MR. Lee Kuan Yew (1923-2015) was the first Prime Minister of Singapore and he governed Singapore from 1959-1990. In January 1966, he visited Nigeria as part of the Commonwealth delegation to discuss Rhodesia unilateral declarations of independence. Rhodesia is now called Zimbabwe. He stayed in Lagos like all the Commonwealth leaders for three days. It was after their departure that Nigeria’s Prime Minister Alhaji Tafawa Balewa was assassinated.

His views on Nigeria was published in 2000 in a 729 page book titled From Third World to First which I am sure many Nigerians have read. On page 352 of that book, he described Nigerians as ‘different people playing to a different set of rules’. On page 357 of that same book, he said Nigeria’s ‘tribal loyalties were stronger than their sense of common nationhood’. To most of us Mr. Yew’s verdict on Nigeria is nothing new.

This month is fifty years of the anniversary of the adhoc constitutional conference in Nigeria. The Conference was summoned by the then Lt-Col. Yakubu Gowon less than sixty-five days after he took over power. The Conference met between September 12 and 28 and again between October 28 and November 4, 1966. At that time there were four regions in Nigeria mainly North, Mid-Western, West and Eastern Region. No delegation from the East attended the second session of the conference because of the political situation at that time. Sixteen major issues were discussed at that conference. They were— Form of government and component units,

Head of state, Central government, Central legislature, Judiciary, Central civil service, Finance(power to raise revenue, the allocation of revenue and national debt), Defence, Police, External affairs, Immigration and emigration, Banking, currency, monetary policy, external loans, Transport and communications, Higher Education, Concurrent powers and Planning(including the equitable distributions of capital investment).

The Northern delegation included Sir Kahim Ibrahim,Alhaji Inua Wada, Mallam Aminu Kano, Chief Joseph Sawuan Tarka, Alhaji Abdul Razak and Chief Josiah Sunday Olawoyin. The Lagos delegation included Alhaji Femi Okunnu and Alhaji Lateef Jakande. The Eastern delegation was led by Professor Eni Njoku. Other members from the East include Chief C.C. Mojekwu, Chief E. Eyo and Chief Matthew Mbu. The Midwest Delegation was led by Chief Anthony Enahoro, Dr. Mudiaga Oge was part of the Midwest delegation. The Western delegation was led by Chief Obafemi Awolowo and it included Professor Hezekiah Oluwasannmi assisted by Professors Ayo Ogunseye,Sam Aluko and Akin Mabogunje.

The following were proposals of each region as it affects the form of government and component unit—

EAST: An Association of the existing Regions, with a right to secede. Opposed to the creation of new states on three grounds: (a) inadequate time:’ will involve a long-drawn-out process of inquiries, commissions and plebiscites, taking up many months or even some years which we cannot afford under the present crises’ (b) entails a strong central government: ’not in the interest of harmony and peace of the country to have a strong central government.

The splitting up of the country into new states will automatically have the effect of transferring functions which the smaller states cannot be expected to execute with their limited resources. This  would, once again, engender inter-regional rivalry and political warfare to control the Centre(c) fails to satisfy all minorities: it is impossible to devise any political arrangement which will be devoid of minority problems….these problems can best be contained and satisfied within larger regional units’.

The points raised above notwithstanding, it should be provided in the future constitution of the country that any Region can agree to split into more States which may be accepted into the future Nigerian association on equal terms as the existing Region if the people of such an existing Region and the areas concerned so desire…the initiative for the creation must come from the Region within which the State is to be created.

*Mr. Eric Teniola, a former director at the presidency, wrote from Lagos.