By Olu Fasan
The controversies over the Federal Government’s plans to relocate some departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, from Abuja to Lagos are yet another proof that Nigeria is deeply divided. The country that the British colonialists cobbled together from several ancient kingdoms and distinct civilisations remains today, over 100 years after its forced marriage of convenience, a fractured state, not a unified nation. Nigeria is so polarised that everything is seen through the prisms of ethnicity and religion, and politics is a zero-sum game.
In societies where politics is perceived as zero-sum struggles, each group sees its ‘loss’ as another group’s ‘gain’. Therefore, there’s intense loss-aversion, whereby each group fights to protect its interests and prevent ‘loss’ to other groups. But oppositional identities and zero-sum politics are characteristics of a fragile state because they are indicative of deep divisions in the society. Instead of inter-group cooperation to achieve common purpose for mutual gains, every group is concerned about loss to other groups, and that loss-aversion shapes political actions. That explains what’s happening in Nigeria.
Tell me, what’s the rational basis for the North’s
opposition to moving some departments from the CBN’s overcrowded building in
Abuja to its unoccupied 23-story building in Lagos, rebuilt with about N32bn?
What is the logic behind the North’s antagonism to the relocation of FAAN
headquarters to Lagos, where it was based until then Aviation
Minister, moved it to Abuja three years ago, despite nearly 70 per cent of FAAN
activities being in Lagos?
Yet, for those sensible
proposals, the North is up in arms! Senator Ali Ndume, Senate Majority Whip,
went on national television to lambast the proposals, saying “there will be
political consequences”. Senator Kawu Sumaila, chairman of the Northern
Senators’ Forum, said Northern senators were against the plans, and threatened
to challenge them in court. Arewa Consultative Forum and Katsina Elders Forum
described the proposals as anti-North, and cautioned the president, Bola
Tinubu, against implementing them.
Two things strike me. First, the
North is destroying the spirit of Abuja. Beyond the practical reasons for
moving Nigeria’s capital from Lagos to Abuja, such as Lagos’s congestion, there
was an intrinsic, more elevated reason: having the federal capital at centre of
the country, rather than in a location linked to any ethnic group, would make
it a symbol of neutrality and national unity. When Julius Nyerere, the founding
father of Tanzania, wanted to create a common national identity for his newly
independent country, a medley of distinct tribes, one of his actions was to
change the capital from Dar es Salam to Dodoma in the middle of the country.
Thus, the capital belongs to the whole country, not to any particular ethnic
group.
But the North treats Abuja as
exclusively their own. Since Abuja had its first minister in 1976, there have
been 17 ministers to date, but only two – Mobolaji Ajose-Adeogun (1976-1979)
and Nyesom Wike (2023-present) – have been Southerners. If you count from 1991,
when Abuja formally became the federal capital, there have been eleven
ministers, only one, the current minister, is a Southerner. To some
Northerners, appointing a Southerner as FCT minister is anomalous. The Islamic
cleric, Sheikh Ahmed Gumi, famously criticised the appointment of Wike, former
Rivers State governor, saying that a Southern-Christian could not be trusted as
FCT Minister. Truth is, the Muslim-North’s stance on Abuja is further damaging
Nigeria’s fragile unity. The pan-Nigerian spirit behind Abuja means that it
doesn’t belong exclusively to the North. Abuja is like a UN buffer zone: a no
man’s land!
The second thing that strikes me
is the notion that being the federal capital, Abuja must host all key federal
agencies and their departments. Those holding that view are ignorant of
developments around the world. The US Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, has a
decentralised structure, whereby, apart from the Federal Reserve in Washington,
there are 12 Federal Reserve Banks across the country. In the UK, the Bank of
England has 12 agencies across the country. The Bank’s governor, Andrew Bailey,
said: “We are the Central Bank of the UK, and we are committed to how we can
best serve, and represent, all the people of the UK. Our physical presence in
locations across the country is a critical part of that.” Last year, the UK
Government announced plans to move 22,000 civil servants outside of London by
2030 to address the civil service’s London-centric nature. That’s the trend
around the world: governance and government decision-making centres are being
decentralised.
By contrast, the tendency in
Nigeria is to centralise governance. Every day, hundreds of businesspeople
arrive in Abuja from across Nigeria just to meet one government official or
another. It’s inconceivable that anyone would go from Birmingham to London, or
from California to Washington, for that purpose. Apart from the fact that most
services are available online, all central government departments and agencies
have offices at various locations across the country.
So, the North’s opposition to
the plans to move some CBN departments and the FAAN headquarters to Lagos is utterly
irrational and perverse. But that’s due to the ingrained mindset of a zero-sum
game. That mindset is why every ethnic group wants to control the centre to
capture the ‘national cake’ for their group: the mentality of “our turn to
eat.”
Last year, Tinubu told the
Yoruba: “This election is yours. You will use it to liberate yourselves,”
adding: “They want to turn us into slaves. We are not slaves.” Well, as
president, he’s running a Yoruba-centric government. Think about it: the Chief
of Army Staff, Inspector General of Police, Minister of Internal Affairs,
Minister of Finance, Central Bank Governor, Chairman of EFCC, Chair of the
Federal Inland Revenue Service are all Yoruba. Seemingly, Tinubu can only trust
Yorubas to manage Nigeria’s economy and security. He’s following Buhari’s
footsteps in mismanaging Nigeria’s diversity.
But the North is restive. The Katsina Elders Forum
said: “We are telling Mr President, as long as he’s interested in coming back
in 2027, as long as he’s interested in the votes of the Northerners, to reverse
the unconstitutional decisions.” Of course, Tinubu cannot succumb to that
blackmail. But, thanks to Nigeria’s structural imbalance and deep-seated
zero-sum politics, he’s at the North’s mercy politically. They made him in 2023;
they can unmake him in 2027!
*Dr. Fasan is a commentator on public issues
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