By Mohammed Ibrahim
One of the misinterpretations of political and public policy communications in our country today is that if the country is not developing according to socio-economic expectations, the president alone should be blamed. This is not only warped and wrong, but it is, in fact, a tragic commentary fueled by poor public education and enlightenment on governance.
It is this huge communication gap that the opposition has persistently deployed to manipulate public perception, especially among the uninformed citizens, about the current governance system, which is: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the government of the Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda-led All Progressive Congress (APC) should be solely held responsible for the under-development in many states of the country. No. That is misleading and it is a destructive narrative by the chronic and unpatriotic elements.
As a matter of emphasis, let me underscore the fact that, Mr. President – no matter how committed, patriotic or wizardry – cannot be solely responsible for the development of all the segments of Nigeria. That is simply asking for the impossible. The state and local governments are the other organs of government whose functions are very pivotal to the overall development of the country.
Unfortunately, this is one of the sore areas in our national development trajectory. The sub-nationals are substantially dysfunctional as a result of deliberate negligence and misgovernance by the elite. Specifically, while many states are crawling, the local government administration in the country is completely dead.
It is on record that since independence, no president in our history has given bumper money to the state governors and local governments running into trillions of naira like President Tinubu is currently doing. Thanks to the proceeds of the removal of fuel subsidy. Where are all the trillions? Where are the developmental projects? Do our people in the states and local governments care to ask their governors and council chairmen questions about what they do with the trillions President Tinubu gives them through the monthly federation account? How can a governor not establish two or three manufacturing industries in eight years to create job opportunities for his own people?
The truth is, some governors are not performing. In some states, gigantic billboards are more than infrastructure projects and development. We now have a set of absentee governors who will not stay in their states. Why? Some governors routinely abandon their states and governance, and relocate to Abuja, while others indulge in frequent traveling overseas for frivolities in the name of medical checkups, annual or quarterly leave or break, etc.
From the body language of Mr. President, he is tired of sycophancy. He wants to see loyalists and party men and women with genuine commitment to the development of their states, people who are meeting the needs of the people. He wants to see more Nigerians captured in the social safety net at state and local government levels. He wants to rescue more Nigerians out of poverty and joblessness.
How does a state governor expect Mr. President to be happy with him that his state runs on tricycles and okada as the means of public transportation? That is completely unacceptable in this age. How can any serious economy in any part of the present world be powered by tricycles and okada – not even locally produced but imported? How can a state governor run a whole state from their private residences instead of the official office and residency?
What these state governors fail to understand is that President Tinubu as a professional accountant with vast knowledge of financial wisdom, if he gives you one kobo, he already knows what that money can do. Also as the president, he sees where the governors are doing well or mismanaging or defrauding their states for selfish interests. So nobody should be deceived thinking that there is a safe haven somewhere.
Comparatively, Tinubu did not do that when he was the governor of Lagos state, because he left generational legacies for all to see. Nyesom Wike lived among the people and governed Rivers state with remarkable impacts. The late President Umaru Musa Yar’adua, when he was the governor, lived in Katsina and committed to infrastructure development and the welfare of the people. Governor Sanwo-Olu is fixing Lagos state. Governor Uba Sani is fixing Kaduna state. Governor Babagana Zuluum is fixing Borno state despite the challenges of insecurity.
Governor Hope Uzodinma is fixing Imo state. Governor Ahmed Ododo is working very hard to fix Kogi state. Governors of Enugu, Abia, Delta, Adamawa, Ogun are among other few that are also working very hard to fix their states. If a governor makes his state safe, developed, and Investment-friendly; if he is committed to the welfare of the people, he will stay with his people and work for them.
It is therefore a false narrative and unfair to blame President Tinubu for the poor development of the sub-national levels in the country, or to take the bullet for the poor performance of a state governor. He is doing his own work diligently. Let the governors do theirs as well.
For those who are privileged to know how the mind of the president works – and looking at the performance of his government within just two and half years now – no other president has demonstrated evident desperation and impatience to see positive impacts of the implementation of his Renewed Hope Agenda economic reform policies in the lives of every Nigerian.
He is in a hurry to see Nigeria at the top among the comity of developed nations. He has been carrying the burden of history of Nigeria for decades, a history of years of broken promises by the political leaders, denying the citizens the needed benefits or dividends of democracy. This is what he has come to correct: to keep faith with the promise of the Renewed Hope Agenda with Nigerians.
To fix these problems, Tinubu knew that if he had continued the business as usual when he assumed office, the economy would collapse completely. He took an extraordinarily bold step that only he could have taken by introducing a decisive reform, which he began by removing fuel subsidy which appeared to be unpopular, repositioning of different sectors, leading to increased revenue generation for the country to fund critical infrastructure projects, economic recovery, stability and development.
Nigerians should therefore engage the state governors and the local government chairmen on their performances. For the ruling party, the APC, the loyalty of some of the state governors to Mr. President and the party should be examined again.
The best way any state governor can demonstrate his loyalty practically to the president is by performance. What will give Mr. President unending joy is to see the governors empower the people from the grassroots. It is when the governors revolutionise agriculture. It is when they provide incentives to our farmers to boost their yields and harvests, as well as give them roads so they can access the markets for their produce.
What Mr. President desires most is for the governors to engage in competitive strategic investments in productive and industrial sectors within their states, boost commerce and trade and social interconnectivity, create jobs for our people, and connect our rural dwellers to urban development in order to curb rural-urban migration.
The only thing that will make Mr. President happy and the Yilwatda-led APC appreciate the governors is when they build basic and higher education for our children, and ensure that every Nigerian child is taken out of the streets and enrolled in schools. It is when they provide good hospitals for our pregnant women, children and people.
If the states are working, it will significantly reduce the economic pressures on families because jobs are being created, food will no longer be a problem. Parents and guardians will be empowered to send their children to school, and they can access NELFUND loans to train their children or wards up to any higher institution of their choice.
Those who are not performing cannot be considered as genuine loyalists of the president; they want him to fail in 2027. Interestingly, Mr. President and the National Chairman of APC, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, are fully aware of this development.
It is good that state governors wake up because the 2027 election is not going to be based on cash-and-carry or oral loyalty, no; rather, it is strictly going to be based on performance metrics measured by direct impacts on the lives of the ordinary people of this country beginning from the state and local government levels.
Alh. Mohammed Ibrahim, National Coordinator, PROJECT774 Network for Asiwaju, writes from Abuja.
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