RMAFC AND NIGERIA’S RECTITUDE

From the very beginning of Nigeria`s existence as a country, a central question has been one of equity variously expressed as resource control and resource allocation. What has been of paramount interest to neutrals and stakeholders alike is that every section of the behemoth receives its due while contributing its quota to national development. With the wisdom of elders, the founding fathers of Nigeria recognized long ago that this was the only way an ethnically and religiously diverse country can thrive. The journey so far has been tumultuous to put it mildly.

Merely seven years into the country`s independence, a devastating civil war broke out between the newly independent country and the self-styled Biafran Republic. More than 50 years since Nigeria`s bloodiest period ended, the chilling carnage of those days have continued to haunt Nigeria`s memory.

Since then, the country has found division along ethnic lines with sections of the country occasionally nursing grievances about exclusion real or imagined, and episodically sprouting agitations that violently convulse the fragile unity of a beleaguered country.

It is not alarmist to say that at the core of the agitations is the question of resource control and allocation. Nigeria used to have viable options until oil was discovered. As oil flowed out of the Niger Delta region laying waste the region`s farmlands and water bodies, the groundnut pyramids in northern Nigeria disappeared; the cocoa plantations in the Southwest became a shadow of themselves, and the palm oil plantations in the South-east became redundant. The country was too busy counting petro-dollars to notice the frightening developments, and foresee the debt the future would come to exact.

Now, many years down the line, regions of the country quake with discontent. These grumpy complainants which are not shy about their grouse bring unsteady hands to the Nigerian project. It is little wonder that the project has continued to stagger and stutter.

It is into this burning cauldron of resource allocation that the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission Act was born by the constitution. It was to address the thorny question of who gets what and in what quota that the commission was born. It has since experienced mixed fortunes.
The commission has long been accused of overseeing Nigeria`s severely imbalanced revenue allocation formulae. The commission has weathered savage accusation of favouring the federal and state governments at the expense of local governments that stand badly in need of funds.

Local governments in Nigeria by their very proximity to the people have the best opportunities to make the most impact. However, many years of Nigeria`s flawed federalism has ensured that the local governments have achieved only little.
Now that the commission is about to embark on the formulation of a new revenue allocation formula, the country`s changed and changing realities must be given prime consideration. It is a bit incongruous that the revenue allocation formula which is now about to undergo review has been in place for all of 28 years.

In that time, much has changed in the country. Insecurity has become rife and the slopes of poverty have grown steeper. These challenges not only remarkably reflect the failure of governance but have come to compound them.

As the RMAFC embarks on this critical national assignment, there is no doubt that it has the weight of history on its shoulders. It must now do everything to respect the wishes of Nigeria`s present and future generations. It must proceed to act accordingly in discharging its duties.

It is beyond argument that revenue allocation in Nigeria is scandalously lopsided, favouring the federal government at the expense of the state and local governments who are better placed to do more for Nigeria`s poorest people. The inexplicable revenue allocation formula which has been in place for such a long time have no doubt contributed to the growing calls for the country to be restructured on a more equitable basis.

The RMAFC must recognize that it owes Nigerians a critical duty to promote the unity of the country by ensuring that resources are more effectively and efficiently distributed so that the polity will be free of rancour and bitterness.

• Kene Obiezu, Abuja