[dropcap]S[/dropcap]omething to note as you read what comes next is that Federal Allocations in Nigeria are shared based on local government areas and population. The 13% derivation paid to oil producing states started under President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure (1999 – 2003).
Also note that what you are about to read below is information that should make Northern leaders, including our current President Muhammadu Buhari (a two time head of state, petroleum minister, military governor, and Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) chairman), bow their heads in shame because there is no excuse for a ‘poor North’.
Found stumbled on the below information and though I can not track down the original author, I think it is worth sharing.
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I am confused!
My confusion stemmed from looking at Nigeria and the military decree 1999 which we re-branded a national constitution.
Rivers State has 5.1 million population(2006 census) while Katsina has 5.7 million.Rivers spread across 11.077km landmass while Katsina is 24,192km. Secondly, while there are 13 Federal Constituencies in Rivers,there are 15 in Katsina.While there are 22 LGAs in Rivers,there are 34 in Katsina.
There are more people in Anambra (4.18 million) than in Borno (4.15 million) but Anambra got 21 LGAs while Borno got 27 LGAs.
There are 9.01 million Nigerians in Lagos while there are 9.38 million in Kano but Lagos has 20 LGAs to Kano’s 44 LGAs.
There are more people in Enugu state (3.25 million) than in Kebbi state (3.23 million) but while Enugu was given 17 LGAs, Kebbi got 22 LGAs.
All states have equal number of senators (three) from the most populated state; Kano to the list populated Bayelsa.
Federal Constituencies seem to be allocated based on populations as both Lagos and Kano have equal federal constituencies (24), Delta and Borno have 10 each. Imo and Niger also have 10 each.
The difference in all cases seem to be that states with more LGAs have bigger landmass but not necessarily more people.That leaves me confused as to why local governments should be given to less inhabited lands instead of real, dense populations.
Any plausible idea why this is so?
Nigeria revenue is shared between the federal, states, and LGAs in a three tier arrangement. The Northern states accounts for about 445 out of the 774 LGAs and 19 out of 36 states in Nigeria so they must have been receiving more allocation than the Southern states for decades.
Why is the North not more developed and richer? Why do I keep reading that they are poorer than the South since Lugard cited Northern poverty as the sole reason for the amalgamation in 1914?
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I wonder!
NB – If you wrote the above note, do reach me so that you can be given due credit. Thank you for your generosity.
Ena Ofugara studied law in the University of Benin for some years before leaving Nigeria for the United States where he is studying while working. He has a passion for Nigeria. He has a clear bias for his people of the Niger Delta and he believes the Nigerian system – justice, social, economic – is rigged against his people. So he became a social and political commentator to highlight this injustice. Connect with him on Facebook.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
