How Supreme Court seems to have laboured in vain – Dr. Muiz Banire

I am compelled to revisit the problem of local government administration and funding in Nigeria once again. It is a challenge that we cannot afford to gloss over or backtrack upon being a long-term struggle that has taken so much toll on the people and the structure called Nigeria. Odu Eji Ogbe in Ifa rendition says Okanjuwa ni o je won o moo pin/eni apa to si, itan ni won fun… (It is greed that befuddles their sense of equitable distribution of resources/he who is entitled to the chunky flesh of the thigh was given the lean arm).

It is the warped sense of greed of the Governors that has necessitated the incursive intervention of the Federal Government in an area exclusively reserved by the Constitution for the State Government in terms of legislative and executive control. Few months ago, at the instance of the Federal Government of Nigeria, the apex court in Nigeria gave a judgement mandating direct disbursement of local government funds to the local government councils. This was against the background of the misappropriation of the funds by most of the State governments.

This was against the grain of authorities in the past that had favoured the status quo by which State Governments had become greedily dictatorial and complacent believing that the Constitution had made local government administration their patrimony to toy with, tear and shred the way it pleases their ego. This has been the case for a long while with the third level of government rendered impotent, sterile and effete. As observed in the judgement and obvious to Nigerians, there was and is still nothing happening at the local government level in terms of infrastructure and development.

The local governments only exist as an effigy in the structure of governance in the country. It is so unfortunate that majority of them, save for in a State like Lagos, only existed for the purpose of paying salaries and the remaining stipends to take care of the boys in government. The local government office had become a place of direct and ancestral curse in most parts of the Federation. This is the grassroots level in which the people ought to first and foremost feel the dividends of democracy and good governance. It was a place of disillusionment and despondency as politicians have turned the place to the hideouts of miscreants imposed by Governors to preserve party and personal hegemonies of the Governors. Thanks to the government of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu whose belief in local government administration, though might not represent the best, still ranks and towers higher and above his fellow leaders and politicians.

It is not surprising that his Attorney General of the Federation, a brilliant and psychedelic lawyer of imperial status, could approach the apex Court with superlative arguments to convince the highest court in the land to turn the tide of events that was definitely heading for the rocks. Probably, the experience of Mr. President in the hands of the regime of President Obasanjo between 2003 and 2005 was a catalyst that shaped the mentality of Mr. President. For more than 20 months, the allocation due and payable to Lagos State were withheld by the government of Obasanjo and it took the economic wizardry of the leadership in Lagos State to assist the State to float and survive. Praising Lagos State of that time is unavoidable as no one expected the State to survive. If the President, despite his experience then, now fails to preserve local government administration now that he has the opportunity and means to right the wrongs, then something horrible is wrong with the mentality of all black leaders without any exception.

Thus, with the intervention of the federal government through the suit filed at the Supreme Court to wean the local government administration from the apron strings and suffocating hold of the State governments, there were excitements upon the delivery of the judgement and optimism that in not too long a distance, developmental strides would be achieved at the local government level.
Although most of the Governors were uncomfortable with the judgement to the extent that some even condemned the judgment, for instance, Oyo State Government, through the Governor, had no kind words for their lordships of the Supreme Court.

It is a case of eni a na laraa ta – it is he that is beaten that feels the pain. But at that, Nigerians were not disillusioned believing that it was something that the Governors, and by extension, the parties had no control over, implying that the judgment must be obeyed. If there would be any disobedience to court orders and judgments, it must not come from the State Governors and the federal government.

They are supposed to be the custodians and reservoirs of rule of law. Alas! This appears not to be as the political class would appear not to be implementing the judgment through various manipulations and negotiations. As at date, it will even appear to my mind that the judgment appears to have been compromised. Nothing is being done nor heard on the implementation. Did the Supreme Court then only bite without being able to bite? Does it mean that the judgment is not worth more than the paper on which it was written?

Constitutionally, by Section 287 thereof, it is incumbent upon all persons and institutions, including the governments, to obey and enforce judgement of courts. Certainly, even if we are not under a democracy, at least we still have a civil rule in place. If what we have right now and still hold dear is not sufficient enough to cast us in a beautiful democratic garb, the tatters of our democratic rag are good enough to identify us as no longer in a militocracy. Hence, the least that is expected is compliance with the judgement of the courts. What is exceptional about this judgement that it must not be obeyed still beats our imagination other than the trade-off of the entitlement of the people.

While we all know the position of the law with respect to the finality of the judgment of the Supreme Court from which lies no further appeal, it is the case that politicians are making all efforts to sabotage and circumvent the implementation of the judgment. Worse is the case of the dregs that Yoruba describe as eni a n t’ori e gba’awe, ti oloriburuku e tun n j’osan. Those against whose misfortune the whole world is fasting but is busy eating gluttonously thereby wasting the goodwill of his sympathizers and empathizers.

This is the Yoruba aphorism that fits some slaves in local government administration that are being rescued from the suffocating grips of the Governors who, instead of savouring their new-found freedom and be looking for all means of making the benefits permanent, are now the mouth organs of the Governors in rejecting the judgment of the Supreme Court simply to please their benefactors whose might and power exceeds that of the almighty and by whose grace they considered themselves still alive.

Right now, local governments in many parts of Nigeria have failed to open bank accounts into which they could receive their direct allocations thereby making it impossible for the federal government authorities to credit them directly. Some have gone into oath-taking with their rudderless governors to pledge allegiance on how to funnel local government funds back to the governors once they receive the funds into local government accounts. The masses are the ones to suffer this unrivalled indiscretion.

The people are the ones to bear the brunt. It is high time we all speak out to ensure that the product of our collective struggle over the years is not wasted and shredded by a few whose sense of uprightness is only synonymous with their pockets and stomachs. Are we going to be docile in this affair? Is there nothing Nigerians can do, at least even if to shout hoax?

The people must raise questions and query their governors. I have found it most devastating that despite the huge allocations raining down on the governors, not many of them have taken strong steps to ensure food security in their various domains. Save for a few like the Governors of Niger and Borno States, the majority are still converting the naira rain to dollar safes in self-enrichment and lavish lifestyles.

The Attorney General of the Federation needs also to trigger the process of compliance otherwise the whole essence of his trip to the apex court becomes meaningless. The product of his ingenuity must not be allowed to go to the dogs just like that. It was an argument that many lawyers did not believe in and hence condemned that now has become the state of the law. Enough is enough and this impunity must stop.

Our leaders cannot continue this way as their indiscretion is our death and misery. If they disobey the apex court judgement in this way, would they not be setting a template for the citizens to embrace? Which moral right would they have to promote and enforce the rule of law in the land in other areas and spheres? Leadership is about setting example for the followers to emulate.

We need urgent intervention on this issue which is critical to the survival of the grassroots and the recognition of the rule of law. Without the local government being made to function, a lot will definitely be wrong with us as a people as the waste of today is a time bomb waiting to explode on all of us. We cannot be toying with self-immolation and think that we are still entitled to progress a la carte. We must change our ways otherwise the future will have no pity for us.