The governor of Ekiti State who doubles as the Chairman of Nigeria Governor’s Forum (NGF) has openly expressed his utter disdain for the Local government, which is constitutionally recognized in Nigeria as the third tier of government. This is especially any consideration of its autonomy from state governments or Governors.
He contended that the NGF, an unconstitutional assemblage of Governors of which, he is the Chairman, has decided that all issues of local governments, should always be in the purview of the state governments presided over by the governors.
But I can hear what Governor Fayemi did not say. What I think he knows and pretended not to know is that the Federal, State and Local governments all derived their source and powers from the same source, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
He confessed that in research work and any book he has never seen or heard anything about local government except in Nigerian federalism. This, he said, and maybe quite mischievously as one with much international exposure and credentials. I am not going to agree with him that he doesn’t know what he saying. He is just been deceitful or economical with the truth.
He claimed to have had some years in Britain. Will he, therefore, claim that he didn’t know about the English mixed system of a single-tier local government system of unitary authorities, London boroughs and metropolitan districts councils, or the two-tier local government with county councils as the upper tier and district or borough councils as the lower tier? And this is a country with an unwritten unitary constitution that may be exempted not been a Federation,
Let us go to the United State of America where there are Federal, State, and Local government agencies that provide and deliver innovative solutions that result in developments that Nigeria can still not smell in decades if not centuries to this time. Let me remind Dr. Kayode that American Federalism was what Nigeria went to copy wrongly when she abandoned the West-minister or British system of government.
Unfortunately, the politics of Nigeria has always been managed wrongly. When we were operating the British system of government, Nigeria was not naturally cut out to operate the unitary constitution of the British system. Eventually, when changed to the American Federal system of government we didn’t have the courage necessary to take it wholeheartedly. The very best nature of making the federating state autonomous and with a Republican status was left behind.
Today we are left with a pseudo-Unitary and pseudo-Federal system of government. Today in Nigeria a National Assembly passes a law for all the 36 federating states and FCT whether the states like or not even taxes and rates which should have legitimate sources of revenue for the states are usurped by the almighty federal government. Then at the end of the month, the states in Nigeria go cap in hand crawling under the dinner table of the president in Abuja for crumbs to take back to their states.
The state governors with Governor Kayode Fayemi as the Chairman have also turned themselves to Emperor and there states an empire where they rule from East to West and South to the North of state cornering every income that comes to the state monthly from Abuja including the statutory allocations for the local governments. Some merely disbursing this money as they like.
If Fayemi does tolerates local governments in a unitary system of government but why not in a Federal system, as a “friend” of Obama, he would have learned much from Obama that America recognizes Federal, state, County, and City or township governments, which is even more than three tiers he hates Nigeria is experimenting here, and all were autonomous.
From purely analytical perspectives, the reasons Fayemi condemned local autonomy are beyond the ones has adduced. They are purely for personal or selfish reasons.
The first reason is personal hatred for Chief Segun Oni. In the history of Nigerian Federal, State, and Local governments, Segun Oni was the Governor who gave autonomy to the Local government during his first tenure as Governor of Ekiti State and up till no State, the only Governor that has done that.
In demonstrating his hatred for Segun Oni, Fayemi canceled the autonomy given to the local governments, the legislature, and the Judiciary after his Salami’s coup against Segun Oni and his immoral assumption of the Governor’s office in Ekiti.
Can you imagine the pot calling the stainless kettle black? Fayemi canceled virtually every project embarked upon by Segun Oni after the court made him a governor. He has now projected that Segun Oni will cancel the LCD areas he copied from Segun Oni files as proposed policy.
Another reason for hatred of Local government autonomy is that it will deprive the governors of the avenue of stealing the revenue allocation from Abuja which the governors after Segun Oni always shared with local governments where only peanuts are given to them monthly.
It was only at the time of Governor Segun Oni that local governments in Ekiti got their revenue allocation as sent from Abuja without the state governors taking a kobo from it. By reiterating his hatred for autonomy now Fayemi is already hallucinating that his stooge will win the Ekiti governorship election, which is why he created more LCDs and accusing that Segun Oni will cancel his project because he has seen the handwriting on the wall that Oni is the next Governor of Ekiti State. The truth of the matter is that no amount of blackmail can help them anymore, the battle is lost by BAO and won by CSO. Period! BAO will bow to CSO on June 18. 2022.
The local government autonomy which the APC federal government could not achieve in almost 7 years in office was what Segun did less than two years in office as Governor for also the legislative and Judicial arms of the Ekiti State government about ten years ago.
The same good governance was extended to all other sectors of the Ekiti People. That is why the difference is now clear between Segun Oni the candidate of the Ekiti people and the stooges of Fayemi and Fayose who may be seeking a third term for their sponsors and bosses.
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