THE Senate is at last reportedly alarmed by the prospect of bankruptcy facing the majority of the 36 states of the Federation. Adopting a motion sponsored by Senator Olubunmi Adetumbi, the Senate directed its committees on National Planning, States and Local Councils, and Finance to study the situation and make recommendations on possible remedial measures to avoid total collapse of the economy of the affected states. The Senate also broached the long-dreaded idea that certain states could be merged for viability.One major reason being adduced for this sad state of affairs is the burden of the payment of the minimum wage of N18, 000. The Governors Forum on their part called for a redistribution of the revenue sharing formula such that allocations to the states will increase whilst those of the Federal Government will reduce. Their classification of the economy of the 36 states into healthy, marginally healthy and unhealthy is unconvincing. Imo is in the same slot as Lagos, for instance. As currently constituted, no more than three or four states in the Federation are economically viable.The issues raised in the Senate are pertinent for the survival of this country as an economic entity. The truth is that the states got into this financial mess through a continuing process of profligacy, irresponsibility and corruption. If the intention is to manage our resources more prudently, then conservation or downsizing of everything should become the policy of all governments in Nigeria.Beginning with the Federal Government, there is no indication either in character or attitude of any intention to conserve the nation's resources. The bureaucracy around the Presidency was too bloated and ought to be reducing, and yet the Nigerian delegation to Australia was said to be the largest of all the nations attending that Commonwealth Conference. We argued that the president had too many advisers, but he just increased their number. Sadly, state governors imitate the presidency, with some of them (governors) ending up with more than 1000 advisers and assistants.The National Assembly too has been a den of profligacy. The daily actions of the members are often motivated by their own interests. When the president presents his budget, they increase that part of it that has relevance to their salaries and assorted allowances including the odious constituency allowances. Is it not true that a quarter of the national budget is being spent on 469 legislators' Is it not true that our lawmakers are the highest paid in the world' Is it not true that one in two of the 109 senators is a chairman of some committee'The senators raising alarm now must be patriotic and beginthe cost cutting, starting with themselves. The states are worse than Abuja. The governors are a law unto themselves. The much trumped checks and balances of the American constitution have derailed here. Apart from employing advisers they do not need, many governors create sundry ministries and commissioners they can do without. The sense of discipline on official matters seems to have evaporated with time. Under the military, state administrators were restricted to a maximum of nine commissioners. Now some states have as many as 37, including special advisers.The civil service in the states has become a joke. With irregularpayment of salaries, many civil servants report for work when they please. As Adetumbi pointed out, the states have become 'social employers of labour with unsustainably high workforce that does not reflect in improved service delivery to the people.'At the local council level, nothing is being done for the people. There is hardly anybody at the various local council secretariats on normal working days. Their officials congregate only when subventions are received and shared. The state governments appropriated not only their duties, but their income as well. Local council chairmen are all offshoots of the governor, not the autonomous entity envisaged by the Nigerian Constitution. The consequence is that the people at the grassroots have nowhere to turn to go for redress.The Nigerian nation needs to be re-engineered to answer the needs of a modern generation. Nigeria is living above its means. A nation, which finds itself in these straits, must cut its coat according to its size.We can learn from the advanced countries where every leader is struggling to reduce the cost of governance even at the risk of popular disapproval.The suggestion to merge unviable states deserves attention but not in the manner suggested. It is remarkable that the merger of states is coming from a Senate that has vowed to create additional states. We welcome this change of heart. This nation made the greatest progress when it had a regional structure. It can do so again perhaps on the basis of six autonomous zones.The behaviour of our leaders belies a serious effort to get the country functioning. For the avoidance of doubt, all the parties concerned should mobilise and pay the minimum wage. It can be done - if we manage our resources prudently. It amounts to subtle blackmail for the governors and senators to be insinuating that the revenue sharing formula is to be blamed for all our travails. The revenue accruing to the Nigerian nation can be re-ordered, but a stronger case could have been made for it if governors account for what they currently receive.
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