RESTRUCTURING THE NIGERIA STATE FOR ECONOMIC INCLUSIVENESS AND DEMOCRATIC PEACE THROUGH POLYCENTRIC PLANNING STRATEGY

Prof. Samson R. AKINOLA,

Professor of Urban and Regional Planning,

(Polycentric Planner and Problem-Solving Entrepreneur)

(Development Planner, Community Developer, Environmentalist,

Policy/Institutional Analyst, Governance/Poverty Reduction Expert)

Provost, College of Science, Engineering and Technology

Osun State University, Osogbo, Osun State, Nigeria

e-mail:srakinola@yahoo.com; samson.akinola@uniosun.edu.ng

Mobile: +234-803-407-5110; +234-815-275-8280

INTRODUCTION

This article serves as the introduction to problem-solving and solution-seeking strategies to the problem of economic exclusiveness and democratic tyranny of party dominance in Nigeria. This article is drawn from the background of the need to change the narratives from theoretical formulations, empirical analysis, knowledge generation and policy formulation syndrome to problem solving entrepreneurship where pragmatism and practical application of new ideas are imperative to deal with the economic challenges of modern-day Nigeria.

Economic inclusiveness is the dictate of endogenous economy within inclusive society. Inclusive society is a society with frameworks and structures that prioritise full utilisation of human and environmental resources for fulfilling the yearnings and aspirations of the citizenry. Consequently, citizens in all walks of life – culture, ethnic, religious, etc. feel belonged and are ready to defend their nation. Correlatively, the economy of the society will respond dynamically to endogenous impulses of all categories of the citizenry.

Unfortunately, Nigeria’s economy has not reflected the yearnings and aspirations of the citizenry due to the adoption of neo-liberal development paradigms/policies that are defiant of Nigerian realities. The neo-liberal development paradigms/policies are: (1) Decentralisation (2) Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAP), Liberalisation, Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In spite of the existence of abundant resources across the country, the long years of operations of international financial organizations, fervent engagement by scholars and several reforms’ declarations and commitments made by Nigerian leaders over the last five decades, socio-economic development is still a mirage and the number of people living in extreme poverty in the country is increasing.

Recent statistics confirms that the high debt of N22.7 Trillion is killing the already pauperised Nigerian masses because, with the high level of corruption, the country is still borrowing (The Nigerian Tribune, Tuesday, 4 December, 2018, p. 13 - Editorial), while “money walks away.” (Berkman, 2009). The World Bank confirmed that more than 100 projects surveyed in Nigeria and Gambia reek corruption (Bossard, 2009). Berkman (2009) shows how Nigerian officials charged $2,200 for 18 cups of tea and snacks at a roadside stall under a World Bank loan (and got away with it). Expenses for television and video sets was at N249,999 apiece – more than ten times the equipment’s street value.

This article focuses on how to resolve Nigerians governance challenges and development dilemma by focusing on how to narrow down inequalities, entrench economic inclusiveness and democratic peace. The Appalling performance of Nigerian governments creates gaps that are usually filled by private initiatives in education, water, electricity, waste management, security, etc. where the costs of transactions are very high and participants become transitional and marginal poor. Why should there be human trafficking if citizens are economically included in the commonwealth and empowered? Democratic tyranny breeds hooliganism, violence and robbery as found across the country. The question is how do we restructure to enhance citizens’ welfare?

This article adopts multidisciplinary engagement (as methodology) by using Robert Owen’s Principles of Industrialisation (ROPI) in tandem with the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework, Knowledge Management (KM) tools and Political Economy Approach (PEA) to public policy analysis to analyze the missing links between Nigerian governance structure and welfare of the citizens on the one hand and between knowledge generated by Nigerian scholars and Nigerian economic realities on the other hand. The missing links/gaps confirmed that the Nigerian system lacks the mechanisms and inspirations to rally the majority (70%) of the population in the informal/endogenous sector around development process and knowledge utilisation for development. The consequent governance crisis and development dilemma make it difficult for Nigerians to understand the way forward for the country and appropriate strategy for restructuring the nation.

The paper found that governance crisis and development dilemma in Nigeria are a product of structurally-defective pattern of governance reinforced by the problem of disconnect among the key actors in Nigerian economy - public officials, politicians, bureaucrats and technocrats, scholars, expatriates, private sector/industrialists and peasant farmers. As a result, erroneous notions on restructuring pervade public arena. While some are agitating for recession, others are demanding for regionalism and true federalism. This paper corrects erroneous notions on restructuring and federalism that propagate colonial paradigm of governance and development. While restructuring is analysed as the process of crafting inclusive public sphere and political economy for effective socio-economic and political engagements of citizens, Africentric federalism or Africentric restructuring federalism is designed to solve specific challenges and problems under agreed terms among interested groups (Akinola, 2010a, 2011a, 2015a,b, 2016c).

Findings from cutting-edge research, over the years, confirmed that the reliance on colonial ideas have created the present problem of marginalisation, minority exclusion, disconnect, poverty, corruption, unemployment, insecurity, food crisis, infrastructural deficits, underdevelopment, housing deficits, bad roads, etc. The paper argues that, in some ways, the weakness of centralized and structurally-defective governance in Nigeria provides an opportunity for self-governing community institutions to play the role that governments and their agencies have abandon. The local people through self-organizing arrangements, shared strategies and problem-solving interdependencies are more effective in responding to community needs and aspirations than governments and their agencies.

This paper argues that since the present crises are a product of reliance on colonial ideas, we should begin to conceptualise Africentric strategies of problem-solving by evolving home-grown models and strategies. The paper cautions that Nigeria should not copy the Western models but evolve home-grown models from reflections and lessons from abroad. By using polycentric planning, this paper mirrors some lessons from the experience of the United States of America when the country had serious problems in the 18th C. It is on this basis that the paper designs Africentric strategies of restructuring and federalism that focus on Nigerian realities – specific challenges that relate to knowledge application, utilisation of local resources, provision of jobs, food security, low cost housing, durable roads, etc. Africentric restructuring federalism is a problem-solving entrepreneurship that engages in retrospection into Nigerian socio-economic and cultural configurations of economic ‘susuism’ that is capable of bailing the country out of the present economic crisis.

Polycentric planning emphasises citizens’ involvement in governance of community affairs on daily basis through associational life: elegbe jegbe (among the Yoruba), Ndi otu (among the Ibo) and Kungya (among the Hausa). It needs to be pointed out that associationalism permeates Nigerian public landscape as exemplified by economic susuism. Esusu (among the Yoruba), Isusu (among the Ibo) and Adachi/Asusu (among the Hausa/Fulani). These structures of collective actions are similar to American system of collective action. The underlying principle of susuism is trust, which is based on the law of reciprocity described as ‘do to me and I do to you’: Se fun mi kin se fun o – (Yoruba); inye mu nye gi – (Ibo); Bani nbaka/Nkemu Zama – (Hausa/Fulani). It is this primordial associationalism that Nigerians can adopt now in resolving our challenges and problems through Africentric restructuring federalism. This is the time for us to engage in retrospection towards resolving our differences and build a strong nation.

One important feature of polycentric planning is that it helps in filling the gaps (problem-solving) between existing realities and expected goal. In view of the above, this paper designs restructuring mechanism to institutionalize community initiatives for the setting up of Self-Governing Community Assembly (SGCA) for the application of African Polycentric Democracy Domestication Model (APDDM) for domesticating democracy in Nigeria by adapting features of Africentric federalism to institutional arrangements that are self-organising and self-governing within rule-ruler-ruled configurations (Akinola, 2016c).

In order to domesticate democracy for economic inclusiveness,  five tasks need to be performed: (1) synergising the efforts of the Nigerian state and that of the people through polycentric planning and error correcting potentials (Akinola 2009b, 2010a:73-78, 2011a:40-47); (2) restructuring economic space through Economic ‘Susuism’ for generating self-reliant development through inward-looking, priority for full use of local resources, a system of collective ownership of the means of production and incorporation of excluded populations (Akinola, 2011h,l); (3) securing food for the citizens, (4) generating employment opportunities and (5) distributing the benefits of economic growth among the citizenry (Akinola 2008f,p:193-195, 2011g);

Using polycentric privatization planning, Polycentric Public-Private Partnership (PPPP) will be established at the state and local government levels across Nigeria using entrepreneurial capabilities for food production, local industrialisation and employment generation through effective linkage, partnership and collaboration between governments, higher institutions, industries and local communities. This will result in translating innovative ideas from higher institutions into machines that are capable of enhancing agricultural productivity. Consequently, local economic ventures will be created, local resources will be fully utilized, different local industries will be developed, economic and revenue base will be diversified, employment will be generated for the local people and revenues for Local Governments (LGs) will increase. Further, using polycentric privatization planning, shareholding in, and joint ownership of local industries by the local people will empower the people economically, LGs will assume entrepreneurial roles, revenue base of LGs will be widened, oil/aid dependency syndrome will be broken, and state and LGs will be economically self-reliant and sustainable.

This article continues next week with the strategy of how to restructure the Nigeria state for economic inclusiveness, democratic peace and development through polycentric planning. ‘It is ideas that rule the world.’

Word = 1624