Whereas the idea of regional integration has caught on with the people of the South-West, particularly with its promise of rapid socio-economic and infrastructural development of the region, one is taken aback by the attempts by some commentators to demonise the noble agenda. One of such attempts is a write-up by Is’haq Modibbo Kawu, attacking the proceedings of the Nation’s Legislative Summit held in Ibadan.
The writer submitted that an adoption of an anthem and flag by South-West leaders under Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was a dress rehearsal to secession bid from Nigerian state. Yet, having an anthem and flag by a state in a federation has nothing to do with secession. They are simply affirmation of the autonomy of the federating units as parts of the attributes of genuine federalism.
Before the military misadventure in 1966, each region of Nigeria had its own coat of arms, flag and anthem which never constituted secession at the time. It was military incursion into our polity that balkanised them. Notwithstanding, the truth is that regional consciousness has not faded away, they still exist. Arewa, Ohaneze Ndigbo, Ijaws, etc., all have their flags and anthems. In fact, the symbol of Arewa was gleefully placed on the Nigerian currency by Northern oligarchs.
In the United States of America which practises the same federalism as Nigeria, the states have their own flags, anthems and even constitution, but they are not seen as a precursor to secession. Similar arrangements exist in Canada and India.
As against a unitary system where everything flows from the centre, federalism is a constitutional arrangement where the centre and its federating units — states — derive their powers from a written constitution without either being subordinated to the other. In a large country like Nigeria with diverse tribes, religions, languages, cultures, etc., where propensity of domination of one federating unit over another is high, this federating arrangement becomes imperative with each federating unit developing at its own pace or collaborating with other federating unit(s) for a developmental agendum.
This is the background to the South-West governors and leaders’ meeting of February 2, 2012 in Ibadan, Oyo State.
There is nothing superfluous with the Yoruba people meeting. Hausa people under the platform of Arewa Consultative Forum have been meeting from time to time. Just on Thursday, February 23, 2012, 19 Northern governors, under the canopy of Northern Governors Forum met to discuss unfavorable federal allocation to Northern states, among others; and even the minority Ijaw people under the Ijaw National Congress are not left out. Since the commencement of the present civil dispensation in 1999, virtually every state goes to Abuja, cap in hand, for monthly federal allocation, which is mostly used on recurrent expenditure with little or nothing left for capital projects that could improve the lives of the people and attract investment opportunities. In this kind of milieu, a responsible and responsive leadership should look inward on how to get out of the woods to improve the lot of the people. Hence, the demand by the South-West governors and leaders for true federalism and reordering of allocation for the federating units as it is ordinarily supposed to be.
Furthermore, it is a fact that at every historical juncture, humanity has always been provided leadership that would be the rallying point and champion its cause for development. This leadership emergence is not limited to socio-political arena, but it encompasses every department of life, including religion. How far the leadership goes in championing its cause at every epoch is another issue entirely.
Modibo made reference to democratically elected governors of the states in the South-West as “sidekick.” The credentials of these governors are well known to all discerning minds and cannot be diminished by this attack.
The writer failed to state what is wrong with regional integration agendum by South-West leaders. In the absence of any positive programme or policy from the Federal Government that could bring development to the region despite the stupendous resources in its possession, South-West leaders have the right to create avenues for development of their region.
It is an incontrovertible fact that Yoruba, Hausa and Ibo are different people with different culture, language, orientation, etc., with each knowing where he/she originated from. With Boko Haram’s condemnable and unjustifiable attacks in most parts of the North-East for instance, Igbo and Yoruba in the area have been moving out of the place but the Hausa who are also victims of these attacks have stayed. Why? It’s their land. They have nowhere to go! This is just to show that we know where we all belong.
With the alarming 2010 report of the National Bureau of Statistics released on February 20, 2012 stating that 112,519 million Nigerians live in relative poverty, in a situation where the majority of the population — especially the young people — live without hope, lacking basic amenities, having no job and living in perpetual poverty in the midst of abundant human and natural resources which are the basic requirements for societal development, any leadership that fails to strategise on how to address these problems and bring laughter on the faces of its people is not worth being referred to as leadership. This is exactly what the South-West leadership tries to fix via its regional integration agenda.
In his address at the Nations’ Legislative Summit, Governor Rauf Aregbesola said the first need of the people was job, followed by education, transportation and agriculture. He concluded by stating, “I believe I must, at this point, add that the call for integration is not a call for secession. To make this beyond doubt, any other state outside the region that subscribes to our core values, commitments and objectives is welcome to join us in the integration.”
What else does one need to state more than this? Regional integration is an instrument, true federalism is the target, and decent living condition for our people is the goal.
•Okanlawon is Director, Bureau of Communications & Strategy, Office of the Governor, Osogbo, Osun State.
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