(By Favour B. Afolabi)

“Why must we play blind politics with our own nation – letting off those in charge of at least 50% if not more of our collective wealth as a nation and who are more directly connected to the people than the FGN is for the sole purpose of being able to claim to be ‘progressives’ or ‘democrats’ – does progressivism mean that “you must only pay attention to what the Federal Executive does” closing your eyes to what the other administrators and custodians of this democracy does?“

Well while the polity seems stuck in this seemingly never ending Nigerian Governors’ Forum [NGF] debates, I have noticed that:

a)      I see that all those that have become addicted to “the NGF debate” are less concerned with asking some of these same governors to pay up the teachers in their states so they can return to work even as the kids in those schools “waste away their time” at home.

b)      I see that no one wants to bother about the specific performances of any of these governors in their respective states as regarding any expected deliverables – not in Health, Education, Job creation, infrastructure development, etc over the course of their 2-years in office – no one is asking them for their own “midterm reports” yet they all insists that the one voluntarily provided by the FGN is “fake and unsubstantiated.”

c)       I see that now that this same “We v Them” debate leading to the 2015 elections is ongoing – one that has made Tambuwal to seemingly be “on the side of the opposition,” no one seems to be mentioning anymore the “excessive wages” of the house; their under-performance vis-a-vis their work on bills, etc even as I heard Femi Falana’s voice on the radio this morning addressing them and commending them very loudly “for the good work they are doing.”

So, here are the questions that I have for our “expert public commentators:”

  1. is there any such state called “Aso Rock State” within this federation?

  2. isn’t the development of the country supposed to first be measured from the perspective of “the sum parts of it working to the point of aggregating that to the sum total of the overall development of the nation?”

  3. why should we focus on what the Federal Executive [alone] is doing when we would rather look away from what the other parts – Legislature, Judiciary; State Governments are doing?

  4. is there any Nigerian that is from “Aso Rock State” that doesn’t first need to measure the development of his own local or resident LGAs; and then States working even they expect the FGN to do their part in complementing such as well within those same locales?

  5. when the World Bank/IMF/NBS, etc releases reports of “Poverty index” or “Jobless claims” or “Corruption rates” about the country, why can’t such figures be broken down on “a state-by-state basis” so we can ask the respective defaulting parties to sit up rather than pretending as though these figures only CONCERN the Federal Executive effectively ‘forgiving the sins’ of the LGA heads, Governors, National Assembly, Judiciary, State Assemblies, etc in these regards? And why must this polity always use these indices as a political tool to flog the Federal Executive alone as though the states have nothing to do with these reports?

  6. Why must the public led by the popular opinion molders always rise up to the defense of any public administrator from any of these states or arms of government once the EFCC/ICPC moves in on some of them always playing up the politics of “they are being witch-hunted” – so were these agencies only set up to probe only the Federal Executive?

  7. Why must we play blind politics with our own nation – letting off those in charge of at least 50% if not more of our collective wealth as a nation and who are more directly connected to the people than the FGN is for the sole purpose of being able to claim to be ‘progressives’ or ‘democrats’ – does progressivism mean that “you must only pay attention to what the Federal Executive does” closing your eyes to what the other administrators and custodians of this democracy does?

  8. Did America or Britain or the other G8 Nations or BRICs become what they are today by “having only their Federal Governments work while the other arms and other levels of governments earn revenue, sleeping on duty at such times?”

  9. When would we ever get to the point within this polity that we can begin to achieve a semblance of “consistent growth and development across board of all parts of this nation” when all we seem to care about is “what the Federal Executive is doing” while others are let off the hook of being watched even by citizens of such states who should be the real watchdogs of these governments rather leaving these states that they reside in or have most of their family members in to begin to pontificate about what the Federal Executive that is so far away from them is doing and when they begin to scream “dividends of democracy” – is that supposed to be delivered only by “Aso Rock” and not by their respective “Government houses?”

  10. Whenever we have these discussions of national development and growth across all sectors of our national life – must such discussions only be focused on what the Federal Executive is doing – must everyone from my state – Osun wait for the Federal Executive to create the enabling environment within it for industries to come into it so the youths of the state can get jobs thereby? Or must the people of Sokoto wait for GEJ to come and help Wamakko invite Agricultural business from the US or Israel or elsewhere to invest in Agriculture in the state so as to take Almajaris off the streets, creating jobs for the people of the state in the process? Must the Kogi State governor wait for the Ministry of Solid Minerals to help him reach out to Australian companies that can mine the resources in the state so he can earn more taxable income while also creating jobs thereby for the teeming population of his state? Why do these governors become so active when it comes to “opposing Aso Rock” yet become so docile when it comes to “competing economically” with other parts of the country so as to help improve the overall wellbeing of this nation? Why is it that these governors can access international loans and secure government bonds ON THEIR OWN without support from the FGN but would all of a sudden “lose their tongues and intelligence” when it comes to finding creative solutions to the challenges that face the people of their respective states while of course quickly joining others to blame all the problems of the nation on Aso Rock?

Well, it now seems that all you need to do as a serving or ex public administrator within this polity “for all your sins to be forgiven” is to be anti-Aso Rock or anti-Goodluck Jonathan irrespective of the failings that you are currently perpetuating on your job or what wrongs you committed while in office?

(Favour B. Afolabi)

“Opinion pieces of this sort published on RISE Networks are those of the original authors and do not in anyway represent the thoughts, beliefs and ideas of RISE Networks.”