BURNING POT BY PRINCE CHARLES DICKSON
What Does A Nigerian Governor Do?
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A Nigerian governor is Nigerian, he often than not is an indigene of
the State he governs/rules/ or controls.
In rare cases, we know a state governor has actually hailed from
another state, and in those cases we have kept the matter under the
realm of gossip and conjectures, like one of the governors in the
North whom we know originally hails from 'agenebode' or so in the
Niger Delta.
Well, is my admonition about where governors come from? Certainly
not! But let's share this learning together in the next few
paragraphs.
Now, in the case that the best man for the job is from another
state, he simply is disqualified, as he is not an indigene, the only
caveat is, in the case of the governor of the Central Bank, and even
on that count, the man must be ethnically/regionally and religiously
correct.
To the grouse then, what do these men do, what really is the job of
a governor...Nigeria has 36 of them, split into the Nigeria
Governors Forum (Jang faction and Rotimi Faction), PDP Governors
Forum, Progressive cum Opposition Governors Forum, Northern
Governors Forum, South-South Governors Forum, South East Governors
Forum, South West Governors Forum, and recently I heard of the
former PDP Governors Forum composed of ex-governors.
What do these men contribute to nation building or even state
building.
On a personal note, these men are entitled to a four wives if muslim,
and a wife if a christian, but scores of then keep a convent/harem
of concubines, girlfriends and mistresses, at least not any has been
caught 'gaying'. In other words, as a governor in Nigeria you
cannot/should not be faithful at home, by extension you owe those
you govern very little and owe much to your harem/party and
godfathers.
It is not so much about what these governors do, as in also what
they do not do. These governors have dozens of commissioners
ranging from 30-45, they are entitled to senior special
assistants/special assistants/advisers (both senior and
junior)/countless aides and yes consultants on various subject
matters.
This allows for governors to spend an average of 7 days only in a
month at the office and in the state. The rest is spent
gallivanting, wedding, naming ceremony, birthday, and death-day,
they attend meetings in abuja, and flex in caucus meetings of how to
remove Jonathan, or how to deceive him and make more money.
Off course all these happen when they are not in Kosovo, Kabul or
Khazastan seeking investors.
There is no governor in Nigeria that has in the last four years
spent an average of 4 hours everyday, 15 days a month and 9months a
year in the office, taking his leave as at when due and handing over
to the right person temporarily. But trust me, these 'guys' are
working so HARD, indeed very HARD.
Have you visited a state without big billboards with one motto or
the other attached to a life size photo of the governor, state mass
transit buses with his picture on them, soccer clubs like Plateau
United christened (the Jang Boys) which was once Dariye Boys and
briefly Botmang Boys. If there's a state similar things don't occur,
then the state has no governor, even the chief servant in the power
state is top of the swagger in these art of self-worship by our
governors-general.
Our governors tell us how difficult the art of state governance is,
and you sure would agree, contending with the opposition, with
political enemies from different camps, and sure spending billions
unaccounted for must be one hell of a job.
Recently I asked how much do our governors earn for all the hard
work? And very few could say. No wonder every one of them tell us
how they were all millionaires before they became governors.
Millionaire state CEOs that don't have factories yet they speak and
act in millions and billions, they tell you to go and die, and if
you don't they give you N2M.
I watch people say governor X,Y,Z is doing well, and I ask where
else do people praise a governor for using your money to give you
utilities that are not priorities, but our beloved Nigeria.
Is there any Nigerian governor with just two cars, with kids in
public schools, and less than N100M, then I will show you a lazy
governor. Today in assets and cash there is no governor who is not a
billionaire, and that's 36 hardworking billionaires.
These hardworking governors spend millions on healthcare, and yet
the hospitals are not good enough to check their health. In one of
the progressive South West States, all of the governor's kids are
schooling in London and the governor flaunts his hardwork in the
educational sector.
Have you had 'Rochanomics' or Kwakwasiya or Redemption, or tar ze
che, the tags are countless yet all these are nothing but empty
shells.
I am using these governors as guinea pigs, but it is really about
our leaders, what do our councilor men/women do, how about the
chairmen, legislators, how has our minister impacted our lives?
We need to start asking questions, we need to demand answers to
issues of governance.
An old axiom speaks of not touching a blind man's hand while eating
with him...for how long our leaders will continue to touch our hands
while the eat--only time will tell.
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