By Sanusi Muhammad
At first, I never thought it necessary to repeat the obvious that Nigeria is a blessed country. It is so blessed that apart from its endowment with abundant natural and human resources, it is also blessed with a ray of certified heartless criminals and rogues who are celebrated and honored with chieftaincy and other titles while some, transform to leadership positions to garner respect to stabilize criminality in power. There is a typical case of one federal permanent secretary (rtd) who could not control his itchy fingers while in office. The rogue as alleged stole over N5billion from funds meant to improve the welfare of those in the Niger Delta region. The same rogue misused the position he occupied to strategize his tall political ambition of governing the state he once served and shortchanged.
He is such a character that has redefined honesty, sincerity and oath of office. He ignorantly and proudly believes the Living God we all worship, to him is his playmate that he can fool and toss around. He is so gifted with an innocent face for special deceitful and criminal mechanisms. The criminal can swear with all the Holy Books known and unknown one can think of just to perfect his evil plans against humanity. Nigeria and indeed, his native state, are so lucky to have got rid of him through retirement but not after shortchanging those languishing in abject poverty and malnutrition in the Niger Delta.
He was dragged to the cleaners by one of the anti-corruption agencies for stealing and looting what rightly belong to Nigerians under his management. We are still expecting his prosecution and subsequent forfeiture of illegally acquired property at Shongom estate etc in due course because the man is a double disaster to humanity.
With such kleptomaniacs on or around the corridor of power, how can Nigerians expect to witness progress from their funds? ICPC may be ignorant of some of the properties illegally acquired with those stolen funds. But a visit to the home state of the criminal will guide the anti-graft agency for action.
The root cause of the myriad of problems bedeviling the country Nigeria, originates from bad leadership over the years. With a few exceptions, most political leaders on the scene are too self-centred to work for the common good expected.
Corruption including impunity has since become a respected and adorned way of life in the absence of effective punishment systems. We are just deceiving ourselves in Nigeria a country where big crooks, looters and thieves seems to be above the law. Indeed, this geo-polity is a filthy, stinking landscape almost comparable to a poorly managed refuse mound.
Our State Governors need to show greater compassion for the most wretched, hungry, and agonizing Nigerians. Unfettered egotism and greed of most governors are a stumbling block to development across the board. These leaders should not be deluded into thinking that they are super humans or angels. They should not forget the transience of power and by extension, human life.
In better organized saner climes and cultures, leaders are ordinary servants of the people, but in Nigeria, the reverse is at play. State Governors (with few exceptions of the likes of Sen. Bala Muhammed, Prof. Zulum, Maimala Buni, Babajide Sanwo-Olu), others do not believe that they are answerable to the people whose mandate they enjoy.
This reminds me of a statement credited to the Deputy Speaker Federal House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Ahmed Idris Wase CON at a wedding ceremony he attended in Jos in 2020: “I believe in the comfort and welfare of my constituents no matter the political difference. I represent Wase Federal Constituency in the Federal Parliament and no matter come what, I shall continue to serve and protect the interest of the federal constituency even with the last drop of my blood as a bond”.
True to his promise, if not for his stand with his people, the federal constituency could have been the most under developed in Nigeria today.
But in the case of State Governors, it is not surprising that they are unable to construct new pathways of understanding and appropriation. This is a return to feudalism in disguise.
The legislative and judicial arms are almost rubber stamps in the face of emperors masquerading as governors in a jaundiced democracy called Nigeria.
It is time to amend the 1999 Constitution of the country with a view to checking the excesses of state governors-terrible parasites on the society. With or without restructuring of the country, state governments can still reduce insecurity and material poverty to the barest minimum. Prudence and unalloyed patriotism are of the essence. How have these leaders been managing security votes of the states? What really happened to the fund the federal government released to the governors some few years back as bailout of financial difficulties?
It is common knowledge, that the federal government in 2020 made the highest disbursement of funds through the Federal Allocation Funds Committee to four of the six Niger Delta and Lagos States; Akwa-Ibom, Rivers, Delta, Bayelsa and Lagos States, with Delta state receiving the sum of N187billion while each of the remaining states received over N100billion. These allocations were based on such indices as population and number of local government areas in each of the states. Despite all these disbursed funds, the ordinary people are getting poorer and impoverished and hungrier, as the governors continue to mouth empty slogans and rhetoric.
The Nigerian political leaders have a reputation for de-coupling from the led. No knowledge and/or capacity to craft appropriate, workable poverty reduction strategies which would have reduced social crises and agonies in the land to the barest minimum.
Most of the states do not have large-scale agro-based businesses, run on the platform of public and private philosophies. This is most disturbing, given the huge size of arable land available and relevant experts like agricultural virologists in the country.
Mini agricultural revolutions in these states would have drastically reduced unemployment rates and material poverty especially among the youth. It is worrying that some Chinese nationals among other foreigners are gradually taking over Nigeria’s business space most especially in critical sectors of the economy, while the political leaders continue to run around like a group of headless chickens.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), more than 100million Nigerians are now desperately poor and hopeless, in the face of a per capita expenditure of approximately N137,400 annually. This translates to about N376.5 daily per person.
It is too easily forgotten, that insecurity cannot be tamed in the face of abject material poverty. Thus, for example, 16 states have material poverty rates of more than 50 percent. Ebonyi State is one of them with a rate of almost 80 percent. This is followed by Sokoto and Taraba states, each having close to 88 percent poverty rate.
Most of the governors stay longer in Abuja, the seat of power than their state capitals due largely to their inordinate ambition to either get endorsed for a second term or putting the necessary structure to get to the senate as their retirement house after completing their governorship assignments, often poorly done with several question marks. In other words, they are always in Abuja (the corridor of power) for arithmetic of presidential ambition, even when their states are there burning up.
How can somebody who lacks the capacity to selflessly serve his people at the state level, become a serious leader at the senate or the presidency? Plateau State exiting governor, Simon Bako Lalong is a typical example to the people of Wase federal constituency. Since his election in 2015 till this moment in 2022, Lalong has not deemed it necessary to dig even a well in Wase local government area. He ignored the cries of the people, ignored their plight and is still expecting the same relegated people to vote him to the senate in 2023. What an insult to the people irrespective of political differences.
If not for the services rendered by the serving member of the House of Representatives and his junior colleague in the State House of Assembly, left to Lalong, the local government could have been hell on earth.
In the case of Lalong, there has been a dearth of political maturity and sincerity of purpose laced with hate and ineptitude to the development of Wase and the people. This is not the political leadership of our dreams!
Again, Nigerians cannot forget in a hurry, how a savings platform christened Nigeria’s Sovereign Wealth Fund was successfully rejected by the state governors few years back. Saving for the rainy day is a universal economic measure to be relied upon in time of need. However, both the state and federal governments could not trust each other for the survival of the Fund.
Today, Nigerians are the victims of that rejection. The states are distrustful of the central authority due (according to the former) to the poor management of the previous funds by the latter. Therefore, the governors wanted some legal backing to ensure judicious spending. But how did these governors manage the monies in the long run? One does not need to be an authority in economics to know that the Sovereign Wealth Fund (if properly managed) could have prevented Nigeria from the deprivation trap of reckless external borrowings. Today, we even borrow to balance state and national budget deficits. Therefore, both parties (states and federal governments) are moral equals!
Most of rural and urban roads are in state of dilapidation arising from years of neglect and stealing of budgeted funds approved for their repairs. Agricultural productions among other things continue to suffer while monies budgeted for their improvements are stolen by the medium and bigger crooks in government. The local government system has been corruptly crippled, thus making grassroots development a mirage. Despite all these challenges, most, if not all the state governors are busy creating surreptitiously or otherwise additional avoidable crises for their selfish interests.
Unnecessary interference including abuse of power against perceived opponents and critics is worsening the unprecedented insecurity bedeviling the country. Leaders domiciled in the hinterlands are known to know the political geographies of their constituents more than any governor. Certainly, the governors cannot do much without those local leaders but at their own peril. Treating community leaders with respect is a wise approach to governance, despite the fact that governors have constitutional role to play in modern-day leadership affairs including the traditional and religious institutions, that notwithstanding.
However, no state or community can move forward without peace, ontologically tied to the apron strings of fairness, justice and equity. Impunity especially in a so-called constitutional democracy is an aberration that should resisted. Most state governors have a reputation for playing politics of bitterness which further impoverishes the people as the case of Wase local government and exiting governor Lalong.
Therefore, humility and unalloyed patriotism must occupy all stages in the up-coming political dispensation. In actuality, Nigerians are damn tired of the current baboon-like politics with all its devastating consequences.
Lest I forget, the people of Wase federal constituency irrespective of party affiliation, ought to commend and appreciate the deployed efforts of their representative in the Federal House of Representatives, his counterpart in Plateau State House of Assembly and other illustrious sons of the area for their concern to the plight of the people. If not for their concern and commitment to changing the narrative, the entire area could have since attained the status of a ghetto in a democracy.
Muhammad is a commentator on national affairs
