From A Free Mind in Political Incubator By Mr. Solomon Sule, November 2007

          Welcome to the political scene of Niger State – the Power State of Nigeria. Thirty one years of Political and Military brouhaha, 1^st April 1976 to October 2007.  In these thirty one years, no leader, military or political has been as focused and straight as Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu – OON (Talban Minna).  A technocrat with very high reputation, who prefers to be addressed as Chief Servant instead of the traditional Your Excellency.  That’s to let the people know that he has come to serve and not to be served as is the case with most of our past leaders.

           With his wealth of experience as a Federal Permanent Secretary for almost 10 years, a new lease of life is gradually being injected into the life of Nigerlites.  Compared to the last eight years, political and economic life in the state is returning to normal after years of darkness and decay.

            It is common in Nigeria to refer to 100 days of a leader in order to assess his achievements.  But what can you achieve in an incubator?  It can only be referred to as a planning period where meaningful advice can be given.  It is too short for any meaningful achievement, especially after 8 years of mismanagement and underdevelopment.

            In the case of Dr. Muazu Babangida Aliyu he will have to swim in the most turbulent political waters where he is confronted with a very hostile political structure at the state, local government and ward levels.  If he must survive in the political arena of Niger State, he must create his own political structure in order to implement his laudable programs for Nigerlites to enjoy.  That is not say he should discard the old brigade but he must draw a line in order to maintain his popularity with the people.  He must distinguish between the chaff and the grain.

            If the Chief Servant can reorganize the local governments in the state, he would have solved over 50% of his problem within the state.  The local governments must be granted reasonable financial autonomy with due accountability in order to develop because they are the only link to the grass roots. However, government must be careful not to empower its enemies, bearing in mind that the congregational and local government elections are around the corner.  From my little observation, I doubt if all the Local Government Sole Administrators are the Chief Servant’s men.  Some of them are being controlled by the state legislators, some by out going local government party chairman and some by so called influential individuals.  We cannot afford to allow hostile individual to become council chairmen in the forth coming local government elections.  If that be the case, some of the present Sole Administrator will have to be carefully monitored while some should earn outright removal because they are nothing but saboteurs.  You can only win elections with people you trust. Therefore, only trusted people should be allowed to conduct the forth coming local government elections.

           While politics is not war, the nearest weapon you have at hand to create a credible political structure and win elections at grassroots today are your commissioners, a few trusted individuals even if they are from the old brigade, and the civil service.  But I want to remind the Chief Servants that he is now a fulltime politician and knows better than anyone that is in Nigeria today, you cannot win elections without fully mobilizing those that are going to work for you at the grass roots.  My dear Chief Servant, it is not about sharing money as is the case with the previous administration, but about winning elections by winning the hearts and souls of Nigerlites.  Niger State is still a rural state and if you want your impact to be felt even at the most remote polling boot, then you need to make funds available to your Commissioners and other trusted workers so that your presence can be felt all over the state.

            I must commend the Governor’s efforts in one area of concern among many, that is the control of ostentatious life style by some public office holders.  Sanity has suddenly been introduced into public life.  With the introduction of prudence into public spending, Government can now save money to embark on projects that are beneficial to the generality of Nigerlites.  For example some roads in Minna will soon take a new look i.e the dualization of some of the roads passing through the government house.  These are projects that should have been done several years back.  But the essence of dualization is not just to widen the roads but to decongest traffic and improve the overall quality of life in the capital city of Niger State.  Some might argue if dualisation is our first priority.  So perhaps water should take precedence.  Today over 50% of Minna metropolis is suffering from acute shortage of pipe borne water.  The Chief Servant should make it a priority to restore the supply of pipe borne water to Minna metropolis, because the average Nigerlite in Minna realizes the need for water than anything else.  Well done, Chief Servant because we see what you are doing with public money, especially at local government level.  The then General Manager, Water Board, and now Commissioner for Works, Alhaji Sani Ndanusa did his best to see that the Bosso and Tagwai dams were dredged but did not succeed.

           Back to the political structure on the ground, there is no doubt that it is responsible for the intra-party rift within the Niger State PDP.  But why? I cannot understand.  The Chief Servant has become like the small state of Israel surrounded by enemies. But he too is fully armed like Israel and where there is need for him to use his political weapons of mass destruction; he should not hesitate, if that is what will make him succeed to move Nigerlites out of the dark ages to prosperity.

           You must remain steadfast as the Chief Servant, no matter what.  Our enemies are not happy that you are here but majority of we Nigerlites are – because you are God sent.  We know those who don’t want Talba to succeed, but there is time for everything, there is time to come and there is time to go.  You are on course, please do not allow sentiments to derail you.

           Take note that the Anti Talba virus has infested even the grass root of political life in the state and that’s why concerted efforts must be made to wipe out the virus from the grass root.  Once again, only trusted local government sole administrators and councilors should be allowed to remain to conduct the forth coming local government elections especially in non PDP Local Government Areas.

           The political intrigue is even worse at the ward levels where most of the ward chairmen are illiterate and cannot understand why they should be replaced by more qualified and loyal people.  Despite the stiff resistance, there is need for a radical change – a clear departure from the past otherwise we cannot form a political structure with a solid base that can be used in future to the benefit of Nigerlites.  It is time for us to know that only those who are intellectually prepared should aspire to govern.

           Today, in Niger State I will advice the Government to stick to the civil servants because of the role they will play when the time comes.  The civil service which seems to be dead in the last eight years has been recalled to life.  But most importantly, some of these civil servants are highly influential and respected in their localities.  Such reputable individuals should be identified and used as tools to convince the grass roots of the need to effect changes in the system that will enhance the life of the average Nigerlite.  The Chief Servant once a civil servant himself, I am sure, realizes the need to maintain a revamped civil service in the state wile the civil servants on the other hand owes it a duty to protect the system that has brought it back to life. We salute you for the efforts made so far to turn an average civil servant to become computer literate and also subsidizing the prices of computer.  I hope that the beneficiaries know that the computers are not to be resold but to make them e-Competent.

           Niger State Legislature could have been of tremendous use to the Chief Servant but the House as it is now, could be categorized into 3 groups – the Kure faction, the Magaji faction and of course the ANPP as a faction.  Unfortunately for the Governor, he didn’t have the previledge of participating in the intrigues of sponsoring candidates into the State House of Assembly.  Hence, the Governor does not have a solid base at the House.  The solution therefore, is for the Chief Servant to appoint credible and very influential persons to serve as advisers to the House.  They must be reputable men that can attract sympathy from the legislature. Otherwise most of the Governor’s bills, no matter how important, will suffer unnecessary delay, failure and probable defeat. In addition, the governor must parley with the House leaders in order to familiarize them with some of his bills and convince them to support his course to move Niger State ahead.  If the wrong people are appointed to liase between the Executive and the State Legislature then the Chief Servant would be committing a political error and the result will be unfavourable.

           I cannot close without making reference to the Chief Servant’s intention to dissolve the 17 new Local Governments created by the past administration, and work only with the 25 Local Governments originally recognized by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In presenting this matter to the State Legislature, the Chief Servant must realize how sensitive the matter is with all the lobbying and behind the scene movements that preceded the creation of the 17 new Local Governments. It is obvious that such move will be unpopular with the people even though it is the right thing to do, in view of the fact that they were not created in accordance with the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.  But one thing is certain, the past administration achieved some of its selfish political goals with the creation of the new local governments.  If you therefore want the legislators to dismantle these new local governments, then you need to convince the opposition that you are not planning to use them to achieve your political goals and thereafter dump them.  One cannot be sure of some of the current PDP legislators when it comes to the issue of dismantling the 17 new local governments.  Please refer to the two PDP factions I earlier mentioned.

           One important thing I also want you to do is to make sure that your Commissioners and their House of Assembly members speak the same language.  This is an area that you must carefully monitor.  Most of your commissioners are new in politics and would be expected to deliver their various local governments when the time comes.  They are not close to the grassroots and may need their House of Assembly members who have gone through the rigours of campaigning for the primaries and election at their various constituencies.

           Lastly, I appeal to you to stick to your budgetary provisions, because most of the Governors are guilty of this offence.  You have strong opposition for now and you must not give them an advantage to capitalize on.  You have to operate from a position of strength.

            In the political incubator, it is not just 100 days, it could be much more.  As you emerge from the incubator, we hope that the years ahead will really give us a new lease of life in Niger State.

SOLOMON SULE

HIGH COURT OF JUSTICE,

MINNA.

Solosule2@yahoo.com