Governor Seyi Makinde’s campaign team did something off-kilter in the build-up to the last gubernatorial election: they printed pamphlets with the scorecard of the Governor and distributed them in rural areas, towns, and villages.
I know this because I was in one of those rural areas at that time. The pamphlets had the Ojoo Bus terminal with its aesthetically appealing structure splashed on them. Then the reconstructed Lekan Salami stadium with its beautiful interior. Added to these were the Moniya-Ijaiye-Iseyin road reconstructed for N9.9 billion, and the Light Up Oyo project that gulped N28 billion, among others.
Like gospel preachers, Makinde’s team went across every nook and cranny preaching the goods of their principal. Essentially, the printing of those pamphlets wasn’t just tactical, the distribution was equally strategic: distributors waited until market days to share and spread their messages of ‘glad tiding’. Perhaps, the thinking was that lots of town people would be out on the market day and be impressed by the Governor’s remarkable transformational strides through the pamphlets. Given the outcome of that contest where Governor Makinde mind-blowingly defeated his closest rival Senator Teslim Folarin, it is safe to say people bought into that idea and sentiment. As a matter of fact, the overwhelming majority of votes scored by the Governor implies that whatever fallout projected and predicted to ensue after the distribution of those pamphlets didn’t have any effect on the Governor’s electoral chances. He was adjudged to have performed well in all spheres.
However, what made those pamphlets contentious was that none of the highlighted projects had any direct impact, implication, or immediate connection to and on the people. These are projects that dotted the landscapes of most urban areas. Ibadan. Ogbomoso. Oyo. Iseyin. Saki. Perhaps, the expectations would have been that brains behind the idea would design pamphlets that would reflect the Governor’s footprints in rural areas – which of course would more persuasive. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.
Today, under Governor Makinde’s watch, whatever gains left of grassroots development have been squandered. In effect, what Makinde’s predecessors approached with caution has been wiped out in one fell swoop. In any case, Governor Makinde has not only lowered the bar of rural development, he has sequestered the bar, thrown it into a flowing river, and cheerfully smiled away. The heat of that tyranny is now being felt across the state. And the social economic implications of that usurpation and subjugation are still being tallied. Certainly, we might have to wait until Makinde is out of office to assess the level of damage his approach to local government has done.
Unlike what Governor Makinde and his colleagues might want to force down our throats, the framers of our constitution are neither dumb nor daft. They understood Nigeria’s complexity and peculiarities. And as such adopted a system that can effectively tackle our uniqueness. Allowing three tiers of government wasn’t a mistake. It was simply an approach that foster a profound sense of belongingness. Merely fitting into the Nigeria arrangement would be cosmetic and counterproductive but allowing people to access power helped address issues of inclusion and diversity in a heterogeneity and multi ethnic society. Plus, the creation of a local government in the country wasn’t just to fulfill the legal rights of the people but to engineer governance and development from the rural areas.
But somehow, over the years, the intention of creating 774 local governments seems to have hit rock bottom. Check each state of the federation and you will be shocked at the near absence of governance in local areas – it’s worrisome under Governor Seyi Makinde. As the power and influence of the state Governors grew no thanks to immunity and impunity, local government administration receded into nothingness. In 1999 when Nigeria’s 4th Republic kickstarted, the legal frameworks that established local government areas were in full throttle. Those who manned the affairs of local councils at that time must be gob-smacked at the retrogressive progression that has accompanied local government. Of course, nobody can accurately point to where shoes started to pinch local government authorities.
Not surprisingly, what started as a constitutional hijacking by some state Governors has become the standard manual for others. One by one, the wings of local government become clipped, and its economic growth is strangulated leaving its development suspended. Reflectively, the question of local government autonomy has always raised the specter of political, economic, and legal debate. As the calcified conversation around that topic intensified, no one has disputed the legality of local government in our political configuration. Nor the economic standpoint of local government autonomy is simply undoubted. Nearly all our leaders agreed to the existence of local government but most of their views have been skewed to achieve certain objectives. But one other interesting side to local government autonomy that is yet to receive needed attention is most Governor’s emotional insecurity.
When you have small-minded people at the helm of affairs, they see threats in tough situations. Instead of allowing others to grow into their full potential, they rather suffocate them into total submission. Local governments are not established to rival the state. Rather, they are founded to complement them. Most state Governors, in their small-mindedness, assumed that allowing local government to operate at full legitimate blast would eat their power and influence for breakfast. How wrong? Nothing of such will ever happen. The power, influence, and authority of state Governors would always stand the test of time until the Constitution says otherwise.
Addressing the underlying issues of emotional security in most Governors is not only ideal, it’s also essential to getting things done. One sure way to counteract this pernicious perspective is to open Governors to their own confirmation and desirability biases. So, the question is not about what is right or wrong, it is about opening the eyes of Governors to how they undermine and sabotage themselves. You cannot rule a state and local government at the same time. The workload will choke you. Now you can imagine why Governor Makinde’s efforts have not been felt deeply in the rural areas. He doesn’t believe in the existence and legality of local government. “Three people cannot be federating in a country” he confidently declared at a debate before the election.
Simply empowering local government to function properly would only make things better. For instance, local roads that will connect farms to markets will be tarred, boreholes that will pump clean water will be fixed, government that will legitimately pilot people’s affairs will be jump into action, rural economy will boom and the overall standard of living will improve. Even with the creation of 774 local governments, Nigeria still has vast lands of ungoverned spaces. If the essence of power is to empower, then Governor Makinde stands on the threshold of history. Otherwise, the 70% of rural dwellers will not bat their eyes to erase his memory once he’s out of power.
OYO101 is Muftau Gbadegesin’s opinion about issues affecting Oyo state and is published every Saturday. He can be reached via @muftaugbade on X, muftaugbadegesin@gmail.com and 09065176850.
