by Ugochukwu Amasike

Nigeria and its people can no longer depend on the good will or integrity of politicians, no matter who they are or what they have done.

We must now develop systems and processes that incentivise and reward good governance, whilst simultaneously ensuring the sanctioning of indolence, poor governance and plain folly.

We have waited and waited for the Nigerian messiah, the man to come and destroy corruption, instill good governance, create jobs defeat terror and criminality and turn Nigeria into Dubai, through his sheer will, strength of character and magical powers.

My compatriots, we have waited, we have dreamt, it is time to wake up and build the systems that will permit such a messiah to emerge.

We have tarried long at this mountain and we have made little progress. The wait has now assumed a new dimension with some Nigerians and erstwhile fans of our current and beloved President becoming disillusioned by the current economic climate.

As a  friend put it, “we are now back in the market” – shopping for another or perhaps, the true messiah that is to come.

I must confess that I also do hope and wait for this Nigerian messiah, it is after all in the nature of men to dream, but may I humbly suggest that whilst we wait for the arrival of the Nigerian messiah, that we begin to work, i.e.: re-balance and re-calibrate our political-economic architecture in order to provide for ourselves and children a better bargain.

It is written that “Wisdom is profitable to direct” and it is also said that “Wisdom is justified of her children”, we have practiced this current unitary system for decades, we know how far we have come practising it, we have seen it’s children and we know what it has cost us in terms of social cohesion, political and economic development.

My fellow compatriots it is time to re-calibrate, re-balance, and yes RESTRUCTURE #Nigeria on just and equitable terms. The Truth is that the inequities in our Country is the root cause of all the problems we are facing in Nigeria, we can not implement a system of manifest injustice and expect that we will make progress. A system that rewards indolence, a system that more or less encourages and rewards dependency.

Fellow compatriots, we NEED to adopt Federalism, and please federalism is not “Resource Control”, it is way more than that Federalism is a system that caters to the aspirations of all ethnic groups within a country, thus reducing or eliminating ethno-religious rancour.

Federalism  is in fact a system of accommodation that fosters and ensures unity of purpose amongst a people. It is also a system that ensures the freedom and ability of the federating units within a federation to leverage on their unity, whilst concomitantly maximising their comparative advantages to advance the economic well-being of their people and of the country by extension.

It is humbly submitted, my fellow Nigerians, that Federalism is that messiah we have been waiting for. It will transform our country for good, it will unleash our potentials. To fight the adoption and practice of Federalism is to assault our future and continue to hinder ourselves.

We can not continue to fast and pray and shop for a messiah every four years, we must help ourselves. We have ALL to gain and nothing to loose from the adoption and practice ‎of Federalism.

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 Ugochukwu Amasike is a Lawyer in Lagos State