Governance is fast deteriorating in the country. Of note is that more than three months after Inauguration Day on May 29, several state governors have not constituted their cabinets. They create the impression that governance is a one-man show that can be trifled with. It is not so. Effective governance is a product of focus and distillation of ideas from a cross-section of political leadership and technocrats who form a given government. It is a team work.
Hindsight suggests that governance has never been this clueless. Out of the 29 states where the governorship election was conducted on March 9, 19 of them operated without a cabinet in the first 100 days in office. As of that landmark, Abia, Adamawa, Bauchi, Cross River, Enugu, Gombe, Jigawa, Kano, Katsina, Kebbi, Kwara, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Plateau, Rivers, Taraba, Yobe and Zamfara had no cabinets in place. All that some of them – like Katsina and Rivers – did was to name one commissioner.
That leaves just Akwa Ibom, Benue, Borno, Delta, Ebonyi, Imo, Kaduna, Lagos, Oyo and Sokoto with functioning government machinery. Compared to the final count of 36 states, this figure is disturbing. Furthermore, there are seven states – Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Kogi, Ondo and Osun – where the governorship election had been held before March because of judicial pronouncements. With the exception of Osun, whose governor was inaugurated in November 2018 (10 months ago), all these states had formed their cabinets.
Erroneously, these governors assume that they have all the time in the world. With the chronic infrastructure decay and financial crisis afflicting most states, four years is hardly enough to work out things. In defence, some of them hang on to the excuse that the petitions against their electoral victory have not been decided effectively by the judiciary. Amidst this uncertainty, they are wont to hedge their bets. This is untenable.
The real delay in cabinet formation at the sub-national tier is that the governors elevate politics above sound leadership ideals. Perhaps, wanting to satisfy the various interests that promoted their candidacy, they find themselves in a tight corner. They wait interminably in this process, wasting precious time in the face of pressing challenges.
Beyond that, the affected helmsmen support their reluctance by claiming that the financials of their states are insufficient to pay the bills of their cabinet members. In 2015, President Muhammadu Buhari laid very bad example for not having a cabinet six months after his inauguration. This is a laughable excuse because, at the end of the day, the cabinet was an anti-climax.
Indeed, it is an illusion to assume that only the governor will manage the affairs of a state successfully without a team to back him up. In the midst of ideas from a capable team, improvements are better attained. And, there are sensible ways to resolve the issue of emoluments in the public service. One is to appoint a compact cabinet.
A nimble cabinet has varied benefits. One, its size means the cost of running governance is reduced. Two, it is a reflection from an earlier republic under the regional governments of Obafemi Awolowo, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tafawa Balewa and Dennis Osadebey, which operated with a few tested ministers. Seeing that a governor is not an island unto himself in terms of knowledge, ideas and energy, there are key ministries like finance, works, health, justice and education that are integral to running a successful government.
States are more important now than any other time in the past. Governors must take on new and larger roles in developing innovation policy priorities and creating economic opportunities for their people. But these days, governors unwisely build a large public service of commissioners, special advisers and aides while, at the same time, not paying workers’ salaries and pensions promptly. A South-East governor has just demonstrated this trend by appointing an additional 180 aides. This is playing to the gallery.
The importance of a cabinet was seen in the imposition of the reciprocity fee of $100 by the United States government on Nigerians applying for visas. While reversing the visa reciprocity fee by Nigeria a day after the US action, government explained that it could not act earlier as America demanded because there was no Minister of Interior for the country. During this delay, international investment will be likely put on hold, while some deals may be signed that would not favour Nigeria as in the case of the $9.6 billion judgement that Process and Industrial Development secured against the country.
It is time governance is taken more seriously at the state level. In Nigeria, where extreme poverty plagues the majority, infrastructure is shabby and social services are awful, it is doubly important to have sound, perspective leadership in top positions. Aware of this, leadership elsewhere is attuned to these nuances. They (leaders) demonstrate that they are prepared for governance, which helps them to build and improve on their countries.
Such is the sterling stuff of Scott Morrison, the incumbent Australian prime minister, who won election on May 18. Three days before his inauguration on May 26, he named a cabinet that was sworn in on May 29. To show that he is adequately prepared for the rigours of office, Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, inaugurated his cabinet on May 31, a day after he assumed power. Boris Johnson, the British PM, formed his cabinet on July 24, the day he replaced Theresa May. Former American president Barack Obama and the incumbent Donald Trump started forming their cabinet shortly after winning at the polls.
Going by Section 192 of the 1999 Constitution, a governor is obliged to form a cabinet. So, this is a circumvention, which the states house of assembly should take action on. Rightly, the Ninth Senate mounted pressure on Buhari to send the names of his ministerial nominees to it for screening when he delayed after his election on February 27 and inauguration on May 29, which the President was forced to do. We have not seen this at the state level. It behoves the state parliaments to therefore instigate moves that will compel the dithering governors to stop giving excuses and face the task of governing squarely.
