The Legislative Process in Nigeria

So what are these people, human beings or animals? They are despicable. (Notice that I do not even bother mentioning their names, why mention the nations of criminals. I know exactly who is in the National Assembly and who chairs what committee but why bother mentioning their names if they do not do their jobs? These creatures are not even worthy of footnotes in books on politics.)
In the current Nigerian dispensation, the legislative system at the national level is replicated at the state and local levels. Nigeria is divided into 36 states. These states are essentially dependent on the center for their survival. The center goes to oil producing states, takes their oil and the revenue from oil and shares it between the federal government and state governments. This way the state governments do not have to generate their own income, as they should. Every state government ought to be able to fund its activities by itself. That is the case in America.
In America where the federal government has money to extend to states, states compete for it. Grants. States and or businesses apply to get federal rant money to perform specific functions and if they succeed in getting it, account for how every penny of it is spent.
Nigerian states are not real states. Folks talk of wanting real federalism; how can you have true federalism if the states are dependent on the center for funding? Whoever pays the piper calls the tune. Obasanjo controls the so-called state governors. The later, in turn, control their local government chairs.
The states are divided into Local Government Areas, LGA (as in counties in America). Each LGA has its own council and chair person. The council is the legislative arm and the chair is the executive arm of government. The chair person obtains money from the Governor (who is supposed to share the money he obtains from the center with the local governments). The chair person proceeds to do with that money as he wants. No accountability is built into the system.
I have question: why do we need politicians, governors and chair persons of local governments handling money? In America, money is not handled by elected persons but by civil servants. Thus the state chief accountant could receive the state’s federal revenue share and work with his staff to manage it. As a civil servant he can be removed from office at any moment, so he has less leeway to mismanage the funds. At present, Governors have immunity from prosecution and cannot be prosecuted while in office. This way they steal all the money they want and nothing can be done about it. It is only in Nigeria that such an absurdity can happen.
The local government areas are composed of towns and cities. The towns and cities have their own town councils and leaders; these two obtain some money from the LGA and proceed to squander it in riotous living.
Nigeria is a country where the city council doesn’t accept that it is its function to pave city streets. So what is its function? Dress up in flowing robes and masquerade as ogas?
Last week, Governor Orji Kalu, that child in an adult’s body, was blaming the Federal government for the deplorable condition of the streets of Aba. As he sees it, it is for the Federal government to pave his city streets. If so, what exactly is his job, to visit America every week and stay at his several mansions? This man is an imbecile and is not worthy of being a dog catcher. But this brain dead nothing wants to become the next Nigerian president and plans to ride ethnic jingoism to that office. He claims that it is the Igbos turn to produce the next president of Nigeria and positions himself as the most qualified Igbo candidate. If the best that the Igbos can produce is this nincompoop, the Igbos are finished as a political force in Nigeria.

5 thoughts on “The Legislative Process in Nigeria”

  1. This is good stuff. “When bad men combine,the good must associate”
    paraphrasing Edmond Burke. How can we save our Motherland from the vampires and blood sucking parasites in the country? Talking is necessary but neither adequate nor sufficient.

  2. umoru Jose Bob-manuel

    pls keep previaling on our leaders to do the write thing at the time it is being needed. the rule of law is not effective as it ought to be. keep me posted o latest moves. thanks.

  3. it was a very wonderful piece, i intend make refrences to it for my research. but what i wish to know here is, u talked perfecttly well of the american legislature how it works and many others, but u did not even talk about how the nigerian legislature is? how it works? its segments? nothing, u just killed it, made it look so terrible and not even worth rehabilitating, am sure there is someting good about it, besides what have u done to help or create change for others to follow, really we dont need people to tell us our faliures only that they should also tell us what to do to make us go forward. how will u write such a thing about your own country on the net. aint u suppose to be an ambassador of nigeria and hope that all will be well. its really disheartening.

  4. gosh! this had me reeling with laughter…so we do have a lot of people this bold in Nigeria. this is a typical scenario of the Nigeria state of affairs.
    This deserves an applause… i wish this campaigns could be brought to the streets.
    why fear this good-for-nothing men called leaders. but the uprising against them is crawling gently and of course we would get there, someday, we can’t lose hope on our beloved nation, NIGERIA!

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