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State Governors Are The Real Problem Of Nigerian Democracy
State Governors Are The Real Problem Of Nigerian Democracy
BY:DOMINIC KIDZUBY
The Fourth Republic is already in ruins. What is left is the debris from the fall of the ancient empire. And the State Governors are the willing undertakers. Having plundered and killed the republic, they feel no scruples about burying the carcass. The carcass is their trophy. The suffering are their emblem, the grand imprimatur of their reign. Life and death are theirs to give or take. They are the new gods, stealing, killing, converting. They are the inscrutable ogre before whom the people tremble in obeisance and in fear.
Every Governor is the King of Abyssinia, with the single ambition of becoming the richest man in Babylon. They sit in regal majesty on Mount Olympus, dispensing from the patrimony of the people according to their whims and caprices. If the appetite takes them, they give you an appointment or a contract. Otherwise, they are pretty comfortable with allowing you to wander in obloquy, while members of their families run the state at will. To know the Governor or a member of his family is of great advantage, to know none is to stand and stare in misery.
They use poverty as a form of political control. The poorer the people, the more likely they are compelled to sing and dance at the celestial glory of the sovereign who does no wrong. Every single project is magnified as the greatest, ever. He knows the truth, but what the heck! The wealth of the state belongs to the Governor and his family. Account books are cooked in earthen pots on the firewood hearth. Huge properties are openly and hurriedly developed or bought in the full glare of the starving populace, behemoths dedicated to the atavistic gods of sudden power and money without end. You could almost hear the people saying, “na him time abeg, make him chop.”
The state as a subregion was envisioned to synthesize development in the broad spectrum of its region as both a political unit and an economic bloc within the federal republic. But, most of the governors have mostly concentrated on the state capitals and neglected Local Government areas in both physical infrastructure and economic development. The third tier which is the closest to the people and therefore most critical in their development has been unconditionally seized by the governors who have consistently taken their funds with surprising impunity, giving them nothing in return. They are happier when there are no elected Chairmen, because the civil servants are mighty malleable and simple thieves anyway.
Governors in Nigeria are stealing the states blind. They are not developing the economy or developing creative and unique revenue heads outside simply collecting allocation from Abuja every 30 days. Why do state governors initiate very gigantic projects they cannot accomplish, which are usually denominated in USD? To confuse the people and cream off the top, of course. The Joint Account Allocation Committees (JAAC) in the states are a great constitutional travesty. It is in those monthly meetings that the Local Government as a tier of government is murdered. Once salaries are removed and the Chairmen are given a little something under the table, the governors grab the rest in a monthly heist that is simply disgusting.
Stephen King once said that “monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win”. The governors have won, the republic is theirs. Yet these are people who looked good and smelt nice before swearing in, but transformed into Gorgo Medusa, the very next day and are no longer recognizable. Abraham Lincoln also warned that “nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power”. The so-called politicians in the states are willing slaves. They are suffering and smiling, some are actually clapping. Even though Albert Camus had warned that “Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear”. Have you ever wondered why state governors find mediocres attractive? It is because they resent a second opinion, or a brilliant head with other ideas. They can’t stand another bright bulb in the chandelier. There can only be one chair in the room they occupy.
Everyone knows that Agriculture is the next big thing in Nigeria. All the governors know this and mouth it. But none will put 200 willing farmers in business by giving them seed grants of 20 million Naira each. That is a mere NGN4 billion. Such a scheme will enable massive food production, give people work, and create self-sustaining entrepreneurs in their states. But they won’t do that. Four billion is too much, yet this is the kind of money they themselves grab on a not so good day. No governor has created 500 independent millionaires in their eight years. And it doesn’t take a whole lot to do so. Their real interest is themselves. They rather prefer to have both young and grown men on a flagpole, sharing food palliatives to them as if they are crippled or the state is at war.
We have all been made cripples anyway, a shameful legacy of this Fourth republic. There is no genuine attempt to develop the people, either in business, innovation, or agriculture. Cultivating just 10 hectares by each of these 200 people suggested above amounts to 2,000 hectares of cocoa, oil palms, cassava, yams, rice, beans, millet, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, et al. Repeat this investment in each of the eight years of the two-term, and you are likely to have created about 800 millionaires in one state. That is massive development! This is how prosperity is created by a thinking leader who desires to leave a legacy behind. Legacies are made of people too, not only cement, stones, and sand. The greatest legacy of all is how a leader was able to transform his people from poverty to prosperity, from being dependent to becoming self-sustaining.
The removal of petroleum subsidy has ushered in tremendous amounts of revenue to the states, but the governors won’t tell you that. They prefer to continue to behave as if nothing new has happened. Waning about paucity of funds, debt profile, wage bills, and just about anything. If the governors can put their heads down to work and suspend their own self-enrichment for just one year, the impact on the citizens would be massive. Nigerians blame and pilory the federal government on a daily basis, not knowing that there is enough in their home states for everyone ready to work and prosper. Most states are now receiving three times what their predecessors got as allocation and their IGR is growing in leaps and bounds, but the people are not feeling the impact in any way. Same complaining, same exotic lifestyles, globetrotting, long motorcades, and properties on land and sea. While the people are left holding can.
State governors have been too greedy, too selfish, and overly criminal minded. They have shown neither love nor commitment to the genuine development of the states, and a bewildering lack of ideas in taking their citizens out of starvation and inevitable servitude. They have destroyed the Local Government system and rendered the federal system inoperable in their preference for electoral monarchy, which creates a new king every eight years. I am at pains to find something positive to say about the contribution of state governors to the development of their people or this democracy. Regrettably, I am unable to find one thing to defend their crass performance politically, economically, and morally.
*Dominic Kidzu served as Chief Press Secretary to Governor Donald Duke and later as the General Manager of the Cross River Newspaper Corporation (Nigerian Chronicle),
State Governors Are The Real Problem Of Nigerian Democracy
Zulum commissions remodelled ‘2nd chance school’ for vulnerable girls
.Disburses N1bn to SMEs in 5 LGAs
By: Our Reporter
Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum, on Thursday commissioned a fully remodelled “Second Chance School” for vulnerable girls and women in Biu Local Government Area.
The newly inaugurated facility is part of a strategic initiative designed to offer adult women, including those who missed formal education or dropped out of school due to prevailing challenges, a pathway to self-reliance.
The school’s curriculum is tailored towards providing comprehensive skills’ acquisition, critical digital knowledge and basic literacy, and numeracy training.
With the Biu centre now operational, Zulum’s administration has established three such schools across the state, with existing centres already operational in Maiduguri and Bama.
Meanwhile, Governor Zulum has disbursed N1 billion to small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) across five local government areas in southern Borno.
The targeted LGAs include Biu, Hawul, Shani, Bayo and Kwaya-Kusar, with the funds intended to support entrepreneurs and enhance business sustainability.
Zulum explained that the direct injection of capital into the SME sector is essential for driving grassroots development and fostering self-reliance in the post-insurgency recovery phase.
In a related development aimed at tackling youth restiveness and promoting social stability, Governor Zulum has ordered immediate employment of 200 young individuals from the Biu Local Government Area.
After the inauguration, Zulum visited Biu Specialist Hospital where he announced the immediate and automatic employment of a number of dedicated volunteer health workers who have served tirelessly.
He also inspected the 100-unit teachers’ housing estate under construction in Biu town. The estate is part of the Borno State Government’s motivational strategy to attract and retain qualified teaching professionals in public schools.
Governor Zulum has also directed immediate commencement of rehabilitation work on the Borno State Hotel Annexe in Biu.
Zulum commissions remodelled ‘2nd chance school’ for vulnerable girls
Environment Minister Calls for Inter-Agency Collaboration to Address Environmental Challenges
By: Michael Mike
The Minister of Environment, Balarabe Abbas Lawal, has urged enhanced inter-agency collaboration to tackle environmental challenges across Nigeria.
The call was made during a meeting with the Director-General of the National Hydro-Electric Power Producing Areas Development Commission (N-HYPPADEC), Abubakar Sadiq, and his team at the Ministry’s Abuja office.
Highlighting potential areas of cooperation, Lawal emphasized the importance of climate-resilient water supply and sanitation (WASH) programs aimed at ensuring year-round access to safe, reliable, and clean water in communities affected by dam operations. He noted that such collaboration would not only improve access to safe drinking water but also reduce the prevalence of water-borne diseases in these areas.
On energy initiatives, the Minister discussed the distribution of clean cooking stoves to households in hydro-basin communities, stressing that this would significantly reduce household energy poverty, deforestation, and emissions through the adoption of energy-efficient cooking technologies.
Other proposed collaboration areas between the Ministry and N-HYPPADEC include erosion and flood management, ecosystem restoration, climate-resilient afforestation programs, youth and community engagement, job creation, and public awareness campaigns.
In his remarks, Abubakar Sadiq described N-HYPPADEC as a strategic partner of the Federal Ministry of Environment, outlining the commission’s impactful interventions across water supply, sanitation, housing, youth empowerment, water transport safety, and institutional strengthening. He also commended the Ministry for its prompt response to flood-prone areas, erosion challenges, and pollution management.
N-HYPPADEC maintains offices in Lokoja, Birnin Kebbi, Ilorin, Lafia, Jos, Gombe, Jalingo, Makurdi, Kaduna, with its headquarters in Minna, Niger State.
Environment Minister Calls for Inter-Agency Collaboration to Address Environmental Challenges
Health
Health Worker Exodus Deepens as Policy Brief Warns of Systemic Risk to Nigeria’s Healthcare Sector
Health Worker Exodus Deepens as Policy Brief Warns of Systemic Risk to Nigeria’s Healthcare Sector
By: Michael Mike
A new policy brief has warned that unless urgent welfare-focused reforms are implemented, the country risks a deepening crisis that could undermine access to quality healthcare nationwide.
Nigeria’s healthcare system is facing mounting pressure as the steady departure of doctors and nurses continues to erode service capacity, raising concerns about long-term system viability.
According to the policy analysis authored by health policy expert Dr Emmanuel Ejimonu, of the Athena Centre for Policy and Leadership, more than 42,000 nurses left Nigeria between 2021 and early 2024, while thousands of Nigerian-trained doctors have registered to practise abroad, particularly in the United Kingdom. The trend shows no sign of slowing, as survey data cited in the report indicate that nearly three-quarters of medical and nursing students intend to seek employment overseas, with about one in three expressing no plans to return.
The report attributed the exodus largely to domestic welfare and governance challenges rather than professional ambition. Health workers interviewed consistently pointed to low and irregular salaries, unsafe and overstretched working environments, limited opportunities for funded specialist training and weak social protection systems. These challenges, the brief notes, have made emigration a rational choice in the face of institutional uncertainty, especially as global demand for health professionals continues to rise.
Although the Federal Government introduced a National Policy on Health Workforce Migration in 2023 to promote ethical recruitment and retention, the brief argues that its impact has been limited. Implementation gaps, inadequate funding and uneven execution at state and facility levels have prevented the policy from delivering meaningful improvements in working conditions.
The consequences of sustained health worker losses are already visible. Teaching hospitals are reportedly struggling to maintain specialist training and mentorship programmes, while recurring strikes highlight growing mistrust between health workers and government authorities. Economically, the country is losing returns on public investments in training, even as staff shortages compromise care delivery in both urban and rural facilities. Remaining workers also face rising burnout, further fuelling migration intentions.
Drawing on international experiences from countries such as Ghana, Kenya, the Philippines and Cuba, the policy brief stresses that health worker migration cannot be completely stopped. Instead, it recommends managing mobility through welfare-based retention strategies and credible governance structures.
Central to the recommendations is a proposed Welfare-First Retention Package, which prioritises guaranteed and timely payment of salaries, improved workplace safety, funded career progression, fair bonding arrangements and strengthened social protection. The package also calls for disciplined use of bilateral agreements and ethical recruitment frameworks to protect Nigeria’s investment in health worker training.
The brief estimates that, if properly funded and implemented, the proposed measures could reduce short-term health worker attrition by up to one-third within two years, while significantly improving retention over a five-year period.
The report stated that reversing the health workforce crisis will require treating welfare reform as a core economic and governance priority, backed by political will, fiscal discipline and strong institutional coordination. Without such action, the report warns, Nigeria risks the gradual hollowing out of its healthcare system, with far-reaching consequences for public health and national development.
Health Worker Exodus Deepens as Policy Brief Warns of Systemic Risk to Nigeria’s Healthcare Sector
“While the rest of us sleep, you keep watch over Nigeria” — Governor Diri praises soldiers’ sacrifices
Zulum commissions remodelled ‘2nd chance school’ for vulnerable girls
Environment Minister Calls for Inter-Agency Collaboration to Address Environmental Challenges
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