2 January 2009
editorial
The governor of Niger state, Dr Muazu Babangida Aliyu recently accused traditional rulers in the North for entrenching abject poverty, corruption and economic backwardness in the region.
Addressing a one-day symposium on poverty eradication in Northern states on Saturday, December 13, 2008 the governor put the average poverty rate in the region at 71 percent and noted that traditional rulers in the country, particular in the Northern region, were "corrupt, support corruption and have lost the respect and moral authority to correct their subjects." He emphasized that the respect and reverence hitherto enjoyed by the traditional institutions in the region has been eroded because the elders who were supposed to be custodian of wisdom and moral values had jettisoned their responsibilities, respecting only materialism.
Much as Governor Muazu Babangida's assertion may have a ring of truth about it, we would rather he deployed his comment with a little circumspection . In an age when all things revered have been corrupted, traditional institutions remain the respectable pillar of cultural decency and authority which we will do well to preserve. Flippant comments of the nature of the governor's could bring them to disrepute. Furthermore, as the Talban Minna he got the chieftaincy title while serving as a federal permanent secretary. He has the moral question to answer whether he acquired the title through material influence in which case it will be clear he is talking with first hand knowledge. What is more, as serving governor and the Chairman of the Northern Governor's Forum he and his colleagues are in a vantage position to remedy the problem while in office.
In reality however, the governors in the North are more to blame for the poverty and corruption in the north than traditional rulers. Traditional rulers get only 5 percent officially from the monthly allocations of their respective local governments for the maintenance of their palaces; the governors are in possession of billions on a monthly basis which put them in better position to effect development. Although Governor Babangida accused the traditional rulers more for their personal interference in governance in order to gain from it, we expect the governors to have been able to resist such unnecessary pressures from traditional rulers.
In any case the desire for inordinate wealth is not limited to traditional rulers. Governors have equally stolen public funds which they have used to acquire assets in Nigeria and abroad at the expense of their states' infrastructural development. They steal mind -boggling public funds to the detriment of their states because they are covered by the immunity clause in the 1999 Constitution.
The traditional rulers should endeavour to uphold the values of traditional institution which are supposed to be sacred. They should stop conferring chieftaincy titles on persons with questionable characters just because they have money or influence. The policy put in place to prevent public office holders from receiving traditional titles should be brought back and enforced because graft and embezzlement are driven partly by the quest for traditional recognition. Poor public officials, even if highly placed, are hardly conferred with traditional titles. The rich ones are "recognized" by their traditional rulers only after they have spent huge amount of money to lobby or after they have helped traditional rulers to get various juicy contracts.This is not good for community development. Conferment of chieftaincy titles should be based on individual's contributions to the community as a whole. Traditional institutions are supposed to sanctify the values, norms, mores and the culture of people as that was how most of them evolved.
The development of the North should be the collective responsibility of the governors, traditional rulers, spiritual leaders and the people: all joining hands to move the region forward. The governors working to implement the programmes for which they were elected; while the traditional rulers work quietly to prompt them to stay the course of probity and rectitude thereby complementing the governors' effort through good advice for the benefit of all.
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