Date: 2015-10-28

One of the most solemn oaths any citizen could take will be one that charges him/her to lead his/her compatriots and to protect their rights faithfully. This solemn oath is not to be treated with levity. For I believe that whoever takes such an oath in vain will not only be answerable to man but to God.

The crisis of unpaid salaries in Nigeria has reached an epic proportion. My brother and fellow Kwaran - Farooq Kperogi - was sufficiently concerned, he wrote an op-ed on this issue as it relates to our state. See "Who Will Save Kwara COE Lecturers from Saraki's Deadly Grip?". Perhaps in reaction to Farooq's op-ed, the Kwara state government recently issued a statement to the media and gave two reasons for its inability to pay its workers:

1. A drop in federal allocation

2. Revenue generating state agencies are mandated to pay their own staff members

On both counts, the Kwara state government is being clever by half. On the first count, if the reason for the inability of the state government to pay its workers is hinged on a drop in the amount of money it receives from the federation account, then the raison d'etre for the existence of Kwara as a state is null and void. If the Kwara state government has to wait on the federal government, then we may conclude that the Kwara state government is an appendage of the federal government not an independent self governing state within a republic. If that is the case, then the office of the state governor is unnecessary in Kwara state and perhaps we should push for a constitutional amendment that will make Kwara a department of the federal government with a minister sent to oversee its affairs. This, my friends, is what the Kwara state government is saying indirectly if we are to take its claims serious about its inability to pay its workers due to a drop in federal allocation.

On its second claim of granting autonomy to revenue generating state agencies to pay its staff members from funds so generated - this is another clever by half escapist reason for its inability to pay. Let us be sincere, how can any responsible government ask the Kwara state water corporation to pay its own workers in a state where the majority makes plans for their own water supply and in areas where the state supplies the water - many residents consider water supply as a social good that they wouldn't like to pay for. I am not suggesting that Kwarans shouldn't pay for water but the reality is that the few that do get water from the state may not necessarily be paying for it. In any case, even if they were paying, the payments would not be near enough to pay the staff members of the Kwara state water corporation. The same situation exists for the Kwara state colleges of education, the state Polytechnic, and University. All of these institutions are not your traditional business concerns that must - as matter of rule - turn a profit. Perhaps, we should ask if the Kwara state government is embarking on a policy of commercializing education and other public services in Kwara state. It is a globally accepted practice for state governments to have some sort of annual grant or subvention to institutions like the Water Corporation, schools and colleges in the interest of public good. Why is the Kwara state government shirking one of the most basic responsibilities of state governments?

Kwara state governor, Abdullfatah Ahmed, was quoted several times as saying that the business of government is too serious to be left in the hands of the opposition PDP during the last election; it is a self indictment that Ahmed is in his fifth year as governor and things rather than improving in the state of harmony has taken a turn for the worse.

If Ahmed and crowd will sit down and face the serious business of governing, cut waste, reduce their own personal comfort, incentivize agriculture, support small business owners meaningfully through soft loans and a reduction in taxes not a tax increase (small business owners will create jobs and add to income tax) and ensure transparency in financial transactions, Kwara state will be able to pay all categories of workers under its government.

The writer can be reached at abdulajia@yahoo.com