
Some Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have condemned the rush to create more states in Nigeria, saying those pushing the agitations were doing so open new avenue for looting public resources.
They said rather than waste money and energy on this needless venture, efforts should be directed towards the promotion of good governance in the country.
The Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal-Ibrahim Musa-Rafsanjani, told Leadership Weekend that said those agitating for the creation of additional states have no plan to make them financially, economically and developmentally sustainable.
Musa-Rafsanjani said the politicians agitating for those states are looking for easiest ways to “loot the resources in the country”.
According to him, when they have these bogus states and local governments they will just keep siphoning public money without accountability.
“As you can see at the state level, the legislature has been captured and emasculated by the state governors. Therefore, the state governors decide and do whatever they want to do with the public money.
“That has encouraged more people to demand for such kind of reckless and irresponsible squandering of public resources.
“So, this is the only agenda; it is not about development. If it is about development, they should come out with a blueprint on how their states can be viable economically.
“Even presently, what is it that they have done to show that they are actually capable of helping to raise the deplorable state of present states from lack of infrastructure, lack of development plan, lack of industrialisation, lack of social amenities, lack of healthcare system and education?
“All these are absent even currently in many of the states. So, what is it that they have come up with to give justification that these states should be if they are created.”
Also, the Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, said creation of additional states must address concerns over economic viability and resources maximisation of resources.
Itodo maintained that while it could appear reasonable for a region like the Southeast, which has less number of states, to demand for an additional one, that was not sufficient enough to create more states when those in existence were not viable.
He said, “We need to ask ourselves if the 36 states we have in the country are economically viable. And those are the kinds of conversations we should have. How do we make those states more functional?
“I think that for people who are advocating for more states, especially regions like the southeast, we need to create that balance because it has an impact on how a nation allocates its resources and distributing those resources across the states.
“State creation, perhaps should be the second thing; let’s deal with the question of our local government structure, decentralise and devolve but also ensure that if a particular region is disadvantaged like the southeast region, they should have at least one state to actually create that balance.”
For the Executive Director, Citizens Participation Against Corruption Initiative, Bishir Sabuwa, the creation of states or local governments was not the solution to Nigeria’s challenges as a nation.
“The problem is that when you look at it deeply, creation of state or local government is not the solution to our challenges as a nation…To me, this is not appropriate,” he stressed.
A poet and social commentator, Chiedu Okoye in a recent opinion piece argued that: “state creation will, no doubt, lead to increase in the number of National Assembly members, which will jerk up the cost of governance in Nigeria. At present, Nigerian lawmakers receive humongous wages compared to their counterparts in other countries.
“Reducing the cost of governance in Nigeria is the clarion call of well-meaning Nigerians. Our leaders should execute deeds that will better the lot of the hoi polloi instead of carrying out policy actions that will stall our national development.
“So, the stark fact is that the proponents of creation of new states in Nigeria want fiefdoms or political empires over which they will preside in order for them to have the opportunity to loot our public exchequer. State governors are being accused of seizing financial allocations meant for local governments.
“Now, it should be obvious to all right thinking and patriotic Nigerians that the proponents of creation of new states in Nigeria are egoistical and unpatriotic politicians, who are seized with the feelings of insularity and clannishness. They want political empires over which they will preside in order for them to have unhindered access to the public treasury.”