The federal system of government adopted by Nigeria is a popular option considering the large number of countries which utilize it world-wide. Whereas, most countries which rely on the system operate government at two levels-federal and state, Nigeria made history in 1976 when the military government experimented with a third tier level within the federal system.
Almost forty years later, the establishment of the local government has been more of a curse than a blessing. Its greatest enemy has been government at state level which has a mandate to supervise the system. The open secret is that virtually every state government expropriates monies meant for its local governments. This was at a point confirmed by Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State; yet, opposition to the illegal practice by state governors has been feeble.With the introduction of the Presidential system of government in 1979, Nigeria brought on board the local government into its federal system. It was however received with mixed feelings by several analysts. While some thought it was an aberration to have a third tier of government in a federal system, others thought, it was capable of bringing government closer to the people more so as the local government was made to benefit from the sharing of federal allocation of funds to develop the nation .
While Nigerians are usually quite vocal concerning what the federal government does or fails to do, the same acts are surprisingly discountenanced when done by state governments. A good example is the practice whereby state governors deliberately recruit hundreds of 419 special advisers/assistants. The officials have no schedules, yet they earn an average of N200, 000 each in states that are unable to pay a minimum wage of N18, 000.
In addition, many citizens watch in helplessness, excessive expenditures in the states without due process. Sometimes, huge capital projects are embarked upon without any tendering whatsoever. The only critical views that are heard in the land are usually restricted to those condemning the weekly award of contracts by the federal executive council. Why can’t the states also institutionalize contract awards?
Talking about the work of an executive council, we saw the loud condemnation of the failure of President Buhari to quickly constitute the federal executive council s soon as he assumed office. Meanwhile, since they were sworn in on May 29, only four out of the newly elected state governors have been able to have executive councils. If the absence of ministers in the federal government is unacceptable, why is it different with the absence of commissioners in a state?
Again, the entire nation was fully mobilized recently on the issue of declaration of assets by public officials as demanded by the constitution. The first set of salvos went straight to the President and his vice for allegedly not keeping a promise to declare their assets. Later, the complaint shifted from non-declaration to public declaration. Thereafter, some groups came up with stories that what was declared was incomplete. Some wondered where the President got what he declared considering the publicly held opinion that Buhari has never been a propertied politician.
Of course, the debates were good for our democracy. Interestingly, no one seems to remember that we cannot federalize the issues of public interest in the nation. Why are our governors not on the hot seat for not doing just the much that the President has done when the constitutional requirements on assets declaration cut across arms and tiers of government? In fact, why is the searchlight not on other public officers?
For those of us in the media, it is often confusing when we observe people commenting on the vexed issue of undue media propaganda in favour of those in government. Most Nigerians condemn quite often and quite rightly too, the exploitation of our public media like the Nigerian Television authority (NTA) and the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) by federal authorities.
Meanwhile what state authorities do with state government owned media is more horrendous; but no one attacks the states. In Akwa Ibom and as it was in many other states during the last general elections, opposition politicians shouted themselves hoax in protest against black-out policy of the state media. Nothing happened as the Broadcasting Regulator was itself in chains
So, why are people expecting change only at the federal level? Obviously, the nation can make no progress if things improve at the federal level while it remains business as usual in the states. Consequently, our approach of focusing on only federal issues must change to that of awareness on what happens nationwide.
Everyone that ought to be investigated should be comprehensively handled so as to avoid charges of selective prosecution. Societal institutions that have the mandate to deal with all forms of infractions should be up and doing and they must avoid the pressures of the moment. Like Caesar’s wife, they ought to be above board. They should make no publicity on inaccurate issues in order not to stigmatize certain innocent people bearing in mind that everyone is constitutionally presumed innocent in our clime until proven otherwise.
Indeed, when alarms are raised and found to be inaccurate, the whistle blower should be charitable enough to retrace his steps publicly. For example, some months back, a spokesman of the Auditor-General Office, O.A Ogunmosile, said in a statement that over N183 billion was missing from the accounts of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). It has all been quiet since the Managing Director of the Commission refuted the claim. If claims by Auditor general’s office are easily countered, from where do we expect truth?
Efforts should be made to focus on infractions everywhere. Change is more likely to be seen if some attention is drawn towards our notoriously fraudulent local governments. For instance, in Sokoto State, it took governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, himself to order the immediate stoppage of illegal deductions amounting to N360 million monthly, in the payment structure of government workers in the 23 local government areas in Sokoto State. What are other states waiting for?
VANGUARD