Oladipo Oluwole, Public Affairs Analyst, Identifies ‘Human Manipulative Tendencies’ As Key Factor Delaying Full Implementation Of Local Government Financial Autonomy

<h4>Oladipo Oluwole<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<h4><&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife Nigeria<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that a seasoned Public Affairs Analyst and commentator&comma; Mr Oladipo Oluwole&comma; has identified <em>&OpenCurlyQuote;Human Manipulative Tendencies’<&sol;em> as key factor delaying full implementation of Local Government financial autonomy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In a piece made available to OpenLife&comma; the former local government council scribe reflected on roles played by present and past public office holders that are retrogressive in nature and anti-people in scope&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>His thoughts are reproduced below<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>The media space was agog with the above news story&comma; recently&period;<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>I once wrote a piece on the Supreme Court judgement on local government financial autonomy&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>I analysed its&comma; inherent&comma; attendant political undertones and confusions therein&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>But some politico-ethnocentrically inclined persons initially felt otherwise&comma; just like my earlier piece where I raised issues that would later delay the implementation of the new minimum wage&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The minimun wage issues eventually dragged on for almost two years before implementation&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The pertinent questions to ask ourselves are&colon; Why is every federal government programme laced and tainted with political self-interest&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Why should every federal government policy implementation and failure always set one arm of government against the other including but not limited to local against the state&semi; State against the federal and local government chairmen against the <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;vanguardngr&period;com&sol;">state governors<&sol;a> as well as people against the state governments and workers against the governors&semi; north against the south etc&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>A politician always does things in anticipation of future elections and political gains while a statesman prepares for future generations welfare and development oriented programmes of action for the generality of the people&comma; indeed&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>When workers’ new salaries were not agreed upon&comma; we were made to believe that it was the State Governors that were delaying it&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Information has it that the governors didn&&num;8217&semi;t want to agree and equally didn&&num;8217&semi;t want to pay&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>When the agreement was finally reached&comma; many of the State governors eventually went ahead to pay more than the stipulated federal amount of 70k&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>This development was rare in the body polity of Nigeria&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><br &sol;>&NewLine;<em><strong>Infact&comma; it was the Edo state government that first initiated the 70K minimum wage which was later copied by the federal government&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Instead for the federal government to strengthen federal system and implement holistic restructuring&comma; it is weakening federalism and strengthening unitary system&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Examples abound in federal government initiating primary school curriculum&comma; agricultural engagements&semi; local councils opening accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria in a federal system with a lot of zigzags&comma; peace meals and often policy somersaults in formulations and implementations&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Many people easily forget that we once enjoyed full financial autonomy in the local government between 1999 and 2015 without any hullabaloo and with fantastic projects implementation&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Grassroots dividends of democracy under governors Olusegun Osoba and Otunba Gbenga Daniel of Alliance for Democracy and Peoples Democratic Party&comma; PDP respectively in Ogun State&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The trend manifested in other states of Nigeria using the same 1999 constitution and the local government laws as guide&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>However&comma; the trend changed when former Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun came to power under All Progressives Congress&comma; APC of strange bedfellows&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>The federal arm of APC of supposedly progressives of the south and the northern Hausa-Fulani oligarchy with the conservative political leanings of former President Buhari&&num;8217&semi;s CPC came into the political space for the purpose of getting power at the center without offering an atom of life changing programme for the masses&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Clearly&comma; the real issues of local government financial autonomy are human greediness&comma; intricacies and deficiencies in implementation&comma; and non adherence to the spirit of the 1999 constitution in relation to the existing local government guidelines&comma; rules and laws without political colouration and human manipulative tendencies&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>If the Local government Supreme Court judgement were not politically coloured&comma; with future electoral self-interest and it adhered strictly to the 1999 constitution with the removal of any human manipulation&comma; why the hullabaloo&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Why is the Federal government handicapped&quest; <&sol;strong><&sol;em><em><strong>Why can’t the government come up with a seamless implementation by exercising a strong political will and might where necessary&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Is it merely calling a dog a bad name to hang it or just a blame game escape route for policy failure&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>I just read the news that the National ALGON body has pledged support for the federal government in the local government dispute&comma; with the Osun state PDP government&period;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em><strong>Is that one of the political reasons and gains in the supposedly to be federal government financial autonomy&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>Oladipo Oluwole&comma; a public affairs analyst and Social commentator is a former Director of Information and Education&comma; Ogun State&period; He can be reached via&colon; oladipooluwole21&commat;gmail&period;com<&sol;em><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;