There was no doubt that after losing the major advantage of principle of derivation during the distracting civil war, oil producing states (defunct regions) merited some special consideration to make up for their lot of pittance under the new allocation formula, especially in view of the falsehood and blackmail that a section of the country was enslaving the source of Nigeria’s huge oil revenue. It was not as if no effort was made to ensure some restructuring in that direction.
Former President Ibrahim Babangida created a new commission to which extra three per cent allocation was made from federation account for the development of oil producing areas. Conscious effort was made that all the time, members and successive chairmen of this agency were all of Niger Delta origin. Despite all the criticisms poured on him almost throughout his tenure as Head of State, General Sanni Abacha increased the special allocation to 13 (thirteen) per cent and also limited the entire membership of the agency to only Niger Deltans. President Umar Yar’Adua came and specially created a Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs. Before then, there was only Ministry of Lagos Affairs under Tafawa Balewa in the colonial era, which he retained after Nigeria attained independence till the January 1966 military coup. Remarkably, Yar’Adua granted amnesty and introduced special amnesty, mostly overseas training programme for the bellicose irritants, Movement for the Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND). All these former heads of government are northerners. Who was the head of government from the South (Obasanjo and even Niger Deltan Goodluck Jonathan) that paid special attention to Niger Delta?
Surely, cabinet responsibility cannot exonerate successive heads of Nigerian government for the environmental degradation of Niger Delta but more blameworthy are Niger Deltans, who served in OMPADEC and Ministry of Niger Delta affairs, who collected the trillions of dollars allocated for special development of that part of the country. Misappropriation of such fund is partly responsible for the lopsided development against Niger Delta. Those concerned should be made accountable. If, in the process, such effort is considered to be one-sided, the North should not be blamed. Today, former Bendel state military governor, Samuel Ogbemudia, retains his distinction for outstanding development of today’s Edo and Delta States combined. Hence, when the Murtala regime probed the immediate past twelve military governors, General Ogbemudia and only one other colleague emerged with flying colours.
In the build-up to the careless transformation of the Federal Government (under Gowon in 1966) to the most powerful in the world against all known principles of federalism, Nigerians witnessed a shameful political somersault. Following the carpet-crossing on the floor of western house of assembly in 1952, the ensuing political coup, which produced the first regional government was rationalised by the beneficiaries with the convenient principle of “East for easterners, West for westerners and North for northerners.” That was the policy deliberately and rapidly spread to attract support among the people. The opportunistic clamour of western region politicians was for strong regions (to which, laughably, they have returned today), a weak centre and, in effect, a loose federation
Then came crisis of the July 1966 counter coup confusion in which, initially, the North, rather naively, insisted on “araba’ translated to mean secession or disintegration (of Nigerian federation). Whether that would have solved the prevailing political confusion was open to debate. Gowon’s first task was that he restored the four regions (east, west, north and mid-west) earlier abolished by the ousted Ironsi regime. As the debate lasted on Nigeria’s political future, the very same protagonists and sole beneficiaries of “East for easterners; West for westerners and North for northerners” of seventeen years earlier (1952) in the west, hijacked the crisis and monopolised public opinion with strange demand for “Federation with strong centre” and nothing else. That demand met with total silence from northerners whose only contribution at that stage was another crafty silence on their earlier insistence on “araba”.
The way forward was, therefore, hijacked by southerners (mainly westerners and Bendelites) in gross miscalculation that opportunity was imminent for them to assume control of elected Federal Government. The demand of the South for a “federation with strong centre” provided strength and relief for Gowon to bypass the insistence of the East on the Aburi agreement. Is power so conceded in politics as southerners misjudged the North? That miscalculation was the sole basis of the west/midwest in the demand for federation with strong centre. The fallout is political frustration, partly motivating the demand for restructuring. By the time Gowon was efforlessly offered federation with strong centre, hardly could he realise how potentially powerful he was being made.
In the pursuit of political power, animosity and opportunism can only be ephemeral and, indeed end in retributive justice, a fine way of eternal regret. If indeed, there is need for restructuring, such must be aimed at national cohesion without tension. The necessary atmosphere for all sides would thereby be created. It is human nature to resist false accusation. As long as northerners are blamed for everything wrong in Nigerian politics, there will be no room for genuine dialogue to solve the myriads of problems, confronting the country and without such dialogue, there cannot be peace, an essential panacea for progress. The metamorphosis from “East for easterners, West for westerners ane North for northerners” in 1952, suddenly to federation with strong centre in crisis period in 1966 was never more opportunistic than nationalistic. Hence, it consigned its architects (of the metamorphosis) into a pack of regret.
Who lopsided Nigeria? (2)
