State governors and empowerment absurdities
Perhaps the biggest single socio-economic problem affecting Nigerians is that there is neither a robust social security system for the unemployed and elderly, nor has any nationwide impactful poverty alleviation program been implemented nationwide. The end result is that State Governors are increasingly embarking upon poorly conceptualised empowerment programs in order to appear as if […]
Perhaps the biggest single socio-economic problem affecting Nigerians is that there is neither a robust social security system for the unemployed and elderly, nor has any nationwide impactful poverty alleviation program been implemented nationwide. The end result is that State Governors are increasingly embarking upon poorly conceptualised empowerment programs in order to appear as if they are doing something positive to solve the problem.
Over the years the Federal Government has undertaken a number of initiatives such as the National Poverty Eradication Program (NAPEP), the Directorate of Foods, Roads and Rural Infrastructure (DFFRI), Better Life for Rural Dwellers, Operation Feed the Nation, and Universal Primary Education. (UPE), all aimed at alleviating poverty and empowering the masses. Despite good intentions, these programs failed without exception. At the end of the day they just didn’t have any discernible impact on the poor, and only evolved into opportunities to award contracts and provide jobs for the boys.
True empowerment is all about measures designed to increase the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and communities. It’s about enabling them to act on their own authority to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way. It isn’t just about giving away handouts, it’s also about monitoring the process and giving professional support to people to enable them overcome their sense of powerlessness and lack of influence. Empowerment programs should be sustainable and enable people to recognize and use their resources.
Over the years both Federal and State Governments have been guilty of failed development visions, abandoned development programs and policy summersaults caused by either corruption or the ineptitude of political leaders. Although the Buhari administration commends itself on fighting corruption, there is nothing they can do about political ineptitude at state government level which hampers national development. State governments are supposed to be in charge of empowering citizens not Federal Government, but this is problematical because in all truthfulness too many state governors are bereft of ideas. They articulate colourful visions and outline expensive developmental ideas when campaigning, but at the end of the day when it comes to implementation, their ideas only serve to enrich family, friends, political cronies, royal choristers and sycophants.
“Empowerment schemes” are currently in vogue and taking on a new meaning in Nigeria where state governors have embarked upon some strange ideas to tackle poverty and enhance the socio-economic prospects of their citizens. It’s on record that governors have “dashed” out items as varied as coffins, goats, sewing machines and grinding machines in the name of empowerment. As of this tomfoolery isn’t bad enough one governor decided to “empower” his people by giving them kettles to sell tea, while another gave his citizens oranges and carts! One particular governor was reported to have driven around his state capital giving out loaves of bread as “stomach infrastructure”!
All this comes in addition to the annual “flagging off” of sales of subsidized fertilizer and regular distribution of seedlings. Most of these empowerment programs are ill-considered and financially unsustainable, and contribute nothing in real terms to the upliftment of beneficiaries. Indeed, many of them often achieve the opposite by impoverishing people through loans they can’t repay. Without a clear definition empowerment has become a vague goal, a fashionable term that is really impossible to implement in the field. It’s supposed to be the mechanism by which people and communities gain control over their lives. It’s supposed to be the process of obtaining basic opportunities for marginalized people. It’s supposed to involve encouraging and developing skills for self-sufficiency with a focus on eliminating the future need for charity or welfare. It’s supposed to be the process of making citizens stronger and more confident especially in controlling their lives and claiming their rights.
Empowerment is vital because citizens must possess the ability to ensure their own wellbeing and participate in any decision making that concerns them. The World Bank identifies empowerment along with “opportunity” and “security” as the three pillars of the fight against poverty. If Nigerian governors and political leaders truly wish for Nigerians to take control of their circumstances, exercise power and achieve their own goals, then they need to do better than just ensuring a temporary means of livelihood. The nation has more than enough hairdressers, tailors, soap makers and cake bakers. Nationwide poverty manifests itself in lack of access to portable water, and poor education, health care, housing, employment and social participation. The most glaring manifestation of poverty is hunger and Nigerians are hungry. If governors really want their empowerment programs to have the desired impact then then must desist from those unsustainable “easy-fix” solutions which bring them into ridicule, and focus on more meaningful and well thought out plans to involve citizens in the agro-economy.