Prudence is a virtue

Last week, the Akwa Ibom state government held a three-day appraisal of its performance for fiscal 2024, bringing all MDAs one room to present their scorecards to a cross-section of the people. In his opening statement, Governor Umo Eno made a very curious remark. He said that he has been constantly blamed by government officials for not releasing funds to them any time they asked. His reluctance is because he’s only been judicious in managing the finances of the state and so officials should not expect to get money for everything they want.

Here’s how the governor put it: “If there’s anything people will blame me about, and I am sure you are going to hear more of it, it is no release of funds. I hold money in trust for Akwa Ibom people and I will always disburse those funds (in a way) that will address the needs of the generality of Akwa Ibom people, beyond very personal needs. I hold myself accountable to the people of Akwa Ibom state for the funds we have been blessed with and I will not fritter the funds away in an attempt to play to the gallery.”

Sometime in October, the governor told an informal group in Lagos that he’s been under constant pressure from civil servants to sponsor them to attend conferences, workshops and seminars; but since those conferences do not add much value to the government, he’d been reluctant to approve them. “Anybody who wants to make money from government must be more creative than seeking to attend workshops,” he said with a tinge of derision. We all laughed.

Earlier in his administration, he had declared publicly that he was going to deploy resources as frugally as he managed his own personal funds as a businessman before he was elected. Recently, he’s also said that he’s been using the same official vehicles he inherited from his successor despite pressures from every quarter, including car dealers to buy new ones. He was not in a hurry to change them, he said, because the vehicles are still serviceable and he detests excessiveness.

It is not rare for some politicians to make nice statements in public, only to act in the opposite direction in private. But I will give this governor the benefit of the doubt. He deserves our encouragement for taking a stand against reckless spending and waste of resources. This may not make him very popular within government circles, but Akwa Ibom people will stand by him and history will judge him fairly if he’s honest about it. I have fumed repeatedly about wastefulness and corruption in the Akwa Ibom government in recent years, and written a lot about corruption, incompetence and decadence (our own CID) being at the root of Nigeria’s problems. It would be a herculean task for Eno to hold off the pressures.

He would be frequently castigated for not being as “generous” as his predecessors were. Some of them indulged in buying houses and expensive vehicles for musicians, friends and associates as gifts. A governor of the state, I am told, once gave a cash gift of £1 million (one million British pounds) to the sitting president at that time, to assist the president furnish his new apartment in London.

He also funded the establishment of a cattle ranch in Kaduna for his friend, among other expensive giveaways he indulged in often. This same governor had many emirs in his payroll and was constantly dolling out huge cash payments to them, in addition to sponsoring many Northerners on pilgrimage to Mecca.

But expectedly, some people are not happy with the governor despite his good intentions. The state branch of APC in a statement issued by Iniobong John, the DG of APC media network, claims that the government has spent only N228.76 billion in 2024 out of the N757. 17 billion budgeted, “leaving N528.41 billion unutilised”. “The excuses offered by the state governor for implementing only 30% of the 2024 budget is unacceptable.” the statement said.

This is a typical mindset of Nigerian politicians. They measure budget performance by the volume of cash spent and the amount of contracts awarded; rather than the value added to the lives of the people. If Umo Eno had spent a good part of the budget on conferences, donations, buying cars and houses for girlfriends and sponsoring emirs on pilgrimages as was our experience not long ago, perhaps the APC would have scored the government high for “good budget performance”.

If the government had elected to buy another private jet for the use of the governor and built a brand new governor’s lodge in Abuja, the governor would have been commended for “putting money in people’s pockets” as we often hear. But for being prudent and sticking to only what is important, the government has drawn the ire of the political class in the state. They are used to easy money. Gov Eno should not budge.

I would rather he establishes a savings account for the state and put away money for future generations than throw it away on frivolities in the name of ‘’putting money into people’s pockets or budget performance’’. I support leaders who treat government resources with responsibility, good sense and thoughtfulness. Prudence is still a virtue and history will be kind to those who live by it.