Beyond State Creation

State creation has stayed as a hot-button issue in our national polity. It would appear we all need a state of our own so the federation revenues can meander into our account. But that is not. It seems a deeper issue beclouds the clamouring for state.

One could be alienation of the citizens. The masses and elites’ complaints about the lack of federal government presence are just a reflection  of the failure of governance in meeting Nigeria people’s needs on a broader scale with the right impact.

Furthermore, it shows a failure of this concept in addressing our national development challenge. Is more governance infrastructure the way forward? Our checkered history points to the contrary. More governance infrastructure has only promoted decay, inefficiencies and more alienation and has made the clarion call for an enlightened leadership class a must.

What troubles my mind is the implication of creating states when the central government claims to be in a fragile financial state.

State creation keeps popping up, it will continue to stir up bad blood among the elites. We have wasted opportunities to transform the nation for the common good of all and this is becoming irritating to all especially the masses that have sacrificed a lot.

More so, this irritation is further strengthened by the presence of new media and mobile technologies which are all drawing attention to government’s profligacy and elite abuse of privileges. These tools have led to a growing class of enlightened masses who are in the know compare to the past.

As the debate for more state creation grows, we have to remind ourselves that the scales have fallen off the eyes of the masses. More inquiries will proceed as lessons from history point to the fact that it is the masses that give power either consciously or not, they might be demanding same anytime soon with venom. Not state creation this time but their share of the commonwealth.