WHEN God created Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they were instructed not to eat the fruits that were in the middle of the Garden but unfortunately they disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruits. It was their conscience that made them to hide themselves from God. The word “conscience” can be defined as that part of human mind that enables them to know whether an action is right or wrong. It is the moral faculty that passes judgment on one’s self or the secret testimony of the soul, whereby it approves things that are evil. It is conscience that usually justifies or condemns people when they are right or wrong respectively. Every human being possesses conscience. It is in this faculty that also reveals the awareness of God’s existence to man. Man as an image of God is created with conscience. He is a moral existence capable of knowing right from wrong. The Holy Scripture has confirmed this in the Book of Romans Chapter 2 verses 14-15 which says: “For when the Gentiles which have not the law, these having not the law, are a law unto themselves which shew the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and their thoughts the means while accusing or else excusing one another.” Today, I am not quite sure if our so-called political elites do have a conscience at all. The reason why I am saying this is because it has been over two decades now that we have been practicing democracy, yet the country has not made any progress in terms of socio-economic development.
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A lot of money has been earmarked for capital projects but alas some of these monies have ended up in private pockets and nobody cares to find out. Are we going to continue like this? We are the architect of our own fortune and misfortune. Let me digress a little, I am not trying to be ego-eccentric but I am trying to say something about my early life. When we were growing up in the early 60s, our parents taught us moral values, especially on how to be prudent in managing scarce resources and this has really helped a lot in life. Immediately after I completed my postgraduate program, I got a job with the Federal Government. Due to the nature of my work, I had the privilege of travelling to so many countries like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Canada, India, Germany, Kenya and Ghana. Moreover, I have also contributed my little quota to the development of this great nation. For instance, I was part of the Presidential Technical Committee that restructured the 12 River Basin Development Authorities. I was also a member of the Technical Committee that developed both the ND and HND curricula on Environmental Engineering for the National Board for Technical Education. Moreover, I am at present a consultant for the Federal Ministries of Environment and Water Resources.
I was also part of the Technical team that conducted Research on the leaded petroleum which led to the total phase-out of lead in petroleum. I also took part in the Research conducted on the nature of Biological Diversity in Nigeria which was initiated by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP). I retired from active service after attaining the 60 years mandatory retirement age. When I was in service, I had the opportunity of making millions of naira. However, I allowed my conscience to guide me throughout my career. Today, I give glory to God Almighty for what He has done for me. Right now, I have peace of mind and I can sleep well. Obviously, the country is grappling with socio-economic challenges and most of our problems are man-made. They are due to lack of accountability and transparency in the management of Tax payers’ money. Recall that during the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, former Finance Minister, Dr. (Mrs.) Okonjo-Iweala, advised the Federal Government to reserve the excess money made from the sales of crude oil for the rainy day, but unfortunately the state Executives then kicked against the idea and went to court to challenge the Federal Government and eventually, thy won the case. So, the money was shared among the three tiers of government. Most of the time, we place blame on the Federal Government for our predicament. This is not always true. Frankly speaking, I think the current administration under the leadership of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) is performing credibly well and the President should be commended for the following reasons.
First, the President recently granted autonomy to all the 774 Local Government Areas in Nigeria. What that means is that all the allocations meant for the Local Government are now channeled to them directly. By so doing, there will be rapid development in the rural areas. Once there are good roads, potable water and regular power supply, obviously the influx of people from the rural areas to the urban cities will be drastically reduced. Second, the present Administration has enacted a law that allows all the states to generate their own energy which is a right step in the right direction. Third, the present administration has also increased the salaries of workers. The minimum wage has been increased from N35,000 to N70,000. Fourth, the Federal Government has introduced loan scheme in our Tertiary Institutions to assist indigent students. Also the Federal Government has dolled out palliatives to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal. Most of the monies that are realised from the sales of Petroleum Products are being shared among the three tiers of government while both states and the Local Government get the lion shares. But the major problem that we do have is the implementation of our capital budgets. For those that are not familiar with the budget preparation process, it begins in January each year with a call circular sent to various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAS). In this circular, the MDAS are requested to prepare their annual budget for both the recurrent and capital expenditures. The major problem that we have is in the implementation of the capital budget. In most cases, a lot monies are allocated for capital projects, contracts are awarded but in most cases the projects are abandoned.
For the past 25 years of our democratic dispensation, there is nothing to show for it. Taxpayers’ monies always end up in private pockets. The problem is that most of these projects are not properly monitored to ensure that they are properly executed.
Another area of concern is the issue of constituency projects being awarded by the members of the National Assembly. I have said it times without number that the National Assembly has no business in executing or awarding contracts. Their mandate is purely to make laws for the country period! The Executive arm of government should be in charge of awarding and monitoring contracts. In order for us to make progress in this country, there should be proper accountability in our day-to-day operations. Another thing that bothers me is the way our political elite waste the scarce resources on frivolous things such as congratulatory messages on the pages of newspapers. Most often, when a Chief Executive of a state is celebrating his birthday, there are congratulatory messages on pages of newspapers. This is wasteful spending and it should be halted. (See the rest on www.tribuneonlineng.com) Recall that when the President was about to celebrate his 72nd birthday anniversary last year, he implored his well-wishers to take their gifts to motherless homes. The monies that our political elites are spending lavishly could be used to assist the less privilege in the society. For instance, according to the Research conducted by the United Nations Children Educational Fund (UNICEF) recently, about 10 million Nigerian Children are out of school. What is the Government doing about it? Moreover, there are a lot of unemployed Graduates that are roaming the streets of Lagos and Abuja looking for job. What are we doing about it? I think it is imperative that our Political elites should be prudent in the way they spend tax payers’ money. On a final note, I would like to state here that misplacement of priority is another major problem. We should be able to set our priorities right. Once we are able to do that, we are sure of getting to the promised land.
