Nigeria is a federation that operates a unitary system of government. An arrangement that both in operations and characteristics is difficult to find elsewhere. We copied democracy elsewhere but ours in operation and character is without rival, it’s simply unique to us......Read The Full Article>>.....Read The Full Article>>
Everything novel or in practice elsewhere we copy, we simply adulterate.
We are taught in elementary government that democracy stands on a tripod; the Executive, Legislature and Judiciary. We are told that the distinct and independent nature of these three arms of government are made to ensure checks and balances for effective governance and maintenance of rule of law. But our model of democracy is such that the lines which separate these arms of government are getting so blurred by the day, that democracy itself and good governance are becoming imperiled in Nigeria.
The almighty Executive has effectively silenced and emasculated the other two arms of government.
Yet, with the consequences of our missteps staring us in the face we still do not see the need to redirect our energies, refocus our ways to address and arrest what is clearly a case of a drift towards anarchy and breakdown of law and order.
How long we will carry on with a democracy that does not serve the good of the greater majority but that of a few elite classes, I do not know but what I know is that there’s only a limit to which we can stretch the patience and tolerance of the masses.
As we continue to groan at the ever-increasing hardships visited on the greater majority of Nigerians, as a result of a skewed and stunted federal structure and a gluttonous self-serving ruling class, all attempts to at least adjust this abnormality have been met with a stiff resistance from these elite, especially from the north.
The fate of the ordinary Nigeria, especially from the North, continues to hang in the balance, while the ruling elite who have weaponized poverty, hunger, deprivation and illiteracy to sustain their demonic suppression, repression and oppression of the masses and any voice of dissent to maintain the status quo, would stop at nothing to see that this evil regime of poor governance persists.
In a federal structure, as it obtains in the US, the federating units or states are allowed to grow at their own pace and develop whatever resources they have to a comparative advantage. They develop at a level that allows for healthy competition to better the lot of their people. That also explains why in America, a state may legislate against something that another state may not.
Individual states in the United States have significant flexibility to create their own business climate to attract prospective business investments.
Some of the ways these states can differ include Regulatory environment, taxation; labour laws. They regulate wage, worker’s compensation, and unionization. Environmental regulations, create business-friendly policies and environment, to encourage investments, all in a bid to improve the internally generated revenue of the states.
For instance, Texas has low taxes, minimal regulations, and a highly developed infrastructure: California; strong innovation ecosystem, favorable climate for tech startups.
Florida: No state income tax, business-friendly regulations. New York: Generous incentives for film production, biotech, and clean energy. Nevada: Favorable tax environment, streamlined licensing.
These states do all these to attract businesses to themselves.
In Nigeria, since after we began production of crude oil in commercial quantities in 1958 at 5000bdp, and reached a peak of 2.3 million bpd, with a reserve of about 37.2 billion barrels, the 10th largest in the world, and natural gas reserves that was the world’s ninth largest, we simply abandoned agriculture, which enjoyed a 75 percent share of the value of export in 1965, to recline to 3 percent in 2010. Oil became the predominant export, going from 25 percent by 1965 to 96 percent by 2010.
With oil now the beautiful bride, came the affliction; Dutch Disease.
This affliction which resulted in our skewed federalism has remained with us till date and those benefiting more from this anomaly are not ready to let go.
Some states just don’t even bother about providing incentives and a conducive environment for investment in their regions. Rather than attract investments, they chase away investors under one religious guise or the other knowing that at the end of the month, the federal allocation from FAAC must come to be shared.
Some governors are hardly seen in their states, they are either in Abuja or abroad. No genuine attempt to shore up or boost IGR for their states. Even when these revenue from FAAC comes they mostly end up in the private pockets of state governors.
There are no good hospitals for the masses, no quality education or other infrastructure or amenities to show for the billions of dollars that have been shared over the years.
While these scenarios are nationwide, that of the northern region is even more abominable.
Yet, when any attempt is made to address this imbalance our hypocritical elite from the North would be the first to scream that such policies would affect the poor in their region the most.
Pray, how has the present revenue sharing formula helped the masses who live in the North? When has the plight of these ordinary Nigerians been the priority of the ruling class? Why has the protracted and dehumanising almajiri remained intractable for these selfish ruling elite of the north? If the resources given to the north have not benefited the common man, how then can the reduction in allocation change their plight? If there is any worry about the new tax reform policies it must be with the elite who fear that it will no longer be business as usual.
Again, the Senator representing Borno North Central Senatorial District, Ali Ndume, is championing this resistance. He claims his opposition to the Tax Reform Bills, which have been passed for second reading in the Senate, is over poor timing of the bills, arguing that the focus should be on governance reforms before tax reforms.
The former Senate Chief Whip criticised the tax reforms bills which include a proposal to establish the Joint Revenue Board, the Tax Appeal Tribunal, and the Office of the Tax Ombudsman, all part of President Bola Tinubu’s comprehensive tax reform package.
Ndume also cited issues of derivation, Value Added Tax, and the lack of consensus or buy-in from Nigerians as other reasons.
Hear him, “Yes, reform. But even with reforms, you have to prioritise, time it correctly, and ensure the buy-in of Nigerians because this is a democracy. It is the government of the people, for the people, and by the people.
“First in Nigeria, what we need to do is reform the government. Our personnel and overhead expenditure for 2024 is about 50 to 60 per cent of the budget itself. We are here in November, and 20 per cent of the budget has not been implemented. But if you check the recurrent expenditure, it has already been exhausted.
“So, that means over 15 to 20 trillion naira is going into personnel, debt servicing, and recurrent expenditure. We should reform the government, not only the Executive – we need to reform the government holistically,” he said.
These are sound arguments, aren’t they? But Ndume’s tongue-in-cheek, holier than thou posture is at best self-serving.
Ndume belongs to one of the most expensive legislative arms of government you can think of. He has never raised his voice against the huge capital outlay in maintaining those absentee legislators. When the nation complained about the money spent to buy prado SUVs for legislators, did they seek the buy-in of the people in all the years Ndume has been the Senate or have they themselves try to reduce their budgetary allocations or are they not known for a tradition of inflating the figures to suit their selfish interests?
It was this same Ndume who led the opposition against President Tinubu for relocating some departments of the CBN to Lagos to allow for effective supervision of banks whose headquarters are mostly in Lagos.
For just how long shall we continue to pander to the whims and caprices of the ruling elite in the North?
They have held on to power more than any other region yet they have nothing to show. Ndume warned against any increase in VAT. While I agree with him on the need not to increase VAT, I do not agree with him on the issue of derivation.
It is time for the states to begin to strategise and tap into the available resources in their states and to begin to realise that while politics and business are related they must not be confused or allowed to be mixed up when making business policies and investments. Business decisions must not be made on sentiments or on the basis of tribe and religion.
The introduction of what ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo dismissed then as political sharia has continued to affect the economic growth of states in the North including Kano. Kano, which is the commercial headquarters of business in the north, just as Lagos is to the South, has continued to experience a decline in business investments and opportunities.
In Kano, the so-called Sharia hisbah police are more powerful than the regular police. They are licensed to take any decision which in their understanding goes against the sharia law.
Hisbah police can arrest anybody and pass instant judgement while the acquiescing state government would turn a blind eye.
While in the Middle East the bastion of Islam, some countries are beginning to relax some of these stringent laws, our northern elite are watching unperturbed while people’s goods and businesses are destroyed just because some misguided armed groups say so.
It’s this same pattern that gave birth to Boko Haram and other extremist groups that have continued to haunt this nation.
So, for a change, let us now see if a state that is largely responsible for its resources would be prepared to give leeway to armed terrorists groups or a free roving hisbah police or militant groups to ruin their economy knowing that the regular handouts from Abuja would be commensurate with their contributions to the common purse.
So, whenever a typical northern elite expresses discomfort about policies of the federal government, know then that that government is headed in the right direction.
