CRISIS OF GOVERNANCE, REPRESENTATION AND DEMOCRATIC DIVIDEND: OPTIONS FOR THE NORTH EAST IN 2019 (I)
BY A. A. GADZAMA FORMER DG SSS
In the current political climate, characterized by false claims, deception and mudslinging, an important aspect of the political process that has been relegated is the supremacy of the interest of the electorate, as it relates to the impact of governance, genuine representation and promoting the interest of the people.
This article is written against the backdrop of the alarming situation in most states in the North East the obvious cause of which is being the epicenter of the insurgency that is still ravaging parts of the sub-region. Pervasive poverty, low political consciousness and poor representation are challenges in the North East where governments have least impacted the populace. Over sixty percent of the population in most states is living below the poverty line, lacking basic infrastructure.
Despite the giant strides of the Muhammadu Buhari Government especially in agriculture, roads, railway, healthcare and education, insecurity has denied people in the geopolitical zone the various empowerment and intervention programmes. Roads remain in bad shape while schools and hospitals are derelict. Most local government councils in the North East except may be in Gombe and Bauchi States are currently without electricity. Self employment and petty businesses are thus virtually non-existent. The situation in the North East hardly comes to the attention of the public due to the absence of civil society or advocacy groups.
The most disturbing aspect of the absence of governance is the culture of imposed silence and elites’ insensitivity. The ruling cliques have over the years created an atmosphere that makes nonsense of democracy. The right to express feelings and disagreements are gagged or intimidated.
Also, no free and fair elections are held as election process is manipulated. In 2015 for example, elections in parts of Borno and Adamawa States were held in IDP camps purportedly because of the insurgency in the States. There is also the tendency for only those approved by the powers that be to contest and win just as the unrestrained use of state resources by governments was rampant. A defeated aspirant confirmed that he was not defeated by his opponent but by government power.
As a result, the least qualified and politically inept and incompetent get elected. The trend invariably affected the quality of legislation from some of the States and National Assembly. The voices of most of those elected to represent parts of the North East in the National Assembly were therefore drowned in assemblies populated by tested professionals and astute politicians. Most of them are mere bench warmers. There are however exceptions such as Senate leader Dr. Lawan, the Speaker of House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, Senator Danjuma Goje, Senator Kaka Garbai, Senator Massi Garba, Senator Abu Kyari and Senator Ali Ndume, before his fall. Adamu Kamale, Mohammed Monguno, Rima Shawulu and even Asabe Valita performed to expectation.
Critical yardsticks for measuring political vibrancy and effectiveness especially of political leadership are the quality of those elected as state governors and their performance. Some state governors in the North East started well but soon fell by the way side. Critics suspect that some were overwhelmed by the paraphernalia and challenges of office while others simply lost focus. Yet there are others who found convenient excuses in the fallout of the insurgency that created enormous security and development challenges. The Buhari Government did very well in liberating the areas previously occupied by the insurgents and stopping the wanton attacks on schools, markets and places of worship.
The possibility of attacks on communities was thereby substantially limited to Borno and Adamawa and to some extent, Yobe State. Arguably, even with the insurgency some state governments could have taken development to most local government areas out of the reach of the insurgents. At the moment, schools in many states are closed and hospitals poorly staffed and stocked. Even local government council secretariats have been vacated or shut in some states.
One area that is of serious concern to the people in the North East is the virtual collapse of the local government councils which in most states have ceased to exist or are comatose. The reasons again are not far-fetched as local government funds have reportedly been massively looted by some of the state governors. In some states, local government chairmen who are mostly appointees of the governors are paid stipends while the bulk of local government statutory allocations are hijacked.
As a result, most of the local governments can hardly drill boreholes, renovate primary schools and healthcare centers or even maintain village markets. The widely held view is that President Buhari came with the determination to salvage the situation but has been betrayed by the ineptitude, insensitivity and mismanagement in states. At a discussion forum recently, a contributor argued that the present government is being de-marketed by two factors – deception and lack of performance in some states and local government councils and the spate of killings and near collapse of the security system in communities in the country.
Most worrisome is the resurgence of the insurgency in the North East. Recent developments show that the remarkable achievements of the gallant armed forces are being reversed with sustained attempts to break into the defense corridors in some states, especially Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.
As some of us have previously advised, the counter terrorism operations need to be reinforced in terms of strategies, improving the morale of the troops and procurement of capabilities. Above all, the fighting forces need public support and intelligence sourcing cooperation. The apathy currently been exhibited by stakeholders is also not helpful to the efforts of the security forces. The fate of Leah Sharibu and the remaining Chibok girls still being held captive remains an area of serious public concern.
Another area deserving revisiting is the persistence of humanitarian crisis in the insurgency impacted communities. The truth is that the Buhari government has made unprecedented headway in mitigating the suffering of the people especially in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States. However, the President’s desire to put behind us the destruction by the insurgency has been sabotaged by lack of sincerity of some agencies and political actors charged with the responsibilities of addressing the plight of the victims.
It is unfortunate that even the take-off of the North East Development Commission (NEDC) has been stalled while the reconstruction of destroyed private and public institutions is characterized by lack of focus, fairness and determination. Today, most of the liberated communities are yet to feel the impact of some of the Government driven reconstruction efforts. This is the reason there are still IDP Camps in the FCT.
Compounding the situation is lack of transparency in the management of assistance by international donor agencies and some countries, giving room for allegations of widespread corruption. The other challenge is the humanitarian crisis in the wake of attacks by armed groups on some communities especially in Adamawa and Taraba States. Many of those displaced are yet to be rehabilitated or are in poorly managed IDP Camps. The government urgently needs to address their plight with sincerity.
All hopes are not lost as the people still possess their inalienable right to vote only those that share in their plight and will not betray them after the 2019 elections. These issues are taken up in next article.
A. A. GADZAMA OFR, mni
Former DGSSS
