The debate has not stopped and will definitely not stop on the huge cost of governance in Nigeria until the leaders understand how frustrating and annoying it is, that, while the majority of the populace go hungry, they see those wielding power, both elected and appointed, living in opulence. And this is despite the fact that these leaders are aware and have accepted the outcome of several researches and reports that there is abject poverty in the land. With more than 60 percent of the over 200 million population said to be multi-dimensionally poor, it will be difficult to justify the opulence among Nigerians in the face of abject poverty.
This debate came strongly to the fore again when President Bola Ahmed Tinubu sent a list of 48 ministerial nominees to the Senate for screening. This was further echoed last week when the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, apparently slipped in announcing that the Clerk of the National Assembly had sent a token to “our Distinguished Senators for their break”. That token turned out to be at least N2 million, which some of them even described as amounting to nothing.
From the occupants of the Presidency to the National Assembly, Governors’ Lodges, State Assemblies and other elected and appointed office holders, including the Service Chiefs and Inspector General of Police, the obvious indulgence of a few in the commonwealth does not leave good tales to tell. For years, the Presidency has vowed to scale down the number of planes in the Presidential Fleet; so also, there have been promises to reduce the convoys of elected and appointed officials; and the innumerable number of aides, Ministries, Departments and Agencies. Yet, the percentage of those benefiting from the commonwealth at the level larger percentage see as wastage is negligible.
A cursory look at the convoys of some elected and appointed officials is a good starting point. Not just in terms of the number of vehicles, but also the cost of some of the vehicles that will ultimately require huge maintenance costs and replacement after usage for a couple of years. There was outrage the other day when several exotic vehicles were seen in the convoy of Senator Akpabio as he left the National Assembly. Most State Governors, Service Chiefs and Inspector General of Police also parade fleets of vehicles that do not speak to the reality of the country as economically unstable.
- Three Lagos Assembly workers apologise to DSS for assault
- Naira-For-Crude: Has our husband gone mad again? (Pt.1),
- BBC faces funding challenge, real income drops by £1bn
- Emir Sanusi warns Kano youths against plans to attack Igbos over Edo killings
- Tinubu congratulates Jim Ovia on admission to Freedom of the City of London
There have been arguments that some of these luxury vehicles and the rather large fleet of aircraft in the Presidency are for security reasons. But this argument cannot resonate in the face of the extreme poverty in the land. Indeed, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu confirmed what we have always known as the fear of the unknown by our security agencies when he told the NLC that top on the reasons why he can’t scale down the obvious flamboyance around the Presidency has been security concern raised.
Let us quote the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Joe Ajaero, who spoke after a meeting of the Organised Labour with Tinubu, following the commencement of their strike over the increase in the price of fuel and harsh living conditions: He said: “He (Tinubu) took his own case for example. He told us that if you come to his fleet of cars, that it was large and he made efforts to reduce it and he was told that it’s a security issue. He equally went further to say that he prefers to use his own private jet and they told him no, it’s a security issue, he must use the government jet. And he went further to say, even himself, that he’s using only a two-bedroom flat. That he’s trying as much as possible to tighten his belt and he will try as much as possible to talk to his people working with him. So, I don’t know what that means.”
Indeed, like Ajaero, many Nigerians cannot comprehend this line of argument. But that is not where it ends. Aside from the large number of Ministers and Commissioners at the state level, it is also worrisome that the country has over 600 Ministries, Departments and Agencies enrolled on the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). According to information emanating from the National Assembly, if all the MDAs of the Federal Government are put on the IPPIS, they would be over 900. And this was revealed by the one who should know: the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr. Folashade Yemi-Esan. The big question is: What is Nigeria doing with this huge number of MDAs with all its associated bureaucratic super structure?
The same obtains at the state level, where some Governors even appoint as many as 200 Advisers, which ultimately puts the pressure on scarce resources. Yes, President Tinubu attempted to defend such appointments as employment, but a wider spread of the resources should have been more beneficial to the country than limiting it to a few who would then be provided with all the paraphernalia of office, including vehicles and security operatives that would have been more useful in tackling the country’s insecurity rather than guarding just one man.
Still, it is curious that a lot of the MDAs are mere duplications. And there are several instances in this respect. Under the Federal Ministry of Works are the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency and some others with similar job specifications. Such duplications are also at the state level with all their attendant bureaucratic infrastructure, including staff and vehicles.
Nigeria can ill-afford these luxuries at this time. And it should not even be at any time. Therefore, conscious efforts must be made to reduce the cost of governance in the country now and in the future. President Tinubu, as part of his move to straighten things out can begin a move to reduce the number of Ministers specified in our laws, which is 42. This translates to one for each state of the Federation and six for the six geopolitical zones. From what one of Tinubu’s Ministers, who served in the immediate past administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, Festus Keyamo, said, those who end up as Ministers of State have virtually no value addition to the government! So why just appoint for the sake of doing so? A constitutional amendment will definitely be needed at this time.
In addition, conscious efforts must also be made to streamline the numbers of MDAs in the country. A situation in which the bulk of the country’s resources is used to service the civil service and a few political and elected office holders and their appointees will continue to take the country down the drain. Now is the time to cut the wastes and the slacks, as a lot of these appointees and workers under them have little or no value to add, with respect to taking the country to a greater height.
Follow The Eagle Online Channel on WhatsApp
