In a post on his Facebook wall, former Governor Ibrahim Shehu Shema wrote a list of boastful claims that could easily mislead the gullible into believing his 8 year administration was a bed of roses for Katsina State people whereas, it could be anything but rosy. But for some people's insistence to keep recycling the repetitive claims with the hope of assessing the present administration in a manner that could unfairly confuse the public, one wouldn't dignify the claims with a response.
I quite agree, running a state for 8 years without incurring debt is a laudable feat but, only when considered alongside other variables. For instance, did Shema at the period had any reason to borrow money to manage Katsina state within the modest scale a Nigerian state liKe Katsina State was expected to be managed? The answer is no!
With monthly allocation averaging N6bn a month and, almost nil zeal to impact the public - which equals zero desire to equitably distribute wealth - Shema was always left with more than enough money to play around with that he never had to contend with issues like revenue shortfalls, budget deficits or any financial constrain.
To underscore the buoyancy of Shema's tenure, one only need to review some of the gigantic projects like the new Government House the administration embarked on which were neither designed to impact the public, nor did the frivolity posed a serious challenge to the ability of the administration to sustain the little it dishes out to public for which the trumpets are being blown today. If I may ask, could Shema repeat that 'feat' under today's precarious economic situation? Could he have avoided sourcing for loans to manage the state if his monthly handout was the pittance it is today?
To an enlightened mind, there's no basis for comparison between the former administration of Shema and the present administration of Governor Masari for the simple reason that their revenue base and liquidity is nowhere near the same. Katsina state under Governor Masari is struggling to survive with declining revenue from the primary source - the FAAC - while contending with a 'dollar' that has ran amok. Shema's monthly FAAC handout of 6 to 7bn with the dollar at $1/N160 was quadruple the 3bn Governor Masari is collecting today with the dollar selling at $1/350 - 400.
Throughout Shema's 8 years administration the dollar was stable at between $1/N150 and $1/N160. There's stability in the global economy to give even the most shaky local economy a false aura of stability and functionality which, in turn, gave most governors of the era a convenient facade to hide their obscene fiscal rascality. When there's buoyancy in the economy, atrocities could easily be disguised and presented to a dummy as vibrancy. Why should Shema incur debts when what was accruing to the state was more than the administration could misappropriate and safely cover its tracks?
If it would make sense to you if former Head of State, Yakubu Gowon try to ridicule President Buhari by saying he managed Nigeria without borrowing a kobo while President Buhari had to borrow money to do so, then Shema's "market-woman economic analysis" should make sense to you. Don't be so brutally unkind to your brain!
In the context of leadership, running a state without incurring debt shouldn't be the "I've gone to Mars and back on a bicycle" kind of 'achievement' Shema is making it to be. The experts and the well exposed knew this. Only the naive, the gullible and the novices could be so cheaply tricked. This is a topic for a 'suya-joint economic class'. Barr. Shema shouldn't be caught peddling such demagoguery. It's beneath him and, I mean it with all respect. Such stuff should be left for "roadside economic experts".
There's nothing wrong with debts when there's a good intention to apply them judiciously. Despite the vibrancy of the US economy, it has a foreign debt profile of $6.2 trillion and nobody is pulling down the roof - not even the randy Trump who inherited the debt from an opposition government.
Now, let's look at the rest of the boastful claims - the free education, the free healthcare, payment of WAEC/NECO as claimed by the former governor. So, where was this 'free education' given to Katsina state children? Certainly not in the dilapidated schools Shema left behind which the current regime is still struggling to put back in shape.
It's an insult to the memory of Ramatu Abubakar for anybody to claim education was free under Shema. To refresh your memory, Little Ramatu, 10, was killed in a classroom when the poorly constructed school in her Goya village, Funtua Local Government collapsed, killing her and wounding several others.
To this day, nobody was held accountable for the dastardly act that denied Ramatu's parents the happiness of seeing their dream of having an educated daughter came to fruition. They were deceived with the stories of "free education" only to send their daughter into an early grave. It's nothing short of rubbing salt to injury for anybody to claim education was anything other than 'state terrorism' under Shema. I challenge anybody to face Ramatu's father and tell him this "education was free under Shema" balderdash.
2 years is not time enough to forget the case of a young boy who was arrested and charged to court for stealing an iron scrap kept by his step-father in Katsina as published by Daily Trust. His story was just as pathetic. In the end, the court was able to determine the young boy stole the iron scrap to raise money to buy books. The court established this by verifying his claim with iron scrap buyer and the bookshop he bought the books. Ina an unprecedented move, the court took it upon itself to shoulder his schooling. May be His Excellency never heard about this boy.
On a more scientific level, was Shema's payment of WAEC/NECO justified? I thought when dealing with public funds people should be mindful of how the invest. Does it make sense to keep paying examination fees for ill-prepared students who couldn't pass because they were denied basic learning tools, convenient learning environment and adequate manpower? How prepared did Shema made the students to justify the colossal sum spent yearly as examination fees?
No comments:
Post a Comment