The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • NAMA director bags national award

    KELVIN OSA OKUNBOR

    In recognition of his immense contributions towards the improvement of Communication, Navigation and Surveillance (CNS) facilities to ensure safe and efficient air traffic services in the Nigerian airspace, President Muhammadu Buhari has conferred the National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) Award on the Director of Safety Electronics and Engineering Services, Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Engr. Farouk Ahmed Umar.

    Represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, President Muhammadu Buhari said his administration was committed to the promotion of the ideals of a productive nation, given the significant role of productivity in wealth creation, employment generation, social progress and improved standard of living hence the need to entrench the culture of productivity and excellence in the psyche of all Nigerians. He tasked the awardees to redouble their efforts towards making Nigeria a better and more productive country.

    In his remarks after receiving the award, Farouk said the recognition by the President would galvanise him to work harder for the development of the nation, even as he expressed optimism that Nigeria was on the right trajectory towards growth and development given the efforts of the present administration.

    Read Also: National Productivity Order of Merit Award

     

    He advised Nigerians, particularly his colleagues at NAMA to imbibe the virtues of hard work, perseverance and dedication to duty, saying that “the lesson of this recognition is that hard work pays, and would surely be rewarded in the fullness of time.”

    A fellow of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE) and Chartered Institute of Administration, Farouk was in 2018 also conferred with the fellowship of the Nigerian Institution of Mechanical Engineers (NIMechE).

    He has served NAMA in various sensitive capacities including Airspace Manager, Minna airport and General Manager, Special Projects. In 2016, he rose to the position of substantive Director, Safety Electronics and Engineering Services (DSEES), a position he occupies to date.

    According to the citation by the National Productivity Centre, Farouk’s recognition by the President came on the heels of the installation of critical navigational aids like the Instrument Landing System (ILS) and Doppler Very High Omni-Directional Radio Range (DVOR) in some strategic airports in the country which he spearheaded, adding that he has shown commitment towards ensuring that NAMA attained its statutory mandate through his engineering know-how and application of new technology based on best practices and international standards.

     

  • Rail modernisation: Any hope for narrow gauge?

    Two years after American Corporation, General Electric (GE) withdrew from Nigerian Railway Corporation’s narrow gauge concession, it seems modernising the nation’s centenary asset has reached a dead end, writes ADEYINKA ADERIBIGBE.

     

    Say what you will, the narrow gauge and its very aged rolling stocks – tracks, coaches, wagons and loco (for locomotive engines) – still remains one of the prized assets of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC).

    Through several walks in and out of turbulence in its 129 years of existence, the workers, especially those in operations, hold unfettered allegiance to the old train, regaling their younger colleagues with stories of the “good old days of the railway when being a railway worker was an honour badge in social circuit.”

    Then came the ‘season of the locusts’ when the railway sank to its nadir – almost getting to bankruptcy, when workers were owed interminably, and retirees’ woes mounted unfettered. From being a sought after place to work, it sank into the most ignoble.

    But then, the workers became their own motivation and, without any external help, they threw themselves back to work. Today, the good days look well on their way back and workers’ salaries are regular and the golden age seems to be on its way.

     

    The narrow gauge

    The nation was upbeat when the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration, in May 2016, announced the American Corporation, General Electric (GE), as its preferred concessionnaire for the narrow gauge.

    The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, said the government threw its weight behind GE because it was in a hurry to give Nigerians a new travel experience, which would be complemented by the speed train whenever it comes on stream.

    He assured Nigerians that GE would spearhead the modernisation of the narrow gauge to run at par with the standard gauge.

    But, a year on, after series of assurances and talks with the government’s Transaction Advisors, GE walked away from the concession deal.

    GE’s action laid to rest speculations about its preparedness to take over the assets that the Federal Government has been showcasing as one of its poster projects.

    GE walked away because it removed transportation business from its portfolio. It said it wanted to concentrate on its core competence – healthcare and power generation.

    Under the agreement, GE was to inject $2.7 billion into the narrow gauge modernisation, including the tracks and provision of rolling stock.

    It was to introduce 20 locomotives and 200 wagons within the first 12 months of the take-off of the temporary agreement. By the second year, it would strip the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) of its rail assets as it consolidates on the modernisation, while the corporation operates as the regulator.

    Initially, a roll out was fixed for May 2017. Rather, what commenced were series of meetings by the Transaction Advisory Committee (TAC), government appointed consultants with the new operator.

    Amaechi, changed the take-off date to December 2017. Again it failed.

    Amaechi insisted that private investors’ participation in the railway was in line with global best practices.

    “While the government owns the rail tracks, investors are usually encouraged to own the rolling stocks, both coaches and wagons.”

    The narrow gauge connects the food and industrial or productive centres of the nation.

    Logisticians said an active narrow gauge would assist in the rapid development of the agriculture, mining and steel sectors and link same directly to sea ports for export.

    But the greatest gain would have been the take-over of the cost of continuous rehabilitation and maintenance of the narrow gauge from the Federal Government.

    Outside the 1,100 kilometres Western line (Lagos-Kano narrow gauge track), regarded as the most lucrative route and the major rail backbone, which includes Lagos, Abeokuta, Ibadan,  Ilorin, Kano, Funtua, Zaria, and Kaura-Namoda, the GE would also take over the Eastern line – Port Harcourt-Maiduguri route, which includes Port Harcourt, Aba, Umuahia, Enugu, Makurdi, Jos, Gombe and Bauchi to Borno State.

     

    Growing freight movement

    “The activation of the narrow gauge was meant to grow freight movement exponentially. We have over 30 million tons worth of freight on the Lagos-Kano route and presently the train hardly moves above 1,000 tons. While the Port-Harcourt-Maiduguri route is currently moving nothing, we are anticipating 11 million tons on that route,” Amaechi had said.

    Read Also: Osinbajo inaugurates Lagos railway modernisation project

    That was why GE had opted for cargo as its preferred choice of line of trade. It proposed to move one million tons of freight in the first year and outstrip as importers are explore the new deal.

    The new proposition is a departure from government’s projections, which had wanted to have more friendly passenger shuttle. Intercity shuttle, as presently run, is epileptic with the rusty coaches, driven by aging locomotives that take no fewer than 72 hours travel time between Lagos-Kano.

    “This is absolutely unacceptable. The railway system will not be able to attract any quality passenger traffic with such tradition. We must look at fast-tracking things at the railway,” Amaechi said.

     

    C2C

    The journey of General Electric’s intervention in the nation’s rail sector started in 2009, when it signed a Country-to-Company (C2C) agreement with the Federal Government to support the financing, design and building of infrastructure and capacity across the rail, power and healthcare.

    This agreement was renewed for another five years at the Head of States conference in Washington, DC in 2014, a deal which was inherited by the Buhari administration in 2015.

    Under the agreement, GE is to partner with the Ministry of Power to develop 10GW power over the next 10 years, assist the Ministry of Health to develop diagnostic centres across the country, and help the Ministry of Transportation in the modernisation and expansion of the nation’s locomotive assets.

    On its website www.ge.com/africa the firm said, GE would be transferring the agreement to Transnet International, a member of a four- firm consortia led by GE, which had been holding series of meetings with FG’s Transaction Advisers over the take-over model of the narrow gauge. Other members are: APMT Ltd, and Sino Hydro.

    While Transnet handles the modernising of the tracks, APMT handles the container cargoes, while Sino Hydro handles the operationalising of the locomotives.

    The source which preferred not to be mentioned, said: “While the concession agreement had covered Lagos to Kano, GE had insisted on shuttling between Apapa and EBJ (Ebute Metta junction).

    Again, while the Nigerian government would love passenger/cargo services, GE had insisted it would only run freight services. These are issues that are still being negotiated before GE threw in the towel,” the source added.

    GE’s withdrawal may however have thrown the window open for fresh negotiations for new bidders. Mr Patrick Adenusi saw this possibility when he said, GE’s withdrawal might thrown spanner into the nation’s march into a modernised narrow gauge system.

    According to him, when the picture becomes clearer, the National Assembly may need to pass a resolution requesting the executive government to begin the process for the award of the concession again in view of GE’s withdrawal.

    The NRC Managing Director, Engr. Fidet Okhiria, said though Federal Government is yet to shop for another firm to take over GE’s bid, it remained open to receiving fresh bidder and Amaechi has foreclosed any further negotiation with the other parties to the concession agreement. But even if this is accepted would the consortia be willing to accept the government’s terms, or would they be insisting on working within Lagos alone or interested only in freight services?

    The reality: Nigerians may just have to wait much longer for the modernisation of the narrow gauge to materialise.

    But while the nation wait, Okhiria said the corporation will continue to run the narrow gauge tracks until the government finds a replacement.

    “We have suspended services on the narrow gauge to allow for the replacement of tracks as a result of the ongoing construction of the standard gauge.

    “While this is going on, we are embarking on the massive rehabilitation of all the wagons and coaches we are using on the Iddo-Ijoko and the Lagos-Kano corridor.”

    He said the NRC will continue to keep the narrow gauge busy and functional. “We will continue to rehabilitate the tracks and make the coaches more cozy for our people pending the time we would see other bidders for thenarrow gauge.”

     

     

  • ‘Nobody can frustrate my second term bid’

    The second term battle is raging in Edo State All Progressives Congress (APC) where Governor Godwin Obaseki and National Chairman Adams Oshiomhole are flexing muscles. The governor who reeled out his achievements, to reporters in Benin City, the state capital, said nobody can stop his second term ambition. EMMANUEL OLADESU reports

    EDO State Governor Godwin Obaseki and Comrade Oshiomhole are in the eye of the storm. Despite the crisis in the All Progressives Congress (APC) chapter, the governor has continued to implement his development projects.

    Will he get second term? There are two camps in Edo APC. To loyalists of National Chairman Oshiomhole, it is a tall dream. But, to the camp of the governor, second term is certain becuase Obaseki has performed.

    Recently, the governor reeled out his achievements to reporters in Benin-City, the state capital,. He said the feats cannot be faulted by his critics.

     

    Civil service reforms

    Governor Godwin Obaseki has reiterated that he will not sack any worker in the state because he believes in the power of the human intellect and would never work to render any worker a liability. With this thinking, the governor has made the civil service in the state a fulcrum of his reform agenda by ensuring that workers are catered for while in service and retirement.

    This informed the decision to re-train civil servants for efficiency and through a partnership with the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), the state government is retooling the state’s workforce for effective service delivery.

    In line with its efforts to ensure that no civil servant is redundant, the state government conducts regular training for civil servants with a focus to make them better at their jobs. Block C & D in the Secretariat Complex are being revamped, with the Treasury Building

    The government has also undertaken to redesign offices and build a Training School that would provide institutional support for the plan to ensure that workers are brought up to speed with current developments in their areas of expertise.

    The state government has also built Judges’ Quarters to ensure that the welfare of members of the top brass of the judiciary is well catered for. New Court complexes are being constructed, with the governor determined to convert Edo into the judiciary hub of the Niger Delta. Stenography equipment and other modern equipment have been procured and court clerks trained to deploy them to ensure an efficient, fast and seamless judicial process.

    The pension reforms in the state have also helped in clearing the backlog of pension arrears accumulated for almost 20 years before the current administration. The workers in the state have been migrated to the contributory pension scheme. The success of the scheme at the state level has inspired the extension of the scheme to the local government level.

     

    Fight against human trafficking  

    One of the biggest tasks before the state government is the challenge of human trafficking and illegal migration and the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration has faced it head-on. When he came into office, the governor didn’t mince words as to the fact that the state had a problem with illegal migration, which deprived the state of its human capital.

    Hence, he set to work by employing a mixed approach of engagement and dialogue across to get the necessary stakeholders on board. With this, the state was able to set up the Edo Taskforce Against Human Trafficking (ETAHT), empowered by the Edo State Trafficking in Persons Prohibition Law.

    The law was a landmark feat to give legal backing to the fight against human trafficking in the state. With such commitment, the state government has appealed to different bilateral organisations, particularly those from countries that suffer migrant crisis to invest in opportunities of building institutions and infrastructure that will complement the state government’s efforts in engaging and empowering youths in the state.

    This has attracted a lot of attention to the state, much of which was predicated on the state government’s sincere and decisive stance against human trafficking and illegal migration.

    To further buttress the state government’s campaign, the Benin Monarch, His Royal Majesty, Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Ewuare II, threw his weight behind the campaign by placing curses on traditional medicine men that administer oaths on victims of human trafficking, urging everyone involved in the diabolical practice of human trafficking to desist from it henceforth.

    The World Economic Forum (WEF) applauded the Edo State Basic Education Sector Transformation (Edo-BEST) initiative for improving learning outcomes among pupils in primary schools across the state and described the State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, as a trailblaser who is “quickly and dramatically lifting the quality of government schools and upgrading the skills of teachers in his low-income state.”

    The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) also recently bestowed Governor Obaseki with the Best Performing Governor Award in recognition of his education reforms, the success of the Edo-BEST programme and his prioritisation of teachers’ welfare in the state.

    While receiving the award, Obaseki said, “If you are not able to add your sums and pronounce your alphabets, you cannot write and you cannot think logically. So, what we have done in Edo in the last one and a half years is to first prioritise basic education and technical education.”

     

    EdoBEST?

    Nigeria has some of the highest numbers of out-of-school children in the world. Several official estimates conclude that 11 million Nigerian boys and girls are not in school. The education crisis is partly an issue of access, but it is also one of quality and transformation at scale has historically seemed beyond reach.

    To counter this trend and achieve Sustainable Development Goal 4 (ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all), Governor Obaseki created the Edo-BEST programme.

    What the programme does is to rebuild school infrastructure and equip teachers and administrators to become better purveyors of knowledge using technology.

    Also, over 234 schools are being reconstructed with 7094 computer tablets distributed to teachers and head teachers and 11688 School-Based Management Committee (SBMC) members have been trained to help in administering and maintaining public education facilities.

    “In Edo State, we decided to dedicate ourselves to not just building classes but to go to the foundation of education,” Obaseki said. “And you’ve got to think of education strategically to realise that what is most important is the foundation-that is basic education.

    “Once a teacher is signed in, the lesson note for that day will be loaded into the teacher’s tablet. And we’ve trained teachers to understand how to use the tablets and the technology to teach the children.”

     

    Creating impact

    The WEF agrees that Edo-BEST has been a tremendous success so far.

    According to the Forum: “The impact on children’s learning has already been significant, even over only three months. An initial study, commissioned by the state government in the first term of the programme, showed learning gains was positive. Pupils learned more, spent more time learning, worked harder and experienced a more positive classroom environment. Girls in EdoBEST schools outperformed all other pupils.”

     

    Read Also: The many sins of Godwin Obaseki

     

    Innovation Hub   

    The Edo Innovation Hub is a cluster for technology innovators and inventors set up by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led government to strengthen the state’s nascent technology innovation scene. The hub was commissioned on June 14th, 2018 by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and hosts the South-South Innovation Hub, a regional cluster for technology entrepreneurs in the Niger Delta.

    Tagged Edo Innovates, it provides a range of beginner, intermediate and advanced training in business and technology innovation, providing youths the opportunity to learn a wide array of employability and entrepreneurial skills. Specifically, some of the offerings at the hub include digital skills, business support services, start-up incubation, and business acceleration, mentorship, co-working spaces, and entrepreneurship training.

    Asides the South-South Innovation Hub, the facility has two halls, five training rooms, six fully-furnished co-working spaces, conference rooms, outdoor workspaces, offices, four rooms with a total of 100 computers, among others.

    More than 1000 youths have been trained at the facility since inception, with not less than a quarter of them being females. Some of the organisations with a presence at the hub include Microsoft, Tech4Dev, LinkedIn, Curators University, Hotels.NG, Siemen’s Impact Hub, Makers Academy, Pan Atlantic University’s Enterprise Development Center, among others.

     

    Production Centre

    The Edo Production Center is a novel initiative to drive industrialisation in Edo State. It is a facility that provides Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and Artisans with 24-hour electricity, business support, market development, and industry linkage opportunities. It currently serves as a mini-replica of the big businesses and diverse industries expected at the Benin Enterprise and Industrial Park.

    It is fitted with 500KV transformers, which are connected to the 33KV line in the area. It would have 1.2MW of power at the onset, which would eventually be expanded to 4MW, to power heavy machines to be run at the facility.

    The Edo Production Center is fitted with factory space, security, and office space and would provide live-in desks for relevant government agencies to engage, support and provide services to small businesses. The agencies to be hosted at the facility are the Bank of Industry (BoI), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Edo Internal Revenue Service (EIRS), among others.

    The production centre will also be set up at Auchi, Irrua, and Okpella. The production centre initiative is being implemented through collaboration with the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

    The Centre aggregates different manufacturers, including welders, metal and fabrication companies, polythene makers, printers, woodwork experts, recyclers, footwear makers, among others.”

     

    Benin Enterprise and Industrial Park

    The Benin Enterprise and Industrial Park is a $200b park complex to be sited in the Iyanomo axis of Benin City, in Ikpoba Okha Local Government Area. The Federal Government through the Ministry of Environment is currently conducting the Social and Environmental Impact Assessment for the project.

    The proposed project will involve the development of industrial processing and non-processing zones which includes automobile zone, construction, and building materials zone, mineral zone, agro and food processing zone, amongst others.

    The project will be provided with state-of-the-art infrastructure such as site grading roads, power, water, communications, drainages, sewage treatment plant, the effluent treatment plant, stormwater drains on a total land take of 996.72Ha. It will be implemented in phases to facilitate the flow of investment and to recalibrate the development of infrastructure especially the vertical infrastructure to the market.

    Government Science and Technical College (GSTC)

    The Government Science and Technical College project is pioneered to revamp the old Benin Technical College (BTC) and reposition the institution as a leading, model hub for Technical and Vocation Education and Training (TVET).

    CCETC-Ossiomo Power Plant       

    The 55MW Ossiomo Power Plant is being developed by Ossiomo Power & Infrastructure Limited and CCETC Clean Energy in Ologbo, near Benin City, and will engage in electricity distribution and embedded generation of 55 Megawatts gas-powered electricity.

    The State Government has signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with the company for the supply of power to public offices and utilities in the state, including the Government House, hospitals and street lights. This will free up power for other users in the Sapele Road axis, where the distribution infrastructure of the company passes through.

    The arrangement will also break the monopoly of the Benin Electricity Distribution Company (BEDC), paving way for a fair electricity market in the state.

    The plant is also expected to power the Benin Industrial and Enterprise Park, an N200bn industrial park being pioneered by the Governor Godwin Obaseki-led administration in the Iyanomo axis of Benin.

    Preliminary work has reached advanced stage at the site of the power plant and equipment for the first phase of 10MW has already set sail.

    It is expected that the plant will also provide power for the Edo Production Centre, a facility along the Sapele Road corridor that provides a working space for medium-scale industrial enterprises, to Boost productivity in the state.

    Emotan Gardens

    Emotan Gardens are an 1800-unit affordable housing estate being developed by the state government through the Edo Development and Property Agency (EDPA) and Mixta Africa, a renowned property developer.

    The estate sits on a 70-hectare in the Upper Sakponba axis of Benin City and provides a range of housing options to subscribers, starting from N5.5m. The estate is the first of its type in the state in the last 16 years after the state government overhauled the EDPA.

    The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the estate development was signed between the state government and Mixta Africa in May 2018 and work kicked off in June. The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo was on hand for the groundbreaking ceremony of the estate, which officially kicked off the construction work.

    As at January 2019, 100 units of the property have been completed and the Vice President did the honours once again in handing over the first unit of the estate to Mrs. Osaru Noragbon, who was adjudged the Best Teacher in Edo State.

    An interesting aspect of the estate development is that raw materials used in the construction and finishing the buildings were sourced within the state after the governor gave a directive to that effect, to ensure that jobs are created in the state. The materials which include tiles, doors, glass, and other such materials were sourced from companies operating in Utesi, an industrial cluster in the state.

    Urban Renewal (infrastructure)    

    The Governor Godwin Obaseki-led government has urban renewal as one of its key development thrusts. This is being realized with the massive construction of roads, reclaiming of gully erosion sites, construction of parks and restoring sanity to public places across the state. The unprecedented urban renewal projects have earned the governor the sobriquet, ‘Wake and See Governor,’ said to be a product of the governor’s unique style that abhors unnecessary fanfare.

    The road construction projects span across different parts of the state and are being spearheaded by the Ministry of Infrastructure, State Employment, and Expenditure for Results (SEEFOR) and SEEFOR Plus, the state government-funded scheme modeled after the World Bank-funded project.

    The major roads receiving attention are St. Saviour Road, Ugbor-Amagba Road, Lucky Way, Ehaekpen-TV Road, Ikiran-Oke-Ikakhumoh Road, Benin-Abraka Road (the longest road project ever constructed by the state government), Agbede-Awain Road, Uzebba-Okpuje-Akagbor Road, Irhirhi-Aruogba-Obazagbon-Obagienevbosa, dualization of Ekehuan Road, among others.

    There is also a large cache of township roads being worked on across the state to bring development closer to the people and reactivate economic activities in the hinterlands. Many say the spate of road construction being witnessed can only be compared to what obtained in the Old Bendel State, as most of the roads were last worked on 40 years ago.

     

  • Lawan and import of good legislative governance

    The Chairman of Senate Committee on Banking Insurance and Other Financial Institutions, Senator Uba Sani highlights the achievements of Senate President Ahmed Lawan in the last six months and makes projections on legislative governance in President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term.

    You may argue that it is early days yet in the life of the 9th Senate of the Federal republic of Nigeria, presided over by Senator Ahmed Lawan and you will not be wrong. Inaugurated on 11, June, 2019, the current session of the upper chamber of the National Assembly is barely six weeks old. Even then, two days after our inauguration, we proceeded on a short recess to enable the leadership and the bureaucracy carry out some housekeeping, especially the allocation of offices to all Senators. We resumed duty on 2 July and were scheduled to embark on our annual long vacation on 31 July.

    However, out of sense of duty and patriotism, we decided to delay the commencement of the Senate’s already scheduled annual vacation by one week to screen nominees for ministerial appointments by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    We returned to Abuja to begin our legislative work late September. As such, the ninth Senate has effectively been on legislative duties for less than four months. Four months may be too short a time to deliver a verdict on an institution with a four-year lifespan; yet as the wise saying goes, the morning usually gives a hint on how the day would go. Therefore, while it may be hasty to embark on a wholesale evaluation of the performance of the Red Chamber for now, I think the Ahmed Lawan led Senate has demonstrated uncommon focus and determination to make a difference in the task of rebuilding Nigeria in the few months it has been in session.

    I can authoritatively confirm to Nigerians and friends of Nigeria that since assuming Office as the President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Ahmed Lawan has successfully deployed his legislative experience to shepherd all of us, his colleagues towards the patriotic duty of working for our nation and our people, starting from when he convinced us to delay our initial plan to go on vacation to screen President Buhari’s ministerial nominees. The 9th Senate has since followed the unprecedented step up with other achievements and initiatives with potential to totally transform the country in its relatively short term of existence.

    Key among these is the successful passage of the amendment of the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract 2004 (amendment) Bill 2019. The bill, originally part of the Petroleum Industry Bill, seeks to carry out amendment of the PSC Act which has been due since 2008.  Foremost transparency agency in the extractive sector, the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) had in a policy brief published in March 2019 indicated that our beloved country lost between $16.0 billion and $28.61 billion in 10 years as a result of failure to carry out the review when it was due in 2008. According to NEITI, the Act should have been reviewed in 2004 when the price of oil crossed $20 per barrel and in January 2008 which was 15 years after the PSCs were signed.

    This, NEITI noted, is in accordance with section 16 (1) of the Act which stipulates that “the provisions of the Act shall be subject to review to ensure that if the price of crude oil at any time exceeds $20 per barrel, real terms, the share of the Government of the Federation in the additional revenue shall be adjusted under the Production Sharing Contracts to such extent that the Production Sharing Contracts shall be economically beneficial to the Government of the Federation.”  Indeed, there have been attempts to review the law, just like the other aspects of the PIB in the past. But it was believed that the International Oil Companies (IOCs) benefiting from lack of action over the Act had resisted the move, using strong lobby groups to ensure that such attempts were not successful.

    But working with the executive and across party lines in both chambers of the National Assembly, Senator Ahmed Lawan broke the 10 years’ jinx with the successful passage of the amendment, which, according to some estimates, may result in additional income of $1.4 billion annually to Nigeria from oil exploration.

    No wonder, President Muhammadu Buhari described the amendment as “a landmark moment for Nigeria,” when he signed it into law in London early November. A combination of complicity by Nigerian politicians and feet-dragging by oil companies have, for more than a quarter-century, conspired to keep taxes to the barest minimum above $20 per barrel – even as now the price is some three times the value. “For the first time under our amended law, 200 million Nigerians will start to receive a fair return on the surfeit of resources of our lands. Increased income will allow for new hospitals, schools, infrastructure and jobs,” the President was quoted as saying of the significance of the law in a statement released by one of his media aides.

    Yet, the Nigeria Tax and Fiscal Law Amendment Bill (Finance Bill) that we recently passed into law in the Senate is no less significant in terms of helping to generate revenue necessary for improving the lots of Nigerians. Unarguably, the most ‘popular’ concern about the bill was the proposal to increase Value Added Tax (VAT) from five per cent to 7.5 per cent.

    The fiscal legislation is a comprehensive one aimed at streamlining Nigeria’s tax system to ensure that the government gets revenue needed for investment in infrastructure and other social services for the country. The passage of this Finance Bill involved the amendments of seven taxation related Acts – Companies Income Tax Act, Cap C21 2004 (as amended to date); Value Added Tax Act, Cap VI, LHN 2007 (as amended), and Customs and Excise Tariff (Consolidation) Act, Cap C49, 2004, Personal Income Tax Cap P8, LFN 2007 (as amended); Capital Gains Tax Act Cap C1, LFN 2007; Stamp Duties Act Cap S8, LFN 2004, and the Petroleum Profit Tax Act (PPTA) 2004. The amendments involved comprehensive, robust review of Nigeria’s tax laws with the goal of achieving a tax-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio of 15 per cent by 2023, up from the six per cent that it is presently.

    The Finance Bill, as amended, would promote fiscal equity by mitigating instances of regressive taxation, as well as introduce tax incentives for investment in infrastructure and capital markets. While passing the bill, virtually all of us in the Senate were unanimous in our agreement that the bill, when signed into law by the President, would support small businesses in line with the on-going “Ease of Doing Business Reforms” and raise revenues for the Government. And contrary to the opinion of some people, it must be clarified that the modifications of the fiscal rules around taxation in the Bill are clearly aimed at creating an enabling business environment aimed at minimizing the tax burden for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)

    While a few of my colleagues and others outside the National Assembly have made heavy weather out of the increase in VAT rate, the fact is that most common day items in terms of food and other essential items are now VAT free as stipulated in the new law. The President of the Senate, Distinguished Senator Ahmed Lawan was also emphatic that the passage of the Finance Bill is not to put ‘tax burdens on the ordinary people,’ but to create avenue for more revenues to provide services and infrastructure for Nigerians, including the ordinary people.

    It was also particularly exciting for me when the President of the Senate indicated that the passage of the Bill will be complimented by a vigorous oversight over Federal Government’s agencies through the statutory oversight function of the National Assembly to ensure that agencies of government meet their revenue targets. And typical of Lawan, despite protestations from some of our colleagues, he was able to ensure that the Bill was passed in a bi-partisan manner.

    Of course, the passage of the Finance Bill was just a precursor to the historical passage of the 2020 Appropriation Plan by both chambers of the National Assembly last Thursday. Lawan had, when campaigning to be elected to lead the 9th Senate promised to return the country to the January to December budget cycle which was last in operation in the country under the military rule. Since Nigeria’s return to civil rule, lawmakers had taken between three to six months to pass the Appropriation Bill every fiscal year. The results were that the President, each respective year, only got to sign the bill into law many months into the New Year. There have been arguments between the executive and the National Assembly over where to put the responsibilities for the delay, but the fact is that none of the two sides are blameless on the issue. But Senator Ahmed Lawan came to office with a clear cut blueprint drawn out from his experience as one of Nigeria’s most seasoned lawmakers and with the determination to work with the executive to ensure that the country returns to the January to December budget cycle.

    Working very harmoniously with the leadership of the House of Representatives, Senator Ahmed Lawan activated his plan after the President presented the 2020 Budget proposal of N10.33 trillion to the joint session of the National Assembly on October 8, 2019. The President of the Senate subsequently adjourned plenary sessions of the Senate, declaring the month of October the sole window for all budget defence activities at committee levels, while asking all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to appear before the respective committees in both chambers of the National Assembly to expeditiously defend their Budget estimates on or before October 28.

    Read Also: Buhari orders AGF, others to publish Govt transactions daily

    I am well aware that there were cynics across the country who believed that the Senate President was only out to impress the President. The good thing is that such cynics have been proved wrong. In spite of the hitches here and there, the two chambers of the National Assembly succeeded in passing the 2020 last Thursday. The concurrence between the two chambers in the variation of the budget figure from N10.33 trillion presented by the President to N10.59 trillion by both chambers as we passed the budget during our respective plenaries before we adjourned last week indicated the kind of cooperation and smooth working relation the red and the green chambers has forged under the current chairman of the National Assembly. Presidential assent to the Bill would return the country to the January to December budget cycles which analysts have spoken so much about, especially regarding restoring and retaining investors’ confidence in the economy and other benefits. Returning the budget to the January to December cycle will also help in the execution of the capital component of the budget, especially, the much needed rehabilitation of our roads before the rains will set in, among other benefits.

    A day before the passage of the Appropriation Bill, we also in the Senate, passed the Public Procurement Act (Amendment) Bill, 2019. The amendments seek to review the mobilization fee for contractors, create an e-procurement model and provide a time frame for procurement processes. According to the President of the Senate, the amendments will end the ‘big bottleneck’ associated with procurement process in Nigeria. The upward review of contractors’ mobilisation fees from 15 to 30 per cent in the amendment as many have noted, would help end the phenomenon of abandoned projects in the country. If signed into law, the Federal Government will have no choice but to establish the much sought-after National Council on Public Procurement. Therefore, the Ahmed Lawan led Senate would have helped to infuse greater transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s procurement processes as well as to ensure that contractors deliver on the jobs they were awarded.

    There is no doubt that, unlike its predecessors, the 9th Senate under Distinguished Senator Ahmed Lawan has demonstrated ability to set targets and ensure their realizations on time and on schedule. While the Senate has been operating under a less acrimonious atmosphere than in the past, the Senate President has also shown that it is possible to forge a healthy working synergy between the National Assembly and the Executive. The good thing as those of us inside can confirm, is that the harmonious working relationship between the two branches of government has not translated into master-servant relationship.

    While avoiding unnecessary confrontations, the Senator Ahmed Lawan led Senate is ever ready to assert its independence when there is need to do so. This is already being demonstrated in our insistence and resolve not to attend to the budget of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, until President Buhari inaugurates the new board of the Commission that has been confirmed by the chamber. Recall that just before the confirmation of members of a new board for the NDDC led by Benard Okumagba as nominated by the President, the Minister of Niger Delta, Senator Godswill Akpabio, appointed an ‘interim board’ that is unknown to the law establishing the Commission. But the President of the Senate, pursuant to the view of overwhelming majority of Senators insisted that the Senate will not have anything to do with the strange arrangement and will certainly not welcome the members of the interim board to the National Assembly for the defence of NDDC’s budget.

    Therefore, one can only laugh at the mischievous misrepresentation of what the Senate President said when he met with the Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof Itse Sagay recently. Distinguished Senator Ahmed Lawan had at that meeting promised that the Senate is ready to receive and consider any request from the President. But some commentators, out of mischief, had interpreted this to mean a willy-nilly surrender of the Senate to the executive. But nothing could be farther from the truth. What he actually meant was that President Buhari is too patriotic and nationalistic to bring to the National Assembly, any bill that will not bode well for the country. In anyway, Senator Lawan is always conscious of his position as just first among equals and thus, allows open debate on all issues irrespective of party affiliations. Perusals of media reports on activities of our activities thus far in the Senate will confirm this. Therefore, there is no way Distinguished Senator Ahmed Lawan can ram bills down the throat of Senators.

    In the same regard, I can also confirm that the President of the Senate does not interfere in our jobs at Committee levels. Rather, he allows the Committee chairpersons free hands over their respective committees and only comes in when his attention is drawn to the fact that one MDA or the other is not cooperating with a respective committee, particularly in the very critical areas of budget defence and oversight.

    The President of the Senate is also stepping up capacity building for Senators, especially those of us that are new in the upper chamber of the Assembly, to equip us to effectively undertake our constitutionally assigned duties. He has also committed himself to constitutional and electoral reforms. The Senate under senator Ahmed Lawan is surely breaking new grounds and deserves the support of all to continue to work for the good of the country.   

    • Senator Sani is the Chairman of the Senate’s Committee on Banking, Insurance and other Financial Institutions

     

  • OUK: why Abians are happy

    SIR: On Thursday, December 5, a Lagos High Court convicted the former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu, of the 34-count, criminal charge preferred against him by the EFCC bordering on the diversion of N6.6billion from the coffers of Abia State. Others arraigned alongside him and equally convicted were Udeh Udeogu and Slok Nigeria Limited (Kalu’s private company). The court sentenced Kalu to a total of 148 years’ imprisonment although he will spend 12 years in jail. Many Abians had gone frenzy in spontaneous jubilation throughout Nigeria.

    The reasons for the happiness of Abia people were not far-fetched. First, the people remembered how they had suffered untold hardship and economic deprivations under the eight-year rule of Orji Uzor Kalu in the state.

    This was because, as the Federal High Court had rightly found out, Kalu mercilessly laundered and privately spent the money that had accrued to the state as the governor while the entire state suffered lull and stalled development throughout.

    Developmental strides and projects only took place on the news bulletins of the government’s radio station located in Umuahia headed by his kinsman.

    The second one is that the current situation whereby many pensioners are owed as many as 28 months arrears in Abia State was caused by Orji Uzor Kalu’s administration. During an outing at the Michael Okpara Auditorium in Umuahia in 2002, Kalu, as the governor then who had come to the auditorium where the pensioners had gathered, had described them as ‘deadwoods’ – those aged but most-educated elite of the state, elderly persons and blessed senior citizens who had spent their youthful years in the service of their fatherland. To him, they were all ‘deadwoods!’

    The irony of it all was that while the governor and his cohorts were busy engaging in their laundering and graft ‘businesses,’ Abians were falsely made to believe that there was no money in the state then! The people were always told ‘There is no money,’ as next to nothing was taking place in the state then (except at No 12, Margaret Avenue, Aba!)

    Read Also: N7.65bn fraud: Orji Uzor Kalu to spend 12 years in jail

     

    In Abia North senatorial district where he comes from, nothing happened in all the cities and towns in terms of development (minus Igbere, his home town.) All other towns were utterly neglected including Bende, Uzuakoli and Okporoenyi.

    The worst hit town in the entire spate of wicked negligence was Arochukwu town, the ‘cradle of Abia civilisation.’ The town that had produced the first Igbo graduate in Nigeria (whose picture is embossed on the N10 naira note and the first Igbo man to be so honoured) was neglected totally! Throughout the eight-year rule of Orji Uzor Kalu, not even one project was carried out in this historical town called Arochukwu; just as no substantive or reasonable political position was given to any person from the town throughout that period! All the bad roads were not touched. The N28 million Arochukwu Water Scheme the Sam Mbakwe administration of the old Imo State had built for the people was allowed to waste and equipment rot away under his government! Throughout his reign, not even one road was built in the entire Arochukwu LGA by ‘their brother-governor.’

    Yes; Abians are happy at the conviction of Orji Uzor Kalu for graft and money laundering. Abians thank the Lagos High Court, the EFCC and federal government for ensuring that justice is extended to them in this regard. We expect more convictions from Abia State – those who have impoverished the state and kept the people in perpetual agony where they are today in the name of governance.

     

    • James Ogbonnaya Ochor, Arochukwu, Abia State.

     

  • World Bank’s ‘unfriendly’ note

    Merely by its serial doomsday prognostications on the Nigerian economy, it is probably safe to assume that the World Bank’s cup – in the eyes of the Nigerian government – will now be full and running over. If you consider that the bank, and its Breton Woods cousin, the IMF, have been running their mouth over just about every matter Nigerian – from its unsustainable debts burden to negative social indices, you will understand why the federal government not only goes cagey each time the global institution trains its searchlight on the country’s affairs but would go as far as putting out a disclaimer.

    Guess you already know what our dear president thinks about the World Bank and their figures. In case you don’t, here is what he said not too long ago about the World Bank and IMF: “Today, most of the statistics quoted about Nigeria are developed abroad by the World Bank, IMF and other foreign bodies…Some of the statistics we get relating to Nigeria are wild estimates and bear no relation to the facts on the ground”. In other words, the stats are spurious!

    Spurious or not, here is the latest offering taken from the bank’s website – last updated in October: “Growth averaged 1.9% in 2018 and remained stable at 2% in the first half of 2019…Growth is too low to lift the bottom half of the population out of poverty. The weakness of the agriculture sector weakens prospects for the rural poor, while high food inflation adversely impacts the livelihoods of the urban poor. Despite expansion in some sectors, employment creation remains weak and insufficient to absorb the fast-growing labor force, resulting in high rate of unemployment (23% in 2018), with another 20% of the labor force underemployed.  Furthermore, the instability in the North and the resulting displacement of people contribute to the high incidence of poverty in the North East”.

    And the grim conclusion: Without significant structural policy reforms, Nigeria’s medium-term growth is projected to remain stable around 2%. Given that the economy is expected to grow more slowly than the population, living standards are expected to worsen….”

    Now, say what you may of this rather unflattering prognosis, I wager that most Nigerians would readily agree that the signs are neither deniable nor are the symptoms overstated. Whereas the most excitable ones among us cite the World Poverty Clock as sufficient proof that poverty has found a new capital in the biggest economy on the continent, the greater majority would appear to be in wonder if indeed those behind the clock are not light years behind in their reading.  In any case, the latest and perhaps by far the most brutal putdown of the acclaimed deliverables of governance by no less a personality than the First Lady Hajia Aisha Buhari at the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) General Assembly and National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja recently has more than validated what the World Bank has been saying all these while.

    Her words: “We should either fasten our seatbelts and do the needful or we will all regret it very soon because, at the rate things are going, things are getting completely out of hand.”

    “People”, she went on, “cannot afford potable water in this country while we have governors. Since this is the highest decision-making body of Islamic affairs, for those that are listening, we should fear God, and we should know that one day, we will return to God and account for our deeds here on earth.”

    And now, as if that was not already damning enough, the global institution in its latest Nigeria Economic Update released on December 2, puts Nigeria’s low ranking on the Human Capital Index on the poor quality of education or inadequate learning. In a section ‘Financing Human Capital Development: Basic Education’, the bank says “Inadequate learning has contributed to Nigeria’s low rank on the Human Capital Index of 0.34, placing the country at 152 out of 157″. In other words, our country is sixth worst nation on earth based on the HCI survey. In this, it shares the ignoble spots with Chad, South Sudan, Niger, Mali and Liberia in that order.

    Read Also: Aisha Buhari, World Bank and the Nigerian condition

     

    Talk of the Nigerian nightmare; we know precisely what these are. The first is spiraling, uncontrolled population. At current grow levels of 2.6 percent per annum at a time the economy is sub 2 percent, some reckon that it would take 31 years for the Malthusian dilemma – defined as the survival of the fittest –  to set upon us. By that time, the country would have it 402 million in population – nearly twice the current population!

    Think of the other part of the story – the extremely poor investment in basic education and vocational training. Whereas our leaders have mastered the refrain about the 10 – point something million kids currently out of school, there’s yet nothing of a matching strategy to clear the mess. Like an element on a typical party manifesto, it seems sufficient for our leaders to kick the problem down the road, or in some instances, deploying it, as one will, as talking points in a public forum. Just imagine what would happen in say, 20 or 30 years’ time without a matching attention to the unfolding tragedy!

    Add to this the 1.9 million-odd admission seekers into the nation’s tertiary institutions. Once we thought JAMB was the problem; then came Post-JAMB and other devices meant to keep those hapless children out of the elite class. And then, we had tertiary institutions mushrooming, Nigerian style only to find that the supply can’t match the pace of demand. And now, we have settled on how to get Prof Ishaq Oloyede and his crew at JAMB to fix the 1.9 million kids in the 520,000 available spaces!

    And so we hear unemployment – more so youth unemployment – is a ticking bomb; I say it’s probably worse. But then, it is a symptom of the profound structural maladies in our society. It is a vicious circle, no doubt. Imagine the same kids denied places in high schools and yet can’t find room in vocational schools to learn skills in a world that is increasingly finicky about skills.

    I understand the frenetic pace of investment in highways and railroads. However, we need to do more in the area of putting our kids in school and training them in appropriate skills. There is no other way to guarantee the future that we all desire. Without deliberate efforts to match the pace of physical development with the human components, even the current modest efforts in infrastructural development, sooner than later, come to naught. The great Singaporean leader, Lee Kuan Yew learnt this early via the globally acclaimed transition of his tiny country from third to first world.   That to me is the wisdom in the World Bank position.

     

  • NIPOST, FIRS and Stamp Duty collection

    By Abiodun Komolafe

     

    It is neither a bad idea for the federal government to take measures aimed at bolstering the total revenue accruable to its purse, nor was it ignoble or less productive for its Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to compete and struggle to outdo one another. However, all competitions for relevance by the MDAs must be done in accordance with the stipulated laws of the land. A case in hand is the Stamp Duty collection which, if not well-managed, may set two prominent agencies of the government on the warpath. The cost of collection is the issue here!

    Conservatively, government expects to generate about N2.5 billion daily from Stamp Duty collections, provided there is full compliance with the condition of disclosure and transparency. While the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) maintains that it is “the traditional custodian of the proceeds from stamps, thus, stamp duty”, the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) insists that it is its duty to “superintend over the stamp duty fee collection as it has always done over other duties and taxes imposed by the Federal Government.” Between February 2016 and November 9, NIPOST was reported to have collected N43.6 billion as stamp duties. Little wonder the-then Yakubu Dogara-led House of Representatives at a time resolved to probe alleged non-remittance of monies collected in the name of Stamp Duty into the federation account by Deposit Money Banks. So, one is tempted to rationalize reasons for the conflicting dialogue between NIPOST and FIRS over the soul of this ‘mine of gold.’

    For the sake of clarity, collection of Stamp Duty dates back to April 1, 1939, when the British colonial government introduced it into the country. Its payment is backed up by the “Stamp Duties Act 1939 (as amended by numerous Acts and various resolutions and contained in Vol. 22 CAP 411 L.F.N 1990). Last year, the Stamp Duties Amendment Bill 2018 was passed by the National Assembly. The Bill, in part, seeks to expand the scope of the extant Stamp Duties Act CAP S8 L.F.N 2004 (“SDA”) as well as “increase the respective fines that will be meted to persons that contravene provisions of the SDA.”

    Being that as it may, the enveloping ecology of poverty, corruption and maladministration happened to Nigeria; and NIPOST paid its dues like others. The post was incapacitated at the duty front of collection of stamp duties, and, from the blues, the hawks showed-up, fiercely contending on the tuff which is traditionally reserved for the NIPOST. There and then, what used to be ‘Post Office Money’ became an all-comers affair. Now, even banks are deeply involved in it! Unfortunately, revenues generated from such collections are never remitted into the Federation Account, thereby depriving the government of huge sums of revenue. And these run into trillions of naira. But now that NIPOST seems to have woken up from slumber, there are desperate attempts to “divert” its “core duty of stamp duty collections, both physical and electronics, illegally from” the Post “to FIRS.” This is unacceptable!

    In 2016, this contentious issue between NIPOST and FIRS was resolved in favour of the former and hopes were high that the post would soon be classified as a revenue generating agency. So, what has changed between then and now?

    What is delaying the post’s induction into the elite club of the Federation Accounts and Allocation Committee (FAAC)? In the exact breath, why has the quest to government revenue suddenly turned into a ‘do-or-die’ of sort between sister government agencies? Again, what is the role of the Ministry of Communications in all of this? For how long will it look the other way while a sister ministry is being seen as legitimizing this illegitimacy with unrivalled artificiality and unmistakable lack of creativity? Well, though finding answers to these riddles may end up throwing up more questions, efforts must be made to interrogate some polarized positions of our national life. Otherwise, we run the risk of mistaking the shadow for the substance!

    Whatever may be its good intentions, development suffers when leadership becomes a dilemma and an imposed compromise. A time like this therefore demands that government at various levels get used to the fact that times and things are not what they seem! With the advent of the mobile telephony system, postage stamps business is no longer lucrative. With a staff strength of over-12,000 and, at least, 1,400 postal outlets across the country, isn’t it disappointing that a typical NIPOST officer is about the least paid, when placed side-by-side his or her contemporary elsewhere on Nigeria’s salary scale? And, that has been the sad story for long!

    Read Also: Stamp duty charge is fraudulent, says NECA

     

    Except the government is wishing one of its agencies dead; and an integral part of the governed thrown into the labour market, the incumbent administration of NIPOST must be commended, not only for its ingenuity, but also for giving the workers satisfactory motivation and a hope of better days ahead. NIPOST is a federal government-owned institution. As such, it must be empowered to carry out its statutory Corporate Social Responsibilities (CSRs).

    Lastly, let FIRS be informed that, until the acts of parliament that established NIPOST are changed, nothing can alter the situation on ground. So, rather than dabble into areas that are currently outside its statutorily prescribed schedules of duties, FIRS should try and be more efficient in the delivery of services in its chore and functionally ascribed duties. It should also encourage deep and interesting collaborations with the other agencies of government towards improving on the revenue generation profile of the government, instead of interloping in the legitimate schedules of businesses of other government agencies.

    Considering the current drift, it may be necessary for President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene. The presidency must recognize that both the Federal Ministry of Finance and its collaborators will be doing posterity the greatest good if they can desist, henceforth, from spreading conflicts, rather than settling them, thereby exacerbating inter-ministerial tensions and fueling divisions among Nigerians. That’s how nations are run. That’s how Nigeria ought to be run!

    • Komolafe writes in from Ijebu-Jesa, Osun State.

     

  • Peace departs

    Few weeks ago, Chief Allen Onyema, founder of the Air Peace airline, was the toast of Nigerians.

    The business mogul had recently invested over N300 million, to clean shame from the face of the country, on the international scene. He had sent his aircraft to South Africa to evacuate stranded Nigerian men, women and children, who had become targets of xenophobic attacks.

    Many of those evacuated had become economic refugees, and needed the lift to make it back to Nigeria.

    So, Onyema, like instant coffee, turned a national hero, by that act. Again, like Okonkwo, in Chinua Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, Onyema’s fame quickly spread far and wide, and I could imagine him walking with the gait of Amalinze the cat, the famed wrestler, whose back would never touch the earth, until Okonkwo threw him in a fight.

    I would not be surprised if Onyema had received a call on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari congratulating him for his act of patriotism.

    The fate of the Nigerians had become a subject of humiliation in the hands of those who had forgotten how we feed and clothed them, when they were in the apartheid prison.

    The intervention became a form of spiritual pilgrimage for Nigerians. Each time Air Peace departed Nigeria en-route to South Africa, our country men and women spiritually journeyed with the crew, as they navigated thousands of nautical miles until they landed safely.

    When the South African authorities raised some technical mumbo-jumbo about landing rights, Onyema was at peace with the delay, not minding the further costs incurred.

    The national adulation for Air Peace chief executive became so loud that some persons started clamouring for the airline to be accorded the status of the national carrier.

    Of note, in a space of few years, Air Peace had become the dominant airline in the country, and was making plans to become a regional and international player. Everything seemed to be going well for the airline, and there were rumours that Onyema may throw his hat into the political ring, with the fame and fortune that had come his way.

    Just like Okonkwo, Onyema had become known throughout the federation, when suddenly the American criminal justice system, appear to conspire to break the season of fame for the owner of the Air Peace airline.

    Has Onyema committed an offence of strict liability, like Okonkwo who in a fit of justifiable anger beat his wife Ojiugo, in the ‘week of peace’? The indictment against Onyema talked about alleged illegitimate transfers from Nigeria to America, and not about illegitimate earnings.

    Would that become an albatross, to weigh down Air Peace, or merely a misdemeanour for which Onyema may be asked to pay a fine, like Okonkwo for beating Ojiugo?

    Or is Onyema going to pay heavily, like Okonkwo did, for the accidental discharge that resulted in the death of his kinsman during the burial rites of Chief Ezeudu, in Things Fall Apart? For killing his kinsman, albeit inadvertently, Okonkwo had to go on exile to live with his mother’s kinsmen in Abanta for seven years. Strikingly, in the story, after tragedy had befallen Okonkwo, his friends and family rallied round him to salvage what they could before the day-break, at which friends and foes alike joined their kinsmen to cleanse the land, by destroying the homestead of Okonkwo.

    Will the Nigerian state, which Onyema had served when she needed his help, take steps to save the man and his airline, assuming they had committed any infractions? Or will they feign indifference or even join forces with foreign forces to throw him to the dogs? Of course, as was done for Okonkwo, the Nigerian state can salvage what can be salvaged before meting out punishment, if he is guilty. Since I do not have the brief of the airline and its owners, let me place a caveat that the indicted persons have denied any wrong doing, and has expressed willingness to submit themselves for investigation.

    So this write-up is a private excursion, and by no means an acceptance of guilt by the airline and its owners.

    But in the court of public opinion, Onyema has turned from a national hero to a near pariah, within a few weeks interval, and it is important to extrapolate in the circumstance. Even the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has jumped into the fray, by hauling in Onyema and other indicted person for questioning. Well, the public is unaware whether the American criminal justice system has requested for help on the principle of national reciprocity, or the agency is merely acting excitably.

    Read Also: NANS makes case for Air Peace CEO

    While the EFCC should know its brief, it is important that they accord their own citizen the benefit of doubt, until the American legal system takes its course, and they are forced to intervene in the spirit of reciprocity. If there is no formal request, it will be preposterous for our national government and its agencies to cry more than the bereaved, unless of course, Nigerian laws have been breached.

    Of note, as the indictment clearly stated, those indicted must be treated as innocent, until otherwise is proved.That may explain the show of solidarity by the Southeast governors. Apart from connecting the Southeast to the nation, with his airline, Onyema had portrayed the region in good light by his generosity to the Nigerian citizens stranded in South Africa. So, it is expected that his kinsmen should show him compassion.

    But it is not only for Onyema that peace has eluded. It has also departed for Senator Orji Uzor Kalu, of Abia State. As one headline roared, he has moved from governor, to senate, to prison. Many taunt him that his movement to APC has not saved him as if the charges were initiated since the birth of APC. Far from the insinuation of immunity in APC, President Buhari’s government has not intervened in any trial process.

    Perhaps the APC government may have through workshops enhanced the use of Administration of Criminal Justice Act to forestall the undue delays that characterised the trial of Orji Uzor Kalu and his class of governors who finished their terms since 2007.  But if we are to believe the jailed senator, it was all part of the intrigues for the 2023 general elections. Surely he would approach the appeal court, to upturn the sentence, but the onus will lie on him to convince the court.

    While the debate rages on over whether other political big wigs across party lines would soon join the former governor in prison, the Buhari government has one more boast that the anti-corruption war is raging.

  • Lagos, community development and participatory democracy

    By Bisi Olufuwa

    As expressed in the community development global guidelines, community development is intended to fashion conditions of economic and social growth for the entire community with its dynamic involvement and total probable dependence upon the community’s scheme.

    Since community development opens up communities and gives the people a fresh breath of air, it thus becomes imperative for all strata of governments across the country to promote necessary collaborative efforts and strategies for effective community oriented development initiatives.

    This explains why the Lagos State government anchors its development drive on community-centered initiatives with a view to ensuring even and accelerated development in all parts of the state.

    In doing this, the state government opts for the integrated approach to community development. This involves partnership between government and the people of the various local communities across the state.

    It involves embarking on projects on self-help basis in a community with the government providing the necessary assistance monetarily, technically and administratively.

    The approach mainly involves the people providing initiatives, material and manpower while the government provides financial assistance and managers to complement the efforts of the community.

    Through this, communities could easily access education, technology, health care, security among others.

    It needs to be stressed that the role of Community Development Association (CDA) in community development in the state is quite crucial. CDA members are an integral part of their various communities.

    This puts them in an advantageous position in terms of understanding the problem or developmental challenge in their domains. This, thus, helps to ensure self-reliant as community members become armed with knowledge as they work together to identify the needs of the community.

    CDAs, no doubt, ensure effectiveness and efficiency in the delivery of development in the communities.

    In Lagos State, government’s partnership with CDAs has become a veritable vehicle for socio-economic development and communal integration.

    The fact that no development can take place in any society without peace and harmony further underscores the need for this virile partnership with the CDAs, since they are actually closer to the various communities than elected and non-elected government officials.

    Currently, in Lagos State, conscious efforts are being made by the appropriate government agencies to encourage more communal spirit as it is being exemplified by the current administration in the state.

    Before now, Lagos only boasts of 2,500 CDAs, but this has since increased to 3,935. This is largely due to the support being given the various CDAs by the state government.

    Not only does the government give the CDAs grants, it also encourages them to supervise government projects and infrastructure within their neighborhood.

    Most of these communities have also embarked on many self-help projects ranging from construction of community halls, installation of street lights, transformers, building of police posts, drainage and health centres construction as a way of complementing the efforts of both State and Local Governments to engender growth and development.

    Read Also: Sanwo-Olu: As a smart city, we’ll fight crime with technology

    On a yearly basis, in line with the United Nations Initiative, the state government usually set aside a day as Community Day to recognize the developmental contributions of the various CDAs in the state.

    This year’s celebration commenced with a weeklong activities which include health walk for  the CDA members to promote fitness and good health , visit and donation to social institutions to identify with the less privileged in our communities.

    The grand finale took place   at the Police College, Ikeja. Over the years, the annual event has become a way of promoting culture of healthy rivalry among the various CDAs with all of them striving to emerge and be recognized as the best CDA.

    At this year’s event, the state governor, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu urged communities’ leaders to monitor state’s project in their various communities.  “Everything we are putting in place to make Lagos a 21st Century Economy is for the community and that is why communities must monitor state projects around them to ensure that these projects meet the required standards.

    The CDAs and the CDC are engines of growth in the communities and they must play their roles by ensuring they see community-based government projects as theirs”, he said.

    He also disclosed that his administration will soon commence grassroots projects that will engender rapid developments in the communities; as such Councilors have been directed to submit reports on vital projects that would be of immense benefits to residents of their communities.

    He assured that work will commence on the projects by the Year 2020 after the Lagos State House of Assembly would have approved the budget and the community-based projects are identified and selected.

    High point of the event was the presentation of three brand new buses to Progressive Estate CDA, Egbe Idimu; Lekki Alawun, CDA, Lekki and Idowu Dabiri CDA, Eti-Osa which emerged as the first, second and third  most outstanding CDAs respectively.

    In addition to this, the sum of N500, 000 (five hundred thousand naira only) was given out as cash prizes to 10 other CDAs.

    It is thus right to affirm that the state government has evolved a systematic strategy of accelerating development in Lagos communities.

    The beauty of democracy is in the ability of the elected representatives of the people to be able to meet the needs of the people. It is a two way thing. The people voted in their representatives, who in turn endeavour to meet the aspirations of the people.

    Therefore, it is important that the government and the people continue to operate on the same page, since the aspirations and desires of the two are intertwined. This is why the Lagos State government engages the people on a regular basis.

    In addition to its intrinsic democratic value, this people oriented approach to governance is an instrumental driver of democratic and socio-economic change, and a fundamental way to empower the citizens.

    By emphasizing locally-led and issue-driven approach to governance, the Lagos State government underscores the importance the government attaches to citizen-centered activism-driven by real community needs and desires. This, indeed, is a powerful transformative force.

    However, it must be emphasized that as government strives to offer the various communities the exclusive attention they duly deserve, they, in turn, must not rest on their oars in contributing their quota to the development of the state as well as taking ownership of all government projects within their domain by ensuring their preservation. It is only in doing this that the State would continue to witness accelerated growth and development.

     

    • Olufuwa is Director, Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Local Govt. & Community Affairs

  • Nigeria sliding to debt trap?

    SIR: The rise in our national debt has assumed a matter of great concern. Since the inception of this administration, it has been reaching to both domestic and foreign creditors for loans. Of course, Nigerians can excuse the government for starting on wrong footing. Immediately after the 2015 general elections, the incoming government discovered that the country was broke. Added to the woes were the crash of crude oil price in the international market and militancy in the Niger-Delta that seriously affected or nearly shut the oil production. The financial recession which bit hardest in the first quarter of 2015 and down to 2017 respectively had put many states in financial distress. It took the intervention of federal government through serial bailouts to save the situation. The state governments lived from hand to mouth as they hardly met their financial obligations. Workers unpaid salaries accumulated and contractors who executed projects could not be paid.

    The APC government came to power under the mantra of change and was desirous of implementing infrastructural developments in the country. The government went to China, America, and Russia etc. and obtained billions of dollars in loans to fund its infrastructural development. The rising demand for loans pushed our internal and external debt profile to frightening dimension. From $12 billion dollars this government inherited in 2015, the country’s debt now stands at above $22 billion dollars and could further rise once the senate approves the president new loan request rejected by the last senate.

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    Though, the minister of finance, Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed, had said in various fora that Nigeria has the lowest debt profile and the Debt Management Office (DMO) allayed fears being expressed by Nigerians, the increasing rise of debt is worrisome. It is reported that half of the country’s budget goes to servicing or re-payment of debt. If the narrative is true, it means the country will be left with little or virtually nothing for its development. One recalls that during Obasanjo regime, the country re-negotiated its loans with international creditors. This led to its exit from Paris Club. Successive regimes after Obasanjo had tried to keep the country’s debt within acceptable levels.

    There is nothing wrong in collecting loans so long it will be judiciously utilised. For instance, the modernization of rail transport system is a right step in the right direction. What about an investment in oil sector in which the country has comparative revenue advantages? But, collecting loans to maintain our money guzzling democracy or our over-bloated bureaucracy is wrong. Besides, these loans attract interest rate and usually come with stiff conditions. That is why the government should always think twice before rushing for loans. With the introduction of new tax regime and other policies such as border closure targeted at revenue drive, the government should be wary of taking the country to another debt trap through unnecessary collection of loans!

    • Ibrahim Mustapha,  Pambegua, Kaduna State.