Local Government Autonomy And Its Caveat...

By Ibrahim Onimisi

Immediately after his inauguration, His Excellency Alh. Yahaya Adoza Bello intimated his focus of agenda for government workers, particularly local government workers, whose welfare problem has been most visibly a challenge to all.
He intended to do this through what he called local government autonomy under his watch. A policy we all strongly believe is the solution to the problem of we local government workers without looking at the caveat. It was well applauded with so much appreciation to the new government of the day.
The occasion of this
formal elucidation of his policy was at a high profile joint meeting he had with combined labour leaders of the state, who are also oblivious of the caveat attached to such pronunciation made by the governor. These Capitalist in progressive uniforms self called labour leaders, who doesn't no anything about Trade Union Congress Act, yet donning the masquerade of progressive...
At this event, the governor revealed therein his policy ie local government autonomy, that could help bring economic relief and alleviate the suffering of the local government workers in Kogi state.
This policy itself is good but, the challenges which I refers to as caveat is that it requires that the government of AYB need to be more circumspect and consciously resort because of the reality of the economic downturn--dwindling oil price fall--that has affected the monthly allocation of all the state and local government.
Invariably, it could also affect the government effort in providing/safe guiding enormous basic need of workers among other things.
This may sound fairly prosaic, but, the proclivity implication of that pronouncement and the transformative potential of achieving the desire result are enormous. How?
Frankly speaking, the governor meant well but he did not give serious consideration to the potential situation on ground before he made that pronouncement that was why the policy did not work in its first and second month now.
Yes, I think such a grand concept has been short-down by one other factor, which is local government 'cabals' like chairmen's cupidity.
Another important issue was the lack of  comprehensive articulation before the governor's pronouncement.
And, politically it is not good for a new government to score an 'own goal' through policy reversal or failure. Instead, it should pursue such policy with the rigour of been new such as the government is doing now in the ongoing screening exercise, a step that all patriotic citizens of this state are fervently praying for its success.
The reality is that presently, Kogi state cannot pay local government workers full salary without this screening, apart from the challenge of ghost workers and other anomaly, the allocation cannot carry the weight of workers wages, something I think a more savvy labour leader should be in the know before now and should had explained to AYB at the initial stage.
There can be no democracy without enriched discourse and practice. If that is the case, AYB did not engage in an enriched deliberation to know the problem of local government with some fine minds who are working in the local government, who knows what is presently tenable and viable.
At most, the present monthly allocation can only carried a varied percentages like 60%,70%, or 80%, depending on each particular LGA's allocation and her staff strenght, which is an improvement from what we use to have before now.
The challenge now is: such pronouncement called 100% to improved workers welfare could radicalized workers and their labour leaders against the government if they failed to look at it viability within the prism of the reality of the present anomaly...

Ibrahim Onimisi is a guest writer.