us that we need a more pragmatic resource

distribution and management system.

Category #8: The Regional Federalists

The Regional Federalists argue not only that the current system falls

short of true federalism, as the devolutionists point out, but also that the

vast majority of the current 36 states are not viable. Recent reports

indicate that Lagos State, where the commercial activities of Nigeria are

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concentrated, generates more internal revenue than 32 states combined9.

This school of thought therefore makes a case for the integration of

states along geopolitical zonal lines to create economies of scale. A

number of options have been thrown up as to possible number of zones

but the six geopolitical zonal formula featuring the North-West, North-

Central, North-East, South-West, South-South and South-East, has been

the most advocated. Proponents envisage a strong central government

catering for matters like defence, foreign affairs and monetary

management, with six strong zonal federating units having concurrent

legislative powers in such matters as policing, mineral resource

management, electricity generation, and transportation. Groups such as

Afenifere are inclined in this direction, taking a cue from the 1963

Constitution.

Category #9: The Regional Confederalists

These also advocate a regional or geopolitical zonal arrangement.

However, advocates of confederacy prefer a weak central government

and strong regional governments with each region having its own army

and as such able to defend itself in cooperation with other regions.

Category #10: The Secessionists

These are those calling for Biafra Republic, Oduduwa Republic, Arewa

Republic, Ijaw Republic, Ogoni Republic and so on. This is because

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sectional identities have survived independence and are still reflected in

our social interactions and intensified by perceptions of marginalization.

Decades after the civil war, we are yet to forge true nationhood and

Nigerians still tend to think of themselves as Yorubas, Igbos, Hausas,

Fulanis, Kanuris, Tivs, Idomas, Nupes, Ijaws, Edos, Urhobos, and so on,

within the Nigerian state.

Some of the ongoing calls for restructuring are motivated by the aim of

finding geographical expressions for these sociocultural identities.

Although we can compel statehood by show of force, we cannot force

true nationhood into existence. Relationship cannot be legislated; it can

only be cultivated. Nationhood can be built only through good and

equitable governance.

Therefore, those asking for the opportunity to negotiate their existence

within the Nigerian state based on their ethnic or cultural identities have

a right so to do, as captured in international legal instruments such as the

International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, to

which Nigeria is a signatory.

However, these negotiations must be handled with decorum and all the

sensitivity required so that the Rehoboams in the polity do not play into

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the hands of the Jeroboams and push the nation from bad to worse as it

happened to Israel of old (I Kings 12:1-24 & 14:1-11, 14).

As for those calling for secession, they should bear in mind the fact that,

before the creation of the Nigerian state, there was no Yoruba nation,

there was no Igbo nation, there was no Hausa nation, neither was there

an Ijaw nation. We must not be misled by nostalgia for a spurious

harmonious past or the myth of homogenous ethnic groups that is far

removed from reality. The area around the Niger was marked with

unrest, continuous intergroup conflict, subjugation, enslavement and

oppression of the weaker by the stronger until Nigeria provided the

possibility for peaceful coexistence. For this, we must appreciate the

Nigerian state, we must celebrate our Nigerian-ness and we must

gravitate towards strengthening our nationhood rather than cursing our

blessing.

Be that as it may, there is no doubt that the current structure cannot hold

the greatness that awaits the nation but could hinder it. The demand,

however, should not be for secession. The question should be: How best

do we organize ourselves for equitable, peaceful and productive

coexistence? This takes me to our position on the pathway to a stable

and prosperous Nigeria.

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Pathway to a New Nigeria

Each of the schools of thought on restructuring reminds one of the story

of blind men who visited a zoo to “see” an elephant. One grabbed its

trunk and concluded the elephant was like a snake. Another touched its

ear and concluded the elephant was a fan. A third touched one of its legs

and concluded the enormous animal must have been a pillar. Rather than

resolve that they were all wrong, we believe there is a measure of

wisdom in the various perspectives and that, like a jigsaw puzzle, the

bits must be put together to achieve a desired objective.

For those who care to know where I stand in all this, I am an advocate of

progressive and pragmatic restructuring; progressive because ours is a

long-term approach, and pragmatic because the interests of every

segment of the country are taken into consideration. It is to this end that

we reiterate, and even expand the scope of, our call for the creation of a

Presidential Commission for National Reconciliation, Reintegration and

Restructuring by the president through an executive order, in full

consultation with the Council of State and the National Assembly.

The Presidential Commission should be given the mandate and the

powers to facilitate, within ten years, the evolution of a functional and

acceptable geopolitical structure subject to constitutional provisions

while the 1999 Constitution is progressively amended. This Commission

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shall undertake a geoeconomic and geosocial path to geopolitical

restructuring by creating geoeconomic frameworks, mending geosocial

faultlines, and attaining a geopolitical climax.

1. Creating Geoeconomic Frameworks

The Nigerian economy is clearly regional in structure with comparative

advantages defined by climate, geology, biogeography, population and

culture. It is why, in the era of the regions, even though agriculture and

mineral production were the mainstays of the economy, there were areas

of specialization.

The six geopolitical zones not only roughly reflect six sociocultural

zones but also mirror six geoeconomic zones that can be deliberately

cultivated over a period of about ten years within which political

structures can be designed. The ten-year window is meant to cater for

the concerns of parts of the country where the notion of restructuring is

opposed due to perceived economic disadvantages. Within the ten-year

period, the six zones would have been aided to develop areas of

comparative advantage. Therefore, in the interest of sustainable

economic development over the next ten years, we propose the

following seven-point agenda:

a. The federal government will progressively devolve powers to the

existing 36 states, which will themselves progressively evolve into

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a zonal arrangement. To facilitate this, we propose the creation of

6 zonal commissions to be headed by zonal commissioners

appointed from each zone, to work with the 36 state governors to

facilitate integration. The zonal commissioners will be charged

with a mandate to map out the economic potential of each zone,

design or update, as the case may be, a zonal economic master

plan, and coordinate federal and state efforts towards transitioning

into zonal economies within ten years, thereby harnessing the

comparative resources of each zone to achieve globally

competitive economies of scale and scope;

b. Instituting a social bond to fund the transition to zonal economies,

thereby attracting local and international investments to the

possibilities of vibrant zonal economic clusters;

c. Within the financing framework, instituting a 5-part Transitional

Zonal Economic Fund focused on key sectors with unique

expressions in each of the six geopolitical zones, including

extractive minerals, agriculture, industrialization, creative and

cultural development, and human capacity development;

d. A progressive increase in percentage of funds from mineral

extraction accruing to the state from which it originates such that,

by the tenth year, either by derivation or by partial resource

control, subject to constitutional provisions, 50% of revenue will

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be returned to or retained in the zone of origin as it was at

independence and in the First Republic;

e. Consequently, a progressive shrinking of the distributable pool

account over ten years based on recommendations by the Revenue

Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission in line with the

restructuring thrust;

f. Aside the Transitional Zonal Economic Fund, the creation of a

special Internally Generated Revenue Grant aimed at rewarding the

efforts of the states in each zone at generating internal revenue as

against compensating non-viable states for economic laziness. This

grant will be in the form of counterpart funding;

g. The national infrastructural development thrust will thus be

managed by the federal government in conjunction with the Zonal

Commissions and the state governments towards ensuring

seamless linkage.

2. Mending Geosocial Faultlines

While the economic component of the restructuring agenda is being

implemented, the geosocial component, which calls for a resolution of

the inter-zonal and intra-zonal aspects of the Nigeria Question, should be

immediately activated. This will entail harnessing the collective

strengths of statesmen and nation builders across the nation to reconcile

historical and current grievances and to reintegrate the diverse

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components of our nation into united nationhood. The details of this

component are beyond the scope of this address but are contained in the

framework for a Presidential Commission for National Reconciliation,

Reintegration and Restructuring.

3. Attaining a Geopolitical Climax

The climax of the work of the Presidential Commission will be to codify

the geoeconomic and geosocial outcomes and facilitate their evolution

into vibrant geopolitical zones as federating units, each with rich

sociocultural expressions and viable, world class economic clusters, all

knit together by a strong federal government. The geopolitical zones will

have the power to organize the constituent states and local governments

as districts and counties based on the models created by the

geoeconomic and geosocial aspects of the process. By the tenth year, the

codified outcomes will be presented to the president who, in conjunction

with the National Assembly, will have, within the ten-year period,

championed the necessary constitutional amendments for progressive

development of good governance, including allowing for a referendum

in which the Nigerian people will eventually adopt the framework as a

new constitution for a New Nigeria.

Sustainability

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The proposed ten-year transitional window is expected to kick in from

2018 to 2028. I understand that this translates to the administrations of at

least two, or at most four, presidents spanning three election cycles.

Therefore, if the policy is flagged off by the current administration, there

is the clear danger of policy discontinuity unless the process is

institutionalized. However, the 1976 Abuja Master Plan offers an

example of collaboration and continuity spanning fifteen years and five

administrations.

In the early 1970s, the Nigerian government began to mull the idea of

relocating the federal capital from Lagos. It felt that the capital had

become congested in terms of population and available land. It sought a

new capital that would be sited in the centre of the country, thus

providing a surer guarantee of security and ensuring a more balanced

representation of the country’s ethnic and religious diversity.

To this end, in 1976, the government of General Murtala Muhammed

identified a site for the proposed new capital and established the Federal

Capital Development Authority (FCDA) to mastermind the process.

Policy execution of this restructuring spanned the administrations of

General Olusegun Obasanjo, President Shehu Shagari, General

Muhammadu Buhari and, eventually, General Ibrahim Babangida under

whose watch the relocation phase commenced in 1991.

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The fact that such policy consistency occurred during Nigeria’s unstable

political history, characterized by successive military takeovers and a

truncated democracy, shows that the right dose of political will can

sustain a policy when the need is universally appreciated. Therefore,

the following points should be noted in the quest for sustainability.

1. We expect that the project will be flagged off under the

administration of President Muhammadu Buhari in the period

leading to the next governmental fiscal year;

2. Alongside the kickoff of the project, the President may send to the

National Assembly a Bill for the Establishment of the Commission

for National Reconciliation, Reintegration and Restructuring,

however so named, to provide institutionalization, continuity and

legislative guarantee for the objectives of the restructuring agenda;

3. To further safeguard its operations and objectives, we charge

Nigerians to hold as a standard for electoral decision making the

commitment of aspirants and candidates towards the ten-year

framework for a restructured Nigeria;

4. Finally, we expect subsequent holders of public office at all levels

of government to demonstrate the desired political will, drawing

lessons not only from the Abuja story but also from more recent

policy transitional success stories, including the Integrated Payroll

and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), the Government

Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS),

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and the Treasury Single Account (TSA) which were enacted by the

preceding administration but are being implemented by the current

government.

Conclusion

Recently, the Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, was reported10

as stating that the Nigerian economy has struggled so far because it is

not structured to meet demographic needs. She therefore cited, as

regards respites, the government’s policies aimed at diversification from

an oil-based economy. However, I am confident that the success of its

diversification programme is dependent on the ability of the government

to embrace the zonal geodemographic nature of the economy as we have

spelt out in this proposal. This entails a revisiting of existing plans and

policies including the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF)

and the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP).

I believe that as we adopt these proposals and take these steps towards

building a new nation, we will see breathtaking economic miracles. With

the world transiting from crude oil, the northern zonal economies will

become hubs of sustainable energy harnessing solar power and biomass

while deploying solid minerals like lithium in the emerging electric

automobile industry. Meanwhile, the southern zones will harness the

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huge gas reserves while optimizing the vast coastal waters for wind

turbines.

The president, the National Assembly, the Judiciary, the state

governments, the State Houses of Assembly, the Council of State,

political parties, the private sector, and the generality of Nigerians all

have a critical role to play in initiating, implementing, sustaining and

defending the process and its outcomes. We must think, not as

sectionalists but as nationalists; not as skeptics who only see obstacles,

but as optimists, who see opportunities; not as politicians, mindful only

of the next election, but as statesmen mindful of the next generation.

By the grace of the Living God, who calls those things that be not as

though they are, and according to the proportion of my faith in Him who

cannot lie, I call forth today, the 1st of October, 2017, the New North and

the New South to come together to the table of brotherhood and

negotiate the destiny of a New Nigeria with mutual respect and trustful

give and take void of mutual suspicion.

Finally, I urge all Nigerians, with unassailable courage, unalloyed

patriotism and unrelenting faith in the destiny of our nation, to arise and

seize this opportunity to build a great nation, with the confident

assurance that “there is no army powerful enough to stop an idea whose

28

time has come.” (Victor Hugo). For, in the words of President Theodore

Roosevelt, “The government is us; we are the government, you and I.”

Thank you, God bless you, and God bless our country, Nigeria.

Pastor ‘Tunde Bakare

Serving Overseer, The Latter Rain Assembly;

Convener, Save Nigeria Group (SNG)

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Accessed September 20, 2017. https://www.vanguardngr.com/2012/09/theres-need-to-review-structure-of-nigerian-

federation-atiku/ 2 Ogunmade, Omololu. “Buhari Passes the Buck on Restructuring to National Assembly, Council of State.”

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shipwreck-how-to-avoid-catastrophic-euroclydon/ 5 “Restructuring.” Wikipedia. Accessed September 19, 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restructuring 6 Adepeba, Adelani. Akinkuotu, Eniola. Isenyo, Godwin. Oyebode, Niyi. Soriwei, Fidelis. “Why I am against

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against-restructuring-obasanjo/ 7 Oyelere, Kola. “Nigerians need mind, not geographical restructuring – Ganduje.” Nigerian Tribune. August 22,

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restructuring-ganduje/ 8 Jannah, Chijioke. “Restructuring alone will not solve Nigeria’s problem – Ezekwesli.” Daily Post. August 16,

2017. Accessed September 19, 2017. http://dailypost.ng/2017/08/16/restructuring-alone-will-not-solve-nigerias-

problem-ezekwesili/ 9 “IGR: 36 states generate N682bn.” Vanguard. June 27, 2016. Accessed September 30, 2017.

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/06/igr-36-states-generate-n682bn/ 10Okonji, Emma. “Adeosun: Nigerian Economy Not Structured to Meet Demographic Needs.” ThisDay. September

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economy-not-structured-to-meet-demographic-needs/