Priorities, priorities, priorities..... I heard this word everywhere I went this week. In the speech that heralded Okonjo Iweala's "second coming" (as her appointment as a minister under the Jonathan government is being called) where she advocated cutting the Federal Government's high recurrent expenditure for infrastracture expenditure, to the meeting I had with some Bayelsa State Ministry of Health officials, where they pushed for the government to request for hospital equipments as against hospital consummables from interested foreign partners. Also during a casual discussion with some non governmental professionals, the discussants advised that the Bayelsa State government should spend more on media.
Life is all about priorities, especially as regards government spending. You know, the basic economics topics we studied in senior secondary school- opportunity cost, list of preference, scarcity of resources- are applicable in everything we do. Since resources are naturally scarce, for every choice we make, the forgone option is the opportunity cost, hence the need to make a preference list of all your needs before choosing.
I have learnt during my experience in government that no government can please all its citizens. The goal should be to please majority of them. Because in listing the needs of the people, standpoint is very important. From the standpoint of youth groups, sport activities might be higher up than in the list of older age group, whilst roads might be more important for the business communities than schools. Thus, appreciation of government policies might depend on which group you belong.
In the current Chief Timipre Sylva government, creating an attractive environment for investors was a top priority, hence the need for reforms like those under the due process regime, Bayelsa Transparency Initiative (where government expenditure will be made public). Due to the restiveness caused by militancy, there was also an urgent need to secure the State for the citizens and potential investors, making it necessary for investing in security vote, projects like the Child Development Account: Savings, Training and Rewarding Savers (CDA STARS) Project (where the Government saves money in collaboration with the students and parents to plan for the children's future and prevent them from engaging in militancy, see www.bayelsacdastars.com), and the creation of a State security team "Operation Famou Tamgbe".
Bayelsa State is largely a civil servant State, where government employs majority of the people. The Government spends a high percentage of its monthly expenditure on payment of salaries and civil servants attest to the fact that their salaries have never been delayed or unpaid. Payment of salaries is clearly high up the Bayelsa State Government's preference list, taking up the space of possible infrastructure projects.The reasoning behind prioritizing attracting investors was to get investors to share the employment of Bayelsans, which will free up the money the Government spends on salaries, and encourage the Government to undertake more infrastructure activities. We all need to work with the Government to succeed in attracting investors for the good of Bayelsa State.
Nonetheless, this Government has had infrastructural projects in some sectors high up its preference list as well. I had the opportunity of being with a team that showed some regulators some of the State's infrastructural projects over the past 2 years during the week - the 350 bed hospital, the water and power projects, amongst others - and was full of smiles when the regulators expressed their amazement on the number of ongoing infrastructual projects in Bayelsa State. This led to the discussion of whether more money should be spent on the press to intimate the people on these projects or not. If the press expenditure is increased, will this not eat out of the money for infrastructure? But if the people do not know of these projects -as is the case in Bayelsa today- how will they believe the Government is working hard for them? I recall a certain former Nigerian State government constantly advertised the State's projects on CNN but the indigenes of the State said that the adverts were for projects that existed only on the proposed model for the State! What a battle governing really is!
The lesson I have learnt from my governmental experience is that in assessing a government's performance, we should look for the things that the particular government has done and understand the reasons behind them, then we can realistically rate the government's perfomance. In looking for these things, the newspapers are solely not the source for information, as a N2m expense for newpapers adverts every other day by any government will render important projects as opportunity costs. We should look for the facts from direct sources. All in all, the government and the governed need to partner to succeed in governing.
How high up should media be on a Government's preference list? Comment below or follow my twitter account: @tonbofa.
Have a great week...
Again, a well written article. the level of government involvement makes one wonder whether the state will ever move forward without entrepreneurship from the private sector. bayelsans or fellow Nigerians must realize the opportunities within the state and act accordingly. A successful Nigerian business in the state can employ hundreds if the business is on a large scale. Furthermore, if the business is Bayelsan owned, it will keep the funds within the state and encourage wealth generation and spending with will raise the overall economic level of the state. Government has its roles:social services, infrastructure, basic services, etc. More importantly, the government should also create access to capital for small businesses to grow in the state. This will encourage the market woman selling stuff to grow her business, or people to learn blue collar work (as stated in your last article). Anyway, I apologize for the tangent, the responsibility of creating a sustainable media should be up to the private enterprise. Government should only encourage qualified individuals to start media companies that cover the state.The dilemma is that is there the market for these companies? Companies like these survive on advertising, which will be lacking in Bayelsa due to a scarcity of businesses operating in the state. this leads back to my first point....encourage and build local businesses
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