Everybody in Nigeria would agree that the country is indeed a troubled federation. Its federal character have been a subject of debate since the return of democratic rule in 1999. Various groups have claimed to be marginalised and not sufficiently represented in the central offices of the national government. Some say it is not even a federation so much as a unitary state created by the military.
The oil producing communities of the Niger-Delta are among the groups that have militarised for change. They feel neglected in development and dissatisfied with environment degredation. Their calls is for control of the wealth from resources in their region.
Some states governors who felt short changed by the federal structures have called for true federalism. The states largely from the southern parts of the country argue that the federation favours parts of the country that produced key actors in the military regimes.
Even President Muhammadu Buhari has made the call.
Other groups, like the Arewa consultative group, Afenifere, and Ohanaeze Ndi-gbo also insist on the total implementation of the federal character principles. Some have called for a return to the regions of the 1950s, others for succession and the establishments of Biafra or Oduduwa Republic.
Calls for federal restructuring have become a way of expressing dissatisfaction with poor economic performances and misgovernance in Nigeria.
On the other hand, even elite’s groups who mobilise as ethnic faction and compete for power and resources point to the country’s poor performances as evidences that the federal structures is not working well.
Misgovernance and poor economic development are visible in deplorable infrastructures, high youth unemployment and conflicts.
In 2018, Nigeria overtook India as the country with the highest number of poor people on earth. Banditry, insurgency, and religious extremism have multiplied.
Nigerians may agree that the federal system of government may not have worked for Nigeria because it has not helped the progress of the country due largely from non adherence to the federal character principles holistic implementations by previous governments in Nigeria.
The Buhari government have made deliberate attempt in implementing the federal character laws in a hollistic manner by appointing Dr. Muheeba Dankaka as the chairperson of the Federal Character Commission, FCC, to reform it for progress, growth and development of the country.
Since the return of Nigeria to democratic rule in 1999, only the Buhari administration have made attempt to introduce reformative changes to the federal character principles implementation and this it is doing through the chairman of the FCC, Dr Muheeba Dankaka.
Prior to her appointment as the chairman of FCC, minority groups felt dominated by majority groups. But today this perceptions are changing. The creation of states which grants access to public offices and infrastructures for local elites. It has also created new majority and minority groups in the new states. Unviable states have proliferated, dependent on the common pool revenues and unable to fund bureaucracies.
Many have emphasized that the fiscal arrangements, especially the formular for sharing the common pool account is not working as an incentive for states to produce revenue. States angle to get more revenue share from the federation pool rather than generate revenue within their territories.
Her appointment has really changed that as the reforms she introduced has systematically and pragmatically changed that. She has introduced reforms which has rejigged the commission to promote economic prosperity for the states to accommodate its diverse peoples. The emphases of Dr. Muheeba Dankaka’s reforms is for additional decentralisation measures carried out to promote innovation and healthy competition among the states for productive activities.
These reforms have helped the commission to practice and uphold fairness and responsibility in the implementations of the federal character principles. The reforms she introduced where deliberately targeted towards the governance bureaucracies which at all times needs to be humble and oriented in getting results in fulfilment of the mandate given to it by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Think first of what she meant to the place that Shakespeare called this blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this country. She didn’t create spirit in the Nigerian people. It has been there since independence and Muheeba Dankaka believed in it and once again unleashed it.
She is a woman that cherished women dignity and self determination. When the anti-federalism principles forces moved against the reforms she vowed to implement, through her, the commission met the challenges head on.
By her reforms, she sought to decrease what the government must do and increase what the individual must do. She restored by her reforms action plans at the FCC. economic pride to Nigerians hearts.
She as a woman from the private sector prior to her appointment as the FCC chairman believes in the private sector and so she used it to renew the commissions initiatives and Nigeria’s national pride.
Muheeba Dankaka didn’t merely made Nigeria a leader in the adherence to federal character nations in Africa, she defined the essence of it in Nigeria and to Nigerians.
Today, because of her reforms and adherence to the change mantra of this administration, she is severally called the iron lady, irrepressible, incorrigible and always indomitable. She summed the best in the human spirit, speaking and reforming our Nation’s values and our dreams for a better country through the true entrenchments of the federal character principles.
She is today a woman the country turns to for counsel, for courage, for leadership that proclaimed a belief in right and wrong-not a devotion for what is popular. It has been said severally that great leaders reflect their time. Muheeba Dankaka did. She has also transform her time as few leaders ever have.
Today, through her reforms in the FCC, our nation has undeniably attained a golden era and age of liberty.
Remember what she meant and how she mattered. Hers today was not merely among Nigeria’s finest hours.
She, through the FCC, molds perhaps our country’s finest era. Today, many would agree that she is the best public servant in Nigeria because she has singularly through her reform measures change the fortune of one of of Nigeria’s most important agencies.
The implementations of the federal character laws holistically and her reforms have now lessen tensions, ethnic suspicion and restiveness among the youths in Nigeria.
– Musa Wada writes from Abuja.
