Bishops in Nigeria want return to regionalism to solve country’s problems

YAOUNDÉ, Cameroon – Recent protests over bad governance and the cost of living in Nigeria have provoked renewed calls for a return to the regional system of government, including from the bishops of Africa’s most populous country.

Nigeria practiced a more regional form of government between 1954 and 1966, the Western, Eastern, and Northern regions. The Mid-Western region was later carved out of the Western region in 1963.

The model lasted until 1966, but when rebellious soldiers killed national political figures based mostly on tribal and regional affiliations. After this, Nigeria’s first military Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi, promulgated the “unification decree” in order to eliminate tribal and regional loyalties, the interests perceived to be encouraged by regionalism.

This led to the Biafra War – when the southern part of Nigeria dominated by the Igbo people declared independence. A violent conflict from 1967–1970 led to millions of deaths, before the separatist movement was suppressed.

Nigeria suffered military rule for several decades, and finally formed a more legitimate democracy in 1999, still under the unified government imposed by the army.

Still, the regional system is perceived by many Nigerians to have been behind significant developments because it fostered healthy competition among the regions.

The nation’s Catholic bishops now say the 25-year experiment with the military-imposed presidential system has failed Nigeria, which has been highlighted by the recent protests.

“Having experimented with the presidential system of government for over 25 years and having groped in the dark in search of solutions to our socio-economic problems, now seems to be the opportune time to heed the advice of some of our best minds canvassing our return to the former regional system of government, as envisaged by the wise founding fathers of our nation or devolve power to the present six geo-political zones,” said Archbishop Lucius Ugorji of Owerri, the President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).

He said the current system is too costly to run and breeds corruption — factors that contributed to the recent deadly End Bad Governance protests.

Ugorji criticized the killings during the protests and noted that addressing the economic hardships of Nigerians go beyond the economic reforms proposed by the current government of President Bola Tinubu.

“When all is said and done, we must admit that the cost of running our military-imposed presidential system of government with so many elected officials assisted by numerous support staff is staggering and unsustainable,” he said.

“We must also acknowledge that the corruption level of many Nigerian politicians has gone beyond scale and measure and that controlling our national resources at the federal government level creates more opportunities for corruption to flourish,” the bishop said.

A draft bill titled “The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria New Governance Model for Nigeria Act 2024” proposing a return to the regional system recently went viral on social media.

The House of Representatives later denied that such a bill had come before it for scrutiny, but its author, Akin Fapounda, a retired director in the federal civil service has promised to forward it to President Bola Tinubu, hoping he may present it to the National Assembly as an Executive Bill, barring any last-minute changes.

This proposed model of government resonates with calls for restructuring Nigeria’s government.

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama of Abuja underscored the need for “true and proper federalism.”

He said such a constitutional reform would “fizzle out separatist agitation… and there will be peace in Nigeria.”

Kaigama also said Nigeria will only experience a true sense of national unity if elections are not organized in a way that it is “monopolized by one or two ethnic groups.”

Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto noted that restructuring has become the catch phrase in Nigeria.

“It may not explain everything, but it at least is a simple way of saying, we are not happy. Whether it is IPOB [Indigenous People of Biafra separatist group] or the Niger Delta militants or Boko Haram, Nigerians are not happy. That is why I have argued that what is required urgently is not the fuzzy and dubious promises to fight corruption even when the same corruption is the vehicle that has brought the government to power, but a clear message about national cohesion and how we can hold together,” he said.

“The reality is that years and years of military rule have created a regime of incentives for those in power which borders on outright larceny … So, restructuring is another name for a sense of belonging, a sense of justice, a feeling of fairness, a feeling that we can measure the weight of our sweat, a sense that we must end what we say in Nigeria, monkey works, the baboon eats,” Kukah told Crux.

Embracing regionalism would enable each region to manage its own resources and remit royalties to the central government.

This approach contrasts sharply with the current system in Nigeria, where economic power and resource control are centralized within the Federal Government, which then distributes revenues to state and local governments.