Sometimes last year, a governor of one of the South West states was slated for an award at an event held at Eko Hotels. The event, billed for 6pm, had the hall filled to the brim and the parking space fully occupied by 4pm.
When I arrived at the hotel, I counted nothing less than forty buses, of various sizes, adorned with the picture and the logo of the governor, and this is independent of buses belonging to local governments in the state, ministries parastatals and party vehicles mobilised just for the event.
When the governor himself arrived, it was in a convoy of about 20 SUVs and truckload of policemen and other security services.
At the event proper, everybody who was somebody in the state was there, including radio commentators relayng events as they happened back to the home audience.
Inside the hall there were about four sets of women placed strategically in the hall, whose sole purpose was to break into a song if the governor or his wife coughed or their names were mentioned.
It was an obscene display of majestic power, like a mobile royal court in motion.
Now replicate this scenario across thirty six state governors, their wives and even in some cases, local government chairmen
And these are the guys whining that they cannot pay the minimum wage!
But they can mobilise all the state resources for a vanity trip to Lagos, or Abuja, as the case may be.
Some of them even had the audacity to hold lavish wedding receptions outside their states, sometimes even outside the country, while owing workers salaries for months.
While democracy is expensive, it is definitely not to the level we have elevated it.
If we could cut down the wastages, reduce the ceremonies, and for the sake of God tone down the self imposed illusion of grandeur, and face the issue of governance with minimum fuss, maybe, and that is a big maybe, we can begin the journey of real development at the state and local levels.
My Ten Kobo.
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