Outgoing governors’ booby traps
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The news coming from states where incumbent governors have suffered crushing electoral defeat in the 2019 election are not palatable at all. Prior to this, I was of the firmed belief that the people should always be taken into confidence in all matters affecting their general wellbeing. I also used to see governance as a continuum where nothing untoward would be executed to deliberately suffer the people on account of their constitutionally guaranteed freedom of choice! But, alas, I was so naive not to have realized that, in the peculiar context of Nigeria, the people are never at the center stage of any policy, other than selfish aggrandizement.
According to the news currently trending, most outgoing governors are busy setting up obnoxious booby traps in order for the incoming governors to find it extremely difficult to manage their states financially, thereby causing serious distrust and crisis for the new administration. This is definitely done in bad test considering how we all knew how terrible the financial status of most state in especially the North has been in recent years.
Indeed, it has been an open secret most Nigerians are aware about, that the inability of most state to execute meaningful projects and provides infrastructures and basic amenities for the electorates stems basically from lack of enough resources and corruptions. In this regards, I find it difficult to rationalize the ongoing craze by outgoing governors to incur more debt for their states other than devilish desire to aggravate an already precarious situations.
Currently, new staff are being employed on a massive scale. Ditto new districts and contracts awards and signing of new debt profile for the states. In fact, in some states we heard that new salary package may be implemented soonest before May 29 handover, in order to add to the problems for the incoming administrations. This is pathetic and tragic, because the motives are simply ulterior.
If these policies were implemented at the beginning of the outgoing administrations by the incumbent governors, nobody will raise an eyebrow as the buck lies on their table to see how to implement such policies, but to embark on it at the twilight of their rule calls for different interpretations and serious questions.
Unfortunately, the incoming governors are really in trouble by whichever angle one glance at the situations. I’m sure they are happy at all, as the only option left is outright reversal which might backfire against them, or maintaining the statuesque ante which will practically be too difficult to sustain. They are indeed holed up in a catch22 situation!
Overall, these actions by the outgoing governors are a great disservice and betrayal of the people’s trust. And it stands condemned. It is unfortunate that our ceaseless yearnings and aspirations for good governance will remain a mirage in Nigerian in so far as those trusted with our mandate will always resorts to weird and untoward behaviors contrary to their oath of office.
Kabir Tsakuwa, Kano.