Nigerian states that are failing in the simple task of governance may have inherited their mediocrity from the past. While it is right to blame every governor to have governed a state at least since the return of democracy in 1999, the bulk of the blames must go to the anchor Governors of 1999 for failing to install a system of excellence with which their successors must be judged. This of course also goes to the Federal government {Executive, Legislature and Judiciary} but that story is for another day.
Take Gombe state for instance where every area is foot-printed with good roads built in continuum by successive governors. A ride around Gombe and environs will reveal a state whose leaders, past and present are very serious about roads so much so that they construct even the so called federal roads crisscrossing the state, before applying to the federal government for refunds.
If you go to Gombe today, you will notice that not even the current Governor – Inuwa Yahaya’s now legendary complain about paucity of funds has stopped him from continuing where his predecessor has left off with roads. He knows, that precedents of good roads have been set and he either contributes to the network or risk the wrath of posterity. Governors past of Gombe may have failed in other areas, but their dedication to road construction puts them at a certain pedestal.
In Kano, despite Ganduje’s ignominy, he knows that Kwankwaso worked wonders as governor. It is no wonder then that he’s trying not only to outshine his predecessor in inanities but also in mainstreaming sustainable development. That way, history may also remember him fondly despite the dollar stuffing blight that I am sure Nigeria in her anyhow-ness will help him expunge from his curriculum vitae in no time at all.
Borno and Nasarawa – two states related by history are battling to come out of faulty precedents of governance. To these states, democracy has been but one ludicrous charade. Years of neglect has seen the people of Nasarawa and indeed Borno reduced into paupers with many abandoning their only means of livelihood – farming – because of insecurity and other variables that aide it. Borno has Boko Haram! No need to talk too much about the havoc they have wrecked; while Nasarawa had Herdsmen. However, the biggest threats to Borno and Nasarawa’s democratic aspirations have been Hards-men or corporate insurgents who ride in state sponsored glitterati to reduce their people to beggers.
This is why, Borno and Nasarawa state under Zulum and Sule must demonstrate capacity to truncate a history of bad governance and connect its people with dividends of democracy. Zulum is already hot on the heels of progress with his hand-on system that’s rekindling hope across Borno state. Governor Sule must also up the ante if he wants posterity to remember him kindly.
Although the focus of this missive has been on two states, I am aware that virtually all Nigerian states are caught in this same vicious circle of bad governance. I should know, because I have been to almost all states of Nigeria from Enugu to Warri and Ibadan to Birnin Kebbi and I can confidently tell you that they are groaning under the dead weight of bad governance.
Current and aspiring political leaders must learn that individual political dominance will wane over time but their legacies whether good or bad will live forever. At one point, people like Obasanjo, Abdullahi Adamu {Nasarawa}, Kwankwaso {Kano}, Ibrahim Mantu {Plateau} , David Mark {Benue} and a host of others too numerous to mention held Nigeria’s political landscape by the scruff of the neck. Today, they are only but a reference to a past that Nigerians will rather forget than remember. If this is not enough reason for somber reflections, then I wonder what is.
