The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • FTN Cocoa Processors seek private investors to stem losses

    by Taofik Salako, Capital Market Editor

    FTN Cocoa Processors Plc is considering offering equity stake to strategic private investors to raise much-needed working capital as the cocoa-processing company continued to struggle with losses.

    Sources in the know said FTN may undertake a private or special placement to raise new funds to bolster its working capital and support current efforts to optimise the operations of the company.

    FTN’s shareholders’ funds had declined from N637.15 million in 2017 to N67.78 million in 2018, leaving the company struggling to meet the capital requirements for enlarged operations.

    The audited report and accounts for the year ended December 31, 2018 showed that the agro-allied company grew its turnover by 636 per cent from N81.82 million in 2017 to N602.11 million in 2018. However, FTN recorded gross loss of N284 million in 2018, compared with a gross loss of N251 million in 2017. Net loss stood at N569.37 million in 2018 as against N762.42 million in 2017. Loss per share stood at 26 kobo in 2018 as against 35 kobo in 2017.

    Directors of the company attributed the negative bottom-line to inadequate working capital that has continued to hinder the company’s operations.

    Read Also: Boosting cocoa’s competitiveness

     

    The board of the company also blamed high cost of production and high finance expense for the negative performance, noting that inadequate working capital hindered the company from procuring raw materials needed to facilitate optimum production.

    While the company had reduced operating expenses, finance costs remained reasonably high at N261.18 million in 2018, although a reduction from N377.92 million recorded in 2017.

    The board of the company said injection of new capital would support the ongoing turnaround programme and return the company to profitability.

    Incorporated in 1991, FTN’s principal activities include processing of cocoa beans and palm kernel into cocoa cake, liquor, butter, powder, palm kernel oil and palm kernel cake. While it exported cocoa cake, liquor and butter, other products including cocoa powder, palm kernel oil and palm kernel cakes are marketed locally to manufacturing companies.

    FTN started as Fantastic Abiola Nigeria Limited in 1991 and changed to Fantastic Traders Nigeria Limited in August, 1998. It adopted the current name FTN Cocoa Processors in December, 2007 and converted to a public limited liability company in February, 2009. FTN was listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange in July, 2009.

  • Can Steel Minister break Ajaokuta jinx?

    A fresh wave of optimism is blowing across the industrial sector. This followed the recent signing of a bilateral agreement between Nigeria and Russia for the resuscitation and completion of the 40-year old Ajaokuta Steel Company in Kogi State. The soon-to-be-revamped steel plant is part of the road map by the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite, for the transformation of the entire steel industry. This may have rekindled hopes that Nigeria will, at last, latch on a vibrant steel industry to give fillip to her industrialisation and economic diversification drive. Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.

     

    Mines and Steel Development Minister Mr. Olamilekan Adegbite is on the verge of making history. President Muhammadu Buhari handed him the opportunity of writing his name in gold, almost on a platter, when he recently gave him and his ministry a matching order to complete the decrepit 40-year old Ajaokuta Steel Company Limited (ASCL) in Kogi State.

    If Adegbite, in carrying out the presidential directive, succeeds in making the steel plant fully operational after four decades of hiatus, he would save the country from what has been described by not a few commentators and industry stakeholders as a national embarrassment and thus, warm himself to the hearts of Nigerians.

    Recall that ASCL, which is Nigeria’s largest integrated steel plant, harbours the collective aspirations of Nigerians for self-sufficiency in iron and steel products. Tagged “bedrock of Nigeria’s industrialisation,” because of its linkages to other sectors such as the industrial, agricultural, transport and construction sectors, it is Nigeria’s only hope of joining the league of industrialised nations.

    Established in 1979, the foundation stone of the Ajaokuta steel plant was laid on 24, 000 hectares of sprawling green-field landmass and built on 800-hectares. The steel company has four different types of rolling mills, such as the Billet Mill, which produces billets; the Light Section Mill, which produces round, square, strip and angles metals.

    The Wire Rod Mill produces wire rods and rebars used in construction companies and production of nails, fencing wire, rope mesh, bolts and nut and netting. The Medium Section and Structural Mill produce parallel flange channels, equal angles, unequal angles and standard channels.

    While the first phase of the project targeted a production capacity of 1.3 million tonnes of liquid steel per annum, the third and final phase were expected to push up capacity to 5.2 million tonnes of various types of steel products, including heavy plates, per annum.

    The icing on the cake was perhaps, its immense capacity to provide employment opportunities to Nigerians. For instance, It was envisaged that the project would directly employ about 10, 000 workers at the first phase of commissioning, while the upstream and downstream industries were expected to engage over 500, 000 employees.

    But, sadly, 40 years down the line, none of these mouth-watering deliverables has come the way of Nigerians and the economy generally. Rather than do so, the ASCL, which is Nigeria’s largest single investment in any one place, has become a huge drain pipe on the nation’s resources.

    At the last count, ASCL has gulped over $8 billion of tax payers’ money since 1979, according to the former Minister of Mines and Steel Development and Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. Yet, the steel plant remained on its knees, requiring a combination of political will and foresight to revamp it.

    Now, president Buhari has risen to the challenge of resuscitating the moribund steel plant. This is in fulfillment of his re-election campaign promise of completing Ajaokuta before the end of his second term in office in 2023. It was part of his commitment to industrializing the country and leaving it better than he met it by 2023.

    To him, the completion of the steel plant will, without doubt, capacitate his administration to create jobs, boost the manufacturing sector, and drive the growth of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) hence, the matching order to Adegbite to revamp the steel plant.

    The president also went a notch higher, directing the minister to solve the long intractable problems bedeviling the solid minerals and metal sector, to which the steel industry belongs.

    Will Adegbite cease the opportunity of the president’s directive and force a rebound of the moribund steel plant and the entire steel industry, and by so doing, earn himself a coveted spot in the consciousness of Nigerians?

    Also, in carrying out the directive, will he pluck up the courage to call the bluff of some vested interests in the public and private sectors allegedly holding the steel industry down? What are the indications that the minister will succeed where his predecessors failed?

    These are some of the questions agitating the minds of industry stakeholders. However, while many of them admit that the task of revamping Ajaokuta and using it as launch pad to transform the steel industry will not be a walk in the pack, they expressed confidence in the capacity of the minister to turn things around.

    For instance, a reliable source close to the ministry told The Nation, last week, that given a number of bold and strategic steps so far taken by the minister to reposition the steel industry, as well as the tremendous support and political backing by president Buhari, a new dawn is in the offing for the industry.

    The source, who declined to be mentioned, said, for instance, that the recent signing of a bilateral agreement between Nigeria and Russia for the resuscitation and completion of ASCL was a shot in the arm of both the minister and the president.

    Recall that president Buhari personally approached his Russian counterpart, Mr. Vladimir Putin, at the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit held in Sochi, Russia, on 24th October, 2019, to consider Nigeria’s request for the return of the Russians to resuscitate and complete the Ajaokuta Steel Plant. The Russian leader accepted the request and a bilateral agreement was signed by both countries.

    Under the deal that has put stakeholders in the steel industry in a joyous and expectant mood, the Russian Government will provide funds for the completion of the steel complex through the Russian Export Centre (REC).

    REC is a state-owned development institute established by the Russian Government to support the development of the non-commodity exports industry/sector.

    Established on June 29, 2015, the REC Group incorporates the Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance and Eximbank of Russia to offer comprehensive integrated services to export-oriented companies.

    Commenting on the Nigeria-Russia accord to revive Ajaokuta, Adegbite said: “I believe it is the greatest help line that has come through my humble self and the collective effort of the stakeholders and the blessings of Mr. President.”

    He said the ministry, under his charge, has been able to engage and attract the attention of the Presidency to the steel sector with vigor and develop a road map for the actualization and revitalization of the steel sector with time lines.

    The minister also added that along with industry stakeholders, he has shaken off the fear and inertia associated with past efforts of making the steel sector work.

    “We are in a hurry to solve the problems of the sector during our own tenure and we will remain focused as we strongly believe with the commitment shown by the President Buhari Government, we will take Ajaokuta out of the woods,” Adegbite stated, exuding confidence.

    He expressed his belief that the steel industry has a critical role to play in the current administration’s diversification efforts hence, he has keyed the sector into that scheme. “We must get values from our resources to the advantage of our nation,” the minister emphasized.

    Read Also: Federal Govt to resuscitate Ajaokuta Steel Company

     

    As part of efforts to put the steel plant back on its feet, the ministry, The Nation learnt, has been working relentlessly with the managers of Ajaokuta Steel Plant to ensure the continued safety of its facilities, while also providing support for sustaining of some of its facilities.

    Already, the power plant facilities are being rehabilitated to add value to them; the engineering workshop facilities are also receiving attention. In addition to the rehabilitation of the Training Centre, approval has been given for the conversion of some of the facilities to hostels to accommodate would-be trainees.

    Even before the president brokered the bilateral agreement between Nigeria and Russia for ASCL’s resuscitation, Adegbite, encouraged by the removal of all the legal encumbrances over the steel plant, had earlier pushed for a government-2-government interventionist approach to savaging the prime national asset.

    Listen to him: You will recall that my predecessor, Dr. Fayemi, made giant stride in getting Ajaokuta Steel out of the arbitration log jam with the former managers of the steel plant. We took off from there and had some bilateral interactions with the Russian Ambassador in Nigeria on the need for a government-2-government interventionist relationship.”

    Recall that the former managers of ASCL and the Nigeria Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO), Itakpe, also in Kogi State, Global Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (GINL), an India company, took the Nigerian Government to Arbitration Court in London.

    This followed the revocation of the concession agreement between GINL and the Nigerian Government in April 2008 over alleged failure by the Indian firm to meeting the requirements of the clauses built into the agreement.

    The cancelation of the concession agreement did not go down well with the Indian firm, which went to court, accusing the Federal Government of reneging on its obligations in the agreement. This crippled the two steel firms.

    But, in 2016, Buhari settled the legal bottleneck surrounding the companies out of court. A modified concession agreement signed with GINL on August 1, 2016, allowed the Indian firm to retain NIOMCO, while the Federal Government took over Ajaokuta steel.

    This paved the way for Adegbite to take steps to resuscitate the plant, including developing the Nigerian Downstream Mineral Policy. He described the Policy as first of its kind in the history of the country.

    As the minister explained, “The downstream mineral policy will trigger the nation with a clear diversification blue print in a sustainable manner, especially for the revamping of Ajaokuta steel company.”

    He said as part of the process leading to the revamping of the entire solid minerals sector, the ministry, under his charge, has commenced the sensitization of key stakeholders, especially large investors of the novel initiative for the development of solid mineral downstream value chains.

    “This will help to create massive jobs, wealth and industrialization,” Adegbite said, adding that the ministry was determined and committed to ensuring that the president’s mandate was realised within the next three years.

    While pointing out that the present administration remains committed to stemming the export of jobs and wealth by unwittingly exporting 35 million unprocessed mineral products annually, the minister pledged to open the sector to genuine indigenous and foreign investors to actively participate in the downstream licensing of mineral plants.

  • Connecting the world, families with mobile banking

    Gone are the days when banking was boring and simple transactions took almost a day to complete. Today, with digital banking, commercial banks are finding new ways to ensure they provide efficient services to their customers. The impact of digital banking was seen at the sixth All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) 2019 in Lagos, where bank customers from across the world used the platforms   to carry out their transactions and stay connected to their families, writes COLLINS NWEZE

     

    Banking is getting more interesting by the day. It is  no longer where you are, but what you do. Thanks to digital banking, the new route the world is travelling to achieve better results for customers anywhere and anytime across the world.

    Banks with eyes on the future are taking strategic steps to ensure they take advantage of the new information technology that is defining the sector’s successes and reach.

    Ecobank Nigeria, FirstBank, Access Bank, First City Monument Bank, GTBank, United Bank for Africa, among others are tapping into the opportunity created by digital banking to provide seamless services to their customers.

    Also, a large number of Nigerians, especially the youth who are becoming more technology savvy, have continued to adopt and prefer electronic banking (e-banking) and payment (e-payment) offerings, as their information technology knowledge and its value-addition grow.

    Ecobank Nigeria believes that the advent of information technology, as exemplified by computers, mobile phones and other communication devices has significantly revolutionalised the financial system globally.

    For instance, Ecobankmobile *326# was a star attraction at the sixth All Africa Music Awards (AFRIMA) 2019 held in Lagos. Stars, both local and foreign and a wide range of guests, both Nigerians and non-Nigerians, attested to the unique features of the mobile banking code available in 33 countries. The Lagos Awards had as its theme: “Feel Africa”.

    The *326# sing-along jingle was warm and alluring as guests were ushered into the awards venue. Ecobankmobile *326# enables them to instantly open accounts, make transfers, pay bills and buy airtime even at the colourful venue – Eko Hotel and Suites.

    “For us coming from Cameroun, the Ecobank app makes it looks like home here. It is what we are used to. So, seeing it at this venue was not a surprise to me. The *326# is a familiar code”, said Joaddan Abdou, an artist’s aide visiting Nigeria for the first time.

    Also, for her colleague Nudine Aboya, the Ecobankmobile supports everyday living. “I need not open an account, as I have already done so with the code in Cameroun. I am able to transact with my account even now that I am here in Nigeria”. When asked the process of opening the account, she said: “I simply dialed *326# and followed the steps outlined and within five minutes, I opened the account”.

    The Pan African bank had announced that Ecobankmobile *326# was partnering the AFRIMA events to support the growth of the creative and music industry which is a key driver of Africa’s history and rich culture and most significantly youth engagement and empowerment.

    Ecobank Nigeria Managing Director, Patrick Akinwuntan, said: “As the Pan-African bank, Ecobank is proud to partner with Africa’s most renowned music awards, which is a symbol of our support to building the family and lifestyle of Africans. Ecobankmobile *326# is joining AFRIMA to ensure that the Lagos show is a success.“

    For him, Ecobankmobile *326#, Ecobankpay, Ecobankmobile App, Ecobank Xpress Account are bringing easy, affordable and convenient financial services to the youth, entrepreneurs and businesses, both local and foreign which are expected at the events. ”Our products interact with the lifestyle of Africans.  Ecobankmobile *326# makes it easy to open an instant account, make transfers, pay Bill’s and buy airtime. Our integrated Ecobankmobile App works seamlessly across all 33 countries where Ecobank operates in Africa.”

    Akinwuntan, said the bank uses digital offerings to support lifestyle, culture and the entertainment industry in general. “For us it’s not just about banking but also about the pride of the African. We know that unless we project ourselves, the world won’t project us. It is normal for us to look for great institutions promoting our culture with world-class standard. So, when we had the opportunity of looking at what is being done here, it came naturally to us that we should work as partners to improve the quality of lifestyles of Nigerians. Our products interact with the lifestyle of Nigerian,” he said.

    He said the partnership is one of the several initiatives by the Pan African Bank to boost tourism, culture and the entertainment industry in Africa. He said it is also in line with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)’s initiative for banks to support the growth of the creative industry in the county.

    According to him, Ecobankmobile *326# is pleased to support the growth of the creative and music industry which is a key driver of Africa’s history and rich culture and most significantly youth engagement and empowerment.  ”As the Pan-African bank, Ecobank is proud to partner with Africa’s most renowned music awards, which is a symbol of our support to building the family and lifestyle of Africans. Ecobankmobile *326# is joining AFRIMA to ensure that  the Lagos show is a success.” he stated.

    He said Ecobankmobile *326#, Ecobankpay, Ecobankmobile App, Ecobankxpress Account are bringing easy, affordable and convenient financial services to the youth, entrepreneurs and businesses, both local and foreign which are expected at the events.

    Also speaking, President and Executive Producer, AFRIMA, Mike Dada said: “The AFRIMA-Ecobank partnership for the 6th All Africa Music Awards brings together deep skills in financial and culture industries strategy, product ideation, technology development and deployment and organisational change management to help support African communities for successful socio-economic transformations.”

    Also, EcobankPay, the lifestyle digital payments and collections service of Ecobank Nigeria has formally unveiled its partnership with Terra Kulture following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at the Terra Kulture Theatre in Lagos.

    The ceremony also featured the exclusive screening of “Queen Moremi: The Musical” which was supported by Ecobank Nigeria.

    Read Also: Mobile banking: UBA unveils *919# magic banking

     

    Speaking on the collaboration, Akinwuntan stated that Ecobank is a pan African Bank, which always seeks to promote the African culture and heritage. This, he said, informed the relationship with Terra Kulture, an initiative that will support the promotion of Nigeria’s cultural heritage on the global stage.

    “For us it’s not just about banking but also about the pride of the African. We know that unless we project ourselves, the world won’t project us. It is normal for us to look for great institutions like Bolanle Austen-Peters Productions promoting our culture with world-class standard. So when we had the opportunity of looking at what is being done here, it came naturally to us that we should work as partners to improve the quality of lifestyles of Nigerians. Our products interact with the lifestyle of Nigerians and we have picked EcobankPay as the flagship product for this collaboration.

    Chief Executive Officer, Terra Kulture, Bolanle Austin-Peters explained that the partnership is a delight for the cultural brand which has suffered lack of corporate sponsorship since inception.

    In her words: “This is exciting for us because what we do here is to promote Nigerian art and culture. We’ve done this as private initiative since 2004 and it has been like a lonely existence. In the past, people didn’t believe in what we do. Foreign culture dominated the scene. But things are beginning to shift. People are now appreciating our arts and culture.”

    Akinwuntan said: “We are embedding into the culture and lifestyles of our customers across Nigeria. And you know that, the creative industry is an industry of focus for banks, because we are promoting Nigerian talent in order to support them to become world class stars. We are going out there to export our talent and let people know that African culture is world class.”

    He said Ecobank is passionate about Africa and its cultural renaissance, and its partnership with Bolanle Austen-Peters, a renowned African culture promoter, sits perfectly with the Pan African brand. Further, he stated that the bank will continue to leverage its digital offerings to facilitate a more seamlessly connected Africa.

    As part of the partnership, Ecobank handed over the sum of N.5 million to the best dressed person jointly won by Daala Oruwari and Teni Oluwo at the premiere, being the climax of the ‘Eko for Show’ dress code for the event. Guests were encouraged to dress spectacularly to win cash prizes sponsored by EcobankPay.

    Akinwuntan disclosed that the bank is well positioned and prepared to participate actively in the Creative Industry Financing Initiative (CIFI) recently introduced by the CBN) in collaboration with the Banker’s committee. CIFI was introduced to improve access to long-term low-cost financing for entrepreneurs and investors in the Nigerian creative and information technology (IT) sub-sector, as part of efforts to develop the economy.

    Access Bank Plc has also made huge investment in technology, which has led to sustained growth in the bank. In 2018, Access Bank stood out among Nigeria’s top banks, taking home three awards, including Best Digital Bank, Best Mobile Banking App and Most Sustainable Bank at the World Finance’s Digital Banking Awards. Since its merger with Diamond Bank in April 2019, Access Bank has become the largest bank in Africa by customer base.

    Access Bank Group Managing Director/CEO Herbert Wigwe said the bank is transforming its operations to meeting new demands. As part of this, the bank has introduced several solutions, including WhatsApp banking and an AI-powered chatbot.

    Chief Executive Officer, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Adesola Adeduntan, said that customer experience and innovation are key in our approach to satisfying our customers. “As a leading banking services solutions provider, FirstBank has continued to set the pace in the financial services industry, coming up with new initiatives to provide financial products and services with greater speed, accountability and efficiency,” he said at the FirstBank Fintech Summit held in Lagos.

    Adeduntan said that the third edition of the FirstBank Fintech Summit indicates the bank’s commitment to putting its customers first. According to him, FirstBank is keen at offering excellent financial services by devising new ways of effectively and efficiently meeting customers’ financial needs.

    Commenting on its electronic banking services, FCMB Managing Director, Adam Nuru, said the lender will continue to make banking more exciting and rewarding. He explained that the feat achieved so far was inspired by the bank’s quest to ensure that all segments of the population, especially the unbanked and the under-banked, embrace mainstream banking services.

     

  • Group urges Buhari to inaugurate new NDDC board

    By Raymond Mordi

    A group of Niger Delta stakeholders under the aegis of the Concerned Youth Leaders of the Niger Delta has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to inaugurate the new board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC). The group said an interim management committee does not augur well for the overall interest of the agency and the region.

    A statement from its Coordinator Razak Amatoru (Delta State), Secretary Omoro Ogei (Bayelsa State), and Public Relations Officer Darius Eyo (Rivers State) said a quick intervention by the President is required at this point in time, for the agency to function properly and effectively.

    The statement reads in part: “We are aware that a new board has been appointed and subsequently confirmed by the Senate after several caretaker committees. We, therefore, urge Mr. President to immediately inaugurate the new board. We strongly believe that the quick inauguration of the board would douse the prevailing disenchantment amongst stakeholders and pave the way for the commission to function properly and effectively.

    “While we support the thorough audit of the commission, particularly by a reputable international audit firm to unravel the rot within, we make bold to say that we are not interested in these illegal contraption called caretaker or interim management committee arrangements which do not bode well for the overall interest of the commission and the people of Niger Delta region.”

    Read Also: Groups commend Senate on NDDC budget

     

    The group appealed to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and its leadership to listen to the people of the region and desist from anything that is capable of undermining the smooth takeoff and running of the new board.

    It also commended the Senate for its insistence that the budget of the commission must be defended by the confirmed board.

    It added: “It is self-evident that the recent crisis in the commission has taken us backward in terms of development. We don’t have time and resources to waste on personal selfish interests anymore. Let all genuine stakeholders treat the development of our region far above our personal interests.

    “While congratulating the new board in advance, we urge them to hit the ground running as soon as inaugurated. The Niger Delta region is in dire need of development.”

     

  • Abiodun’s scorecard in Ogun

    Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun’s Chief Press Secretary Kunle Somorin highlights the achievements of his principal in the last six months and steps being taken by the administration to break new grounds.

     

    NOT many Nigerians would have failed to notice the highly significant event that happened in Ogun State, shortly after Governor Dapo Abiodun assumed office. On the Lagos/Ibadan Expressway, some pastors of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) had been kidnapped, but the governor was attending a retreat in Abuja. So, what did he do? He asked President Muhammadu Buhari’s permission to leave the meeting, got the president to release a helicopter for aerial surveillance, and headed back to Ogun. Within a few hours, seeing the artillery mounted in the skies, the assailants buckled and panicked, and all the hostages were rescued, including others that were not previously known to be in the kidnappers’ den. This event, just one out of very many, is an eloquent testimony to the fact that good governance is currently ongoing in Ogun State.

    Consider the scores of souls that have perished in forests across the country while some governors dithered, spewing empty rhetoric as bandits committed murder and rape with reckless abandon. Significantly, Governor Abiodun did not hype that incident, content with the fact that he had done what the law and duty apportioned to him. Such a noble approach however often serves only as weapons in the hands of the purveyors of fake news. a prime example is one Segun Sowunmi’s latest two diatribes casting the Ogun helmsman in the mould of a failure in six months. Tactlessly insulting Oyo State in the bid to prove Ogun exceptionality, the writer claimed that Abiodun is running an “all-inclusive (sic), now clearly cosmetic, uninspiring administration.” Of course, there are those who, without any introspection, would ingest his spin hook, line and sinker. While the writer is, like every citizen, qualified to criticize, even rebuke, the governor, I do not think he has a duty to ignore facts, even if he is only intent on undue attention, in doing so. And so his qualms, built on fancy rather than facts, need not detain us further as we show, with ample evidence, why Dapo Abiodun may yet be the best governor that Ogun has had since the return to civil rule.

    Security, as everyone knows, is the raison d’etre of the state, yet it is a fact that when Abiodun resumed at Oke Mosan, law enforcement agencies did not have good equipment in place, meaning that the Commissioner of Police could not readily engage his counterpart in the military or Department of State Service (DSS). Governance being problem-solving, Abiodun did not whine about this: he set to work immediately, sourcing and providing the needed equipment. He also purchased 100 ‘4x 4’ patrol vehicles and 200 motorcycles to aid the police in their work. Apparently enthralled by his strides in security, the Business Day Research and Intelligence Unit gave Ogun an award: The Most Improved State On Security. That was not fortuitous, really: when in Lagos between 1995 and 1997, car snatchers from neigbouring Republic of Benin put Lagos under siege, it was to him that the state turned for relief. His two major interventions, the vehicle tracking system and Alarm Network, an initiative that led to the Rapid Response Squad project, quickly passed the message that there would be no escape route for robbers, as the criminally-minded in Ogun must be finding out right now.

    Read Also: Dapo Abiodun assures on good governance

     

    The  Ogun helmsman apparently does not subscribe to the pernicious practice of window-dressing state capitals while leaving other parts of the state to rot. Through the newly set up Ogun State Public Works Agency, roads that were hitherto a nightmare to motorists are now being rehabilitated, and this is being done simultaneously in all the local government areas of the state. Go to Otta, go to Ifo, go to Abeokuta, Sagamu and Ijebu-Ode; the roads are being worked on with renewed vigour, especially now that the rainy season is gone. Again,it is doubtful that any right-thinking person would find fault with the rehabilitation of 236 schools, one school per ward, across the state. Is that not better than building a few mega schools in major towns and leaving the majority of schools in the state to rot? How can it be a crime that there is no ward without government’s educational presence in Ogun State? Has the revocation of the N3,700 education levy per pupil not alleviated the suffering of parents in the state? In the last six months, the Ogun governor has approved the years 2016 and 2017 promotion of over 10,000 teaching and non-teaching staff in public schools, resolved the MAPOLY crisis and ensured its re-accreditation; implemented the recommendations of the visitation panel on the Tai Solarin College of Education (TASCE), including appointment of a Governing Council, and established a Government Delivery Unit for Education, among others.

    The job portal, which seems to be giving critics nightmares, was put up to determine the number of underemployed and unemployed youths in Ogun State. Within three weeks, it recorded over 120,000 names. Businesses operating in the state post vacancies on the portal, and a local content law is afoot that will stipulate that a certain minimum of companies’ staff must be Ogun State indigenes. Besides, skills acquisition centres have been set up across the state, the first being the Tech hub in Kobape, Abeokuta. The technology hubs have been set up to rejig ICT across the state and confirm the premium position of the state in digital economy. In fact, the Federal Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy rated Ogun as the Best State In ICT Penetration And Adoption. In any case, in partnership with the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Anchor Borrowers Scheme is on course to produce Ogun agricpreneurs. A total of 10,000 youths harvested from the job portal and allocated a hectare of land each, with the documents attached to the lands, have begun slowly to build wealth. The CBN has provided funding, and will pay the agricpreneurs stipends until the harvest. Stage two of the plan will engage another 40,000 over the next three months, so that in the next two years, about 200,000 agricpreneurs would have been created. Providing food for people through a project that attracts a zero digit interest rate shows that Governor Abiodun certainly did his homework before coming to Government House, and will not be among those praised for a few months, only to receive condemnation for the rest of history.

    In the health sector, the Abiodun Administration has given dilapidated hospitals a facelift and set up more resident primary health centres, again per ward, so that people can enjoy health services without travelling miles away from home. At the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital, the recruitment process for all categories and cadres of healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, lab scientists, radiographers, etc) has already commenced; the State Hospital Ilaro, has been refurbished; and free medical outreach held at Ilishan, Odeda and Ilaro, addressing polio, diabetes, malaria, eyes, malaria, typhoid and other health conditions.

    To ensure accountability and prudent financial management of the state resources, including the implementation of the medium term expenditure framework for budget preparation, Abiodun established the Fiscal Responsibility Commission for prudent financial management of state resources;

    efficient allocation of public expenditure, revenue and debt management; and long-term economic stability. It established the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Office and implemented staff biometrics and payroll audit and treasury management solution for single view and efficiency in treasury and payment processing, and a Bureau of Public Procurement Council has come on board, too. Moreover, it is a fact that for the most part, state chief executives and cabinet members have prepared budgets lacking the crucial connectivity with the socio-economic needs of the populace. In line with the paradigm shift that has hallmarked his administration so far, the Ogun State governor obtained the inputs of critical stakeholders in all the three senatorial districts in the state. As he noted, “We strongly believe that governance should be a participatory process and an inclusive one. Achieving the Ogun State of our dreams will require the inputs of all; it is our belief that the people should have a say on issues that concern them and they should, therefore, be allowed to take their rightful place in the governance process.”

    The Ogun State Business Environment Council is now in place to improve and streamline the state’s internal processes towards achieving better scores in the ease of doing business ranking. Ogun State Investment Promotion Agency(Ogun Invest) has been established to attract investment and provide a one-stop shop for investors and support businesses. The Enterprise Development Agency (EDA) is for capacity building and facilitation of financing access to support the MSMEs sector. There is of course the Ogun State Economic Transformation Project Implementation Structures, part of the requirements for the establishment of Project Steering Committee (PSC), Project Implementation Unit (PIU) for the $250m World Bank loan. How can a government which initiated a creative arts and entertainment hub in conjunction with Shared Agent Network Expansion Facility Limited (SANEF), a special purpose vehicle of the bankers’ committee to further deepen development at the grass roots be said to have done nothing in six months? What about the 50 units of housing at Hilltop Estate Abeokuta, the 200 low-income, mass housing units project at Ibara Abeokuta;  and the newly established Ogun Sports Commission geared towards youth development? Why mock the empowerment of widows through the ‘OkowoDapo’ loan programme with 2,000 initial beneficiaries?

     

  • Oyo PDP: Sacked council chairmen illegally elected

    The Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described sacked local government chairmen under the aegis of Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) as mere noise makers who wanted to benefit from illegalities.

    The PDP in a statement by its Publicity Secretaty, Akeem Olatunji, said  ALGON members who were raising issues about Governor Seyi Mankinde’s proposed composition of the local governments leadership as swimming against the tide of public opinion.

    According to the PDP, there is need to reconstitute the local governments and  the LCDAs, noting that the step will satisfy of the yearning of a majority of residents.

    The statement reads: “As a party, the PDP wishes to tell the governor to ignore the latest rants of the sacked illegal council chairmen on the planned appointment, stating that it was another tactic to hold the people of the State to ransom by crippling governance at the grassroots.

    “The sacked chairmen claiming to still be members of the Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON) in Oyo State despite having been sacked legally had attacked Governor Makinde over a reported plan to appoint caretaker chairmen for local councils, a step which the PDP described as baseless noise-making that cannot hold water.”

    The party  also maintained that the former chairmen’s ranting was medicine after death, because the circumstances that led to their sack were different from what they portrayed to the public, as they got into office through illegality and disobedience to court order.

    The statement further reads: “Our attention has been drawing to the latest rants of some individuals who identify themselves, though illegally, as Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in which they tried to paint the Oyo State Governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, in bad light over his reported plan to appoint interim management committees for local councils ahead of election into the councils.

    Read Also: Oyo APC congratulates Seyi Makinde, thanks voters, party members

     

    “We would like to place on record that the acclaimed spokesman of the Association, who signed the said statement and his fellow journeymen are impostors, who are attempting to deceive the unsuspecting members of the public.

    “Ever since the illegal chairmen were caught up in the web of the law, Mr Abass Alesinloye and his co-travellers have become jobless irritants, acting like rambunctious children and looking for every opportunity to seek relevance, which has long left them following the exit of their party from government.

    “While we consider it pedestrian and unsound for Alesinloye to take jibes at Governor Makinde, a man who has been above boards in his dealing and is becoming renowned as Mr Due Process and Mr Rule of Law, going by his unpartisan approach to the governance of Oyo State, we are quick to concede that expecting decorum from the APC will be asking for too much, as no one cannot give what he does not have.

    “For the information of Alesinloye, who we suspect has been on a lone voyage of irresponsibility and noise-making, as other sacked chairmen with means of livelihood have since returned to their jobs, the people of Oyo State have been the ones yearning for government structure at the grassroots, with the latest testament to this being the shouts of “choose caretaker chairmen for local governments” at the House of Assembly chambers last Tuesday, when Governor Makinde was presenting the 2020 budget.”

     

  • A peep into China’s socialist democracy

    By Charles Onunaiju

    In the past 40 years plus, that China has pushed reforms by opening up; the world took notice only with the outcome of unprecedented and boisterous development that has proved not only sustainable but inclusive, taking over 800 million people out of poverty in the shortest period of time in all human history.

    The fact is that such unprecedented feat was actually the concentrated expression of a focused determination of the leadership of the Communist Party of China at the epochal and historic 3rd plenary session of the 11th Central Committee of the CPC in December 1978 which concluded that the then backwardness of the China’s productive forces was the critical contradiction that can only be resolved by unfettering the productive forces. From this theoretical conclusion, the party and government took economic modernization as the core of its work, providing the rationale for the policy framework of reform and opening up. From the context of this fact, CPC plenums, especially for the unified leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist party of China is not and has never been a political jamboree. It is a soul-searching platform of the party central leadership to take stock and update itself to the theoretical understanding of the existing conditions of the country and get to grips with the policy implications of driving reforms and opening up to new levels.

    The 4th Plenary session of the 19th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) which held in Beijing from the 28th to the 31st of October was attended by all 202 members of CPC Central Committee and 169 alternate members of the Central Committee. The session focused on major issues concerning how to uphold and improve the system of socialism with Chinese characteristics and advance the modernization of China’s system and capacity for governance. Reports following the conclusion of the session noted that it fully affirmed the work of the political bureau of the CPC Central Committee since the 3rd plenary of the 19th CPC Central Committee, acknowledged its robust endeavours that led to major achievements in various causes of the party and the country despite complicated situation, notable by increasing risks and challenges both domestically and externally.

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    Among the overall goals to be met, the party plenum reaffirmed commitment to ensure that institutions in all fields are greatly improved, especially at the Centenary of the Party in 2021 and look forward that the modernization of China’s system and capacity for governance is basically achieved by 2035 and realized in full by the time of the centenary anniversary of the People’s Republic of China in 2049.

    Among other key issues, the communiqué of the 19th Central Committee of the CPC at its 4th plenary session observed that as proven by practice, the system of Socialism with Chinese characteristics and the country’s system of governance have strong vitality, especially if one bears in mind that these systems are able to push for the continuous progress of the country with nearly 1.4 billion people.

    The meteoric rise of China and the ability of the leadership to maintain the tempo of the stable, steady and sustainable trajectories of the expansive development derived essentially from the foundation of the theoretical interrogation of the country’s historical and existential realities, the discipline of the party to follow up diligently on practice, as the criteria for truth.

    The practice of socialism with Chinese characteristics was not a political slogan coined by crowd-pleasing politicians but the labour of an intense scientific interrogation of facts, whose accuracy is best testified by the huge transformation of China.

    The 4th plenary session of the 19th central committee of the CPC would navigate China in the new context of her global preeminence and the responsibility of a major power, steer her domestically to the challenge entering a new era of economic modernisation and the social needs of her population. With a new theoretical breakthrough from the collective wisdom of the party, the 19th national Congress of the Party held in 2017 evolved the “Xi Jinping thought on Socialism with Chinese characteristics for a new era,” that provided the theoretical clarifications for understanding critical challenges, seizing vital opportunities and flowing along the currents and trends of the time with unshakable confidence and ceaseless sober reflections.

    The Communist Party of China (CPC) national congresses and plenary sessions of the central committee are vital institutional landmarks at which the party re-invigorate theoretically, sort and set out broad issues.

    The western media like to call the party plenary session an elite gathering but truly, no one arrives at the CPC unified leadership of central committee without having worked and walked all the way from the lowest level of party organization, where he or she must win support and confidence of party and non-party members from the grassroots. The CPC national congress and plenary of the central committee are the highest and broadest level of political representation of the Chinese Communist party with equal measures of the heaviest burden of political responsibility, both to the Chinese people and even to the world.

    Under the confident leadership of the General Secretary of the CPC, President Xi Jinping, unanimously taken as the core of the unified Central leadership of the party, which translates that he represents the finest attributes of the core values of the CPC and its historic mission of serving the people, the party have been enormously reinvigorated both theoretically and practically to continuously be at the driving seat of China’s modernisation and rejuvenation and a making enormous contribution to the cause of humanity.

    The just-concluded 4th plenary session of the 19thcent ral committee would have brought clarity to some key issues that would drive China’s modernisation in the era of pushing forward, the project of socialist modernisation with Chinese characteristics. Beijing’s outreach to the world through the initiative of the Belt and Road framework of international cooperation that has resoundingly earned universal ownership would receive enormous vitality as the party leadership push with greater vigour, the reform and opening up as the premium energiser of China modernisation efforts.

     

    • Onunaiju is director Centre for China Studies, Abuja.

  • Oloyede: When integrity still counts

    By Kunle Akogun

    It was yet another recognition of excellence on Thursday, November 28, when Prof. Is’haq Olanrewaju Oloyede, walked up the dais to receive the prestigious National Productivity Order of Merit (NPOM) award from President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Prof. Oloyede, a former vice-chancellor of the University of Ilorin and current registrar and chief executive officer of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), is one of the 26 eminent Nigerians that were given the NPOM award at the well-attended ceremony. The award, organised by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, was in recognition of the honorees’ sterling contributions to national development through their high productivity, hard work and service excellence.

    The award, coming on the heels of a special parliamentary commendation for the erudite professor of Islamic jurisprudence during his budget defence appearance at the National Assembly recently, is a veritable acknowledgement of Oloyede’s dexterity in the management of human and financial resources. At that budget defence session, the lawmakers, who ordinarily are not known for flattering public officials who appear before them for that kind of business, momentarily held their signature scurrilous tongues and took turns to shower superlative encomiums on this new breed of a Nigerian who has brought numerous innovations to the operations of JAMB since he mounted the Board’s leadership mantle a little over three years ago.

    The high-flying, record-setting, cerebral former vice-chancellor of the University of Ilorin had, earlier in the year, received two awards from two national newspapers – The Sun and Leadership — within a space of two weeks.

    On January 25, the Lagos-based The Sun newspaper conferred on him the “Public Service Award for 2018” for being “an exemplary public servant with zero tolerance for corruption”, “setting up a new order of transparency in the running of JAMB”, and “tremendously improving the activities of the government agency by remitting billions of naira to the coffers of the federal government from the sale of forms and other services”.

    And barely two weeks later, on February 7, another leading national newspaper, Abuja-based Leadership, also pronounced Oloyede’s JAMB as “Government Agency of the Year 2018”. According to the newspaper, “The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has been a cesspool of corruption for a long time but nobody knew. Then suddenly, a different kind of man got posted there as registrar. All of a sudden, within one year, the same JAMB that had been remitting something in the range of N3 million to the federal government annually, remitted over N5 billion that year. Yes, this is true. That even enabled JAMB to reduce its fees for the teeming Nigerian students who are the main clients of the government agency”.

    It is a thing of personal joy for those of us who know this erudite scholar intimately that Oloyede has not disappointed his teeming admirers since his appointment about three years ago. Rather, he has shamed the vociferous opposition to his well-merited appointment. Not only has he instituted an enhanced welfare scheme for JAMB staff that is already boosting their morale, Oloyede has also, since the advent of his messianic mission, substantially restored the sanctity of the Board’s main mandate: the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME). And, as evident in the three admission exercises he has superintended so far, JAMB’s technology has considerably improved, with high level of transparency and advanced networking. The scrapping of the traditional scratch card system for checking results is also another positive rebellion by this audacious JAMB helmsman. And the recent drastic reduction in the application fees is a serious relief to sundry admission seekers.

     

    But by far the most remarkable feat by any non-revenue-yielding MDA in the country is the remittance by Oloyede’s JAMB of a whopping sum of N5 billion to the federal government coffers in his first year in office, more than N7 billion in the second year and an amount in the same range in the third year!

     

    This is indeed praise-worthy, especially in a country where even some MDAs that were specifically established to raise revenue for the government often turn round to ask for extra-budgetary bail-outs from government to supplement their overheads!

    Read Also: Oloyede: Honour for the Honourable

     

    By this feat, Oloyede is just living up to his well-known credentials of administrative acumen, financial discipline and legendary transparency in public service. An erudite professor of Islamic Jurisprudence and the first ever Unilorin graduate to make a first class degree in the institution, Oloyede became a household name during his tenure as the vice-chancellor of the University of Ilorin, having largely succeeded in turning the second generation university into a world class institution. This, he achieved by dint of hard work, resilience, consistency, tenacity of purpose and unparalleled team spirit.

    Indeed, Oloyede’s trajectory is a study in service excellence, administrative acumen, religious commitment to the achievement of set goals, and unapologetic insistence on fairness for all. This much has been duly acknowledged by dispassionate watchers of his rising profile since he emerged the vice-chancellor of the University of Ilorin, especially with his sterling track records of achievements. Only last year, the New Telegraph newspaper also honoured the JAMB chief executive with a prestigious award of excellence.

    One is very proud of this worthy ambassador of the Better by far University, whose fortune has been intricately interwoven with that of the university since the past 35 years when he was admitted to study in the institution. Not only did he become the first graduate of the university to finish with the first class honours degree, he went ahead to become its first alumnus to head the institution at the climax of his academic career.

    For sure, this erudite scholar is fast becoming the face of the new Nigeria we all fervently pray and yearn for! His entire life is full of lessons for incumbent and aspiring leaders. For, herein lies a glorious future for our country. Congratulations, Prof. on this latest award. More are the way!

     

    • Akogun is director of corporate affairs, University of Ilorin.

  • My discovery of a new planet

    By Oluwaseyi Oso

    There is a world outside this world. I do not mean the planets scientists told us about, no. This world is a world where every invention that we have in the world today existed before now. The technologies we use now; our so-called ultra-modern architectural constructions have existed, heretofore, in this planet before we started using them in our planet. I need to avail everyone that Earth owes its continual growth development to this planet; otherwise there would be no growth and development in any part of the world today. Every modern development, all piquant art, and new technologies are firstly formed in this orphic world before we see them here on earth.

    Do you know where and what that planet is? Do not think too far because that planet is your—Mind.

    The mind is the orbit of human change and development. I believe that every human being is born to live in the world of the mind as there are several continents of creativity in the planet of the mind of the human being. Thus, do not stop yourself from travelling through the length and breadth of the planet of your mind to create inventions that will efface the world from her present darkness. One of the reasons the world has not arrived at a more civilized point is because many of us have failed to decipher that the purpose of being in this world is to add value and creativity to the world for future generations to accredit. If we all travel back in time, we would realise that there was a time in human history when there was no such thing as telephone. Perhaps those who existed in that period must have believed the form of communication they had as the highest form that could ever be until Alexander Graham Bell and Antonio Meucci decided to explore the planet of their mind for a new invention that will change the curvature of human technology. If they had failed to expunge the invention inside their mind, maybe letter writing would have remained the highest form of communication existing in the world today. We are all here for a reason and that reason is to recreate the world as the creator has done. If we neglect our duty towards our common earth, who will change the world? Do not think that you are not capable of making that dream a reality. Do not think that people will call your imagination bizarre. The works of geniuses we rely on today was once rejected but as they continued to believe in their minds, their thoughts and invention, the world soon realized that they were sick and the only antidote to their sickness is what they have previously rejected.

    The future is not far from us; the future is in our minds; and as long as we can imagine it, we can make it come true. The future is an art in our hearts that deserves a painter. This art is hidden to us as a living portrait. It is a portrait that can take us beyond the world of our present state as humanity. But I need to tell us all that we have been equipped by nature, in our hearts, with all the arts we need to experiment in reality. What we have been equipped with is what I call “truth”. By “truth”, I do not posit the literal definition we all probe towards “truth”. I believe that “truth” is what a man possesses to redefine himself and his world. We are all given a particular truth right from our birth time; but if we, as humanity, fail to make use of this epochal truth, the whole world lies in a beautiful darkness. What makes it a beautiful darkness is the fact that we would be satisfied with our present state; we would see it as a luxurious one while we are oblivious to the fact that nature has armed us with what we need to change the world; but we have failed to. If scientists and technologists have refused to make apposite use of their truth, we could have been living in the 21st century of beautiful darkness, today. This is why I have called the future an art in our hearts that deserves a painter.

    Read Also: That’s a Mistake! (3)

     

    This art is in our minds; our psyches. Speaking metaphorically, our minds or psyches are like trees that we cut down to make, perhaps, a chair from it. We might try to form a complex or simple shape or a curvature or something that would appear attractive. Thus, our minds are like forests of endless trees because we are endowed with imagination; and as long as we keep imagining we keep procreating ideas. The animal world could have developed above what it is or even above the human world if they could think and imagine. Imagination is enough to fertilize the ground on which a strong future is built (this is why writers of science fiction could create a futuristic world). Ideas are like the trees we cut down from our minds to reshape and reborn the world of a safer future. But if we neglect ideas, the world is liable to death because the world owes its continual existence to birth.

    We must be ready, as one planet, to give birth to ideas; and educate our souls with these ideas. The soul is that part of human beings that does not eat physical food. The soul feeds on knowledge and knowledge is what the world needs to relocate from a fading or obsolete way of doing things to a new modus operandi. A world that is starved of knowledge is a dying world. If we engage our minds in thinking about the future, we have the power to change it today.

    The fate of our earth relies on how much we channel the energy of creativity in our minds. Illnesses, at times, heal faster if the mind is made to think positively. This is why I will put that the world of the mind is the reason for the human existence. This life is merely death and one has to die to live. I believe and assert that the moment we were all in the womb of our mothers, we were all in our coffins; and the nine months we spent is a reflection of our burial’s procession; and when we were birthed, we were buried on this earth. But accept my words when I say that the only way to live again is to live in the mind: a paradisal planet. Allow your mind to create the seemly impossible artistic doctrines and technologies and you will see that your true existence is not here but in the heart. It is the amount of your devotion to the mind that reflects in the world. Everyman is born to die; and to die is to be born. Live in this world as though it is ordinarily a shell. Do not run after someone’s invention for imitation because it is a pathway to killing the divine attribute of creation in you. Do not be the shadow of someone else’s mind. Mind your mind. The planet of your mind is sufficient for you to make a change in the world.

  • Boyo; Nnaji; Adeyemi; Which Nigerians?

    Henry Boyo, a pragmatic economist, has died –a huge loss to a serially unappreciative Nigeria. He sang an alternative economic tune to the standard economic songs and practices which have largely ruined the naira and decimated the expected indices of growth including having over $100b in foreign reserves. I am not an economist but a medical doctor and ‘social commentator’. We shared to same sane song of economics. It was relief and a pleasure to see him, always the outsider, like me, telling the horse riders how better to direct the economic horse of state. It was disgustingly nauseating to many, including him and myself, when the erring and disappointing governors finally admitted, we were right, and they were economically incompetent and wrong not to save, as advised by many, including the then multiple minister of the economy, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. Our current travails are largely a result of the 1999-2015 profligacy and corruption at federal and state level with maximum bipartisan guilt. It gives him academic vindication. Ideally, Henry Boyo’s papers and publications should be compiled and set against the economic mistakes of the times. His mission of economic enlightenment fell on too many deaf ears and blocked minds, but his mission is accomplished.  He cannot be blamed for a deaf country. May Henry Boyo Rest In Perfect Peace.

     

    ‘Our current travails are largely a result of the 1999-2015 profligacy and corruption at federal and state level with maximum bipartisan guilt. It gives him academic vindication’

     

    Bart Nnaji; what happened to him? It is now 40 years after a 3,000Mw failed grid tipped us on the path of permanent 3,000Mw failure. ‘The experts’ are still ‘talking’ power sector reform around the supply, transmission, distribution, privatization, recapitalization debacle as well as poor meter cover and criminally ‘over-estimated billing’ with a near zero sustainable green energy component though we have a God-given sun at our service. Bart Nnaji, a minister of power who made power work so well within three months that he was removed in what the citizens believe was brilliance and honesty driven ‘too-know’ and ‘over-performance’? He was too good for the greedy petroleum cartel which keeps Nigeria dependent on fuel-guzzling generators making us the shamefaced ‘Generator Generation’. Please recall Bart Nnaji to bipartisan national service.

    Smart Adeyemi, APC, wins the senatorial seat over a very forgettable someone whose claim to infamy includes animalistic antics and undistinguished dancing disaster moves, banal songs and disgraceful display of wasteful wealth through acquisition of a fleet of nauseatingly exotic sports cars flaunted like a red flag before the bull of Nigeria’s mega-poverty.  We have lost a lot cerebrally and must demand serious forward-looking leadership politics from ‘Smart’. Amen! What does this mean to the party seats balance of power?

    Kara Bridge. Federal government reopens Lagos – Ibadan diversion at Kara Bridge with one half completed ‘because of the festive season’, not ‘because of the citizens’! Shame!!! A guarded ‘Hurray’ but no ‘thank you’. Our ‘thank you’ has been swallowed up in the unimaginably delays and actual physical and mental agony and suffering inflicted on us and the one we will still suffer including the increasing ‘Kara Bridge Axis Robbery’ as the needed police will withdraw to celebrate Christmas. Abi no be so?  We shall all be ‘seeing is believing’ after such unlimited suffering. They say the Lagos entry is completed and the Lagos exit will be completed in 2020. But did they smoothen the Lagos exit to tide us into 2020 or is it business as usual ‘roforofo’ bad road? Nigerians, nobody loves you. How much does it cost to smoothen over one kilometre of potholes to give millions of travellers and tens of thousands a smooth Christmas? When will the ministry of transport say to Nigerians ‘We wish you a smooth season’?

    Read Also: Good night, Henry Boyo

     

    Which Nigerians receiving national honours ruined us? Remember we still do not know which Nigerians held meetings to strip the third lane and the multiple amenity spots and lighting from the original Lagos – Ibadan Expressway plan approved by General Gowon. We still do not know which Nigerians held meetings to divert toll funds supposed to be used for maintenance. We still do not know which Nigerians held meetings which refused to allow ‘maintenance as and when due’ on that and 100 other decrepit roads across Nigeria. Then we had money and naira was naira! Those Nigerians who held those meetings which authorised these illegal deeds are sleeping happily, and un-accused, with their loot watching the debacle on the expressway caused by their actions on TV. We still do not know which Nigerians held meetings allowing thousands of axle-breaking overweight trailers to exit Apapa and Tin Can only to de-stabilise bridges and gauge out huge car-crashing tracks on the expressway.

    Which Nigerians held meetings making sure the East – West Road is still not completed? Which Nigerians held meetings to remove history, geography, maintenance of roads and buildings of all types, bursaries, scholarships, pensions, salaries as-and-when-due from the lives of suffering and aspirational Nigerians, young and old? Which Nigerians held meetings ensuring the removal of ‘practicals’ including sports equipment, books in libraries, chemicals and equipment for science studies in chemistry and physics and biology, art equipment, technical and machinery parts and carpentry tools in schools and tech institutes?

    ‘Which Nigerians will hold meetings’ to restore these to the lives of Nigerians? Governors who have serially failed with their resources since 1999 to make their states successful, must break out of their stereotypical kleptomaniacal mould of non-performance and shine or we are doomed to Dubai watching instead of Dubai walking!