Cost of Governance is any cost associated with the running of government. In other words, it is the cost incurred by the government in the course of providing goods and services to the citizenry. It may be subdivided into recurrent and capital expenditure. Whereas recurrent expenditure is government spending on overhead and personnel costs, capital expenditure on the other hand is government spending in providing infrastructural facilities. It is pertinent to note that when recurrent expenditure is substantially above capital expenditure, it would lead to reduction in the provision of infrastructure, fall in investments, reduction in the level of employment, etc. thus stagnating economic growth.

In Nigeria, the cost of governance over the years has been very high and alarming and therefore unsustainable as recurrent expenditure continues to significantly exceed capital expenditure. This problem has continued to generate public concern and national discourse because of the negative implication on investment, industrial expansion, infrastructural development and growth of the real sectors of the economy. It is imperative to note that many developing countries all over the world are making concerted efforts at reducing the cost of governance in order to conserve funds for infrastructural development that would impact positively on the lives of the citizens.

For any society to make meaningful progress there ought to be a competent and cost effective management system that is capable of maximizing the nation’s scarce resources to the benefit of all.  The cost of running government in Nigeria has been on the increase over the years to the extent that stakeholders are worried about the problem and are seeking ways to address the anomaly which is posing fundamental threat to the nation’s development. The essence of efficiency in governance is to ensure that public fund is spent judiciously.

Many Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have similar and overlapping functions and responsibilities. Therefore, it is imperative for government to merge these agencies to avoid duplication of responsibilities and thus curtailing wastage. Political offices should be made less attractive. We cannot continue to spend our scarce resources to finance unnecessary consumption and pile up huge national debts. We must increase savings and generate resources to provide public amenities.

The cost of governance in Nigeria is disproportionately high relative to productivity. We have a long list of Ministers, Special Advisers, and Special Assistants with high remuneration. The President, Governors, Local Government Chairmen, Ministers and even Commissioners in the States with their retinue of Aides, not to talk about members of the National Assembly and the State Assemblies and their several Aides, are sucking this country dry.

The cost of running Nigeria is one problem policy makers have refused to address. If only this could be addressed, Nigeria would be saving billions if not trillions of naira that could be pumped into other productive ventures.

A governor with close to a thousand Aides cannot honestly tell us his state problems will be solved in his four-year term because that state’s resources are being used in the course of governance instead of providing the much-needed infrastructure to boost the economy. If a member of the National Assembly earns more than what the American President takes home, then we know things are not right. If one thinks about the number of Ministers and how many Aides each of them has, then we will surely know that out problems will never be solved until we address the issue.

If we think of how many states votes as much as a hundred million naira monthly for security, money which is usually not accounted for, then we will know what Nigeria problem is. So much is being wasted on unproductive ventures that we fear the country may collapse under the weight of this burden.

It is time to take another look at the issue of the salaries and allowances of the people that govern us. We believe democracy can work, just like it is working in other climes but how many countries spend so much on governance to the detriment of other things? Democracy in other climes is not a full-time job like it is in Nigeria. We have to address the issue of paying so much to so many and achieving so little. After so many years of waste with so little on ground, we need to take another look at a constitution which allows so much money and allowances to be paid to those that begged to serve. It is not too late to address this anomaly.

Since May 29, 1999, political activities across the country have assumed different dimensions. This is why politics has virtually become the most lucrative business in the country. It is therefore not surprising that in some sections of the Nigerian society, politics has become a do-or-die affair. It is no longer unusual to see candidates assassinated over tussles for political positions; in numerous cases property and building are destroyed in clashes between two opposing camps. These are pointers to the level of desperation that accompanies the desire to get to public office to earn enormous salaries.

The outcry over high cost of governance in Nigeria has reached an alarming height recently. The public sector should under no circumstances be seen as a vehicle for wasteful, spending on large retinues of appointees. Nigeria at the moment can ill-afford such profligacy. Nigeria need not to operate the most expensive democracy in the world. If democracy is fully and faithfully implemented, these measures will go a long way in reducing the overall cost of governance in Nigeria.

A detailed investigation revealed that the main problem is not just the corrupt politicians at the National Assembly or the Governors and Chairmen of Local Government Councils looting their states blind; rather the civil service provides the foundation for corruption and bad governance. Civil servants who prepare the budget estimates and implement the Appropriation Act are the ones who reveal the loopholes in the system to political appointees and help them to stash away public money. They frustrate the achievement of the budget implementation milestones and when the budget fails, mop up the ‘unspent funds’ into their pocket and sex-up the books to comply with due process. They are the ones who sabotage every attempt to introduce financial best practices into the system to plug the holes through which they salt away money.

They look like the innocent flower but appear to be the serpent under it. Any meaningful reform should therefore begin at the civil service. Successful governments and organizations are known for being frugal, prudent and efficient. But the nation’s government is seen to be unwieldy, reckless and too wasteful.

Nigeria has a democratic system of government that is patterned after that of the United States of America. Nigeria’s democracy has been described as the most expensive in the world with minimal evidence in terms of infrastructure development, poverty level and pace of general economic growth.

For instance, the United States of America with a higher population and higher number of states than Nigeria, has 12 federal Secretaries (Ministers) and Ministries as against Nigeria’s over 40 Ministers and Ministries. The US economic growth plan is very specific, articulate, people oriented and less expensive while policies are implemented in the national interest even in the midst of global economic uncertainties.

Results of highly monitored expenditure of public funds are visible. This is not the case with Nigeria where a Federal Legislator earns higher than the President of the United States of America, even with so little input. Food for thought.

God Bless Nigeria!!!