By Hassan Saliu
Anywhere one goes in the state, poverty is boldly written on the faces of the people. I know of a market in Ilorin metropolis where the number of closed shops is more than those that are always open due to financial crunch.
Our youths whom we hope will contribute significantly to development efforts are being disoriented with poverty taking brightness out of their existence. Our market women are no less complaining about low sales due to the entrenched poverty regime. One can then see why the next governor may not be as lucky as those before him in terms of negative consequences of the grinding poverty in Nigeria, especially in our state.
Disempowerment is a crippling reality in our state. People with credible sources of income have suffered some dislocations due to the declining economic opportunities. There have been some attempts to provide a succour that finds expression in the regime of empowerment by our notable politicians. Notwithstanding, there seems to be the worsening of the situation apparently because the prevailing strategies are like a drop of water in an ocean.
If nothing sustainable and penetrating is done and urgently, too, there might be more discontent among the citizens that may create more frightening problems for the administration that will come up after the March election in the state. Some have wondered about the palliative measures of catering for the small-scale contractors in SUBEB and other areas in the state? There is an urgent need to deflate the economy by pursuing an aggressive and impactful policy on empowerment for the people since all of us cannot be active politicians. Democracy ordinarily should bring about more empowerment for the people, not disempowerment.
Those who have been lucky to secure employment can hope to escape from poverty one day. Not so with our graduates and artisans who have no jobs. There is a connection between unemployment and poverty. Most unemployed youths in our state have turned to okada riders with the attendant security risks.
Crimes that were unknown in the state before are now prevalent and on ascendancy due to the drying up of employment opportunities. While I note that it is a national problem but our youths who are quite active in the campaigns of the gubernatorial candidates may have accepted their current jobs with the hope that if their candidate wins the election, things will be better for them. Failure to frontally attack the social menace of youth unemployment may increase poverty and crime levels in the state.
What the lucky candidate going to do about unemployment is a legitimate concern of parents and their unemployed children in Kwara state. The next governor, no doubt, should not be helpless. All that is required is for him to prepare well for the task of governing the state. It is surely not going to be business as usual for the new governor if we cannot avert youth restiveness traceable to their displeasure with governance in the state.
Our next governor cannot afford the luxury of being locked up in the Government House; dishing out directives and information that are not problem-solving and hope that the patience of the unemployed can be counted upon in administering the state. The magnitude of the problem is such that propaganda or blame game cannot do anything about. What will work is an action-plan to tackle the gargantuan problem of unemployment (put by some sources at over twenty per cent) that has incubated and delivered poverty to more people in the state.
As a property of good governance, citizens across the world are getting more inquisitive about happenings around them. The era of closure of information is ending. Citizens want to know more about what their elected leaders are doing with their mandate. Either they receive prodding from opposition or not, the reality is that there is little secrecy about governance in the world.
The mindset of the next governor of Kwara state must be such that openness and transparency are accorded a top priority in the state. Whatever concerns the people must be kept open and in line with democratic tenets. Governments that believe in non-disclosure of vital information have earned bad reputations from the people. Kwarans will want to know what is happening to their commonwealth and major decisions that affect their lives.
One argues that so much tension has characterised the forthcoming election because of the little openness that is being experienced which has been fertilising rumour-mongering and outright lies from the public, political parties and the government. Quite worrisome is the tendency by those who have the official information to give to the people to lean on misinformation or falsehood in an apparent bid to protect certain personalities or crucial decisions of government, ignoring the fact that in democracy, sovereignty belongs to the people.
The would-be governor must appreciate the fact that democracy is all about people and he, as the governor, must be ready to place his services at their disposal. He is actually the servant, not the master of the people. It is not always that he will have his ways in democracy. Those to man his information arm must be people that understand democracy and who will use the power of persuasion even when people are not in accord with the government on certain issues. The next governor deserves to earn the trust of the people through due consideration of their views and interests. There is absolutely no need to hide some pieces of information that affect the people away from them including the financial situation of the state, especially when it involves the people making sacrifices. His words must be his honour to win people consistently to his side.
To be continued
*Saliu, Ph.D is of the Department of Political Science, University of Ilorin, Ilorin.
