ARE WE NOT PUTTING THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE?

ZION B-BC   NEWSLETTER.  

A Publication of the Zion Faith Bible-Believing Church, Kpeyegyi, Abuja Nigeria. [VOL. 5. NO 153. 17th July, 2016.} “…ONLY The Truth, Will Set You   Free! (John.8:32).

ARE WE NOT PUTTING THE CART BEFORE THE HORSE?

The clamour for the POLITICAL RESTRUCTURING of the geographical landscape of Nigeria had gathered the momentum of a wild fire through the instigations of political jobbers and had blindly attained a ridiculous national proportion which is utterly unacceptable, very unfriendly and inimical to our collective sensibilities! For any kind of restructuring to take place, it must be backed by a constitutional amendment which would need two thirds majority votes of both Chambers of the National Assembly and also an additional two thirds majority votes of the 36 States Houses of Assembly and that is why it has thus become more intriguing; because it is either that the agitators were completely ignorant of these salient facts or they were being deliberately mischievous!
What kind of political restructuring do small and selfish groups of the 250 identified Nigerian tribes of varied, social, cultural, and political ideologies who speak over 500 different tongues within the acclaimed "largest economy in Africa" bent on proposing or prescribing other than a break up? Some proponents believed that the creation of more States would solve the problem of ethnicity and marginalization while others proffer a return to the post independence Regional order in which the regions were self-sufficient; others solicit that the present Geo-Political Zones would strengthen the economic potentials of those areas and weaken the enormous financial influence of the government at the centre! Yet, there are those who preferred that the existing federating States should become autonomous, to manage all of their God-given economic resources and pay commensurate taxes to the Federation Account for the Federal Government to run constitutional statutory duties, to prove their emphasis on the crave for, DEVOLUTION OF POWER, RESOURCE CONTROL, DERIVATIVE PRINCIPLE, STATE POLICE, etc; which translate to FISCAL FEDERALISM! But recently, some other groups have emerged to agitate that restructuring was synonymous with SECESSION!

WHAT IS RESTRUCTURING?
To restructure is to organize a system, an entity, a company or business concern in a new way to make it operate more effectively and efficiently! In the case of the Nigerian nation, what is manifest in almost all agitations of restructuring are insincerity, selfishness, egotism, hidden agenda for financial/economic exploitation, tribalism, unhealthy rivalry and massive deceit of the illiterate, ignorant and most vulnerable poor masses, who wallow in abject poverty and whose opinions were never sought nor sampled! Can any government operate in a vacuum without its human resources to actualize political, social and economic empowerment? Can a group of people with inordinate political ambition force their interest on the majority in a democratic setting? Can the use of force prevail over the purposive Will of God?
For the people of a country to come together and dwell in peace, harmony, tranquility and prosperity, a global norm of the binding force of a CONSTITUTION, must be in place as the testimony of agreement and it is through such sacred document that law, order and good governance could be established!
Nigeria is not an exception to the rule and that is why the 1999 Federal Constitution remains the acceptable norm of her very existence as a corporate nation! Therefore for any agitation to attain national recognition, it must conform with the provisions of the constitution and receive the attention of the National Assembly legislators who as representatives of the people, would give such issue the due attention it deserves through open debates and wide consultations among all stake holders across the nation!
Recently, Vice President, Professor 'Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, was widely criticized for not supporting agitations of political restructuring of Nigeria in spite of his previous stand as the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, in Lagos State, that political restructuring of the Nigerian federation was negotiable; but he was quick to defend his present position which he asserted was not different from the previous by stating that "any form of restructuring in Nigeria must follow constitutional due process".
In his words to an audience during the 13th Annual Daily Trust Dialogue in Abuja, titled: "50 Years After 1966: Is Nigeria Rising?” the Vice President said, Nigeria's size was not just formidable in the African continent, but also globally. "Our country has the potential not just to be the giant if Africa but a major economic giant in the world, adding that it is that giant of a nation that the Nigerian elites have a duty to deliver". He also said, among other things, that the size of Lagos State alone was larger in terms of economy than several African countries, and submitted that: "......Nigeria is better staying together and maintaining our unity."
At another forum hosted by TVC News recently, Professor Osinbajo, also put to rest, the criticisms that he was against the restructuring of the country and described the notion as unfounded. According to Sahara Reporters, he called for a deeper understanding of the current restructuring debate in the country, and supported the idea of having State Police in the country according to his spokesman, Mr. 'Laolu Akande who also stated that there had been different interpretations, meanings and purposes to which the restructuring debate was being put to. The Senior Special Assistant on Media, quoted the Vice President as saying that restructuring of the nation should not degenerate into elitists political rhetoric’s especially when the country's economy was at its lowest ebb adding that greater energy should be devoted to massive diversification to agriculture and harnessing of the abundant natural solid mineral resources available nation-wide, because whether more money was allocated to the States to strengthen their financial bases or that the States were to control their internally -generated resources of oil and mineral wealth and pay taxes to the Federal Government, nothing meaniningful would be achieved except the country united together to pull through the present economic quagmire!

Constitutional Amendment Is The First Point Of Call!
Without the backing of constitutional amendments, the whole clamour for any meaningful restructuring of Nigeria would amount to a scenario of "all motion but no movement", which will be most unsuitable, especially now that it is getting more difficult to execute almost every aspect of the 2016 Budget successfully due to the continued vandalization of crude oil pipelines in the Niger Delta Region!
Constitutional amendments which are regular occurrences of the National Assembly, suffered major setback at the close of the 7th Assembly when Ex President Jonathan refused the executive assent on a very sensitive bill which affected the masses of the people in respect of the "......introduction of compulsory and free education and health services for Nigerians", due to power tussle between the executive and the legislature over presidential veto over such amendments which could have ushered the "Fourth Alteration Bill" into law.
Because of the President's veto over that bill, all outstanding bills of the Seventh Assembly were invalidated through the rule of abatement without any consideration for all funds that went down the drain! It is therefore very expedient for legislators to quickly initiate an amendment that would ensure a continuum of parliamentary administration for bills to be carried over to new assemblies in order to avoid civil acrimony against parliamentarians and also the colossal wastages of scarce funds.
The same scenario  should not be witnessed in this new dispensation; a repeat of  past errors should be avoided in view of the fact that monies which ran into some billions of naira was wasted and because such amendments would begin from the scratch; that is, from the proposal levels to general plenary debates, then to committee levels and back to plenary for approval of two thirds majority votes by both houses of parliament; then, another two thirds majority votes of States House of Assembly, before the Presidential assent which could either be given or denied! Therefore, the most expedient and rational action in respect of further agitations for restructuring of the Nigerian project should be for all stakeholders to pursue their legitimate interests which should not suggest secession, through the appropriate quarters of the National Assembly and wait patiently for the process to pass through the rule of law in order to give peace and tranquility the desired place in the polity!

The Military Constitution for Democracy!
The 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which ushered a fresh hope for viable democracy like the 1960 Independence Constitution was enacted by "meddlesome interlopers", who pretended to have socio-economic and political interests of the masses at heart, but were in actual fact very smart to have crafted " a labyrinth of jigsaw puzzles" that would ensure their permanent vested interests in the nation's natural and especially crude oil resources, which administration was corrupted from the very onset! The 1960 Constitution was crafted by a British Order-in-Council for it to be in force from 1st October, 1960, and which retained the British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, as titular Head of State; and the 1999 Constitution, was by the last Military Administration of General Abubakar, who with his junta claimed to be the, "We the People of the Federal Republic of Nigeria:
HAVING firmly and solemnly resolved: .....", the preamble on page one of the document, which can be legally described as institutional forgery - seventeen years on - because of the various lapses like the ambiguity created in the issue of whether presidential assent or veto was actually necessary before a bill of the parliament could be passed into law or rejected! It is now very important that the rule of law must come to the fore in the Change Agenda in order to rectify all ambiguities created in the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, which had more or less thrown more "spanner into the work" as regards our diversity which should unite instead of creating a wide gulf, or chasm of incessant misunderstanding at every corner of our collective pilgrimage on this earth!
"COUNSEL IN THE HEART OF MAN IS LIKE DEEP WATER; BUT A MAN OF UNDERSTANDING WILL DRAW IT OUT." (Proverbs.20:5).
We hear that President Muhammadu Buhari has employed series of counseling strategies to calm strained nerves of all agitators - especially those who have gone to the extreme to take up arms against their fatherland! It is written, “Where no counsel is, the people fall; but in the multitude of counselors there is safety." (Proverbs.11:14). Did the grape vine say that some disillusioned soldiers were thinking of overthrowing this anointed government of God? WOE BETIDE THEM SAYS THE LORD OF HOSTS, BECAUSE THEY WILL PERISH WITH THEIR THOUGHTS WHICH WILL NEVER MATERIALZE! Amen.

Please look forward to more divine revelation in the next edition of Zion B-BC Newsletter as you share this with friends and remain blessed in the Lord. [For weekly access, to this newsletter, log on to:  facebook.com/zionfaithbible.believingchurch or http://www.zfbbc1.blogspot.com, https://www.google.com/+zionfaithbiblebelievingchurch.

If you have not accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, don’t miss this great opportunity as you pray this prayer: Lord Jesus; I confess that I am a sinner who needs to be saved through the grace of the New Testament of your Blood, shed on the Cross at Calvary; I renounce every sin in my life and accept you as my Lord and Saviour. Please forgive me and write my name in the Book of Life. Amen. If you prayed this prayer, you have been admitted into the family of sons and daughters of God, who are born-again. Congratulations.

I am, yours sincerely, Dr. David B.A. Olufon, Resident Pastor and Editor. 08130669886, 08098194390.  08080243066   g-mail- dvdolufon@gmail.com.