Jerry Gana, the Bida, Niger State
born professor of geography carved a niche for himself whilst he presided over
as the information and communication minister under the President Olusegun
Obasanjo led administration.
Media Savvy, Witty and astonishingly
easy-going, professor Gana alongside the then National President of the
Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Mr. Smart Adeyemi ( who later moved on to
become an elected Senator) were the brains behind the introduction of the
national good governance tour whereby officials of the federal ministry of
information alongside Journalists from various media houses attached to cover
the information ministry in Abuja, traversed the length and breadth of Nigeria
inspecting the progress of work on the projects executed by the different
agencies of the federal government and the state governments.
While it lasted, the professor
Gana-led national good governance tour came under heavy criticism for deviating
from the original objectives of the exercise and veered off into the arena of
the politics of scoring the different state governors depending on whether the
state executives were friendly or foes of the powers – that-be in Abuja and
depending on the size of the envelopes with which the state governor
greesed their hands, so they alleged.
Those critics who leveled the
allegations of bias against the federal information ministry’s-led national
good governance tour said the exercise was a well -coordinated campaign tool of
the political party in power at the federal level to promote the
interest of their foot -soldiers [who held sway as governors] in the
various states who due to lack of popularity were at the verge of losing out at
the approaching elections.
Still others who
are uncomfortable with the national good governance tour dismissed it as a
charade since according to them, the best way members of the fourth estate of
the realm could better assess the performance of elected public office holders
at both the federal and state level is not to embark on juicy and properly
teleguided inspection of selected and predetermined projects some of which are
mere white elephant projects that have no relevance or values to the people of such
constituencies who in the first place are not usually carried along by
officials of federal government agencies in the preparation, design and
execution of projects sited in their domains supposedly to serve their public
good.
Those belonging to the above school
of thought, clearly pointed out to section 22 of the constitution of the
federal Republic of Nigeria to graphically demonstrate that media workers need
not be ferried around in exotic vehicles by government officials on daily
but juicy wages just so as to inspect the progress of work on the projects
being executed by the government of Nigeria for the benefit of the Nigerian
people.
For the avoidance of doubt, section
22 of the constitution stated thus; “The press, radio, television and other
agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental
objectives contained in this chapter and uphold the responsibility and
accountability of the government to the people”.
This aspect of the constitution did
not say that members of the media shall be ferried in chaffeur-driven exotic
vehicles by government officials for the purpose of carrying out this
fundamental constitutional objective of upholding the responsibility and
accountability of the government to the people of Nigeria.
If the saying that he who pays the
piper dictates the tune holds true in this discussion, then it is difficult to
see how a journalist provided with all the good things that money can buy could
as well remain objective in reporting dispassionately what they notice during
the national good governance tour for the reading pleasure of their readers who
are the Nigerian people that own the sovereignty of Nigeria. Moreover, there is
the possibility that the sweetness and strenght of the fine wines gulped
during these guided tours may influence the output of the media workers. I
stand to be corrected.
In the current dispensation, the
minister of information Mr. Labaran Maku has waved aside these criticisms
against the good governance tour and has indeed embarked on elaborate national
good governance tour which is elaborately covered on public owned broadcasting
stations but also enjoy generous coverage in the private media of electronic
and print.
The ongoing national
good governance tour is unraveling and has indeed showed the underbelly of
the organized confusion and huge contraption that we call governance in
Nigeria.
Developments from the national good
governance tour so far has graphically depicted the total lack of synergy
between some of the federal government agencies and some state governments.
The other day in Imo state while the
so-called good governance tour was taking place, the Imo state deputy governor
Mr. Jude Agboso told the minister of information that the Imo state government
was unaware that the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was building a
youth skill acquisition/empowerment center in a town near the State capital.
The deputy governor proceeded to
urge the federal government to always consult the state administration before
embarking on any development project which will ultimately benefit the people.
The minister of information faulted the claim of the Imo state deputy governor
saying that the state has a representative at the Niger Delta Development
Commission and therefore must have been carried along.
The Federal government-led national
good governance tour however got more than it bargained for when the Borno
State government bluntly asked that Borno State be exempted from the exercise
because the federal government has no single project to showcase in the entire
Borno State therefore it would amount to a meaningless jamboree and media stunt
for the federal government team headed by the information minister Mr. Labaran
Maku to embark on any good governance media tour to Borno State.
Borno state government position was
disclosed by the information commissioner Mr. Inuwa Bwala.
Speaking to journalists, the state
Commissioner for Information, Inuwa Bwala, said the ongoing visit of Maku
across the country was nothing but a cover up of the Federal Government’s
inadequacies and that the team led by the Minister of Information has no
business visiting the state as there was no single project-ongoing or
completed-that has been executed by the Federal Government in the state due for
inspection.
Bwala said the Good Governance Tour
to the state would rather remain a tea party as it does not in any way
represent the yearnings and needs of the people of Borno who had been abandoned
by the Federal Government in most of the times they needed their presence.
He said; “it should stop paying lip
service to the issue of development and be fair to all states irrespective of
their party differences. All we have here in Borno are projects executed by the
state government and I don’t think the Federal Government team will come to a
state and inspect projects that it had not committed a dime in their
execution”, Bwala pointed out.
“For many years now, Borno State has
been battling with insecurity, flood and so on, but neither the presidency or
its top aides had deemed it fit to visit us as a people, so what makes them
think we need them now? The only Federal Government project existing in Borno
are the Maiduguri-Kano Highway, the Chad Basin Development Authority (CBDA) and
most of the dilapidated federal roads quoted in several budgets have been
abandoned..."
Borno is not alone but the
difference is that while other States such as Imo, Ebonyi and Kogi that suffer
similar marginalization have through their governors chosen to wine, dine and
make merriment using scarce fund belonging to their states to stage elaborate
reception parties for the Labaran Maku-led national good governance tour, Borno
has spoken truth to power.
In Imo state for instance, the only
federal presence is the Okigwe/Owerri Road which is in the most dilapidated and
dysfunctional state even as the Federal government has not thought it wise to
bring federal presence to the entire Imo state which happens to be part of the
crude oil producing states in the country . Imo state does not have any dam or
water project from the huge annual federal budgets since 1999. what an Irony?
For me, the best way to promote
independent assessment of how the process of governance take place in Nigeria
is not to embark on these meaningless “Owambe” parties and Jamborees by the
federal ministry of information. But the institutions of government at every
level must be made to comply with the provisions of the Freedom of Information
Act of 2011 so that the media and other members of the civil
society-faith-based groups; community based groups and other non-state
actors, can easily access basic information on how the budgets of these
tiers of government are executed.
Ministries of Finance and offices of
state Auditors must be made to publish on regular basis, audited accounts of
their respective state governments and local councils so that interested
persons can objectively analyze them and possibly for whistle-blowers to report
any suspected heist of public fund to appropriate authorities including the
anti-graft agencies which must be legally transformed to become truly
independent and patriotic. Local government authorities must be made autonomous
and state governors must be stoppd from stealing from allocations meant for
these local councils even as the democratic structures in these councils must
be re-established ane made of good spirited community leaders to truly
transform this tier of government that is the nearest to the
people.
Good governance is certainly not
these tea parties, “Owambe”-motivated media tour by the Federal ministry of
Information.
Under the current atmosphere, it is
certainly difficult for Nigerians to be informed of how so well transparent and
accountable are these state officials because pecuniary interest may over
shadow any expected objective of balanced and qualitative independent
assessment.
* Emmanuel Onwubiko; Head;
HUMAN Rights Writers Association of Nigeria blogs@www.huriwa.blogspot.com
25/1/2013
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