Resource Control; In Whose Interest.

Over the time, Nigeria has been in a state of big fish eats the small fish and the big fish takes care of the remaining small fish with the hope of eating them up at a later stage. It is without a doubt that over concentration of power at the centre is the bedrock of the challenges Nigeria is faced with. After the indepence, the Nigerian nation comprises of  three geopolitical regions; the Western region, Eastern region, and Northern region. The Northern People’s Party which represented the interests of the predominantly Hausa and Fulani Northern region, the national council of Nigeria citizens represented the predominantly Igbo Eastern Nigeria, and the Action Group which dominated the Yoruba western region were the major parties and controlling their respective regions. The NPC took control of the federal parliament, and formed a coalition government with the NCNC. Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, leader of the NPP, was believed to be favourite to become the Prime Minister, but instead he chose to become the Premier of the Northern Region, and instead supported his deputy Alhaji Tafawa Balewa candidacy for Prime Minister. Despite some resentment from the West and Eastern region with this choice, Tafawa Balewa of NPC was named Prime Minister and Head of Government, and Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe of NCNC was named president of Nigeria.

The purpose of this article is not entirely centered on how Nigeria government operates in the pre and post Independence political arrangement of the country. But one cannot but revisit the history of the country to know how and when it all began and the need for Nigeria to refocus and change from the present form of government which seems to benefit the government at the centre at the expense of the states and local government- the closest government to the people. The regional governments which heralded the Nigeria republic in the 60’s was and still regarded as the best for the people in that at that time there seem to be competitions among the constituent regions. The west, the Eastern and the Northern region were all out to outclass the other in terms of developmental and grassroots politics.
Before Oil was discovered in commercial quantity in Oloibiri in the present Rivers state in 1967, it was first discovered in the 50s in the West in Agbabu in the present Ondo state although its constituents and economic viability wasn’t encouraging and is what is today’s advancement discovered as bitumen deposit. In fact, its regarded as the second largest bitumen deposit in the world behind Canada. The west was predominantly known for its agricultural produce, Cocoa, Kola, Oil Palm etc were the basic source of revenue in the western region then. The premier Chief Obafemi Awolowo practically did all the infrastructural developments in the old western region then from Cocoa and made Nigeria the largest producer of Cocoa in the world at that time.

In the East Rubber and oil palm were mostly their source of revenue and major provider of the funds used in developing the area. Most of the infrastructural development of the region was mainly from agricultural produce. The same could be said about the Northern region the pyramid, cotton and other crops were used in developing the areas by the Ahmadu Bello administration as the premier of the region in the early 60’s. This was a Nigeria the british colonial masters handed over to us and was managed by our ideological and resourceful Chef Obafemi Awolowo, Ahaji Ahmadu Bello, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe and others who fought for the independent Nigeria.

Today, the Nigeria we have is the one who rely on oil and oil alone. The moment oil was discovered in commercial quantity everything changed oil money blind out leaders the military government that forcefully took over government in 1966 and held on to it till 1979 had so much wealth to throw around. Money was coming from left and right from the sale of crude oil in the Niger Delta region- the old Eastern region the present day South South part of Nigeria. The Nigeria of today with 36 states and a Federal Capital in Abuja depend solely on oil from one part the south-south. The remaining states forgot the resources they have. They could not think of what else to do in generating revenues for themselves. Apart from basically, Lagos, Delta, Rivers and Ogun states. Most of the states are barely able to sustain the running of government. They are struggling to even pay civil servant salaries with some owing up to 6-7 months with the global fall in crude prices reducing in monthly Federal allocations to state and inability of the country to produce the quantity of crude production like before due to the Niger Delta militancy activities.

There has never been a better time for Nigeria’s government to think of changing the perspective of a Presidential form of government or at least allow states to handle their individual resources for the betterment of its people. Most countries around the world no longer operates the kind of government that gives so much to centre while depriving the regions or states in Nigeria’s case of major treasures. The United States of America which Nigeria is kind of emulate in terms of government style Presidential government with bicameral legislature has 50 states and each of the states has its own way of making money for its people and still remit some of the earnings to Washington to run the country.
Why do we have an education minister who doesn’t have any school to supervise, why do we have an Agriculture minister who don’t know how an Osun state government handles its agriculture or in Ondo state to know how cocoa plantation farmers gets what they want to improve on its production. There are basic things the federal government can handle like currency, power, Immigration etc and the rest given to states to handle. The federal government will have less to worry about and have enough to pay its work force and be able to handle more, less cabinet, reduction in cost of running the government at the centre.

 During President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure there were several court cases instituted by states as regards resource control and Lagos state being an advocate of this and state policing made the agitation very intense by its attorney general and commissioner for justice Prof. Yemi Osinabjo the present Vice president of Nigeria made very popular back then. We now begin to wonder why the Vice President would not at least make that an agenda to be considered as they are now in power at the center. Based on this, the issue of state policing should be of paramount interest of the vice president. It doesn’t really make sense for someone to be sent from Kano to come and adequately police a River state a terrain or environment he is never used to.

A country of over 170 million inhabitants cannot rely solely on the center seems weak and burdened with the challenges of  following up on every issues from Power to education, Mineral resources to sports with basically Ministers who knows next to nothing about the ministries they are supervising.  A great philosopher once said you cannot keep doing same thing over and over again and expect a different result. We need to deviate from the normal which has hitherto brought us nowhere. Things have to be done differently to expect different result from the status quo. Decentralisation, regional governments, resource control or more power to the States whichever way the decision on the nomenclature will be, it is okay as long as it gives owner of resources the opportunity to have reasonable control on natural resources given them by nature. The APC led Federal government owes us a lot as to why they have suddenly gone silent on this topic. It was at the forefront of this agitation during their campaign and as opposition in Nigeria. The south-south and south west governors need to explain to us why they are suddenly satisfied with the status quo.

Questions need answers. And the answers are required now than ever before.


God bless Nigeria. God bless Nigerians.