Despite his sickness, he did his best. He was forthright. He admitted that the election that brought him to office as President was flawed and he initiated reforms to sanitise our electoral process. He spent three years in office and that was reasonably long.

Yaradua was as sick as a dog and committed suicede by accepting the presidency with all its rigours out of greed. So he is not all THAT. He did not just live long to show who he is. Remember that Ibori was his best friend.

Obasanjo has now recognized the all-importance of returning Nigeria to truly federal structures, as clearly shown by his association with Ayo Adebanjo’s Ogbo Ijebu faction of Afenifere [who are against Reuben Fasoranti’s (Bola Tinubu’s) Akure faction] and his public backing of Peter Obi (LP) in the last presidential election. That was his very major failing in 1999-2007.

Still, Obasanjo was mostly right to have chosen a presidential democracy in a federation of 19 states in the 1979 constitution (to counter secessionist tendencies), which has essentially endured into the now 25 years-old Fourth Republic. The arbitrary splitting of the country into 36 unviable states by Babangida and Abacha was wrong. 18 individually compatible states, 3 for each of the 6 geopolitical zones, in genuinely federal arrangements between federal and state governments, and between state and local governments, will make Nigeria stable.

I upvoted you for your take on Aremu. Was Yar'adua all that? Please educate me.

I think that Sarah was and remains one person, but she is so insecure that she uses several different fake names to upvote and respond positively to her strong opinions – even if I disagree with those opinions. You are spot on on Sarah being more consistent and decisive than Adeniyi.

The exit of the military was a good opportunity to lay a good foundation for democracy, and the intention and skillset were embodied in the Ekwueme persona. Nigeria would have been better off with his G34 group. Sadly, Obasanjo squandered that rare opportunity to right the wrongs of 1914, 1966 and 1967. There would have been no room for the clowns in the corridors of power (across the board) today.

Brilliant take on Akin's narrative today, bravo! However, I do not see the insinuation in the write-up that 'good governance can also occur on its own based on the will and competence of an individual leader'. Leadership can make a difference, at least to the extent it perceives the necessity for constitutional reset, and demonstrates the political courage to canvass and achieve it. I do agree with you wholly, that restructuring in the Anyaoku model, is a fundamental imperative, not a choice. Only under such a milieu of constitutional consensus can stability thrive enough for a good leader to show his mettle.

Sarah,
Is many people, if you understand syntax. Especially during the run up to the presidential elections . And, the belligerence, the robustness of views expressed by Sarah is far different from Adeniyi’s tepid Any Government in Power shtick. He’s no Abebayo Williams, to make that switch.
Imho.

Akin, you are absolutely right even though those enjoying the present skewed structure will always disagree with you. And they are legion!

However, where I disagree with you is in your thinking that restructuring will save this nation and solve all the inherent contradictions. Restructuring, would have been a panacea if it were done before the emergence of this current democratic dispensation. That is pre-1999. And by military fiat, of course.
But this could not have been possible, the military are the greatest opposition of restructuring because of their love for command structure which they equate with keeping Nigeria one – the indisoluble and indivisible entity as they term it. A belief anchored on fear!

As it stands, the Yugoslavia or the USSR option continues to remain a viable one. As a middle ground, I will suggest Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu's Confedral Documents. It will be foolhardy thinking that a marriage that failed to work even after a century and ten (1914-2024) will work again. Arangee marriage no dey work. Lord Lugard never intended that this marriage will work. It was purely for convenience. What is the meaning of "amalgamation" by the way???

Thanks for pointing out who Sarah really is!

Obankparo means lying Oba

You meant Obasanjo?….Of course it will be an insult to human sensibilities to accord a good place in history to the rogue!

You are the most ardent voice in favour of restructuring as much as I know. However your view of it here is strange & intriguing. It assumes that, whereas restructuring will guarantee good governance naturally & spontaneously, good governance can also occur on its own based on the will & competence of an individual leader. But I wonder how this can occur on the basis of the existing structure itself. It means that if nigeria can find such a ruler, then it does not need restructuring.

Contrary to you, restructuring is, in my understanding so fundamental it is not a choice! The reasons are as follows: (1) STABILITY/COHESION: Prof. Kingsley Moghalu has argued on this page that the most fundamental need & factor upon which every other development can be based is stability & national cohesion. Anyone who does not believe it can try his luck! By devolving power away from the centre, regional autonomy will bring stability to the country. As a matter of fact, it will no longer matter who is president.

(2) CREATIVITY/ORIGINALITY/PRODUCTION: Autonomy will lead to self-dependence, which will spur creativity & even healthy competition for development. This will spur accelerated development on a general scale.

(3) TRANSPARENCY/ACCOUNTABILITY/EFFICIENCY: Smallness of size, autonomy & self-dependence will enable transparency, accountability & frugality which will eliminate corruption & increase efficiency.

(4) WASTE: The present order induces monumental waste. As reported by Segun Adeniyi, the Yar' Adua fact finding commission located nigeria's problem of underdevelopment to the fact that nigeria spends it's resources to maintain a tiny percentage of it's population, or as Sam Amadi once said here, sacrificing the people to maintain the state. (Especially when compared to subsidy that became the focus of all attention), recurrent expenditure constitute the giant chunk of budgets. Applying Anyaoku's formula for restructuring (i.e. 6 geopolitical zones & sharing the oil revenue equally), for example, nigeria will have so much available to save.

(5) STATES' VIABILITY: This will be achieved with the economy of scale

So, considering the above (& more), how then can one person on his own accord & willing achieve good governance? What's the possibility of finding such a person? Remember that even the Obasanjo you ascribed the best president was described by you as a one eyed man among the blind. Whereas you began by seeing restructuring as a disposing condition for good governance, you ended up seeing it as the good governance in itself.

Arguing for the status quo, Segun Adeniyi writing under the moniker "Sarah" preferred incremental development. But this will be so slow the negative outcomes will eclipse the incremental good. Even in spite of being an ardent opponent of restructuring, he still admitted the non-viability of the states. Of course your thesis assumes that oil & gas will flow forever!

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