Indolent Governors And The Revenue Sharing Debate

As the debate over revenue sharing formula rages, our leaders, especially political office holders, should put on their thinking cap and come up with a more creative and robust approach to generating wealth through sources other than the crude oil the nation almost solely depends on. The ongoing debate is quite unnecessary and a distraction at a time the nation is facing very serious security challenges everywhere.

Niger State Governor and Chairman of Northern Governors’ Forum, Babangida Aliyu, stoked the embers when he said the revenue sharing formula should be reviewed since the present arrangement places the north at a disadvantage while the south, especially the Niger Delta states, get the lion’s share. Governor Aliyu was no doubt speaking the minds of his northern fellow governors and the Coalition of Northern Leaders, Academics, Professionals and Businessmen led by Dr. Junaid Mohammed, which further took up the fight, echoing Aliyu’s position on the burning issue. The Ijaw National Council led by Prof. Kimse Okoko fired back by saying those calling for a new revenue formula are indolent and lack initiative.

What the debate has thrown up is that some of our clueless leaders are more obsessed with sharing the cake than baking it. If it is not indolence or outright laziness, why can’t state governors in the north explore the vast agricultural potentials that could generate mega bucks to boost the economy of their states?

The Federal Government is also guilty of neglecting the agricultural sector. After decades of over relying on on oil, it has just realised that the solid mineral sector has more economic benefits than the oil and gas industry that is now the mainstay of the nation’s economy. The over dependence on oil revenue is at the root of the abandonment of agriculture by the federal and state governments.

The nation cannot boast of food security or feed its teeming population even though Nigeria is so endowed that agriculture alone could be the mainstay of the country’s economy.

If properly harnessed, there are also vast solid mineral resources in the north and other parts of the country that could turn around the fortunes of this country. If these should be fully tapped regions harbouring these solid mineral resources would also enjoy the 13 percent derivation Niger Delta states are now enjoying. But everybody wants easy money, hence the strident hue and cry about Niger Delta states having too much money allocated to them than the northern states.

We believe that the timing for the call for a new revenue allocation formula is wrong and could incite northern youths against the Federal Government and further jeopardise the fragile peace in our nation.

We agree with some members of the House of Representatives from the north who said the call by the northern governors was self-serving and not altruistic. The issue has already heated up the polity, added to the menace posed by the Boko Haram terrorists.

If northern governors fail to devise ways to explore the vast agricultural and solid mineral resources that abound in the region, they will continue to go cap in hand to get crumbs at the centre for its developmental projects. This also applies to governors in other geopolitical zones that have failed to harness their abundant agricultural potentials.