|
One on One With The Northern Governor By Bello Abdullahi
My article “Northern Governors and the NORTH” drew a lot of reactions from those who came across it, Northerners and Southerners alike. The sizeable number of e-mails I received attested to this. Though the reactions differ from one reader to the other, the general consensus was that they all agreed with the contents of the article and therefore shared my thoughts. This inspired me to come up with a one on one chat with the Northern Governor as my little contribution towards the improvement of the NORTH, in addition to those made by others through other media. It is my humble opinion that our leaders know what the problems of the North are but simply lack the courage to tackle them, or simply do not care.
Let me say, for the avoidance of doubt that the article “Northern Governors and the NORTH” was written without malice to any individual in particular. That is why I avoided identifying the affected governor or governors even where real-life cases or situations were mentioned. The criticisms made in the article were borne out of concern by a typical Northerner on the way the governors are running the affairs of their states. I firmly believe that where criticisms are made and problems identified, a solution should be proffered on the way forward, hence my decision to come up with this article. Being a one on one chat, the governor is addressed in person, irrespective of the state.
Under normal circumstances such a blueprint should be detailed and packaged in a volume or two. But for time and space constraints I will be very brief and discuss those key areas that, to my judgment, should be the main focus and if tenaciously pursued will achieve the desired results, the bottom-line of which is a greater and more prosperous North that will make us all proud. We want to drop the shackles of illiteracy, street-begging and unemployment; and finally drop marginalization as an excuse for our leaders’ dismal performance since the demise of the Premier of the then Northern Region, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, of blessed memory. More so such blueprints that are packaged in volumes are, more often than not, never perused for implementation after the ceremonial handover and are only allowed to gather dust and cobwebs in filing cabinets.
Leadership by Example As the governor of your state you are the pillar to which all other things are attached. You are the role model to all the citizens of your state, particularly the youth. You must therefore be above board by living a clean life that is transparent, honest, simple, and honorable, among others. Do not forfeit your salaries and allowances and yet live an expensive and flamboyant life style. This is a sheer act of hypocrisy and a serious misdemeanor. Though elected on the platform of your party, on swearing-in you become the governor of all and sundry, irrespective of the area you come from in your state or party affiliation. Avoid partisanship no matter how subtle. You must not only be just and equitable, but fair to all. Avoid misdemeanors and sleaze no matter how small. Run the affairs of the state more than you will run your personal business. Discourage “yes-Sir”, eye-service, praise singing, and instill discipline through your cabinet down to the civil service hierarchy. Avoid wasting your taxpayers’ money through unnecessary and unproductive journeys (local and foreign) with retinue of entourage. Carry the citizens of your state along as you set out to implement programs that will impact on their lives. Remember one day you will not be the governor of the state as others have been there before you and have left. How you discharge the responsibility given to you will, however, live well after you. Therefore make the best of it, do not squander the chance by blowing it away.
Revolutionize Government Machinery The entire government machinery is known for indiscipline, abuse of procedures and due process, bribery and corruption, red tapism, absenteeism, waste, ghost workers, and above all unpatriotic attitude that cut across the hierarchy of the organizational structure. Therefore for you to achieve your goal you must tighten your belt and revolutionize the whole machinery by instilling professionalism and due process, and enforcing discipline. Keep a slim cabinet and advisers – identify people who share your vision and are ready to serve not to enrich themselves. Avoid sycophants, praise singers, yes-men, or those who are out to enrich themselves and smear you and your administration. The government machinery should be run efficiently close to the way a public quoted company will be run. Any member of your cabinet or advisers that does not share the vision of turning things around in your state should be dropped. Run a transparent administration open to criticisms from all quarters.
Identify Priorities Identify your priorities, depending on the needs of your state. To my mind, all the states in the North should have two priorities in common: Education and Agriculture. The humiliation the Northern representatives were subjected to at the just concluded National Political Reform Conference should be a wake-up call for all our leaders in the North. It is about time we woke up from our slumber and look inward. The agitation for the resumption of search for oil in the North may not materialize since it is the on-shore and off-shore oil revenues that will be used to finance the project. Come to think of it, the cheap revenues from the sale of crude oil are one of the reasons that contributed to the poor performance of our leaders in the North. They only know how to squander the oil revenues at the expense of productive projects that will sustain their states in future. There are no long term plans as most of you do not plan beyond what you can physically see.
To address the issue of education you have to go back to the basics. Most primary and secondary schools in the North are in shambles as a result of which we find it difficult to fill our quotas in the universities. Pump funds into these schools to lay a solid foundation. Avoid widening the gap by building special schools and naming them after you, which will turn out to be for your children and those of your cabinet and advisers. (Only officials of DG and above or equivalent can afford to send their children to such schools) Remember each child in your state should be given equal opportunity irrespective of his background. Establishing your own university should not be a top priority for now. Given the present circumstances, it should be a long-term plan after the foundation is strengthened. My argument is that such universities will have to meet certain standard before they are accredited and since the standard of primary and secondary schools in your state is poor such students may find it difficult to gain admission even with catchment area quota. In the end students from other states may end up getting admission into strategic courses. Some states in the North have more universities than some countries in the west African sub region!
You have to also make agriculture a top priority. Invest heavily in it by stockpiling inputs such as seeds, fertilizer, pesticides, etc. well in advance. Identify and encourage your citizens to enroll into agriculture institutes within the country and even go a step further by sending outstanding ones outside the country at government expense. Establish agriculture institutes if need be and fund it well to employ qualified teachers and invest in research. It is disappointing if you have to invite farmers from other countries to come and invest in agriculture in your state, while you squander funds in unproductive projects. It is the same land those farmers are going to use, bringing their capital and expertise. Why don’t you pick up the challenge and be different. You can also do it. Distribute lands strictly for farming and monitor to ensure they are not converted to residential or commercial purposes. All unemployed youths that parade our streets hawking or begging should be drafted to government farms. Your priority should be to eradicate illiteracy and bring back the lost glory of agriculture that used to be the mainstay of the country’s economy.
Good Governance This is the best and most important “democracy dividend” you can give the citizens of your state – not the doctored achievements your press secretary or commissioner for information dishes out through the print and electronic media, or the sponsored programs that are aired daily through free lance retired journalists. With good governance all other things are possible.
Insist on accountability from all government arms, from the government house to the legislature, civil service and the judiciary. All government funds must be duly accounted for; any cases of self enrichment or embezzlement must be investigated and prosecuted. There should be no sacred cows. As it is now you have to buckle up and face the monster head-on because the entire machinery in your state is stinking – vouchers and claims are processed at a price, payrolls are inflated, ghost workers collect salaries for years on end, government properties are being converted to personal use, contracts and LPOs are being inflated, direct labor jobs exist only in name, government houses are being used as personal guest houses, to mention just some of the misdemeanors your officials engage in. In short most, if not all, of your cabinet members, senior civil servants and the retinue of “special advisers” you keep are living a life style that is a far cry from what the government pays them.
Ensure due process in all government dealings. No upfront payments for contracts without a bond or guarantee from a strong bank, contracts should be awarded to professionals only after a transparent tender, all expenditures should be within approved budgets, civil service procedures should followed on all issues as was the case before and immediately after Independence. Do not spend public funds any how by financing your state party secretariat, unnecessary gifts to party hangers-on and praise-singers, financing your unrealistic election campaigns, unproductive foreign trips with retinue of delegates, sponsoring pilgrims or financing weddings and other personal affairs. Engage professional accountants to audit all government accounts yearly and each government ministry or agency so audited must come out clean.
Uphold professionalism in your government machinery, from the government house down. All decisions-making must be in the interest of the people of the state without bias or sentiments. Strive to restore the lost glory of the “senior service” and the entire public service as the pride of any citizen before and immediately after Independence.
A Lasting Legacy The best and everlasting legacy you can leave behind is “good name and good governance”. Not the number of schools and streets you name after yourself, or the number of “doctorates” and traditional titles you bought. And certainly, not how many houses, estates, filling stations, or shopping plazas you built, or how much you were able to stash in foreign accounts or the number of houses you acquired in foreign land. You will either outlive some of them or they will out live you. Remember, others were there before you and will definitely be there after you. Therefore make the best use of the opportunity you have. Remember your humble beginning and the opportunity God gave you to serve your people in particular and the region in general. Most of the people that surround you now and sing your praise will be the first to curse and demonize you immediately after you are gone. Most importantly, my dear Governor, fear God the Almighty and know that whatever you do while in office you will account for them before HIM even if here on earth you managed to escape the long arms of the law simply because you either have “immunity” or you are OBJ’s boy.
If you are entitled to serve another term, I wish you good luck if not for anything but for you to heed this advice and turnaround things that will add value to your state in particular and the region in general. And if you are constitutionally barred from coming back, too bad, because you have had a golden opportunity which you blew away. History will definitely place you where you belong – into the dustbin of past leaders who came to office through rigged elections, forgot their humble beginnings, enriched themselves and melted away into oblivion.
There must be a paradigm shift in the North.
|