Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s recent call for the restructuring of Nigeria has injected fresh life into the debate about redesigning the country against the backdrop of violent separatist demands from the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, the Biafra Independence Movement and the Niger Delta Avengers among others. We strongly disagree with the notion that the ethnic or geopolitical structure is the major problem of Nigeria rather than the absence of good governance resulting in widespread hunger, disease, unemployment, insecurity and near-absence of social amenities across the federation.

Advocates of restructuring talk about the devolution or redistribution of power between the federal and state governments or “true federalism” as the panacea for the nation’s problems. Their argument is that since amalgamation by British colonialists in 1914, Nigeria’s estimated 450 ethnic nationalities constituting the federation never sat down to negotiate and agree on the basis and terms of the union.

There is clearly no such concept or example of a “true” or even perfect federation at anytime and anywhere in the world. Federations develop in accordance with the peoples’ historical and political peculiarities.

Advocates of restructuring are not even agreed on the broad definition of the seemingly populist project. Some believe it is about fiscal federalism or resource control, others think it is for the creation of more states while others believe Nigeria should be a federation of the six geopolitical zones. The fact that most of the existing states are unviable to the point of being unable to pay workers’ salaries is a function of corruption, indolence and mismanagement rather than the structure of the federation.

We must not waste time and resources in pursuit of a mirage called “true federalism.” Restructuring will not resolve the existential material issues confronting the majority of Nigerians of all tribes and religious persuasions. Advocacy for restructuring must not becloud the bigger issues of good governance. Ethnic, regional and zonal champions agitating for restructuring are self-serving warmongers. Champions of the concept in the south believe it is the best means to weaken an overbearing north which has over 60 per cent of the country’s population and over 70 per cent of its landmass. Others may be promoting restructuring in order to dismember the federation as the poor people of South Sudan were misled with the ongoing deadly outcome.

We believe that there would always be room for improvement on the state of the union and this may entail fundamental structural changes that can be accommodated through regular constitutional amendments. For instance, the plight of the environmentally-challenged Niger Delta and the agitation for resource control was addressed by the constitutional 13 per cent derivation formula that commits the greatest portion of the country’s crude oil profits to states in the zone. Similarly, conflict of powers between the federal and state governments should continue to be resolved by the courts.This means there is no need for a special national conference, sovereign or otherwise, before peculiar problems arising over time can be resolved.

Above all, Nigerians need a change in attitude and reorientation of values to achieve the nation’s immense development potentials. The fault is not in our laws but our collective conduct as citizens and leaders. Our huge population, arable landmass and diversity are potential resources on which we can leverage to build a strong and vibrant federation that will continue to lead the continent and the Black race for the foreseeable future.

We also agree with President Muhammadu Buhari that the report of the 2014 ‘national’ conference be consigned to the archives. The administration should also not contemplate organising its own version of a national conference no matter the pressure. History has shown such to be jamborees where billions of naira are wasted without any useful results. Governments at all levels, should instead institutionalise good governance and work to consolidate on the unity of Nigerians by strengthening institutions designed to foster nation building.