I might as well cast the first stone. A few days back, I was narrating to a friend, an idea that I thought will solve a lot of the problems currently facing us. My idea, to scrap states and just retain the local and federal government structures in the country. Each state is made up of local governments, and to have 2 separate allocations, one for each, in my view, is first of all duplication as well as an avenue for corruption, inefficiency and lack of order to say the least.
Lionger, we are viewing the same point but from different angles. Its a bit like the chicken and egg question. I am of the view that our structure is fundamental to the progress we will make. We are a country of many Nationalities. I believe, and I stand to be corrected on this one, that the states were created to bring government closer to the people, but most importantly, to suppress any more urge for seccession ala Biafra. Having more states, in my view, has been a very binding factor on us as a Nation, as it is more difficult for say, 6 Ibo states to put heads together and talk about seccession; during Biafra it was only the Eastern region governed by one man. If I am right on this one, then surely having 400 LGs will even be more binding cause then, even amongst the same tribes, every one shall answer his Papa name as they say. I would like to think our problem is more to do with how much power is concentrated in an office rather than the number of offices.
As an aside, I read today that =N=10BN has been budgeted for 50th anniversary celebrations. Am I missing something here? Should'nt the theme be "reflection" rather than celebration?
What needs to change in Nigeria are its inhabitants.and
Corruption has already been mentioned and is an obvious example.there is nothing wrong with the present system if corruption
@Lionger,Muhsin, eliminating the LGAs will solve next to nothing in a country where corruption is pervasive at ALL levels of government and society. How exactly will eliminating LGAs stop federal and state goverment officials from enriching themselves off the treasury, or 'big men' at all levels sitting on other peoples' salaries, or policemen manning 'checkpoints' to extort bribes from people off the streets, or secretaries and clerks who won't pass on your file or allow you to see oga until they get their cut, or lecturers who won't pass you unless you grant sexual favors, or other petty officials and 'middlemen' all over Nigeria who won't perform their obligatry services without extorting bribes? My friend, we need to think harder. This disease runs far deeper than the present dispensation into pre-colonial times, and that much is obvious from examing the records of the first Europeans that made contact with us.
Well said. I am 90% with you there. I too see no reason and no point in scrapping states. Leave states as they are but, to me, local governments should be did away with. Why? They are the roots of corruption, nepotism, favourism, embezzlement and all other filthy acts.
lionger has initially highlighted our major problem(s) that ifDan Borno there is plenty wrong with the present system. Among other things, goverment structure since the 60s has grown into a bloated and awfully wasteful enterprise, with the dubious 'benefit' that more people than before can now take their 'cut' from the national cake. Personally I think it might be better to drastically cut the number of states and LGAs back to the 1976 levels. Of course, this is totally against the current trend of thinking, as the National Assembly recently announced the impending creation of ten new states by next year. No doubt most of these new states will be anything but economically viable, hanging on to the Federal government for dear life. Yet a nation like India, far larger in population and geographic size and with twice as many linguistic groups has only 26 states. Is there any evidence that we know something about this that they don't know? My fellow Nigerians, I say it again: we need to THINK HARDER.
we can be able to deal with, all other things will be fine.What needs to change in Nigeria are its inhabitants.andCorruption has already been mentioned and is an obvious example.there is nothing wrong with the present system if corruption
and unpatriotism can be reduced to its minimum level.
another interesting issue is, does the unity of this country ever
helped matters?
@Lionger,
Well said. I am 90% with you there. I too see no reason and no point in scrapping states. Leave states as they are but, to me, local governments should be did away with. Why? They are the roots of corruption, nepotism, favourism, embezzlement and all other filthy acts.
I don't suppose the other 10% is disagreeing with his view that our culture supports bad conduct? I don't think that is the complete picture.1. I never said cultural defects painted the entire picture of our predicament; it does not. But I am saying that it is a key factor that ought not to be ignored.
Corruption is a base instinct of all peoples, and all the advanced societies of the world have had to work hard against it. We in Nigeria have not worked nearly hard enough in the fight against corruption and other societal evils. Until we do that, there will be no relief for us.
I would like to ask if corruption was as bad 20 yrs ago as it is now? My answer is no, not at all.Er, Sule, 20 years ago would be 1990, and by then Nigeria was already recognized as one of the world's leading corrupt nations. Moreover, it was in 1996, that Nigeria gained the inglorious distinction of being the world's most corrupt nation, courtesy of Transparency International.
It has more to do with our "circumstance" rather than our culture. Our circumstance in this case being extreme poverty and lack of exposure/experience.Ok, but what is the cause of this our 'extreme poverty and lack of exposure/experience'? Isn't this what we're discussing here? It is not that straightforward to determine whether poverty leads to corruption or vice versa. And if we accept that poverty is a cause (fine to me), then it is still not enough in explaining our situation. Why then do we observe corruption among the wealthier upper classes? And why do we not see the same behaviour among the lower classes in the West? Norms and values count for much more than we think.
Notice that I intentionally did not use the word "illiteracy" as many would have put it. Many of our people may not genuinely be aware that things can be done, and indeed are done differently elsewhere.Illiteracy should be mentioned, as it is undoubtedly a factor in our predicament. In today's world, an educated populace is critical to taking the next step forward. This was one of the ways by which South Korea lifted itself from the gutter. It is striking the we fared far better on this issue with regional governments of the precolonial and early independence days, who had far less resources than the Nigerian government had from the 70s onwards.
Wouldn't the bill be a replication of the EFCC and ICPC acts?
The power of fighting corruption lies in the head of the government. If the president is keen on fighting corruption there's no doubt the effect will be great.
But the thing is, usually the way presidents come to power itself is corrupt.
Corruption has to be eliminated along with gross indiscipline before the country moves forward.
i just read an article by obi ezekwesili in thisday, saying dat prior to d recent economic recession nigeria n africa in general was experiencing an economic growth, may be if one looks too hard one may shoot holes in ha analysis, which is actually world bank's analysis, but i think half bread is beta than non, that we are progressing, even at a snail's pace, is positive, it gives hope!
Which way out of the woods? First, there is the need for a concrete and comprehensive social re-engineering that will salvage what remains of our societal norms and values. Second, the Examinations Malpractices Act No. 33 of 1999 which provide penalties: imprisonment, fine or both for persons and bodies found guilty of involvement in aiding, abetting, negligence or dereliction in the conduct of examinations need to be activated. Perhaps, seeing the law in action may stem the tide.
Ghana thinks that because their democracy has been recognized by the US and they have discovered oil, then there is need for them to reject all form of investments from any foreigners ( especially Nigerians)
They selectively enforce wicked laws on investors. Right now, for a Nigerian to do business in Ghana you have to pay more than N300,000(non refundable) to the authorities before your papers are reviewed. Other Investors are not required to do so. They say they do that to guarantee the stay of the Nigerians.
Also recently,globacom,who won a GSM license to operate in Ghana announced that it is withdrawing its services from the country because of deliberate sabotage from both people and government. And glo has already invested and is planning to invest billions of Dollars into the Ghanaian telecommunication industry.
QuoteGhana thinks that because their democracy has been recognized by the US and they have discovered oil, then there is need for them to reject all form of investments from any foreigners ( especially Nigerians)
They selectively enforce wicked laws on investors. Right now, for a Nigerian to do business in Ghana you have to pay more than N300,000(non refundable) to the authorities before your papers are reviewed. Other Investors are not required to do so. They say they do that to guarantee the stay of the Nigerians.
Also recently,globacom,who won a GSM license to operate in Ghana announced that it is withdrawing its services from the country because of deliberate sabotage from both people and government. And glo has already invested and is planning to invest billions of Dollars into the Ghanaian telecommunication industry.
Are you sure they are not exacting revenge for the "Ghana Must Go" of the '80s? ;D Ka san fa a gaskiya mun yi musu wulakanci.
Could you guess what I think is our country's biggest resource, which if developed will gurantee us a place in G20?
Could you guess what I think is our country's biggest resource, which if developed will gurantee us a place in G20?
1. Human?
2. Agric?
3. Solar power?
I don't know what you mean by "untapped" in this context, but I believe the problem with Nigeria's people is the mentality and the orientation. Whenever this is changed to a positive direction, things would begin to look up.By 'untapped', I mean not fully utilised (developed to full potential). I believe the main purpose of any government is to provide the enabling environment for its people to develop their various potentials. Take away the thought of 'basic necessities' and you will be amazed at how people can help themselves.
Sadly though the populace do not believe in themselves nor the government.
In my own opinion,me over rely on government and see only its fault (not that the govt is faultless) but the greater majority of the populace depend on government to solve very problem without the co-operation of the people.
I think if i had my way i would change the attitude of Nigerians from the typical cynical and pessimistic attitude to a rather positive and optimistic attitude.
With all the population we have,if we don't believe in ourselves and the nation then it is another wasted resource.
Then you are no longer talking about the development (or realisation) of human resource potentials. I think to a reasonable extent, Nigeria's human resource is highly developed. And highly tapped, for that matter. Only in a negative way. The issue really is that of orientation. Like goga said, do away with pessimism and overreliance on the govt to do anything and everything for us. In anycase, we might be talking about the same thing in a different way ;)I don't know what you mean by "untapped" in this context, but I believe the problem with Nigeria's people is the mentality and the orientation. Whenever this is changed to a positive direction, things would begin to look up.By 'untapped', I mean not fully utilised (developed to full potential). I believe the main purpose of any government is to provide the enabling environment for its people to develop their various potentials. Take away the thought of 'basic necessities' and you will be amazed at how people can help themselves.
Sadly, I have rarely read such a lot of nonsense.
I have no time for the Americans who are the most destructive force in the world but Nigeria's failing are Nigeria' s and nobody elses.
Nigeria is bigger than every European country except Russia.
If Nigeria is being run by American elements it is only because Nigerians are in collusion with these Americans.
That is all - and excuses like Husnaa's are completely wrong.
i am not one to go through lengthy posts, but are people still blaming d white man for our failures?
i recommend walter rodney's 'how europe underdeveloped africa', that book will clear any doubts we may harbour dat we r still under colonialism, we don pass dat stage i beg, any problems we have are ours, if we have help in creating those problems is bcos we allowed it.
besides i think d statute of limitation has expired on colonialism, come onnnnnnnnnnnn!
i am not one to go through lengthy posts, but are people still blaming d white man for our failures?
i recommend walter rodney's 'how europe underdeveloped africa', that book will clear any doubts we may harbour dat we r still under colonialism, we don pass dat stage i beg, any problems we have are ours, if we have help in creating those problems is bcos we allowed it.
besides i think d statute of limitation has expired on colonialism, come onnnnnnnnnnnn!
Good posts everyone, but I go with what lionger and Dave said. No matter how much we may want to blame the West for our misfortunes, bottomline is, 99% of the fault lies at our feet. Granted the Western ways may have corrupted our morals, but fact is the difference btw doing what is right and what is wrong is very clear. If really we do copy everything from there, how come we fail/refuse to copy their type of good governance? Why do we only copy bad things? Was is it the West that forced your LG Chairman, State Governor and President to steal the treasury clean? Are we saying up till this moment we, as a nation, do not what's good for us, and what's bad?
Our failure as a nation is our responsibility, no one else's. Both leadership and followership of this country has failed in thier responsibility. The leaders for failing to provide the purposeful and selfless leadership needed for to steer the country towards economic development. The followership failed in resisting bad governance. We either collude with them, excuse them or are too passive to resist and insist for better. Worse, we compete with them in corrupt behaviours, forgetting that the most important contribution the common man can give to his/her nation is to abhor, shun and resist bad behaviours as may be exhibited by the leaders. Not follow suit, as is the case here.
But the question still is ......are you grown-up enough to run your own country and look after yourselves - or do other people still control you.
If that is so, fifty years after independence, that is shameful.
Nigeria will remain in a mess until Nigeria takes full responsibility for Nigeria's problems and Nigeria's failures.
Well I am surprised that u do actually believe that there is bad leadership in this country going by the way you see red when ever Shekarau's lack of leadership is alluded to.
Nice post Muhsin.
I fail to understand who is more corrupt in Nigeria.
The leaders or the masses.
When you take your tire to the vulcanizer,he will steal your valve cover.
When you buy fuel the attendants will cheat you( in some countries there are no attendants,you buy and take the money inside)
When you go to the market the trader will swindle you.
When you enter public transport the conductor will not give you your change until you insist.
Somehow a bit like the chicken-egg mystery here Who started it first? Was it the leadership that messed up the nigerian people or the people got corrupted and then gave birth to the present crop of leaders? Who's responsible for the mess, or put differently, who should be responsible for correcting the wrong? The masses or the leadership? Can we trust the leadership in Nigeria to just change itself for the better?
Corruption is an attribute of mankind and all it needs is a conducive environment for it to rear its ugly head. I have never heard of a 'corrupt free' nation; as a matter of fact it does not exist. The parameters that fuel corruption include (but not limited to) lack of repercursions/consequences as I have noted earlier. Who manages these instiutions that mete out justice? Your guess is as good as mine. The fact that Nigerians and indeed every human being on earth is prone to corruption is not the issue; the issue is containing corruption and dealing with it, which you will agree with me needs organisation and hence the important role that the leadership plays. That is what has failed because you cannot take out the corruption in human beings in my view. Corruption is only but a survival instinct carried too far.Can accept this, ok. I said as much in my own posts.
Secondly, in your previous postings, you have mentioned the successes achieved by countries such as Singapore and the rest but I want to point out something about historical facts of movements that have changed people and Nations. I have not come across any successfull movement that was not led by an able, resolute, selfless and focused leader. 'Ka tuna fa in Allah ya so ya ceci al umma sai ya aiko musu da manzo'. Not that God in his infinite ability cannot change their hearts overnight.
Lastly I want to believe from your comments, that corruption has been as bad today as it was 10/20 years ago. Well I do not remember, in the 90's, buying fuel at a petrol station and the attendant stealing my change, as being the norm rather than the exception. Neither was it so rampant, the case of 'pass for favours', in our educational institutions. The argument is about the scale of corruption in the society and I maintain that in the last 10/20 years 'the exception then, has become the norm now', indicating a deterioration of our situation.