Nigeria At Crossroad: Time to reinvent history and restructure
Nigeria At Crossroad: Time to reinvent history and restructure
By Banji Alabi
Patriots, as a lawyer, business and economic consultant as well as a committed statesman and leader of growth and development-driven Ondo State Eminent Persons Group, well versed in Nigeria’s contemporary political history, who is conscious of the state of the country in all perspectives, especially since the tragic end of the First Republic where it has been a story of motion without movement or transformation, it has become imperative to hit the nail on the head and tell ourselves the bitter but healing truth. When we say ourselves, we are referring to the various nations that today are under the octopus country called Nigeria. The age-long saying that you cannot apply the same tools, the same methods and the same strategies all the time and expect a different and new result perfectly applies to Nigeria today more than any other country – if we don’t want to continue to deceive ourselves, if we don’t want to perish in or with our stereotype culture of keeping archaic and ineffective status quo.
“Once to every man and nation comes the moment to decide in the strife between truth and falsehood…,” is a stanza from a popular secondary school hymn book. Now is the time for all with genuine desire for a new Nigeria where things work and where the lives, security and welfare of the people are a priority. Now is the moment to take this onerous stand in the age-long strife between truth and falsehood regarding a failed structure that has kept Nigeria in its stronghold.
Today is the time to re-invent productive history that served us effectively and efficiently in the past with its cost-effectiveness, which is the standard adopted and operated in most advanced climes, many of which were Nigeria’s contemporaries about 70 years ago. Are we not seeing the advancement in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea, India etc? Can’t we ask what is the magic? Is it not relevant to even ask the inescapable question: What was the magic that transformed the defunct Western Region of Nigeria? Who is losing and suffering following our refusal to ask these questions? It is the majority if not all of us! The insignificant few prospering from this awkward structure have no peace and conducive environment to enjoy the evil proceeds.
Nigeria is a nation of diverse people and different nations with diverse history, diverse governance culture, diverse tradition and diverse faith, which inevitably leads to strange bedfellows, often at each other’s throat because of the current structure forcing and fusing them together. As the Scripture asks, “Can two walk together unless they agree?” (Amos 3:3). True peace will only come when each region can walk in step with the others, on its own different and peculiar terms.
Drawing from the above narrative, we urge our leaders to revisit the principles of the Aburi Agreement and prioritise regional autonomy, resource management, and mutual co-existence. It’s time to restructure Nigeria to reflect the aspirations of its diverse people and content. We demand a Nigeria where every region can thrive, where resources are managed locally, and where diversity is celebrated. The status quo is not working. Adopting the concept of dignified autonomy, we can collaborate to build a Nigeria where things work for all.
We call for six autonomous zones which remains the genuine path to a lasting peace in Nigeria. We, the concerned citizens of Nigeria, assert that the current system is failing us. It’s time to acknowledge that Nigeria’s diversity is not a weakness, but a strength that can be harnessed through true federalism and resource control. We propose a restructured Nigeria along six regional structures characterised by the following irreducible features: Regional governments with substantial autonomy; a weak centre, focusing on national interests and coordination; regional police forces to address local security challenges; centralised armed forces for national defence; a ceremonial president, rotated among the regions to symbolise national unity.
Dividing the country into six geopolitical regions would restore balance and give each area the autonomy to manage its own resources while remaining part of a united Nigeria: North-Central – Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue, Kogi, Kwara, and the Federal Capital Territory; North-East – Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe; North-West – Kano, Katsina, Jigawa, Kebbi, Sokoto, and Zamfara; South-East – Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo; South-South – Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, and Rivers; South-West– Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Edo and Oyo.
Under this arrangement, each region decides how to develop and benefit from its own natural wealth, ending the feeling of exploitation, while paying an agreed percentage to the central government. In the same manner, local accountability and transparency would be enhanced as governors and legislators answer directly to their people, not to a distant central authority. It would also lead to rapid economic growth as regions tailor policies to their strengths—agriculture in the North-East, oil in the South-South, tech in the South-West—creating a more resilient national economy.
When every zone walks together by agreement, the friction that fuels conflict will diminish. The result is a Nigeria where diversity is a source of strength, not division or destructive rivalries but constructive and healthy competitions. Any of the zones should be free to leave the union as independent country
We need peace and development in a united Nigeria where kidnapping, banditry and other forms of terrorism would have been effectively tamed and subdued if not ended. Together, we can turn the dream of peace through partnership into a reality—six autonomous regions a “United Nigeria” will berth.
We call on all concerned Nigerians yearning for reinventing of our glorious history not to retreat. To retreat is to lose faith in your purpose. To surrender is to deny your destiny. But to persevere and persist even when everything seems lost is to declare victory before it arrives. We shall overcome. We will succeed.
