The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Autonomy

  • Local govt autonomy: NULGE seeks constitution amendment

    Local govt autonomy: NULGE seeks constitution amendment

    The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to back his promises with action on local government autonomy.

    NULGE also demanded constitution amendment, saying it was required “to achieve the desired autonomy for local governments and free them from the apron of state governors, who see and treat local government as an extension of their state.”

    Since President Buhari was sworn in on May 29, 2015, he had, at several fora, promised to ensure the autonomy of councils as the third tier of government.

    During the visit of the leadership of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), last week, Buhari said his administration would support a constitution amendment to free local governments from the stranglehold of states.

    Promising that this would better the lot of Nigerians at the community level, Buhari said a constitution amendment was required to define the relationship among the three tiers of government.

    Speaking in Abuja at a forum, NULGE President Ibrahim Khaleel said the union and the organised labour would support the President in his efforts to liberate the third tier of government from governors.

    He said: “We listened to President Buhari during the visit of ALGON and we are very happy with what the President said. Labour as a whole, and NULGE in particular, are ready to help the President fulfill his promise.

    “Many things are wrong with our system and the way the local government is being run in Nigeria today. President Buhari has made such promises on several occasions but we have not seen any step taken in that direction.

    “In as much as we support him, we want him to begin the process. Four years is too short in the life of a nation, especially in a country like ours. By the year 2018, serious politicking will begin, and whatever you don’t achieve by then, it may be difficult when another election is approaching.”

    Kahleel advised Buhari to put the machinery in motion to ensure financial autonomy for local governments.

  • Varsity autonomy and appointment of VCs

    Since 2009 when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), won the battle for the university autonomy which gave the governing councils of Federal Universities power to appoint their vice chancellors, there has been restiveness on many campuses each time a vice chancellor is to be appointed.  The reason for all this is the politics that surrounds the choice of would-be vice chancellors. Apart from this, the perquisites of office are one major attraction to the highest office in the ivory tower in Nigeria. A vice chancellor earns as much as N1.8million per month. This is aside from the comfort that comes with the appointment while his professor colleagues in the departments earn less than N500, 000.00 per month. The thinking is that most professors’ interest in the office of the vice chancellor is driven primarily bythe lucre of office, all other considerations are secondary.

    The university autonomy as has been canvassed by members of the university communities will enable each university to handle the process of choosing its vice chancellor without government interference which to a rational mind is good for university administration. Part of the argument in favour of university autonomy is that staff members of the universities know who among them is capable of leading the system without trouble as they must have a working knowledge of such a system. And it took the federal government a lot of time before conceding this role to the university with the hope that it will work out well.

    But recent events at Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile- Ife have proved otherwise. The process of appointing its vice chancellor has put a section of the workforce against the administration of the university. Specifically NASU and SSANU have kicked against the selection process that produced one of the deputy vice chancellors as successor to the incumbent. Their grouse is that the process was skewed in favour of the newly appointed vice chancellor. Among other issues, they argued that the governing council of the university did not follow due process as some statutory requirements of the university were not followed. The unions went to court to seek redress and the case was yet to be heard when the appointment was made. And since then, both academic and administrative activities have been paralysed on the campus while the union members are asking for the head of the incumbent vice chancellor.

    Many people have asked questions for the rationale to give autonomy to institutions that are funded by the government, especially the power given to the universities to appoint their vice chancellors. These are universities that depend on monetary allocation from the government on monthly basis but do not allow the government to be part of selecting who manages those resources allocated to them. What then is the meaning of political autonomy without economic autonomy? If these universities are able to stand on their own in economic terms, probably the political autonomy will make sense but in this situation where an investor has no say in who manages his investment is an irony of circumstance. This can only happen when the government lacks the will power to say no to the political brinksmanship of the academics.

    On the face value, there may not be anything wrong with university autonomy, provided the modus of operandi conforms to the rule. But is this feasible in our present society where corruption, especially moral corruption has become the order of the day? Everywhere you turn, there is corruption that one thinks that what drives the society is the pervasive corrupt practices. The university autonomy as a means of freeing the system from red-tapism and bigotry has been entrapped by the corruption in the system.

    Unfortunately, ASUU that fought and got the autonomy did not put any check and balance in place for the process of the selection of a vice chancellor. The governing council exercises enormous power in this process. It selects candidates, conducts the interview and declares the winner. There is no other organ of the university that has a say in the process. Possibly ASUU never envisaged a situation in which the power of autonomy could be used to feather some selfish interests. The university autonomy is good in intent but its practicability is fraught with human idiosyncrasies which make it possible for people to do whatever they like and go scot free.

    More worrisome is that a system that gives enormous power to a group without checks also encourages acerbic criticism from other members of the community. This is exactly what has happened at ObafemiAwolowo University, Ile- Ife, where members of staff have accused their governing council of the abuse of power of autonomy in the appointment of the new vice chancellor. They fault the process and blame the governing council for favouring one candidate over and above the others. They vowed not to allow the new vice chancellor to occupy the office; the incumbent vice chancellor who has some days in office has also been prevented from performing his official functions. It is like heaven broken loose on campus for two weeks running and there is no end in sight.

    To make matters worse, the government that funds the university has not done anything toward solving this problem as if the university is not part of its holdings. A proactive government would have nipped the problem in the bud by asking questions to arrive at a solution that will return normalcy to the system. What is happening in ObafemiAwolowo University provides a litmus test for the government to reconsider the university autonomy to appoint their vice chancellors. It shows that academics, like organisations in Nigeria cannot as of now manage the process of appointing who becomes the vice chancellor of their institutions.

     

    • Oripeloye is of the Department of English, ObafemiAwolowo University, Ile-Ife.

     

  • Students’ group seeks local govt autonomy

    The leadership of the National Association of University Students (NAUS) is seeking the autonomy of local governments to enhance their efficiency and service delivery. The association also demanded scrapping of the Joint Allocation Accounts Committee (JAAC) to allow direct disbursement of allocation to councils.

    Its national president, Jonathan Adekunle, a student of the Ekiti State University (EKSU), said councils are conceived to offer effective service delivery and promote development of communities. Their closeness to the people, Adekunle said, should make them more effective than any other tier of government, but lamented that councils lacked autonomy to carry out their constitutional functions.

    He condemned the habit of state governors to use councils for political patronage, saying many states had refused to conduct council elections because of governors’ habit to reward political associates by making them caretaker chairmen. Such practice, he said, is inimical to the smooth running of the council and hinders their performance over the years.

    He said: “NAUS demands that, state governments must stop the deliberate killing of the local council system. Periodic elections must be held to install democratically-elected officials. We also want scrapping of the state electoral commission and transfer of power to the Independent National Electoral Commission to conduct local government elections.

    “We urge the Senate and House of Representatives to support council autonomy in constitution amendment to bring about efficiency and development.”

     

  • Council autonomy takes off in Niger

    Council autonomy takes off in Niger

    Niger State may have made history by allowing local governments to determine what to do with their finanaces, reports JUSTINA ASISHANA

    Local governments in Niger State can now determine how to spend their cash, Governor Bello has said.

    This is memorable because councils are usually denied financial autonomy. Their cash is handed to them by the state governor and in many cases they are told what to or not to do with it.

    In Niger this has ended, with Governor Abubakar Bello saying  the state government will no longer interfere with councils’ finances.

    The directive took off from this month.

    “Beginning from May, the affairs of local government administration are in the hands of the local government,” the governor said. “Let each local government manage their affairs. I am not interested in local government funds; I have no need for them. Let the local government manage their wage bill and improve their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).”

    He was speaking at a town-hall meeting before a motley crowd of political chieftains, businesspeople, Trade Union Council officers, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) representatives, youths and civil society organisations.

    The meeting was viewed as a success because it addressed the controversial state and local government joint account system. The governor finally gave autonomy to the local government areas in the state, giving them complete independence to run their finances and manage their wage bill the way they deem fit.

    He called the joint account a fraud, designed to punish the local government areas.

    Bello also lamented the high rate of ghost workers at the grassroots and hit out at his own team over alleged sharp practices.

    He said he was finding it difficult to trust people in his administration, alleging that most of them are after their own personal gains.

    Governor Bello recalled an instance when he said he asked one agency responsible for road repairs to work on the Minna-Suleja Road. In that encounter, he said he was given a bill of N1.8 billion but when he he asked a contractor to quote his bill for the same project, the contractor tendered only N400 million.

    “The same agency was asked to work on the Minna-Bida Road and we were given a bill of over N40 million while a contractor came with a bill of N15 million and we gave it to the contractor,” the governor said.

    “It is sad that this agency is part of my government. Where is the love, concern and patriotism? I have a burden I am carrying; I do not know who to trust. People who are supposed to work with me are the ones giving me false information. I do not know what to do. Government is not a business of one person, I cannot do the business alone but the people around me are here for something else.”

    The governor said that the past government may not have noticed because it had lots of funds to play with, adding that he noticed it because his government does not have any money.

    Governor Bello further predicted the economic crunch bedeviling the nation will bite harder in the next two months, adding that states will find it difficult to stay afloat.

    More states, he said, will end up not being able to pay salaries while those who manage to pay salaries will have difficulty having development projects that will impact on the people.

    He said he was equally worried by the situation where the entire revenue of a state goes into the payment of salaries, adding that the state is finding it difficult to borrow N400 million every month to augment civil servants wages as the money received from Federation Account is not enough to pay workers salary for one month

    He said, “We have seen the era when the oil rose to 140 dollars a barrel but what we have now is a situation where the entire revenue accruing to the state go straight to civil servants salary.

    “The entire population of civil servants in Niger State is not less than 30,000, and the allocation from FAAC [Federation Accounts Allocation Committee] to us is for over 4m people and it is being distributed among only the workers, which is a very serious situation. It means that there will be no developmental projects in the state.”

    He urged workers to tighten their belts for hard times ahead while promising to do his best for the people no matter the predicament.

    “Last month we borrowed to complete the salaries; this month will be worse and next month worst. Workers must endure with the government for in no distant time things will change for the better,” he said.

     

  • ‘Autonomy of local council desirable, but there is still need for little control from the state’

    Bariga, a sprawling Lagos community bordered by water, is reputed for violence, cult war and skirmishes. Yet, the community once witnessed a peaceful and serene atmosphere as residents enjoyed days devoid of violence.

    Speaking with The Nation on the ugly development, a leading businessmen in the community and change agent, Oluwatoyin Dahunsi, recalled the ‘normal’ days and the challenge of coping with recent developments.

    Dahunsi, a pharmacist who grew up in the community, noted that the problems confronting Bariga are intertwined such that finding a solution to one would cause the resolution of another.

    Calling on his political experience as a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dahunsi said that the problems of the community are surmountable if the right person is allowed to run the affairs of the community.

    While recognising the contributions of the present Executive Secretary of the Council, he stated that more could be done to lift the community from the doldrums. Change remained achievable despite reduced allocation to the council from the government owing to dwindling oil revenue and its effect on development of local councils, he said.

    Dahunsi, who is taking a shot at chairmanship of the council, thought the security situation in the community worrisome and promised that he would give it priority if allowed to serve the community. He said: “I will like to start with the social problems we have, right now. Bariga is well-known for the fact that the security situation is very poor. We have the incidence of hooligans all over the place, investors are not safe to bring their business into Bariga.

    “But I believe we need to intervene from that angle first, because for me, for any economic development to take root, we need to arrest the social problem facing the community so that economic development can now come in.”

    Dahunsi, who has championed the empowerment of youths in the community, said there was the need for the council to engage idle hands. “We need to find out ways of creating jobs. We need to do thorough SWOT analysis of what Bariga stands for, we know our strength, we know the opportunities.”

    Contrary to popular belief and consistent with his belief, Bariga could become a business hub for investors. “There are several opportunities in Bariga. We know where we can get money from; we need to invest in them. There are some units tin Bariga that cannot generate money. We need the cash cows that will generate money for us.

    “When we talk about investment, we will be looking at agriculture. Today, we don’t seem to produce anything in this country. This has to change, and I strongly believe that the success of this present administration in Lagos State is going to be dependent on how local governments perform.

    “So, I intend to channel our energy into agriculture. We can start with processing mill; we can process plantain and cassava. We can also process beans or even go into piggery. It is also possible to bring investors in piggery and, along the way, we can bring diversification. We can actually create jobs along the way.”

    While admitting that politicians use some of the youths for selfish ends because of their unemployed status, he insisted that making jobs available in Bariga would render violence an item of the past. “If we can get our boys engaged, we will not create a vacuum for them to be recruited,” he said. “I’m talking about hooligans. We will invest in playgrounds for our children, to keep them busy after school; we don’t want them to be recruited by this set of people.”

  • NULGE seeks NASS support for local govt autonomy

    NULGE seeks NASS support for local govt autonomy

    The National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has called on the National Assembly to support true federalism that guarantees the autonomy of local government administration in the country.

    NULGE National President, Ibrahim Khaleel Abdulkadir, made this appeal when he led a delegation of the union on a visit to the House of Representatives in Abuja.

    He also urged President Muhammadu Buhari to extend the ongoing fight against corruption in the country to the local government councils, adding that the union was in total support of the fight against corruption.

    He said the main challenges facing NULGE were the continuous encroachment and diversion of local government funds by the state governments. He, however, said the union would continue with the struggle for the emancipation of the LGAs.

    He said the state governments imposed political structures at the council areas that most times negated the principles of democracy, alleging that the state governments manipulated the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) during council elections thereby subverting the will of the people.

    Responding, House of Representatives Speaker, Yakubu Dogara, assured the NULGE members that the House would do everything within its powers to ensure that the council areas were granted autonomy.

    The speaker, who was represented by his deputy, Yussuf Lasun, said local government councils should be free and autonomous as they bridge the gap between government and the people at the grassroots.

    He advised them to engage seasoned legal practitioners to study the Nigerian Constitution so as to explore all available opportunities to put in place the framework that will help to realise their quest.

  • Ganduje pledges to guarantee legislative autonomy

    Ganduje pledges to guarantee legislative autonomy

    kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has assured that his administration would continue to work in unison with the legislature to give dividends of democracy to the people.

    He made the remark at the closing of first legislative retreat for members of the House of Assembly, at Ibeto Hotel, Abuja. He said:  “My administration would continue to support your legislative task which we always cherish based on its substance in achieving a well – articulated and coherent mode of governance”.

    “Our government would in no way attempt to tamper with the independence of the legislative arm. Your autonomy is guaranteed under this administration and would continue to be respected”.

    On the theme of the retreat, “Concrete Milestones in Legislative Independence and its relevance to the Current Drive for Change in the Mode of Governance at State and Federals Levels”, the governor described it as an attempt that will translate into changing the tenets of governance for the overall good of the citizenry.

    He stressed that the real measure of the retreat “lies on how its outcome would help towards transforming the lives of the people”.

    While thanking the legislators for the cooperation and understating that resulted in the modest achievements of the state government in the past six months, the governor charged them to sustain their zeal and patriotism.

  • Ganduje pledges to guarantee legislative autonomy

    Ganduje pledges to guarantee legislative autonomy

    Kano State Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has assured that his administration would continue to work in unison with the legislature to give dividends of democracy to the people.

    He made the remark at the closing of first legislative retreat for members of the House of Assembly, at Ibeto Hotel, Abuja. He said:  “My administration would continue to support your legislative task which we always cherish based on its substance in achieving a well – articulated and coherent mode of governance”.

    “Our government would in no way attempt to tamper with the independence of the legislative arm. Your autonomy is guaranteed under this administration and would continue to be respected”.

    On the theme of the retreat, “Concrete Milestones in Legislative Independence and its relevance to the Current Drive for Change in the Mode of Governance at State and Federals Levels”, the governor described it as an attempt that will translate into changing the tenets of governance for the overall good of the citizenry.

    He stressed that the real measure of the retreat “lies on how its outcome would help towards transforming the lives of the people”.

  • ‘Total autonomy for CBN not in public interest’

    ‘Total autonomy for CBN not in public interest’

    Dr. Austin Nweze, a political economist at the Pan Atlantic University, Lagos, in this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf holds the view and very strongly too that granting total autonomy to the CBN may not be in the public interest. Excerpts:

    Workings of the CBN

    Basically, they are banker to bankers or banker to bankers. Government cannot deal with the general public without the CBN, they pass through CBN to deal with the public. In fact, we know the mind of government through CBN and other agencies. So, they play a major role as a banker to government and as a custodian of government treasury and they also ensure that there is stability in the financial system. They are also involved in the management of the economy. Monetary policy management is also part of the job of the CBN.

    Normally, government policies are made via the monetary policy or the fiscal policy. Government is in charge of the issue of finance and all of that while the CBN implements the monetary policy. But the two need to work together for there to be synergy. But again, over the years, the CBN has been haggling for autonomy to be independent of any external influence or government influence. By asking for autonomy, they will be able to decide on what and what they should as long as the fiscal side is clear. However, there is a limit to what the CBN can do no matter how autonomous it is. For instance, it cannot work on the fiscal side.

    Case against autonomy

    The danger of having autonomy is also what the former CBN Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi did by dolling money out money without checks. He was spending money which went to the wrong hands. He gave some billions to the then Kano state government. So, these are some of the things that we need to balance. For any ministry, the personality of the minister defines that ministry. We need to define the proper role and get ideas from other developed nations on how CBN are being run and all that and see which ideas we can adopt and imbibe in our system here so that it can suit our own style of governance.

    Best practice

    We need to go to other advanced economies and borrow a leaf from them. We can see how the Singapore experience is, how the Taiwan experience is and how the Malaysia experience is and see what they have. These are people that have similar conditions and environment like us in Nigeria, so that we need exactly what we will borrow from them that suits our own culture here as a country.

    Again, we need to be careful of who becomes the CBN governor in the future so that we don’t have people with riotous personality at the helms of affairs at the CBN. A CBN governor needs to be someone who is more conservative, not a talkative. We need somebody who can also be able to take risk and know what it is to run an economy. He must be someone who is discipline, someone who has integrity and is passionate about the country. He must see the big picture because Nigeria is the biggest picture, every other personal, vested, selfish, regional interest will be subsumed under the public interest. So these are some of the qualities we require from the CBN governor, if we have to learn from past mistakes.

     

  • NLC, NULGE call for local govt autonomy

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) have called for local government areas’ autonomy to liberate them from the grip of governors.

    The President of NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and his NULGE counterpart, Comrade Ibrahim Khaleel, made the call at a roundtable discussion on Local Government Autonomy, organised by NULGE in Abuja, on Monday.

    Comrade Wabba enjoined NULGE to be steadfast and continue the struggle as the NLC will support the union to ensure that the autonomy of local government is granted.

    Wabba said: “I want to assure you that NLC will fully support and canvass for local government autonomy. Local governments must be allowed to use their funds. I want to urge you to continue the struggle. The local governments must be liberated.”

    Wabba said the issue of joint account should be looked into, arguing that the joint account has not served the purpose for which it was intended.

    His words: “If we all believe that the majority of our people live in local government areas, then that is where development is needed most. So, we will continue to canvas for autonomy. I am also happy that the current National Assembly, with some of their utterances and dispositions, we can also say we can have an ally in the area of strengthening local government administration and also canvassing for autonomy for local governments.”

    According to him, what NULGE has started is an initiative that will bring development closer to the people.

    Wabba said: “In the old good days when our local government system was very functional and effective, the issue of security, agriculture, the issue of providing  jobs for the teeming youths were actually being addressed. Therefore, we must return to the basics if we want to address the challenges in our economy, our polity or even in our social life.”

    He lamented the rate of unemployment, saying through an effective local government system, the agricultural sector can be reinvigorated to curb the menace.

    Khaleel said autonomy for local government system is not negotiable, calling for support from stakeholders to ensure the objective is achieved

    He noted that stronger financial autonomy for local governments would help to strengthen their activities, adding that the union was working assiduously to ensure that the constitutional reforms of local government system are formulated.

    Khaleel said the importance of the roundtable was to produce a rich policy document that would engage government and others in making the local government system stronger.