On Kebbi’s version of Democracy Day

However, what is unique in this year’s celebration was the different mode of celebration used by the state governments. Some celebrated the day with commissioning of a number of completed capital-intensive and people-oriented projects, while others showcased the little they have been able to achieve but identified the factors responsible for the not-too-good performance and […]

However, what is unique in this year’s celebration was the different mode of celebration used by the state governments. Some celebrated the day with commissioning of a number of completed capital-intensive and people-oriented projects, while others showcased the little they have been able to achieve but identified the factors responsible for the not-too-good performance and apologised to their people with a pledge to improve performance.

One may notice with dismay and utter disappointment the way and manner the Democracy Day was organised and celebrated by the administration in Kebbi State. Having followed and watched with keen interest the activities of the administration, the way and manner the administration is being run, as well as its performance in terms of development and service delivery within the last three years, I want to state categorically that the day is not worth celebrating in Kebbi. The decision to celebrate it in the way and manner it was done was a clear demonstration of insensitivity to the well-being of the people, an insult on the youths of the state.

To any right-thinking person, celebrations of this nature are organised to rejoice with the leaders, acknowledge their physical performance, chart a new course for more development and pray for God’s guidance in the pursuit of such noble course. But the government of Kebbi State has no moral justification to organise such a celebration because it has nothing to showcase in terms of physical development.

Unfortunately, with all these huge sums of money, Dakingari’s administration is yet to complete for the use of the people any viable developmental project among the few it initiated and those inherited in the last three years. Most of the projects are either abandoned or being executed slowly.

In an apparent demonstration of insensitivity to the rights and welfare of the people, state officials have been going about deceiving people with false information that Dakingari’s administration is saving money for the state while the people are wallowing in abject poverty. As if that is not enough, the very well-known vibrant, committed and dedicated civil servants in Kebbi are now being frustrated and demoralized. It may sound strange and unbelievable, but it is real that some civil servants in Kebbi State have not been paid their monthly salaries since February this year, while others are being paid half of their salaries to date. This apparent wickedness and gambling with human lives is being perpetuated on innocent civil servants under pretext of e-payment system.

From the foregoing, one will certainly be convinced that Democracy Day was not worth celebrating in Kebbi State. But because of the insensitive and nonchalant nature of the state government, they staged the so-called One Million Youths March in support of the governor’s second term campaign which at the end claimed five innocent lives to motor accident, while many hospitalized with various degrees of injuries. Kebbi as it is today needs divine intervention from God to save it from the hands of the greedy, the desperate and the selfish.

Nassarawa is of the Equity Forum for Good Governance, No. 47 Murtala Mohammed Way, Nassarawa, Birnin Kebbi