Opinion
Elected LGA Councils, A Norm At Last?
Since the return of democratic rule in 1999, Nigeria’s third tier of government, the local councils, consisting of 774 Local Government Areas (LGAs), has regressively slided into undemocratic governance, no thanks to the impunity of some state governors. At the moment, about 462 LGAs in 22 out of the 36 states of Nigeria are ruled by care-taker committees, apointed by state governors. Though in some states, the brief imposition of care-taker committees were fall-outs from political wranglings, some state governments however, made the jettisoning of democratically elected council governments as modus operandi. The worst record so far in this regard was that of Bauchi State which conducted no local government elections for 12 unbroken years, between 2008 and 2020. Apart from a brief council election in October, 2020, that allowed elected council officials till October, 2022, the state has since relapsed to the imposition of caretaker committees.
But if we go by the most current perpetration of the longest count of years of unbroken council rule by appointed committees, the ignominous title of the worst usurper of council authority goes to Anambra State, where since 10 years ago local government elections have never been held, and where Governor Charles Soludo further distabilises council administrations by having run eight tenures of transition committees just within two years. In Anambra, the last council elections held in November 2014 at the twilights of former Governor Peter Obi’s administration. Following Anambra state is Kwara, which held its last LGA elections in 2017, while Imo and Zamfara held theirs in 2018 and 2019, respectively. It appears however, that the dark clouds over Nigeria’s local government system is about to clear, going by the sudden flurry of electioneering preparations noticeable at the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) in no less than 13 states of the federation.
This new development is most welcome, considering that the restoration of democracy at the third tier of government would help to deepen the principles of democracy and accountability at the grassroots levels, with spiralling impacts to the higher levels.The new turn comes not without some push, though. Following a public interest litigation in suit: SC/CV/343/2024, filed by Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi (SAN), against the 36 states of the federation, the Supreme Court had declared in a landmark judgment that “A democratically elected local government is sacrosanct and non-negotiable,’’ and for state/LGAs joint accounts believed to be the conduit through which LGA funds were diverted, the judgment declared that, “In this case, since paying them through states has not worked, justice of this case demands that LGA allocations from the federation account should henceforth be paid directly to the LGAs,” to the effect that only democratically elected local government administrations should receive and manage funds meant for the local councils.
Following the new reality, some state houses of assembly have had to amend local government laws, albeit hurriedly, to pave way for council elections. In Anambra state, where the governor is being criticised for renaging on his pre-election promise of restoring grass-roots democracy within the first six months in office, Governor Soludo had swiftly secured amendments to the local government laws that enabled him constitute members of the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC), and at the swearing-in ceremony, declared somewhat cynically, “Ndi Anambra, here comes your ANSIEC Commissioners, I’ve done my job,” and to the newly sworn-in commissioners, “When you are done, announce to the people when you’ll hold elections.” Probably, the governor was not comfortable with a court judgment that had stopped federal allocations to his latest Local Government Transition Committees.
Aside Anambra, other states that have not conducted elections in a long while now show swift upswings in councils election preparations, with no less than 13 states fixing election dates. Whereas Anambra fixed September 28, 2024, Kwara and Imo had set September 21, 2024 as election dates, Kaduna and Kogi, October 19, 2024, while Katsina and Osun gear towards February, 2025.However, the hurry at which most council elections are now being pursued is raising a new form of worry in some who fear that the rush might compromise the credibility of the elections and undermine the envisaged benefits derivable from properly conducted council elections. Again, in Anambra where ANSIEC set barely a month timeline for elections, a public affairs analyst in the state, Mr Tony Okafor, while commending Governor Soludo for finally allowing the conduct of council elections, lamented that, “This short notice, coupled with the absence of comprehensive town hall meetings with stakeholders, may not provide sufficient time for adequate preparation, robust campaigning, and thorough voter education, thereby potentially compromising the integrity of the electoral process.”
Also a House of Representatives member, representing Ogbaru Federal Constituency, Hon. Afam Victor Ogene, said, “The newly imposed 30-day notice period for local government elections will lead to widespread disenfranchisement at the grassroots level. Within this truncated timeframe, it will be nearly impossible for stakeholders to conduct meaningful consultations, organise primary elections, secure funding, and prepare for the election without government support. This is a disservice to the people and a mockery of our democracy. By frustrating the enthronement of true democracy at the grassroots level, the government is mindlessly undermining the very essence of democratic practice.”However, there are speculations that the rush at the various states might be aimed at enabling unhindered flow of monthly federal allocations to councils, or fixing elected officials in place ahead of any impending National Assembly laws that might sweep away the powers of SIECs to conduct LGA elections.
Whatever the reason for the rushed council elections, and how so ever the officials emerge, one positive result is remarkably emerging, which is that, the era of elected council officials is now being guaranteed. With assured tenur periods, elected council officials who mean well and have the chatacter to deliver good governance to their constituency could now rely on formidable legal backings to do so.But while local government elections may most likely become regular henceforth, the total independence of the councils might still be a long-drawn battle ahead, considering that some fear that federal government’s move, to free the councils from the domineering clutches of state governments, might pave way for some central control over same councils, especially if federal laws emerge that move the powers of state assemblies and SIECs over the councils, to the federal.As Nigerians watch the swing in the pendulum of power over, or over to, the councils, it is becoming clearer that the business over council affairs would not be as usual.
By: Joseph Nwankwor
Quote:”Communities have rights to peace, safety, and quality of life. Noise pollution, crowds, or other impacts from religious activities can affect these rights. Balancing these interests requires consideration and dialogue”.
“All work and no play”, its said, “makes Jack a dull boy.” Despite this age-long maxim that recognises the role of play in early childhood development, play appears to be eluding many Nigerian kids. The deprivation of play opportunities comes in different forms for the Nigerian child depending on family’s social setting or status, but the effect is much the same. For children in Nigerian poor families, life is becoming as much a hassle as it is for their struggling parents. Due to harsh economic conditions, many families resort to engaging their kids prematurely in trading activities especially in hawking, to help boost family revenues, when these kids should be enjoying leisure after school. Some of these children barely attend schools while being forced to spend much of their childhood hustling in the streets. For children from well-off families, time could be as crunchy as it is for their busy parents when, obsessed with setting agenda for the future of their kids, parents arrange stringent educational regiment too early for their kids.
These group of children are made to get-off the bed by 5.30am every weekday, get ready for private school buses that call at 6.00am, otherwise report by however means to school at 7.20am.The situation is worse for kids in the city of Lagos where the need to beat urban traffic rush-hours is very high. Most children are further subjected to extra hours of lessons after school at 2.00pm, only to be released with loads of homework. On many occasions children who leave home for school at 6.30am get back by 3.30pm. With hardly enough time to eat, do school assignments and take afternoon naps, these children hardly had time for plays before dinners. In Nigeria, kids of ages between 3 and 12 spend averages of 9 hours a day and 45 hours a week to and from schools, and additional hours doing home assignments and domestic jobs, whereas their peers in developed countries spend about half that duration and have more time for leisure.
Any remaining spare time left after school work or street hustle is further stolen, when kids who usually are fascinated by gadgets, are exposed to household electronics like phones, tablets and gaming consoles. Electronic games may create a sense of leisure, but the difference with human interactions is that kids doing games interface mostly with machines or with programme structured in ways that entrap a child’s pysch directionally, according to the game’s programming, in ways that may not encourage independent thinking. Moreso, attraction to such gadgets displaces kids’ attention from important television and radio programmes. The prevalent tight, academic schedules for some Nigerian kids, though intended for academic excellence, encroaches on childhood leisure time needed to achieve an all-round childhood development, and could make children to resent formal education altogether. Besides, academic excellence or economic pursuit, is not all there is to living a well-nurtured life.
Children’s leisure time, defined as time left over after sleeping, eating, personal hygiene and attending school or day-care, is very crucial to childhood development. Sociologists recommend that children should have at least 40 per ceny of the day as leisure. According to Berry Brazelton, a former pediatrician at Harvard Medical School, “Play is the most powerful way a child explores the world and learns about him or herself.” Unstructured play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to negotiate their relationships with their peers, and in the process build self-confidence and self-control. Play is one of the important ways in which young children gain essential knowledge and skills. Leisure time enhances learning as fun enables children to learn at their own level and pace. Young children naturally explore and learn many skills by making cognitive connections from events that catch their attention.
Unstructured plays help children developed their cognitive, physical and communication skills that make them acquire social qualities necessary in navigating relationships in adult life. Plays enable children assess how others feel and learn perspectives as well as empathy through observing differences in facial expressions, body language and even tone of voice, which helps them copy how to express themselves to others, and therefore develop socially acceptable behavours that build relationships. In cooperative activities, children willingly take things in turn and may delegate roles. Children can also share the glory of winnings through competitive games, which is all great for working together in task sharing. Aside encouraging parents to ensure adequate leisure time for their kids at home, schools should make plays and exercises an integral part of the educational curriculum. The educational curriculum set by the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) includes specific training durations and break periods, as well as sporting activities, as part of the school system.
Due to poor government funding, sports in public schools have declined, while most private schools lack sporting infrastructure or even play grounds. These make recreational activities and sports implementation almost impossible in schools. Also, the increasing rate of urbanisation in Nigerian communities is gradually eroding ancient playgrounds, while established urban centres have lost community playgrounds. With tightening apartment spaces now being the norm in most urban residential areas, many kids are forced to wriggle within burglary-proof enclosures. Nigerian governments and the relevant agencies should ensure that existing child labour protection laws, educational and urban development codes are implemented in the country, to enable proper nurturing of children as the future stakeholders of our society. Private schools, especially, should be supervised to ensure they follow the educational curriculum standards set by NERDC.
In a bid to impress parents and draw more patronage as better option than public schools, private schools, most of whom operate in cramped environments, have continued to set high regiments of training schedules beyond the capacity of most kids, and even encourage enrollment of pre-school age kids who can not sit still to listen for an extended periods of time. Schools, from creche to secondary levels, without playgrounds and recreational facilities should not be allowed to operate, and should be made to understand and implement appropriate curriculum and training durations. Many Nigerian kids, whether from rich or poor families, appear to have been set-up inadvertently, in the same leisure denial that affects their parents. All work and no play could lead to some messed-up kids who grow up not understanding social cues, and being unemotional and self-centered, manifest later as obsessive-compulsive adults.
By: Joseph Nwankwo
We thank God who is above all human contrivance and arrogance. Congratulations, Your Excellency Amaopusenibo Sir Siminalayi Joseph Fubara. Your victory takes us back to the Bible as a living document of a God that rules in the affairs of all His creation. In a manner of speaking, welcome back from your first war with Phillistines, Your Excellency! Yes, first example is David and Goliath! And like David, Your Excellency stands over Goliath in victory. But that is not enough. Our real enemy is that Your Excellency is Governor of a State with a wretched economy. Indigenes of Your State are today reduced to battalions of beggars waiting for who will hire their loyalty on the usual “pay-as-you-go” basis.
Your Excellency, it brings us to another Bible- based parallel. Conscientious Rivers indigenes above 50, should identify with and commit our all to this second parallel. It is to liberate the economy and people of Rivers people from 23 years enslavement and poverty, for us to regain our dignity and pride. When the economy of Egypt was drifting into a disaster zone, even Pharaoh did not know it. He also did not know what to do. But God sent a Joseph to build the economy into a fortress of good fortune that overcame the economic and social disaster Egypt did not know was ahead. Your Excellency for 23 years, Rivers State has been ruled without any logical, credible and consistent PLAN of how to overcome mass poverty from our dehydrated local economies.
Your Excellency, Rivers State cannot survive one month without Federal allocation! So called IGR only about 10 per cent of Federal allocation.It is also not based on what we produce but on tax from other people’s productivity that pass through our State. Pharaoh did not know what to do in the case of Egypt. May it please God to position another Joseph in Governor Siminalayi Joseph Fubara to heal Rivers State and build an economy that all Africa will come to access in order to chart a new course out of worsening economic hardship that is caused by near zero investment in productivity and endemic reckless looting. They are the twin chambers nursing a corporate cancer unfolding across Nigeria and Africa. The hard work begins today, Your Excellency.
We need an economic blueprint that will enrich every Rivers senatorial district from investment to grow productivity and to enrich every Rivers person from career-based productive labour, just as Pharaoh was enriched by Joseph’s economic Blueprint. Let Rivers State stop the trend of waiting the lives of young Rivers people recruited by Phillistines into cultism, thuggery and easy money, as a career. These Phillistines believe they have only lost one phase of many legal battles and battles by other means. But from comments in the public media, their eyes are fixed on 4-years of war and more! Your Excellency, we the people will not let you forget what you owe us. We have to make unbelievers see that your leadership is different and that we are uprooting the old order of an unproductive Feudal System. That system makes a few persons and their cronies to monopolise our collective wealth, while the majority are left in misery. Let’s put an end to enslavement by cabals and mass poverty in Rivers State. That is when the Phillistines will surrender.
By: Amaopusenibo Brown