I hear some say that restructuring is not selling in Nigeria because it doesn’t favour the North, that the North is therefore opposed to it. This is a peculiarly untenable illogic, when you take a look at the real evidence.

While the rest of the country mainly talk about restructuring, Northern Nigeria is the one place where non-state actors have been implementing “restructuring”. There you have Boko Haram republic, Bandit economy and ISWAP federation. Between these violent non-state actors Nigeria has lost control of vast swaths of its territory.

Yes, I know you have not thought of it that way, but that’s exactly what it is. In a complex system, you have all sorts of actors: intelligent actors who draw on feedbacks in the system to responsively adapt and enact positive change. Or brute actors who are lacking in capacity for intelligent, constructive response, and thereby choose the path of brute violence for destructive action. Between these sets of actors the agents of the state are the gatekeepers who have the windows of opportunity to empower intelligent actors, or risk ceding control to brute, violent actors. The latter process is already ongoing, and the window for constructive change is closing by the day. These agents of the state, drugged with power, can’t see the obvious. And many otherwise intelligent citizens can’t mobilise the clarity of thought and the force of will to stir state agents from their stupor. Some citizens in fact seem to think the status quo is inevitable.

Those who make constructive restructuring impossible makes destructive “restructuring” inevitable. This is not a curse. It’s the ongoing reality of Nigeria. Open your eyes and see. The only Northerners- or indeed Southerners- opposed to restructuring are the members of the “political elite”. They are the vultures and undertakers of the Nigerian state. And make no mistake. They do have plan B: their children are schooling abroad, have acquired other citizenship, etc, etc.