By Prof Abiodun Ojo
The recent criticism by the ADC Vanguard over President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s decentralization of key federal institutions reveals a deeper problem in Nigeria’s political culture—the dangerous persistence of regional entitlement mentality disguised as opposition politics.
According to the group, President Tinubu has “offended the North” by approving additional campuses and training institutions in the South for establishments such as the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), the Nigeria Police Academy, and the Nigerian Army training depots. Their grievance is that these institutions were historically concentrated in Northern Nigeria and should remain so.
This argument is not only weak; it is fundamentally anti-national.
Nigeria is a federation, not a regional estate. Federal institutions do not belong to any section of the country; they belong to all Nigerians. Access to opportunities and ensuring equal accessibility to federal institutions through decentralized systems is not an act of hostility—it is an act of justice, national development, and constitutional responsibility.
Section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution clearly emphasizes federal character and equitable distribution of national institutions and opportunities. It does not say “Northern Character” or “Southern Character.” It demands fairness.
For decades, many unity schools, military formations, training institutions, and federal establishments were heavily concentrated in one region. Correcting this imbalance should not be interpreted as punishment. It should be seen as progress.
Take the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT), Zaria, for example. For over 60 years, it remained the only federal aviation school in Nigeria. Meanwhile, aviation operations are heavily concentrated in Lagos and Southern Nigeria. Expanding campuses to Lagos and Akwa Ibom is simply practical governance. Nigeria needs more trained pilots, engineers, and aviation professionals. If NCAT Zaria produces about 120 pilots annually while national demand exceeds 500, expansion becomes a necessity, not a political conspiracy.
Similarly, the Nigeria Police Academy in Wudil, Kano, cannot continue to carry the burden of over 200,000 applicants with limited admission capacity. Establishing another campus in Ogun State increases access without reducing opportunities for Northern candidates. Nobody loses; Nigeria wins.
The same logic applies to the Nigerian Army depots. Expanding military training facilities to Osun and Ebonyi improves recruitment capacity, strengthens national security architecture, and reduces strategic vulnerability. No serious nation centralizes all critical military training assets in one location.
The United States does not operate only one military academy for all regions. Strategic decentralization is a mark of strength, not division.
Even economically, every federal institution stimulates local development—hostels, housing, businesses, staff employment, contracts, and internally generated revenue. If Zaria, Wudil, and Kaduna benefited from this for decades, why should Ilaro, Osun, or Ebonyi be denied similar opportunities?
This is not “taking from the North.” It is expanding Nigeria.
It is important to remember that this is not the first time Nigeria has embraced decentralization. The Nigerian Law School was once located only in Lagos. When additional campuses were established in Abuja, Enugu, Kano, Yola, and Yenagoa, the Southwest did not protest or claim offence. No one argued that Lagos had been robbed. The expansion was understood as necessary for national growth and improved access to legal education.
That same maturity is required now.
The politics of “this institution is our comparative advantage” is both narrow and dangerous. It reduces national assets to tribal possessions and undermines the spirit of nationhood. A federal institution is not an inherited family property.
President Tinubu’s administration deserves commendation for taking practical steps toward equitable access and national balance. Governance must be driven by capacity, development, and inclusion—not by inherited monopolies and regional possessiveness.
If one day a campus of the Nigerian Defence Academy is established in the South, it should not be viewed as an offence. It should be viewed as Nigeria growing stronger.
The true offence is not decentralization.
The true offence is believing that some parts of Nigeria are more entitled to federal opportunities than others.
That mindset must end if Nigeria must truly move forward.
A united Nigeria must be built on equal access, shared prosperity, and justice—not on regional entitlement and political blackmail.
- Prof Abiodun Ojo