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IMO STATE’S EXEMPLARY WELFARIST GESTURES
It’s a new dawn for civil servants and the people of Imo State as Governor Hope Uzodinma raised the state’s minimum wage from the nationally approved N70,000 to N104,000 monthly and medical doctors’ entry-level salary to N508,000 monthly.
Whilst the above presents a gratuitous denouement for Imo citizens in active service, the retirees are also not left out, an immediate clearance of N16bn gratuity arrears was also ordered in one of the most novel and deserving gestures ever displayed by a sitting governor.
The optics of this munificent initiative goes beyond a populist posturing in appreciation of loyal electorate that gave him a popular mandate in his last election but must be viewed in a wider context of an urgent national duty to set a pace as the Chairman Of APC Governors’ Forum.
Governor Uzodinma has proven that tectonic empathy towards citizens at the subnational levels of government is what is needed to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians and not the obstreperous decibel of hunger outcry against the president who must address issues of defense, foreign affairs and vestiges of macro economics.
Ever since the military’s venture into politics, an aberration forced on Nigerians in the 1973 coup on January 15th 1966, a unitary mental construct has been foisted on Nigerians and has remained a constant default perception driving the social economic life of citizens.
The military’s messianic rhetoric projected through deviant national broadcasts and the impetuous suspension of constitutional order heralding the beginning of such governments have engraved a syndrome of unitary hangover on citizens in a manner that is difficult to reverse.
Whereas a federal democracy recognizes dividends of governance to be delivered by layers of constituted authorities in a manner prescribed by the constitution, a military paradigm does not only usurp the electoral precursors to such arrangements but also the autonomy of every layer to deliver to the people close to it.
A command and control structure expedient for military combat efficiency runs parallel to civil deliverables and therefore contributes to the distortion of civil engagements and muzzling of the rule of law.
Be that as it may, Governor Uzodinma’s giant strides will go down as a bold attempt to deconstruct the military stereotypes of citizens and recalibrate expectations as they pertain to each level of government.
Whilst the President is held accountable on the macro economic outcomes, especially in the context of the exclusive mandates listed in the constitution, Governors and Council Chairmen must not be given a free pass to remain obtuse to citizens’ aspirations.
As Governor Uzodimnma ramped up expenditure on wages and retirement benefits to make life easier for Imolites so can every governor replicate in healthcare delivery, pivotal investments in education and so on.
The NGF’s concerted efforts at the subnational would not only promote healthy competition among states but accelerate the potential for poverty eradication in the land.
ESV Bukola Ajisola,
