Jean!:

Thank God for internet forums. It is a great place to learn.
In my opinion I do not think Nigeria's problem is number of state it has. The major thing that should be pursued with all sincerity is Rule of Law. There should be strict law enforcement in every sector of the nation. If we have just 6 geopolitical zones as suggested by Mr Anyaoku and structures are not put in place to ensure people abide by state laws I fore see a worse off nation.
I think also that having more financial control in more people's hand is far better than money being held/controlled by few super powerfuls (even now I think of the issue of King Makers and the evil they perpetrate under present structure). Some way or the other money spreads around.
We must not forget that what we need in this country is for things to work and work efficiently too. Human being have the tendency to do some level of criminal acts and get away with it. It is when strict adherence to regulations/laws is enforced that people will sit right and do right. The Rule of Law should be so entrenched that 'sacred cows' are 'slaughtered' by the law just like any other animal when they break the law.

Rule of Law will always be a problem in every state since this not Heaven, in the US, it is a problem too. but the for the checks and balances to prevent to work the right conditions must be set. with this idea of six geopolitical regions is workable for federal system since revenue base is larger and bureaucracy would smaller, easier to control and effective. they would serve as counter weights to the federal govt. they would be able fund their projects independently and there would be little interference from the fg and responsibilities like power generation, water supply, security, maintenance of roads would given to the states since they would be stronger. fg would freer to concentrate on diplomacy and defence. that was why the highest rate of development occurred in the first republic. free quality education in the West.

whoever gave you access to my head, because you completely spoke my mind. Imagine some great road connection, television came into this country during that era, imagine what television would have been today if we stuck with the region, see common South Africa, miles ahead of us, just how many years after the struggle, they have hosted Rugby, Cricket world cup, and next year the big one is coming.

Am from Edo state, will someone convince me that Edo state will be able to single handedly build a stadium like the soccer city stadium; lie lie; common sense is not common, we must face reality, but with the combination of edo, delta, rivers, bayelsa, akwa ibom, cross river, build wembly will surely be possible as well as several mini-stadia.

This suggestion if implemented will bring about TRUE FEDERALISM[size=8pt]. Every zone will will be autonomous and hence healthy competition because of the larger groups. We have vast human resources and have not exploited 1/1,000,000 of the adult population like in China and Japan, we rather depend solely on oil. He is a wise man and must have thought properly about this hence demands some respect. Kudos to him.

The current state system is not viable. We have too many unviable states! Any combination that allows a state to be strong enough to: maintain a police force, construct all infrastructure within the state, own and maintain schools (primary, secondary and tertiary), build and maintain state prisons and all other things that are of particular interest to such state (stadiums, art theatres, tourist locations etc). Mind you that the current geopolitical arrangements might need to be tweaked a little to create such viable states. I see north east and some parts of north central merging to create such state and so on.

People should stop thinking that the way to maintain equity is to create more tiny states. So, I support Anyaoku on this provided each state can survive without the FG handouts. If such state cannot survive, they can put themselves under the direct administration of the FG, but the FG will have very little money to dole out since the revenue sharing formula will trim their purse drastically. Sharing formula might be something like state- 70%,  FG- 30%.

6 region. see map,

SIX ZONE IS RUBISH
WHO WILL RULE IN PLACES LIKE MIDDLEBELT WHERE THERE ARE NUMEROUS ETHNIC GROUPS

koolboi:

SIX ZONE IS RUBISH
WHO WILL RULE IN PLACES LIKE MIDDLEBELT WHERE THERE ARE NUMEROUS ETHNIC GROUPS

It is not about ethnic groups, but about creating functioning and viable blocks that can economically sustain themselves. By your argument then I am guessing we should really have about 250 different states since there are about that same number of ethnic groups in Nigeria, right?

do you know the number of tribes in Lagos alone, that mean Lagos will be divided into 3-4 more state, because we have the aworis and co, so we should be more reasonable so as to turn this country around

the regional map

@ post
Brilliant Idea. The way 9ja was meant to have evolved before military jackboots marched unto the scene and destroyed the delicate balance in existence.

koolboi:

SIX ZONE IS RUBISH
WHO WILL [size=18pt]RULE[/size] IN PLACES LIKE MIDDLEBELT WHERE THERE ARE NUMEROUS ETHNIC GROUPS

[size=15pt]A classic ethnic jingoist post! A critical challenge confronting every African that is to be overcome, will be to see beyond the suffocating grip of tribal affiliations. That's why her officials never think about leadership but rulership. Like the PDP, get power @ all cost [any means necessary] and then, lord it over the people. Then once they are called to account for their misdeeds in power [note in power not in service], they play the ethnic and/or the religion card to devastating effect. @ least with this,they show they learnt something from the colonial masters[/size]

@ becomrich, that system would work for everyone. because each region would be allowed granted autonomy and be under the umbrella of Nigerian defence, perfect combination. Southern Sudan is an example. the present system was by the military on the basis of divide and rule sorts. very small states to control the military guvnors and not for self-development.

people who support this topic are really leaders of tomorrow and people who trust in their mind that things can work again in nigeria for good i love this forum, scrap 36 states to six zones structure will be good , i had poeple are saying Rule of Law, is there any time that, your Rule of Law not in place? still there is no justice, when the niger delta is saying give us our royalty as oil produceing people, where is the rule of law, before the boys carry gun, please call the rule of law for me, if states are marged together as zones then whatever happens there we will know whom to point our finger to and we will say' yes' is you poeple that make this country so badlly, this is the only way we can know who is who in this nija. good thinking good product.

@kay7,
and where is sudan today?
A nation where splinter military factions control different parts of the country!

This anyaoku should simply say he wants biafra, rather than dragging the rest of 9ja into this sh*t!

@ dat map guy,
nobody is joining benin republic, or any republic for that matter!
U think google maps is the next best thing since sliced bread was invented, think again!

@ ycitizens got it. Parliamentary system is best suited for naija.
But this very suggestion of scrapping 36 states is not new. I dont know why this anyoku guy is bringing it up now. And coming from him makes it less appealing

Anyaoku suggestion is not entirely novel,that was the practice at the dawn of independence in 1960 when there were regions,namely:western,eastern and northen region with each independent and autonomous,using their resources to devop their regions her own pace.The Western region had cocoa which she tapped to the fullest in providing free education for her citizens which has remained a reference point till date.The north had groundnut pyramid while the East had oil palm produce.Then in 1963,the mid western region was carved out of the west will rubber has the mainstay of her economy.Then came the military in 1966 with their conquer and loot mentality destroying the legacies of the past creating states to soothe the idiosyncracies of the zombies in power.

China, Korea, Japan, Malaysia are bigger in terms of population and economy than Nigeria but how state do they have? Let reason alike and make this nation great

^^^^^^^^
Personally, I have nothing against the six zones being suggested as long as they are federated.
I am only being realistic. Ask folks in Ekiti,AkwaIbom, Delta, Bayelsa , Nassarawa Benue, and Gombe
to go back to the zones. This is not to talk of the folks looking for new states. This is realpolitik, my friend

NATIONALISM, WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

Nationalism is the struggle against imperial domination.
But, the definition of Nationalism depends on the nation that is defining it. To a nation that is still under colonialism, nationalism can be defined as a struggle against foreign rule with a view to attaining independence for one’s country. It is a fight for one’s country with the goal of liberating that nation from the shackles of imperialism.
To a nation that just gained independence, nationalism can be defined as the efforts fired towards the defense and protection of the dignity of one’s nation in order to maintain and secure the autonomy of such nation.

READ MORE https://eduguidehub.com/nationalism/

you will always think because you have no ideal of the consequence of the new proposal.

Afam4eva:
I think that will be a great idea.