•Calls for true federalism, end to ‘unitary masquerade’

•Advocates parliamentary system, merit-based appointments, youth military service

Sunday Ehigiator

Emeritus Professor of History and International Relations, University of Lagos, Prof. Akinjide Osuntokun, has proposed the restructuring of Nigeria’s political system, calling for the collapse of the existing 36 states into six large, culturally aligned regions to restore true federalism and national unity in the country.

He gave the proposal while delivering the keynote lecture on Nigeria’s political trajectory at the inaugural Hon. Joseph Oduola Osuntokun Lecture Series, held yesterday in Lagos.

Speaking on Nigeria’s latent power and its diminishing influence in West Africa, Osuntokun said the nation’s size and population confer significant regional influence, which he argued, had been undermined by internal insecurity and poor governance.

“Our big size and population as a country confer us influence, if not power. We are the only country in the ECOWAS region that can deploy combined military operations, the army, navy, and air force, for regional peace missions.

“Yet our potential remains latent, and our admirers are tired of waiting for it to be made manifest,” he said.

Reflecting on his time as Nigeria’s Ambassador to Germany, Osuntokun noted how Nigeria’s voice once commanded attention in international fora due to its population and peacekeeping record. However, he lamented that domestic instability, particularly insurgency and weak institutions, has since diminished the country’s standing.

Turning to Nigeria’s constitutional history, Osuntokun said the current 1999 constitution was “federal only in name and not in reality,” stressing that it concentrates too much power at the centre.

He referenced the 2025 communiqué of The Patriots, which also called for a total constitutional overhaul subject to a national referendum.

“We cannot run away from writing a new constitution,” he said. “Perhaps where we should begin is with our independence constitution, which was negotiated by our founding fathers and mothers based on political bargaining and give-and-take.”

Tracing the nation’s slide from federalism to unitarism, the professor recalled how the military’s intervention in 1966, under General Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi, abolished regional autonomy and centralised power under the command structure.

According to him, “the carefully negotiated federal arrangement of our political leaders was thrown overboard, paving the way for unitary rule disguised as federalism, a situation that persists till today.”

To address the imbalance, Osuntokun proposed a restructured federation built around six large constituent states based on cultural and historical affinity.

His model would merge and realign current states into new regional blocs, such as expanding the South-West to include parts of Kwara and Kogi, and combining Akwa Ibom, Cross River, and Rivers into a new South-East. He argued that this would eliminate the colonial North-South divide and foster national cohesion.

“I will start by collapsing all the present states using a modified zonal division into new zones. There should be movement of boundaries of the South-West to include Kwara up to Jebba and the Kabba and Igala divisions of the present Kogi State, which will constitute a solid cultural unity,” he said.

According to him, “the South-East should include Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Rivers, and the Idoma area of Benue, while Edo, Delta, Bayelsa, and parts of Kogi would form a new South-Central State.”

The North-Central, he said, “should comprise Niger, Kaduna, Nasarawa, Plateau, and Tiv areas of Benue; Kano should merge with Jigawa, Katsina, Zamfara, Kebbi, and Sokoto as one North-Western Region; while North-East would include Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, Adamawa, Taraba, and Borno.

“These suggestions are rooted in cultural consanguinity but open to negotiation. This measure will remove the Berlin Wall dividing Nigeria into North and South because the current notion of North and South is a colonial imposition, and we must break away from it once and for all.”

Osuntokun argued that the six new constituent regions would be large enough to be self-sustaining and capable of forming the basis of a true federation. He said the current system of small, financially dependent states have weakened governance, deepened ethnic division, and encouraged the struggle for power at the centre.

He further recommended the adoption of a parliamentary democracy similar to that of the First Republic, where ministers are drawn from the legislature, as well as a merit-based system of public appointments.

“There is no part of Nigeria where there are no excellent people,” he noted. “We must build a nation anchored on careers open to talent, as India has done.”

Osuntokun also proposed a one-year compulsory military service for all graduates, male and female, modeled after the National Youth Service Corps, to promote national cohesion and discipline.

He described his proposals as a “constitutional organogram for stability,” urging political leaders and the intelligentsia to push for reforms that would secure Nigeria’s future.

“To start, we must agree that a true federal constitution is desirable to tame the mad struggle for power at the centre. That is basic, and all other considerations should follow.” (This Day)