UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF RESTRUCTURING: A SOUTH-EAST PERSPECTIVE (PART-TWO)
UNDERSTANDING THE CONCEPT OF RESTRUCTURING: A SOUTH-EAST PERSPECTIVE
(PART-TWO)
By:
Nurudeen Dauda
July 3, 2017.
nurudeendauda24@yahoo.com.
nurudeendauda24@gmail.com
nurudeendauds.blogspot.com
Permit me to state the South-East perspective on restructuring, In my humble understanding. But before then, I do hope my reader must have read the part one of this write ups in order to fully understand my line of arguments. The South-East perspective on restructuring In my observation is all about Confederalism which was sought by the late Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu at the Aburi Conference in Ghana in 1967. Confederal system of Government means a system of Government that allows “SECESSION” at will.
Confederation is a loose political arrangement in which autonomous or sovereign states or republics come together to form a “UNION” in which almost all the major functions of government are performed by the states. The component states retain their sovereignty, Identity, they own their own Army, Police and have the constitutional Rights to “SECEDE”(breakaway from the Union) at anytime that they so wishes. However, “SECESSION” under a federal constitution is regarded as “TREASON” while in a Confederal Constitution is a constitutional “RIGHT”. A Confederal constitution provides for a weak central government with powerful regional governments. The constitution makes the component states more powerful than the centre. The citizens have to obey only one government which is their own regional government.
History shows that Confederation is usually formed in order to have a strong union of nations for security, and Economic reasons etc. When two or more sovereign states put their resources together they will become Economically, Politically and Military stronger in order to prevent a threat from any rival country. We once had a Confederation of Senegal and Gambia known as “SENEGAMBIA” which had since been separated. Other examples of Confederalism are the International Organizations; such as: United Nations Organization (UNO), European Union (EU), African Union (AU) and Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) etc. These Organizations are Confederation of Independent Sovereign Nations who join the Union voluntarily on the basis of either Security or Military or Political or Social or Economic reasons or all and can exit their membership at anytime they feel.
For instance, Morocco withdrew its membership from the Organization of African Union(OAU) later African Union(AU) in 1984 following the admission of the SAHRAWI ARAB DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC as a government of Western Sahara in 1982 which was formerly part of Morocco. However, recently Morocco has rejoined AU after years of withdrawals. More so, Mauritania withdrew its membership from ECOWAS in the year 2002. Mauritania is Geographical in North-Africa, Mauritania left in order to concentrate its efforts in the Arab Maghreb Union or UMA for cultural reasons and also in the hope that its interests will be better protected. Also, the recent example is “BRITEXIT” from the European Union.
However, one continues to wonder about the struggles by groups ; such as: the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra(MASSOB) and Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB) despite the fact that Igbos Investments in Nigeria are spread across the country, in fact the Igbos have more “INVESTMENTS OUTSIDE THE IGBOLAND” than in the Igboland . Arguably the Igbos have Investments in Lagos, Rivers, Kaduna, and Plateau states etc more than the Indigenous people of those states with equally huge Investments in Kano, Katsina, Sokoto, Ogun, Kogi,Niger states and Abuja etc. One would have thought that the movements would canvass for more home Investments!
Please come with me for the next segment on the South-West perspective on restructuring.
May God bless Nigeria!