Local government autonomy and other matters

Last week, the Supreme Court upheld the financial autonomy of Nigeria’s 774 local governments. In the unanimous verdict of the seven-member panel, the Supreme Court upheld a lawsuit filed by the federal government seeking to strengthen the independence of local governments in the country.

The news was received with cheers by most Nigerians. Some Nigerians clinked their glasses and saw this autonomy as the beginning of El-Dorado. You know Nigerians love buzzwords and see some things as the silver bullet to end all our misery but we always end up disappointed.

Virtually all of the governors agreed with the Supreme Court’s decision, as if they had a choice anyway.

The implication of the judgment is that development will reach the grassroots faster. Currently, more than 13 states are planning to hold LG elections.

Actually, I’m not that excited about the development, and my reasons for that aren’t far-fetched.
Many Nigerians believe that it is easier to hold local government chairmen accountable, but I disagree. With this assessment, I only see the creation of another set of emperors and demigods at the local government level. An average Nigerian sees power as a means to eat the national cake in turn.
I will bet my last dollar that some of the current local government chairmen are already thinking of marrying new wives, buying new houses and ordering the latest SUVs. Some of them are already imagining themselves driving in a convoy with sirens blaring through local government areas, disturbing the peace of the community. They are already dreaming of allocating land to boyfriends and new girlfriends. Governance is the last thing on most of their minds. That is who we are; that is how an average politician in this country thinks.

In Nigeria, the scapegoats for all our problems in the country are the federal government. Governors get away with everything and there is little to no opposition in the states. The state legislature is just an extension of the government house. Most Nigerians spend their day criticising and criticizing the federal government and forget that they even have governors. If we can hold governors accountable, that will go a long way in this country.

Granting financial autonomy is undoubtedly a great victory for grassroots democracy but if state electoral commissions are allowed to conduct local government elections, then the work done is zero. It is no secret that elections are not at the local government level but are a selection process. Elections in states are usually a big joke. The ruling party in the state wins all the LGAs; there is not a crumb left for the opposition. So I strongly believe that the constitution must be amended to allow the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct local government elections. Even though it may not be perfect, it is still miles better than the state electoral bodies.

We need to attract good quality people to take over the local government level. I have been saying on this page that one person cannot change Nigeria. The president can do little; we need good quality people at all levels of government. But if we do not have strong institutions to check the deviant behaviour of our politicians, local government autonomy will not yield the desired results.

Our systems in the country are so weak that is why we see a single politician taking 100 billion of state funds and eventually getting away with it. We hear of civil servants and government employees stealing billions of naira and the criminal justice system is very slow.

This also brings me to a report that the House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill for a single six-year term for presidents and governors. This brings me to the earlier argument that Nigerians are obsessed with new buzzwords. Moving to a parliamentary or single term system will not change anything. Our problem is leadership, and it does not matter what kind of system we adopt; it will always produce the same result.