THE Presidential debate which was introduced into the 2011 general election campaign in Nigeria was very exhilarating and expository.

Due to self-serving tendency of some political elite which sprang from the sectional-inclined military regimes, some of the imperatives and principles of democratic government which are taken for granted in advanced democracies have been deliberately glossed over in Nigeria so as to achieve a predetermined ends to satiate the covert cravings of Moslem leaders of  Northern extraction.

The presidential media debates had exposed the vulnerable flanks of pretenders to the exalted seat, as it equally threw up well-rounded intellectuals who proffered pragmatic and realistic suggestions on the myriad debilitating socio-economic challenges that manacled the growth and development of the country in real terms.

I was utterly flabbergasted about the postulations of some presidential aspirants in the presidential debate and election campaigns.

They displayed abject lack of intellectual acuity to perceive elementary ethos about realistic  federal structure of democratic governance. They appear to be mentally and spiritually blind to be unable to perceive the great tragedy and havoc done to Nigerians due to deliberate distortion of the tenets of federalism and devious imposition of a unitary structure by the military autocrat.

The unitary structure or pseudo federalism was religiously maintained by successive apologists of military governments in the deceptive guise of maintaining peace and unity of the country.

It is very sad that it was only one presidential aspirant, Prof. Patrick Utomi who took the bull by the horns and hammered the cries of realistic Nigerians to restructure the country in line with true federalism. His exposition and postulation showed the extent of apparent mesmerism created by the devious military regimes and the Northern Moslems to cage Nigerians which has all along stunted the developmental yearnings and aspirations of meaningful Nigerians.

The simple pathway to realistic and pragmatic social, economic and political growth and development in Nigeria is the political will to go back to a  full bloom federalism structure before the Nigerian civil war. The truth is that the leaders of the Moslem North is apparently jittery about the practice of undiluted federalism since it would rob them of the secret agenda to cage and intimidate other religious /ethnic groups in Nigerian.

The simple question had remained unanswered viz- Why did the military regimes abandoned the practice of federalism that was in firm footing and yielding progressive socio-economic growth and development in the three regimes before the Nigeria-Biafra civil war? Why should there be federal ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) in which state governments can conveniently operate effectively and efficiently for the optimum benefit of their people?

Prof Pat Utomi narrated how the then Western Region government under the late political sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, set the enviable pace for all-round growth and development and emulated by the then leaderships of the Eastern and Northern Nigeria. Those development legacies within the context of true federalism became virtually moribund with the deliberate/crafty over-centralization of MDAs by the military regimes, and timidly sustained by successive civilian administrations.

It has become crystal clear that the greatest impediment and hindrance  to competitive development strides by the state governments was the over-centralization of MDAs courtesy of concurrent legislative list in the largely discredited Nigeria Constitution-a contraption of the last military regime.

It is naïve and silly to have federal ministries of work, health, education, water resources, agriculture, etc; and agencies like the Police, Federal Road Safety Commission (a duplication of traffic Police) which dubiously control the production of motor driving license and vehicle plate numbers at the great loss of internally-generated revenue of state governments? Why should states not be allowed to formulate their policies and programmes peculiar to their environment and world view of their people in the creation and operation of MDAs?

Realistic federalism depicts that  the  Federal Government should have no business having MDAs, except Ministries of Aviation, Custom, and Army; this is what obtains in sane and civilized countries of the world and is a target of Vision 20:2020. This development mantra will remain illusive with the status quo in the over-centralization of MDAs. It is only in an apparently accursed polity that this monstrous aberration is operated and sustained without question.

A former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige, demonstrated that state governments can take care of all roads within their territory. Some governors, such as Mr Peter Obi, have demonstrated that they can pay the salaries of the Police and equip them to fight crimes to a stand-still since the Federal Government has failed to equip the Police for maximum efficiency and effectiveness.

In The educational sector, the aspirations of Anambra, Imo, Bayelsa and Lagos peoples are totally at variance with those of Sokoto, Borno, Zamfara and Kano peoples. Why then should there be a Federal Ministry of Education and worst of all a central admission agency  into institutions of higher learning  (JAMB)   where quota is dubiously applied, thus preventing Southerners from accessing higher education for the development of their people?

JAMB Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde helplessly attributed mass failure on Federal Government’s inconsistent policies and inefficiencies in the education system. According to THISDAY March 23, 2011, the Federal Government  has again come up with another unrealistic and preposterous education policy titled,  “College Curriculum” supposedly aimed at equipping graduates of the scheme with greater attributes for higher education.

The naive policy stated: “…They will be trained on relevant functional trades and entrepreneurial skill needed for poverty eradication, job creation and wealth generation”. What a balderdash and arrant nonsense being put together by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council, NERDC.

Mr. POLYCARP ONWUBIKO, a public affairs analyst , wrote from Awka, Anambra State.