The buck stops with you Mr Governor

By Ayo Akinfe

Over the last two weeks, certain governors have been making headlines over a host of activities and policies they have introduced. Having been paying close attention to the impact these programmes have had or in some cases have not had on the lives of Nigerians, one cannot but come to the conclusion that the destiny of our citizenry lies in the hands of these 36 guardians of the people.

Last week, I started off following the exploits of Babatunde Fashola, The Lagos State governor who has been in the news a lot for both his revenue generating programmes and his spending of this revenue on social projects. Governor Fashola has launched a N50bn fixed rate bond scheme aimed at raising money for infrastructural development.

According to him, funds realised from the bond would be used to provide good roads and water transportation, improve solid waste management, beef up security and provide potable water supply, among others. The bond, according to Governor Fashola, would be repaid through increased revenue generation from taxation.

All this is going on at a time when the Lagos State government is embarking upon a wide-ranging beautification exercise, involving the cleaning up of the Lagos metropolis. Under plans to turn Lagos into a mega city, shacks are being demolished, flowers are being planted, roads are being given facelifts, street lights are now functional again and refuse is being collected.

A few states away, Emmanuel Uduaghan is doing something similar and the people of Delta State’s main cities like Asaba, Warri, Ughelli and Sapele are amazed that they live in the same Nigeria where garbage litters some capitals. If you go to Asaba today, the Effurun roundabout sports a large screen and water fountain and if you are interested, you can hang out there and watch a live English Premiership football match.

Through the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (Desopadec), Governor Uduaghan is also diverting funds from oil into rural infrastructure, education, healthcare, agriculture and micro finance. Last year, in partnership with Finbank Nigeria, Desopadec disbursed micro-credit loans totalling N800m to pretty traders and farmers across Delta State.

Just to prove that this is not mere publicity, Governor Uduaghan’s programmes have received the stamp of approval from the highest levels, with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) acknowledging his sound economic policies. Last month, Delta State was adjudged by the CBN to be the number one state in Nigeria when it comes to using micro-credit financing to fight poverty.

According to the CBN, the Delta State micro-credit scheme has so far empowered 25,537 people in the state. Delta State has a N500m micro-finance partnership with Oceanic Bank and a N1bn memorandum of understanding with Bank of Industries for small scale enterprise schemes.

On infrastructure, the governor plans to extend the runway at the Asaba airport, making it the longest in the country and eventually converting it into an international hub. While all this is going on, most of the roads in Warri are being dualised and provided with lightening, while the state government has just awarded a road contract for the dualisation of the Ughelli-Asaba road, stretching over 100 miles.

I would be here all day if I wanted to sing the praises of those governors who are carrying out the jobs they were elected to do. Unfortunately, they are in the minority. Apart from the two I have mentioned above, others, who can also be described as efficient and competent would include Mamuda Shinkafi of Zamfara State, Danjuma Goje of Gombe State, Akwe Doma of Nasarawa State, Sullivan Chime of Enugu State, Bukola Saraki of Kwara State, Adams Oshomiole of Edo State, Mu’azu Aliyu of Niger State and Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State.

For now, we will leave those doing nothing alone. Unfortunately, my state governor Segun Agagu tops this list. In fact he is so incompetent that the Economics and Financial Crimes Commission has had to intervene in the awarding of contracts, questioning how such large sums can be voted to carry out projects so small that the citizenry barely notice the impact.

Back to the good guys. Many current governors are carrying on from where their predecessors left off and it is worthy to note that the likes of Donald Duke and Victor Attah actually left sound foundations for their successors. Governor Uduaghan’s idea of the Warri Business Park most likely came from Duke’s Tinapa and the federal government’s recent plans to get Lufthansa to open an aviation maintenance facility in the country was originally touted by the Akwa Ibom Obong.

Indeed, if one visits Cross River and Akwa Ibom States today, their capitals are clean and one can visibly feel the impact of foreign direct investment. Sadly, in the case of Akwa Ibom, out of sheer spite, Godswill Akpabio is delaying the opening of Hotel Meridian, the 200-room five star that his predecessor started.

Ever since we jettisoned the principle of domestic accountability in 1966 with the passing of the infamous Decree 34 by Major-General Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, Nigerians have tended to look up to the federal government for everything. Sadly, this unitary government mentality gained firm hold during the military era, making it no surprise that Nigerians still expect the federal government to come and clear the refuse from their streets.

Fortunately for us, we are finding our feet again after 10 years of democratic rule and the clamour for resource control is getting louder by the day. Being a passionate supporter in the idea of local control of resources, I look forward to the day when state governments will be allowed to own all the resources within their domain. However, with benefits also comes responsibility, so I would like to see state governments responsible for maintenance too.

Everywhere else in the world, it is the job of local government to collect and dispose of refuse. Their other tasks include running the local fire service and in some cases the health authority and policing too. In Nigeria, we need to spell it out that it is the responsibility of the state governments to provide education, housing, healthcare, roads, security, sanitation, boost commerce, attract foreign investors and create jobs. This culture of looking up to Abuja for manna from heaven has got to stop.

Our cries about inadequate and erratic electricity supply are deafening at the moment but I ask why are our state governments not addressing the issue. Is there anything preventing each state from generating enough power to cater for its citizens? For instance, is there anything stopping Gabriel Suswam inviting in foreign investors to dam the River Benue and build a hydro-electric plant there to electrify the whole of Benue State?

As we clamour for resource control, we should also spend a little time reflecting on what the outcome of its implementation would be. If these governors have the cash, are they going to spend it wisely as the likes of Fashola and Uduaghan are currently doing? We need to start thinking of ways to hold them to account when the time comes.

With the clamour for infrastructure now the national anthem, we must not lose sight of where the responsibility lies. For us to get to the Promised Land, our state governors must become the redeemers.

Ayo Akinfe

aakinfe@aol.com

Robot  # 1 | 07.02.2009 13:51

://nigeriavillagesquare.com/images/stories/Authors/Akinfe.The buck stops with you Mr Governor By Ayo Akinfe Over the last two weeks, certain governors have been making headlines over a host of activities and policies they have introduced. Having been paying close attention to the impact these programmes have had or in some cases have not had on the lives of Nigerians, one cannot but come to the conclusion that the destiny of our citizenry lies in the hands of these 36 guardians of the people. Last week, I started off following the exploits of Babatunde Fashola, The Lagos State governor who has been in the news a lot for both his revenue generating programmes and his spending of this revenue on social projects. Governor Fashola has launched a N50bn fixed rate bond scheme aimed at raising money for infrastructural development. According to hi...Read the full article.

NED O  # 2 | 08.02.2009 08:47

Hmmm! Akin, In Imo state, outside the state capital, the other designated urban towns in the state still remain glorified villages. You cannot find a street light, articulated water drainage system, city planning and urban road network, parks and gardens, etc, in these places as you let us find they exist elsewhere in Delta state outside Asaba. In fact much of what the state has that go to enhance the quality of life of its inhabitants can only be found in the state capital, Owerri. Unfortunately, Governor Ohakim after close to two years in office appear comfortable with this. For now it appears he is acting the elected Chairman of the Owerri Municipal Council, especially, in the arena of refuse disposal in the city. To make matters worse, Imo state local governments are still led by appointed chairmen, hence the people are denied the possibility of having a duty-driven elected chairmen willing to develop their areas independent of imputs from Owerri. So check your facts well before awarding marks to serving government officials.

mathelize  # 3 | 08.02.2009 13:11

Bukola Saraki ko, Bukola Saraki ni

Ayo Akinfe  # 4 | 08.02.2009 15:13

=mathelize;323102>Bukola Saraki ko, Bukola Saraki ni Are you suggesting he has done nothing for the state?

chimby  # 5 | 10.02.2009 09:43

Funny. I visited Owerri the Imo State capital once and was amazed to find that places being touted as lawns were nothing but oversized grown bushes. Believe me the good works supposedly being done by the Governor only exists on the pages of newspapers. The simply truth is that the man does not know why he is in Governance like most of the Governors we have in Nigeria. They simply can differentiate their left from right. The worst crime that they commit is rushing to newspapers to publish their so called democracy dividends and you want to ask yourself this pertinent question. HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU HEARD THE NAME OF FASHOLA ON THE PAGES OF NEWSPAPERS BEING ASSOCIATED WITH ONE PROJECT OR THE OTHER? That is the hallmark of someone who has the citizens of his state at heart. Ikedi or whatever he calls himself has never been a performer and he will never be when the likes of Maurice Iwu of shameless INEC put him in charge to run Imo State.