WHY DO NIGERIANS THINK THAT THE SOLUTION TO THERE PROBLEM IS THE CREATIONS OF NEW STATES?!?!?.


Nigeria does not need any more states instead it needs to merge all its 36 states into 5 regions. This will make it more governable. Nigerians don't seem to understand the concept that smaller is better, when an institution becomes too big and inefficient, then it must be downsized and streamlined so that costs must be drastically cut and improve economies of scale. This applies to Nigeria, the republic is waaaaaaaaaaaaay too big. It is too small to have 36 states, it should only have 5 regions so that the country's resources would go round  and so that the country would be more governable.

It is estimated that Nigeria spends around 60% of its GNP to run the government. At the federal level, you have the executive (the president and his cabinet or ministers), at the legislature, you have all the senators and house of rep members, then you have the judiciary. Each state has the same branches of govt. and guess what? they are all paid by the fed govt. and that is why they are all clamoring for more states because everybody wants to be on the fed. govt. payroll from the local govt. chairman or permanent secretary of my LGA to the president of the republic.

Another problem is that everything is so centralized that's why nothing works, instead of leaving power generation to the private sector or to the individual states, the fed. govt insists that the country must have one central electrical company, NEPA or PHCN or whatever they call it these days that's why the company is so corrupt and over bloated.

Just to touch off another issue, resource control is not the solution to our problems. With all the money that the south south states have, what have they done with it? Wasn't Alameseyigha the one who embezzled tons of money. What of Peter Odilli, Victor Attah, James Ibori and co? What did they do with the "little" money that they had. The bible said that he who hasn't been faithful in little things, how can he be faithful with bigger things. That is why there arguements have not credibility, let them at least show that they can get the job done with the little they have so that they can at least there arguement would sound plausible. If we allow resource control it would mean more money for the corrupt politicians.

Nigeria does not need any more states instead it needs to merge all its 36 states into 5 regions.

Did we not try the above system before?

Normally it true that less political divisions is better for developing nations as it can greatly cut down on costs and also on corruption by reducing the number of low paid minor officials BUT Nigeria probably has the most complicated ethnic mix of any heavily populated country in the world and trying to form five regions or superstates is unlikely considering the ethnic and economic divides in every region of the country,

indeed:

It is too small to have 36 states, it should only have 5 regions so that the country's resources would go round and so that the country would be more governable.

Then you wrote:

Another problem is that everything is so centralized that's why nothing works

Nigeria actually needs more states. It is still same amount of money that would be shared to all the state.

They only break it down into small teams(states) to be manageable and to have wider impact.

This will ensure that people otherwise neglected will be able to get a share.

I so much agree with you.
You have a great and wonderful point, cos the states that we have are yet to be managed properly, and i think the lesser we have, the lesser the madness of the leadership, and transparency could be a lot easier too, cos now they will ave to watch just 5 governors and not 36, besides, there are some of the states that are just uselessly useless and add nothing to the nation called Nigeria.
5 Region would be better, and let them run their own affair, and the president will now help and administer the head of the regions.
60% of GNP on managing the government is a lot of money and that will drastically be reduced with lesser states.

Too bad for the guys who are looking for the creation of one.

Nigeria actually needs more states. It is still same amount of money that would be shared to all the state.

They only break it down into small teams(states) to be manageable and to have wider impact.

This will ensure that people otherwise neglected will be able to get a share.

back2back
No you don't get me, the operational expenditures of running these states would be huge. We have to pay senators, house of rep members, judges, ministers, hundreds of civil servants, local govt chairmen and secetaries. That is waaaaaaaaaaaaay too much, we should use this money on education and healthcare instead.

Did we not try the above system before?

Tippy top
We tried it before and it worked. In the western region we even had universal primary health care. The reason why it was stopped was because Gowon wanted to win the war and in order to do it, he had to split the biafra confedracy into several states so that they wouldn't be united.

The more the state, the more wastage it will be.
Imagine if we have to pay just 5 head of regions compared to 36 governors.
Imagine how much will go into servicing their retirement as well
Imagine how many vehicle will suck money
Imagine all the ministers under each states.
Just too much wastage.
So better with small govt and better accountability will come with that

There is no need for new state when the present state arent experiencing any positive development.

Tell them oh

Fhemmy,
No mind dem jare, if we were talking about something extremely divisive like ethnic animosity or splitting the nation, everybody would be talking smack. Now that we are talking about something positive. Everybody is quiet, where are the becomrrich and co.?

@ Poster

Spoken like a true wa-zo-bian

I find most of your posts disagreeable and this is no exception.

The minorities of Nigeria are not interested in this outdated idea of having monolithic regions.

State creation can be used as a divisive tool, but it can also be used as a tool for unity.

If a small country like Britain has close to 200 councils, I dont know why Nigeria cannot have 200 states.

The idea that big government "is too big and inefficient, then it must be downsized and streamlined so that costs must be drastically cut" is correct. . . . which is exactly why we should look to cut[b] local [/b] Government to smaller sizes.

Never again should a Bini man be forced to learn Yoruba just to have access to free education. . . . and never again should an Ogoni man have to complain about marginalisation from Enugu.

Take a trip to Delta State and see the tension between Ijaw/Itsekiri or Rivers State with Ijaw/Ikwerre or Benue State to check the tension between Tiv/Jukun or Berom/Hausa in Jos. We must respect our differences, fullstop; and not put tribes in a situation where they have to compete against each other.

The only way to eradicate tribalism from Nigeria is to reduce intra-region or intra-state competition. Trust me, an Ogoni man has no reason to complain about an Igbo man if he is governed by a fellow Ogoni. Dont put your hand in my garri, and I will have no reason to complain against you. Over time, there will be no cross-generational hatred with grandfathers telling their grandchildren to remember the time they were marginalised by the Igbos/Yorubas/Hausas/Ijaws etc. . . . and tribalism will disappear.


Obviously, your system is based on a unitary system. Thats why you are thinking of efficiency with Central Government. Id rather think of efficiency in local Government cos Federal Government is hamstrung by tribal double-bluffing. I am thinking of a federal system under a federal framework.

I agree with Awolowo - Nigeria is a federation of tribes, just like Spain. Any attempt to claim "one Nigeria" or "one Midwest" or "one Eastern Region" by force will not work.

If a small country like Britain has close to 200 councils, I dont know why Nigeria cannot have 200 states.

Ibime,
If you want more state creation, then the indigenes of those states should pay for them and not the federal government. The fed govt shouldn't be paying the salaries for the state officials and the cost of expenditures should strictly be on the taxpayer of that state and NOT THE FG.

Take a trip to Delta State and see the tension between Ijaw/Itsekiri or Rivers State with Ijaw/Ikwerre or Benue State to check the tension between Tiv/Jukun or Berom/Hausa in Jos. We must respect our differences, fullstop; and not put tribes in a situation where they have to compete against each other.

My good friend, the main reason for the tension in Nigeria is not tribalism or colonialism (although this do play certain roles). The problem is simple, POVERTY. In every poor country, you have interest groups (in this case various ethnicities) competing for few meager resources that is why there is always tension. Look at the problems in Alaba market in the 90's or the crisis in the North, the past couple of decades. The people who are always fighting each other are not the well to do's like the doctors, lawyers or engineers, they are the people from the underbelly of Nigerian society like the petty traders (hawkers, shoemakers, electronics traders) vs. the "abokis". When last did you see Igbo doctors and Yoruba engineers going on rampage across the cities burning each others clinics?

You gave an example of Spain, how come you don't here of Catalans burning up Galician businesses and beheading each other? Why its because these are developed countries and not countries with incredible poverty. Look at several countries with "tribes" like Belgium, switzerland or Holland, heck even in England, the scouse don't even regard themselves as English. The point i am trying to get out here is that all this racial or ethnic tensions rise to the surface when things go terribly wrong, for example if there was a great depression in England, and the country ended up a banana republic like Nigeria, wouldn't you see an explosion of animosity with society devolving into factions that cause chaos on the streets. You would see the skin heads fighting the minorities and the geordies fighting scouse, everybody would be fighting each other. But in a developed country where the standard of living is high, why would people want to go about killing each other in the streets. Do you see that here in yanki? If an Ijawman has food on the table and his children have access to a world class education, health system and he can grow up to be anything he wants, tell me why the heck would he want to go and burn a mosque down?



To add more thing, resource control is not the solution to our problems in Nigeria, everybody seems to think that it is. With all the money that the south south states have what have they done with it? Wasn't Alameseyigha the one who embezzled tons of money. What of Peter Odilli, Victor Attah, James Ibori and co? What did they do with the "little" money that they had. I remember when Peter Odilli got elected, he told us that we were going to get constant electricity from gas turbine. Geez, i wonder whatever happened to that? The bible says that he who hasn't been faithful in little, how can he be faithful with bigger things. That is why there arguements have not credibility, let them at least show that they can get the job done with the little they have so that they can at least there arguement would sound plausible. Donald Duke did a lottttt with less than this other states and what did they do with it? that's right, the money disappeared.

The more the state, the more wastage it will be.
Imagine if we have to pay just 5 head of regions compared to 36 governors.
Imagine how much will go into servicing their retirement as well
Imagine how many vehicle will suck money
Imagine all the ministers under each states.
Just too much wastage.
So better with small govt and better accountability will come with that

Fhemmy,
Thanks a lot jare, at least you get it.

davidif:

Ibime,
If you want more state creation, then the indigenes of those states should pay for them and not the federal government. The fed govt shouldn't be paying the salaries for the state officials and the cost of expenditures should strictly be on the taxpayer of that state and NOT THE FG.



My good friend, the main reason for the tension in Nigeria is not tribalism or colonialism (although this do play certain roles). The problem is simple, POVERTY. In every poor country, you have interest groups (in this case various ethnicities) competing for few meager resources that is why there is always tension. Look at the problems in Alaba market in the 90's or the crisis in the North, the past couple of decades. The people who are always fighting each other are not the well to do's like the doctors, lawyers or engineers, they are the people from the underbelly of Nigerian society like the petty traders (hawkers, shoemakers, electronics traders) vs. the "abokis". When last did you see Igbo doctors and Yoruba engineers going on rampage across the cities burning each others clinics?

You gave an example of Spain, how come you don't here of Catalans burning up Galician businesses and beheading each other? Why its because these are developed countries and not countries with incredible poverty. Look at several countries with "tribes" like Belgium, switzerland or Holland, heck even in England, the scouse don't even regard themselves as English. The point i am trying to get out here is that all this racial or ethnic tensions rise to the surface when things go terribly wrong, for example if there was a great depression in England, and the country ended up a banana republic like Nigeria, wouldn't you see an explosion of animosity with society devolving into factions that cause chaos on the streets. You would see the skin heads fighting the minorities and the geordies fighting scouse, everybody would be fighting each other. But in a developed country where the standard of living is high, why would people want to go about killing each other in the streets. Do you see that here in yanki? If an Ijawman has food on the table and his children have access to a world class education, health system and he can grow up to be anything he wants, tell me why the heck would he want to go and burn a mosque down?



To add more thing, resource control is not the solution to our problems in Nigeria, everybody seems to think that it is. With all the money that the south south states have what have they done with it? Wasn't Alameseyigha the one who embezzled tons of money. What of Peter Odilli, Victor Attah, James Ibori and co? What did they do with the "little" money that they had. I remember when Peter Odilli got elected, he told us that we were going to get constant electricity from gas turbine. Geez, i wonder whatever happened to that? The bible says that he who hasn't been faithful in little, how can he be faithful with bigger things. That is why there arguements have not credibility, let them at least show that they can get the job done with the little they have so that they can at least there arguement would sound plausible. Donald Duke did a lottttt with less than this other states and what did they do with it? that's right, the money disappeared.

i understand your point but lets come back home give examples from african that we can relate to.

So do you honestly think that it is only poor people that fight? when countries goes to war so is it the poor people that is requited to pick up arms. and i am not insulting you but just trying to let you know that there are several angles to this issue.

What is good for the belgiums might not be good for the nigerians, Nigeria as it is now and even if they go to five regions will still have the same problem and even 200 states like they said might still have the same problem. And the truth which you always over look is that there has been some very terrible events from the past since 1966 to this present day that is hurting us very well now which is making people to suggest 200 states.

Yesterday mr x will live with mr y but if mr x today decides not to live with mr y please let him be thats what we are asking for.

The present struture states was forced on us so lets dissolve it and decide which is best for us few regions or 1000 states thats my 2cents.

I like this topic.

auwal87:

I like this topic.

Good to hear that auwal,

I think this topic and should Nigeria split be moved to the front page because these are pressing issues affecting us right now.

For those of you proposing we go to regional form of government i want you to answer this questions for me.

How will these new regional government stop the following,

1) ATM and banking frauds
2) Electricity Problem ( Like what is stopping each states from doing that now alone or some group of states joining together to do that now? --- Case study in the Nordic country finland,Sweden.denmark and noway they all generate and share electricity among themselves.)
3) Police mounting check points and collecting bribes.
4) Examination malpractices in all our education sector
5) Strikes (ASUU, Health sector, PHCN, and others)
6) Election Rigging and do or die affair kind of politics
7) Importation of fake Products
How will this solve crimes like kidnapping.
9) Corruption
10) Many More etc

When the poor people are fighting are the educated ones not feeling the loss also? example Nysc students killed in the last jos riots,

I think this topic and should Nigeria split be moved to the front page because these are pressing issues affecting us right now.

For those of you proposing we go to regional form of government i want you to answer this questions for me.

How will these new regional government stop the following,

1) ATM and banking frauds
[b]2) Electricity Problem ( Like what is stopping each states from doing that now alone or some group of states joining together to do that now? --- Case study in the Nordic country finland,Sweden.denmark and noway they all generate and share electricity among themselves.)[/b]3) Police mounting check points and collecting bribes.
4) Examination malpractices in all our education sector
5) Strikes (ASUU, Health sector, PHCN, and others)
6) Election Rigging and do or die affair kind of politics
7) Importation of fake Products
How will this solve crimes like kidnapping.
9) Corruption
10) Many More etc

When the poor people are fighting are the educated ones not feeling the loss also? example Nysc students killed in the last jos riots,

The local govts would stop them. I am not saying disband local govts but disband states.
By the way, the scandinavian countries you mentioned are too small so they can afford to share electricity but Nigeria has a a huge population than they do.

davidif:



The local govts would stop them. I am not saying disband local govts but disband states.
By the way, the scandinavian countries you mentioned are too small so they can afford to share electricity but Nigeria has a a huge population than they do.

My brother i am really happy with your post because i initially thought the disbandment goes down to the local government and true about nigeria population and those countries.

Your posts just makes it more clearer what is wrong with nigeria and that is corruption and others. But still i suggest that these present local government composition is a fraud ( when it is tied to revenue collected) so they should go with the states. Please i do invite you to this thread you are needed there. https://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-106421.0.html

So why don't we disband the present ones also i mean let us erase every structure in the old system and create new ones genuinely from the heart. But i ask these questions how will the relation of these LGA be to the center on the following issues

Resource countrol
Millitary
Development
Many more

Which will be more stronger the center or LGA? My brother lets not deceive ourselves.

The ultimate truth is that in solving the Nigeria problem what we fail always to include in our solution is these bad people who have been destroying this present system. How do they fit in to this system because without dealing with them but not necessarily the Rawlings option then we are doomed for failure.

Let me ask will all these states be independently economically viable to stand alone?

@Poster
I am so much against creation of new states in our country because it will only serve the interest of few gluttons and not the genuine agitation of the people.
I would love to support you on the merging of present states into regions but that can't work out unless the power at the central is relaxed and regions are allowed to control their resources.It worked once because regions were given some autonomy and were allowed to control their resources and given the present arrangement, we should all forget about regions and pray the tiers of government effectively and efficiently utilize allocation monies.

So why don't we disband the present ones also i mean let us erase every structure in the old system and create new ones genuinely from the heart. But i ask these questions how will the relation of these LGA be to the center on the following issues

Resource countrol
Millitary
Development
Many more

Ehn are you serious?? do you know how much time and incredible stress it will take to create new ones and let's not even go to the question of legal ramifications. Omo, abeg, please don't even raise the question of disbanding the structures because the chaos that would ensue WOULD BE INCREDIBLE.

davidif:

Ehn are you serious?? do you know how much time and incredible stress it will take to create new ones and let's not even go to the question of legal ramifications. Omo, abeg, please don't even raise the question of disbanding the structures because the chaos that would ensue WOULD BE INCREDIBLE.

Okay i accept your reason and you are very right but there should still be some adjustment if two LGA wants to merge or a certain village wants to move to the next LGA. Just like if lagos wants to go back to 20 LGA. They should keep the ones that wants to remain like they are and create the ones that wants to exit that is just my opinion.

Now here comes the tricky question, How do we group these local government into senatorial zones for the national assembly or will the north still be the majority in that arm of government after this restructing and vetoing other parts of the country down?

If there will be any advantage related to the number of local governments then i forsee trouble ooooo.

Okay after this arrangement can we now group this local government into 3,4,5,6,7 regional governments?

Now here comes the tricky question, How do we group these local government into senatorial zones for the national assembly or will the north still be the majority in that arm of government after this restructing and vetoing other parts of the country down?

If there will be any advantage related to the number of local governments then i forsee trouble ooooo.

Okay after this arrangement can we now group this local government into 3,4,5,6,7 regional governments?

We should leave it, there is nothing wrong with the local structure just the people representing those structures. The electoral process has to be transparent so as to prevent terrible and unqualified candidates like Senator A or Governor B from winning elections. If these "public servants" knew that the possibilities of them retaining there seats depended on how they voted on so and so bill or what they achieved during there term, trust me, some of them will begin to step up so as not to lose there lucrative jobs. Here senators lose there seats in elections based on certain bills they voted for or against. The same goes for presidents and govs., at the end of the day, there whole body of work would be examined by the voters with the voters deciding if they want a different leader. This makes the leaders step there game.

davidif:


We should leave it, there is nothing wrong with the local structure just the people representing those structures. The electoral process has to be transparent so as to prevent terrible and unqualified candidates like Senator A or Governor B from winning elections. If these "public servants" knew that the possibilities of them retaining there seats depended on how they voted on so and so bill or what they achieved during there term, trust me, some of them will begin to step up so as not to lose there lucrative jobs. Here senators lose there seats in elections based on certain bills they voted for or against. The same goes for presidents and govs., at the end of the day, there whole body of work would be examined by the voters with the voters deciding if they want a different leader. This makes the leaders step there game.

Our current structure is not working.
Too big and too much wastage.

Fhemmmy:

Our current structure is not working.
Too big and too much wastage.

That's why i was advocating for regional governments with no useful center at all. Just like a ceremonial center. Each region should have provinces or zones like the Philippines.

davidif:


We should leave it, there is nothing wrong with the local structure just the people representing those structures. The electoral process has to be transparent so as to prevent terrible and unqualified candidates like Senator A or Governor B from winning elections. If these "public servants" knew that the possibilities of them retaining there seats depended on how they voted on so and so bill or what they achieved during there term, trust me, some of them will begin to step up so as not to lose there lucrative jobs. Here senators lose there seats in elections based on certain bills they voted for or against. The same goes for presidents and govs., at the end of the day, there whole body of work would be examined by the voters with the voters deciding if they want a different leader. This makes the leaders step there game.

Your post is leading us to the very core Nigeria problem

Corrupt and uneducated voters.
Bad electoral institutions and process
Bad politicians preventing good ones from winning elections
Lack of accountability of the Representative to the represented, After elections my bro people go to sleep here in Nigeria until the next election no one has full time dedication to these theifs.
Many more

Now can we move to the next stage and that is,

Who is going to bell the cat and how should we bell the cat?

I mean who is going to fix all these issues and how should it be done?

That's why i was advocating for regional governments with no useful center at all.

I am advocating for 5 regional govts but with a strong centre afterall that is what a republic is all about. Federalism requires a strong central govt.

Our current structure is not working.
Too big and too much wastage.

Keep the local govts but disband the states by consolidating it into 5 regions. Tampering with the local govts would cause chaos and trust me you don't want to open that can of worms. All you want is for these local govts to work and for there representatives to be accountable to the people.

I mean who is going to fix all these issues and how should it be done?

Now this is the tough part, the solutions are glaringly obvious but the president can't fix the issues but he doesn't seem to be up to the task since his mandate is illegitimate. The only hope we have is the next election process where i read somewhere that they approved electronic voting, this would make it almost impossible to rig elections on a wide scale.

davidif:


I am advocating for 5 regional govts but with a strong centre afterall that is what a republic is all about. Federalism requires a strong central govt.

Will this strong center still be attractive that it will be a do or die affair like obasanjo said to get there?

What organs of the government or institutions will be controlled by the center. I for one will not want a restructure that will still favor the northern part in relation to the armed forces. If possible each region should have his own independent military. Can you still explain further what you mean by strong center?.

davidif:



Keep the local govts but disband the states by consolidating it into 5 regions. Tampering with the local govts would cause chaos and trust me you don't want to open that can of worms. All you want is for these local govts to work and for there Representatives to be accountable to the people.

Can we take this further and attempt to present here the structure and composition of these five regions? Like what areas or states will make up this five regions we are talking about and if need be it could be less or more.

davidif:



Now this is the tough part, the solutions are glaringly obvious but the president can't fix the issues but he doesn't seem to be up to the task since his mandate is illegitimate. The only hope we have is the next election process where i read somewhere that they approved electronic voting, this would make it almost impossible to rig elections on a wide scale.

I don't foresee the right person getting there by a credible election, paper voting or electronic voting that will make this changes. The only way is for the masses to call for a SNC where we will all renegotiate everything. This can be achieved in many ways.

The mend tactics
National assembly
Once and for all alliance of the southern part of Nigeria to call for these conference
Through a referendum
A very strong solidarity action that will paralyse the education, health, security and economic activity of the nation. i believe this last option if implemented like they do in Thailand will bring results.

If possible each region should have his own independent military.

Ehn nooooooooo abeg, if this happens then there is no point for having a country called Nigeria.

Can you still explain further what you mean by strong center?.

What i mean by a strong centre is a govt where the fed govt. supercedes the power of the states. The probs with naija is that everything is too centralized and when you have govts running sectors that should only be mean for the private sector like electricity, oil production, telecommunications. Then it is all bound to fail. The govt should leave all this for private investors. If a state is lagging behind only then can the fed govt. come in to the rescue.

I don't foresee the right person getting there by a credible election, paper voting or electronic voting that will make this changes. The only way is for the masses to call for a SNC where we will all renegotiate everything. This can be achieved in many ways.

The mend tactics
National assembly
Once and for all alliance of the southern part of Nigeria to call for these conference
Through a referendum
A very strong solidarity action that will paralyse the education, health, security and economic activity of the nation. i believe this last option if implemented like they do in Thailand will bring results.

Trust me, you don't want to go down that road. Once you go there, there is no coming back.

I cant blv someone is suggesting that each region has there own military.
I think they could have their own police unit, and then, have a federal police.

Fhemmmy:

I cant blv someone is suggesting that each region has there own military.
I think they could have their own police unit, and then, have a federal police.

I understand and i think i erred in this regard but i am just pissed off by the politics in the military that

sites all the military weapons and infrastructure in the north
Entering the military by population instead of a very complicated procedure (Merit and special talent)
Putting incompetent people to head sensitive positions and therefore reducing our military growth.

davidif:

Ehn nooooooooo abeg, if this happens then there is no point for having a country called Nigeria.
What i mean by a strong centre is a govt where the fed govt. supercedes the power of the states. The probs with naija is that everything is too centralized and when you have govts running sectors that should only be mean for the private sector like electricity, oil production, telecommunications. Then it is all bound to fail. The govt should leave all this for private investors. If a state is lagging behind only then can the fed govt. come in to the rescue.



Trust me, you don't want to go down that road. Once you go there, there is no coming back.

Thanks for the correction and the strong center explanation, but what road are you saying that will should not thread? kind of confused here.

I meant the MEND tactics.

I understand and i think i erred in this regard but i am just pissed off by the politics in the military that

sites all the military weapons and infrastructure in the north
Entering the military by population instead of a very complicated procedure (Merit and special talent)
Putting incompetent people to head sensitive positions and therefore reducing our military growth.

These are just easy problems to solve, they are just institutional problems that can be solved by putting a good leader in charge who changes the status quo. You don't need an incredible overhaul of the system, just replace the guy at the top.