The governor of Gombe State has faulted the increased revenue allocation for States because it also calls for increased obligations on the part of the States. For instance, following the increase from 24-31 percent revenue allocation, State will now be responsible for the funding and operation of public secondary schools. The governor then went further to suggest that with the increase of responsibilities on the State level, they should be given 40 percent resource allocation.

http://www.guardiannewsngr.com/news/article07

You know what I have to say to this Governor, why not have the States fund their own projects? Afterall, if you are truly practicing Federal System of Government, assistance from the center should be limited to disaster situations only.

Frankly, I am not sure where these Governors get-off thinking they deserve an hand out. If you need money to fund your schools/projects, auction off State land, and impose an agricultural tax or some other form of tax that targets critical economic sectors in your State. Depending on Niger-Delta money is bad for the integrity of your State, and it is bad for the security and well-being of the nation.

The thing that attracted me to this thread was GOMBE STATE!

Anyways iheard Goje (that is the governor) is doing a good job there. Gombe now has a university of it's own. All Gombe had was FCE (federal college of education). That was like the major school in Gombe. But hey, now there's A university which is awesome (as i heard).

I don't think it's a bad thing if the governor seeks the help of the federal government. Isn't that how it's done in nigeria?

hot-angel, that is how it is done in Nigeria. But, the question that is being posed is, is that how it should be done?

Why not have each State be responsible for generating their own revenue? And then, at the end of the month they pay a fee to the federal government.

Why should money be taken out of impoverished Niger-Deltan States to build Colleges in Gombe? Are those schools in Gombe tailored for Niger-Deltan citizens?

How would you feel if you had to work 50 hours a week only to have it ordered by the Government that you keep 13 percent of what you earn. The rest would be shared amongst people that don't even know you?

Remove the Government hand out to State. Let the States keep more of what they make. That way, when roads are not being built, or schools are not functioning proper, the people of the State have only their governors to blame.

This is yet another topic that shows that our Nigeria has to buckle up and step up their game.Afeni, I totally agree with you definitely the Governent shld'nt have a say in the state govt fundings rightly according to the federal system of govt but all these for them is just a trick of using petty projects and irrelevant establishments,which are only another way to forge the thinking of "they doing soooo much",and therefore gaining and asking for more "revenues"which goes to their personal pockets,so they find ways to go about it.

Plenty nonsense!
Federal government is paying for state schools, even the toothpick used by the state governor is on the tab of the FG in a supposedly fiscal federal democracy. Indeed there must be some other name for this charade called revenue allocation.
Zamfara state and a few other northern states recently imposed separate fees for non-indigenes of their states, the sad part is the money used to fund the same schools are from the states of the poor non-indigenes. Yet thousands of northern students "demand" for unfair advantage to gain entry to southern schools (via JAMB, Unity schools etc) to "reduce the education gap".
It brings to the fore the folly of state creation. While every small town is screaming to be made a state, with the exception of Lagos and many of the southern states, most other states are financially nonviable and are wholly dependent on federal allocation for sustenance. Most northern states do not generate up to N5m in monthly revenue and yet insist on increasing their share of the federal allocation generated from southern states that make 95% of the national cake. While alchohol is banned in sharia states, northern states are not averse to accepting VAT generated revenue from "sinful" southern states.
Indeed Gombe state has a university but is it viable? On what basis was the university set up? As another endless drain on the national purse and another drain pipe for corrupt officials? What is the state of the existing schools in the north? If states where required to generate their own revenue as is done in other civilized democracies we pretend to ape, much more prudence would be excercised in the ridiculous demand for state creation and the indiscriminate projects set up by state governments most of which are out of sync with the aspirations of the people they purport to lead.
If the Goje is kicking against state governments taking financial responsibility for their own state schools, what really is the responsibility of the state besides collecting monthly revenue allocation and what really is the major reason governors are constantly agitating for more funding?