Governors and the burden of trust

Precisely on Tuesday October `18, 2017, President Muhammadu Buhari received a delegation of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) led by its chairman, Governor Abdulaziz Yari of Zamfara State. Speaking to the delegation at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja, President Buhari, as reported by newspapers, expressed deep concern over increased complaints by workers in many states over unpaid salaries and allowances. This was in spite of his administration’s interventions in forms of bail out and Paris Club refund. President Buhari was quoted as saying “How can anyone go to bed and sleep soundly when workers have not been paid their salaries for months?” In sympathy with workers, he was also reported to have said, “I actually wonder how the workers feed their families, pay their rents and even pay school fees for their children” .

A few days after the NGF’s visit, Governor Yari debunked the report which said President Buhari was angry with the governors; accusing the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity Mr. Femi Adesina, for spreading false information about their meeting with the president. But even when members of the NGF were given the full benefit of doubt, the same feelings are implied from an earlier remark made on Monday September 11, 2017 by President Buhari when he received members of the National Council of Traditional Rulers at the Presidential Villa in Abuja. President Buhari told the traditional rulers who were there on a courtesy visit that he was not pleased with the inability of many state governments to pay salaries and pension arrears respectively owed workers and retired civil servants.

Since this earlier but indicting remark was made by President Buhari over a month ago, no one including the governors refuted the claim that many state governments owe workers and retirees several months of unpaid salaries and pensions. So, whether the president expressed anger over the sad situation or not, the indisputable fact is that workers and retirees are being owed entitlements. If anyone yet lives in doubt as to this worrying phenomenon, the recent suicide committed by a worker in Kogi state suffices concrete evidence to convince rejecters of truth.

The Daily Trust  edition of Monday October 23, 2017 reports that a 54-year-old director serving with the Kogi state Teaching Service Commission identified as Edward Soje committed suicide by hanging himself in Lokoja. The incident was said to have occurred barely 10 days after Soje’s wife was delivered of a set of triplets. The director, before he committed suicide, was owed 11 months of unpaid salaries even though Kogi state government quoted 9 months.

No state governor in a presidential system gets into office without contesting in an election. To become a governor or get into any elective position is therefore a matter of choice. Before the election, too, democratic culture requires him, as a governorship candidate, to ask the electorate to entrust him with their affairs. An aspirant who won in a governorship election must, thus, have earned the trust and confidence of majority of voters in his state to preside over their affairs. Like every leadership position, the mandate given to governors is therefore a Trust; from man, and from God.

Trust, in Qur’anic definitions, is something given to a person over which he has a power of disposition. He is expected to use it as directed or expected even though he has the prerogative to use it otherwise. Thus, it cannot be described as Trust if the trustee lacks power over the object of Trust. Similarly, Trust would have been betrayed if its’ exercise by the trustee contravenes the wish of the creator of the Trust. 

As illustrated in Qur’an 33:73, the extent to which a trustee handles the Trust given to him strengthens the bond between him and the creator of the Trust. If he manages it equitably, he becomes closer to Allah (SWT) and enters the fold of those described in the holy Qur’an as al-Muqarrabun. In the case of governors, the pious trustees among them become dearer to the electorate. While a betrayer of Trust, on the other hand, earns Allah’s punishment; failed trustees described by the Qur’an as al-Munafiqun earn the anger of the electorate.

Generally, Trust is a burden because of the temptations inherent in the attempt to uphold it. Trust is even more tempting when the object of Trust concerns power, money or women. Only the exceptionally God-fearing would, at all cost, strive to resist the persuasions of these three non-alcoholic intoxicants. This was why creatures other than man chose not to accept the Trust offered them by Allah (SWT); lest they should betray it. Unlike man, It was a wise choice that the heavens and the earth preferred to remain without a choice between good and evil. Like the angels, those creatures chose to submit their bidding entirely to Allah (SWT)’s will; which is all-perfect.

When it was man’s turn to accept or reject the huge responsibility in Trust, he was too ignorant to realise the discernment in the choice made by the heavens and the earth. Allah (SWT) tells us in Qur’an 33:72 that when Trust was offered to the heavens, the earth and the mountains, they (out of the fear of the tempting burden that could lead to betrayal) refused to accept the responsibility. Amazingly and audaciously, man accepted the charge. By this action of man, Allah (SWT) in the same verse describes him as foolish and unjust. This description perfectly fits man’s typical nature.

Today, many Nigerians believe that most state governors, after more than two years in power, have failed to justify the free-ride they enjoyed on the Tsunamic ark of Buhari that sailed them into office. Some APC governors do not even seem to be on the same page with President Buhari in terms of genuine concerns for the plight of the masses including workers. Even if kidnappers were to invade the entire state, or schools remain closed for yearsor doctorsgo on strike for 12 months, a governor who refuses to consider Trust as a burden will not only have sound sleep but will indeed snore whileslumbering.

This column calls on governors to fear Allah (SWT) and conscientiously address the exigencies of Trust. They should strive to be among the Muqarabun by settling entitlements of workers and pensioners as well as improving the lot of other Nigerians they vowed in their oath of office to care for and protect. May Allah (SWT) guide our governors to realise the consequences of betraying a self-induced Trust, amin.