By Adekunle Adekoya

DESPONDENT. That word pretty much describes the state of my mind for weeks now, given the prevailing situation in our country. There is scarcity of petrol, which has endured for more than two months now, causing a massive upsurge in the prices of goods and services.

Transport fares had tripled in many places, people have been forced to adopt trekking both as an exercise regimen as well as a way to fill in the gap left by unavailable cash. The situation, barely tolerable, is worsened by the directive on new Naira notes as people can barely find enough money (when they have it) to meet their needs.

Added to this is the state of electricity supply in many parts of the country (no light, no petrol, no money), leaving one to wonder whether things have ever been this bad in our country. Maybe not recently, but to help the Noodle generation, many will remember that in 1984, when the incumbent president was a military head of state, the Naira was similarly re-minted and Nigerians suffered untold hardship before the new notes circulated fully nationwide. 

It is not a funny situation, to say the least. Even the high and mighty are feeling the heat, or else, why would the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu fume and allege that fuel scarcity, and Naira re-design are plots to sabotage the oncoming elections? The president’s response has been laughable — he set up a 14-man panel to end fuel scarcity, maybe because he forgot that he is also the Minister of Petroleum, and is TOTALLY responsible, knowingly or not, for this fuel scarcity mess.

But we are talking of the present, and no doubt, the times are hard. But I know that my fellow countrymen and women are even harder. We’ve endured worse, and came out. We’ll endure this together and emerge stronger too. Tough times, as they say, don’t last, but we, tough people, will last longer than the tough times.

However, a major development took place earlier this week which shows that we are incubating harder times in the future. On Tuesday, during plenary, the Senate disclosed state Houses of Assembly have rejected financial and legislative autonomy for local governments. Among others, the Senate also disclosed that out of 44 constitutional amendment bills, only 35 scaled through and have been passed by state assemblies.

Subsequently, the Clerk of the National Assembly was directed to transmit the 35 Constitution amendment bills that have so far met the requirement of the provision of Section 9(2) of the constitution to President Muhammadu Buhari for assent.

What does this say for us all as a nation of peoples? First, rejection of autonomy for local governments by the state assemblies tells us and confirms what we’ve suspected all along — that state assemblies are rubber stamps being used by state governors to legitimise any illegality they might wish to commit.

Also, the intendment of our Constitution drafters in creating local governments have been jettisoned and subverted by state governors, using their houses of assembly as willing tools in this heinous betrayal of the people. Further questions are raised about the kind of federalism the present crop of political leaders desire.

At a time when the clamour for devolution of powers is so loud, it stands wisdom on its head to desire fiscal federalism and at the same time deny federalism at the sub-national level. If there is agreement that the Federal Government cannot effectively cater to the needs of all Nigerians, it stands to reason that local governments were created by the Constitution to fill in the gaps that state governments will never be able to fill, and these gaps are wide and yawning.

Three, by hobbling local governments this way, we are throwing away a good leadership development and training platform. Remember, local governments have their own civil servants, legilslators (councillors), and are closest to the people in terms of knowing what goes on in the communities. Four, and most importantly, it is now clear that local governments exist for state executives as ATM machines.

You will recall, sometime last year, when President Buhari alleged that state governors are in the habit of appropriating funds meant for local governments. He actually accused state governors of asking local government chairmen to sign papers to the effect that they have received allocations meant for them while actually retaining the money in state coffers, which they then do with as they wished.

Which is where Buhari himself registered as a failure. If he knew that was what was going on, what did he do about it in eight years? Beyond asking the NFIU (Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit) to ensure that local governments got their allocations directly, what else did he do about this evil? From where we are now, it is clear that the only way local government autonomy can be restored is to have a strong president that believes in the local government system who can sponsor an executive bill that will cut through the subterfuge mounted by state governors to keep local governments enchained.

Of course, that will not happen in the life of this administration, which will expire in a few months’ time. While the local governments await a saviour, I urge those of us that believe in the local government tier not to be discouraged by the state legislators that have taken their 30 pieces of silver to give out the LGs by voting against their autonomy. A new future will, and must dawn in our country, no matter how long it takes.