Op-ed: What Governor Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq Should Have Done By Sulaiman Olayiwola Yusuf
Couple of weeks ago, I offered ideas on how to stimulate Kwara local economy; using Tax as a stimulant to expand the GDP size. This time, as a ‘political animal,’ I will critically evaluate your administration from political and economic realities it is being adjudged by every set of people. Thus, proffering solutions.
Your Excellency, it would be unfair to underrate or overrate your administration. Therefore, it is safe to say your administration has only maintained political status quo and made economics inconsequential. An impression which has made a set of people be ‘indifferent’ about your administration owing to the 2019 political revolution (O TO GE) you rode on to be in power. The expectation of every political revolution is to see things done differently so that people can fulfill their aspirations. Thus far, this set of people has been disappointedly asking; “What has changed?” ANAP Foundation poll outcome for Kwara 2023 Gubernatorial election proves this set of people to be the majority.
The second set who are your apologists/supporters (I hate the word “sycophant”) ‘publicly’ overrate your administration. Majority in this set are your party members. An average Nigerian politician care less about socio-economics in as much as there is defence for political correctness. Obviously, their defence is not for free. Already, some are counting their gains of the defence. In your words, “we are not here to share money.” In my words, ‘you are here to share appointments and waste taxpayers money.’ Where is the sincerity of purpose?
The third set are the people who are utterly disappointed in your administration. Majority of those people are political oppositions. Those you shut out and the “Sarakites” your incompetence has made “O To GE” to seem like a scam to. O TO GE is not a scam!Expectedly, this people can not rate an administration which hasn’t surpassed previous administrations by social, economic and political metrics.
As analyzed above, those three sets of people have proven that “every human being is a political animal.” Interested in politics or not, economic policies are reflection of political play from the grassroots to the top. While policies are supposed to be for economic growth and development, most of your policies are for political correctness.
As a governor of the state, understanding political psyche of the people should spur your innate desires to change economic and political realities of the state. It is disappointing however that you have shown you have no understanding (native intelligence) of the people’s political psyche and innate desires (political will) for practical and steady growth, and development. You have shut out all the political actors of different career backgrounds who brought you to power; men and women who were expected to assist you with their professional experiences to move the state forward. Your Excellency, you ‘commissioned’ the failure of your administration with egocentrism and inability to galvanize political elements in your party and consolidate politics.
I honestly detest hearing people say my governor is not educated. It has been generally proven that education is not the learning of facts. It is the ability to think, reason and innovate, rather. Education has been rethought by thinkers. Dispassionately, you have not impressed thinkers who keep them shut from saying “Abdulrahman is not educated.”
Your Excellency, you were supposed to have a clear policy document of your administration. This document should tell the people ‘what you want to do, how you want to do it and what people stand to benefit.’ It is late sha!
Technically, economics should be the focus of a government that has been able to consolidate politics. It is natural that you have to get politics right before you can succeed as a Governor or President. The end should justify the means.
Your administration has embarked on few capital projects like Tanke Flyover, Innovation Hub, Visual Art Centre, International Conference Centre and some roads construction. Sincerely, those projects can’t be rated for a state that wants to evolve from being a civil service state to an economy viable state. The siting of those projects has been faulted by people. The sustainability of those projects depends on economic attractiveness of their investments (ROI). Tax payers’ money is invested in those projects. Really, there can’t be direct and commensurate benefits to all taxpayers. However, those investments must be able to give back ROI when direct beneficiaries of those investments are able to pay levies, fees and taxes. The returns which will be used for maintenance and creation of more socio-economic opportunities while IGR grows. As it seems, those investments can not give the needed ROI in twenty years or more when Kwara young men and women will not be the major skilled workers and patrons who will pay levies, fees and taxes in return. All the press releases on those investments have struggled to tell us their scope of employment and revenue generation so that young men and women can acquire ‘anticipatory skills.’
Your excellency, “Kwara will longer be civil service state,” “I am building Kwara to survive without monthly Federal Allocation” have become common rhetorics. Understandably Lagos state inspires other states. Lagos economy became this big from Taxation. As a governor, Asiwaju utilized Taxation to expand Lagos GDP size when the state’s Federal Allocation was stopped. In Kwara, income tax(PAYE) from civil servants and few private companies paying N30,000.00 minimum wage are the major sources of revenue to Kwara Internal Revenue Service. You should be aware that majority of Kwarans earn below N30,000.00 which is the tax-free threshold.
How do you make Kwara survive without Federal Allocation when most private establishments in Kwara pay less than N30,000.00 as salary?
How do you make Kwara no longer a civil service state when there are no opportunities for potentials and abilities to be harnessed?
Your excellency, there are answers in my three recommendations: holistically using tax to expand Kwara GDP.
- Prioritize projects that will pilot local investors to discover investment opportunities in the state. At the level of economic fundamentals, certain investments will give the state the capability to outperform in local markets.
Economic growth increases state capacity and the supply of public goods. When economies grow, government can tax that revenue and gain the capacity and resources needed to provide the public goods and services Kwarans need, like healthcare, education, social protection and basic public services. - Review civil servants salary to increase their buying power. Chunk of their salaries will end up in informal sector. According to the ILO report of 2018 on the informal economy, 85.8% of employment in Africa is informal. In Nigeria, the informal sector, classified into micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), makes up 50% of the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP), making it the major source of economic growth, productivity, and competitiveness. Remittances from civil servants’ income tax (PAYE), taxes from informal Sector would propel progressive Tax.
- From the state’s IGR, invest heavily in creative (art and crafts) industry to create opportunities where youths can harness their potentials and abilities. The youths provide most jobs, teach technical skills, and are critical to nurturing managerial capabilities for the private and public sector. Hence, they will be brought into the tax system to pay levies, fees and taxes they are obliged to pay according to the law. Kwara revenue base will grow to sustain the government’s budget.
These are the starting points to practically reducing unemployment and poverty in Kwara State.
Your excellency, I hope those recommendations come handy as though your focus is wining re-election. If they don’t come handy this time, they will be for the next Kwara governor.
Sulaiman Olayiwola Yusuf
A Tourism expert and a Tax practitioner.
