Nigeria: Raufnomics and the Challenge of Development
26 January 2017
By Abiodun Komolafe
A 'nomics' has
been added to the buzzword of economic policies and Nigerians should be glad
it is coming from their part of the planet, especially, at a time the world
is
grappling with
the depravity of politics and the captivity of politicians.
In a
paper presented at a Colloquium to mark his six years in office as governor of
the State of Osun, Rauf Aregbesola reiterated his administration's commitment
to laying a solid foundation for the state in every area such that tampering
with its progress in the future would be difficult, if not impossible. While
describing "rising expenditure, especially wage bill, within the contrast
of falling revenue" as the biggest challenge facing his government,
Aregbesola promised that his administration would do all within its powers to
ensure that no one was left behind in the distribution of the dividends of
democracy to the good people of Osun. "We are grappling with the challenge
of finance and we are doing all within our power to complete all the projects
we started. We are not going to leave any project uncompleted", the
governor stated.
Democracy hath no fury
than a people abandoned! So, what is Raufnomics? In my considered
opinion, the
promoter
has
given a clue:
it is about "getting as much from little and using the resources of the
state to maximally benefit the people". It is about "strategic planning
and intervention in society; making governance mass-based and people-centric";
and "guaranteeing the maximum good for the maximum number of people."
With a special reference to Osun,
Raufnomics
has proved to be a popular solution tote state's socio-economic problems
created as a result of years of Nigeria's sole dependence on proceeds from
crude oil. It has helped sustain the state even as it continues to encourage
innovative interventions within the framework of the administration's Six
Point Integral Action Plan in such a way as to help put the economy of the
state back on track.
In
addition to some of this administration's laudable achievements which have
already been captured in Aregbesola's speech at the event, the establishment
of Osun Job Centre, designed principally to serve as an interface
between job seekers and employers of laborite procurement of no fewer than 125
Patrol Vans, 20 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) and one helicopter which has
helped in drastically reducing incidences of crime in the state; and the
creation and successful take-off of 61 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs),
3 Area Offices and 2 Administrative Offices from the former 31 Local
Government Areas are also some of the ways this government has positively
affected the rule of the game.
A
strong advocate of regional integration, he was a major force in the
establishment of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN)
Commission, an institutional and programmed body saddled with the
responsibility of modifying the regional integration agenda of the Southwest
states. And, with the creation of Osun Education Quality Assurance and
Morality Enforcement Agency, I doubt if any misguided pupil or student
will ever attempt to task the tolerance of the good people of Osun or insult
their collective intelligence again.
Aregbesola's approval of the immediate commencement of a unified Public
Service in the state
is worth
mentioning here. Apart from
repositioning"
the State Public Service for efficient and effective service delivery at all
levels of governance", the step is also aimed at removing "all restrictions to
seamless movement of personnel from one spectrum of the Public Service to the
other". Needless to repeat that it is in a bid to ensure transparency in the
state's financial dealings that this man of splendor and all-encompassing
charisma recently inaugurated the Hassan Sunmonu-led
committee
on
allocation
of
revenues to
"oversee allocation of states revenue to prompt payment of
salaries as well as adequate running of government."
The
price of fame, it is often said, goes beyond brooding or bargaining around the
frustration of some mischievous parallelisms! But when will Nigeria's vine
overcome the antics of her "foxes, the little foxes" and who will raise the
hands of her Moses as an assurance of permanent victory? Coming closer home,
if we have an avatar at the helm of affairs in Osun, how come the state is
such in dire straits that it now seems as if delayed salaries have come to
stay with us? Assuming without conceding that we are in this pass because of
the level of our debt and its management, as a result of which dear state has
allegedly become slave to Irrevocable Payment Standing Orders (IPSOs)
and other debt recovery instruments, how do we situate the fate of richer and
resource-endowed states like Ondo and Bayelsa which are also behind schedule
in terms of salary obligations to their workers?
Well,
the tragedy of our Nigerianness is that we deceive ourselves a lot and
that has been our greatest undoing! Here, we play politics like an
interest-driven game, unrepentantly notorious for its art of the impossible
and personal manipulations. That is why, despite efforts by this dogged
fighter at positively impacting lives through his "numerous programmes,
policies and schemes", there still exists some unrefined, less-informed
detractors who derisively" consider it fit and proper to constitute
themselves into an opposition of the government of the day, however
well-meaning and good-intentioned." Because of the way they are fated,
they always allow their personal and selfish desire for certain specialities
to run wild thereby straying away from unprejudiced realities. They lust for
what they do not have and that which is of no use to them and, despite the
fact that they do not get that which they do not have and that which they
neither need nor deserve, they delude themselves with it to spoil that which
they are supposed to have but unfortunately they do not have.
In their world, there
is neither economic focus nor political direction that is practically aimed at
alleviating the people's poverty and pains. Instead, they revel in the
virulence of insouciant leaders and the proliferation of unprincipled
politicians. For no just cause, these individualists and spoilers culpably
hate leaders for doing good, categorize government which "runs a most
transparent allocation of scarce resources to tackle underdevelopment" as
'reckless'; and tag one which strives to confront "problems engendered by
socio-political transformation" as 'insensitive'! Since they are experts
at spreading beliefs that reject persuasion, they tar every developmental
stride with the mark of corruption.
In their myopic
view, Opon Imois a scam;
O-YES, money-sapping; O-MEALS, unnecessary; and policies and programmes aimed
at shoring up the state's revenue generation capacity are'
too draconian
and unfriendly'.
In any case, "minds
differ as rivers differ", says Baron Thomas Macaulay. While some might
liken Aregbesolato a "controversial politician who doesn't listen to
advice, however novel or useful", to others, he's one astute administrator
who would not "want to enrich himself at the expense of the poor masses".
While some might unfairly consider his style of governance as one "built only
on propaganda", others see it - and, rightly, too - as "a source of hope in
the face of the weak and bleak future that the Yoruba race and Nigeria face."
In all of these however; and political persuasions notwithstanding, what
critics of Raufnomicscannot deny
is
Aregbesola's
gentleness,
straightforwardness and uncanny sense of direction which he has
dispassionately deployed in transforming the state intoan emerging market with
a lot of potentials. Unlike others whose portion is in making promises at the
drop of a hat with no real intention of keeping them, it is unRauf to
allow people who delight in whirling by their dark clouds to be the limit of
his success.
Need I
say more on why Osun has continued to wax stronger, in spite of the biting
economic slowdown currently troubling Nigeria's Israel?
May
principalities and powers, assigned to rubbish our leaders' efforts, BACKFIRE!
*KOMOLAFE
writes in from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State, Nigeria (ijebujesa@yahoo.co.uk)