By Steve Osuji
I once asked a Governor I regarded very highly why he failed woefully with his LGAs just like all the others.
And he threw if back at me: “Steve, would you want to be an LGA chairman?”
I was shocked. Of course, that’s all I want to be … so I can lift my people.
But my friend, the Governor, was being clever by half. He knew it and he knew I knew.
We both knew that the local government councils in Nigeria had long been STOLEN by our perverse politicians and their godfathers.
The federal allocation and much of the funds in this 3rd tier of government are simply STOLEN nearly in their entirety.
This explains why nothing happens in nigh all of them; this explains why Nigeria will never grow; this explains why LGAs are referred to as UNGOVERNED spaces in Nigeria. Why should spaces under LGAs be called ungoverned spaces?
I want to wager that IT’S ONLY IN NIGERIA THAT UNGOVERNED SPACES ARE FOUND IN THE WHOLE WORLD!
But back to WALE ADEDAYO and his recent triumph as LGA chairman of Ijebu-East LGA of Ogun State.
I congratulate you, I salute your courage. You are a top journalist who had also served as aide to Governors. Ordinary people like you are probably best suited to return to the LGAS and impact massively on them.
But as you well know, the LGA system in Nigeria is a huge farce. Of course, you know that even the so-called election that brought you in is equally a farce. It’s nothing to do with you and there’s nothing you can do about it.
My brother, you will not succeed as an LGA Chairman and that’s because our Governors and their collaborators have set up our LGAS not to work, or rather, to fail.
To think that LGAS were the strongest of government in the colonial and immediate post colonial days. The best minds could be found there and they delivered the best goods to the people.
Our vile politicians diminished and then totally killed the LGAS. Governors took away all the functions of the local council so that only they would have access to the treasury and only they would control state revenues.
Mark it that you shall get a monthly federal allocation of about N100m (plus or minus). You shall be required to sign for about one quarter (say N25m if you are lucky) to pay salaries and maintain status quo. Whatever else you may be able to scavenge around you, you may deploy as you deem fit. But it won’t amount to much because the place is not set up for business.
I don’t really know your current make up, but you are either going to fall in line with this legitimised racket or you fall out sooner. But to have come this far means you are already well seated in the gravy train.
Without exception, hardly anything goes on in our local government councils and that is the bane of Nigeria today.
I want to believe this photo you posted is taken from your LGA headquarters. See the environment overgrown with weeds. This is typical of our LGA Headquarters all over the country with just slight variations.
I wager again that you may not as much as be able to trim the lawns and hedges around your offices… somebody around you would need the gardener’s budget desperately and you would be faced with the difficult decision paying the gardener or sowing a political seed.
I wish you luck my brother.
Knowing a bit of your trajectory, one would expect you to buck the ugly trend ordinarily, to make a difference. But we shall keep fingers crossed.
Your tenure would have been a great case study were one still in active journalism practice, but heck, when you have sprouted much grey hair, you don’t want to do much stunts anymore.
Osuji is a newspaper columnist.