Nigeria Content Online

There’s
a fight currently going on in Kogi State. It has to do with a refinery
that is to be built near Lokoja, the state capital, by Chinese
investors. Apparently the governor, Ibrahim Idris, desirous of bringing
the famed ‘dividends of democracy’ to his kinsmen, decided to relocate
the proposed refinery to his village.

For the moment we will ignore the patent
illogicality of scheming to host such an environmental hazard, and
focus solely on the governor’s disingenuous move. It has become the
pattern amongst Nigerian governors and politicians to play politics
with construction projects funded by the government.

The most recent high-profile example is the
disgraceful drama that played out in Sango Ota recently, between Ogun
State governor, Gbenga Daniel, and the Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, over who should take credit for – and
commission – an overhead bridge.

Ekiti presents another good example of the folly
of our politicians. In 2008 the National Universities Commission (NUC)
licensed a new University of Education set up by the Ekiti State
government, in Ikere-Ekiti. The new university was sited on the grounds
of a College of Education, which had been in existence in Ikere-Ekiti
since 1978. The government’s plan was to eventually relocate the
college to another part of the state. Ikere-Ekiti, uncomfortable with
the prospects of giving up a thirty-year-old College of Education, with
established structures and a sizeable student population, in exchange
for a fledgling university, protested vehemently. The controversy
spurred the governor to relocate the university. His choice of
location: Ifaki-Ekiti, his hometown. That decision immediately
aggravated the controversy.

The crisis between Oyo and Osun States over the
Ladoke Akintola University of Technology is also a good example.
LAUTECH is jointly owned by both states. The university campus is
located in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, while the Teaching Hospital is in
Osogbo, the Osun State capital. And then in 2009 Governor Alao-Akala
started the construction of a new teaching hospital – in Ogbomoso,
which also happens to be his hometown. The Osun State government
promptly raised an alarm.

Things have degenerated since then, with Oyo State
ordering all its indigenes at the Osogbo Teaching Hospital to
immediately relocate to the new site at Ogbomoso. Both states have also
separately appointed vice chancellors for the institution.

At a recent meeting with state governors in
Abuja, Vice President Namadi Sambo acknowledged that before now the
Federal Government sometimes deliberately sited projects in unviable
locations in states whose governors did not belong to the ruling party.
Assuring the governors that would no longer happen, he said: “I think
we have passed that stage. Today, we cooperate with all governments
belonging to all parties as one nation and this is part of the
achievements of democracy.” This shows the extent of the pettiness that
guides the conduct of our leaders.

Vital construction projects are not decided, or
sited, based on the principle of maximum benefit, but on parochial
considerations. During the Sango-Ota drama, Mr. Daniel was quoted as
saying that Mr. Bankole should find another project to “claim”.

The Obasanjo years were characterised by violent
clashes between Lagos State officials and officers of the Federal Roads
Maintenance Agency (FERMA), over who ought to handle traffic control on
Lagos roads that belonged to the Federal Government. As Vice President
Sambo acknowledged, communities are often deprived of projects because
they ‘belong’ to the opposition. Not satisfied with zoning political
positions, we mindlessly zone projects as well.

In the Kogi instance, the protesters are saying
that the governor’s decision to move the refinery to his hometown is in
disregard of a technical report specifying a location for the project.

The bad blood and controversy generated by these
controversial decisions ensure that whatever benefits the projects were
intended to provide in the first place are diminished. All of these
politicians ought to be called to order, and reminded that the monies
being spent are not personal funds.

When will the genuine needs of the electorate start taking preeminence in public spending decisions?