The appointment of over 300 political aides in a single fell swoop by a state governor ought to, justifiably, be thought of weird and unnecessary; extra so within the mild of the favored clamour for a drastic discount within the prices of governance. It’s due to this fact not sudden that the announcement of 344 political aides; comprising 28 senior particular assistants (SSAs) and 316 particular assistants (SAs) by Ondo State Governor, Fortunate Aiyedatiwa would spark criticisms from the opposition camps and as nicely elicit outrage from involved Nigerians. It’s recalled that, earlier than the current announcement of 344 aides, Governor Aiyedatiwa had made a number of appointments upon assumption of workplace in December 2023; following the demise of his boss, Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu. His newest motion in making such block appointments raises severe concern over sweeping political appointments which have turn out to be modern throughout the nation and quick assuming alarming proportions with some aides parading designations that might greatest be described as comedian. Sadly, because the wrestle for political appointments as entitlement heightens, the contentions for recognition and co-optation thereby imbuing an aberrant tradition of patronage that’s unsustainable for governance in the long term.
It’s now not in competition that politics, within the final 25 years of democracy in Nigeria, has turn out to be extra intensely transactional; and maybe essentially the most thriving enterprise within the nation. Regardless of rising concern over the ballooning prices of governance attributable to bills incurred from servicing the paraphernalia of elected political workplace holders and their appointees, the proliferation of political aides continues unabated on the federal and state ranges. Extra worrisome is that governors are turning political appointments into main cardinal initiatives regardless of the rising problem of income shortfall that has rendered nearly all of states prostate. Sadly, most governors prioritise massive paperwork reasonably than commit satisfactory assets to implement human capital improvement in addition to different crucial initiatives that may translate into productive engagement for incomes steady incomes. Quite than selling a tradition of political hangers-on by political appointments, state governors must be extra enthusiastic about creating an enabling atmosphere that may very well be leveraged for pursuing productive careers for respectable earnings past politics.
Whereas the appointment of political aides could also be fascinating in bolstering governance, recruitment of numerous aides as political patronage, significantly when the sitting governor is confronted with the compelling problem of successful an election, shouldn’t be inspired. The overarching implications of turning appointment right into a bazaar would, little doubt, worsen the problem of deploying scarce income to ship important companies to the general public. It’s sheer delusion for governors to proceed to fake that states with low revenue-generating profiles might maintain the frenzy of outlandish political appointments with out the untold penalties. The fact is that almost all states are already overburdened with the fee of salaries and the related perks that make political appointments engaging. Because it usually seems after the exit from workplace of the appointing governors; many of the states have needed to grudgingly grapple with the settlement of severance allowances owed to political aides whose companies hardly impacted governance, and have been at greatest, duplication of efforts. Subsequently, growing the recurrent expenditures of states that survive primarily on allocations from the federal authorities in addition to mortgage amenities, on account of political appointments which can be principally self-serving, can’t be within the overriding curiosity of the general public.
Ideally, the appointment of aides by elected public officers must be solution-driven. Along with guaranteeing that such appointments are strategically designated so as to add tangible values to governance and developmental targets, such appointments should be predicated on prudence and sustainability. Because the Ondo State Governorship election scheduled for November 2024 approaches, it’s nonetheless worrisome that the big variety of aides already appointed by the governor doesn’t counsel such a call displays the present financial actuality which has rightly prompted mounting requires appreciable discount within the prices of governance within the nation. Definitely, the appointment of numerous aides shouldn’t be the precedence of a authorities confronted with the prevailing problem of unfulfilled expectations as stakeholders in Ondo State yearn for the transformation of the state’s considerable mineral assets to create employment alternatives.
Certainly, the appointment of tons of of political aides within the face of dwindling public revenues might hardly be rationalised past the slim political curiosity of governors. To make sure that political appointees add worth to the enterprise of governance, the relevance of their designations must be convincing sufficient to imbue public confidence and to show readability of function by the federal government. The political appointment mustn’t come throughout as time-serving patronage not designed for concrete worth addition in governance. It has due to this fact turn out to be crucial to anchor political appointments on pedigree and required experience for significant impacts on governance.
