What does it take to be a governor in Nigeria?

A governorship election just took place last week in Osun State in which candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after a rerun.

About three months ago, a similar election took place in Ekiti State and the winner of that exercise will be sworn in on 16th October, less than two weeks from today.

There are 36 governors administering the 36 states that make up the Federal Republic of Nigeria in addition to a minister that oversees the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja.

Every year, the Federal Government of Nigeria disburses trillions of Naira to state governors and the FCT administration to take care of the needs of the citizens in those states, in addition to the revenue they generate internally as provided for the country’s constitution.

Yet, everywhere you go across all the states in Nigeria, poverty stares you in the face. Wherever you turn to, you hear and actually see Nigerians groaning because of abject poverty and its attendant suffering.

It is the same story from Imo to Lagos, from Port Harcourt to Maiduguri and from Jigawa to Ogun states, there is almost nothing to show that governance is on-going. No value for money and no attempt to build a future for our children.

According to records from the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Federal Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) in 2017 alone distributed about N5.64trillion to the three tiers of government which are federal, state and local governments.

While the Federal Government according to constitutional provisions took the largest share of the money which is 40.78 percent amounting to about N2.3 trillion, states and FCT received N1.52 trillion while the rest went to the local governments.

The above has been the tradition in Nigeria for many years as trillions of Naira is ‘shared’ annually by the people elected to govern states of Nigeria, yet, Nigeria is neck deep into economic misery while the people suffer all sorts of deprivations and die from preventable diseases because hospitals and other health institutions are not functional, the same with roads that are death traps.

All over Nigeria, millions of young and able citizens roam the streets day in day out because they have no job to do which has been the major cause of many forms of delinquent acts as well as criminalities among them.

As I write this piece, many states are owing workers their legitimate salaries with no hope of paying them before many of them will leave office on 29th May, 2019.

While some states are owing workers four months, some others are owing up to 12 months while yet others owe nearly 24 months salaries.

This is in spite of the fact that the Federal Government has at different times released billions of Naira to each of these states as Paris Club refund, in addition to their statutory allocations and Internally Generated Revenue.

Today in Nigeria, state governments cannot construct common drainages leading to the flooding of many communities this rainy season. Across Nigeria cholera is still killing people in hundreds while children still study under trees in some states because governors cannot provide decent classrooms for them to study.

In some states where desertification has continued to expand, governors have failed to heed calls by national and international stakeholders to simply plant trees to mitigate the problem.

When you approach governors and ask why they are not achieving quality results in spite of the huge resources at their disposal, the response they give is that their hands are tied because the law does not allow them exercise full authority within their states.

But according to Chapter 10, Section 13-18 of the 1999 constitution as amended, governors are Chief Executives of their states as well as Chief Security/Law Officers. Their roles as equally spelt out in the constitution include:

A. Promotion of democracy and social justice in the State, repeat, social justice

B. Promotion of security and welfare of citizens as the primary purpose of Government.

C. Promotion of the participation of the people in their governance, and in accordance with the Constitution

D. Promotion of inclusive governance that embrace diverse sections of the citizens, and that respect their cultural diversity and belief systems.

E. Promotion of the integration of all peoples of the State, devoid of any form of discrimination

F. Provision of adequate facilities, goods and services that improve the well-being of all citizens

G. Elimination of all forms of corrupt practices and abuse of power

H. Promotion of State economy and efficiency in such a manner as to secure maximum welfare, freedom and happiness of all citizens

I. Promotion of planned and balanced economy to ensure equity in the distribution of resources to all citizens, and the decentralization of the means of production and exchange in the control of many citizens.

J. Provision of adequate shelter, food, resources, wages, education and health facilities to all citizens, including those with special needs.

K. Provision of easily accessible, independent and impartial Court of Justice, etc

But constitutional provision is one thing, having the capacity to be a governor in the true sense of the word is another.

To be a successful governor depends on the readiness of individual for governance by first acquiring the requisite academic and other trainings, garnering experiences from work and other social interactions

as well as having the intellectual and mental health required to make plans, discern and predict their possible outcomes and therefore execute them without fear or favour; and most importantly, the consciousness to align themselves to why they are governors.

Added to the above is the willingness of the governor to have the open mind that enables him look for and hire the best hands to form a cabinet that would become a performing team of men and women committed and dedicated to achieving goals.

It is the near lack of good governance at the state level and the many social challenges resulting from it that provokes the question- what does it take to be a governor in Nigeria?

Is the aim of becoming a governor just to be the legitimate collector of a state’s portion of Nigeria’s oil rent from Abuja, go home and spend it, anyhow you like?

In the last few years, one would hardly point at a landmark project put in place by any governor in Nigeria that is attracting national and international applause.

It has always been ‘patch- patch’ work here and there as little projects like drilling of boreholes, renovation of dilapidated schools and similar things are commissioned by these governors with fanfare. Where then is all the trillions of Naira shared annually spent? And what planet are we from?