Governors across Nigeria often parade flyovers, roundabouts, and new government complexes as the hallmark of their administration’s success. Yet, no matter how many roads are paved or schools renovated, there exists a select league of state offices whose performance or lack thereof can make a governor a celebrated hero or a cautionary tale.
These are the sensitive offices where humanity, service, and diligence intersect, and where failure resonates directly with the people. When these offices falter, public trust evaporates faster than the State Information Ministry’s press releases after a scandal.
Hospitals, emergency services, and disease control form the frontline of governance. A collapsed healthcare system can turn public sympathy into outrage overnight. If people die waiting for treatment or drugs are scarce, the governor hears about it loudly, repeatedly, and on social media.
Parents and students care less about fancy logos on government buildings than the quality of education. Teacher strikes, dilapidated classrooms, and poor exam results are electoral landmines.
* Ministry of Works & Infrastructure
Yes, roads matter. But it’s ironic that while governors proudly cut ribbons on new highways, potholes on secondary streets quietly undermine every other achievement. The public may forgive a bridge that collapses once in a decade, but never a street that floods every rainy season.
Delayed salaries, unpaid pensions, or mismanaged funds ripple through every sector. No award-winning press conference can erase the frustration of civil servants waiting weeks, or even months, for their pay.
* Ministry of Information
Ah, the self-proclaimed guardians of the governor’s image. While the Information Ministry often excels at spinning stories, their failure to communicate clearly in crises or worse, attempting to bury scandals under a flood of contradictory statements can amplify public anger. Sometimes, a mumbling press statement does more harm than a collapsed bridge.
* Local Government & Chieftaincy Affairs
This office operates at the grassroots where anger, frustration, and politics mix freely. Disputes left unresolved or unpopular decisions at the local level have a way of echoing back to the governor with exponential political cost.
* Security and Emergency Management
Nothing erodes confidence faster than insecurity. Kidnappings, herder-farmer clashes, or rising street crime can overshadow even the grandest infrastructural achievements.
In the end, governance is less about ribbon-cutting and more about people’s daily lives. Infrastructure may catch headlines, but hospitals, schools, salaries, communication, and security determine whether a governor’s legacy shines or crumbles.
And yes, while the Information Ministry may wish to craft a perfect narrative, reality is stubborn. People do notice the missed salaries, the flooded streets, the stricken hospitals. Spin can only do so much. At the end of the day, governance is humanity in action, and the electorate rewards or punishes accordingly.
A wise governor knows that his fate is not written in asphalt or concrete, but in the heartbeat of the offices that serve the people daily. Ignore them at your peril.
Abioye Tosin Lawrence is the publisher of Oriontimes Online Newspaper
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