The presentation of the ruling APC’s report of the El-Rufai committee on national restructuring to the party Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun and later to the public has given new impetus to an issue that has actually been at the centre of Nigerian public discourse ever since independence.

The desire to transform the principles and formulae of governance that Nigeria inherited from the historic experience of colonial conquest and regional amalgamation has been expressed by various stakeholders with varying degrees of intensity over the last six decades. A broad catalogue of responses to this impulse has given birth to the existing Nigerian entity. As a consequence, it must be recognised that the process of restructuring is neither new nor finite as a major aspect of the development of Nigerian nationhood. The decision to change the regional structure to one made up of 12 states, which was taken by the military government led by then Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon in 1967, was probably the first and most decisive structural transformation to be taken by any administration since independence.

Many subsequent structural changes have emerged as elements meant to refine the process of governance and political leadership in the nation. For this reason, the APC’s decision to treat the process of restructuring as grounds for political and legislative initiatives codified as the basis for constitutional reform must be regarded as the party’s most innovative and valuable contribution to Nigerian political discourse since its historic presidential victory in 2015. By the same token, the PDP’s decision to convene a national conference taken under the leadership of former President Goodluck Jonathan and the presentation of that meeting’s resolutions in a major communiqué can be regarded as one of that party’s most important achievements in the entire period of its long hold on power. It is a fact that many of the issues that arose out of the latter conference are replicated in the findings of the APC committee. This should encourage multi-partisan support for the restructuring process when it is placed before the National Assembly to be considered as the basis for developing integral autonomy through legislation.

The process by which the APC has produced its report is instructive, especially insofar as it illustrates the party’s approach to the relation between issues of governance and the public interest. Instead of using public resources and time to undertake a repetitive process of deliberation the party decided that the legislature should be the core institution before which to place the issues for due consideration. This method should provide a more permanent resolution of fundamental principles of governance than the methods that have been applied in the past. In the military era, serious issues of state reform were instituted either by decree or simply by official acclamation. Consultation before decision-making was often based on internal exchanges between colleagues rather than by consensus of public opinion. In the new democratic order there have been signs that this convention has influenced the process of governance and leadership in Nigeria to an inordinate extent. If the APC succeeds in achieving the transformation of fundamental principles through consultation and legislation it will have scored a major victory in strengthening the democratic foundation of true federalism.   

This important objective must be attained if lasting stability for the Nigerian nation is to be a major consequence of the installation of the democratic order in governance. For this reason, the mantra of change, which has become such a persuasive and effective instrument of electoral politics must be implemented through effective party initiatives. The APC report on restructuring appears to be an example of such an initiative at this point in the national political narrative, Coming in the year preceding the next general elections it will be understandable if critics and opponents of the APC seek to portray the initiative as a ploy meant to give credibility to the campaign rhetoric of the party and the aspirations of its candidates. However, a close study of the report shows that the impulse that has created its content is probably more closely related to the oft-expressed Nigerian desire for the improvement of the structural base of the national reality. For this reason, it will be much more productive for the political leaders of the nation to engage in a collective consideration of how to implement or reform the recommendations of this unique document.

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It might be too much to expect that the advocates of partisan sentiments and loyalties in the Nigerian political system will subordinate their emotions to rational contemplation as they respond to the APC report on restructuring, but that is exactly what they need to do in order to move the agenda for national stability forward. It cannot be denied that the document is a product of partisan endeavour, but it is also an important national initiative. As elements in the process of developing national consensus, the proposals that are reflected in this document reveal remarkable synergy of concern between the APC”s findings and the output of the 2014 National Conference. What this reveals is that the key strategic reality that has guided Nigerian political life since independence has been the process of nation building. All decisions taken to develop equity and fairness in governance should be regarded as being aimed at continuing the process. An important factor in the development of a national agenda for growth is that similarities between these endeavours must be regarded as natural, not artificial, consequences of Nigerian existence. The consolidation of legitimacy of these efforts should attract multi-partisan cooperation rather than bi-partisan rivalry.

In creating space for the parliament to adopt the principle of restructuring and systemic transformation as a major initiative of its tenure as the ruling party, the APC must be prepared to accommodate challenges from its critics and tolerate excoriation in the usual manner of democratic rivalry. However, in recognising the need to propose the adoption of the principle of consensus building as an integral part of the democratic process as contained in some of the suggestions listed in the report, the party is also challenging itself to implement a strategy that institutionalises restructuring as a fundamental and conclusive act of governance. In order to achieve this it has accepted the relevance of issues raised with great urgency in the past by other institutions and leaders. In other words the APC report is not a document of new thinking but a new acknowledgement of realities that are long overdue for official recognition. What is important now is whether the process of debate and constructive argument will delay the implementation of fundamental structural transformation or accelerate the attainment of the main objectives of the public will.

Every truly patriotic Nigerian must be hoping that the process of restructuring the formula of interregional relations in Nigeria will eventually be successful. This objective is at the heart of both the APC report and the afore-mentioned 2014 National Conference recommendations. In fact, those who have promoted all previous constitutional parleys and political reforms have always declared this to be the major objective and purpose of their initiatives. However, one common complaint that has remained constant in Nigerian political discourse is the presumption that major deficiencies of implementation and operational efficiency in governance have persisted because the fundamental systemic basis of the national entity is flawed. The APC report endeavours to overcome what has been identified as a strong and endemic urge to use the issue of dysfunction in the system to divide the polity. By focusing on the issues that form the core elements of the report, the El-Rufai committee has enhanced the partisan credibility of the APC, but it has also emphasised the relevance of the principle of restructuring as a fundamental element of nation-building for the Nigerian polity.

   • Barrett wrote in from Bayelsa.