After 61 years of Independence, the deplorable state of Nigeria has remained ubiquitous; insecurity, hatred, suspicion, dread of implosion, collapsing economy, disunity, authoritarianism, and deprivation, among others, are the talking points. So far, the optimistic followers of the tradition of “unity in diversity” are striving with the majority to encourage the country to revert to proper federal practice. In rural dwellings dominated by insurgents, bandits and militiamen, the facts on the ground have surpassed the debates. 
Nigeria’s history is a narrative of a volatile union. Just as countries with disparate cultures, linguistic groups and nations are compelled to remain together, so is Nigeria confronted with survival challenges. Building a state is a long way off; the country has failed and has been taken by all kinds of criminals, and Nigerian society is in extraordinary unease. The harmful mixture of tribe, religion and corruption governs public sector affairs. 
A political science professor, Femi Mimiko, once said: “Ours is the textbook definition of state capture, where a tiny governing elite runs the system in its interest and for its good. It is a system of political and economic exclusion, which fuels anger, and a feeling of marginalisation.” We agree no less with the submission of the erudite scholar. His thought simply reflects our true state. 
The goals of a state — the protection of lives and property, the well-being of citizens, the realisation of individual and collective potential — are few and far between, and the situation is deteriorating daily. Erected on a foundation of oppression, fraud and a rigged administrative system, unity and inclusion have consistently been elusive. Never since before and after the Nigerian Civil War have the ethnic nationalities and major faiths been so mutually inimical. 
Built on a tripod, the country had three active regions that competed successfully in terms of socio-economic development and the emancipation of their citizens. These regions were North, East and West. The North covered all parts of the 19 present-day Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja. The Eastern Region had all the five states of the South-East geo-political zone including Rivers, Cross River, Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom. The Western Region comprised the six present-day states of the South-West zone, some parts of which were Lagos, Edo and Delta States. In 1963, through a referendum, a fourth region — Mid-West (covering present-day Edo and Delta) was carved out of the Western Region. Then, the nascent Nigerian nation was the envy of the world as the regions, embedded in fiscal federalism, struggled to out-do one another in terms of the provision of world-class infrastructure and facilities, and the welfare of their peoples. 
However, political apathy set in and undermined virtually everything: crime has become massive, spotlighting a 12-year-old terrorist insurgency, heavily armed and organised bandits, Fulani herdsmen-militants converging in the country from all over West, North and Central Africa, kidnappers, cult gangs, growing separatist agitations and brutal gangsters. The Governors of Zamfara, Katsina, Niger, and Sokoto States previously conceded that bandits were controlling swathes of territory like the terrorists who once controlled 28 local government areas in the North-East. 
The economy has for decades defied solutions, kept alive only by oil revenues obtained from the Niger Delta region and inequitably distributed by the 36 states, the FCT and the central government. This culture of sharing makes states indolent, ineffective and parasitical. At 61, Nigeria cannot claim to be pursuing its political integration or social commitment. In key areas of life, the miseries of missed targets are notable. Elections are a war, usually a farce. Courts repeatedly decide “winners” mostly on technicalities. 
Many states and the Federal Government are in debt. The exchange rate, which was 71 kobo per dollar in 1960, 89 kobo in 1985, N22 in 1993, and N92 at the start of the Fourth Republic in 1999, has shot through the roof. Now, the dollar is officially traded for, at least, N410, and N560 on the parallel market. For a country heavily dependent on external sources for almost every need, including what it can produce, such as petroleum products, this is an economic disaster. 
Domestic manufacturing has declined badly, causing terrible unemployment. At the time of Independence, the unemployment rate was 6.6%; however, due to the hovering population with no clinical plan to manage it, the country is faced with an exceptional unemployment time bomb. Today, our combined unemployment and underemployment rate is 55.7%. The textile industry hired 60,000 people in 1970; 165,000 in 1980; and peaked at 250,000 in 1985. But in 2015, it had just 5,000 employees. Today, that number is estimated to have further dropped by half. 
Corruption is a monster that cannot be ignored. The Human Environment Development Agency has stated that Nigeria lost $600billion to corruption between 1960 and 2019. The efforts of successive regimes in the fight against corruption have failed miserably. PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) concluded that corruption has the potential to cost Nigeria up to 37 per cent of GDP by 2030. The result has been mass poverty. 
In 2018, Nigeria surpassed India to become the world’s extreme poverty capital. The living standards of 80million of its citizens were below the threshold of $1.90 per day. The World Poverty Clock had projected that by mid-2020, this number would rise to 105million. This makes life expectancy as low as 55 years, ranking fifth in the world. In 1960, Nigeria’s peers; Cuba, Singapore and Malaysia were 78, 83 and 76 years, respectively. UNICEF reports that our country is now the world’s capital of under-five deaths, taking over from India. 
As the foundation of social development, education is a mess. Although Nigeria today has 161 (82 public, no less than 79 private) universities, and only the University of Ibadan and the University of Nigeria at the time of Independence, the country has about the most negative distinction of having the most out-of-school children in the world. By 2018, the illiteracy rate was 62percent, which is a huge problem. Also, with a population of over 200million, and a central police force of about 370,000 (representing approximately 1 policeman to 541 citizens), most Nigerians are virtually unpoliced. 
The rating of the Fragile States Index (previously the Failing Countries Index) published by the United States think tank, Fund For Peace (FFP), reflects the country’s horrible performance. Because of factors such as a weak or ineffective central government losing control of parts of its territory, lack of public services, widespread corruption, crime, refugees, and continued economic adversity, Nigeria was ranked the 14th most vulnerable country globally. All the social, economic and political considerations mentioned by the FFP are present in their entirety. Politically, the country no longer has any legitimacy. 
Nigeria stands proud as a federation. But in all honesty, it cannot say it is practising anything close to true federalism. Besides Lagos and Rivers, other states are wholly dependent on statutory allocations. We have a centralised police and correctional (prisons) system, creating an anomalous situation where, for instance, a person commits a state offence; he is arrested by federal police, tried by a state court, and sentenced to a federal correctional facility. Our federalism is abnormal. Its content suggests a unitary system. 
During an interdenominational church service in commemoration of the 61st Independence Anniversary at St. Paul’s Anglican Church, which was held in Port Harcourt, last Sunday, the Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, succinctly captured the mood of the nation when he declared that Nigeria was at such point of extinction that only God, not man, could reverse the impending disintegration. He said it was unfortunate that at the age of 61, Nigeria had continued to struggle with leadership failure. 
Hear him: “This is the time Nigeria needs God more. The country is gone. Insecurity everywhere. Everyone needs to say, God, we need you because man’s leadership has failed this country. At 61 years, Nigeria is full of enmity, full of divisions, hatred, ethnicity, a country that cannot put itself together. Everybody has responsibility, so ask yourself questions, have I played my own part?” Absolutely! Bad leadership and followership account for plenty of our misfortunes. To achieve the Nigeria of our dream, our leaders at all levels must act right while the followers must hold them accountable. 
Time has come to undertake the reforms needed to return to the pre-1966 era of autonomy, with the 36 states as autonomous and efficient sub-national units. Nobel Prize laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, agreed with former President Olusegun Obasanjo that the country was falling apart and needed to be fixed urgently to avert implosion, though Obasanjo missed the opportunity to reform Nigeria. Some, like Cardinal John Onaiyekan, and the pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, believe the main national issue should be restructuring and not the 2023 elections. Of course, they are right! 
There is an urgent need for the National Assembly to review and amend the 1999 Constitution to reflect the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians today, as the present Constitution does not address the fundamental issues of justice, equity and fairness. There is no question that the Constitution, produced by the military, contains several defects that must be corrected. What Nigerians desire is a people’s Constitution that complies with democratic norms and principles. The proposed Constitution must enshrine the cardinal principles of true federalism, the devolution of powers and the rule of law. 
It is either the country reforms or breaks up. To avoid disintegration, the union must be intrinsically reworked into competitive federalism in which all units become productive, manage and take their destiny in their hands. But is there a will?  Somehow, the critical mass is galvanising in many parts of the country to save it from collapsing. But the groups that are imperiously standing against restructuring, especially the Northern elite, should not push other nationalities to a position where negotiation becomes impossible and secession inevitable. 
Therefore, at 61 years, Nigeria must take proactive actions to resolve the many vexatious issues waiting to tear the nation apart. First, it must resolve the current Value Added Tax (VAT) collection imbroglio in favour of states. The judiciary, through the matter instituted by Rivers State Government, has already shown that it is the right direction to go. The Federal Government should therefore stop fighting the will of the people and constitutional provisions on the collection of VAT and other taxes. 
The constitutional amendment process at the National Assembly must also accommodate e-transmission of election results and put stringent measures in place to check fraudulent activities before, during and after elections. The Federal Government must implement reforms in the oil and gas sector that underpin fairness and justice for the people that bear the brunt of exploration and production operations. The Presidency must ensure political inclusion of minority groups in key public offices and strategic military and para-military command leadership positions. Stakeholders at all tiers of government must jettison corruption, nepotism and tribalism, and entrench rule of law in public life to drive good governance and ensure that the governments are accountable to the people. Above all, the security forces must exterminate acts of terrorism, banditry, gangsterism, and kidnapping in Nigeria.