States should account for money they receive ( 2)
Continued from yesterday
THE Tinubu administration has also signed into law the Electricity Act 2023 that enables states to generate, transmit and distribute power in their jurisdictions. With the miserable failure of the existing bodies to meet the electricity needs of Nigeria, there is an urgent need for the states, now freed from the shackle of federal retardation, to develop their own power infrastructure to accelerate development. That, said Tinubu rightly, is devolution of power that the states have been yearning for. Many months after, not many states have taken advantage of this golden opportunity except a few in the southwest ( in the Agbara industrial zone) and lately southeast, geopolitical zones.
In the latter, enterprising and forward- looking stakeholders in the southeast geopolitical zone have however embarked on the Light Up Nigeria Project in Enugu that is reported to be a collaboration with the Niger Delta Power Holding Company Limited. In the well established business city of Aba, a 181 MW geometric plant has also been commissioned to power industrial clusters in the area. These are steps in the right direction and should be followed up to their logical conclusion where electricity supply will no longer be the luxury that it presently is; and where industries can leverage on its availability to spur economic and social progress in the society.
The states have generally been administered as if their governors hardly read the constitution. Section 16 ( a) stipulates that the State shall ‘ harness the resources of the nation and promote national prosperity… and ( b) control the national economy in such a manner as to secure the maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of every citizen…’ Except for a few of them, most state governors do not make the strenuous effort to improve the internally generated income in their jurisdiction. They are generally content to await handouts from the central government.
Meanwhile, each state sits upon human and natural resources that can be harnessed to ‘ prosperity’, ‘ maximum welfare’ and ‘ happiness’ of their citizens. A lazy, unimaginative state leadership can only bring ruination upon the polity and the people. Pray, how does one explain that state governments received trillions of naira in cash and kind from the Federal Government but, only when the information leaks out do they share miserable crumbs to their citizens? It is just so unconscionable.
The Guardian columnist, Dare Babarinsa, noted that in the First Republic, each region that today has many governors and countless commissioners and aides was competently, effectively, and efficiently administered by only one premier and a handful of ministers. Yet giant strides in development were recorded arguably because the men in charge had character, competence, and commitment to serve for the common good. It is regrettable that devolution of power and authority has so terribly devalued the quality of leadership. But again, it is largely a matter of character that, as they say, imbues a man’s religious, political, or business practice.
In this diverse country, the loud and clear call for a truly federal structure of government is infallible: its advantages demonstrably far outweigh its disadvantages. Alas, failure of leadership at state and local government levels calls to question the capacity of state governors to provide effective and sound leadership in a true federation where much more is given and correspondingly more expected from them.
Are the states ready, willing, and able for the devolution of powers that true federalism implies? They better be because, going forward, it is difficult to see any other sensible way to Nigeria’s stability, development, and prosperity. But if this is granted, then Nigeria needs a crop of leaders and followers that commit to the highest good of the greatest number in the polity. Good governance can only come from, in the opinion of a teacher in Business and Leadership, Warren Bennis, the ‘ unbeatable combination’ of ‘ followers who tell the truth and leaders who listen to them.’
The citizens must muster the courage and the concern to take keener interest in the governance of the state at the three levels. If, as it is well accepted, leadership is a trust, the citizens must force scrutiny, even a sense of shame, upon the men and women on whom they have entrusted their fate. And to help this, the Federal Government should begin henceforth, to publish in as many news channels as possible, what each state and local government receives, and for what purpose. This has been done before during the Obasanjo administration. States and local governments should be made accountable for what they receive on behalf of their people. It is a constitutional necessity that imposes duty and responsibility on governors as well as the people.