Survival of the wickedest
Nigerian states want to draft a new framework for LG autonomy
Good morning, Big Brains. It’s insane how horribly predictable Nigeria is; nearly the same things happen when the rainy seasons come, and the same thing when it’s dry. The second part of today’s edition might give you a feeling of deja vu, so brace yourself.
- Margaret
Word count: ~ 1,000
Reading time ~ 5 mins
Let’s get into today’s edition:
Nigerian states want to draft a new framework for LG autonomy
Seven inmates escaped from an Osun prison due to heavy rains
The Big Deal
Nigerian states want to draft a new framework for LG autonomy
If you ask Nigerian states who the baddest is, they’d probably point to themselves, especially after the dust they have just raised.
The latest update in the drama between Nigerian states and Local Governments (LGs) is that states are demanding a brand new framework for the implementation of LG autonomy because apparently, the current one is not doing it for them.
In a statement released on Tuesday, May 20, the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning said that all 36 state commissioners for Budget and Economic Planning in Nigeria specifically asked for the new framework because “autonomy is not absolute; hence, there is a need for a framework that would work for all the local government areas to make them more effective.”
The commissioners, who all belong to an association called the Community of Practice (CoP), came to this conclusion after their meeting held in Abia State from May 6 to 8.
They sort of dropped a small disclaimer by saying they sha acknowledge the Supreme Court’s judgement but think a new framework is necessary in order to make the autonomy “structured and effective.”
Why is this a big deal?
If there’s anything this latest demand shows, it’s that Nigeria is not making it out of the trenches because principalities and powers are browbeating the arm of government closest to the people.
Since the Supreme Court granted LGs financial and administrative autonomy in 2024, Nigerian states have not allowed them to breathe. From frowning at the decision to asking FG to delay direct payments to LGs by three months, because they needed to sort out technical issues, one obstacle or the other has prevented LGs from directly getting their monthly allocations.
You might call it village people, but when it looked as if it was all clear, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which was supposed to open independent accounts for them, said it needed a two-year account audit of all 774 local government councils before they could get their money directly. As you can already guess, they haven’t been able to provide this, so their money had to be sent to state governments. There were also reports of state governors threatening council chairmen against opening accounts with the CBN. “Our governor has threatened us (state chairmen) not to open accounts with the CBN for the direct payment of our allocation,” a local government chairman in a southeastern state told Punch Newspapers.
In April, the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) said they were calling B.S. They dragged the FG, states, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), CBN, and some other parties over what it believes are tactics to frustrate their autonomy. The suit was adjourned to May 29, and now that the date is getting closer, states have come with this demand for a new framework.
The states have sworn the framework is for the good of LGs, but their track records might suggest otherwise.
The importance of a functioning local government council cannot be overemphasised—they’re the closest to the people and feel their pulse. An autonomous local government system in Nigeria will fill existing vacuums and solve a ton of problems, but this fight is looking like it will be won by the party with the wickedest moves, and it’s frankly what Nigerians need.
The country and its citizens need local governments to function properly as a tier of government that it is, rather than an appendage of the state, and we hope the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) sees that this happens.
Seven inmates escaped from an Osun prison due to heavy rains
In most places, you have to plan for a long time to be able to carry out a prison break, but in Nigeria, you apparently just have to wait for the rainy season to come.
In what is honestly no longer much of a surprise, seven inmates have escaped from a prison in Osun state, after heavy rainfall caused its old perimeter wall to collapse.
The mini prison break (if we can even call it that) happened at 2 am on Tuesday, May 20, at the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Ilesa area of the state.
As you can expect, the spokesperson of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS), Umar Abubakar, has released a statement saying they have launched a manhunt that will ensure the escapees are found and bundled back to the prison, but we’ll believe it when we see it.
The NCoS has also urged the general public to call the following hotlines if they have any helpful information on the whereabouts of the escapees: 07087086005, 09060004598, or 08075050006.
A lot is wrong with government-run establishments in Nigeria, and a major part of it is never learning from past incidents. Once bitten, twice shy has never been the case with them. In April 2024, about 118 inmates escaped from a prison facility in Suleja, Niger State, after heavy rainfall destroyed its perimeter wall.
Months later, in September 2024, after the devastating floods hit Maiduguri, Borno State, over 270 inmates escaped from a prison facility in the state after the floods damaged its walls. A similar incident had also taken place in May 2022 at the Agbor Custodial Centre in Delta State, following the destruction of a side of its perimeter due to heavy rainfall
All of these incidents point to an infrastructural problem that has not been taken care of, regardless of the handful of prison escapes. Proper prison breaks (unrelated to rains) have also occurred in the past, pointing to other issues, but that topic is for another day.
If you ever need a reminder of how bad Nigerian prisons are, remember the Senate once revealed that Suleja prison, where inmates escaped in 2022, was built with mud over a hundred years ago.
We don’t think this needs to be said, but Nigerian prisons need to be fixed. Nigeria has enough security problems happening simultaneously in regions of the country to unleash more criminals.
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