30/03/2026
*THE ERA OF PERFORMING GOVERNORS*
Every region of Nigeria is blessed. The Niger Delta may have oil, but every state has what it takes to be self-sufficient. Singapore has no natural resources, yet it has educated its people and become a first-world nation.
I have watched the agitation for more states and local governments. The thinking is simple: create more administrative units, get more allocations. Not because anyone has a productive plan, but because more offices mean more access to the monthly cheque from Abuja.
Look at our 36 governors. Their idea of development is constructing roads, paying salaries, and building secretariats. We call them “performing” and celebrate them. It is sad.
Following the removal of fuel subsidy, allocations to the three tiers of government have doubled. From N458.81 billion in May 2023 to N991.81 billion in June 2025, a 116% increase. That sounds like progress, but it is not. Revenue growing in nominal terms does not mean they can buy much; it is merely an illusion that states are getting richer.
Meanwhile, poverty is rising. In 2023, 93.8 million Nigerians (43%) lived below the poverty line. Today, that figure is 139 million, 61% of the population. More money to share, more people suffering. Something is fundamentally wrong.
Here is the uncomfortable truth: most states cannot pay salaries without federal allocations. According to BudgIT’s 2024 State of States report, only Lagos and Rivers can cover operating costs without FAAC receipts. Lagos generates N1.26 trillion in internally generated revenue; Rivers, N317.3 billion. The rest? Thirty-four states depend on FAAC for 62% of their recurrent expenditure. Fourteen states rely on FAAC for 70% of their revenue.
My local government, Ethiope-West in Delta State, budgeted N15.26 billion for 2025. Delta’s budget runs into the trillions. Yet we are not generating wealth; we are consuming allocations.
Imagine if every state and local government worked, truly worked, on things that generate money. Agriculture in Benue, solid minerals in Nasarawa, manufacturing in Anambra, technology in Lagos. Benue is called the “Food Basket of the Nation.” Nasarawa is the “Home of Solid Minerals.” Anambra is home to Innoson Motors, Nigeria’s first indigenous automobile manufacturer. Aba produces apparel and shoes that can compete anywhere in the world.
Every part of this country has something. But we are not developing these potentials. We are sitting, waiting for oil money to arrive.
Singapore became independent in 1965 with nothing. Today it is first-world because it invested in people. In 1997, it launched “Thinking School, Learning Nation” to develop critical thinking. In 2004, “Teach Less, Learn More” improved teaching quality. Today, 60% of secondary schools have applied STEM programmes. The Singapore Science Centre receives over a million visitors a year, with a dedicated centre for children as young as 18 months.
This is the mistake of our forefathers, and we are even worse now. They built a system where everyone looks to Abuja for survival. We have perfected dependency.
Now, members of the House of Representatives are proposing 31 new states. I personally want Delta State to be created, but let us be honest about the reasoning. Is it political representation? That is madness. Dr Saidu Dukawa of Bayero University Kano argues: “Nigeria doesn’t need any additional states. We need to abolish the states and just relate with the local governments.” Ibrahim Zikirullahi warns that 31 new states “will strangulate the Nigerian economy.” I disagree with them. We can and should create more states and local governments if and only if they will go to work in their areas and generate wealth. More states should not mean more administrative units begging for handouts; they should mean more productive units.
The problem is deeper: the federal government is not producing, the states are not producing, the local governments are not producing. Yes, they claim to be creating an enabling environment. I ask: with what capital? The West can survive on that model because they have access to private finance. We do not. Our money is in the hands of government: federal, state, and local. Therefore, government must move from merely creating an “enabling environment” to practising state entrepreneurship: directly creating jobs, generating revenue, and lifting us out of poverty.
The saddest part is what we celebrate. A governor is termed “performing” because he builds roads and cheap secretariats. Is it rocket science to know that those billions could be invested in things that generate money indefinitely?
We have everything: agriculture, minerals, manufacturing, technology, a market of over 200 million people, access to 1.4 billion through the African Continental Free Trade Area. The only thing missing is the will to work, to produce, to generate our own wealth.
I watch my people fighting the wrong fights: state creation, allocation formulas, who gets what from Abuja. We should be fighting over how to make our states productive, how to educate our children, how to build industries. We can start with the smallest products. Farming is always a great starting point. I recently proposed a cheap revolution for just three sectors in Delta State. If followed, it would generate 1.5 million jobs. The funds needed would come from what we currently waste.
Let Biafra, Arewa, and Oduduwa know the implications of leaving Nigeria. The Niger Delta will not leave with you. Ask yourself: can you survive on your own? If yes, then you can survive now as part of a larger nation with a huge market and monthly allocations. If no, what are you fighting for?
Our economic woes could be over in six months, that is if and only if the federal, every state and local government start working on things that generate money. If we stopped wasting oil money and started investing in our people.
Singapore built a first-world nation with nothing but human capital. We have oil, gas, minerals, fertile land, brilliant people, and we are still waiting for a monthly cheque.
We need to restructure our lifestyle. We need to stop sharing the destiny of our children and start building it.
*My name is Daddy Kris.*
I weep for Nigeria today, not because we lack resources, but because we refuse to use them.
