Policy Briefs
Obaze on Blaze FM – “Nigerian states run like private fiefdoms rather than public interest business.” 21/3/17
Oseloka H. Obaze, while appearing On Blaze 91.5 FM radio station said the “false independence of states” has resulted in the dependency syndrome and non viability of a majority of Nigerian states. He noted that state creation and restructuring from four regions to 36 states were done by the military and predicated on presumed equitable resources sharing. Nonetheless, beyond oil revenue and federal allocation, states could be viable, if they focused properly on IGR, managed their resources well by prioritization, results-base budgeting, avoid deficit budgeting and excessive borrowing. Finally, he noted that most Nigerian states were run like private fiefdoms rather than public interest business.
