A pro-good governance and democracy group, The Rebirth Group (TRG), has called for the restructuring of Nigeria into 10 federating regions, each operating its own constitution alongside the Federal Constitution, as part of efforts to address the country’s structural and governance challenges.

The group also proposed a five-year, non-renewable single term for executive office holders, including the president, governors and local government chairmen, arguing that many leaders often perform poorly during their second term in office.

The recommendations were contained in a communiqué issued at the end of TRG’s sixth symposium, held at Yelwa Club, Bukuru, Jos, Plateau State, from March 3 to 4, where stakeholders from across the North Central geopolitical zone, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, gathered to deliberate on the future of Nigeria’s federal structure.

Participants at the symposium agreed that the country’s numerous political, economic and security challenges could be effectively addressed through immediate restructuring of the federation.

The communiqué recommended the creation of 10 federating regions, with the present North Central zone split into three separate regions to reflect the aspirations and peculiarities of the Middle Belt.

Speakers and participants from all states in the North Central zone contributed to the discussions after the convener of the symposium, Deacon Owolabi Oladejo, outlined the group’s core objective of advocating the restructuring of Nigeria.

According to the communiqué, the proposal for regionalisation was consistent with the outcomes of previous TRG symposia held across other geopolitical zones of the country, although the number of regions suggested varied.

While participants at earlier symposia in Ibadan (South West) and Kaduna (North West) recommended six regions, those in Enugu (South East) and Gombe (North East) proposed eight regions. The symposium held in Port Harcourt (South South), however, ended without a consensus on the number of regions.

Participants at the Jos meeting explained that the strong demand by Middle Belt representatives for the unbundling of the North Central zone into three regions contributed significantly to the proposal for 10 regions nationwide.

The symposium recommended that each federating region should have the authority to create and administer its own states and local government areas based on the peculiarities and aspirations of the people within the region.

The participants stressed that such arrangements should promote community-based governance, cooperative federalism and locally driven development across the country.

The symposium resolved that TRG would, within the next 90 days, collaborate with relevant socio-cultural organisations, such as the Middle Belt Forum (MBF) and the Coalition of Indigenous Middle?Belt Organisations (CIMBO) to organise a technical policy roundtable.

The engagement, according to the communiqué, would involve traditional rulers and other critical stakeholders and focus on issues relating to restructuring and homeland security.

Explaining the rationale behind the nationwide engagements, TRG’s Director of Communication, Dr. Abiola Ajibola, said the symposia were designed to stimulate serious national conversation about Nigeria’s structural challenges. (The Sun)

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