Legal analyst and public affairs commentator, Liborous Oshoma, has said that Nigeria’s political and governance failures are rooted in its overly centralised structure and the flawed 1999 Constitution, which he argues promotes laziness, inefficiency, and a rent-seeking elite.
Speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Sunday, Oshoma argued that the current federal arrangement is overly centralised and functions like a “feeding bottle” system, encouraging states and local governments to depend on allocations from the centre instead of building capacity and becoming self-sufficient.
He said, “We say we operate a federal constitution. But we are unitary in every form. A feeding bottle system where everybody goes to Abuja every Monday, returns on Friday. To do what? Collect allocation, look for contracts, and then the only prayer is we pray that government gives you appointment. And so you create lazy states. You breed laziness at the state’s level where everybody sits down, whether you work or not. At the end of the month, you just go collect allocation. And so everybody can become governor. Anybody can become lawmaker.”
According to Oshoma, Nigeria is run like a “big local government” where the federal government takes on roles meant for states and local councils, undermining development and accountability.
“We operate Nigeria like a big local government, where the president will oversee everything from Maiduguri to Ukwani, from Sokoto, Birnin Kebbi, to Lagos. And then we’re happy. Oh, you’re constructing a coastal road from Lagos to Calabar, another one from Sokoto to Badagry. These are not the jobs of local and federal government. So until we sit down and ask ourselves, how do we unbundle this entity, make the centre less attractive?
“And that’s what we discuss in constitutional amendment. What we’re basically doing now is we’re addressing the problems. Oh, let’s talk about, let’s create state police, let’s create more states, and the states that you already have are not viable,” he said.
Oshoma then, pointing to how ethnic and local loyalties that often overshadow national identity, advocated tailoring the constitution to foster competition and clearer responsibilities at local levels.
He said, “Before we talk about the laws, the constitution, Nigeria belongs to nobody. Nobody owns Nigeria. So we see ourselves more. If I ask you now, if you get to, you’re looking for a job, the first thing is, what states are you from? What local government? And then, even if you meet somebody, ordinarily, because of interaction, where are you from? What local government? What tribe? So we lay more claim to our natural and cultural entity than the idea of a Nigeria. It’s only when we go out of this country that we see ourselves as Nigerians.
“So why don’t we tailor our constitution to give it that outlook? That will make it more competitive. For example, I have streetlights on Awolowo Road, and I would be looking for the state government to fix them. When there’s a local government here, it’s a responsibility. And so when you shift the responsibilities away from the government that is closest to the people, and yet we say all governance is local, what you are doing, you are making those people irresponsible. And so you reduce them to salary-paying agencies.
“And then you come tomorrow and say, the problem is not the constitution. It is the people that operate the constitution. The constitution you have given to them has created great laziness in government, has great ineffectiveness. So it will make it very difficult to operate.”
He went on to add, “It is not just the people. Your constitution is defective. Earlier, we sat down and said, if governance is local, why don’t we create a government, an effective government that is local, that will take care of those local responsibilities? And not just window dressing. If you create state police – already we have state police. LASTMA is state police. Almost every state in the South is creating, replicating state traffic management. How effective are they? Because the money to pay salaries is not there.”
He called for a genuine federal system where states and local governments have the autonomy and resources to manage their affairs, raise revenue, and remit taxes to the centre — a system similar to that of the First Republic.
“This constitution, we should find a way of truly operating a federal structure where the local government and the states will be more effective, generate revenue, use those revenues to take care of their entity and environment, and then pay taxes to the centre the way it was in the first republic.”
Ozioma Samuel-Ugwuezi
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