The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Autonomy

  • Council workers hold rally to lobby Oyo Assembly for autonomy

    Over 1,000 local government workers, under the aegis of Oyo State National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE), embarked on a solidarity rally to lobby the House of Assembly for a “Yes” vote for the debate on local government autonomy.

    The workers, undeterred by the early morning rain, assembled at the Labour House headquarters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

    They wore branded T-shirts and carried banners with inscriptions supporting autonomy for local government.

    The protesters decried government’s refusal to allow the third tier operate independently.

    The workers marched on streets, singing songs.

    They went to the Assembly complex, where they presented their demands to the Speaker, Michael Adeyemo.

    The protesters were led by NLC State Chairman Sikiru Titilayo-Sodo and the Southwest Chairman Oludare Famofo, with other state executive members and representative of the umbrella labour union.

    Addressing reporters, Titilayo-Sodo called for the scrapping of the State Joint Account Allocation Committee (JAAC), saying it’s a conduit pipe for siphoning public funds.

    The union leader noted that granting autonomy to local government would engender development and growth at the grassroots.

    He said: “Our core demand in requesting for local government autonomy includes: political, financial and administrative autonomy. Abolition of State/Local Government Joint Account, payment of 10 per cent internally generated revenue (IGR) by states to local governments and stopping deduction from councils’ federal revenue allocation by states.

    “We want the abolition of State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) and reverting the conduct of local government elections to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), implement the ruling of the Supreme Court judgment against the appointment of caretaker committees for local governments and reckless dissolution of elected local governments.”

    Famofo said workers embarked on the rally to “solicit the help of the House of Assembly so that when the Local Government Autonomy Bill, which has been passed by the National Assembly, is transmitted to state legislatures, they will give it a ‘Yes’ vote”.

    Adeyemo, who received the protesters, assured them that the Assembly would take steps once the bill is transmitted to lawmakers.

  • Advocates of council autonomy are enemies of federalism, says Aregbesola

    Advocates of council autonomy are enemies of federalism, says Aregbesola

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola has objected to the clamour for local government autonomy, saying that it is antithetical to true federalism.

    He said local councils are administrative units of the state, adding that their autonomy may be the end of the states.

    Aregbesola spoke at the one-day conference on the second anniversary of the Southwest in national governance held in Osogbo, the state capital. Its theme was: Southwest to Abuja: A mid-term appraisal.

    He recalled that, while settling for federalism, Nigeria’s founding fathers copied the Indian example, where the federating units are coordinate with the central government.

    The governor said: “In India, we have a state that is more than Nigeria in size and population. We also have Goa, which is not more than Lagos as a state. The large states cannot dominate smaller states. California cannot dictate to Arkansas.  The Federal Government in the United States cannot interfere in what happens in other states, unless it is invited.

    “Also, under the federal system, the Federal Government cannot interfere in the activities of the local government. Those calling for local government autonomy are agents of confusion. I know there are anomalies with the local government administration.. But, it does not mean that it should be autonomous under the state. It is against the spirit of federalism. Whenever the states cease to control the council, that will be the end of the state.”

    Aregbesola emphasized that Nigeria is not just a republic, but it is a Federal Republic of Nigeria. Also, he said the name of the central government is Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    He lent his voice to the sustenance of party supremacy, saying party supremacy, which is difficult under the presidential system, is possible under the parliamentary system.

    Aregbesola said: “Presidential system is too expensive. It may lead to doom.”

    Noting that “economy is government,” the governor said the over-dependence on the petro-dollar economy is counter-productive.

    He added: “766.5 million dolars is realised per year. It is 4.85 barrels per head o five. This means 250 dollars per head; N100,000 per years, N8.00 per month. That is the source of national poverty. But, because less than one million people share the money, that’s why it appears that the country is rich.

    “What’s the way out? If one million people works and earns N25,000 per month in Osun, the state will be able to to get taxes and it will be rich.”

    According to the communique at th conference, the decision of the Southwest progressives to participate at governance in the centre was a turning point in history. The communique reads: “Conferees deliberated on the main theme of the Conference, that is, an appraisal of the place of the Southwest in national political equation, the issues of economic development and the place of Osun State in the anchoring of development initiatives in the last six years and, the idea of federalising political parties in Nigeria.

    “The Southwest’s relative importance in the federation of Nigeria is such that it stands in a better stead in the continuance and stability of the federation and not in its disintegration. That the Southwest has nonetheless in the about the last thirty years judging by the physical development and the distribution of infrastructure from the Federal centre to the states regressed significantly from being a leading region in the country to a position less than what she occupied before the 1970s.

    “The constitutional amendment to reflect significant transfer of power from the centre especially as contained in the Second Schedule to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended) to the States, would be an antidote to the regression of the Western part of Nigeria.

    “The most significant way by which development can be more meaningful to the people of Nigeria is to transfer resources from the few and the privileged to the majority of the pole through a system of welfare and social safety nets.

    “The Government of the State of Osun has in the last six years significantly transferred public resources to the ordinary man and the majority of its citizens through its social welfare programmes such as O’Yes, O’Meal, O’Rehab, Agba Osun and Women Empowerment. An additional and effective way of transferring resources to the ordinary man would and should be through the capital budget in which resources are not spent on recurrent expenditure by paying salaries, overhead and wages alone but also on the simultaneous creation of physical infrastructure by which the majority of the people can be reached.

    “Political parties in Nigeria and the leadership thereof should reflect our federal character and that leadership should be progressive from the grassroots to the state and federal levels.

    “The political orientation is not new to the western part of Nigeria but that there is the need to avoid falling into conservative and reactionary politics into which the southwest fell during 2003-2011.

    “The solution to the current political debate on restructuring can only be resolved in favour of the continuance and growth of Nigeria and not in its dissolution but more important also, in the adjustment of both constitutional and tax powers to reflect the urgent need to devolve power to the federating units and cut the 9xcesses of federal intervention in those matters that are purely regional or local.”

  • NULGE protesters seek autonomy for local govt

    NULGE protesters seek autonomy for local govt

    The Lagos State chapter of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) yesterday staged a peaceful protest to the Lagos State House of Assembly (LAHA), seeking the House support on local government autonomy.

    Led by its Chairman, Afolabi Ajose, the protesters, numbering about 200, comprised NULGE members, and members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

    They chanted solidarity songs.

    According to Afolabi, the issue goes beyond local government autonomy.

    “We have conveniently covered 21 states and it has been wonderful. We have assurances that the state assemblies would support it. Local government autonomy is about the welfare of the entire citizenry.

    “The autonomy would benefit the masses. It is not just about salaries of workers. It is about what we do in our community, and giving people the dividends of democracy,” he said.

    Ajose added that there are three kinds of autonomy namely – administrative, political and financial.

    Local governments, he said, would work well with autonomy.

    Addressing the protesters, LAHA member Tunde Braimoh said the speaker has tremendous respect for workers.

    Braimoh, the Chairman of the House Committee on Information and Strategy, said the House empathised with the protesters.

    The lawmaker stated that they also had some misgivings about the system just like the protesters.

    He added that the issue at hand was a grave constitutional issue as stated in Section 7.

    Buraimoh said: “The 1999 Constitution has become an albatross and that is why people have come together to find a way out of the problem. There is no constitution that is perfect. Leaders of our party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), met in Ibadan, Oyo State recently to discuss several issues, such as local government autonomy, fiscal federalism, devolution of power, the regional government as well as merger and creation of states.

    “Don’t forget that the issues are hydra-headed and delicate, so you cannot just discuss them anyhow.

    “When we have regional autonomy, people can create their own local governments at their own time. Don’t forget that some states, such as Lagos State and Ogun State have LCDAs, what would happen to them, if there is local government autonomy.”

    He thanked the protesters for “conducting yourselves in a peaceful way and for being ambassadors of democracy. We will look at your demands’’.

    “We will be having our own retreat and we will discuss the issue. We will not shy away from what you have come to tell us,” he said.

  • Autonomy: NULGE for nationwide rally

    Autonomy: NULGE for nationwide rally

    The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) will begin a nationwide rally at the 36 states’ Houses of Assembly to mobilise for local councils’ autonomy on  Monday.

    Its Acting General Secretary, Chuks Aguonye, said in Abuja that mobilisation would begin from Zamfara and Anambra states on August 21, and end on Thursday, September 14, in Sokoto State.

    He said the rally was to prevail on the Houses of Assembly and governors to join the National Assembly, which has already voted for local governments autonomy.

    Aguonye alleged that some governors were behind the inability of the National Assembly to pass the Local Government Autonomy bill into law.

    He said: “The two chambers of the National Assembly have passed the bill and have transmitted same in addition to other bills to states Houses of Assembly as required by law.

    “The Seventh National Assembly attempted to amend the 1999 Constitution, which it passed on the local government autonomy bill; unfortunately, it failed to get the two-third majority of the states Houses of Assembly.’’

    Aguonye continued: “Available evidence confirmed that the failure of the state assemblies to get the required two-thirds majority was attributable to the dictates and influence of governors who wanted to control councils’ funds but this time around, the union will not allow what happened in the last assembly to repeat itself.

    “In view of the above, it has become necessary for the national leadership to act fast. Therefore, at the end of an emergency NEC meeting of the union, it was agreed that rallies should be held in the 36 states capital across the country, whether or not such rallies have been held before now.

    “Accordingly, all state chapters of the union have been directed to mobilise all our members for peaceful rallies on a date assigned to them as one of the programmes slated for this campaign at this stage,” he said.

    Lamenting the absence of President Muhammadu Buhari, who, he said, promised to ensure the bill was passed into law, Aguonye revealed that the union has set aside a day within the week pray for his quick recovery.’’

  • What manner of LG autonomy?

    A Newly elected Lagos State local government and local council development area chairmen have since resumed work following the administration of their oaths of office on Tuesday July 25. The event which took place at the Lagos Secretariat in Alausa was sequel to the local council polls that held the Saturday before. The local government elections in Lagos followed the nationwide trend of low turnout as residents in the commercial nerve centre of the nation used the day as an opportunity to rest instead of exercising their franchise. Had vehicular movement been allowed, the come out would most likely, have been poorer.

    Certain factors have continuously affected this democratically unhealthy practice. One of such factors is that the voter tends to hold his elected executive in far away State House more accountable than the chairman next door. Another explanation for the apathy for local council polls is the perceived predictability of the process. Take the latest Lagos exercise for example (which is relatively the same in other states of the federation), of the 20 local government and 37 local council development areas’ chairmanship seats for grabs, the ruling All Progressive Congress went victorious in all 57. So at the end of the day, the local council polls is seen more like a rigged referendum in favour of a sitting governor than a fair competitive exercise to pick a chairman. Take the optics of it for a moment: is it not an oddity that a strong political party would win more than a third of the votes in the general elections across a state but can’t win a councillorship seat in a ward within its political stronghold?

    Some have suggested that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) be given the mandate to conduct the grassroots elections instead of the States Independent Electoral Commission. I think this constitutional proposal negates the principle of true federalism that we want for our nation. Also the INEC-conducted local council area elections of the Federal Capital Territory over time have followed the low-voter-turnout and ruling-party-victory patterns observed by elections conducted by SIECs. In other words, it is beyond who conducts the election. Just as INEC was knocked in the past for its impartiality but is becoming more credible, the SIECs should also be given some time to be built up as strong independent institutions.

    Recently, both chambers of the National Assembly voted for local government autonomy in its constitutional amendment exercise. This autonomy is what the National Union of Local Government Employees has eternally canvassed for. This move has received a measure of acceptance from the larger polity but I think before the state Houses of Assembly pass it, we should have a rethink.

    Sovereign local governments may give us a dubious federal structure where states governments become weaker. We already have governors passing the buck of infrastructure to the centre calling some roads federal roads. Autonomous local governments will now make them lazier as they would hands off primary healthcare and education. That aside, states are today insolvent depending on foreign grants to pay salaries and pensions, is it local governments that have been unable to handle floods that we expect to pay salaries?

    Instead making this tier of government autonomous, we should make them administrative departments, not political entities.  What this implies is that instead of having to continuously cast meaningless votes that produce stereotypical results for handicapped executives, the governors appoint senior civil servants to manage all the government agencies in the local council. These council managers will serve as intermediaries between the local community and government.

     

    • Ayodele Okunfolami

    Festac, Lagos

  • NULGE prepares members for local govt autonomy

    NULGE prepares members for local govt autonomy

    The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has trained its staff on financial management in preparation for the autonomy of local government administration.

    Speaking at a three-day workshop with the theme: Effective financial management of trade union finance, NULGE National President   Ibrahim Khaleel said the workshop was organised to enhance the capacity of the union’s financial officers.

    His words: “At this critical time, there is lack of capacity for local council workers as a tier of government and we believe that whatever affects local government administration affects us directly because without the third tier of government, there can’t be NULGE.

    “This workshop is meant to update our knowledge on how to keep our financial records. Financial records are our collective responsibilities as a union to be rendered at the end of every year to the Registrar of Trade Union.

    “Since the inception of this leadership, the national secretariat has been rendering our financial accounts to the office every year up to the 2016 financial year.”

    He stressed that the workshop, which was conducted by Nik-Seg Consultants, provided an opportunity for all the participants to learn new skills with the aim of understanding how financial records were done and also be in tandem with new trends.

    He hinted that plans were underway to organise women and youth conference, which would  enhance the leadership skills of women and youth wings of the union.

    Khaleel insisted that training union workers in financial management was part of the administrative steps that could curtail corruption within labour movement.

    “Training in financial management is apt at this time because we believe it will not only enhance transparency and accountability, but will strengthen the development and growth of our union.

    “It is even more critical for us to update our knowledge on financial management especially now that we are canvassing for financial autonomy for local government.

    “So, before we get the financial independence of local government, local government workers need to be more prepared, more equipped and update their knowledge on financial management for the challenges ahead,” he said.

  • How local government can get autonomy, by Oyo Speaker

    How local government can get autonomy, by Oyo Speaker

    The Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon. Michael Adeyemo, spoke with BISI OLADELE on the quest for local government autonomy and other issues.

    Teachers across the country are protesting against autonomy for local governments. What is your view?

    Members of the Nigerian Union of Teachers  (NUT) protested and came up with their own position against the local government autonomy. They were received by the Deputy Governor and they were advised to approach the House on this issue. I can say that we have been in touch with them, having known that the House will still have to ratify whatever is coming from the Executive but this position is yet to be adequately addressed from the National Assembly committee considering amendment of the constitution. Some wanted autonomy for local governments but the fundamental question is not being considered or treated before we want this autonomy to scale through. There is this agitation of inequalities in the present numbers of local governments we have. How do we reconcile it? Some states have more while other states have very few ad considering their population, they deserve to have more local governments and some states decided to create more local governments but they are unable to scale through in getting the National Assembly approval.

    Now, how do we address these inequalities? Before we can say financial autonomy, there must be an opportunity for states to create local governments. If you are saying the local governments presently created by the state will not enjoy allocation, that means you have already fixed it that you do not allow more creation of the local governments and the case in study is Lagos and Kano states. Statutorily today, Lagos State has 20 local governments, look at the population and Kano state has 44 local governments. You can see this imbalance and inequality compared with the population. These are the germane things that we need to address. Then, how did we get where we are now?  It goes down to the fact that there was a time that there was zero allocation. Some local governments were unable to effectively run their local governments, they were unable to have enough monies to pay staff and teachers salaries.  I think in an attempt to find a solution to the zero allocation and inability to pay teachers salary, they came up with this. Now, how could this present development on autonomy address the issue? Are we not going back to that era of that period and why the need for having autonomy and are we saying we should not strengthen our federalism or we should continue with the practice of what I called unitary-federal system? Why I say so is because, exclusively, the constitution empowers the House to make laws as to the structure, administrations and finances of the local government. So, by the time you now say that it should be autonomous, that means they are like states whereby they will be relating directly with the Federal Government. So, you now have a committee performing an oversight function in the National Assembly. So, are we saying that is the best arrangement? Why cant we simply look at the challenges confronting the local government and address them? One of it could be: is it that the state assemblies are not up and doing in the oversight responsibilities to ensure transparency and accountability in funding and monies meant for the local government? If they are unable to do that, what have been the factors responsible for all these failures and how can we address them? There are a lot. There are many opinions for and against this, but my take on it is that all these factors which I have mentioned must be given due consideration, not that we will use one problem to solve another problem and we will continue to have series of problems unsolved. That is my take on it and you know the experience of teachers during that era, it was so pathetic and why would you want to disrupt a system that is working now because we have some shortcomings? Why cant we look at those shortcomings and let the National Assembly be proactive, not necessarily on sentiments and unnecessary agitations. We should look for issue-based solutions to address the problems of the local governments.

    Taking a look at the Oyo State 2017 budget, are there specific problems the budgets will address?

    In continuation of the infrastructure, as far as the state is concerned, we made adequate provisions for some of these roads to be executed and completed within the time frame. And on the issue of education too, the government ensured that education is given priority like infrastructure and security. So, we ensured that inspite of the shortfall in terms of the money that government is getting from the federation account and even the little improvements we have in the internally generated revenue, what we discovered from the budget is that we do not make ambitious estimate both for the capital and recurrent expenditure. We must be able to ensure that for each sector, money appropriated for certain projects comes from a particular source. That is the style of this year’s budget. We cannot just appropriate, we have to look at the corresponding revenue to finance whatever the capital project or any project that you want to do. So we ensured that there is correlation between the budget appropriation law, which is the budget estimate and the revenue law, which is the revenue to finance the budget. Most earnings in the budget will get the corresponding finance or source of fund for the project. For instance, if we say, this is the amount of money we want to spend on agriculture, we would say, this is where the money would come from to fund that project. The era of just appropriating funds for the sake of it to satisfy certain interest has gone. What we are doing now is that even if any ministry approaches us for probably to look at anything they are given either to increase it or otherwise, we have the responsibility to ask the ministry of agency or department where the money they expect to add to their budget will come from. Once they are able to show that there is a source of fund for it, then, we will consider it. This is a new development in budgeting, on which we are seriously working with the Ministry of Finance and even the Accountant General’s office to rub mind in ensuring that we have a practicable budget, not necessarily for budgeting sake and we see the budget performance improving through this time.

    How many bills has the Eight Assembly passed and which of them can you easily say has direct impact on the ordinary man on the street.

    I can say all the bills passed by this Eight Assembly are those that have direct impact on the good people of Oyo State. They are laws that address challenges in the spheres of security, education, health, agriculture, judiciary matters, land matters and infrastructural development and general administration. Conservatively, we have passed about 45 bills which His Excellency has assented to. We also have about 15 under second stage of passage, about three of which are in the first reading. Majorly, these laws tend to assist the government in improving the revenue of the state, having realized that the money coming from the federal has actually dropped and is inadequate for our needs as far as governance is concerned. Some of these laws are obsolete, especially those that have to do with revenue. They are not in line with the current challenges, so we were able to work on them to make it in such a way that it will conform to new development and current dispensation we are going with. Basically, we looked at the laws that will enhance and improve the IGR of the state, we looked that the laws establishing some agencies which are required to promote the economy of the state. We also looked out for the laws that will encourage investment into the state. So, these translate into development in terms of investments that we have seen which the governor, in the course of the sixth anniversary of the administration, mentioned so much because there are enabling laws and most investors are always looking for the laws that will cover them while showing interest to invest.  Also, we have the issue that has to do with security. Kidnapping was so rampant then. So, we discovered that the law in place did not address the modern trend and sophistication of modern kidnapping we are experiencing now. So, we put anti-kidnapping laws in place. Anybody found guilty of this crime has adequate punishment under the law and any materials or property used for kidnapping purposes will also be forfeited to the government of the state. If it is a house, the building will be demolished and the landed property be taken over by the government. Then we looked at the law that has to do with the administration of criminal justice. Before now, the dispensation of criminal justice was so slow such that the accused is always set free because of the lacuna in the criminal administration which we are operating. Also, when a criminal is apprehended and trial, the victim of the crime does not tend to have any justice. So, we tend to have a law in place that will bring compensation to the victim of a crime. For instance, somebody whose money was stolen or a fraud was perpetrated in his company and the accused was found guilty after being arrested and sentenced for certain years of imprisonment, and that is the end. The owner of the money is still the loser because the money will not be retrieved and given back to him or probably, the money must have been used to acquire some property or certain investment. But this House passed a law that ensures that even the proceeds or whatever the suspects or the criminal must have taken, is returned to the owner or victim. So, this brings justice to everybody either to the criminal or the victim of the crime. These are some of the improvements. Then the  idea of remanding suspects in custody till eternity was addressed. The House addressed it by ensuring that the police must conclude their investigation on time and ensure speedy trial by not wasting the time of the court. Another thing that is so close to it under the law is community service as an alternative to imprisonment. We discovered that some people committed minor offences but they were eventually sentenced to prisons where they have hardened criminals and armed robbers. By the time they serve their years or months of sentence, they come out well equipped, well trained to become serious criminals. This, we know, will not help our society.

  • ‘Councils’, state legislatures’ autonomy top constitution amendment list’

    Deputy Senate President Senator Ike Ekweremadu said yesterday that financial autonomy for the state legislatures  and local governments are part of the key issues being considered in the constitution amendment exercise.

    He described financial autonomy as “the single most important constitutional empowerment required by state Houses of Assembly for effective leadership in the interest of democracy and development”.

    A statement by his media aide, Uche Anichukwu said Ekweremadu spoke at the consultative forum for building consensus among stakeholders on local government autonomy organised by the Partnership to Engage and Learn (PERL) in Abuja yesterday.

    It came on a day the Vice Chairman of the Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria and Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Uchenna Ubosi, said that the Conference of Speakers had resolved to support the autonomy for local governments and state assemblies.

    It said Ekweremadu, who spoke on the topic: “Providing effective leadership for the state Houses of Assembly: Leveraging the ongoing constitution review exercise,” emphasised that the autonomy of the local governments was tied to the independent of the state assemblies and understanding of the governors.

    Anichukwu quoted Ekweremadu to have said: “Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) empowers the states, through their Houses of Assembly, to make laws establishing Local Government Councils, their structure, composition, finance, and functions. Therefore, the independence and efficiency of the leadership of state assemblies are key to the just and efficient exercise of these functions”.

    It said the Deputy Senate President, however, regretted that undue executive and political party interferences in some states bring debilitating influences to bear on the leadership recruitment process of the legislature.

    “The issue of presiding officers must be settled by the parliamentarians themselves in accordance with Section 92 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which provides that ‘There shall be a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker of a House of Assembly who shall be elected by members of the House from among themselves’,” Ekweremadu said.

    He said imposition of leadership on any State Assembly would render it “ineffectual, pliable, and sometimes, a lame duck that is ever willing to do the master’s biddings”.

    He cited the example of the 2010 Constitution amendment exercise when the state Houses of Assembly “refused to approve financial autonomy for themselves even when they voted in support of financial independence for the National Assembly.

    Ekweremadu, who chairs the Senate Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution, said: “The result is that while the National Assembly is no longer at the mercy of the Executive arm for its funding, the state assemblies could be easily arm-twisted by starving them of funds, if they refuse to do the biddings of the Executive”.

    On local government autonomy, he stated: “We are making efforts in the ongoing Constitution review exercise to strengthen governance at the grassroots by amending Section 7 of the Constitution to properly situate the local governments as a third tier of the government of the Federation.

    “We are working to make elaborate provisions for their funding, tenure, election, and to clearly delineate their powers and responsibilities. For instance, we seek to abolish the Joint State-Local Government Account in line with popular demand by Nigerians”.

    Ubosi assured the National Assembly that the conference had resolved to support the local councils’ autonomy and financial independence of state assemblies to make them more effective.

     

  • Oyo NUT and LG autonomy

    Oyo NUT and LG autonomy

    SIR: The protest embarked upon by some members of the National Union Teachers, Oyo State, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital on Wednesday, July 28, is welcome development. The NUT was enjoying its fundamental human rights to protest against a policy that would be injurious to her health.

    The state government and security forces deserves accolade for allowing the peaceful protest to hold. Although, it appears the protest was in tandem with the state government position on local government administration. However, if the NUT was to support the Local Government autonomy; the protest would have been stopped for constituting a breach of public peace. Disruption of an NLC-led peaceful protest over non-payment of salary few years ago and harassment of the leaders, I think including the leaders of July 29, protest is still fresh in memory.

    The NUT Oyo State wing failed to state her position on local government autonomy and this is rather unfortunate for an association saddled with such enormous responsibility of imparting knowledge into our future leaders. From the inscription on the placard carried by the protesters and the speech of a leader, Niyi Akano, the NUT is against local government autonomy because “experience had shown that the local government tier lacked the capacity to run and fund primary education effectively particularly because that is the bed rock of education”.

    From the above, one realizes that NUT does not want autonomy for local councils because she does not have the power that is resources to fund primary education. What the above means is that the NUT do not know what local government autonomy means and this is rather unfortunate. Simply put, autonomy means power that would be granted local governments in the constitution that would make them fiscally independent of states control. Presently, the joint account system being operated by state and local government has turned the local governments into an appendage of the states and crippled her financially.

    It is a known fact that local government councils are the government closest to the grassroots and are the facilitators of the development there until the joint along crippled them. I believe protesting members of NUT know this. In all honesty, it is a common knowledge that there is corruption in local governments, but this is not peculiar to it as the revelation from EFCC of billions stolen by the operators of federal and state government showed.

    The roles of local governments in the development of the grassroots cannot be overemphasized. Therefore, it is preposterous for the NUT to throw out the baby and the bathwater because of lack of resources in the local government. As Akano concluded, the primary education should be placed under state government for effective funding. This is better than outright rejection of LG autonomy and that should have been more befitting clamour of the NUT, now that the call for restructuring of the Nigeria polity is gathering momentum.

     

    • Adewuyi Adegbite,

    ayekooto05@gmail.com

  • Tricycle owners seek autonomy from NURTW

    Lagos State Council of the Tricycle Owners Association of Nigeria (TOAN) has appealed to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to grant them autonomy from the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).

    Its Secretary, Comrade Pius Bamgbelu, made the appeal after a crucial stakeholder’s meeting in Lagos at the weekend following a rift with NURTW.

    He said the request was urgent in order to exonerate TOAN from the violence over the death of a NURTW chieftain, Alhaji Rasaq Bello aka Hamburger.

    “TOAN members are known to be law abiding and will not like to be associated with violence or illegal act that will be detrimental to the already existing peace in the state,” Bamgbelu said.

    Bamgbelu explained that TOAN is not a member of the embattled NURTW which operation has now been suspended by the state government.

    He said TOAN is a trade union registered under the Trade Union Act Cap T.14 2004 NO.0124 and is presently affiliated to the Trade Union Congress (TUC).