It is now no news that twenty-two governors owe outstanding salary arrears. Ever since Buhari upset the apple cart by winning the Presidential elections on March 28, they have all hoped that he would bail them out of their respective mess when he got sworn in.
In his speech on the inauguration of the National Economic Council, he categorically told the beggar governors to source for funds to offset their gargantuan debts through the growth of their internally generated revenues. This was a big blow to their Big Brother bid as they have been told in loud and clear terms to act more responsibly by being more creative and resourceful and not putting the blame of their ineptitude on the door step of the Federal Government’s dwindling revenues.
There must always be a scape goat and in this case Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola has become the poster boy of the country among the states owing salary arrears for reasons unknown to many political discerners. Ironically, he learnt at the feet of the great Jagaban as he served him as Commissioner for Works for eight years before ‘hearkening to the call of his people to serve them in the State of the Living Spring.’ Tinubu faced a similar problem at the height of his confrontation with the then President Olusegun Obasanjo over the decision of the former to create an additional thirty-seven local council development areas. For this reason huge amount of allocation due to the state was withheld. Did the Heavens fall? Certainly Not! The Asiwaju got extremely creative and with the aid of the Present Governor Akinwunmi Ambode who was the then state accountant-general devised self-sustaining means to keep the state afloat without making the civil servants bear the brunt through non-payment of salaries.
The excuse of dwindling federal allocation that the former Speaker of the Ibadan Polytechnic Student’s Union Parliament has been giving for his inability to pay salaries is lame and shows lack of foresight and the uncanny ability to think out of the box. The signs of a possible reduction in the revenue from the centre were there as far back as 2013 when there was a slump in the prices of crude oil in the international market which led the National Assembly to adjust the benchmark to meet the new realities on ground. Did that stop Ogbeni from embarking on projects that caught his fancy without taking into critical consideration the paucity of funds and the need for the state to diversify its economic base? How self-sustaining were his so called economic empowerment projects? Did they meet the needs of the state?
The Osun Youth Empowerment Scheme (OYES) was more like an extension of the National Youth Service Corps as the participants – mostly graduates were engaged by the state to carry out blue collar tasks for a year with the stipend of ten thousand naira being paid to them at the end of the month. It gulped billions of naira. Do you solve poverty by merely throwing money or giving the sufferers fish? Wouldn’t have made more sense to not only teach them how to fish but to create the enabling environment to make them independent for life? The Opon Imo (Knowledge Tablet) which was filled with past questions and answers as launched in Lagos. One why as Osun is not a vassal state of the ‘Centre of Excellence’. The scheme gulped about 9 billion naira which was equivalent to three months allocation. It was originally slated for all students from SS1 to SS 3 but at the end of the day, only the SS2 students got it in a few selected schools. The state is a largely civil service state. How will these students make use of this device when the grueling pang of hunger is now their companion no thanks to the non-payment of the salaries of their parents? Where then is the sustainable development? The Social Democratic Party alleged that the cost of building the new schools was between 750 million and 1 billion naira when it should not have cost more than 250 million naira. These grave allegations are worth thoroughly investigating. The ‘Marxist governor’ promised the people of an agricultural revolution when he assumed office in November 2010. He decried the ugly trend of food commodities from Asia, Burkina Faso and Niger flooding the Nigerian market and promised to not make the state capable of feeding itself but having excess to sell to others. He acknowledged the fact that the food market in Lagos alone was put at 3.6 billion naira on a daily basis at the time. One wonders what happened to this great promise by the governor to make the state an agricultural exportation hub that would have broken the monopoly of oil dependence! If a visionary agricultural policy was vigorously pursued, the civil servants wouldn’t have been turned to mendicants who ironically till the land. One is miffed because the governor has lived in Lagos state long enough and even served in the state executive council and was expected to bring to bear his knowledge and experience to turning the state into another food basket. Alas it was all empty rhetoric and cheap prattle! He acquired a large expanse of land in Atakumosa West Local Government Area to build a 200,000 seater place of worship for Christians. Was it necessary? How will that have aided economic development? Aren’t there more than enough churches in the state?
Many of the governors in the crisis ridden states toed the same path of embarking on projects that didn’t make overall economic sense or just lacked the foresight to diversify their economic base as they thought the goodies will keep on coming from Abuja without the recourse to what the meaning of true federalism stands for.
If they expect bail outs, they should be ready to hand over the reins of governance as they should not be entrusted to manage the funds of the emergency as that will worse than eating their cake and having it.
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Is the goverment of lagos owing lagos state sport council pensioners?if yes,how many years.
With all the states owing salaries, why is it that it’s only Osun state that’s been mention, what happen to the rest 19 or so, is somebody playing politics with with peoples welfare? Aregbesola has commenced payment yet there’s still noise of aregbe here and there
Pa obafemi Awolowo of blessed memory left a legacy in the s/west with a very little resource compare to what all these spoilt governor has,ogbeni got it all wrong it should be said.