Nigeria recently celebrated her 61st anniversary, and the country has had its fair share of different crisis within the last few years. The regular Nigerian, according to the latest estimates, has gotten significantly poorer over the past few years. The Nigerian state holds the ignominious position of being the poverty capital of the world, with over 100 million people living in poverty. Say, the Nigeria of today is vastly different both in outlook and experience from the Nigeria of our dreams.

A cursory look will let us know the nation is barely hanging on. A vast majority of her youths are looking to escape to greener pastures. Separatists have gained wide attention in at least two geopolitical zones of the country. The cries are getting louder and harder to ignore. What, then, should we do? Should we cower and resign our fates to the caprices of chance or do we attempt to think through our current challenges? I think the reality for most Nigerians is that Nigeria is not working. This admission will also lead to a much deeper question of why. The answer to why will lead us to many uncomfortable truths, yet the truth is the starting point of wisdom. We must be unafraid to ask those questions and be even more daring to answer them with a clear head. No topic or area should be off the table, this includes contentious topics such as the idea of separation, which for some strange reason is often treated as an untouchable subject. Those who treat this as untouchable have forgotten that the Nigerian state itself was not created by the consent of the peoples of Nigeria but a colonial construct by fiat. The above foregoing does not imply that there is no benefit to Nigeria staying together as a country. It is simply to state clearly that there must be no area we dare not go to.

I realize that I may have thrown down the gauntlet on my challenge demanding that we should Nigeria, to insulate myself from the charge of being a Hypocrite, I have rethought Nigeria and the reader is welcome to criticize and nitpick. I hope that they do so. At least that will mean that I have challenged a set of people to think along with me.

So here goes my overall thoughts on what Nigeria should be.

While the idea of secession is attractive in theory, the costs are prohibitive, especially within the context of Nigeria’s complexity. The lack of internal governance capacity will only decentralize the dysfunction that is governance in Nigeria while creating new fiefdoms and contests for power, all this while the average person continues to suffer. I propose a soft decoupling that devolves economic power to the states, a union fee which will amount to about 30% of the state’s revenue would be sent to the Federal government. The federal government of Nigeria will serve as an economic standardization organ, service the armed forces and the federal police. To create presence for the FG, specially administered cities will be created within the Six geopolitical zone, the location will be jointly decided by the governors of the states within the zone. This will serve as the base of operation for the FG in that zone, the leadership will be a federally appointed minister with a four-year term, this federally administered cities will provide another revenue source for the FG and a way for them to take part in state building. States will have a minimum revenue threshold to continue to exist as a state or become merged with a larger state. This will force states to become serious about generating wealth from within her borders. States will completely manage the security apparatus within the state and the head of the police apparatus can only serve two terms with 4 years. The House of Reps should be devolved into the 6 regions and will make laws specific to their region. The seat will be at the federally administered city, the senate will sit on purely federal matters with no specifics to the region. The essential goal is to rethink the roles of the federal government, empower states while respecting the diversity of the different regions of Nigeria. After a 100 years, a debate on the state of the states will be had and a vote will be taken on if the country should continue as one.

The ideas above are another way to view Nigeria and see it in another Light. Nigeria is 61 years which may be old in human years but relatively young as a self-governing country. This means the country is allowed to experiment and test ideas. The alternative is to continue to grope in the dark, hoping to stumble on a miracle. That’s not a wise strategy.

This whole article is an experiment on how I view a restructured Nigeria, I welcome critiques and valuable contributions on this matter.

Nigeria recently celebrated her 61st anniversary, and the country has had its fair share of different crisis within the last few years. The regular Nigerian, according to the latest estimates, has gotten significantly poorer over the past few years. The Nigerian state holds the ignominious position of being the poverty capital of the world, with over 100 million people living in poverty. Say, the Nigeria of today is vastly different both in outlook and experience from the Nigeria of our dreams.

A cursory look will let us know the nation is barely hanging on. A vast majority of her youths are looking to escape to greener pastures. Separatists have gained wide attention in at least two geopolitical zones of the country. The cries are getting louder and harder to ignore. What, then, should we do? Should we cower and resign our fates to the caprices of chance or do we attempt to think through our current challenges? I think the reality for most Nigerians is that Nigeria is not working. This admission will also lead to a much deeper question of why. The answer to why will lead us to many uncomfortable truths, yet the truth is the starting point of wisdom. We must be unafraid to ask those questions and be even more daring to answer them with a clear head. No topic or area should be off the table, this includes contentious topics such as the idea of separation, which for some strange reason is often treated as an untouchable subject. Those who treat this as untouchable have forgotten that the Nigerian state itself was not created by the consent of the peoples of Nigeria but a colonial construct by fiat. The above foregoing does not imply that there is no benefit to Nigeria staying together as a country. It is simply to state clearly that there must be no area we dare not go to.

I realize that I may have thrown down the gauntlet on my challenge demanding that we should Nigeria, to insulate myself from the charge of being a Hypocrite, I have rethought Nigeria and the reader is welcome to criticize and nitpick. I hope that they do so. At least that will mean that I have challenged a set of people to think along with me.

So here goes my overall thoughts on what Nigeria should be.

While the idea of secession is attractive in theory, the costs are prohibitive, especially within the context of Nigeria’s complexity. The lack of internal governance capacity will only decentralize the dysfunction that is governance in Nigeria while creating new fiefdoms and contests for power, all this while the average person continues to suffer. I propose a soft decoupling that devolves economic power to the states, a union fee which will amount to about 30% of the state’s revenue would be sent to the Federal government. The federal government of Nigeria will serve as an economic standardization organ, service the armed forces and the federal police. To create presence for the FG, specially administered cities will be created within the Six geopolitical zone, the location will be jointly decided by the governors of the states within the zone. This will serve as the base of operation for the FG in that zone, the leadership will be a federally appointed minister with a four-year term, this federally administered cities will provide another revenue source for the FG and a way for them to take part in state building. States will have a minimum revenue threshold to continue to exist as a state or become merged with a larger state. This will force states to become serious about generating wealth from within her borders. States will completely manage the security apparatus within the state and the head of the police apparatus can only serve two terms with 4 years. The House of Reps should be devolved into the 6 regions and will make laws specific to their region. The seat will be at the federally administered city, the senate will sit on purely federal matters with no specifics to the region. The essential goal is to rethink the roles of the federal government, empower states while respecting the diversity of the different regions of Nigeria. After a 100 years, a debate on the state of the states will be had and a vote will be taken on if the country should continue as one.

The ideas above are another way to view Nigeria and see it in another Light. Nigeria is 61 years which may be old in human years but relatively young as a self-governing country. This means the country is allowed to experiment and test ideas. The alternative is to continue to grope in the dark, hoping to stumble on a miracle. That’s not a wise strategy.

This whole article is an experiment on how I view a restructured Nigeria, I welcome critiques and valuable contributions on this matter.