New state creation: Experts express divergent views
New state creation: Experts express divergent views
A professor of African History and another of comparative politics have expressed divergent views on the proposed creation of new states in Nigeria.
Both professors aired their views in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Thursday.
They spoke against the backdrop of the ongoing zonal public hearing on the review of the Constitution, particularly as it concerns the creation of new states in Nigeria.
Prof. Isaac Albert, an expert in African History at the University of Ibadan, stated that the current 36 states could no longer fend for themselves.
Albert described the present 36-state structure, including the Federal Capital Territory, as a feeding bottle federalism.
“For me, asking for more states is like adding to the burdens of Nigeria.
“I think that what we should be discussing now is returning to the regional political system of governance that would enable different parts of the country to organise their economy, security, and so on for their survival.
“Anything outside that is a wild bull chase.
“What problem is creating new states going to solve?
“The already existing states are not viable, unable to fend for themselves, and I don’t see it flying,” he said.
According to him, if any new state must be created, it should be to balance the inequality that has, allegedly, long existed.
He said the South-East should be given an additional state to douse the tension of having just five states, while other geopolitical zones of the federation have six or more states.
Meanwhile, Prof. Gbade Ojo, a political scientist and professor of comparative politics at the University of Ilorin, argued that some states were too large for their governors to manage intellectually.
While supporting the need to create more states, he urged the National Assembly to give clear requirements that must be met for the state creation process.
“Is it in terms of population or land mass and so on, so that no area would feel cheated when states are being created?
“There is no doubt about the fact that new states and local government areas should be created.
“As a political scientist, I think that returning Nigeria to regionalism is no longer fashionable.
“We have passed that stage, the era of premiership is outdated.
“Asking Ekiti, Ondo, and others to come back to Ibadan, under a regional arrangement to take instructions on the development of their communities, should not be in discussion.
“For instance, although Canada and the United States of America are bigger than Nigeria, they are not governed by regions.
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“Each state should be autonomous, share national allocation and generate internal revenue for its development,” he said.
VMT NEWS recalls that a fake report was circulated on July 18 on social media that the Nigerian Senate had approved the creation of 12 new states.
However, the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on Constitutional Review debunked the report, describing it as fake news.
The committee stated that public hearings on the review of the Constitution, of which state creation is just one item to be considered, were ongoing in the six geopolitical zones.
