Governors’ bipartisan solution to national malaise

From the tirades between the Southern governors and the Federal Government, no one is left in doubt that the nation is enmeshed in a conflict situation. The case is even more intriguing when the leaders of various socio-cultural groups joined the fray.

 

The issues at stake are very few but they are constitutional and controversial- devolution of power and national dialogue on the Nigerian project. The crux of the matter did not emanate from the moon as even the flimsiest cynic would gloomily acknowledge that the nation is at the crossroads.

 

The disturbing level of rampaging insecurity and retrogressive pseudo-federalism amid regional agitations even bring it home the more.

 

With the bloodthirsty Boko Haram in the North and the Middle Belt as well as attacks by herdsmen in the South and massive attack on security formations in the South-East, the drumbeat of lawlessness and war resonates around the country.

 

But unlike their stance on previous occasions on various national issues, Southern governors elected on the platform of different political platforms unanimously took a bipartisan position in addressing the problems facing the country.

 

First was the May 11, 2021 meeting of the Southern governors at Asaba in Delta State, where the 17 governors produced what is now referred to as the Asaba Declaration on how to address that national malaise to which the Federal Government has not been able to find a solution.

 

The Southern governors from the South -West, South -South, and South- East geopolitical zones (including the All Progressives Congress and the Peoples Democratic Party) had met at Asaba where they raised the alarm over the deterioration of security in Nigeria.

 

At the end of the meeting, the Southern Nigerian Governors Forum (SNGF) Chairman, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, the governor of Ondo State, read out a communique issued by the group, calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to convene a “national dialogue”.

 

They insisted on the banning of open grazing in southern Nigeria, and “affirmed that the peoples of Southern Nigeria remain committed to the unity of Nigeria on the basis of justice, fairness, equity and oneness and peaceful co-existence between and among its peoples, with a focus on the attainment of shared goals for economic development and prosperity.”

 

In deference to the sensitivities of many Nigerians and concerns expressed by various groups in the country, the governors amplified the need to review appointments into Federal Government Agencies (including security agencies) to reflect federal character as Nigeria’s overall population is heterogeneous.

 

They resolved that the progress of the nation requires that urgent and bold steps be taken to restructure the Nigerian federation leading to the evolution of state police, review of revenue allocation formula in favour of the subnational governments and creation of other institutions which legitimately advance our commitment to and practice of true federalism Expectedly, the leadership of the National Assembly’s salvo indicating such move was dead on arrival has since pitched them against the people.

 

The Senate President Ahmad Lawan and House of Representatives Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, predictably criticised the governors’ call for national dialogue and restructuring of the country and demanded they too should devolve power in their respective states to local governments and the judiciary.

 

Lawan and Gbajabiamila have since not only come under the hammer for their self-serving position on the matter, without recourse to the hundreds of people who have lost their lives and tale of woes from various parts of the country about victims of insecurity.

 

They now labour desperately to save their faces and position. But while the position continues to attract criticism, the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice condemned the governors’ stance, especially respecting ban on open grasing in this 2021 century.

 

He compared open grasing with auto-part business of the South-East, a position that drew the ire of many legal luminaries who stated that agriculture falls within residual  powers over which the governors pass legislations.

 

But the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) hailed the resolution which is in tandem with their agitation over time. Afenifere stated that anyone who is opposed to the proposed national dialogue and restructuring of Nigeria is an enemy of the country.

 

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, who is not new to confrontation with Malami was not only perturbed by the statement from the chief law officer of the federation, he said said the action of the governors’ was irrevocable.

 

Akeredolu said: “The anachronism which has led to the loss of lives, farmlands and property, and engender untold hardship on host communities, with buying and selling of autoparts is not only strange, it annoyingly betrays a terrible mindset.”

 

Undeterred, governors of the Peoples Democratic Party-controlled states also converged on Ibadan, Oyo State capital last Monday, tasking the Federal Government on some fundamental issues which have continued to militate against the security of the country.

 

In the same vein, 12 of the 15 Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) arrived Ibadan, Oyo state capital on Sunday, May 16, 2021 for a similar meeting. Governor Seyi Makinde, who hosted his colleagues across the country, announced their arrival on Sunday evening through his tweeter handle. powers over which the governors pass legislations.

 

But the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) hailed the resolution which is in tandem with their agitation over time. Afenifere stated that anyone who is opposed to the proposed national dialogue and restructuring of Nigeria is an enemy of the country.

 

Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, who is not new to confrontation with Malami was not only perturbed by the statement from the chief law officer of the federation, he said said the action of the governors’ was irrevocable.

 

Akeredolu said: “The anachronism which has led to the loss of lives, farmlands and property, and engender untold hardship on host communities, with buying and selling of autoparts is not only strange, it annoyingly betrays a terrible mindset.”

 

Undeterred, governors of the Peoples Democratic Party-controlled states also converged on Ibadan, Oyo State capital last Monday, tasking the Federal Government on some fundamental issues which have continued to militate against the security of the country.

 

In the same vein, 12 of the 15 Governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) arrived Ibadan, Oyo state capital on Sunday, May 16, 2021 for a similar meeting. Governor Seyi Makinde, who hosted his colleagues across the country, announced their arrival on Sunday evening through his tweeter handle.

He had tweeted thus: “Pleased to receive and host my brother Governors – Governors Aminu Tambuwal, Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, Samuel Ortom, Douye Diri, and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi – all of our great party, PDP, in Ibadan tonight. We are meeting in Ibadan tomorrow (Monday), as members of the PDP Governors’ Forum, to discuss party issues, as well as, issues of national importance including security and the economy”.

 

A statement signed by the Director General of the Forum, Cyril ‘CID’ Maduabum, had noted that the meeting will be presided over by its chairman and governor of Sokoto State, Aminu.

 

The gathering, the statement stressed, will further avail governors elected on the platform of the PDP to review the state of the nation especially issues of national security and the economy, as well as, “fine-tune strategies to support PDP as a viable and necessary alternative to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC-led administration”.

 

PDP National chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the party, Senator Walid Jibrin, are expected to address the meeting on the way forward ahead of the 2023 general elections. At the meeting held at the IITA, Moniya, Ibadan, the PDP governors led by Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Sokoto State, they unanimously agreed that President Muhammadu Buhari should wake up and reposition the security architecture of the country to minimize

the amount of innocent people being killed, maimed and raped by bandits, Fulani herdsmen in the various zones of the country. To tackle the issue of insecurity, the PDP governors tasked the President on send of a Bill to National Assembly (NASS) to amend the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, and devolve powers to the states.

 

At the end of the one-day consultative meeting, members issued a six-point communique, among others, urging President Buhari “to convene a meeting of the Nigerian Police Council; to evolve and implement strategies towards combating the present threats to the nation’s union.

 

In attendance accompanying Tambuwal were: Gov. Udom Emmanuel of Akwa Ibom State; Gov. Sen. Douye Diri of Bayelsa State; Gov. Samuel Ortom of Benue State; Gov. Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State; Gov. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State; Gov. Nyesom Wike of Rivers State; Gov. Engr. Oluseyi Abiodun Makinde of Oyo State; Gov. Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri of Adamawa State; Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo State; Gov. Bala Mohammed of Bauchi State; Deputy Gov. Mahdi Mohd of Zamfara State who represented his Boss.

 

At the end of the meeting, the communique issued and directed majorly at President Buhari read as the President as the Chief Executive Officer of Nigeria and Commander in Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces to immediately send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly to amend the Nigerian Constitution to devolve more powers to the States, particularly with respect to security arrangements in the country.

“In the interim, they also want Mr. President to summon an immediate meeting of the Nigerian Police Council, which comprises Mr. President and all State Governors and other critical stakeholders to evolve and implement strategies to combat the present threats to our union, especially with respect to policing.

 

The meeting agreed that the Police Force still remains the appropriate institution to secure our democracy and should not be subjected to personal attacks.

 

The welfare, training, equipment, funding of all security agencies should be given priority.

 

The meeting supports the earlier position taken by the Nigeria Governors Forum, Northern Governors Forum and recently by the Southern Governors Forum to adopt ranching as the most viable solution to the herders / farmers clashes in Nigeria; the restructuring of the Nigerian federation to devolve more powers and functions to the States; and reform of various civil institutions to achieve efficiency and equity for all sections of Nigeria. It enjoined all Nigerians to work together to achieve peace and harmony with one another, devoid of discrimination based on ethnicity, religion and other cleavages.

To this end, the meeting called on the incompetent and rudderless APC government to take bold and deliberate steps to de-escalate and lower tensions in our country, and concentrate on projects and policies that will enhance and promote national unity and cohesion.

 

The meeting re-iterated our earlier call for the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage of the Electoral Act that will ensure a free and fair election, including provisions for electronic accreditation and electronic transmission of votes.

They commended Governor Makinde of Oyo State, for being a gracious and wonderful host, and congratulated him for the many landmark developmental projects he has executed, and urged him to continue to work with all stakeholders in the South West Zone to ensure that PDP takes over majority of the states in the zone.

 

Observers are of the opinion that the bipartisan position of the governors was indicative of their commitment to the needs of the people at a time of national crises when some politicians prefer expediency to morality and duplicity in statecraft and in general conduct.