Between 1975 and 1995, the military regimes of General Murtala Muhammed, General Ibrahim Babangida and General Sani Abacha created additional states, bringing the total number of states to 36 including Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory.
One of the reasons adduced for creating more states in the country was the desire to bring government and development nearer to the people.
However, another reason which the authorities played down or refused to make public was the desire to weaken the powers of the regions, which at the time constituted something of a headache to the central government.
Yes, valid as the reason or reasons for the creation of more states were, the fact remains that most of the states created are today unable to meet most of the socio-economic obligations due to financial bankruptcy either due to mismanagement, maladministration or lack of definite policy from the onset on the exact number of states to be created based on imperatives and viability.
Consequently, they go cap in hand most of the time for federal support or bail out. Even the viable states have to go through stress to meet obligations. This is seen in the current situation where most states, apart from highly being indebted, are unable to pay salaries of workers for months and have to turn to the federal government for rescue. This situation sharply contrasts with what obtained during the defunct parent regions that were well managed and economically viable.
In the light of their present predicament, the state governments seem to have realised the need to have understanding, cooperation and integration in some areas of the economy among themselves as it obtained in the defunct regions, if they must survive.
The South-South states, the South East and the South West states, of recent, have come forth with this dream and are having series of meetings to translate the dream into vision and reality.
With regards to the northern states’ disposition in this new dispensation of economic integration, it is gratifying to note that the region would not like to miss the moving train. Addressing the recent meeting of the Northern States Governors’ Forum, northern traditional rulers and stakeholders in Kaduna, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno state, who doubled as the chairman of the Forum regretted the present sorrowful situation of the northern states.
He said, “There is no gain saying the north is a poor pathetic shadow of its former self. A well endowed, promising geographic space, which accounts for over 70 per cent of Nigeria’s landmass and up to 60 per cent of its population, with huge mineral resources, a growing mining industry, rich in arable lands, a blossoming agro-industrial economy, Nigeria’s wealthiest region by GDP and the region with the brightest prospects of for accelerated economic growth, northern Nigeria has literally conspired against itself to be reduced to the laughing stock of the world”.
Shettima bemoaned that fact that “Northern Nigeria is today blighted by a deadly (albeit retreating) insurgency, rural armed banditry, cattle rustling, ethnic and religious conflicts, with the underlying causes being poverty, illiteracy, social exclusivity and severely limited economic opportunities”.
He, however, explained that the Northern Governors Forum was responding appropriately to the situation by deploying different measures to address the peculiarities of the problems involved. Shettima disclosed that the Governors’ Forum has established the Northern Nigeria Global Economic Re-integration Programme under the leadership of Dr Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi, a very resourceful and internationally connected Northerner.
According to Shettima, Dr Kurfi and his team are already following up with the Islamic Development Bank on areas of science education in Northern Nigeria. The platform is also driving our ongoing commitment with General Electric for the construction of solar power plants in five states within the north.
Kurfi’s group is also going to drive some funding arrangements with financial institutions and development partners on key areas of agriculture. This is addition to responding to the desire to revive the cotton production and textiles manufacturing, which was the predominant industrial activity in Northern Nigeria as well the creation of international markets for farm produce with emphasis on value chain.
Recall that before now, the NSGF as led by Shettima, had on an earlier visit to Saudi Arabia, concluded arrangements with the Islamic Development Bank to fast track the development of northern Nigeria with emphasis on health, power and agriculture.
According to the UNIDO, “The Northern parts of Nigeria have enough sunlight to contribute over 30 percent of the nation’s energy requirement”.
In the new economy, individual communities will find it difficult to thrive unless their region is notably visible, has a unique global signature and pursue the right strategies. An added advantage to the region in this regard is that the region is not tied to any old industrial legacy that has become obsolete or irrelevant. The Northern states can indeed build linkages even beyond the region in driving ideas that will advance the North while benefiting Nigeria. In this new dispensation, the role of the northern governors is crucial and critical to attainment of the regional economic development, collaboration or integration, bearing in mind that they hold in trust the wealth and resources of the region on behalf of the people. It is gratifying to note that of recent, the Forum of the northern governors summoned a meeting of the northern traditional rulers and stakeholders to seek cooperation and brainstorm on the way forward in the emerging phenomenon. With collective political will and determination, success is assured. It is, however, pertinent to advise that, in this journey of salvation, the spirit of statism or individualism should not override the region’s interest.
