The German sociologist and the father of Bureaucratic theory, Maximilian Karl Emil Weber familiarly known as Max Weber delineated that bureaucracy constitutes the most efficient and rational way in which human activity can be organised and that systematic processes and organised hierarchies are necessary to maintain order, maximize efficiency, and eliminate favouritism.
On the other side of the coin, the German economist, sociologist, socialist revolutionary and father of conflict theory, Karl Marx categorised modern society into: Bourgeoisie and the Proletariat.
The Bourgeoisie are the owners of means of production in the society: the factories, businesses, and equipment needed to produce wealth.
Karl Marx further divided the bourgeoisie class into two: Comprado bourgeoisie, they are those at the corridors of power who allied with multinational corporations, foreign investors, bankers etc.
Petite bourgeoisie are the business tycoons who manage their own factories-cum-companies of those at the corridors of power.
The proletariat class according to Marx are the workers who must work to earn a living and he (Karl Marx) believed that the bourgeoisies exploit proletariats.
In Marx’s bid to describe the underclass within the proletariat class, he came up with “Lumpen-proletariat” as the thoughtless lowest stratum. Beggars, vagabonds, and prostitutes are included in this sub-category (Lumpen-proletariat).
Despite the importance of bureaucracy in every corner of the world, it sadly doesn’t apply to bourgeoisies in Nigeria.
On many occasions bourgeoisies happily skip bureaucratic process in order to get their selfish interest served.
A bill to create new emirates (Rano, Gaya, Bichi, and Karaye) in Kano was sent to the Kano State House of Assembly on Monday, May 6th, 2019, it passed through the first and second reading on Tuesday, went through the third reading on Wednesday, May 8th and forwarded to Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje of Kano where he assented the bill on the same day. The bill took only 72 hours to be signed into law.
First and foremost, the bill went contrary to the legislative procedures. Lawfully, when an Executive bill or House bill is introduced to the House of Assembly, it will thereafter reflect on the official gazette of the House before it is slated for the first reading.
Copies of the bill will therefore circulate amongst the members ahead of the second reading.
Amid the second reading members will debate on the general principle of the bill and resolve whether the bill is worthy of consideration or not.
After this level, the bill will be forwarded to the appropriate house committee where at the committee level, public hearing is conducted for public participation and interest in the proposed bill.
The committee will therefore collate all the submissions of the general public and report to the House for consideration.
The merits and demerits of the report will be reviewed for final consideration. The bill will thereafter be slated for third reading and final passage which will be forwarded to the Governor for assent.
The law also stated that all bills must receive three readings before they can be passed into law and the readings must be on different days. The law further stated that some bills can receive accelerated consideration based on their urgency and significance for government policy.
Some relevant questions need to be asked: Did Kano House of Assembly call for public hearing before passing the third reading? Did the assembly consider the merits and demerits of the bill? Was the bill for balkanization of Kano emirate an urgent and significant one that induced the assembly to give it accelerated consideration? Is the assembly ready to entertain petitions against the passed bill?
However, the speedy passage of this bill is a clear indication that bureaucracy doesn’t apply to bourgeoisies in Nigeria. Everyone knows that when a bill is being forwarded to a Governor by the House of Assembly for an assent, the Governor has some days to sign the bill into law. Within the period, the Governor will thoroughly scrutinize the bill and he may disagree with its provision if it goes contrary to the interest of the populace.
On this note, Governor Ganduje was on Wednesday, May 8th during a media briefing prior to the commencement of the 136th State Executive Council meeting at the council chamber in Government House, Kano able to say, “We heard about a bill sent to the State House of Assembly, requesting them to make a law for the creation of four more Emirs in Kano. We believe the petitioners did it in good faith. And they want the development of the state. I hope the legislative arm would work on it and forward to me for assent of which I am ready to sign into law without any waste of time. That’s the popular wish of our people.”
Some salient questions need to be thrown at Governor Ganduje : How did the Governor know that creating four more Emirs is the popular wish of his people? Did the Governor take his time to look at the consequences of the bill before signing it into law? Did the Governor consider the cost implication of the bill before signing it? Was the Governor able to provide quality education to the teeming children wandering aimlessly around the streets of Kano before assenting the dramatic bill? Was Governor Ganduje able to provide quality healthcare to his people before signing the bill?
Moreover, any bill in Nigeria that reflects the wish of the proletariat takes longer time before its passage and therefore is safe to say bureaucracy in Nigeria applies to proletariat alone.
Malam MB blogs at malammbsdaily
The views expressed in this article are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect WikkiTimes’ editorial stance.
