Who is afraid of a SNC?

But it is not totally unexpected, especially for peoples of the North that the agitation for a SNC should escalate. The agitation in reality had been directed at the North, seen by the proponents of the call for SNC as a giant parasite which had been stifling the South, and in particular denying that region […]

But it is not totally unexpected, especially for peoples of the North that the agitation for a SNC should escalate. The agitation in reality had been directed at the North, seen by the proponents of the call for SNC as a giant parasite which had been stifling the South, and in particular denying that region the right to benefit immensely from the proceeds of the oil which some parts of the South produce, and which is the mainstay of the nation’s economy.

The Southern elites hiding under the  multiplying bands of ethnic agitators, and supported by a vociferous and unquestioning press, are unanimous in their claims that the resources of the other nationalities, which for want of national outlook they extend to some tribes and ethnic groups in the North, have been stolen by the federating centre; that the federal principles had in the process been jettisoned for a neo-feudal arrangement which has usurped the sovereignty of the ethnic nationalities to the advantage of a few tribes (Hausa – Fulani in most cases); and that the unjust arrangement must be reversed.

Prominent among the ethnic groupings that in any case have gone through so many metamorphosis in their quest for the convocation of a SNC include the Odua People’s Congress (OPC), Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Itsekri People’s Congress (IPC), as well as the milder and politically and intellectually more active of the agitators such as the Afenifere, NADECO, among others. For effect, the Southern media add the Southern Kaduna People’s Union (SOKAPU) and the middle Belt Coalition (MBC), which are now said to have collapsed into an umbrella organization of “justice seekers” tagged, Movement for the Retrieval of the Stolen Sovereignties of the Ethnic Nationalities of Nigeria (MRSSENI). And what is the common denominator in the agitation of these groups? That the North is getting more than its fair share of the National Cake (oil proceeds), never mind that the cake was nature’s gift in the first place, and therefore never baked by any ethnic group in the real sense. Indeed, when the cake was actually baked, the North subsidized the South (in particular, the enclaves of the South-East and South-South).

Aside from the resounding “no” that the question deserves, one often wonders at the call for the SNC in a political dispensation such as ours now. Is it because the proponents believe that the National Assembly in particular is ill-equipped to address the various issues of the nationalities? Or is it because of the “North-phobia” which makes the proponents of SNC to believe that the North and its leaders would still extract a more favourable arrangement out of any position that the national legislature might take which leads them to prefer a conference devoid of the trappings of the current representations at the legislature? One had thought that with political parties around with their unique ways of balancing demands for equity such as through the controversial zoning (now dead?) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), some of the issues in contention like marginalization from the “honey pot”, both economic and political, equality of number of states, revenue allocation formula, what should constitute true federalism; in essence, who should get what and how in the present national set-up, would have been addressed.

The big matter of who should call the conference or how is often lost in the effusion of hate platitudes and arguments that form a trade mark of the agitators for a SNC. What is always strident is that the North must be divested of its undue privilege, preferably, but not often stated, through a dismemberment of the nation or if the North would accept an association that reduces it to a beggarly participation in the all-important matter of benefiting from the national till, so be it. President Goodluck Jonathan, a minority from Bayelsa State, whose government is often wrongly charged with the un-noble duty of the convocation of the SNC was once quoted to have said in the Vanguard (20/10/2010) that “any talk about the convergence of the different ethnic groups should  have taken place after the Amalgamation in 1914 by Lord Luggard and not now…”  and added that: “ I believe that it is irrelevant at this time because we have a 1999 constitution and a National Assembly that should make laws to govern our country”. NADECO, the organ most often used by the Southern elites to counter any argument to the contrary for a SNC had in response to the President’s candid opinion on the matter said that constitution making required special sovereign and constituent powers which the National Assembly did not have. And in other public statements have subsequently gone on to argue that constituting (reconstituting?) afresh a truly Federal country, which the SNC seeks, would guarantee all Nigerians a sense of belonging. Tell that to the marines, as the Americans would say.

If anyone is in doubt as to why a conference of all the ethnic nationalities was not convened immediately after the amalgamation in 1914, as the president pointed out, should only read a beautiful treatise on the administration of the country, after the 1914 amalgamation and up to 1953-1954, when it became a federation, written by a veteran public administrator and a one time Head of Service of the Federation, Alh. Adamu Fika, Wazirin Fika. It not only shows in clear terms who, among the two ethno-political blocs ought to be grateful to the other, but exposes the hypocrisy and sometimes shallow-mindedness of those accusing the North of feeding fat on the sweat of the South.

In a nutshell, the opinion article, which clearly was a response to some of those childish insinuations over the roles by the various ethnic nationalities, and the North in particular, in the making of the Nigerian nation, serialized in the Daily Trust (9/2/2010), shows with figures how revenues from the provinces (not oil then) were used to develop the country without recourse to any form of derivative. The summary of the paper by Alhaji Adamu, is that the Northern and Western Regions subsidized the Eastern Region (now South-East and South-South) for over 40 years of their existence up to 1954, except in 1919 and 1920. In the 1953 – 1954 fiscal year Regional Expenditure estimates for instance, he said, came to £5,701,000 for Western Region and £5,651,000 for Eastern Region. The total regional revenue was £8,774,000 for the Northern Region, £10, 188,000 for the Western Region and £5, 188,000 for the Eastern Region giving surpluses of £1,544,000 and £4,487,000 for the Northern and Western Regions respectively, and a deficit of £463,000 for the Eastern Region.

Malam Adamu’s analysis further showed that the 1947 – 1948 estimates posted collected revenue of £604, 688 for the Northern Region, £157, 747 for the Western Region and £242, 213 for the Eastern Region. That year the amount available from the central revenue for allocation to the regions was £2,788,766 which gave the Northern Region £1,887,065, Western Region £944,080 and £911,129 for Eastern Region. The regional expenditures estimates were £1,190,775 for the Northern Region, £880,078 for the Western Region and £1,278, 081 for the Eastern Region. Malam Adamu added: “Comparing respective regional revenues with expenditures, the revenue estimates for Northern and Western Regions exceeded their respective expenditures estimates by £696,290 and £106, 002 respectively, while the revenue estimate for the Eastern Region fell short of its expenditure estimates by £366, 802. In order to ensure that there was no reduction in the level of services of the Eastern Region, parts of the two surpluses were utilized to wipe off the deficit of the Eastern Region”, Malam Adamu further showed.

In essence, Malam Adamu’s analysis shows that, in over 40 years of our association, the Northern provinces contributed a total of £18,000,000 to the central fund compared with about £8,000,000 contributed by the Southern Provinces. “On the expenditure side, the government spent a total of about £13,000,000 on provincial services in the Southern Provinces compared to £6,000,000 on provincial services in the North. In other words, the North contributed almost 225% more than the entire South, but itself received only 46% of the share the South got  out of the common pool”, the Waziri of Fika posited.

One cannot at this juncture but agree with the respected veteran technocrat that to call the North a parasite is the height of ingratitude and “indeed ironic that the residents of the former Eastern Region particularly South East Zone, who for the first 40 years had been subsidized by the North, should now lead the attack against the North, describing Northerners as Parasites”.

Kassim wrote from No.15,  Anguwan Muazu, Kaduna.  [email protected]