If Nigeria is truly one united and indivisible country as some people want us to believe, the heavy dust being raised over the planned relocation of some departments or offices of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to Lagos is unnecessary and avoidable. If we really know our history and humble beginnings and how far we have gone as a nation, the mere relocation of some departments of CBN, and headquarters of FAAN to Lagos to ensure their operational efficiency and effectiveness should not be allowed to degenerate to ethnic wrangling and undue politicization.
If we really know or care to read the history of other countries and how they have evolved over the years, the bickering over which part of the country one office is located or not should not bother those now dissipating unnecessary energy over the relocation of some offices of government’s agencies to Lagos or Onitsha or Calabar or Maiduguri. Are these politicians arguing front and back over relocation of these agencies bothered by the relentless bloodletting in Plateau State and other parts of the country? Are they bothered about hungry and poor Nigerians and all those who live at the margins of the society? Are they worried by the rising rate of migration of our youths and medical experts to Europe and America? Are they aware of the rising unemployment, especially among the youths in the country?
The politicians must be told that Nigeria has a lot of problems to engage the attention of these our compatriots now more than the relocation of offices debate. Insecurity is enveloping Abuja and indeed other parts of the country. The nation’s federal capital territory is under the siege by dare-devil kidnappers who demand millions of naira as ransom. Very soon they may start demanding billions of naira as ransom. Abuja residents, especially those in the suburbs or satellite towns no longer sleep with both eyes closed. They now live at the mercy of kidnappers, bandits and terrorists who are having a field day in Abuja and smiling to the banks with their crime booties.
Do we still have a police force whose head upon being appointed vowed to roar like a Lion? Is he roaring now like a Lion or a Tiger? Regardless of how he is roaring, this is the time for the IGP, Kayode Egbutokun to roar and pounce on kidnappers terrorizing Abuja and its residents. Hunger and poverty are terrorizing millions of Nigerians and some of our elected senators are busy shouting over the relocation of some offices to other parts of Nigeria. Why?
When President Muhammadu Buhari mismanaged our diversity and upgraded nepotism to new heights with his lopsided appointments in his 8-year uneventful reign, some of those shouting now kept mute and enjoyed it because it favoured them. They forgot that what goes around must come around. They also forgot that the whip used for the commoners would one day be used for the privileged. In this highly polarized country, everything is looked at from the prism of politics, ethnicity and religion. We have been so blinded by ethnic sentiments that at times we ignore and utterly disregard the benefits or altruism of any government’s policy decision.
Interestingly, those behind moving some departments of CBN and FAAN to Lagos have argued so much that there is nothing political or ethnic or regional about the decision. For the CBN, they argued that since the head offices of most banks are in Lagos, it makes sense to relocate those departments that oversee these banks to Lagos for efficient supervision. The argument sounds persuasive and reasonable. The argument to relocate FAAN to Lagos which habours the nation’s aviation hub is also reasonable to a large extent.
Yes, politics can be read into it and virtually everything. Ethnicity and regionalism can also come in and even religion can equally be deployed simply because we are not really a one united and indivisible country we claim to be. As far as most Nigerians are concerned, Nigeria is still ‘a mere geographical expression’, according to Chief Obafemi Awolowo. It is sad that after almost 64 years of independence, we are still embroiled with arguments over the relocation of CBN and FAAN offices and other mundane things. Nobody is arguing about how to make the country wealthy and great.
We are only bothered over how to share our oil money. Nigeria is yet to evolve as a nation when compared with other nation states such as the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, China, India, Singapore and Indonesia. We must learn from other countries on how they locate some of their agencies and institutions of government. They don’t put everything in one place. They distribute them to ensure equity, balance and even security. Why must we put all our eggs in one basket? Why must we heap everything in Abuja?
Before Abuja became the new capital of Nigeria, Lagos was the capital city hence the tremendous socio-economic development in Lagos which some ethnic irredentists are erroneously claiming the credit. In the US, New York was the capital before they moved it to Washington DC. That does not mean that they moved everything to Washington DC. That Abuja has become our capital city does not mean every institution of government must be located in Abuja. Nigeria’s capital was moved from Lagos to Abuja because Lagos had become congested and the traffic jam was unbearable.
We should avoid creating the same problem that necessitated the transfer of the capital from Lagos to Abuja so many years ago. Abuja is already congested; there is no need to further congest it. It needs to be decongested. I hope that some people are reading and taking notes.
It won’t be a bad idea if the NNPC headquarters is moved to Niger Delta region where the oil business is located. Making oil companies to have their headquarters in the Niger Delta region is welcome. Since Abuja is Nigeria’s political capital, Lagos the old capital and entertainment hub, making the South-East the economic and industrial capital of Nigeria should not be a bad idea. We must learn to redistribute our institutions and locate them where they are relevant.
However, this relocation of offices must not be politicized or ethnicized. Our refineries should be located near oil production areas. In doing the redistribution and relocation, let’s remember our oneness and indivisibleness and our claim to being one nation. In appropriating development to our region, let’s remember other regions that have none yet and who have nobody at the apogee of federal government. In all of this, we must restructure Nigeria to make it a truly and workable federal system of government. With an efficient federal system, all these mundane problems will not surface.
There is no doubt that the problems we are encountering today can be blamed on our faulty federalism, bad leadership and absence of good governance. While some Nigerians are busy playing the politics of relocation of CBN and FAAN offices to Lagos, the government should face its other duties of ensuring the security and welfare of Nigerians. The continuous bloodbath in Plateau State must be stopped forthwith. The President should assure those complaining that the movement of these offices to Lagos is altruistic and has no hidden agenda or ulterior motive.
