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Home |   About Us |   Contact Us |   Members |   Search |   Subscribe |   Disclaimer |   THE GUARDIAN CONSCIENCE, NURTURED BY TRUTH LAGOS, NIGERIA.     Wednesday, June 30 2004   news   editorial/opinion   policy & politics   focus/record   business   sports   capital market   metro   arts   money watch   energy   maritime   Guardian Chat Click to join the chatroom Zamfara as apostle of secession By Kingsley Osadolor THERE is no indication whatsoever, whether in 1999 or in 2003, that Governor Ahmed Sani, while being sworn in, declined to subscribe to the oath of office of governor of a state, that is to be found in the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution. In the said oath, Governor Sani pledged inter alia: " I will discharge my duties to the best of my ability, faithfully and in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the law, and always in the interest of the sovereignty, integrity, solidarity, well-being and prosperity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria". Yet, the evidence is indisputable that Governor Sani has carried on as if the oath of office was binding only at the moment he verbalised the prescription. Four years ago, in an audacious step with lingering reverberative consequences, he introduced the criminal aspects of Sharia law in Zamfara State. Despite loud protests that such a law was contrary to the spirit and letter of the Constitution, which forbids the adoption of state religion, Governor Sani sealed his ears with wax. His government followed up promptly by amputating the hands of two livestock thieves. Sharia law has since spread to other states in the north, occasioning international embarrassment in the cases of allegedly adulterous women being threatened with official execution by stoning. Governor Sani's disposition is that he can pick and choose which aspects of the Constitution he will abide by. In one word, that is lawlessness. But the Zamfara State Government headed by Sani is unruffled, provided that those sections of the Constitution which they choose to obey are in their interest. Thus, in spite of Governor Sani's renegade attitude toward the Constitution, he has been seemingly wide-eyed enough not to repudiate sections 162 and 163 of the Constitution. Those sections deal with the Federation Account and how revenue accruing thereto is to be shared. Hence, every month, Zamfara scrambles to Abuja to literally heist a slice from the Federation Account, on the strength of the Constitution, but immediately thereafter, Governor Sani kisses the same Constitution goodbye. His latest constitutional travesty concerns the introduction of discriminatory school fees for indigenes and non-indigenes of Zamfara State. No where in the Constitution are indigenes given superior recognition and non-indigenes, an inferior status. The Constitution recognises citizens of Nigeria, a subject matter with elaborate provisions in Chapter III. But last week, the Zamfara State Government in its new madcap policy announced that thenceforth, non-indigenes would pay N5,000 per term, as fees for primary school pupils, while those in female primary schools will pay N10,000 per term. Non-indigenes in government boarding secondary schools are expected to pay N25,000 per term, while day students will be charged N10,000 for the same duration. There was no explanation why female pupils should pay double the fees charged male pupils in primary schools. That, of course, points to another cardinal discrimination. Is this an indirect policy of discouraging the education of the girl-child In an era where the decibel of campaign has hit fever-pitch, it is a measure of the throwback instincts of the policy makers in Zamfara that they have conspired to attempt to frustrate the girl-child's access to formal education. It just goes to show, in one sad instance at least, that while concerned citizens are worried about the standard of education and access thereto, policy men in Zamfara are prepared to live in the past with their misbegotten ideas. It is also instructive that the discriminatory fees between male and female pupils do not apply at the secondary school level. Yet, a child who has not been through the primary foundation will be shut out of the next level of formal education. It seems, therefore, that the discriminatory fees for male and female are intended at that early stage to frustrate the girl-child. Are the girls being supplied with pampers or other sanitary gear that they have to pay double the fees of boys Section 42 of the Constitution prescribes the right to freedom from discrimination. The grounds upon which a citizen of Nigeria cannot be discriminated against are ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion. Thus s.42(a) provides that no citizen shall "be subjected either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any executive or administrative action of the government, to disabilities or restrictions to which citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religions or political opinions are not made subject". In its scornful, renegade attitude, the Zamfara Government under Ahmed Sani does not feel bound by this explicit and extant provision. But the short-sightedness of Zamfara cannot escape even a casual observer. This year, the state government is operating a budget of N26.9 billion, of which amount N17.5 billion is intended for recurrent expenditure. With its anti-business Sharia law, and the fact that the state was never really viable anyway, Zamfara cannot muster internally generated revenue that will give it 10 per cent of its annual budget. Rather, it must scurry to Abuja to quickly sequester its share of the monthly allocation from the Federation Account. When more economically viable and productive states are grumbling about the revenue allocation formula, Zamfara also joins in the tirade, or at least hides under the canopy of states fulminating with righteous indignation. All this is possible because of the obnoxious variety of federalism that the country is saddled with. Zamfara is however bent on accentuating the angst over the lopsided federalism. This month, the Federal Ministry of Finance has published the distribution details of revenue allocated to local government councils throughout the country, save those newly created. Zamfara is number 36 on the list. The councils in that state received for the month of May 2004, a total of N905,522,220.54. Value Added Tax receipts accounted for just N66,481,249.05. The remainder came from "gross statutory allocation", which is invariably crude oil sales. There is not a drop of crude oil that is mined in Zamfara, nor has anyone been boring beneath the soil in that state in the lucky hope of striking oil. Even without a census, nobody can doubt that there are, resident in Zamfara, persons whose ancestral homes are in the oil-producing states of the Niger Delta and its environs. These ancestral lands are daily producing the wealth upon which the rest of the country largely depends, even more so for Zamfara with its poor economic standing. If the discriminatory policy makers in Zamfara were thinking at all, they would have asked themselves how "indigenes" of the Niger Delta who are resident in Zamfara will have to face the double jeopardy of their ancestral land providing revenue for Zamfara and for the latter to still be unconscionable enough to mandate such persons, who are "non-indigenes" of Zamfara, to pay the outrageous discriminatory school fees. Without an eye on oil revenue, Zamfara State might never have been created. Each year, the state spends about N3.8 billion on the payment of its workers' salaries, and only an infinitesimal fraction of that is sourced from internally generated revenue. Six months ago, the state was bragging that it was paying N7,500 as minimum wage and that it had already begun implementation of the 12.5 per cent salary increase agreed to by the Federal Government and the Nigeria Labour Congress. Zamfara could so beat its chest, because of oil money to which it contributes neither a farthing nor an encouraging "well done o!" Now, indigenes of oil-bearing areas must be justified in querying why their wealth is being used to further oppress them in far-away Zamfara. These are the kinds of issues that stoke agitation and youth restiveness in the Niger Delta, and which a thousand amphibious battalions cannot quell. Without doubt, Governor Sani has gone ahead with his latest madcap policy, because he believes he can get away with it. Yet, in part of the oath to which he subscribed on his inauguration, he swore "that in all circumstances, I will do right to all manner of people, according to law, without fear or favour, affection or ill-will". His selective obedience to the provisions of the Constitution is the tell-tale sign of a secessionist agenda. The discriminatory school fees which his government announced recently are in, a definite sense, a measure of economic pogrom. How far more should he go before those who are playing Tito realise that Governor Sani is on a dangerous, baiting frolic � 2003 - 2004 @ Guardian Newspapers Limited (All Rights Reserved).  Powered by dnetsystems.net dnet�

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