Former President Olusegun Obasanjo Monday gave a damning report on why development is stunted in Nigeria: governors divert local government allocations to other uses.
Obasanjo disclosed this Monday in his opening remark at the inaugural conference of the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy which was held at the University of Ibadan in the Oyo State capital.
The former president insisted that chief among the many problems plaguing the presidential system of government in Nigeria is the alleged diversion of funds meant for developmental projects by state governors which consequently renders the 774 local governments impotent. He added that governors have rendered public institutions irrelevant.
He posited that Nigerians are yet to imbibe the values of the presidential system which he said is able to address diversities in the country as well as capable of helping to galvanize resources to develop the Nigeria of our dream.
Pointing to the financial challenges confronting the country due to the fall in the price of crude oil, Obasanjo said: “It is indeed proper for us in Nigeria to ask the question: Is the government working? Is government positioned to deal with challenges arising from these new developments?
“Is there good governance in the 36 states of the federation where some governors have become sole administrators, acting like emperors? These governors have rendered public institutions irrelevant and useless. Is there development work going on in the 774 constitutionally recognized local government councils which are known to have been appropriated as private estates of the governor’s?
“And of course, when governors take their money, the chairmen of the councils take the balance of the money, put it on the table and share it out among council members. In some local governments, has the governors not hijacked most of the resources in them and expended them to serve their whims and caprices instead of using the resources to galvanize growth and development? Have we embraced the principles and values of the presidential system of government such as to enable us to realize our vision of a great country? Instead of the waste that we experience, has the National Assembly been able to live up to its role as an agent of oversight and public accountability?
“When are we going to be able to practice federalism in a way that promotes healthy competition among the states for the benefit of the citizens? When are we going to subordinate partisanship to collective goals and deploy the full potentials of our diversity to advance public causes that serve the aspirations of the teeming masses of our people crying under the cringe of poverty, disease, unemployment and neglect? When shall we all unite around the Nigeria dreaming our quest to be the giant which God has graciously endowed us to be?
“Why is it that every model that has worked elsewhere never seems to work sustainably in Nigeria? Can go on and on.”
He bemoaned the low level of skills in the civil service as well as the different faces of corruption in the country.
Obasanjo also re-emphasized the need for the National Assembly to open its budget to the public because of the need to operate in line with the reality of the current Nigerian economy.
The former president challenged the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy to rise up to provide solutions to the myriads of problems confronting public service and governance in the country.
In his keynote address, Chief Emeka Anyaoku offered a new model of the presidential system, which he believes would address most of the problems currently confronting the Nigerian system.
Emphasizing that the Nigerian constitution is deformed, Anyaoku, who is a former Secretary General of The Commonwealth, described the current constitution as well as those developed since 1966 as unitary-federal.
According to him, the country is better with the existing six geo-political zones as the federating units instead of the current 36 states.
He recalled that the regional federating units fared better in the First Republic, adding that it promoted healthy competition among the regions.
Instead of tinkering with the edges, Anyaoku advised the current National Assembly to make fundamental changes in the constitution to enable Nigeria pursue her dream of greatness.
His words: “Instead of the present structure of 36 economically unviable states with concentrated political power at the centre, the National Assembly should convert the existing six geopolitical zones, which have been recognized and are being used for a number of political decisions and actions, into the more viable federating units of a truly Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The 36 states can be retained as development zones within the region’s but without full administrative paraphernalia. And it would be up to the six federating regions to consider and meet any demands for the creation of new development zones within them.
“As more viable units for planning and attracting investments in larger development projects, the six regions will facilitate the necessary shift from the present philosophy and reliance by the 36 states on “sharing national cake,” to focusing on production and internally generated revenue within the regions. In addition, internal security and crime control can be more effectively managed by the people in the regions who know and are more familiar with the local environment.”
In the proposed model, Anyaoku recommended that the Federal Government should retain exclusive power on certain matters and related institutions including finance and monetary policy, Defence, foreign affairs, immigration, customs, aviation, maritime and minerals (liquid and solid). Others are internal security (but liaising with regional security agencies), judiciary (but only the Supreme Court), education (but only federal universities and supervision of standards for all tertiary institutions), health (only federal teaching hospitals including at least one state-of-the -art specialist hospital in every region) and federal highways and railways.
He further proposed allocation sharing formula as 40 per cent for the Federal Government and the balance of 60 per cent to be shared equally by the six regions.
In his welcome address, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy, Dr Tunji Olaopa, explained that the idea of the special school was borne out of the experience he gathered in about three decades in the public service.
He pointed out that the institution would identify the gaps and offer solutions through Nigerians who are highly experienced in art of modern governance.
Olaopa also emphasized the need for the Nigerian civil service to embrace modern public service delivery system, which he said is needed to accomplish the goal of building the country of our dream.
The Guest Speaker, Prof. Richard Joseph, also offered eight areas of possible focus for the school. They are state systems in the political order, optimization and productive innovation, claiming democracy and social wealth. The others are federalism and conglomerate government, democratic development governance, religion and public sphere as well as collective security.
At the conference were the Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, who was represented by his deputy, Chief Moses Alake-Adeyemo; Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Kayode Fayemi; Prof. Akin Mabogunje, who is the Chairman of the school’s Board of Directors; Prof. Pat Utomi; Prof. Alaba Ogunsanwo; Prof. Jide Osuntokun; former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran; Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Abel Olayinka; former Head of Service, Prof. Oladipo Afolabi and Mr Odia Ofeimun.
Others are former Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Prof. Peter Okebukola; Prof. Ostia Ogbu; Dr Yemi Farohunbi and former Minister of Communication, Dr Mrs Omobola Johnson, among others.
