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| Indigenous Technology waiting to be transformed |
Three tiers of Governments exist in Nigeria. They are the Federal, State and Local Government. The last of the three tiers: local government is considered the closest to the people. Unfortunately, the tier of the government in Nigeria that is closest to the people is ill-treated, almost neglected and disregarded, and ultimately the least funded.
Opinion moulders, public analysts and development practitioners are unanimous in their conclusion that the economy of Nigeria will not perform better than it is doing presently, if significant improvement is not observed in the handling of the third tier or local government in Nigeria.
Economic, political and administrative empowerment, through independence of or in the parlance of most public sector commentators in Nigeria, autonomy of the local government is required if Nigeria must rise, develop and occupy her rightful place in the comity of Nations. Same is true if the country must be reckoned with, and of a truth be counted serious by both local and international development practitioners and observers, interested in seeing the right structures of development in place.
Transforming Nigeria’s economy requires realignment and re-positioning of different forms and various kinds. A pressure group of mentally strong and humanitarian driven individuals, articulate, responsible and responsive, disciplined, competent and functional experts, strategic change communicators, desirous of creating, causing or inducing a paradigm shift in the reasoning, mentality and perception power of most Nigerian leaders is a top priority issue that is urgently and seriously needed.
The need to dismantle from the mind of the Nigerian leaders, especially the political class that very awkward, embarrassing and wicked ideology that has enveloped them for a very long time; that which paved the way for them to be leaning consistently on a wrong pillar, with a wrong footing and standing firmly on a wrong foundation can never be over emphasized.
The notion the political leaders hold and operate with that gives them the impression that subordinates, supporters, electorates and those that honestly agree and subscribe to be ruled or led by the elected and appointed are fools must be forced out of their minds. The mentality that the Nigerian electorates are people: begging to be saved, rescued or delivered from the clutches of subsistence and beggarly life, who need permission and approval of the political class to rise above subservient living is inimical and barbaric, must be stopped and wiped off their brains.
Without retrieving the third tier of government from the political class, the above is not possible, and the government that is closest to the people will remain comatose and the people live and operate under drudgery, poverty, hunger and suffering. The hues and cries; tales of woes and lamentations will continue; and their hallucination as leaders of working hard regularly to deliver Nigerians will remain unabated. The demand for local government autonomy in Nigeria must be seen by all well-meaning citizens as a call to end extreme poverty, hunger and starvation. It should be seen as move to rescue the country from the stranglehold of the fickle minded, mischievous and backward looking.
Even in a hurry, it is essential to remember that Local government autonomy means closing the hole through which the state governors access the funds belonging to the Local Government Areas (LGAs). Note also that it entails stopping the governors from dissolving elected local government officials, and putting an end to the appointment of LGA caretaker committees. Similarly, local government autonomy means federal allocations due to the LGAs will be sent to them directly. Think of the benefits of all these to the 774 LGAs and the economy as well.
Local government autonomy is a very smart way of opening up the tight economy. It is tactically an approach to spreading job creation and wealth generation activities, and a dependable channel to de-emphasize representative governance and promote participatory governance. The more leadership is closer to the people, the more the people know their leaders better, and the more the people are positioned to choose who represents them. This way the people are taking control and being in-charge, and determining their fate, as in who governs them and how they are governed.
Nigerian system without Local government autonomy is inimical to development. The LGA Chairmen are emasculated by the Governors, a none-functioning LGA system. The LGA Council Leaders are mere rubber stamp, since they operate under the whims and caprices of the Governors. Local government autonomy will help Nigeria navigate strategically, systematically and structurally through the processes involved in equipping large population of Nigerians to tap the internal resources of the country and focus on building the local economy, empowering the young and the old, and influencing them to stand confidently, firmly and convincingly and compete, product wise, with mates and equals, of any other nation.
There is no magic behind producing and delivering quality goods and services. These are not found in the gene or complexion of the foreign manufacturers. The God that created Nigerians is not an apprentice. What Nigerians admire in foreign products and services is basically good leadership.
Citizens of the countries with superior goods and services do not operate under the awkward system that Nigerians face. They are not under leaders with mortgaged mentality and borrowed lifestyle. Rather than grow the Nigerian economy, institutions and structures, the average Nigerian political leader prefers to receive peanut and remain subservient to their pay masters, who are not interested that Nigerians are living in penury, are dying and are buried in a mass grave regularly and for avoidable reasons and curable ailments.
In view of the above expressed concerns, Nigerians are enjoined to aggregate their efforts and see to it that local government autonomy is a reality not an oxymoron.
Nnabugwu Chizoba
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