APC'S TRUE FEDERALISM REPORT: A FRANTIC EFFORT TO WIN THE 2019 ELECTIONS?

Clearly, the subject of restructuring - which has been burning for a little while now - has generated enough heat on the polity for it to be categorized as another hotspot after the likes of the Chibok girls campaign and the unending fuel scarcity in the country at the moment. It would never have generated this kind of heat - many asserted - if the APC had done the needful a long time ago and which is why the sudden U-turn by the same APC government on the issue is received with skepticism.
It will be recalled that one of the areas of emphasis in Mr. President's New Year speech to the nation this year bothered on restructuring, where he said that Nigeria's problems were more of process than structures and proceeded to dismiss the matter forthwith to the consternation of many who are now convinced that they picked the wrong guy in Mr. President in 2015. The things that put us apart are the very things that has been consistently exploited by this government.
So you can imagine what goes on in the minds of the powers-that-be each time the citizens talked about restructuring or what the people feel now that there was a recant by government. There is no doubt at all that the major reasons why the issue of restructuring will continue to frighthen the APC is because they know that divide and rule remained their only strategy of running a sectional government. If the masses are divided, APC will continue to appoint to sensitive positions men of incompetent background.
If the country continued to be an association of different ethnic groups instead of transforming into a nation - where a common ideology bounded us together - the APC will continue to press home their argument for cattle colony as the panacea for harmonious coexistence with the dreaded Fulani herdsmen. Just last week, the directors in the NIA called for the sack of the newly appointed Director-General of the agency for incompetence. Hence the non-implementation of the restructuring document helps the APC to enthrone mediocrity, inpunity and disharmony.
Why the sudden twist now? It is important to note that since the successful squandering of the goodwill once enjoyed by the APC in 2015 by the 'almighty' and 'infallible' President Buhari, the APC had long set up a secret think-tank whose sole task was to study the general reaction of Nigerians to the administration. When it looked like the country had taken enough of their crap, they come out to either stir the hornet's nest or throw some crumbs to occupy Nigerians for a while.
For example, the recent fuel scarcity last December showed a case of stage-management and when the outcry became so loud they temporarily assuaged the situation only to leave it at that. The loud outcry against the senseless killings of innocent Nigerians by the Fulani militia-herdsmen went on for ages until after they had had their fill before the government came up with the term 'cattle colony'. Not once did Mr. President considered it necessary to issue a statement condemning the killings!
The Babachir-Oke sagas, you will recall went on for ages even after weighty evidences were amassed against the duo. The APC refused to act but when they did, it was only to replace them and then shelve the matter. The case of the IGP and the sitting Senator Misau is another matter in the shelf of the APC cabinet. The expected cabinet reshuffle is not yet done and that is because Nigerians are yet to cry out aloud on the matter. So we have a government that needed to hear us cry out in anguish for them to know that it was time to act.
For the true federalism report, we all understood the position of Mr. President and his team on the matter - that 'Nigeria's problems was more of processes than of structures' and, that this position was not likely to change whether there was an election coming or not. How? This is because Mr. President echoed not just his personal sentiments against restructuring but also those of his Henchmen in his New Year broadcast.
Therefore for me, the report was simply a case of courting unnecessary attention for the APC and through this get the feel of the people about the re-election desire of Mr. President. However, I would advise Nigerians especially the die-hard fans of the APC to compel the government to show its sincerity on the restructuring matter by simply passing it into law before election campaigns for 2019 begins. That way, it would be trade by barter between government and the masses. And everyone is happy.
Comrade Ifeanyichukwu Mmoh writes from Jos.