Serious Issue
With Chimex Ndubuisi
Reviewing the Conference of Special Advisers in PH
The 3rd Bi-annual Conference of Special Adviser to State Governors of Nigeria with the theme “Dividends of Democracy and Service Delivery in the Face of present economic recession: the role of Special Advisers” took place in Port Har5court, Rivers State from 10th –13 November, 2009 at which quality resource persons, an eminent jurist retired Justice Adolphus Karibi-Whyte as well as the host governor explored the socio-political landscape and place in delivery of dividends of democracy in the face of the global financial melt-down.
In the course of Frank and robust discussion, participants observed that; section 196 of the 1999 constitution that creates the office of Special Advisers gives them the role of assisting the governors in the performance of their functions by providing professional advice geared towards improving service delivery. For the governors to derive maximum benefits from the appointment of the Special Advisers there is the need for the Chief Executives to provide the enabling platform and environment for the performance of the Special Advisers’ role.
While the governors are not bound to take the advice of their Special Advisers, it would undoubtedly add quality to decision making process if they take into consideration such advice as it will increase the service delivery capacity of government at the State level.
The discharging of their constitutional responsibility has been a source of tension between the Special Advisers and commissioners due to non-delineation of roles and responsibilities for the Special Advisers, a situation that is akin to power without responsibility.
Unhealthy rivalry between them and commissioners, inadequate access to their Chief Executives who appointed them, and lack of enabling environment to perform their functions, pose serious challenges to their capacity to deliver.
In the face of the global financial melt down characterized by dwindling resources there is need for Special Advisers to be proactive in the performance of their functions by ensuring that their Chief Executives are prudent in utilization of available resources, blocking leakages in the financial management systems, streamlining of democratic structures, as well as originate ideas that will increase the revenue profile of the States. These, the participants contended are the quick routes to economic recovery.
After exhaustive debates and deliberations, participants put forward the following recommendations to surmount the seemingly insurmountable challenges to their capacities in assisting the governors deliver quality services to the citizenry:
On the issue of access to the Chief Executives, the forum stressed the need for regular interaction and scheduled periodic meetings between Special Advisers and their Chief Executives.
Also, governors in appointing Special Advisers should assign specific roles and job schedules to them to minimize tension in governance this is a sway of keying into the federal government’s initiative in this regard. Also Special Advisers councils should be established in each State where they do not exist and where such structure exists, it should be strengthened to truly promote face-to-face interaction with the governors by scheduling periodic meetings.
Frankly speaking, there is need for Special Advisers to develop a framework that will assist their Chief Executives in blocking financial leakages thereby increasing the revenue for provision of social services.
Special Advisers should fashion mechanisms to assist their Chief Executives avoid duplication of political structures and respobsilibties between Ministies, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to eliminate waste.
Special Advisers should also design policies aimed at increasing revenue generation capacity of State Governments and promote public private partnership to attract private investors.
Special Advisers should source and develop framework to access grants from international financial institution such as the World Bank (WB), Africa Development Bank (ADB) and other donor agencies.
The conference commends the support of the governor of Rivers State without which the success recorded would not have been possible.
The Special Advisers are professionals in their respective fields of endeavour were appointed by their Chief Executives to assist them to deliver quality services to the citizenry hence it is apposite that they be provided the enablement to perform their duties.
In that conference, The Chairman, Conference of Governor’ Special Advisers, Prof. Bawa Salka said the Special Advisers should be able to advise their governors very well and also the need to improve where necessary, stressing that they are not to occupy vacant seat but to adviser the governors and urged the various governors in the states to always listen to their Special Advisers as it would go a long way in solving some problems.
The chairman warned Special Advisers against making themselves rubber stamp but to always speak the truth and contribute to the growth of their states, saying that they would never forgive themselves if their governors fail to deliver dividends of democracy to the people who elected them.
As he put it “any governor fails, you will be held responsible because you refuse to advise him very well and people will never forgive you including your community. Do what you can do to ensure that you do your work as expected so that at the end of the day, you will be happy that your governor succeeds”, he said.
In his address, a former Justice of the Supreme Court, Adolphus Karibi-Whyte advised state governors to adopt the Seven-Point Agenda of the Federal Government as their guiding policy in order to tackle the socio-economic challenges at the second tier of government.
Justice Karibi-Whyte, who was the chairman of the Third Bi-Annual National Conference of States Governors' Special Advisers, said the advice became imperative against the backdrop of the current economic meltdown.
He said the governors have the Constitutional responsibility of meeting the welfare needs of the people within accepted societal values.
Karibi-Whyte observed that economic prosperity had eluded the country since the 1980s because past administrations ignored the initial warnings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank on the Nigerian economy.
He charged the governors to key into the Seven-Point Agenda of President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua, which he said aimed at restructuring the economy.
The former jurist said there no was justification for the widespread hunger and poverty in the country since it has abundant human and natural resources.
Karibi-Whyte told the special advisers that the quality of their advice to governors would be reflected in the latter's performance.
Also, President, Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) and Chairman of the defunct Niger Delta Technical Committee, Ledum Mitee in his keynote address titled, "Dividends Of Democracy And Service Delivery in the Face of the Present Economic Recession: The Role Of Special Advisers," urged governors to borrow a leaf from other parts of the world where political office holders come into office with a crop of committed and dedicated personnel who shared their visions.
According to him, "whilst there is need for close understanding between the triangle of the Governors, the Commissioners backed by the civil servants and the Special Advisers, there is no doubt that this universal democratic principle ensures that the appointing political head is exposed to an array of diverse advice which not only enriches his policies but refreshes them."
Mitee observed that by giving power to governors to appoint special advisers to assist them in governance, "it is clearly outside the contemplation of the Constitution to have a decorative team of special advisers. There cannot be power without responsibility."
They appealed to the governors to support the forum of Special Advisers to State Governors of Nigeria because of its potential in promoting national discuss, cross fertilization of ideas and national unity.The forum resolved that the next conference will hold in Kano State in March in 2010.
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