Actualising poverty alleviation

Operation Feed the Nation, Green Revolution, DFRRI and the National Poverty Eradication Programme were all Federal Government-sponsored programmes meant to alleviate poverty across the length and breadth of Nigeria.

States have not bothered to work in sync with the Federal Government to alleviate poverty in their domains. In Nigeria, the burden of leadership is a thrust on the Federal Government and not the states. So,  how can the country alleviate poverty with politicians who aren’t ready to?

Before elections in most states in Nigeria, the state establishment know who will become governor, and members of the state House of Assembly.

The positions, as a matter of fact, are appropriated and the politicians are not accountable to the people but their benefactors.

If the states are so disorganised, you wonder what is happening at the local government councils. Those are the fiefdoms of the governors.

The council chairmen are answerable to the governors, not the people. Ideally, governors should be concerned with developing city centers and council administrators with the grass roots. But is that the case. Is this democracy only for a few?

Until the country elects people into offices on merit and without sharing positions before elections, and until state governors begin to partner with the Federal Government, not minding which political party is directing the affairs of state at the centre, we cannot make progress.

State governors must run away from mismanaging councils and begin to supervise grass-roots programmes there.

Councils should begin to engage in outreach programmes in health and so on without subordinating them to religious and private institutions.

• Simon Abah

 Port Harcourt,

Rivers State