My very first attempt at driving a four wheel gave me
a memory I can never erase. It was during one of the holidays from secondary
school, a friend of mine came with a car and we decided to take it for a
“spin”. What was supposed to be a fun outing turned out to be the most rigorous
exercise I have ever been through. I started the car enthusiastically and put
the hand break down, I was then told to step on the clutch and shift the gear
to level one, then let it go slowly while I pedal on the gas to put “her”
on the road where she belongs.
First of all, these motions felt like there were a
thousand of them that I just couldn’t follow, and somehow the clutch and gas
pedal synchronization felt almost humanly impossible.
After what felt like an
eternity of several failed attempts that almost killed the battery I took
off!!! But shortly afterwards, the engine started revving harder and I was told
to shift gears, then make sure I peak at the rear view mirror and side mirrors
as often as I can just in case there are other vehicles that I should be aware
of, as well as concentrate on keeping the steering straight so I don’t go off
the road, - which I was already doing of course – exasperatedly I thought “how
can one concentrate on all these motions and still drive?”, because I panicked
I became totally confused and at my wits end, I felt like everything had to
happen so quickly and at the same time, it wasn’t a funny feeling at all as I
still recall, and I was so upset that I couldn’t get it right.
I stopped the
car before I could shift to the third gear and concluded that my friend wasn’t
a good teacher after all, besides, when did she even learn that she wants to
teach me?
It was this same feeling of bewilderment that
resonated with me when I tried to comprehend the ongoing attempts to review the
Nigerian constitution; it feels like that first synchronization of the gas
pedal and the clutch to get a car to move forward, even after “over 10 years of
democracy”.
A lot has been said about what to adjust and what not to, but the
overarching goal is to ensure that it provides the required order in the state.
In as much as there are a lot of things that are worthy of mention, for me only
two things take center stage, there is an agitation for creation of more states
and another for the autonomy of Local Governments. In reality I think
proponents of both are hoping for similar solutions but they are looking at the
issues based on their different social biases.
A brief look at the history of the most recently
created states and a comparison as to whether the achievements recorded there
are commensurate with the level of development that should have been is often
depressing, usually the state capital has this long tarred road in the middle
of the city with a major round about sometimes, then some new generation banks
are often littered by the road side, a few government offices, internet cafes,
restaurants and new building apartments usually to attract Bank workers as well
as Aid workers and other NGOs. Datzall!
Nonetheless, believe it or not, these few buildings
bring a lot of people out of the rural areas hoping to benefit from the new
land of “opportunity” but unfortunately the majority withers, and what is
tougher to understand is that they still hang on, holding onto the thought that
tomorrow will be better. Meanwhile on the other hand, it has polarized other
groups of people, especially in multi ethnic environments, where suddenly it
isn’t about development but politics and
the politics is now focused on which ethnic group is the most dominant
and where should power seat? At the expense of a steady implosion of maternal
health, infant/child health, as well as the main stay of every human society,
food and agriculture.
Hence, I suggest that rather than the creation of states that we have already tried and seen the
consequence it is worthwhile to consider how much damage we think giving the
Local Governments their autonomy and achieving the true Federalism we proclaim
can cause.
Let’s take a moment and rid ourselves of all those
horrifying thoughts of how allocations are brought to the council and shared
with impunity among “stakeholders” or sometimes even stuck in the state
government to offset some dues, as well as the more horrifying thought of what these local
authorities will do if they have the legitimate license to plunder into these
resources, and imagine a world where as a result of the autonomy, monies are
allocated to long term projects that are crucial to well-being, a world where
Local Government is made confident of its status at the grassroots, where it is
proud to nurture and watch it’s younger generation grow and thrive in the
contemporary traditions of the small communities that make up the council, where
teachers and all other skilled man power will be proud to stay home and
contribute to the “match forward”.
The bulk of the problems faced today emanate from the
grassroots, I may be naïve but I think giving autonomy to the Local Governments
is like giving the grassroots a chance to flourish. For a bounteous harvest, a
farmer knows that all seeds must germinate from the root upwards but the farmer
must be willing to till and stick to the rules of farming to the letter. I
think at our age the constant cries of “lack of this”, “corruption this”
“religion this” is getting ridiculous!
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