ASHE Foundation

Odu Ifa: Things To Know About The Yoruba Divination System The Yoruba empire is one of the oldest in modern history, at least they have been around since the early 14th century. Their culture and traditions peaked during the late 16th century, during the old Oyo empire. The success of the Yoruba tradition is not entirely tied to foreign religions, or the no...

INJUSTICES OF CURRENT LOCAL GOVERNMENT

According to Afenifere, “A cursory historical analysis of the Local Government system shows that under the colonial Native Authorities system when councils were not receiving money from the Federation Account nor the basis of revenue allocation, the north had 147 while the South had 215.

“When the military first introduced uniform Local Government system with list of councils enshrined in the 1979 constitution, the North had 152 while the South was 150.

“Now under the 1999 constitution, when Councils are funded from the federation account, a basis of revenue allocation, delineation of electoral wards, census enumeration areas, employment in federal government ministries and parastatals and above all, delegates to political party conventions for selecting presidential and other candidates, the North is 413 as against 355 for the South.”

The group explained that “In 1979, the present South East had 44, while the North West was 53. Today, the South East stands at 95, while the North West is 187.

“In 1979 old Imo State (now Imo and Abia) 21 Councils. Kano (now Kano and Jigawa) 20. Under the present 1999 constitution, the same old Imo now has a total of 44 (Abia 17, Imo 27). In contrast, the old Kano which had less than old Imo now has a total of 71 (Jigawa 27; Kano 44), a little less than all the 5 states of the South East which altogether have 95 Councils.

“Within the South West, Ogun State created since 1976 has 20 Local Governments compared with smaller Osun State, carved out of Oyo in 1991, with comparatively lower population and smaller territorial size with 30 Local Governments. Ondo State also larger in size and population than Osun has 18. For no reason Bayelsa is awarded only eight.”

ASHE Foundation believes all local governments should be scrapped and let the people of the state make up and fund their own local governments, instead of using it for sectoral Afro-Arabic civilizational advantage over the indigenous African civilization of South and Middlebelt.

There is no mention of local governments in the USA or any other federal constitution in the world, why is Nigeria the only one in the world. Administrative 419 of resources.

Nigeria Confronts Its Worst Economic Crisis in a Generation

People in Africa’s most populous nation are suffering as the price of food, fuel and medicine has skyrocketed out of reach for many.

By Ruth Maclean and Ismail AuwalPhotographs by Taiwo Aina
Reporting from Kano, Nigeria’s second-largest city

June 11, 2024, 12:01 a.m. ET

Nigeria is facing its worst economic crisis in decades, with skyrocketing inflation, a national currency in free-fall and millions of people struggling to buy food. Only two years ago Africa’s biggest economy, Nigeria is projected to drop to fourth place this year.

The pain is widespread. Unions strike to protest salaries of around $20 a month. People die in stampedes, desperate for free sacks of rice. Hospitals are overrun with women wracked by spasms from calcium deficiencies.

The crisis is largely believed to be rooted in two major changes implemented by a president elected 15 months ago: the partial removal of fuel subsidies and the floating of the currency, which together have caused major price rises.

A nation of entrepreneurs, Nigeria’s more than 200 million citizens are skilled at managing in tough circumstances, without the services states usually provide. They generate their own electricity and source their own water. They take up arms and defend their communities when the armed forces cannot. They negotiate with kidnappers when family members are abducted.

But right now, their resourcefulness is being stretched to the limit.

No Money for Milk

On a recent morning in a corner of the biggest emergency room in northern Nigeria, three women were convulsing in painful spasms, unable to speak. Each year, the E.R. at Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital in Kano, Nigeria’s second-largest city, received one or two cases of hypocalcemia caused by malnutrition, said Salisu Garba, a kindly health worker who hurried from bed to bed, ward to ward.

Now, with many unable to afford food, the hospital sees multiple cases every day.

Mr. Garba was sizing up the women’s husbands. Which source of nutrition he recommended depended on what he thought they could afford. Baobab leaves or tiger nuts for the poor; boiled-up bones for the slightly better off. He laughed at the suggestion that anyone could afford milk.
More than 87 million people in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, live below the poverty line — the world’s second-largest poor population after India, a country seven times its size. And punishing inflation means poverty rates are expected to rise still further this year and next, according to the World Bank.
Last week, unions shut down hospitals, courts, schools, airports and even the country’s Parliament, striking in an attempt to force the government to increase the monthly salary of $20 it pays its lowest workers.

But over 92 percent of working-age Nigerians are in the informal sector, where there are no wages, and no unions to fight for them.

For the Afolabi family in Ibadan, in southwestern Nigeria, the descent into poverty started in January with the loss of an electric tuk-tuk taxi.

Forced to sell the taxi to pay his wife’s hospital bills after the difficult birth of their second child, Babatunde Afolabi turned to occasional construction work. It paid badly, but the family managed.

“We had no thoughts about starvation,” he said.
But then, he said, cassava — the cheapest staple in many parts of Nigeria — tripled in price.

All they can afford now, he said, is a few biscuits, a little bread, and for their 6-year-old, 20 peanuts a day.

A Country Built on Gas

Nigeria is a country heavily dependent on imported petroleum products, despite being a major oil producer. After years of underinvestment and mismanagement, its state refineries produce hardly any gasoline.

For decades, the national soundtrack has been the hum of small generators, fired up during daily power outages. Petroleum products move goods and people around the country.

Until recently, the government subsidized that petroleum, to the tune of billions of dollars a year.

Many Nigerians said the subsidy was the only useful contribution from a neglectful and predatory government. Successive presidents have pledged to remove the subsidy, which drains a hefty chunk of government revenue — and later backtracked fearing mass unrest.
Bola Tinubu, who was elected Nigeria’s president last year, initially followed through.

“It was a necessary action for my country not to go bankrupt,” Mr. Tinubu said in April, at a meeting of the World Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia.

Instead, many Nigerians are going bankrupt — or working multiple jobs to stay afloat.

Mr. Garba, the hospital worker, used to be solidly middle class, even though 17 family members, including 12 children, depended on him.

After shifts at the hospital, where he is setting up the first statewide ambulance service in addition to working in the emergency room, for which he is paid $150 a month, he heads to the Red Cross. There he occasionally receives a $3.30 volunteer stipend for helping tackle a severe diphtheria outbreak.

At night, he works at the pharmacy that he and a colleague set up. But few people have money for medicine anymore. He sells about $7 worth of medication per day.

Last year, Mr. Garba sold his car when the gas subsidies were removed, and now takes a tuk-tuk to work. Unable to power the generator, he reads medicine labels at the pharmacy by the light of a small solar lantern. He can only afford to buy rice and cassava in small quantities.

Life under the previous government was very expensive, he said, but nothing like today.

“It’s very, very bad,” he said.

It’s gotten so dire that there have been several deadly stampedes for free or discounted rice distributed by the government — including one in March at a university in the central state of Nasarawa where seven students were killed.
Mr. Tinubu promised to create a million jobs and quadruple the size of the economy within a decade, but has not said how. The International Monetary Fund said last month the state has started subsidizing fuel and electricity again — though the government has not acknowledged this.

“There’s still very little clarity — if any — on where the economy is headed, what the priorities are,” said Zainab Usman, a political economist and director of the Africa Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

The Tapping Craze

A spate of new crypto-mining games that promise to generate income the more the user plays has people across Nigeria spending all day tapping on their smartphone screens, desperate to earn a few dollars.

People tap as they pray, in mosques and churches. Children tap under desks at school. Mourners tap at funerals.
There’s no guarantee any of them will ever benefit from the hours they put in mindlessly tapping.

Then again, they can’t count on the national currency, the naira.

The government has twice devalued the naira in the past year, trying to enable it to float more freely and attract foreign investment. The upshot: It’s lost nearly 70 percent of its value against the dollar.

Nigeria cannot produce enough food for its growing population; food imports rise 11 percent annually. The currency devaluation caused those imports — already expensive because of high tariffs — to explode in price.

Nigerians can become paupers almost overnight. So they’re searching for anything that might hold its value — or ideally, get them rich.

“People are looking for me everywhere,” said Rabiu Biyora, the undisputed king of tapping in Kano, opening one of his five foldable phones to add to his 2.7 billion taps on the TapSwap app. “Not to attack me, but to collect something from me.”

A relaxed, businesslike 39-year-old followed everywhere by young tech-savvy acolytes, Mr. Biyora would only say that he made “over $10,000” from the previous tapping craze.
He profits from everyone else’s taps, so he encourages them in posts on social media, and by providing free internet to anyone willing to sit outside his house. Nigerians don’t need much encouragement — despite the risks and volatility, Nigeria has the second highest cryptocurrency adoption rate in the world.

So every evening, struggling young men gather by Mr. Biyora’s home and tap.

Pleas for Help

In much of Nigeria, it’s normal to share with your neighbors and give alms to the poor.

Every day, people come to the gate of Kano’s Freedom Radio station to drop off sheets of paper containing heartfelt appeals for help paying medical bills or school fees, or to recover from some disaster.

A radio presenter chooses three to read out daily, and often a sympathetic listener calls in to pay the supplicant’s bill.

But lately the appeals have multiplied, and offers of help have dried up.

Good Samaritans used to come to the E.R. and pay strangers’ bills for them, Mr. Garba said. That rarely happens now either.

Still, Mr. Garba said, the number of patients coming to his hospital has almost halved in recent months.

Many of the sick never even make it. They can’t afford the 20-cent bus ride.

Pius Adeleye contributed reporting from Ibadan, Nigeria.
A correction was made on June 11, 2024: An earlier version of a map with this article misstated the name of a state in central Nigeria. It is Nasarawa, not Asarawa.
When we learn of a mistake, we acknowledge it with a correction. If you spot an error, please let us know at [email protected] more
Ruth Maclean is the West Africa bureau chief for The Times, covering 25 countries including Nigeria, Congo, the countries in the Sahel region as well as Central Africa. More about Ruth Maclean

Nigeria Confronts Its Worst Economic Crisis in a Generation People in Africa’s most populous nation are suffering as the price of food, fuel and medicine has skyrocketed out of reach for many.

Afenifere, the Pan Yoruba Socio-political group has asked the Federal Government to delist the names of the 774 Local Governments from the 1999 constitution to address the marginalisation of the South in the distribution of council areas by the military.

The group at the emergency meeting held at Chief Ayo Adebanjo’s house said the suit filed by the Federal Government against the state governments on the local government autonomy was an unnecessary distraction considering the provisions of the constitution that guarantee the existence of local governments.

In a communique signed by Pa Adebanjo and National Publicity Secretary, Prince Justice Faloye said there was injustice in the distribution of local government in favour of the North states against the states in the Southern region of the country.

Faloye in the communique said In 1979, the present South East had 44 local governments, while the North West had only 53 council areas. However, he said presently, the South East geo-political zone has 95 local governments, while the Northwest geo-political zone has 187 local governments.

According to him, in 1979 old Imo State (now Imo and Abia) had 21 Councils while Kano (now Kano and Jigawa) had 20 local governments. He said under the present 1999 constitution, the same old Imo now has a total of 44 (Abia 17, Imo 27) contrary to the old Kano which had less than old Imo with a total of 71 (Jigawa 27; Kano 44), a little less than all the five states of the South East which altogether have 95 Councils.

Faloye said “Within the South West, Ogun State created since 1976 has 20 Local Governments compared with smaller Osun State, carved out of Oyo in 1991, with comparatively lower population and smaller territorial size with 30 Local Governments. Ondo State is also larger in size and population than Osun has 18. For no reason, Bayelsa is awarded only eight council areas.”

Afenifere said the only solution to this staggering injustice against the southern region of the country “is to delete the list of local governments in the constitution and allow states to have their local governments as recommended by the 2014 National Conference and the 2018 El-Rufai Committee on Federalism as part of the holistic restructuring of the Nigerian Federation.”

Afenifere said the suit by the Federal Government against the state governments was unnecessary because the Supreme Court would not overrule itself in the earlier cases it had decided between Lagos State and the Federal Government and other states of the federation.

The mainstream Yoruba group said Afenifere Local Government is the business of the federating units and thus the listing and enshrinement in the constitution of the 744 local Councils arbitrarily created by the military is antithetical to the principles of federalism which is the negotiated founding covenants of the Nigerian state.

Afenifere said “Without equivocation that it is through this JAC account, created by the constitution, that the Local governments’ funds are pooled for sundry joint services including payment of teachers salaries and administration of Local Councils Development Authority (LCDA) created by states, spearheaded by Tinubu as Governor of Lagos State and declared inchoate by the Supreme Court.

“That the Federal Government also knows that its prayer for “an order, prohibiting state governors from unilateral, arbitrary and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected LG leaders” is neither recondite nor without precedent as the apex court will only be blowing familiar mute trumpet having so ordered for the umpteenth time at the suits of Council Chairmen and Councilors to no avail.

“That as true as the payer of the piper dictating the tune, council officials know that they hold their offices only at the pleasure of governors and party leaders in a selection through the so-called State Independent Electoral Commission and thus are bereft of legitimacy to defend nonexistent mandate to resist dissolution.”

Delist LG Names From 1999 Constitution, Afenifere Tells FG Afenifere, the Pan Yoruba Socio-political group has asked the Federal Government to delist the names of the 774 Local Governments from the 1999 constitution to

Obas are the head of Isese of their constituency, so they must be traditionalists. It is wrong for Abrahamists to sit on the Isese throne and try to adulterate our belief system.

https://tribuneonlineng.com/why-it-is-compulsory-for-yoruba-obas-to-practice-isese-traditional-worshippers/?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3QjPa8yyZirk6MLicmPerN8zr3UovgEclFBnX59eOfWrmgXsFhaTHwOp8_aem_AVI7RKiBE2eGI2Qgl4T6sQA3p8i6NW3REEQ4qMaz9d9b0oROa9zA-saCu4TSgGgtGE7D4RE1KcyOMLS8wP3Uy3lH

Why it is compulsory for Yoruba Obas to practice Isese — Traditional worshippers The President, International Council for Ifa Religion (ICIR), Dr. Fayemi Fatunde Fakayode has called on governments and monarchs in Yoruba land to worship

SPEECH DELIVERED BY DR. FAYEMI FATUNDE FAKAYODE, THE PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR IFA RELIGION ON THE OCASSION OF THE 2024/2025 WORLD IFA FESTIVAL ON JUNE 1ST, 2024 AT THE WORLD IFA TEMPLE, OKE-ITASE, ILE-IFE, OSUN STATE, NIGERIA.

His Excellency, Senator Bola Tinubu, the President of Nigeria,
His Excellency,The Executive Governor of Osun State, Chief Ademola Adeleke,
His Imperial Majesty, Alayeluwa, Oba Eniitan Ogunwusi, Ojaja II,
His Eminence, Araba Owolabi Awodotun Aworeni, the Araba/Olu-Isese Agbaye,
All Araba/Oluwo,
All Iyanifa,
Press men and
All Ifa practitioners world over

Homage to Olodumare
Homage to Ile, the mother Earth
Homage to Orunmila Bara Agbonniregun
Homage to Araba Lotu-Ife, Baba Eriwo:
Olobounboun lo wonu ikoko odu
Lo fowo mejeeji da gbedu idi
Lo dun gbamu raja gbamu raja
A difa fun Ojukoro-mifo, omo Olofin
Lojo ti ko juba baba
Ti ko juba Yeye
Ti ko juba Oluwo
Ti ko seba Ojugbona
Iba Baba, Iba Yeye, Iba Oluwo, Iba Ojugbona, Afi bi mo sa se
Koro ma saigba
Unless I do without paying Homage, my undertakings will never be unfruitful

It behoves me, as the New President of the International Council for Ifa Religion (ICIR), to, on behalf of Araba Agbaye, His Eminence Owolabi Awodotun Aworeni, welcome you all to this 2024/2025 Annual World Ifa Festival (Odun Ifa Agbaye).

This year’s festival’s activities started some days ago with pilgrimage to various sacred sites in Oduduwa land. The grand finale is taking place here at the source of mankind, at Oke-Itase, an abode of Orunmila, and the Headquarters of The Council starting from yesterday, Friday, 31st May 2024. Yesterday’s activities include appeasement of The Sacred Palm Tree (Ope Teere Loke Itase) and procession to Oke-Igeti, the abode of Orunmila before coming to settle at Oke-Itase for better availability to Oduduwa. After the rituals at Oke-Igeti, the next thing is appeasement of Ikin Ifa Agbaye, the World Ikin at Òkè-Ìtasẹ̀. Today’s activities include end of the year worship inside the temple, procession to historical sites, Shrines and Groves, procession of Araba to the palace and the festival rites, ascent of Oke-Itase and special prayer. Very early tomorrow, Sunday, the Ifa will be cast to obtain the Odu of The Year. After this, we will converge at the Palace of Oonirisa to relay to him the messages of Ifa for the Year 2024/2025. The First New Year worship will be conducted in the palace of Oonirisa before our departure.

As we all know, today marks the end of a year in the Ifa (the Oduduwa Traditional) calendar while tomorrow marks the beginning of another year. This means that in less than 24 hours to this time, we will be wishing ourselves Happy New Year.

My predecessors, Professor Idowu Bolofinde Odeyemi, Associate Prof. Abiodun Fafolarin Agboola and Dr. Solagbade Popoola have all performed wonderfully during their tenure respectively. I also pray for the support of the ancestors to be able to contribute my best towards achieving success:
Agbede
Agbede
Agbede gbede baluwe
A difa fun Orisanla Oseeremogbo
To n moju ekun sogbere omo
Won ni ko kara nile ko rubo
O gbebo nibe o rubo
Igba ti yoo bi:
O bi Riran-le-ran-mi-wa
O bi Emi-ki-mo-ranra-mi
O bi Ase-dowo-eni-to-ran-mi-wa
Riran le ran mi wa
Emi ki mo ranra mi
Ase dowo eni to ran mi wa

We use this medium to, as usual appreciate the Government, especially that of Osun, Oyo, Ogun and Lagos States for the support so far, especially for declaring August 20th as Public Holiday for Traditional Religion. It is our hope that other states will do the needful this year. We implore the Government to concentrate more on the Traditional Religion which is capable of adding value to the economy of the land through tourism. Our sacred/religious sites can generate revenue for the states through pilgrims. Importantly, for fraud-free administration, we recommend the use of traditional religion objects of worship for oath of office in Nigeria. If that can be done, we are sure that this Nation will change for better.

Gratitude also goes to our father, the Òrìṣà himself, HIM Alayeluwa Oonirisa, who is doing his best for the continuity of our Spirituality and Religion. In fact, Baba Oonirisa, though rules over all, irrespective of Religious affinities, is working assiduously for revival, survival and development of Ìsẹ̀ṣe/Ifa, his own Religion and Spirituality. I, on behalf of all Ifa devotees throughout the world implore Oodua (Yoruba) Traditional Rulers to respect the basis of their crowns. It is compulsory for them to practice Ìsẹ̀ṣe and follow Ifa, for the stools they occupy belong to the Orisa. We implore the Abrahamic religion practitioners among them to spare us their condemnation, for condemning Isese is condemning their own thrones. It is our advice that any already enthroned Oba who does not want to be associated with our Tradition should abdicate the throne to be out of the dilemma. Also, all abrahamic Princes are advised to think twice before vying for the stool that is surely not in consonance with their religious affinity.

My fellow Ifa devotees, as followers of Orunmila, we are siblings. Let us see ourselves as such. Therefore, we should focus more on what unites us than what separates us. Unity is what we need to achieve our common goals. As we are saying goodbye to a concluded year, I am using this opportunity to implore us to say goodbye to our differences.

Once again, I greet Nigeria President, the Governor of Osun State, the Oonirisa, Araba Agbaye, all Araba/Oluwo, all Iyanifa and all Ifa devotees throughout the world. And I say HAPPY NEW YEAR to you. May we live long to celebrate many happy returns. Ase Orisa.

Fayemi Fatunde Fakayode, Ph.D
President, International Council for Ifa Religion (ICIR)

Local Government Financial Autonomy Bill in the light of 2014 CONFAB’s Polycentric Solution

Olusegun R Babalola

The bill granting local governments (LGs) full financial autonomy, approved by the National Assembly (NASS) in March 2022, continues to spark heated debate. According to the bill, each LG could now create its own special LG Allocation Account as the existing State-LG account is repealed. While proponents hail it as a long-overdue step towards grassroots governance, critics, especially the state Houses of Assembly (HoA) raise concerns about its potential implications. There is also a regional opposition to this bill. Fortunately, this contradiction could be resolved in the light of the polycentric resolutions of the 2014 National Conference (CONFAB).

The First Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) affirms a non-polycentric 774 LGs, meant to be governed by elected councils, but have historically been financially and administratively dependent on state governments who often nominate unelected administrators to manage them. This has hindered their ability to function effectively. As explicitly stated in the Belgore Report, this “violates the spirit of representative governance” where “unelected officials or Sole Administrators” of LGs are nominated by the governors.

Rep. Nkeiruka Onyejeocha (PDP-Abia) who sponsored the Bill argued in November 2016 “The practice of true federalism is lacking in Nigeria, especially at the local government level. Some state governments deprive their local governments of principal source of their revenues. Unless more stable internal source of revenue is exploited, and state-local government joint account abolished, the objective of strengthening local governments relationship with state and federal governments will remain a mirage.’’ President Muhammadu Buhari, also stated in June 2021 AriseTV/This Day interview that “The local government system has been killed.” President Buhari stated this with the governors’ opposition to his Executive Order 10 of 2020 granting financial autonomy to local governments as well as state legislatures.

Proponents believe the LG autonomy bill will lead to improved service delivery, increased accountability, and ultimately, better governance at the grassroots level. Prof. Abubakar O. Sulaiman, Director General, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), argues in March this year “We believe in the local government administration as the closest level of government for effective participation of the teeming population of the country in its governance system.” “It is a struggle we must all fight for and a struggle we must all win,” he said.

Critics, especially several state HoA, are wary of the potential consequences, particularly in the context of the existing power imbalance between states and LGs and the continued federal interference in state affairs, despite the supposed autonomy granted to LGs. They argue that it undermines their authority and could lead to a loss of control over local governance. And they are supported by the Punch Editorial Board in January 2023. The Editorial Board published that “Not minding the motive of the parliamentarians or the sentiments of the organized labour, the state houses of assembly were right to have rejected the bill.”

Citing examples from United States, Australia, Canada, Brazil, Germany, Belgium, Sweden, Switzerland, and other federal systems, the Editorial Board noted “The repudiation is at the heart of true federalism and is consistent with the best global traditions in federal states ... In a true federal system, there are two main levers of power – the centre and the federating units,” and that the “1999 Constitution committed a fundamental blunder by listing and recognising the 774 LGs in it as a tier of government” and thus repudiating the Nigeria’s 1963 Constitution. To resolve the crisis of development at the grass roots level, the constitution must be decentralized along federal lines. “

Unfortunately, there are regional concerns too, which complicates the issue. Some have raised the problem of uneven distribution of LGs, with the North having significantly more than the South, and thus holding a significant advantage in terms of LG representation. As a result, they fear that the new law could exacerbate inequalities and further empower the northern states. Secondly, some critics view the financial autonomy law as part of a larger "RUGA" plan, a controversial government initiative aimed at establishing cattle ranches across the country. Generally, critics argue that the federal government's oversight role could stifle local decision-making and limit the true effectiveness of the bill.

Interestingly, both sides point to American constitutionalism. The proponents of the LG’s financial and administrative autonomy point to the LGs in US and to Alexis de Tocqueville’s Democracy in America. Where he observed that the science of association, which includes local government, is the basis of liberty and the mother of science in a democracy. The critics of the LG bill also rightly cites the American federalism between the Union and the States, that the Nigerian Union must be thoroughly decentralized. Perplexed, one is forced to ask, why this contradiction?

The contradiction is basically caused by the absence of polycentric local government. Polycentricity is a term appropriated by Vincent Ostrom and the Bloomberg School whilst defending the traditional American political order based on Tocqueville’s observations. There are 3 basic elements of polycentricity. First is the existence of many centers for decision making. The second is the existence of a single system of rules (be they institutionally or culturally enforced). And the third is the existence of a spontaneous social order as the outcome of an evolutionary competition between different ideas, methods, and ways of life. The third makes way for choice; joining or exiting a LG or creating a new one.

According to most recent US Census conducted in 2022, the total number of U.S. LGs, including county (3,031), township and municipal (35,705), independent school districts (12,546) and other special-purpose entities (39,555), was 90,837. Each LG enjoys substantial autonomous of determining its own policies, budget without directly control by a parent government. What is interesting is that whilst there were 90,837 LGs in 2022, they were 155,067 in 1942. The contraption is possible because of the possibility of polycentricity. To understand what polycentricity could mean to Nigeria, one only need to consult the 2014 CONFAB.

The CONFAB recognized LGs as a layer of governance closest to the people and, in effect, a platform for sustainable socio-economic development and popular participation in governance at the grass-root.”(p. 281) And whilst acknowledging the “alleged abuse” of the LG system by “State administrations,” the CONFAB also introduced some necessary polycentric safeguards to guarantee the independence of LGs.

It gives the states jurisdiction to create or reduce the number of local governments. “The number, structure, form and administration of Local Governments shall be determined by the States.” Furthermore, the list and functions of LGs in the Schedules of the 1999 Constitution are removed and transferred to the States to be covered by a law of the State HoA. The HoA of a State may also by law confer other functions on the LG. These account for the third element of polycentricity.

CONFAB also provides for the second polycentric element; a single system of rules. Chairmen and Councilors of LGs, not democratically elected, shall be illegal. Furthermore, the CONFAB, following the wisdom presented by the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and the Report of the Presidential Committee on Review of Outstanding Issues from Recent Constitutional Conferences 2012 (the Belgore Report) recommends that “Joint State/Local Government Account be scrapped and replaced with a State Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (SRMAFC) with representatives of LGs and a Chairman nominated by the Governor.” CONFAB also includes more provisions to protect the representatives of LGs in this Commission.

On the first polycentric element; the existence of many centers for decision making, the CONFAB proposes enormous responsibilities for the indigenous rulers and polities in the policing the borders (p114, 251), conflict resolution (p 92), screening and vetting prospective police recruits (259) ... and so on. And whilst the 2014 CONFAB does not clearly constitutionalize the indigenous polities towards the existence of many centers for decision making, the Conference clearly points to it. These enormous responsibilities cannot be successfully achieved without constitutionalizing the indigenous polities.

This leads us another Nigerian contradiction of “two publics,” which according to Peter Ekeh entails the fracturing of the public into two; of the constitutionally excluded moral and primordial public, and the amoral civil public who replaced the colonial masters. As Ekeh noted, such two publics are absent in the West. This amoral public is unfortunately the despicable arena of unresponsively corrupt pan-tribalists and prebendalists, and the genesis of all our developmental and security challenges. Polycentricity, itself would not work if the two publics are not de-colonized into one single polycentric public within every local government, where both the democratic public and the primordial public would constitute two complementing centers for decision making with a single system of rules, be they institutionally or culturally enforced. (See https://obalufonics.com/2019/07/16/polycentricity-and-de-colonizing-the-two-publics/)

The contradiction in the long run is the absence of polycentric governments in a federal system copied from US. The dependence of the LGs on the States stems from the country's non-polycentric federal structure, where states hold significant power over local units and the overcentralized federal structure holds significant power over the States. The problem of local governments can only be tackled within a larger clinical process of restructuring. To resolve the crisis of development at the grass roots level, the constitution must be decentralized along federal lines, without these shameful contradictions.

Punch Editorial Board is right after all. “The 1999 Constitution committed a fundamental blunder by listing and recognising the 774 LGs in it as a tier of government.” Ultimately, the success of this initiative will depend on its careful polycentric implementation, addressing the concerns of stakeholders, and ensuring true financial and administrative autonomy for local governments across the country. And this must be achieved bottom-up towards the Nigerian Dream.

Olusegun R. Babalola
Member of Afenifere, African Sociocultural Harmony and Enlightenment Foundation (ASHE), and has a Blog; www.obalufonics.com