Predictably, Bayero University, Kano (BUK)’s Prof Attahiru Jega’s clarion call for restructuring of Nigeria is echoing far and wider than Bauchi where he was speaking. The Nigerian Political Science Association (NPSA) has, for example, picked up Jega’s call by planning an intervention.
A Concept Note on its planned intervention made available to Intervention shows that the session will hold in February 2024. The Concept Note which contains the names of those who will present papers runs as follows:
Prof Jega, newest most active voice on the theme
Concept Note on NPSA Intervention on Restructuring Nigeria.
The call for restructuring Nigeria has, once again, been vibrating across the country, especially with the recent outing of Prof. Jega at the convocation of the Bauchi State University where he broadly outlined the necessity for it and gave a clue on how to go about restructuring Nigeria. Recall that the matter of restucturing Nigeria was a major campaign issue in the 2019 Presidential election when one of the candidates built his quest for the presidency on it, which resonated with some citizens. There were others who were stridently, if not violently opposed to the call.
However, from one’s observations, the call for restructuring the country has somehow been generating a kind of consensus to the point that the Buhari presidency, that was opposed to it, at a point, had to mellow down its level of opposition to it before it completed its term in office. Notwithstanding, there are still some citizens who have argued that though the necessity for it is imperative given the malfunctioning of the Nigerian federation that has weakened the level of attachment of the citizens to the state, the issue is that so much has been dumped on the table of restructuring that has made it to lack clarity and lose focus.
It is observable that the opposition to the issue of restructuring stems largely from the aura of omnibusness that has been built around the call beyond the politics of it. Most Nigerians would appear to be critical of the call because of its conceptual crisis. In their view, the agitation for it is tending towards a kind of cure-all solution; every problem in the country can be solved by the sheer act of restructuring the nation. While one is not doubting the efficacy of the act of restructuring in turning around the fortune of the country in a way, the point needs to be made that the tendency to see the term as the only needed tonic that can change the landscape of Nigeria is suspicious.
Without the intention of reopening the old debate of the structuralists, it is instructive to note that with the ways things are in the country with the mounting issues of values and attitude to contend with, Nigeria may need more than structural tinkering to resolve the myriad of problems facing the nation. This inevitably leads to the following questions: What is to be restructured? How do we go about it? Is restructuring a new phenomenon in Nigeria, and indeed, the world?
Towards this end, our Association has deemed it fit to intervene at this point to give context and content to the call for restructuring of Nigeria. We believe that it being a recurring decima in our nation, our voice should also be heard on the issue by dissecting it for the benefit of the people of Nigeria. Four papers are being considered for this intervention. They are:
- Historical and Conceptual issues on Restructuring – Dr. Jonathan Maiangwa, University of Maiduguri.
- The Necessity for Restructuring Nigeria – Dr. Jude Odigbo, Madonna University.
- Areas/Sectors to be involved and the Mechanisms for Restructuring Nigeria…Dr. Phillip Vande Federal University, Lokoja.
- Is it the only elixir that Nigeria needs at this point in Time? Dr. Khadijat Gumbi, Bayero University, Kano.
The programme will be through the zoom platform and it will hold in February, 2024.
