The Vision Bearer of the struggle for self-determination by legal methodology and political diplomacy, Dr. Emeka Emekesiri, the Chairman of the Movement of Biafrans in Nigeria (MOBIN) has appeared in the National Assembly with his colleagues, Comrade Amauche Kevin the MOBIN coordinator for Anambra State, and Hon Chidiebere Arinze, the Youth Leader, and presented the Biafran Memorandum to the National Assembly calling for the Restructuring of Nigeria by devolution of Power to the Regions so that every Region would govern itself and develop at its own pace. The Memorandum submitted by MOBIN is captioned, “Memorandum on Devolution of Power, Residency and Indigeneship: Regional Autonomy- The Perfect Solution to Nigerian Problems”. The Public hearing was held on 5th July 2025 by the Senate and on 19th July 2025 by the House of Representatives sitting at Enugu.
Contrary to the opinions of some agitators that Nigeria cannot be salvaged by amendments of the fraudulent Constitution that was imposed on the people by the military regime, MOBIN believes that Nigeria can be salvaged by implementing the recommendations contained in the Memorandum it submitted to the National Assembly. In his speech, Barr. Emekesiri, who is also a Chartered Estate Surveyor & Valuer, likened Nigeria to an unstable and shaky house with 36 floors and a penthouse built on a faulty foundation which can only be salvaged by engineering remedial works that would involve the reinforcement of the foundation and load bearing pillars and beams to save the house from collapsing.
Specifically, he recommended that Sections 2, 3 and 162 of the Nigerian Constitution should be amended in the following words:
- That Section 2(1) of the Constitution be amended as follows:
“Nigeria is one indivisible and indissoluble Sovereign State to be known by the name of the Federal Republic of Nigeria without prejudice to the fundamental right of the people of any federating unit in the exercise of their right to self-determination by the rule of law through referendum”. By inserting the right to self-determination in the Nigerian Constitution it creates an exit clause like the Ethiopian Constitution and emphasises the right to conduct referendum by the federating units in the exercise of their right to self-determination just as Scotland is doing now in its quest to gain independence from the United Kingdom of Great Britain.
(b) That Section 2(2) of the Constitution be amended as follows:
“Nigeria shall be a Federation consisting of Regions and a Federal Capital Territory”. By this amendment, the Regions become the Federating Units.
(c) That Section 3(1) of the Constitution be amended as follows:
“There shall be six Regions in Nigeria (South East, South West, South-South, North East, North West and North Central) with thirty-six States as shown in the first column of Part 1 of the First Schedule to this Constitution without prejudice to the right of any region to create additional States within the Region or merge the existing States into one by a bill passed into law by the House of Parliament of the Region.”
(d) That an additional section be added as Section 3(7) as follows:
“Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 3(1) and 3(6) of this Constitution, the House of Parliament of every region shall have the power to organize the region and create such other political units as districts and councils or convert the existing states and local governments to districts and local councils in accordance with the need of the people”.
On the issue of Public Revenue, Fiscal Federalism and Revenue Allocation, MOBIN prescribes as follows:
(a) Restore the Ancient Landmark of 50% Derivation Formula:
God Almighty, the fountain of justice and truth, has commanded all mankind saying, “Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set” (Proverbs 22:28, The Holy Bible). In Article viii of the Kaiama Declaration, the Ijaw Youth Council traced the history of the removal of the ancient revenue formula as follows:
“That the Principle of Derivation of Revenue Allocation has been consciously and systematically obliterated by successive regimes of the Nigerian State. We note the drastic reduction of the Derivation Principle from 100% (1953), 50% (1960), 45% (1970), 20% (1975), 2% (1982), 1.5% (1984) to 3% (1992 to date), and a rumoured 13% in Abacha’s 1995 undemocratic and unimplemented Constitution”.
It is pertinent to note that as at the date when the Kaiama Declaration was made in 1998, the present 13% derivation formula under the 1999 Constitution was not yet implemented. An article written by Senator David Dafinone on “Resource Control: Economic and Political Dimensions” and reported by Dr. Steve Azaiki in his book, INEQUITIES IN NIGERIAN POLITICS, 2003, Page 163, stated as follows:
“The 1963 Republican Constitution was not a perfect document, but its stance was clear on the issue of the society, issues that were central to federalism. It directed that the revenues from imports be paid 100% to the State in the proportion of the consumption of the product. The same goes for excise duty: 100% payment to the State according to the proportion of the duty collected. For minerals, the Constitution shared the revenue in the proportion of 50:20:30. That is, 50% for derivation, 20% to the Federal Government and the remaining 30% paid into the distributable pool to be shared among the States including the donor States”.
The Derivation Formula of 50:20:30 is the ancient landmark which our forefathers set in motion at Independence for justice and equity in the Nigerian polity. It started in 1960 but was changed to 45% in 1970 by General Yakubu Gowon’s Government and further reduced by his successors progressively down to 1.5% before the South-East delegates went to the Abacha Constitutional Conference in 1995 and argued for increase of the derivation formula now to 13%, rotational presidency and creation of the six geopolitical regions. For removing this ancient landmark which their forefathers set at independence, Nigerians shall have no peace until justice is done.
Beginning at the Independence, other regions were receiving the 50% derivation and earning more revenue while Niger Delta earned less. Now that the table has turned, the 50% derivation was abolished. It is wickedness to remove the goal posts in the middle of the game when the losing side is about to score an equalizing goal. The elders of the South-South Zone at the Nigerian Political Reform Conference demanded for 50% Derivation graduated from 25% over a 5-year period. Their demand is fair and just. In fact, they were very kind to have demanded it in a graduated scale to stabilize in the 5th year. The strictest sense of justice requires that the 50% Derivation should start with immediate effect, but the elders of the South-South Zone decided to temper justice with mercy. The argument by Northerners that the leaders of the South-South misused the 13% meant for their people and therefore should not be given 50% is a blind argument. Give the people what belongs to them and stop diversionary argument! After all, the principle of federalism guarantees resource control to every region. Restore the ancient landmark of Derivation Principle of 50:20:30 which your fathers set at Independence otherwise you shall have no peace.
Considering that we have advocated for the Regions to become political units created by the Constitution, the derivation formula and revenue allocation under Section 162(2) of the Constitution shall therefore be as follows:
- 50% to the Region
- 20% to the Federal Government
- 30% to the distributable pool to be shared equally by all the regions including the donor regions.
In effect, as there are six regions, each region receives 55% based on the principle of derivation and revenue allocation. The region decides how to allocate the resources among its component parts whether as States, Districts or Local Councils. The current practice of creating inequitable number of States and Local Governments, giving more to the Regions in the North and depriving the East of the same shall no longer have negative effects. Any region that wants to create a thousand or million States and Local Governments in its jurisdiction can do so and bear the burden.
The Federal Government receives only 20% because most of the functions in the Exclusive Legislative List will now be transferred to the Regional Parliament and performed by the Regions.
Many analysts have confirmed that the Memorandum submitted by MOBIN for Regional Autonomy and the Derivation Formula of 50:20:30 is the best solution to the Nigerian problems. They acknowledged that it was this same formula that made Nigeria great in the 1960s when the North had the groundnuts pyramids, the West had the Cocoa House, and the East had the Palm Oil; and all the Regions did very well and were at peace with each other developing at their own pace.
Barr. Emekesiri likened the MOBIN proposal to the practice in Britain which has four autonomous nations, namely: Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales, each with its own Parliament, governing itself and developing at its own pace. He posed a question that “if such a political arrangement could work in Britain to make the country a Great Britain with four autonomous nations in one country, why is it not possible in Nigeria to make Nigeria a Great Nigeria with six autonomous nations in one country?”
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