Prof Lai Olurode, respected scholar, Professor of Sociology (rtd), former dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos and former national commissioner, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in this chat with Sunday Sun, speaks on the one year anniversary of President Bola Tinubu administration, suspended strike by the organised labour, and the need for local government autonomy, among other issues. Excerpt:

President Bola Tinubu just celebrated one year in office, how will you assess his tenure so far?

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed power at the most difficult and challenging times in the history of Nigeria. When you peep at a football field from afar, you can hardly notice its undulating feature. When you get nearer, the contours become obvious. Certainly, it would be unfair to undertake an honest assessment now. A mid-term judgment is preferable. Nigeria’s poverty profile didn’t start one year ago and no magic by any government can bid it farewell in the shortest time. Good policy takes time to grow, it isn’t custom made for picking on the shelves.

Critics seem to be complaining about the security challenge which they claim is still on the increase under the present administration?

Well as I said above a mid-term judgment for me is preferable. You cannot get a realistic assessment within one year because even the best of reforms still need time to mature to produce the intended benefits. We need to be a bit more patient and give his government more time, at least three years if we should get an objective assessment.

What is your take on the suspended strike by the organised labour?

I think Labour should never shun dialogue. This is the age of discussion. Both the government and labour need to be realistic in bargaining position.

The move by the government to shift university entry age to 18 from the present 16. What is your take on it?

In my view, I think it’s really good to mature well before gaining admission into our varsities. It may help to curb campus violence and cultivate a more responsible student regime. It’s better for our children to be matured enough before entering the university as this will help to avoid undue influences while on campus.

Recently, you issued a statement on local government autonomy and why President Tinubu should be supported on the legal tussle. Can you throw móre light on the issue?

I do not think there is anything more to add to my submission. What I said was quite explanatory and comprehensive too. I commended the presidency for the resort to the path of civility, law and order as our democracy will become better strengthened by the outcome of the legal process. But to answer your question: The issue is that recently, the Federal Government took the 36 governors to the Supreme Court for illegally withholding funds meant for local governments in their jurisdiction in contravention of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution as amended. The relevant section stipulates that the system of local government by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed. It is then clear that non-democratically constituted local governments are an aberration which deserve no funding from the Federal Government. It is evident that since the beginning of this democratization processes, state governments have not been relating to local government authorities with respect and dignity deserving of the third tier level of governance. In the first place, state governments have been known to be rather arbitrary rather than being constitutional in granting statutory allocations to local governments and as they fall due. Secondly also, elections into local governments have rarely been held as they fall due. In consequence, caretaker committees have been the norms rather the exceptions that they ought to be under this condition, it is convenient for local governments to resort to scapegoating in defending their being dysfunctional. I still wonder as to what could be the reason the presidency has taken the legal remedy to rescue local governments from the jugulars of the state governments. Has dialogue failed? The APC-led Federal Government controls 20 states and it can wield the big stick and employ the party machine to whip recalcitrant governors to queue up behind government. And I ask: why this ‘unconventional’ path to governance? Is it a signal of the failure of party discipline? My thinking is that since, regardless of the political party in power, the presidency has come under incessant attacks by Nigerians regarding development issues in the country. Remember that in Nigeria all eyes are on the person of the president. Generally, governors are hardly reckoned with in explaining Nigeria’s predicament with development. Local government chairmen are perceived as helpless and at the beck and call of governors. Of course, we know that chairmen of local governments are errand boys of governors. The presidency must have reasoned that it was now time to redirect attention to governors and their irresponsible acts in crippling local governments. For us in Nigeria there are three centres of government power and if each centre functions effectively, the Federal Government will certainly be less blame worthy. As we know, President Tinubu fought hard at the Supreme Court through its then Attorney General, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, to assert the authority of the then Lagos State government to create additional local governments. Recall that the apex court ruled in favour of the Lagos State government and it became the lot of the late President Umaru Yar’Adua to release the withheld funds in deference to the verdict by the Supreme Court.

So looking at the emerging legal tussle, I think we need to give the presidency a part on the back for initiating this long overdue legal tussle which no president before Tinubu attempted. For me this move by President Tinubu is a far superior response than the resort to self-remedy for which the former President Obasanjo was castigated when it seized the Lagos State local government funds when the Lagos State under the governorship of Tinubu created additional local council development authorities. If the presidency wins this new celebrated case against the 36 governors then, local governments will be able to receive their funds directly and then can henceforth be blamed for non-performance. The presidency and the governors will then become less of a cynosure of attention. More importantly, Nigerians will become the ultimate beneficiaries of this legal initiative as governments at all levels will become more competitive and possibly more responsible. For me, by this bold choice of recourse to the path of legality, President Tinubu has shown a good example that the courts are the last hope of the downtrodden, in this case, the Federal Government. (Sunday Sun)

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