• Friday, March 29, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

Understanding the social contract III: The inexplicable case of Lagos

Elections in Nigeria

Over the last two weeks, I have tried to show the nature of the social contract we have in Nigeria – one that is basically rights-based with little or no awareness of the corresponding duties, how that kind of social contract came about and how the social contract is conceived and practiced differently in other climes. I therefore concluded – which is also in line with virtually all academic research into the social contract that “there cannot be government accountability where the government is not funded by the people directly and where the people place rights over duty or even makes the fulfilment of duty contingent on the government doing its own part.”

This isn’t just theory but is also true in all cases and for all governments the world over. Just pick any country and analyse its revenues and check its accountability index. While countries that depend on their citizens to fund the government are more accountable to their citizens, countries that do not are not accountable to their citizens. In fact, in such countries like Nigeria for instance, the people are not sovereign but mere subjects who thrive or languish at the mercy of the government/political elite. Even when such countries profess to be democracies and claim that sovereignty resides with the people, in reality, the government/political elite always find ingenious ways to thwart the will of the people or make it impossible for the people to freely express their will.

I conclude this series with a reflection on Lagos – a state that has dared to buck the trend in terms of revenue dependence in Nigeria but which has not experienced any sort of corresponding increase in government accountability to the people.

From the inception of the 4th Republic in 1999, Lagos state signalled its intention to not only harness its internally generated revenues and lessen or even end its dependence on federally allocated revenue altogether, but also institute a duties-rights conception of the social contract that will force its large middle class settlers to cultivate taxpaying habits. Over the last 20 years, the Internally Generated Revenue of Lagos rose from a mere N600 million monthly in 1999 to about N30 billion in 2018 thanks to a series of tax reforms and public campaigns.

According to figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics, Lagos state alone generated N297.09 billion in internally generated revenue between January and September 2019, representing 30 percent of IGR generated by all the states in the country and well above the total budget size of more than 20 of Nigeria’s 36 states. Already, by 2012, Lagos state has become less reliant on federally allocated revenue, which represented a mere 30 percent of its budgeted revenues while tax revenues account for the rest 70 percent. True, as former Governor Ambode once quipped, “IGR is the energy that keeps [Lagos] going and puts the state on a sound financial footing to continue to meet its obligations to the citizens.”

Election after election, the feudal system persists in Lagos and virtually all the candidates of the godfather are returned elected. Despite being a democracy and with one of the most sophisticated elite and middle class in the entire country, the feudal lord in Lagos seems to be the only law in town and his words and wishes are law regardless of what the over 20 million people in the state want

However, the Lagos experience seems to confound the long-established social contract theories that accountability naturally improves as the government relies more on the people for its revenues (through taxation). The Lagos state government is one of the most notoriously non-accountable states in Nigeria. It not only refuses to publish its statement of accounts, but also runs the government in such an opaque manner that leaves no one in doubt that it is a feudal system with fealty to only one master – the godfather of the state, who brooks no disloyalty from any government personnel, elected or appointed.

Election after election, the feudal system persists in Lagos and virtually all the candidates of the godfather are returned elected. Despite being a democracy and with one of the most sophisticated elite and middle class in the entire country, the feudal lord in Lagos seems to be the only law in town and his words and wishes are law regardless of what the over 20 million people in the state want. It will not be out of place to say all elected and appointed government officials in and from the state are accountable only to the feudal lord and no one else. He alone decides who gets elected or appointed to which position and he determines the political careers of virtually all the political players of the state.

How can one explain this inexplicable situation? There are many factors that account for this anomaly. First, the mindset that Nigeria is still an oil-rich country and over-reliance on oil revenue, military rule and subjugation, lack of interests and non-involvement in the political process especially by the middle class has made the opaque situation in Lagos to persist.

In 2019, for instance, the former governor of the state was denied a second term for disloyalty and someone, whose only political ambition, by his own admission, was to be Chief of Staff, was imposed as the governor of the state. But he went through the process or elections and secured a whole 75 percent of the votes cast. The statistics were harrowing. Out of the 5.6 million registered voters in the state, less than a million voted. If just 50 percent of registered voters turned out to vote, the situation would have been different.

During the election campaign, I was invited to moderate a town hall meeting between Lekki residents and then candidate of the All Progressives Congress. I overheard an argument between the organisers and a member of the campaign team of the candidate. The individual made it clear to the organisers that the governorship candidate was only being magnanimous by attending the town hall meeting, but that he doesn’t need their votes to win. Besides, as he claimed, the middle class don’t vote. And even when the candidate came for the event, he arrogantly refused to entertain any of the requests made by residents of the area. This is an area with a population in the millions. Of course, the feudal lord of Lagos knows this fact, incorporates it in his political strategy and always comes out successful.

Ultimately, no change happens in a flash. It takes time and effort. Besides, duties always precede rights. As the people of Lagos are socialised into performing their duties and as discontent grows louder, the people would soon begin to question the status quo and demand a change.

Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.
Exit mobile version