The President of the African Development Bank Group, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina, has put forward a bold proposal to rename the Federal Republic of Nigeria to ‘The United States of Nigeria’.
The suggestion was made during his lecture as the recipient of the 2024 Obafemi Awolowo Prize for Leadership, titled ‘Making a New Nigeria: Welfarist Policies and People-Centred Development’.
Adesina, through his Special Adviser on Industrialisation, Prof. Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, emphasized that such a change in nomenclature would foster a shift in the relationship between the states and the central government.
He stressed that under the proposed system, the states would take on a more central role, with the federal government providing support rather than exerting dominance.
Adesina remarked, “We must be audacious! Instead of the Federal Government of Nigeria, we could think of the United States of Nigeria. The old would give way to the new.
“We would change the relational mindset between the states and Abuja: the fulcrum would be the states, while the centre would support them, not lord over them.
“With good governance, better accountability systems, and zero tolerance for corruption, more economically stronger constituent states would emerge! We would unleash massive wealth across the states. A New Nigeria would arise! To do so, we will need all of us, not some of us.
“From our forgotten rural villages to our boisterous and dynamic urban areas. From the sparks of desire in the eyes of our children to the lingering hope in the hearts of our youths.”
Speaking further, he said, “From the yearnings of our women and mothers and our men and fathers for a better tomorrow, and the desires of the old that our end would be better than our past. From the hardworking street vendors and small businesses to the largest business conglomerates, we must create a movement of hope.
“The achievement of economically viable entities and the viability of the national entity require constitutional changes to devolve more economic and fiscal powers to the states or regions. The stronger the states or regions, the stronger the federated units.”
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Adesina said that restructuring should not be driven by political expediency but by economic and financial viability.
He added that “Economic and financial viability are the necessary and sufficient conditions for political viability.
“If there was one attribute that defined Chief Obafemi Awolowo, and there were many, it would be his visionary boldness. He went where others feared or failed to go. In the process, decades later, his footprints remain in the sands of time. Likewise, today, in Nigeria, we need men and women with vision, who are willing to take bold decisions.”
