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| The Origin of the Politics of State Creation and Resource control in Nigeria |
 PRINTABLE VERSION |
After the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates in the year 1914, Lord Luggard became the Governor General of the Nigerian nation. Nigeria existed as a nation with two protectorates between the years 1914 and 1945. The creation of 3 regions was done by Sir Arthur Richards in 1945 after serious agitations for the adjustment of our internal boundaries. This marked the beginning of politics of state creation (regions) in Nigeria, which has continued till this day.
Following serious complaints by some ethnic minorities in the regions, the idea of creating a new region from the existing three regions became popular. By 1964, the creation of a mid-western region became a reality; incidentally this region was the only region (state) that was created democratically. There are laid down constitutional procedures which should be adhered to if a state must be created, but it was unfortunate that past military governments found themselves indulging in this sensitive issue of state creation.
The military government of General Yakubu Gowon believed that creating 12 states would solve the problem of suspicion created by the military coups of January 15 and July 27,1966, but history has shown that by creating states with the promulgation of decrees, more harm is done than good because there is no process of referendum that shows that the majority of people living in a particular area want to be part of the new state created; also, there is no study to ascertain whether the state is viable or not. These factors make the agitation for more states a continuous demand. Today we have 36 states and a Federal Capital Territory and 774 local governments all depending on federal allocation for survival; this shows that they are not viable.
The problem has even been worsened by the further demand by states to control their natural resources. In other areas, the states are not economically viable based on the way they were created, so this demand is borne out of frustration. But this is impossible because a state can only control its resources if it is a sovereign nation. I am of the opinion that we cannot make much progress based on the 36 states and 774 local government structures, because of the high dependence of these two arms of government on the federal allocation. We may consider the option of going back to the three region structure where the states will become the third arm of government; while these regions existed, all of them were viable and even contributing to the economic growth of the nation.
Meanwhile, the task before the national assembly and the committee set up to review the structure of governance is to fashion out a system of recognition but not create states, so that the states will not create a new federation! The national political reform conference delegates should also discuss this subject with keen interest and proper consideration to justice, fairness and good governance.
Finally, I am of the view that the money that will be realized after the review of the structure of governance should be channeled into industrialization of this country to diversify our sources of revenue and create more jobs for youths, rather than wasting it in setting up administrative machinery everywhere in the form of creating new states and local governments!
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Henry Ekwuruke
A writer and Young Journalist very interested in Africa and its affairs, he is because of Africa and will live to see Africa become!
Henry represents that African man's future!
I LOVE AFRICA and NIGERIA and will work for Nigeria.
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