The agitation for more states is unreasonable
As we have highlighted several times on this page, demand for creation of states is as old as Nigeria itself. It all began with the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern protectorates in 1914 and the division of the country into three huge regions of North, East and West. In 1963, the country moved from three regions to four when the Midwest was created. But even that did not completely douse the fire of agitation as the ethnic minorities in both the North and South continued to allege domination and oppression while demanding autonomies. And with that, the country became mired in a revolving game of states creation and agitation, especially under military rule.
From 12 states in 1967, it moved to 18 and then 30 while the structure of 36 states came into being in 1996. Instructively, apart from the Midwest created in the First Republic, no other civilian administration since then has been able to create a single new state. Perhaps because all previous state creations were done by some kind of military fiat, sometimes as a means of dispensing favour to members of the political elite, serious attention was not paid to the critical requirements and conditions for such exercise. Issues like sustainable internally generated revenue, cultural affinity of the peoples, availability of the needed manpower and entrepreneurship were ignored. Invariably, many of the states have become economically unviable.
It is within the foregoing context that we can easily situate the latest report by the House of Representatives Constitution Review Committee, which suggested the creation of 31 additional states in the country, bringing the new total to 67. Although the Deputy Speaker, Benjamin Kalu, whose report sparked the controversy has clarified his position, it is important to knock these incessant demands for states.
At a period when most critical observers argue that the current 36 state-structure should be collapsed into the six geopolitical zones, we fail to understand the obsession with the idea of creating more cost centres for the country. We note that those who promote creation of new states regard it as part of national restructuring exercise to ensure equity and justice, coupled with the claim that it brings about more democratisation as it takes government closer to the people. But recent developments have shown that this is not usually the case, as it seems that the more states are created the farther government is from the people. To compound the problem, the local government system has been rendered totally irrelevant by the governors.
Apparently responding to public criticisms, Kalu said at the weekend that the House is not taking a side on the proposal received by the Committee on Constitution Review to create additional 30 states. “We have heard a lot of people giving different narratives to the letter that was read. Let me clear the dust,” said Kalu who argued that his job is that of an arbiter. “As we speak, none of these 30 proposals have met the requirements of section 8 and that was why we decided to bring it to the notice of Nigerians.”
Whatever may be the excuses, the National Assembly will be indulging itself in a needless time and money wasting exercise if it continues to entertain demands for the creation of new states. The lawmakers must be bold enough to tell the agitators and sponsors the bitter truth that given the mood of the nation and prevailing economic realities, creation of more states is a forlorn hope, at least for now. It smacks of self-deceit for the National Assembly to be encouraging agitation for more states when it is very clear that the demands are unrealistic and would not fly.