By James Overly

"The single most important requirement for sustaining democracy – and for deepening and improving it – is that citizens be committed to it, passionately and sophisticatedly if possible, but at a minimum, unequivocally."

– Dr. Larry Diamond, senior research fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.

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Nigerians of all ethnic groups, religions and political parties question just how committed their nation is to sustaining democracy, and they worry about their country’s future. One concern is how strongly they themselves are committed to their country.

Despite its nominal appearance as a federation, Nigeria is run more like a unitary state. The federal government has dominated politics and the economy since the days of the military government. The Federal government controls everything, taking the lion’s share of oil revenues for its own use while historically doling out a piker’s allowance to the states.

For Governor Victor Attah of Akwa Ibom state, this sort of over-concentration of power at the national level is one of the biggest dangers for Nigerian democracy. "The central government holds the principal power," he says, "over administrative instruments that have virtually [become] agencies of the central government."

He sees the answer as federalism, which he defines as a "circumstance where different individuals, groups, states or regions voluntarily subject their individual rights and privileges and come together in a union under mutually agreed terms." He further defines "true federalism" as one that "conveys Plato’s doctrine that, ‘for every being, entity, or concept, there is a perfect type.’ "

"True federalism," Governor Attah says, "unburdens the central government, freeing it from becoming overloaded, over-bureaucratized, and under-responsive."

Nigeria’s police – controlled by the Federal government – are one example. This, he says, is "antithetical to the practice of true federalism." Instead, the governor calls for state governments to be responsible for law and order in their localities, and state police commands to be responsible to the state governors. Only when a matter affects more than one state, or extends beyond the boundary of a state should it be referred to the national authorities.

North and South
Over the years since independence, the northerners have helped strengthen their hold on power by arbitrarily forming more states, then clamoring for more representation in the country’s house and senate and an extra share of federal funds for these states. This practice has further isolated small ethnic minorities, and diminished the will of most Nigerians to feel "ownership" of, or commitment to their government.

"For example," explains Dr. Victor Udo, an Akwa Ibomite who writes frequently on Nigerian federalism, "when the government built part of the national electrical grid with aluminum cables, people stole the cables and sold the aluminum. They felt it was okay because the cable belonged to the federal government, not to anyone they identified with."

That lack of commitment carries over to many who enter government and politics. "Everybody is in it for what they can get, but not for what they can contribute," says Dr. Udo.

When democracy in Nigeria was restored in 1999 after a prolonged period of debilitating military rule, the country’s new civilian government was faced with the tough issue of strengthening Nigeria’s fragile democracy. Further political instability in the early 1990’s inhibited progress, leading many Nigerians to wonder whether the country could survive as a single entity. According to South Africa’s Institute for Security Studies, "The most urgent issue in Nigeria currently is the issue of democracy."

In the past few years, President Obasanjo’s government has been attempting to deal with some of these issues. At the federal level, stronger accounting and new competitive bidding processes have been introduced to deal with corruption. It’s a step in the right direction, but many believe much work remains to be done.

Some Nigerian thinkers maintain that the sort of re-structuring that Governor Attah has in mind is an essential building block for their country’s democracy.

A call for devolution
In a July 2005 address at Lagos State University, Governor Attah advocated true federalism as "the way to sustainable democracy."

Governor Attah therefore calls for the devolution of more central government powers to the Nigerian state governments. He is aware, however, that too much devolution could lead to another Yugoslavia. As with most political solutions, the solution strikes a balance somewhere in between.
"It is an open secret," says Dr. Udo, "that the northerners will fight for the status quo. We must negotiate how to live together, how to share power."

The lack of popular commitment to the Nigerian system is widely recognized in the country. "I want to see that rectified,’ Govenor Attah says, "by arranging for everybody and every federating unit to formally and voluntarily say ‘YES’ to this union which we so much need."

America can help an African ally
Central to Governor Victor Attah’s concept of a better federalism in Nigeria is "resource control," by which he means a more equitable division between the federal and state governments of revenues flowing from the commercial exploitation of natural resources (see International Reports, December 29, 2005). A better division of revenue, he says, is one of the major ways to sustain Nigerian democracy.

Money rules everything. The greatest ideas, without financing, remain just that. "Of Nigeria’s 36 states, only a few are economically viable," says Dr. Udo. "I have maintained that those states could be reorganized into eight to 12 viable states that would also be ethnically homogeneous. You must have the right structure, and then good leadership can emerge."

In Dr. Udo’s opinion, the active involvement of an outside power, such as the United States, or the right international organization, could help bring Nigerians to seize the moment to strengthen their democracy. He argues that an active U.S. role would help cement already strong ties with "an African ally and major oil supplier."