“What is in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet” – a line by Juliet in William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet – telling Romeo that a name is nothing but a name, just a means of identification with no meaning behind.
I gave the preface in response to the proposal by the President of Africa Development Bank (AfDB), Dr. Akinwumi Adesina that Nigeria be renamed “United States of Nigeria”.
Adesina made this call in a statement by his Special Adviser on Industrialisation, Prof. Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka on Saturday.
Adesina made the appeal in a speech titled “Making a New Nigeria: Welfarist Policies and People-Centred Development,” which he presented as the winner of the 2024 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership.
He said that changing the name to the “United States of Nigeria” would redefine the relationship between the states and Abuja, with the states serving as the fulcrum and the centre supporting them rather than lording over them.
The statement reads: “From our forgotten rural villages to our boisterous and dynamic urban areas. From the sparks of desire in the eyes of our children to the lingering hope in the hearts of our youths.
“From the yearnings of our women and mothers and our men and fathers for a better tomorrow, and the desires of the old that our end would be better than our past. From the hardworking street vendors and small businesses to the largest business conglomerates, we must create a movement of hope.”
“The achievement of economically viable entities and the viability of the national entity requires constitutional changes to devolve more economic and fiscal powers to the states or regions. The stronger the states or regions, the stronger the federated units.”
Adesina maintained that to get out of the economic morass, Nigeria must be restructured, and that restructuring should be driven by economic and financial viability rather than political expediency.
“Economic and financial viability are the necessary and sufficient conditions for political viability.
“If there was one attribute that defined Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and there were many, it would be his visionary boldness. He went where others feared or failed to go. In the process, decades later, his footprints remain in the sands of time. Likewise, today, in Nigeria, we need men and women with vision, who are willing to take bold decisions,” he said.
He noted that Nigerians paid one of the world’s highest implicit tax rates, and that when governments or institutions failed to provide basic services, the people bore the brunt of a huge implicit tax.
Commentary:
Apparently, Adesina is a proponent of what is commonly referred to as “True Federalism” or ‘Restructuring’ in Nigeria; which in my opinion, the country needs urgently. True federalism means that each state is responsible for harnessing its resources and is expected to pay taxes to the centre – the federal government.
If this is the underlining reason, then, so be it.
Let us retrospect on Burkina Faso, Republic of Benin, Turkiye, Eswatini, Sri Lanka and others who had name-change which have not necessarily affected their attitudes and integration.
Will Nigeria not face the same fate?
I believe, the country will exist and thrive without a name-change!
What I think is paramount at this stage in the country’s life is rejigging the constitution to give the state the powers to manage their resources.
But, would the states be trusted in matters of transparency in view of how they managed its internal affairs and dealings with the federal government? In consideration of matters of requests for reimbursement for federal roads repair, the integrity of the states’ government is questionable!
Would the states’ freedom to manage their resources yield the expected dividend to the people and federal government in view of antecedents?
Would it not be manipulated for the benefits of their cronies just like in local government elections, internal revenue generation and other states’ matters?
What I think, will benefit the country is re-orientation in forms of long forgotten ‘War Against Indiscipline’ (WAI) and Mass Mobilisation for Self Reliance Social, Social Justice and Economic Recovery (MAMSER) of the 80s and 90s.
The name, Nigeria, as it stands is just a form of identification which is not a hindrance to fusion.