26 years of democracy: Many governors have failed Nigerians – Ex-VON DG

A former Director-General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr Osita Okechukwu, says majority of the governors have failed woefully in the discharge of their duties since the advent of the current democratic dispensation.

Okechukwu, a founding member of All Progressives Congress (APC), said this on Tuesday in Enugu while reacting to the 26 years of uninterrupted democracy in Nigeria.

He said that many of the governors had failed Nigerians in spite of the huge federal allocations and increased internally-generated revenue (IGR) accruing to their respective states.

The APC chieftain also accused some of governors of conducting themselves like emperors, saying that this had affected the delivery of democratic dividends to Nigerians.

“In distilling the performance of our dear governors, it is safer to say that few in the last two decades had done exceptionally well; whereas majority of them have woefully failed the people.

“Most of the governors act as emperors and do not make a distinction between their interests and those of their states.

“They do not abide by the constitution or respect the balance of power with the other two arms of government – the legislature and the judiciary.

“The social contract between them and the people is always in the breach,” he said.

Okechukw said that it was regrettable that Nigerians, out of what he termed ‘long fatigue’, oftentimes transferred their aggression and hauled their blames on the president.

“They blame the president even for repair of local roads and primary health care centres in villages and communities in their states,” he said.

Okechukwu commended President Bola Tinubu’s vision to checkmate under-development in the states and, particularly in the geo-political zones, by setting up and funding regional development commissions.

“Yes, I’m of the considered view that the North-West, South-West, North-Central, South-South, North-East and South-East Development Commissions will not only propel regional development, definitely they are catalyst for grassroots development.

“In fact, some pundits have dubbed the development commissions as restructuring by other means.

“This is because members of the commission know better what each geo-political zone needs and the geo-political zone’s comparative advantage more than the minister whose landscape is the whole country.

“For instance, the South-East Development Commission, which one has more details about, if well-funded, will do well because the chairman, managing director and the executive directors were chosen from among our first 11,” he said.

On security, Okechukwu said that the Tinubu-led administration had done a lot to contain insecurity in the country.

He, however, said that more should be done, especially in the areas of food security and social services, such as education and health.