This morning I came across the Premium Times article (https://www.premiumtimesng.com/news/headlines/296142-a-sobbing-embrace-the-story-behind-iconic-photo-of-ben-nwabueze-atiku-abubakar.html) again. It was first published November 2018. And the following came to my mind.
Ben Nwabueze, professor of law,(now 91) in May 1966 allegedly wrote the Ironsi's Unification Decree 34 which ended Nigeria’s Regional Structure, and turned the country to a Unitary entity.
The 1960/63 Constitution given by the Independence leaders ended. The ruination of Nigeria started earnestly. The failed Nzeogwu's coup, allegedly meant to correct the overzealousness and emotional inadequacies of the independence leaders, wasn't the actual problem. The Ironsi's Unification Decree 34, allegedly crafted by Nwabueze, was the real problem.
The 1979 and 1999 constitutions are merely, only, the offsprings of the Decree 34.
In this Premium Times article, Nwabueze is seen crying on the shoulder of Atiku Abubakar - a former Vice President and 2019 PDP Presidential Candidate. Atiku is, again, the party’s 2023 Presidential Candidate.
Nwabueze is now so emotional to see Nigeria restructured before he answers to the call of nature at an enviable ripe old age. He is one of the very few Nigerian state actors of independence remaining. I am sure it will be his greatest joy to see Nigeria restructured in his life time - for his mistakes to be corrected.
Atiku, an unusual advocate of restructuring, has been moving around, promising restructuring. Will he do it? Or is he trading in mendacity? Nwabueze here, in 2018, seemed to be expressing trust in Atiku towards the last 2019 election. Does he still trust Atiku towards the next election in 8 weeks time? It was a lot easier for Ironsi to allegedly get Nwabueze to craft Decree 34. Now it's very difficult to erase the mistake without Hausa/Fulani ethnic nationality in full agreement. That might have informed Nwabueze's going so emotional on Atiku.
Many analysts have said only the National Assembly Members can orchestrate the process of restructuring Nigeria. So, why then would a renowned constitutional lawyer - Nwabueze be courting a Presidential Candidate to achieve restructuring?
I think within the remaining 8 weeks to the National Assembly Election, it will be more interesting to turn the National debate to that of the Functions of the National Assembly in the process of Restructuring Nigeria.
This writer is a 47-year old Energy Scientist, much older than Nwabueze of 1966. He is not a lawyer but has seen firsthand, how European countries, especially the UK and its components (Scotland in particular) have enjoyed a Parliamentary System. Not only that, he has seen how a Unitary system is counterproductive in any multilingual, multiethnic, multicultural country. He didn't just read about it. He saw it, at the grassroots of those countries.
Even with the power devolution in the UK, the Scottish People, after 300 years of being a part of United Kingdom, are still asking for independece. The DevoMax promised by the former UK Prime Minister David Cameron in 2014 is yet to arrive at the Scottish Parliament in Holyrood Edinburgh. And the Scottish National Party Led Government of First Minister Nicole Sturgeon is driving a 2nd Scottish Independence Referendum after a narrow lost in 2014. Cameron's promise of DevoMax in 2014 only temporarily averted Scottish Independence during his own tenure. That isn't a solution. He and his successors should have allowed DevoMax to avert another call for Independence. A 2nd attempt might mean King Charles III will lose a part of his kingdom. This writer, as a commonwealth citizen resident in Scotland, had the opportunity to vote in that Referendum. He voted the interest of his immediate grassroots people in the community where he lived. He even voted on behalf of his wife, who was temporarily away in Norway then.
This writer, also, has seen how American organic "state-components" Federal structure works. The unitary, fake federal structure, that Nwabueze originated in 1966 under Ironsi, which the then young Gowon, Murtala and Obasanjo followed, is the most counterfeiting of anything this writer has ever seen. Very poorly copied. The naivity and downright silliness of those young people of 60's and 70's have caused us more harm than good. The civil war would have been averted. Corruption and insecurity would not have been this endemic. The country’s various resources and endowments would have been better managed and maximized. Nigeria has a tremendous potential to function as a Country with various regions (as we have the 6 geopolitical regions today), not the handicapped states that are not qualified as a county in the United States. Even if the Western, Midwestern, Eastern and Northern regions of old Nigeria could not represent Nigeria in the World Cup Tornaments, as do England, Scotland, Welsh, and Northern Ireland; at least the various Nigerian regions would have been developed as much, if not better than, as each of those United Kingdom units.
Nwabueze's tears, here, is a lesson to younger generation of leaders, to ensure their National assignments are driven by the interests of future generation. A 35 years old Nwabueze could have guided Ironsi more appropriately, using various examples around the world.
** Olarinre Salako writes from the United States of America.
