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Senior Advocate Mike Ozekhome proposes restructuring Nigeria’s 36 states into six regional governments to boost economic competitiveness.
Abuja – Constitutional lawyer Mike Ozekhome has made what might be his boldest political statement yet. Speaking Thursday at a health awareness event his chambers organized in Abuja, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) called for collapsing the country’s 36 states into just six regional governments. He’s not interested in creating more states quite the opposite, actually.
Most existing states, Ozekhome argues, simply aren’t pulling their weight economically. They’re too dependent on monthly federal handouts to function properly.
A Federalism That Isn’t Really Federal
With over four decades in legal practice, Ozekhome has seen enough to be skeptical of how Nigeria’s federal system actually works. What we call federalism, he suggests, looks more like a unitary government that crushes any real competition between states.
“Rather than create more states, we should collapse the present structure into about six geopolitical zones, which should serve as regional governments,” he told the “Walk for Wellness” campaign participants.
It’s a radical idea, though not entirely new in Nigerian political circles.
That 1999 Constitution Problem
Ozekhome didn’t hold back when discussing Nigeria’s constitution. He sees it as fundamentally flawed a “product of the military class” that hoards too much power at the center. This setup, he believes, turns states into little more than passive beneficiaries waiting for their monthly allocation checks.
“The present constitution is not only cumbersome, with the centre vested with too much power and too many responsibilities,” Ozekhome noted. His solution? Go back to parliamentary democracy with a cleaner two-tier system.
Whether this would actually work in practice remains an open question, of course.
The Resource Paradox
Here’s what’s particularly frustrating to Ozekhome: Nigeria sits on incredible mineral wealth, yet the entire country still runs on oil money. He pointed to Nasarawa state, which apparently has over 36 different mineral deposits, while Plateau follows with 28.
Yet what do we do with all this? Not much, it seems.
Regional governance might push states to actually develop these resources instead of waiting for oil revenue to trickle down, though critics would likely argue that regional governments could face similar challenges.
The South East Gets a Pass
Interestingly, Ozekhome makes one exception to his “no more states” rule. He supports creating an additional state in the South East to even things out that region currently has five states while others have six.
“The only state I will have said should be created right now should be in the South East, to bring them to equity with other geopolitical zones in the country,” he said.
His proposals tap into ongoing conversations about restructuring that have been bubbling in Nigerian politics since 1999. Whether anyone in power is actually listening is another matter entirely.
By Abdullah Korede
