It was an exciting week of a medley of activities, right from the first day of the week to the very end of it. It was in the week that the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), decided to re-elect our President as its Chairman after completing the his initial one year term in the saddle of the very critical regional governing body. It was also the week during which a major structural adjustment was made to the way Nigeria runs; the Supreme Court wrest the financial control of the third tier of governance from the governors. When history will be remembering the Presidency of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, this will count for him as a major win for true democracy and part of a piecemeal restructuring of Nigeria.
The week started out on Sunday with the 65th Ordinary Session of the Authority of Heads of State and Government of the ECOWAS at the State House, Abuja. Besides some other decisions taken for the stability of the region, presidents of member-nations decided to keep President Tinubu in office for another year as their Chairman. Without claiming to know what other reasons informed the decision, although some other reasons have been adduced by those who understand real international politics, there are some of us who strongly believe he was asked to stay back as Chairman because they were satisfied with his leadership in the last one year. No system replaces an effective Managing Director.
Right from the moment he was re-elected, President Tinubu swung into action by beefing up the body’s mission to win back member-states that broke away from the regional bloc and formed a splinter organisation, the Alliance of Sahel States (ASS). “I have appointed the President of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, to please become our Special Envoy to Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger Republic, along with the President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé, to do around- the-clock work with our brothers in Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger Republic, and to coordinate with me and the ECOWAS Commission, where necessary.
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“I have accepted to continue the service to the great members and the great minds that are committed to democratic values and our journey in the region. I will continue to serve our interest and build on democratic values and the structure that we inherited. Thank you very much”, the President said.
The week had so much to talk from, very significant events that will affect the life of the ordinary Nigerian for a very long time, if institutionalised and not disrupted with petty politics. The star events that came across as most striking will be the victory won for local council administration by the federal government and the step taken towards achieving an expansion and better administration of the livestock branch of the agriculture sector, which among other things seeks to expand and mechanise the sub-sector, thereby turning it to another revenue generating source for the national economy and sort out the age-long farmer-herder conflict.
On Thursday, July 11, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark decision, which ’emancipated’ the local government system from the financial control of the state governments. This decision of the Supreme Court became an instant sensation because it was long in coming; virtually everyone had a reaction, mostly lauding the apex court for bringing clarity to the matter, which has been contested for years. The decision reached on Thursday was as a result of a matter filed by the Tinubu administration at the Supreme Court against the 36 states of the federation on May 26 this year. It sought the enforcement of the full autonomy of the local governments in the country.
Those who have been consistent in following the President will remember his focus has always been getting governance closer to the smaller units of society because these are where the people live their lives; home units to wards to councils to states before the federal. Each time he has had to speak on ensuring the people feel the effect of governance, he always takes it back to the local government system. One of such occasions in recent times was when he met with the leadership of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) at the State House, Abuja. On Friday, May 31 of this year, the ACF, led to the Villa by its Chairman of Board of Trustees, Bashir Dalhatu, received a message for the governors.
“We are running a constitutional democracy. I will appeal to you to summon the governors. I am doing my very best to enhance the revenue base of the country. They must equally be sympathetic, and they must urgently consider the needs of the local people. People reside in the local communities, that is where they work, farm, and live. If the local governments are not effective in delivering services; as leaders, we must not hang on to the numbers. We have 774 local government areas, but are they truly effective? Do they solve problems for Nigerians? Do they coordinate development programming with the state and federal governments?
“Who is being held accountable for the performance of the 774 local governments? Maybe we should look at recalibrating. What was good four years ago may not be good today. When we want the votes, we go to the locals; when we get the votes, we move to aSo when the Supreme Court delivered its decision in favour of his ’cause’ on Thursday, it must have been one of the proudest moments of his life; winning victory in favour of a just cause for the helpless, the man living with his family in the remotest parts of the country.
“The Renewed Hope Agenda is about the people of this country, at all levels, irrespective of faith, tribe, gender, political affiliation, or any other artificial line they say exists between us. This country belongs to all of us. By virtue of this judgement, our people – especially the poor – will be able to hold their local leaders to account for their actions and inactions. What is sent to local government accounts will be known, and services must now be provided without excuses.
“My administration instituted this suit because of our unwavering belief that our people must have relief and today’s judgement will ensure that it will be only those local officials elected by the people that will control the resources of the people. This judgement stands as a resounding affirmation that we can use legitimate means of redress to restructure our country and restructure our economy to make Nigeria a better place to live in and a fairer society for all of our people”, President Tinubu stated.
Before the delightful news from the Supreme Court, Tuesday saw him taking a step towards achieving a better organized agriculture sector. You will remember one of the priorities of his administration is food security and upgrading the sector to the level of a substantial income earner for the economy. It was Tuesday he inaugurated the Renewed Hope Livestock Reform Implementation Committee and it was during the inauguration he dropped a hint on the plan to create a Federal Ministry of Livestock Development. Among other reasons, the step is targeting the enhancement of protein production, increase employment opportunities and government revenue.
“We’ve solved the problem, we have identified the models for livestock management, it is done in other countries, in other climes successfully promoted. It created great economy and empowerment for ordinary people. Traditional livestock system must be reformed to add significant and sustainable value to Nigeria’s social economic growth and development with all measures that is available to us. When you have great opportunity as this, why should Nigeria continue in conflict with the caliber of the people that is here? This presents a unique opportunity also to delineate and establish a separate ministry called the Ministry of Livestock Development. We will develop the economy, give people the opportunity to excel”, he said.
Most important target, it was gathered, is to once and for all put an end to the vicious farmer-herder conflict, which has claimed thousands of lives in different parts of the country and which seemed to have given birth to some other multi-level forms of criminal activities.
Tuesday evening was all for the President’s late mother, Alhaja Abubatu Mogaji, the Iya’loja of Lagos, who died eleven years ago. A stage play, produced by Ola Awakan, a multiple award-winning broadcast journalist with TVC, directed by Ahmed Yerima, Abibatu Mogaji: The Play, was the spice needed to elicit the President’s emotional part. He made a very heart-touching recall of what it felt like for him having his mother and the sacrifices she made to make the person known as Bola Ahmed Tinubu. How her breast was his first restaurant, her lap, his first toilet and her back, his first bed. It was the perfect moment to pledge a special attention for the development of arts and culture in Nigeria.
Wednesday was for the seventh Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting and it saw the clearing of some memoranda, including the one for the separation of the university system from the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) platform, as previously approved. It also granted the ratification of the establishment of the National University of Science and Technology in Abuja, a Pan African Institute dedicated to teaching African scientists and technologists.
On Thursday, besides the news of the Supreme Court victory, he also met with leaders of the organised Labour at the State House to discuss around the impending national minimum wage that has been on the negotiation table for a while. The meeting, which was described as a “father-to-children” discussion, was adjourned till this week for further discussion.
The events of the last week were more than could have fitted into this space, but you can trust the other regular features like birthdays and other such things still found media space. Not here though, at least not on this edition. We wait to see what this week holds.