Written by Dirisu Yakubu

The Abia State Governor, Alex Otti, has said that creating additional 31 States as being sought by various ethnic nationalities in the ongoing review of the 1999 Constitution would pose a serious economic burden on the Nigerian state.

He also described the exercise as an opportunity for Nigerians to give the country a sense of direction in the way it should be properly governed.

Otti stated these on Saturday in his address at the South-East Zonal Constitution Review for Abia and Imo States held in Owerri by the House of Representatives Committee On Constitution Review.

Represented by his Deputy, Ikechukwu Emetu, the governor urged Indigenes of both States regardless of their political leanings to make their input felt in a bid to sanitise the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

He said, “I will share my thoughts on some of the key agenda for debates and considerations in the 2025 constitutional review process. As many in this auditorium may know, the positions I would be sharing today have since been documented in my writings and public engagements from the last decade so they are not entirely new ideas.

“I have to, however, add that my personal views should not override the legitimate concerns of other stakeholders who also have a right to disagree or present alternative viewpoints. The most important thing is that all of us deserve to have a say in the process. Thankfully, the platform for that broad engagement has been presented to us through these public hearings.

“My first interest is the clamour for the creation of additional states. I am aware that proposals for the creation of 31 new states were received by the National Assembly prior to this time. While I respect the rights of those who believe that the creation of new states would address concerns of marginalisation and exclusion of some ethnic and religious groups in the current structure in some parts of the country; I am more concerned about the additional burden these proposals, if adopted, would add to the lean resources of the nation through the multiplication of administrative costs and further bloating of an oversized bureaucracy.

“Except we can magically find independent sources of financing the new states outside what currently exists, I do not share the optimism of those promoting the idea of adding new states to the current 36-state structure.”
He called for the implementation of an inclusiveness governance model at the sub-national level to address fears of marginalisation.

“My recommendation would be the development of an inclusive governance model in the states, one that gives every major clan a say in the allocation of resources, a seat at the decision-making table and the structural leverage to advance their political and economic interests. ”

The governor said, Nigerians should be more concerned about improving the economic structure of the states, creating jobs for the young people outside the civil service and make the welfare of the common man a priority.

He kicked against the current system, which according to him “Is too elite driven to be functional. It is high time ordinary people are placed at the centre of decision making.”

On the agcitation for the creation of state police, the governor noted that the worsening insecurity across the country has made it a matter of urgent national priority.

“The current exclusive federal policing system is largely inadequate and has exposed our people to a litany of vulnerabilities over the years. So, I would vote for the creation of State police but with a proviso that standards be clearly defined as it relates to leadership, relationship with federal and other sub-national policing structures, recruitments, accountability and respect for human rights”.

The Governor expressed his support for the creation of additional seats for women in the national and state assemblies saying that, his endorsement is total.

He noted that, while it would guarantee the inclusion of women in the political process and giving them a say in shaping the character of the Nigerian governance architecture, Otti however said, just having women in legislative assemblies would not achieve the desired impact unless a number of fundamental issues are holistically addressed.

He said, “The internal processes withinithin the political parties have to be strengthened to make for the active participation of women in decision making. The ordinary women, not persons related or affiliated to powerful male party leaders, must be at the centre of the process.

“If we are not careful, we may be creating new opening for men with vested interests to further entrench themselves in the system using proxies. If that happens, nothing in the real sense of it would change in the political fortunes of average Nigerian women.

Speaking on the proposal to alter the provisions of the 1999 Constitution to establish the local government councils as a separate tier of government, he called for caution.

He said, “Like I argued with the creation of additional states, we must be mindful of further bloating an already-overfed bureaucracy. I may not be very correct but if I understand this proposal correctly, we may be looking at creating hundreds of new bureaucratic structures for the autonomous administration of the local councils.

“The local government system as we know is statutorily responsible for the provision of primary healthcare; basic, adult and vocational education and similar functions that impact directly on the lives of the population at the grassroots.

“Like I asked at the 18th Community of Practice Meeting of the Honourable Commissioners of Budget and Economic Planning in Umuahia last May, would it be financially prudent to have 774 or more universal basic education commissions and similar number of agencies managing primary health and human services for LGAs in the country? What are the implications for cost of governance, corruption and systemic abuses?

“There may be need to think this through and make a choice between having new layers of administrative structures that further drain public resources through inflated overheads and creating a system that cuts down bureaucratic bottlenecks — guaranteeing that the larger chunk of public resources is channelled into the provision of social services”.

On compulsory basic education, he said, “The proposal aligns perfectly with the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the 1989 International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child; the 1981 African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the 1990 African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child amongst other international conventions and agreements.

“Beyond just making the right to basic education a fundamental right for our people and enshrining same in the Constitution, I think we need to pay more attention to education financing. Quality education does not come cheap and it is not just enough to ask everyone to go to school. Deliberate efforts must be made to fund education across the entire value chain.

“We need to invest in teacher education with particular emphasis on training and retraining especially in the relevant fields of sciences, technology, engineering and mathematics.

“Our teachers must be trained and motivated to acquire relevant skills to be able to teach the pupils and students effectively and prepare them for the competition of the new global environment.

“These teachers have to be well remunerated, their welfare prioritised and the environment where they work made conducive for the very important work that they do. So, in addition to making education compulsory and a fundamental right of citizens, we also have to make effective provisions for the statutory funding of the educational system, especially basic education.”

He acknowledged that, there are too many gaps and ambiguities in the 1999 Constitution that are being exploited by different groups to advance interests that are not entirely altruistic in scope.

He said, “Even then, I am also cautious when blaming those who left the scene almost 30 years ago for the problems of today. My view is that we now have sufficient governance experience to determine what is not working and make changes as may be relevant from time to time.

“I am aware that since 2010, the 1999 Constitution has undergone five epochs of alterations in response to demands for structural changes by Nigerians. We must congratulate ourselves for not being afraid to test the system and brave the odds to make some much-needed changes.”

Culled from Punch Newspapers