States: The bane of the Nigerian nation, by Odi Ikpeazu

For me, one glaring sign that we are arguably not serious as a nation, is the agitation for the creation of more states.

That we do not see the utter lack of need for these garrulous guzzlers of our scarce national resources, is a thing of dismay.

I was watching some fat-fed politician out of the South East the other day. He was arguing breathlessly and with a surprisingly straight face, about the imperative for the carving out one more state out of his neighborhood. The more incredible thing about it was that his audience did not appear to see through his avaricious craving for a private estate for him to hopefully lord over in the near future!

To the point. People, please let us get serious and not only quit this crap about creating more of these needless states but actually proceed to do the needful, by scrapping the existing ones altogether.

Is it possible that no one sees the desperate necessity for our national revenue to devolve directly to the 774 counties of the country? What could be wrong with that? Are we affected by civic glaucoma or do we need Celestron telescopes?

Is it not apparent, the permanent sludge of financial waste wedged in the rusted pipelines of the current state governance systems, the tremendous volume of financing that is kept away from the grassroots, where most people dwell?

Can you imagine the volume of capital that will be released to the counties if these cesspools called states are abolished? Don’t we realize that these counties will develop faster by geometric infinity, if these states are flushed away?

Is it rocket science to realize that tribalism, ethnicidm, secessionism, sectionalism, regionalism and all the isms we claim to hate, will never be diminished by mere words and posturing, except if virtual automomy is given to the smallest units? Obsession with geo-political sentiments will ultimately yield to pre-occupation with the development of nuclear localities.

For instance, do you know that railroad tracks, if each county were to construct the length traversing its territory empowered by enhanced resources, will lead to the railroading of the entire Federation in no time, faster than if the project were a preserve of the Federal Government?

Do we stop to shudder at the fortune expended on Presidential elections, for example, which by conservative estimates, came to N313.4 billion for the 2023 elections? What the Hell was all that waste in aid of?

Can we not humble ourselves and save that money for better use, if the 774 elected County Mayors constituted an Electoral College and elected the President of the country from among themselves, in a matter of hours and for comparative chicken feed?

Will such a President be less legitimate or less elected than if he merged from the profligate circus, that prodigal parody that exists now in the name of aping the US system? Why carry on as though we were an affluent First World country, whereas we are just an indigent, overpopulated Third World habitat in comparison?

The bitter truth for me is that I know we will probably never consider devising such a unique and practical system because we just love to complicate our lives. On top of that, the people seem to dislike themselves and then each other, much like a multitude of masochists gathered in one place with the sole aim of self-mutilation.

In addition, the followers loathe the leaders, the leaders on the other hand, detest the followers and both of them collectively despise the children of the future, on behalf of whom they find it needless to plan.

For obvious reasons, I cannot go into the details of this system here, as it would involve espousing quite a volume of meticulous formulas and propositions. However, this brief synopsis, I believe, should be an instructive indication as to what it will entail.

You may wish to share to your friends, as well as to the current leaders, whose instinctive reaction is no doubt predictable.

Alternatively, we can sit around in the country and on social media and delude ourselves that things ‘go better one day.’