As his tenure in office winds down, President Muhammadu Buhari and the current National Assembly seem to be in a hurry to do things they ought to have done a long time ago.
They have decided to devolve some powers hitherto held exclusively by the federal government to state governments, a demand that had long being called for. In all, the Fifth Alteration Bills signed by Buhari covered 19 areas of public interest.
However some of the key powers now shared with the state government (concurrent list) include allowing states to build electric power stations and generate, distribute and transmit power within the areas covered by the national grid in the respective jurisdictions, and also authorising the states to build their own railways.
Also, the State Assemblies and the Judiciary have been liberated from the grip of state governors, as they now enjoy financial autonomy.
There is more. The prisons system has also been decentralized such that States can now build and operate Correctional Services.
Critical as this devolution items are many had thought that the government would be bold enough to go all the way by including the contentious State Police and constitutional roles for traditional rulers.
The state police clamour had become a major defining issue in the Buhari years following the escalated security crisis. And this was strongly tied to the helplessness of traditional institutions under whose domain the insecurity thrived.
Nevertheless, late as the devolved powers to state have come, we applaud the move. For one, the prospects of a more balanced federal system appears to be gaining momentum.
The era of an overly powerful Federal executive on the one hand and an bullish federal government on the other hand seem to be coming to an end.
While many believe it might still be a long shot considering the prevalent political culture at the moment, with a definite law in place, our democratic evolution within the context of a federal system would have taken a major leap.
With the devolution of these economic powers and strengthening of the separation of powers principle, especially in the states, presidents and governors would have such overbearing influences over the Judiciary. The Judiciary is expected to and more emboldened to assert itself.
Sadly, we had witnessed in this country state legislatures shying away from efforts to liberate themselves and the local government councils, from governors’ grip. This further buttresses the question of a poor democratic culture vis-a-vis a failure of having people of character holding public offices.
In a clime where public offices are seen as a patronage for self and a few as against the overall well-being of the public, such poor culture has become the mainstay of the nation’s democratic experience.
With this new law, we expect that the governors, State Assemblies and Judiciary now have the power to perform their checks and balances’ functions for better governance. No doubt, the mindset would need to change.
Thankfully, this set of laws are coming in a transition period. The new administrations both at federal and state levels would be saddled with the responsibility of ensuring that these laws are followed through.
For instance, the potential of states having freedom to generate power is almost priceless. As such all eyes will be on states to see what they make of this item of the law which has the capacity to ensure they industrialise at their own pace.
Again, it is regrettable that State Police and roles for traditional rulers were not included in this round. We hope the 10th National Assembly will quickly deal with it to further strengthen true federalism.
