Here is the view of another close aquaintance of late Prof. Bade Onimode, as published on the 14th of December 2001, less than a month after his death.

''Professor Bade Onimode on Fiscal Federalism in Nigeria
By Stephen Lampe
December 14, 2001
A phase in the existence of the human spirit who bore the name Bade Onimode came to an end on Wednesday, November 28, 2001 at the National Hospital in Abuja.
Bade Onimode was a Professor of Political Economy and a onetime Deputy Vice Chancellor with responsibility for academic affairs at the University of Ibadan. He continues his experiencing in another plane of existence in accordance with the Divine Laws of Creation. I join others in wishing him God’s grace in his new abode and pray that he be guided and helped to travel on the path that leads to Paradise, the final home of human spirits who fulfil the purpose of human existence.
Bade Onimode was a good friend and I shared with him many hours of hearty discussions about politics and society, about economic philosophy and economic performance, about social injustices and inequities, about family life and, in recent years, about religion, spirituality, and the so-called mysteries of life. Perhaps, in future, I will be able to share with readers some of the enduring lessons arising from what I know of the life of Bade Onimode.
For now, I should say that I rejoice with Bade for the substantial legacy he has left behind by his commitment to social and economic justice as well as a better understanding of political economy. And I will here comment on the report of his last major research project before his transition, which was on fiscal federalism in Nigeria. Unquestionably, Bade Onimode's academic career, spanning over 30 years, was highly productive in quantity and quality and was also especially pertinent to critical socio-economic concerns of Nigeria and the less developed countries around the world.
Through his many books, journal articles, contributions to various national and international conferences and, not least, through the many students Bade Onimode taught and mentored, he established himself as a foremost intellectual force in the discipline of political economy, especially from the patriotic perspectives of the so-called Third World. After relinquishing the office of Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Onimode embarked on a major research project in 1999, which he entitled "Fiscal Federalism in Nigeria: Options for the 21st Century".
He published his findings in late December 2000 as a 189-page Research Report. Professor Onimode's research provides information on the actual revenue allocation practices in Nigeria beginning from the colonial period. To move forward on our revenue allocation system, it is certainly helpful to know how we got to where we are now. It is for this reason, that Professor Onimode's Research Report is so timely and has so much practical significance. I commend it to all senior officials of the Federal, State and Local Governments, elected officials, especially members of the National Assembly, and others who share an interest in a stable, peaceful and progressive Nigeria.
As described in the Report, the objectives of the research were to:
1. Provide feasible policy options for the return of Nigeria to fiscal federalism after years of flawed fiscal unitarism under military dictatorship;
2. Elaborate the bases for such options through an opinion survey of legislators, officials and members of civil society in the six geopolitical zones of the country as well as a review of revenue allocation practices in federal systems around the world;
3. Suggest possible political options and programmes for the implementation of fiscal federalism, and strengthen the theoretical and political logic of fiscal federalism in Nigeria, taking account of the emerging challenges and opportunities facing the country.
The methodology of the research consisted of an opinion survey, personal interviews, a historical study and analyses of Nigeria's fiscal review systems from 1946 to 1999, and international comparative analyses of fiscal federalism. Persons surveyed included 30 from each of 14 States selected from the six geopolitical zones. Thus, there were 420 respondents selected on the basis of their States. Small and large States as well as urban and rural local governments were included in the sample for each zone.
For each State, there were 20 legislators, 5 Local Government Chairmen, and 5 senior bureaucrats from the Governor's Office (Secretary to the State Government, Permanent Secretaries in the Ministries of Finance and Economic Development, and a Director in each of those two Ministries). Also included in the survey were a total of 40 Senators and members of the Federal House of Representatives chosen from States other than the 14 States included in the sample mentioned above. In addition, there were respondents from Federal parastatals, such as the Central Bank, NNPC, and NEPA, and representatives of civil society organizations like the National Labour Congress.
The findings of the opinion survey and the study of past fiscal reviews coupled with the outcomes of the international comparative analyses lead Professor Onimode to identify some fundamental issues. One is the need for true fiscal federalism to ensure social justice, equitable resource distribution, and stability in the Nigerian federal system. He states that the transition to fiscal federalism should be seen as part of the resolution of the "national question" in Nigeria.
In this connection, he calls for an appreciation of the fact that federal finance is not just an economic issue, but fundamentally a constitutional, political, and social question. He remarks that many past fiscal reviews in Nigeria "pandered to putrid economism and neglected serious non-economic questions in the federal fiscal system". (Economism is the belief in the primacy of economic causes or factors). Professor Onimode states: "A notorious example of this economism is the wholesale elimination of the significance of the derivation principle. The derivation principles share in revenue allocation was drastically reduced from over 50 percent in the 1950s and early 1960s to barely 13 percent through successive fiscal reviews. This demands the urgent restoration of the political economy to federal finance in Nigeria."
The Research Report also draws attention to the political programme for the restoration of fiscal federalism in Nigeria. Professor Onimode asserts that the bottom line of the programme must be the resolute rejection of military dictatorship and the imposition of its unified command structure. I applaud this conclusion. I had earlier written an article in this Column with the title "Musings on Future Military Misadventures" in which I warned that there were people who were (and are) still prepared to regain power through military coups and would fabricate opportunities for such a misadventure.
The Federal Government, the governments of those States that are committed to democracy as well as members of civil society organizations must make contingency plans, just in case some soldiers and their many civilian collaborators decide to try again. Lovers of democracy should make it abundantly clear that it is civilian rule or the end of one Nigeria. But talk is not enough; planning for resistance is essential. And there are lessons to be learned from Yugoslavia and the Philippines.
In the concluding chapter of his Research Report, Professor Onimode states that the restoration of fiscal federalism requires political negotiations among the three tiers of government and major social forces in civil society on what he calls "six thorny issues". One is the imperative of decentralization from the existing excessive centralization of the fiscal and political systems. The second is the redistribution of powers among the three tiers of government. The third, which is closely related to the second, is the review of revenue allocation in favour of the States and the local governments. A fourth factor for the restoration of fiscal federalism is, according to Professor Onimode, an upward review of the share of the derivation principle in revenue allocation.
As regards revenue allocation among States, he argues that the criteria should be reviewed; currently the criteria favour the big States with large populations while penalizing the smaller States. The sixth and final "thorny issue" that should be addressed is the need for a special deal for the oil-producing areas. Beyond the replacement of OMPADEC with the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), unresolved issues include fiscal allocation for derivation, resettlement, fair and prompt compensation of victims of ecological damages, and the enforcement of the provisions of the Mineral Act on the mining companies. Moreover, Professor Onimode advocates well-conceived schemes of genuinely participatory development with active roles for youths and grassroots communities in the oil-producing areas.
I did not speak with Bade Onimode since he started working for the Presidency as a member of a team of economic policy advisers (as reported in The Guardian of Tuesday, December 4). I do not, therefore, know what exactly he was doing. It is, however, my wish and hope that the current Federal Government will be able to achieve major progress on revenue allocation along the lines indicated in his research report. It would be one fitting tribute to Professor Onimode�s life of dedication to social justice and rational political economy. ''
DO NOT FORGET TO ATTEND THE 10TH MEMORIAL COLLOQUIUM IN HONOUR OF THIS EMINENT PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, A GIANT OF AFRICA, FIGHTER AND DEFENDER OF SOCIAL JUSTICE. THE EVENT WILL HOLD THIS SATURDAY, 10TH DECEMBER 2011 AT 9AM AT THE OMONOGUN HALL, G.R.A, LOKOJA, KOGI STATE, NIGERIA. THREE BUSES WILL PICK THOSE WHO MAY NOT WANT TO TRAVEL IN THEIR PERSONAL CARS, FROM LABOUR HOUSE, CENTRAL AREA, BEHINDE MINISTRY OF FINANCE HEADQUARTERS, BY NACA, ABUJA TO AND FROM THE VENUE IN LOKOJA FREE OF CHARGE.