1 week ago
25
By John Ogunsemore
A sociopolitical commentator, Dr Raji Bello, said the Nigerian constitution should take a large chunk of the blame for the inability of many state governors to provide much-needed social amenities for the citizenry.
Raji Bello said this in a Facebook post on Monday while praising popular skitmaker and good governance advocate, Dan Bello, who recently built boreholes for two communities in Katsina.
According to him, Dan Bello was able to provide those amenities, despite having access to less resources than governors, because he does not need to win “elections”.
Raji Bello said the need to win elections, re-elections and stay politically afloat made many governors pander to antidemocratic forces.
He proposed relieving governors of the burden of standing for elections.
Raji Bello said, “There is a viral clip of a borehole project for two rural communities of Katsina State which was sponsored by the skit creator and good governance activist Dan Bello. The villagers were desperate for clean water after having endured the use of dirty water from ponds for years. Nigerians have wondered why their governors do not pay attention to urgent needs of the masses like clean water.
“I think the Nigerian constitution is mostly to blame for the problem. It has created governors in the states and imposed a huge burden on them: they have to win elections. The conduct, policies and priorities of Nigerian governors are significantly influenced by this heavy burden that they have to bear. Therefore, they not only have to invest in the welfare of the people but must also invest in winning elections.
“Our constitution has therefore created a huge distraction away from development in the states. Governors are compelled to pander to interests that have little bearing on development because of their need to win elections and keep the political arena calm. They must invest in religious causes and clerics, traditional rulers, and execute visible prestige projects to enhance their appeal. A lot of money is also used to keep political stakeholders and state assembly members happy just to avoid trouble. The resources of states, especially in the North, have to be spent just for the governor to remain politically afloat, avoid the disaster of impeachment and win re-election.
“Added to the above is the fact that the only authority that a sitting state governor is answerable to is the one that is actually subordinate to them and could be easily bought over with favours i.e. the state assembly. Because governors are not accountable to a higher authority and are faced with the necessity of using public funds for their own survival, many developmental priorities would inevitably suffer relegation.
“On the other hand, Dan Bello enjoys the luxury of not having to win election or re-election. Also, he has no stakeholders to keep happy except his family, doesn’t face the risk of impeachment and there are no opposition politicians breathing down his neck. The peace of mind that Dan Bello enjoys is what enabled him to remember the rural masses of Katsina State and their need for clean water.
“If we want governors to work like Dan Bello, we must create governors who resemble Dan Bello.
“Instead of being directly elected, governors should be appointed by the president (and confirmed by the National Assembly) like it is done in some countries with unitary systems.
“Let’s give them the peace of mind of not having to win elections or pander to numerous interests just to survive.
“In fact, let’s make sure that the governor of a state is not even a native of the state that they govern which would further insulate them from distractions.”
Raji Bello further proposed placing governors “under the oversight of a higher authority”.
“We can create a very able team of technocrats and development experts under the office of the vice-president, for example, or a ministry of territorial administration to supervise development in the states while creating room for each state’s uniqueness and peculiar priorities.
“This body of technocrats should present a development template to each governor to implement with strict supervision.
“If we adopt this model, water supply, schools, maternal and child health will not be neglected again.
“And because there will be more development in people instead of just in construction projects like we now have, we will end up with fewer marginalised and disillusioned citizens which will be good for our security.”
English (US) ·