Leaders of the Nigerian media, under the aegis of the Nigerian Press Organisation, have decried the current high cost of governance in the country, reflected in what they described as outrageous allowances and flamboyant lifestyles of political leaders.
This, they say, is one of the triggers of the current socio-political, economic, and security challenges besetting the nation.
The NPO, comprising the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), and the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), took the position during their meeting on Friday May 21, 2021 on the State of the Nation.
The organization noted that Nigeria has been grappling with diverse forms of criminalities, including kidnapping for ransom, banditry, arson, and killings.
It also noted that that these challenges have spawned calls for separatist agitations from different regions of the country.
However, the media leaders restated their faith in one Nigeria.
In a statement jointly signed by Kabiru A. Yusuf, president NPAN, and president, Nigerian Press Organisation; Mustapha Isa, president Nigerian Guild of Editors; and Chris Isiguzo, president NUJ, the media leaders argued that the extravagant lifestyle of political leaders gave rise to the new craze among a growing number of youths that the end justifies the means in their quest for easy wealth.
They particularly called on the federal government to immediately take steps towards devolving powers to the component units by implementing the el-Rufai Committee Report, which, among others, recommends State Policing, in addition to other far reaching adjustments to the structure of governance.
“To leave the Federal Government with 68 items under the Exclusive Legislative List, including policing, is a recipe for unending destructive tension in the struggle for advantage among the federating units.
“It explains why our country is seemingly overwhelmed by non-state actors engaged in criminality and separatist agitations,” the statement reads.
It held that the implementation of the report would curb the rate of criminality, reduce tension across the country, and reset the button of development.
The NPO also called for the implementation of the Orosanye Report, which it said would help arrest the unsustainable high cost of governance.
“A reduced cost of governance will free substantial funds to fight insecurity, provide social safety nets for the generality of the people, fund developmental projects, and stem the current penchant for external and local borrowing by government.”
It also urged the federal government to mount pressure on the National Assembly to pass the Petroleum Industry Bill, which it said is long overdue.
The NPO advised the government to avoid what it called debt overhang, inherent in excessive borrowing, saying the that the current borrowing in the face of the slide in the value of the country’s number one revenue earner is worrisome.
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