Stories by Bimbola Oyesola, 08033246177
Last week’s overwhelming vote for the autonomy of the third tier of government by the National Assembly was considered a major victory for democracy by stakeholders across the country, but organised labour has warned that, without the support of the 36 state Houses of Assembly and the governors, it would still be a mirage.
In this regard, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has called on the members of the 36 state Houses of Assembly to be on the side of the people and history by replicating the courage of their colleagues at the National Assembly and give their support to the cause.
The union also tasked governors to sheathe partisan or insular considerations and support the amendments in the national interest.
The NLC president, Ayuba Wabba, who expressed appreciation to the leadership of the National Assembly for formally accepting, inserting and passing into the draft amended Constitution, amendments on local government reforms and labour Issues, however, noted that, without attempting to diminish the importance of the action of the honourable and distinguished members of the Parliament, a lot still needs to be done.
“These amendments have to go to the 36 state Houses of Assembly for their concurrence. The minimum requirement for these amendments to qualify to become law is the concurrence of at least two-thirds of the 36 Houses of Assembly,” he said.
Explaining the reasons why the state assemblies and the governors must support the amendment, the NLC president said, if passed into Law, the amendments would free-up local governments from the strangle-hold of state governments and widen the democratic space as well as restore the lost glory of local governments.
He said, “Until progressive decline and bastardisation set in, the local government represented the centre of administrative excellence, clinical efficiency, training, education, development, tax administration and effective commodity boards. Local governments also represented maintenance culture of infrastructure including roads, environmental sanitation, functional health facilities, low incidences of corruption and violent crimes. The singular reason for this magical performance was that local governments were close to the people and ministered to their needs.”
Wabba maintained that the overall implication of the amendments to the Constitution by the National Assembly is the unconditional restoration of the autonomy of local governments, without which the progressive retardation and decay in the polity will continue unabated.
He added that autonomy, among other things, would “ensure that the local government system develops as a third tier of government with the capacity to discharge its constitutional responsibilities to its constituents, as well as strengthen democratic decentralisation of power and put power back in the hands of the citizenry at the grassroot level of governance.”
He also said it would give a voice to the voiceless, especially minorities, who have been short-changed at the state and federal levels of government.
Other advantages listed by the labour leader include autonomy making “local governments training ground for leadership at state and federal levels of power; deliver development to about 180 million Nigerians; stem rural-urban migration; lower crime rate; quicken payment of salaries, pensions and gratuities; make the work environment less hostile for Nigerians and less threatening to the system.”