Against the backdrop of the
raging debate over the real cause of recent defeat of Kayode Fayemi,
governor of Ekiti State, by Ayodele Fayose, candidate of the People’s
Democratic Party (PDP) in the gubernatorial election, ZEBULON AGOMUO
writes that future governors in the country should, while providing
infrastructural development, make provision for the immediate needs of
the masses.
In the words of Joseph Story (1779-1845)
an American judge, “A new race of men is springing up to govern the
nation; they are the hunters after popularity, men ambitious, not of the
honour so much as of the profits of office- the demagogues, whose
principles hang laxly upon them, and who follow not so much what is
right as what leads to a temporary vulgar applause.”
Ahead of the next general election, the
tempo of political activities in the states is increasing by the day
with potential contenders and pretenders jostling for one position or
the other.
Even in the states where the incumbent
governors are not returning as they are serving out their last tenure,
such governors are still at the forefront of the consultations and the
wheeling and dealings that are currently going on, to install their
cronies as successors so that the status quo will remain.
Over the years, the definition of
performance in office by Nigerian governors has mainly centred on
provision of perishable things. Most state governors, for instance,
believe that construction of roads, clearing of gutters, and provision
of boreholes are the beginning and end of governance.
Since the return of Nigeria to civil rule
in 1999, governments at different levels have continued to lay claim to
superlative performance even though the unemployment level in the
country is widening by the day. In the last fifteen years, the nation’s
education system has nosedived even with a litany of colleges and
universities in the country (both federal and states). A good number of
Nigerian citizens have begun to seek quality education offshore.
Employers of labour are daily lamenting the low quality human capital
that is being churned out by the Nigerian universities, polytechnics and
colleges of education. The major blame is on government that pays only a
fleeting attention to education while spending heavily on perishable
things.
State governments have continued to
advertise their heavy investments on roads, water projects but only a
few has done something commendable in areas that have a lasting appeal.
Recently, Pat Utomi, a former presidential aspirant, noted that heavy investments on roads are efforts in futility.
According to him, any government worth
its name must invest in the education of the people which is key to
development of any society.
Citing instance with the Lagos-Ibadan
Expressway, Utomi recalled that there was a time when the road was so
good that some motorists could do the journey from Lagos to Ibadan under
40 minutes. He, however, pointed out that today, the story has so
changed that the road has become a shadow of itself and a death trap.
He recalled a statement made by a
foreigner who travelled on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway to the effect that
“The drive from Ibadan to Lagos is the violation of the human right of
anybody who does it.”
Comparing the investment on that road
with that made in education, the founder of Centre for Values in
Leadership (CVL) said that products of any investment on education could
build roads several times over because they had been sufficiently
empowered.
It was his belief that while government
is investing on infrastructural development, it should also pay
attention to education and provision of jobs, creating the enabling
environment for people to create employments for themselves.
Utomi, who is now a member of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), told BDSUNDAY that “to build road that can
wash away with time is no test of governance, but building things that
last. Leaders don’t do things that can wash away within a few years, but
things that can endure. If we invest in human capital development, it
will do us well.”
His view was shared by Christian Udechukwu, a delegate representing the Diaspora Nigerians at the ongoing National Conference.
Udechukwu expressed belief that building
of boreholes, roads and other perishable things is not all that
constitutes performance in government.
“We shouldn’t be clapping for governors
who are building roads; it is the fundamental things they are supposed
to be doing. What is worthy of celebration is when we are benchmarking
ourselves against the world in terms of our children, the schools they
are going to; what is the class size; what is the quality of education
they are getting; what is the ratio of students to teachers; what is the
quality of facility that is available for them to stretch their
imagination, even at kindergarten. I am not saying primary or secondary
school but at the kindergarten level. They should have materials that
challenge the imagination of the child before he even gets into primary
school.
“And when he gets into primary, he should
begin to see those things that he saw as a child manifest in his class
and be part of his learning processes so that by the time he develops
into secondary, he knows what his peers anywhere in the world know. That
is the sort of benchmark that we should set for ourselves.
“It should be the business of our
governors and local government chairmen to ensure that this same
standard applies everywhere so that every child is equipped. If every
child is equipped, then your future as a parent is secured because the
child is successful, and you won’t be running about pensions”.
In his observation on why most political
office holders in the country do not live up to expectation, Jonah Isawa
Elaiwu, a professor emeritus of political science, University of Jos,
said it was because the political space is populated by “political
contractors.”
“The political contractor is a
businessman in the political terrain. For him, democracy is tolerable
nuisance, which provides greater access to resources. The end of
democracy and values are unimportant, even though he may be shouting
them at public fora. For him, democracy provides opportunity for an
investment which must be recouped,” Elaiwu said.
The voting masses
Pundits say that one potent tool which
politicians employ to have their way with the voting masses is the
instrument of poverty which they propagate.
Acho Nduagu, a civil servant told
BDSUNDAY that politicians have destroyed the middle class to enable them
use poverty as a potent tool to ride to power.
“Those who vote in Nigeria are the poor
(people); you hardly see rich people at the polling booths on election
day. They sit in their houses watching CNN; they don’t even follow the
election on local channels. So, what these politicians do is to
distribute few naira notes to voters, or they give out a few cups of
rich, maggi cubes and other food items, and with these they woo people
into voting for them. So, if you are talking about making the school
system work or job creation or empowering people, they will tell you
there are no resources to embark on such projects. They want to make
people remain poor so as to continue to prey on their ignorance to ride
to power always,” Nduagu said.
A public affairs analyst, who asked not
to be named, cited the administration in Lagos as a unique one in terms
of development in education alongside infrastructure. He also pointed
out that the ‘Centre of Excellence’ combines everything that enhances
governance.
“When I read the commentaries on Ekiti
election and why Governor Fayemi lost despite his achievements in
infrastructural development, I quickly compared it with what is
happening in Lagos. In Lagos, the current administration has done fairly
well on infrastructural development; it has renovated and built new
schools all over the state; health centres have been established and old
ones refurbished and they are all functioning well. If you ask me, I
will also say that there is ‘stomach infrastructure’ in Lagos. Area boys
are untouchable. They operate freely. These miscreants as we may call
them are those who mobilise for politicians to win election. We also
know about the ‘Omo Onile’ phenomenon in Lagos, even though Fashola is a
lawyer, he has not stopped their activities. They are also untouchable.
These are ways government in Lagos provides that ‘stomach
infrastructure’ for them,” he said.
The analyst further said that a situation
where governors and their aides live in affluence whereas indigenes who
voted them into power die in hunger does not make for a good
relationship between the leader and the led.
“One of the reasons they gave for
Fayemi’s loss was that he allegedly neglected the welfare of the people.
But the people were able to shift attention to Fayose who promised them
a populist programme and even practised it during electioneering
campaign. The corruption level in government has made Nigerians to lose
faith in their leaders. While you are building the road, provide good
education and welfare to reduce the suffering of the people. The sense
in this is that people must be alive to use the good roads, attend the
good schools and other amenities. When you flaunt wealth before people
and at the same time preach belt-tightening and the need to make
sacrifices, it will not work, because you are not showing the good
example. Nigerians must begin to look well before they vote in 2015,” he
said.
A middle-aged man attributed Fayemi’s loss to the inability of his trusted aides to do their jobs properly.
“Many of his aides were empowering
themselves at the expense of the people. Whatever the governor gave them
never got to the people. Some of them have ambitions, and they were
working seriously, building their own political structures. They
shielded the governor from the people. So, many began to see the
governor as inaccessible. Whatever money the governor asked them to give
to the people in terms of empowerment ended up in the pockets of the
aides. And they made sure the governor never got to know, since they
wouldn’t let the people see him. Even the ones from this town, in what
ways did they help anybody? How many of them were even accessible? Most
of them, even his commissioners, would tell you they were technocrats,
not politicians, just so that you would not ask for any favour from
them. How many of them voted during the election? Most of them had
already moved their families out of Ekiti,” the middle-aged man said.
Henry Nwagbara, an ICT expert and social
commentator, deplored the attitude of most governors in the country, who
according to him see themselves as mini-gods and as a result take all
manner of actions that are detrimental to the growth of the people and
the nation.
“I would want Nigerians to begin to
interrogate issues; we must begin to ask questions about what governors
do with the huge resources at their disposal. The next election, I think
provides another opportunity for us to vote in competent and people of
integrity as governors. For me, the ideal governor is that person who
does not see political power as an instrument to amass wealth at the
expense of the people. Governors must begin to see themselves as the
chief servant of the people of their states. But when a governor begins
to live beyond his means simply because he has seen the wealth of the
state at his disposal, it smacks of insensitivity. Look at what is
happening in Edo today, after putting families into an untold distress
through a retrenchment exercise that was not well conceived; the state
government has recalled them. This volte-face was not born out of any
reasonable thinking, but a mere response to the APC loss in the Ekiti
election. We cannot afford to be treating fellow human beings as if they
were lesser mortals,” Nwagbara said.
“I am also sad that almost in all the
states across the country, governors have destroyed the local government
system. A governor will spend eight years without conducting a council
election; he will be using sole administrators and all that, but when it
remains a few months to his exit he begins to organise local government
election; some even create new councils just to destabilise their
successor. If these impunities must stop, we must vote right in 2015,”
he added.
Zebulon Agomuo
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