By Monday Eze
Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru of Ebonyi State.The current economic, food and business crisis which followed in the aftermath of the fuel subsidy withdrawal in Nigeria is worrisome. Nigerians had assumed that President Bola Tinubu and the state governors envisaged the implications of the subsidy withdrawal before it was yanked off. This is more so as President Bola Tinubu continued to put Nigerians on notice of impending pains arising from the fuel subsidy withdrawal.
However, the majority of Nigerian governors seem to have no plans for the welfare of their citizens. From Lagos to Sokoto, Rivers to Kano and Niger to Adamawa States, plaintive cries and protests against hunger and hardship have been witnessed in Nigeria. In the cacophony of voices, the name of President Bola Tinubu rings like a bell as the cause of the present hunger and hardship in the land.
A study of the federation account monthly allocation schedules shows that the monthly financial accruals to the 36 states in Nigeria have appreciated as a result of the fuel subsidy withdrawal. The question begging for an answer is: What are the state governors using the excess income for? In the face of the all-pervading shocks of the fuel subsidy withdrawal, is any other thing supposed to come before the people's welfare in the priority list of any state or tier of government in Nigeria? To think that some Nigerian governors are even making loan requests is also unwholesome.
On Wednesday, 17th February 2024, the first-ever welfare summit on the states of the Nigerian nation was convoked by Nigeria Parents Forum with the delegates drawn from all the 774 local government areas, the 36 states of the federation and FCT in Abuja. At the summit, the financial profiles of the respective states and FCT in juxtaposition with the verifiable welfare profiles of the respective states including FCT were presented. The marginal appreciation or increment in the resources of the respective states was also mirrored in the Nigeria Parents Forum welfare summit. Delegates were overawed by the fact that through the fuel subsidy withdrawal windfall, the monthly federation account allocations of 25 states of the federation increased by 35%! However, it is unfortunate that except for a few states, the quality of lives of the citizens of the majority of the states of the federation had no significant improvement. Nigeria Parents Forum charged the citizens of respective states to seek explanations over the fuel subsidy windfalls from their respective governors.
The greatest surprise or rather attraction at the seminar was the presentation on the welfare profile of the administration of Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru of Ebonyi State. The athletic governor of Ebonyi State whose monthly allocations could not be said to be average has prioritized the welfare of his people. The governor has spent over N11billion on the mountainous arrears of gratuities and pensions which piled up since the creation of Ebonyi State in 1996. Nwifuru is determined to have workers in the state get their gratuities and pension on the date of their respective retirements soon. He was one of the first governors to begin the payment of wage awards to workers. His Christmas bonus to workers was the highest in the annals of the young state. Nwifuru is the only governor who paid a one-off 'gratitude allowance' to workers in January 2024. His overhaul of the education sector beginning with the readiness to return schools to churches, construction of two model primary schools and two model secondary schools with teachers' quarters in every LGA; and the promise to employ more qualified teachers is heartwarming. Through the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters which is manned by Hon. Uchenna Igwe, the governor is building modern duplexes for each of about 140 traditional rulers in the state. In the health sector, his procurement of high-profile medical equipment for all the general hospitals, introduction of a dependable drug revolving scheme, employment of medical doctors, and enhancement of condition of service for medical officers have been praised as remedies for brain drain. Governor Nwifuru has increased the subventions of all the tertiary institutions in Ebonyi State and granted tax waivers to small-scale business enterprises in Ebonyi State. He is equally paying WAEC and NECO registration fees as well as Law School scholarship grants to Ebonyi students in secondary schools and the Nigerian Law School. Nwifuru is doing all these welfare programmes without consideration for political affiliations. The Ebonyi State governor is not resting on his oars: He is building an ICT university in Izzi, Ebonyi State. The Abakaliki Capital City internal road networks, the 22-kilometre Ezzaegu - Ezillo road as well and the 23-kilometre Stadium - Nwofe road are all done with concrete technology. These are apart from the business start-up grants and other random welfare interventions for people with special needs.
Governor Nwifuru's radical approach to Ebonyi people's welfare is why nobody is talking about protests against hunger and hardship or calling out President Tinubu in Ebonyi State. For Nwifuru's creative welfare programmes in Ebonyi State, Nigerian parents at the summit gave him impeccable plaudits, charged other state governors and public office holders to emulate him and nominated him as the "Welfare Ambassador" of Nigerian.
It suffices that by Governor Francis Nwifuru's radical welfare programmes in Ebonyi State and this honour which Nigerian parents would confer on Governor Francis Nwifuru on a soon-to-be-determined date, Ebonyi State has, at this crucial period, become the undisputed welfare capital of Nigeria!
