Corruption is a global issue, but it varies from country to country, as well as state to state. But in all, corruption is nothing less than what it is. In Nigeria, the intensity, sophistication, and forms of corruption also varies and have been a long-standing debate for Nigerians over the years. With many people of interest, corruption seems to be the largest industry with many practitioners in Nigeria.
While there seem to be many who have wildly spoken against corruption they are receiving firsthand from the government, a few others have come to endure and just live by it but how long does one really have to endure bad governance?
In a recent report, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has sent a petition to the National Human Rights Commission over 20 months unpaid salaries by the Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu. National President of ASUP Anderson Ezeibe stated this in a letter addressed to the Executive Secretary of the commission and made available to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja.
Read Also: Gov Ikpeazu Owes Poly Lecturers 20 Months Salaries – ASUP
Now, this should not come off as shocking to many Nigerians because there has been a long-standing discord with the state of the education system in the country. However, on social media, this report has opened a conversation on the way the people of Abia have endured corrupt leaders over the years.
The big question is, are there really activists in Abia state. The effort Mazi Nnamdi Kanu put in mobilising youths for Biafra cause, if he had looked closer to his home state, things wouldn’t be this bad. Abia has been the worst governed state in Nigeria.
Many Nigerians have often tagged Abia as the worst governed state in Nigeria. From the political drama that has existed with the past governors to the present and the silence of locals, the Abia fight has often rested on the radicality of other people. The concept of public accountability has always been an issue in Nigeria and not just in Abia.
In an ordinary sense, accountability assumes that the government and stakeholders of public authority with official positions be held responsible for their actions and consequences emanating from them.
However, half the time these elected leaders seem to get away with incompetence on their leadership directives. On social media, the news of the public staff being owed for 20 years sparked another outrage. For the long of it, Abia indigenes have rightly (but subtly) cried against the vices perpetrated by past governor, Orji Uzor Kalu. In December, Kalu was arrested and charged for ₦7.65bn fraud by the EFCC. The news warmed the hearts of Nigerians as there have been massive attention geared towards how corrupt the ex-governor is.
In May, though, the supreme court annulled the conviction and ordered retail of the case. His return to the state received a massive welcome by his supporters which made Nigerians debate how bad governance have thrived in the state.
Another observation from this is the ‘blame syndrome’ that has been tied to the Abia people. Tinubu, President Buhari, el-Rufai, among others have been blamed for the state of Abia. For the most part, they are blaming Tinubu for the power hijack of the state from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), to the All Progressive Congress (APC) which created the unbalance in the state. It is important to remind Abia indigenes that their leaders were elected for a purpose, and if any fingers need to be pointed at anyone, it would be their leaders first and this time Governor Okezie Ikpeazu needs to take the majority of the blame for this mess. Because in his tenure, he has been blamed for massive funds siphoning and terrible infrastructural planning.
Theoretically, the outcome of a massive outburst against bad governance can not go without a result. And if there is any time for Abia people to stand up and refute the silence they have created as a norm, and stop blaming others for the unbalance, it is now.
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