Democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people. Nigeria adopted the American brand of democracy. So it is a presidential system with the two arms of the National Assembly, the the House of Representatives and the Upper Chamber, the Senate. From 1966, the military continued interrupting the democratic process for decades and this has somehow had a very profound effect on the brand of democracy practiced in Nigeria.
Interestingly, since 1999, democracy has been practiced in the country but little progress has been made. The fact that out of a population of a little above 200million, about 133million have been reported to be living in multi-dimensional poverty is worrisome to global economists. Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children at about 20million, unemployment and inflation are on a two-digit high. Invariably, these impacts the life expectancy and living conditions of citizens.
The Roundtable Conversation feels that Nigerians must begin to address some factors that impact on the productivity of Nigerians. Leadership matters and all those in leadership positions must realize that they all have roles to play in the socio-economic development of the country. Ironically, in a federation like Nigeria, there has been a delusional blame of the center as the problem off Nigeria. There is a flawed conclusion by citizens that the presidency is the cause of all the problems in the country.
But the Roundtable Conversation believes that it is high time Nigerians face the realities of their brand of democracy. The federating units – the states must live up to expectations by practicing real democracy where the people is the center of governance. As it has been since 1999, most governors and their alleged godfathers have been dropping the ball.
Nigerian state governors wield too much powers that often make them insensitive to the realities of the citizens.
According to former Minister of Finance and now the Director General of World Trade Organisation (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in her book, “Fighting Corruption is Dangerous”, governors in Nigeria must be held accountable for economic progress to be made not just in their states but aggregately on the nation generally. She detailed her experiences with the governors who under the auspices of the amorphous “Governors Forum” pushed for certain policies that made the country poorer and less economically stable.
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Dr. Okonjo-Iweala tried to bring accountability to the states’ financial space by publishing federal allocations for the people to take note of and monitor the usage of funds by state governments. She pushed for the Sovereign Wealth Fund Sanvings which to her as a development economist would be beneficial to the economy. The governors under their “Governors Forum” pressure group, opposed all accountability routes and did all in their powers to sabotage the economic initiatives of the federal government .
This is just a tip of how state governors can be very irrational. Most of them behave like emperors and this is costing the country huge development deficits. Nigerian governors are so politically influential that they often hold presidents to ransom. The often determine who gets elected to the state and national assemblies as they often influence the delegate selection and other political nuances of the electoral process that are in contradiction of democratic tenets.
It is intriguing how the Nigerian governors since 1999 are often the ones that determine their successors in office. In most cases, this gives rise to the chaotic succession plans that often pitch governors against their deputies or actual successors. The Rivers state former governor Nyesom Wike and present governor Simi Fubara is a case in point. Nigeria forgets too quickly that Rivers is the one of the goose that lays the golden egg. The implications of their quarrels are dire not just for the Rivers people but for Nigeria.
In Abia state, we saw the discord between now Senators Orji Uzor Kalu and his former deputy, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe. A former governor Orji Uzor Kalu was able to allegedly install a successor who was actually behind bars at the time of the election, former governor Theodore Orji who later became a senator. In Enugu state, the political struggle between former governor Chimaroke Nnamani and his alleged godfather former governor Jim Nwobodo almost broke the state. It was their clash that invariably gave birth to the political group of ‘Ebeano’ that was alleged to have chastised the people of the state.
In Ondo state, late governor Rotimi Akeredolu was at daggers-drawn with his deputy, now governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa before his tragic death. In Edo state, the deputy governor, Philip Shuaibu has recently been impeached. He has been in a long running battle of supremacy with governor Godwin Obaseki. In fact there is a long list of deputy governors across the country that have been removed since 1999; Sani Abubakar Danladi in Taraba, Iyiola Omisore in Osun, Simon Achuba in Kogi, late Garba Gadi in Bauchi, Madi Aliu Gusau in Zamfara, Chris Ekpeyong in Akwa ibom and many others. Many blame the lack of constitutionally defined roles for governors for all the shenanigans.
It is important to recall the political odyssey of deputy governors since 1999 because Nigerians have never take into account the impact of the distractions of power play in state politics that distracts governors from doing the work of governance and improving the lives of the people. The loss of focus and the political intrigues that governors are involved in are paid for by Nigerian tax payers and valuable time is spent chasing shadows rather than giving Nigerians the dividends of democracy.
The Roundtable Conversation spoke with Dr. Boniface Chizea, a renowned economist, retired banker and management consultant who is a regular contributor to national and global economic and development issues. We wanted to find out the impact of the lack of the practice of real systemic democracy and accountability by state governors in Nigeria.
Dr. Chizea said that as an economist, he has always drawn attention to the systemic lapses in the country where the people spend months debating the national budget but the states appear silent on their own budgets beyond the perfunctory budget presentations in the houses of assembly even when we know as a nation that most of the houses of assembly members across the states are often mere appendages to governors. So more often than not, the needed scrutiny of state budgets never happens. To him, the idea of state capture as we know it is given full verve in Nigerian states by the governors. They amost seem to be above the law.
If the country is going to work, all hands must be on deck and that includes state economies. We have to review our electoral processes in ways that productivity of governors and other elected people impact on their electoral participations. In the states for instances, how do the governors handle federal allocations? What is the real accountability process for states that are invariably closer to the people? If we are talking about state police for internal security and all those localized policies, it is because the states are the ones closer to the people through the local governments.
Some of the state governors have not shown fiscal responsibility in line with the Act and other economic realities. A situation where some of the governors feel free to accumulate debts even from abroad should be unacceptable. Most do so without due diligence from the state assemblies. Who guarantees the debts, the federal governments or who? There would always be debt overhang and that impedes development. There must be proper systemic accountability processes.
The recent Senegalese election should be a lesson for Nigeria’s electoral process. The people voted in President Bassirou Faye after the Constitutional Court overruled the former President who wanted to manipulate the election dates. It is instructive to note how the former President Macky Sall immediately went into self-exile after the inauguration of President Faye. He possibly anticipated a call to accountability and quickly left the country. He understands that the people had spoken. This is possibly why Senegal has had the most stable democracy in Africa with no military coups. They might not be where they are supposed to be developmentally but they have made electoral democracy a viable option.
The recent complaints from the Zamfara state Commissioner for Budget and Economic planning Mr. Abdulmalik Gajam who in an interview alleged that the past cases of banditry and series of kidnappings in Zamfara had the imprints of past governments in the state raises questions. He further alleged that the previous governments possibly took advantage of the people to misappropriate funds while claiming to be negotiating with bandits.
Recently in a Town Hall Meeting, the governor of Kaduna state, Uba Sani told the citizens that he inherited a huge debt portfolio from former governor Nasir El-Rufai; $587million, N85billion and 115 contractual liabilities. The questions in these two states should be, where were the state houses of assembly? What oversight functions did the House Committees perform during the leadership of both governors in the two states of Zamfara and Kaduna? These two states are mere metaphors for most of other states.
As an economist, Dr. Chizea believes that fundamentally, there can only be no progress until votes begin to count and the people would be at the barricades. Until Nigeria’s electoral processes improve and money does not guarantee nominations and (s)elections, nothing will change. No development can happen if there is no rule of law, no systemic order that can create wealth for everyone. The insecurity in the country is a direct fallout of poverty and want. How can a country develop with no planning, no functional system that hold leaders especially state governors accountable? Questions…
The dialogue continues…
