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Almost from the moment he was sworn in, President Bola Tinubu has consistently called on state governors to spend the increased allocation they now receive from the Federation Account to deliver more tangible dividends of democracy to the citizens of their respective states.
He consistently argues that the increase, coming on the heels of removal of subsidy from petrol, electricity and foreign exchange, must count for something as the citizens face the harsh economic conditions that arise ironically from the removal of these subsidies.
In addition to the call on the state governors to be more responsible to their citizens, the President has also asked the media to extend to states their constitutional mandate of holding government accountable to the people.
We agree totally with the calls on the state governors as well as the media to hold state governors accountable to the people. But we want the President and the machinery of government to assist both the state helmsmen and the media to achieve their constitutional responsibilities to the citizens.
It is rightly assumed that the President understands that the political and economic structure is skewed against the states and unduly favours the Federal Government. This reality, we assert, is the major reason why the media, for instance, focuses more on the centre. There is not much action at the sub-national level.
As long as the economic prosperity of states depend on the COMPARABLY meager allocation they receive from the Federation Account, and their internally generated revenue cannot even pay the salaries and wages of state civil servants, nor provide infrastructural and social amenities for the people, so shall the attention of the media, and of the people, be focused on the Federal Government.
Apart from Lagos State, Rivers State, and Ogun State, to a lesser extent, there is hardly any state in Nigeria that has a viable economy that can generate enough tax revenue to meet the statutory purposes of state government and the legitimate needs of the citizens.
We dare say that this has provided a very strong alibi for state governors who have no intention of working in the greatest interest of the greatest number of their people. The President Tinubu is in a good position to tinker with the political and economic system of the nation in order to devolve more economic powers to the federating units.
We acknowledge that President Tinubu and his predecessor, former President Muhammadu Buhari, have started moving in that direction by transferring some items from the Exclusive Federal Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List. The President most likely knows that the transfer of prisons and police to states will require more financial resources from the state governments.
With regards to electricity generation, transmission and distribution, it is instructive that the governments of Imo and Abia states have started to take the bull by the horns for the benefit of their people.
The President and his economic planners must take a holistic view of the economy, congnisant of the comparative advantage of the various regions of the country, and collaborate with the state governments to exploit such resources that may be native to their regions.
For instance, the Federal Government should work with governments of the Northern region to exploit the abundant agricultural resources available to them. Items such as mines and minerals (petroleum and solid minerals) should move from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List without further ado.
If state governments direct their finances at providing necessary infrastructure for economic growth, the advantage will trickle down to the people, and the regional economies would be better able to support the media.
If the regional economies can support regional newspapers, as it obtains in many economies of North America and Western Europe, the same can be replicated in Nigeria. All that is needed is the political will and the political consensus of the Nigerian elite.
Ultimately, the country has to determine if the feeble 36-state structure, the costly presidential system of government and concentration of powers at the centre in a federation are sustainable and will ever be able to deliver any tangible dividends to the citizens.
