The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • Tinubu: Katsina FA boss Balele rallies support for president-elect

    Tinubu: Katsina FA boss Balele rallies support for president-elect

    All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Representatives –elect in Katsina State, Aminu Balele has promised to work with the president-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to deliver dividends of democracy to the people of Nigeria.

    Balele, former special adviser on sports development to Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State, was elected to represent Dutsin-MaKurfi constituency in Katsina State at the House of Representatives, after he polled a total of 25,388 votes to defeat his closest rival, Nura Mohammed Muazu of The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who got 24, 163 votes.

    The Chairman of Katsina State Football Association popularly called ‘Dan Arewa’ urged all Nigerians regardless of their political parties to support Tinubu/ Kashim Shettima government so as to enable him to achieve in all challenges facing the country.

    “First of all, I thank God Almighty for the victory. I thank my family, my friend and people of my constituency Dutsin-MaKurfi for the opportunity given to me to represent them. Election has come and gone and I want to say that this victory is for everybody,” Balele said.

    He added: “I’m calling all Nigerians to support the newly-elected government of Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Kashim Shettima. As a lawmaker, we will work hand-in-hand with the new government to achieve in the area of security, agriculture, youth and sports and largely in all sectors.

    “We will also work with the federal government and the newly elected government for the smooth transition of power.”

    The astute football administrator also added that he would work with the Katsina Central Zone senator-elect APC’s Abdulaziz Yar’adua, to bring development to their constituency.

    “I am going to carry everybody along in my programme for the constituency. I will also work with my brother, Katsina Central Zone Senator elect Abdulaziz Yar’adua, to bring development to our constituency. There are lots of programmes for our people and by the grace of God we won’t disappoint them.”

  • Aramco vs. NNPCL

    Aramco vs. NNPCL

    • Different folks, different strokes. While one is making giant strides, the other limps

    For two major producers of crude oil, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia, it is different folks, different strokes. While Nigeria is perpetually complaining of crude theft running into millions of U.S. Dollars daily, Saudi Arabia is smiling to the bank. While Nigerians have sometimes seen the abundance of the black gold in their country as a curse, for the Saudis, it is perpetually  a source of blessing.

    Saudi Aramco, the largely state-owned oil company in Saudi Arabia has announced  record profits of $161 billion from its operations, last year. Its Nigerian equivalent, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) is yet to release its financial results for 2022, but its profit after tax in 2021 was about N674 billion, (about $1.4 billion at today’s official rate of N460/$). In 2020, NNPC’s profit was about NN287 billion ($623 million). Neither is anything near Aramco’s. This alone is enough to explain the disparity in the standards of living in the two countries.

    We are not saying that Nigeria and Saudi Arabia should be equally rich or that their standard of living should necessarily be the same. No. In the first place, Saudi Aramco is the biggest crude producer in the world. It is one of the few such corporations with the capacity to determine the supply dynamics, in accordance with market dictates. Second, Nigeria could not have been in the same category with it revenue-wise because of the huge disparity in the population of both countries. There are about 36 million Saudis, whereas Nigeria is estimated to have over 200 million people. Then, Saudi Arabia, in spite of its low population, has a bigger quota of crude oil than Nigeria.

    Whereas the Arabian country currently produces over 10 million barrels per day (bpd)  by the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries’ (OPEC) quota, Nigeria has 1.8 million bpd quota. Even then, it does not have the capacity to meet the quota.

    Last month, its production capacity was 1.3 million bpd. Although this is a significant improvement over its 900,000 bpd last year, it still represents a deficit of about 400,000 bpd. In effect therefore, it is natural that other things being equal, the two countries cannot be equally blessed. 

    Significantly, what makes the difference between both countries is the way and manner they run their oil corporations. Although the two countries’ oil corporations are majorly state-owned, the Saudis have a better handle on Aramco than Nigerians have on NNPCL.

    Opacity, government meddlesomeness, hefty crude theft, pipeline vandalism, all of these and more impact NNPCL’s productivity and, ultimately, revenue.

    The situation is such that, were there to be a role reversal today, with Saudi Aramco being run the way NNPCL is run and vice versa, it is a matter of time for the former to fall into the conundrum that the latter is perpetually enmeshed in.

    Aramco’s success shows what we can also do if we run our oil sector with integrity. The company makes a lot of money from refineries. Our own refineries have become more of  conduit pipes on which we lavish billions in turn-around maintenance (TAM) with little or no returns. Meaning that some fat cows are the ones benefitting from the TAM allocations.

    What has been happening in our oil sector in recent decades is at variance with the philosophy of those who founded the sector. Their idea was to domesticate activities in the sector. This was why, at inception, the Nigerian National Oil Corporation (NNOC), NNPC’s precursor, bought complete rigs just like Algeria, with the aim of making our local technicians understudy the expatriates who would come over to fix them, in order to enable the technicians have a good grasp of the technical know-how. Unfortunately, this was ³ater to give way to our people’s preference to travel abroad to learn what would have been more profitable for the country to do locally.

    Things were so bad that, for decades after the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in the country, it is the expatriates in the multinational oil companies that were measuring the quantity of oil they lifted daily from the country. And it was whatever they gave as volume that we accepted; we had no way of verifying their claims. It was only of recent that the NNPCL said it had acquired the capacity to determine that independently.

    We thought the problem was in the name, hence, we changed it from a corporation (NNPC) to a limited liability company (NNPCL). Yet, not much has changed. Perhaps it is too early to come to that conclusion.

    Of course, it is not that NNPCL does not realise its challenges; it does. That explains some of the measures the company has taken in recent times to deal with the inadequacies. These include attempts to ramp up production to fill its current huge deficit, the pipeline protection contracts it has struck with some locals, especially in the Niger Delta region, its whistle-blowers policy by which it rewards people who tip it off anonymously in cases of oil theft and pipeline vandalism. All of these, as well as its announcement that it can now monitor pipeline breaches real-time are geared towards increasing efficiency, revenue and ultimately, profit. Again, that would depend on the sincerity of purpose to make these reforms work.

    Even if they work well, they are still not enough. The company has to be more transparent in its operations. It must be ready to throw its books more open for transparency and accountability in the real sense of the concept. Above all, government interference in its affairs must be significantly reduced, if not eliminated. This will go a long way to check corruption which is also a major problem in the sector as it is in other facets of our lives. The huge success that the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) project has become is pointer to the fact that oil and gas business in Nigeria can do better with less government interference.

  • Two Sessions: Interrogating China’s unique legislative process

    Two Sessions: Interrogating China’s unique legislative process

     By Charles Onunaiju

    This month, a key and important event in China’s national political calendar, watched closely around the world, is already under way in the country’s capital, Beijing. The 14th National People’s Congress, the country top legislative body and its supreme state organ would meet in full session to receive reports, deliberate and give legislative effect to landmark issues accelerating the modernization efforts of the country. Along with the National People’s Congress, China’s top advisory body, the “Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) would also convoke the first session of its 14th National Committee. It is the meeting of the full sessions of these two important bodies that are referred to as the “two sessions” in China’s political calendar.

    Apart from the convocation of the two sessions annually, the two bodies also elect permanent working organs, referred to as standing committees, who engage in the routine legislative and advisory work of the two institutions which are presented and considered at the annual full sessions. The NPC and CPPCC are the institutional expression and structural representation of China’s system of socialist multi-party consultation and cooperation, giving full expression to democratic inclusion and consensus-building. As core fabric of China’s political life, the “two sessions” is significantly impactful not only in their democratic content of representations and participation, but in outline of key policy agenda and generating feedback on state administration and governance.

    Apart from giving effects to state institutional structure, the “two sessions” play vital role in major policy directions, including issues very relevant to modernization and deepening reforms.

    The histories and background of the two key national institutions shape their contemporary and strategic roles in the governance of modern China, especially, as the country plays pivotal role in global economic recovery and the emergingmultilateral framework of the international system. The Chinese People Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) was the first institution of modern China. It developed from the revolutionary bases as a consultative platform of patriotic alliance of Chinese people opposed to the one-party dictatorship of the western backed Kuomintang and forged through the leadership of the Communist Party of China. Following the victory of the revolution in 1949 and the founding of modern China, the CPPCC served as the legislative body until 1954 when the National People’s congress was elected and convoked. Following the establishment of NPC as the country’s supreme state organ, the CPPCC continued its role as a top rallying and advisory body. As the highest institutional platform for all Chinese people across every sector, including ethnic, religious, party, professional, Chinese in special administrative regions and overseas, the CPPCC provide quality insights and advisories on the trajectories of China’s contemporary modernisation. Its significance and impact in building and driving an all China coalition in the revolutionary struggle is no less significant in its contemporary contributions to the advancement of reform and modernization, a deepening and continuation of the revolutionary process in the modern times.

    The CPPCC is the amalgamated strength and wisdom of all Chinese people to define a roadmap to national goals and build both an institutional and popular consensus around it, a key factor in both policy sustainability and goal-getting. The uniqueness of the CPPCC in giving vital stakes to all sections of society through broad consultations and engagement remain critical in understanding the enabling institutional and popular consensus that have driven China’s outstanding achievements and phenomenal development. These institutions which underwrite China’s rapid modernization are uniquely forged in the country’s own history, designed through their own experience in practice and derived entirely from their own national reality.

    The institutions and processes of China’s modernization are not inoculated from the experience of others in the world but these experiences are skilfully tailored to align with the national reality and are validated only through practice. The context of national consensus forged in consultations and cooperation is not an absence of disagreements, but that all contending views and visions are integrated into a broad roadmap to national development and are tested for viability through practice.

    The National People Congress (NPC) is China’s top legislative body and a supreme state organ, whose work is integral to the reputation of the modern Chinese state as efficient. As a key processor of policy options, and a firm line holder for the institutional credibility and integrity of China’s modern state, the NPC is well known to discharge its duty with the highest level of diligence and integrity. It gives expression to vital legislative issues of national importance ranging from national security, economic reforms, social outputs, cultural and foreign affairs, and endows state administration and governance with the vital political fibre and muscle. It is the national repository of legitimacy and dispenses it with acute awareness of the popular and collective will for which it is the supreme representative.

    The broad representation of the National People’s Congress and its unique work style of the standing committee system, where its routine work is done by a fraction of its members elected on a permanent basis, while the rest of the members return to their base, feeling the pulse of the people in direct engagement, may be a way off, from the parliamentary orthodoxy of the West, but its viability is exemplified in the contributions of the NPC in shaping China’s modern state and its outstanding achievements in development of which one of its iconic outputs is the end of extreme poverty among the 1.4 billion Chinese people.

    If China’s unique political process and its system of multi-party consultative socialist democracy has delivered tangible results, it is not to mechanically copy it by any other country that its strength and attraction lay, but that any country can interrogate its own unique history and reality to extract a unique path to modernization and development. China’s unique path to modernization and development speaks to the reservoir of original insights, strength and imaginations that are endowed to every country and its people to search and leverage its own history and reality to build institutions and process not only derive from its own unique experience but aligned to its own collective inspiration of good life.

    African countries’ historic trajectory to a good life for its people has encountered difficulties and challenges, not because of lack of bold vision. The core challenge and dilemma of compatible institutional drivers to give practical effects to bold vision has reached a historic proportion, and the imperative to rethink the structure and nature of key institutions should be seriously engaged, in order to align the institutions with the goals of achieving sustainable and inclusive development. China’s “two sessions”, sitting ofits two major national institutions will certainly deal with issues of current concern for the Chinese people, but would engage China as a major responsible power in the world.

  • Higher education reforms for job creation: Agenda for the in-coming administration

    Higher education reforms for job creation: Agenda for the in-coming administration

    By Yemi Adewoyin

    Nigerians are reputed to be one of the most educationally certificated people globally. Our penchant for educational certificates, particularly tertiary education, accounts for why both government and privately owned universities in the country are only able to admit about 30% of yearly admission seekers. It also explains the huge number of postgraduate students, especially in professional master’s degree programmes. There is, perhaps, no single extended family in modern Nigeria without a university degree (or its equivalent) holder. Some individuals even have more than one degree.

    The sad underbelly to this news, however, is that graduate unemployment in the country is among the highest in the world. Quite ironically, and with the benefits of being an insider in the education industry, Nigerians’ quest for tertiary education is mainly for the purpose of employment. In other words, the average Nigerian has come to view university education as a means of boosting their employment chances. Postgraduate degrees are seen as a further booster.

    One implication of the foregoing is that we now have a country of certificated individuals who, unfortunately, do not possess basic skills, are not knowledgeable, and lack critical thinking capacity. We now have accidental PhD holders, whose only motivation for acquiring the degree was to enhance their employability. And indeed, the universities are replete with them. They are identifiable by their lack of productivity (research and publications), absenteeism, and prioritization of social over academic activities.

    For the benefits of outsiders, once you are able to persevere and/or pay ‘consultants’ to collect, analyse and interpret your data, and sometimes, even write your thesis for you behind the scenes, you are able to get a PhD. The practice is now global and actually more prevalent among Nigerians studying in foreign universities. I am sure private sector employers and non-governmental organizations with preference for candidates with foreign postgraduate degrees have their experiences. I digress.

    To escape graduate unemployment, many degree holders have gone back (literally taking a step back) to the informal sector to learn skills and trades for self-employment. This and the failure of university education in addressing unemployment, demand that the 6-3-3-4 system of education be urgently reviewed. On its own, the system is not bad. But relative to the current realities and government’s drive to lower unemployment rates, the time for its review is now. The first step to reforming the system is to stop equating Nigerian Technical Colleges (TCs) to senior secondary schools, and start recognizing them as a post-secondary educational institution.

    In the current system, a learner is expected to do six years in primary school, three years in junior secondary school, and either proceed to spend another three years at a TC or a senior secondary school. Afterwards, the learner may proceed to the university (or equivalent) for a four-year degree programme. 

    In spite of their potentials as centres for skills acquisition, self-reliant education, and breeding grounds for technical and technological innovations, technical colleges in Nigeria, no thanks to our penchant for university certificates, have been reduced to a dumping ground for kids (12-14 year-old holders of junior secondary school certificates) with no clear future plans yet and secondary school dropouts.

    When I was growing up, holders of the City and Guild Certificate from technical colleges were mature men and women who either got absorbed in the engineering and construction industry or set up their own construction or technical services companies on graduation. What should be done is to revamp technical education and make it attractive.

    The array of courses at a TC include the traditional programmes in engineering, fitter machining, metal fabrication, furniture making, poultry farming, fish farming etc., and the contemporary vocational skills and trades, that unemployed university graduates have been learning. These include software programming and coding, website designing, catering and hotel management, cakes and decorations, events planning and management, as well as lithography and printing technology among others. Instead of equating TCs to senior secondary schools, the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) components of the senior secondary school curriculum should serve as a launch-pad for further education at the TCs.

    To make TCs attractive, it should be a heavily subsidized higher education and a new certification (Diploma) and employment class should be created for its graduates. This will also involve an overhaul of its staffing and lecturers’ capacities. As a specialized training centre, entry should be competitive and a setup incentive attached to successful completion of programmes. This could be in the form of a start-up loan for those who want to start their own businesses on graduation. For those who wish to practice with either private or public sector employers, placement should be similar to those of graduates of other specialized colleges like Schools of Nursing, Midwifery, Health Technology, Colleges of Education and current holders of the National Diploma from polytechnic. Yes, current National Diploma holders, because there won’t be a need for duplication of education in the proposed system. 

    Currently, many nurses and teachers practice with the skills they acquired from the Nursing Schools and Colleges of Education. Similarly, many polytechnic National Diploma holders, particularly in engineering, urban and regional planning, architecture, surveying, etc, practice based on the skills acquired in the two/three year programmes. Many of them who later went on to the universities and for Higher Diplomas did so to gain more theoretical insights and managerial skills for, firstly, work related promotions, and secondly to widen their education beyond the basic required for sustenance. If the TCs are able to provide that basic skill, there won’t be a need for polytechnic education at the National Diploma level.  What will be required, therefore, are universities of technology to replace the polytechnics. TC graduates who wish to acquire more knowledge can apply to start from 300 level. The intent, at that time, won’t be skills acquisition for employment but a personal decision that the candidate is willing to pay for.

    The universities of technology will run only technical and technological courses and would also be open to candidates who do not wish to acquire a TC diploma first. Alongside conventional universities, they won’t be subsidized. Since issues of skills for employment purposes would be taken care of by the TCs, individuals who chose to acquire university education would be ready to pay for it, as is the global practice with a few exceptions. Student loans and scholarships may be provided for indigent students. Parents of such students, methinks, would rather their wards get a subsidized TC diploma and a start-up loan than acquiring an expensive university degree with no guarantees of (self) employment. The model will also take care of university funding issues and incessant industrial actions as universities would be allowed to practice their autonomy, including financially.

    Cognate to job creation, it is time Nigeria had a functional and separate emergency response system. Many lives are lost in the country simply because our traditional distress call as against a standard 911, only made neighbours shut their doors (if a security threat) or weigh their options to assist if they had a car (health emergency). In the latter case, the fear of Police involvement, should the victim die in transit, overrides all other considerations. President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu would be killing three birds with one stone in this regard. He should also drive the entrenchment of political devolution of powers as enshrined in our constitution. Many blame the federal government for things that are either exclusively or concurrently on the state governments’ legislative list. We would like to see the return of a healthy competition for social and economic development among the regional blocs. The resulting levels of development, devoid of Abuja’s interference, may even serve as a criterion for assessing future aspirants to Aso Rock. 

    •Dr Adewoyin writes from University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa.

  • Of Nigeria’s macro-economic instability and reform

    Of Nigeria’s macro-economic instability and reform

    By Felix Oladeji

    Nigeria posted strong growth in 2021 and the first quarter of 2022 amidst the waning impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The economy grew by 3.4 percent in 2021 compared with an output decline of 1.9 percent in 2020. The current economic growth is stronger than its pre-pandemic level, which stood at 2.3 percent in 2019. The rapid economic recovery could be attributed to significant improvements in non-oil sector performance and the complete re-opening of the economy to productive activities after the COVID-19 lockdown measures.

    The non-oil sector – which accounted for 92.8 percent of the country’s GDP – grew by 4.4 percent in 2021 compared with a 1.3 percent contraction in 2020. This performance was bolstered by impressive growth recorded across some industrial activities (notably, manufacturing and construction sectors) and services sub-sectors (particularly, transportation & storage, financial services, trade, and information & communications technology). Conversely, the oil sector posted a negative growth of 8.8 percent in 2021 relative to a contraction of 8.3 percent in 2020.

    In nominal terms, the size of the economy in 2021 stood at N173.5 trillion (US$417.1 billion). Having recovered from the pandemic-induced recession in the fourth quarter of 2020, Nigeria consolidated its recovery with economic growth of 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2022.

    However, the current economic growth is lower when compared with its level in the fourth quarter of 2021 (4 percent). This stellar growth was driven by the improved performance of sectors including agriculture (3.2 percent), manufacturing (5.9 percent), construction (4.8 percent), ICT (12.1 percent), trade (6.5 percent) and finance (23.2 percent) in the first quarter of 2022. The non-oil sector grew faster to 6.1 percent (year-on-year) in 2022Q1 relative to 0.8 percent growth in 2021Q1. Meanwhile, the oil and gas sector, remained in the contraction territory, posting a negative growth of 26 percent in 2022Q1.

    Whereas, the fact that unemployment is a prevalent problem in Nigeria is neither one that demands particular enquiry before it is noticed, nor is a team of soothsayers required to show how devastating such a problem is to Nigeria. Interestingly, unemployment plays the dual role of being both a symptom and a causative factor of Nigeria’s economic woes. In highlighting how precarious the unemployment problem is, it is important to stress that Nigeria currently ranks second on the global unemployment list of countries with the highest unemployment rates. The current unemployment rate is 33.3 percent (NBS, 2022).

    In recognition of the woes precipitated by unemployment in the society, the current administration has been – or at least appears to be – making efforts to curb the growth and, at the same time, reduce the rate of unemployment in the country. Despite that, statistical trends continually show that whatever the government is, or says it is doing, is having no desirable effect on the problem of unemployment. In fact, the problem has persisted; it is continually increasing. This undesirable status quo then begs the question, why? That is why the continued growth in the unemployment rate when the government seems to be making efforts against it. The importance of giving a proper answer to this question is such that it helps create a solid foundation upon which viable solutions can be built.

    An overview of the government’s approach to solving the problem of unemployment shows that the government is heavily reliant on direct involvement in creating jobs for the masses; that is, the government tries to reduce unemployment mainly by creating more openings in its ministries and parastatals and absorbing more people into the civil service. Unfortunately, this approach is only plausible on the surface. An in-depth analysis of the approach in tandem with Nigeria’s economic realities and civil service structure lays claims to almost any argument that can be brought forth to support it.

    Nigeria’s economy has constantly fallen in and out of recessions in the past five years. Aside from this, the country’s public debt profile is on a consistent rise, while inflation rate averaged 16 percent in the first four months of 2022 (NBS, 2022). With such problems already being encountered, the government would be placing itself under an extra back-breaking burden by directly creating jobs. Also, it is asserted that the Nigerian government is the largest employer of labour at all levels. Unsurprisingly, 50.6 percent of total budget expenditure and 88.5 percent of revenue in the last decade have been allocated to recurrent expenditure, respectively.

    Additionally, unceasing complaints are made about the poor working conditions and inadequate emoluments of civil servants. Thus, the government should prioritise better working conditions rather than directly creating jobs, which will only promote an apathetic civil service if insisted upon, without adjusting to the present status quo. On demography: Here, a juxtaposition of Nigeria’s population growth alongside the government’s job creation rate will elucidate the need for a switch of approach on the government’s side regarding job creation. Currently, Nigeria’s population is slightly over 200 million and is expected to cross the 400 million threshold by 2050. On the other hand, the current administration creates just about 20,000 jobs annually, which is far short of the five million annually over a decade recommended by IMF. This narrative implies that the problem of unemployment is continuously worsening.

    Undoubtedly, Nigeria’s civil service is riddled with plenty of problems that make any attempt at expansion a problematic venture. While it is realistically impossible to have perfect civil service, two significant factors in the civil service make the government approach an otiose effort at tackling unemployment.

    (a) Duplication of functions: The Nigerian civil service ostensibly possesses the undesirable element of duplicating functions, with many civil servants occupying positions in which they are redundant with no clear-cut duty or responsibility. This, alongside its perceived inefficiency, makes its expansion to create job opportunities a step in the wrong direction.

    (b) Ghost workers: The issue of ghost workers and the Nigerian civil service at all levels of government can be likened to Siamese twins that have proven inseparable despite numerous attempts at separating them.

    Expectedly, the continual presence of ghost workers within the civil service costs the government a huge amount of money. For instance, between September 2013 and May 2015, the federal government lost N220 billion to 103,000 ghost workers. In the face of this persistent problem, expanding the civil service would only make it more susceptible to the penetration of more ghost workers, resulting in a loss at both ends.

    In light of the overwhelming amount of work that needs to be carried out for Nigeria to catch up on its infrastructural deficit, it is proposed that the government adopt a Public-Private Partnership. The effectiveness of this approach can be easily seen in its adoption by Lagos State. It would come in handy in providing funding for cost-intensive capital projects, especially in the transportation sector. 

    Also, in recognition of the time that may be needed to cut back Nigeria’s infrastructural deficit, a proposed short-term solution would be clustered SME hubs. This means a shared working environment built by the government to provide needed facilities like workspace and electricity to SME owners. Apart from reducing business costs, this would help the government monitor and enforce the product quality of such SMEs and, where necessary, create a platform for the branding, and exportation of products with international demand. Other advantages to this idea would be; a more efficient tax monitoring process for SMEs and the encouragement of diverse start-ups with an opportunity for connections among such entrepreneurs.

    For instance, a logistic firm operating in such a hub could partner with several businesses requiring logistic services, creating a self-sustaining economic network. These cluster hubs can be established on a local government basis. That is one for each local government. It is noteworthy that this is different from the shared workspaces, which are gaining traction in Nigeria, as it offers government leverage in terms of access to infrastructure and export. Besides, many shared workspaces in Nigeria today only cater for the tech sector – a feature which largely ignores the reality of most Nigerian SMEs operating outside of that sector.

    Indigenous businesses should be encouraged by tax breaks, grants, and increasing duties on products, for which demand can be locally satisfied. The potential effectiveness of a ‘Made in Nigeria’ policy can be gleaned from China’s adoption of the same policy in 2015, a step which is transforming China into an economic powerhouse. Perhaps the government can lead the way by ensuring all government parastatals use Made- in-Nigeria vehicles.

    •Oladeji writes from Lagos.

  • BVAS as game-changer in Zamfara

    BVAS as game-changer in Zamfara

    SIR: The biggest story of the 2023 gubernatorial elections in Nigeria, for me, is the emergence of Dauda Lawal as the governor of Zamfara State. It should easily be the biggest flex that will be used by INEC, and by extension, President Buhari himself, to justify the 2022 Electoral Act. This is not only because an incumbent governor was denied re-election (which always comes as a surprise in Nigeria). It is also not because the voters were not induced to vote for the ruling party. The exercise was a ‘fair’ appraisal of the performance of the existing administration and the acceptance (or otherwise) of the status quo.

    Since 1999, Zamfara State has been pillaged, misgoverned, neglected and bled dry by an unfortunate crop of leaders. Think of all of the worst developmental indices used to rank the 36 states in Nigeria, you will find Zamfara among the worst six. This could be in education and out-of-school children, health and maternal mortality, extreme poverty and hunger. All of these logically led to the security challenges the state is currently facing. It was too much for the people to take, and things had to change. The consecutive years of abuse, internal displacement and underdevelopment has stretched the elasticity of tolerance for failure on the part of the people of Zamfara State to a ‘snapping’ point.

    Therefore, it was ironic, as much as it was shocking and heart-warming that the same governor who was said to have ‘delivered’ his state to his party during the presidential elections will fail to ‘deliver’ the state to himself for a second term in office. This is even more amusing when all but one of the former governors in the state had united against the eventual winner, Lawal. It was basically Dauda Lawal and the people of Zamfara versus Bello Matawalle and the most powerful politicians in the state, with the newly introduced technology, Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), as the game-changer. With BVAS, a polling unit cannot have more voters than the actual people that turned out to vote. What this means is that the total votes that will be cast (and recorded as such) must be equal to the total number of people accredited by the BVAS device. Simple.

    There were little surprises then, when there was a relatively lower voter turn-out compared to previous election cycles. Inflation of votes is no longer possible, which was why voter intimidation and inducement were most prevalent. This largely favored the governor-elect, Lawal.

    Dauda Lawal Dare, the governor-elect, is himself a politician with specifications to die for. As a PhD holder with overseas and local degrees and certifications, coupled with an accomplished, result-oriented career in financial services, there can be little or no arguments about his capabilities or preparedness for the tasks ahead. Performance wise, there will be a palpable gulf between Lawal and his predecessors, if his antecedents are anything to by. The people of Zamfara have found themselves some succor in Dr. Lawal.

    Be that as it may, the choice of the people in Zamfara and the obvious competence of Dauda Lawal are two dependent variables, and would be inconsequential without the ‘BVAS factor’. These three have combined to bring the needed change, sending Bello Matawalle out of Gusau’s seat of power, and into retrospection for at least another four years.

    •Aliyu Sulaiman,

    Katsina.

  • Killing the goose laying the golden egg

    Killing the goose laying the golden egg

    SIR: The federal government is likened to a story of a farmer, who fortunately was caught up in a situation where he was reaping where he did not sow. You ask:, is possible to reap without sowing? Probably yes, but the seed must have been sown by somebody else.

    Manufacturers and businesses in Nigeria have been groaning under the burden of multiple taxations in Nigeria, but it seems the government is only interested in reaping without sowing. Both the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), and Lagos Chamber of Commerce (LCCI) have spoken vociferously, and vehemently warned against the negative effect of multiple taxation on the economy. It seems the federal government has turned deaf ear to this red alert.

    Early last year, the federal government introduced N10 per litre tax on all carbonated drinks into the Finance Act, 2021. The new policy was meant to discourage or reduce excess consumption of sugar in beverages, and it was implemented in June 2022. Due to this new tax policy, surveys show that prices of beverages increased by 33 per cent on the average.

    In an attempt to increase government expenditure on tertiary education, the president of Association Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) proposed an increase in education tax from the current 2.5% to 10%. This would enable the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to mobilise more funds to address the decadence in the tertiary education sub-sector. Before his proposition, the education tax was already jacked up from two per cent to 2.5 per cent. In the 2022 Finance Bill, the rate has now been increased to three percent of company profits.

    Also, in a bid to finance free healthcare for the vulnerable group, the federal government introduced a telecom tax, which would be charged at one kobo per second on phone calls. This proposal did not go well with some analysts, while others see it as an avenue to combat intractable problems in the nation’s health sector. Their concerns were not limited to just transparency and corruption, but also shenanigans that always shrouded the implementation of such fiscal policy.

    Although, similar tax policy popped up in the United States of America with President Biden proposing taxes on the rich to cover Medicare expenses. The US president wants to increase the Medicare tax rate from 3.8 per cent to five per cent on income exceeding $400,000 per year, including salaries and capital gains. The atmosphere and economic conditions of the USA may permit such a proposal, but the same cannot be said of Nigeria.

    In Nigeria, manufacturers, SMEs, and other businesses are paying through their noses in order to have access to basic public goods that ought to have been provided by the government. In a recent report by Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, inability to source for foreign exchange (forex) and credit facilities from banks is hindering the manufacturing sector. Erratic power supply has also contributed to the woes of businesses, as MAN says high energy cost is affecting manufacturing.

    In all of these challenges, consumers would always bear the burden of the multiple taxations. Investors are savvy enough to transfer the burden of the tax to their customers in the form of an increase in prices; ironically, the more the price increases, the lesser the purchasing power and standard of living of the people.

    Lastly, the minister of Finance, Zainab Ahmed, urged the incoming administration to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT) from the current 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent.

    Instead of going by what the minister is saying, I would implore the incoming administration to provide the enabling environment for investors to thrive. Rather than focusing on what could be gotten from tax as revenue, attention towards provision of public goods for businesses should be undivided.

    •Oluwole Crowther,

    Lagos.

  • Bayo Onanuga not your bigot

    Bayo Onanuga not your bigot

    SIR: Scapegoatism is the merchandise of selective outrage. At moments of uncertainty and chaos, ‘pallbearers’ are pencilled down to bear whatever guilt or blame for any presumed offence or crime.

    The 2023 governorship elections have been one of the most turbulent in Nigeria. The days leading to the elections, in particular, were tempestuous. Incendiary comments and threats by political knockabouts simmered into the elections.

    In the build-up to the Lagos governorship election, some itinerants from the mob crawling all over the ungoverned social media space threatened to upturn the political order in Lagos. Some made reckless comments that aboriginal members of the state would find offensive. The tension from these as well as the counter commination was supercharged. The election happened under this cumulus of madness.

    So, it is important to situate the outbursts by some concerned citizens within this context.

    Nigerians should understand that the factotums of the brawling mobs do not represent any group. These are half-witted individuals who lack knowledge of history, direction, and are constipated by anger. Let it be clear that they do not represent any ethnic group.

    The harassment of citizens and the violence in the elections in Lagos and in 30 other states stand condemned and are a blot on our electoral process.

    It is important that we do not construe Bayo Onanuga’s moment of righteous indignation as a judgement of his character and professional pedigree. Opinion is free. He is entitled to one, I strongly believe. Although, many have outraged against his comment on the Lagos election, they are within their rights to do so. And they have good reasons to.

    Onanuga’s life is public knowledge. He is known to be one of the principal actors behind Nigeria’s struggle for democracy and one of the country’s journalism savants. In his years as a journalist, publisher and public officer, Onanuga was never at any time accused of bigotry. He never betrayed any proclivities of that complexion. It is simply not in his character.

    I believe he should not be scapegoated or made to be the punch-bag for whatever grouse anyone holds. We are guilty of the same offence if we insist on singling him out for slaughter over his opinion. Onanuga is not anyone’s bigot.

    The elections are over; it is time for us to turn our minds to building our nation. We must desist from scorched-earth politics and work together for the survival of our country. Nation-building is citizens building. It is our job to build Nigeria; we cannot outsource this great task to anyone.

    •Fredrick Nwabufo,

    <fredricknwabufo@yahoo.com>

  • Election bribery

    Election bribery

    • Jailing of two party bigwigs a signal that a thing like this won’t be condoned any longer

    Elections in Nigeria since independence have been marred by too many irregularities. For each election cycle, the level of irregularities seems to increase. Even though the military had intervened in Nigerian political history at different times ostensibly to correct the wrongs, the politicians seem not to have mastered how to nurture democracy. Largely, they seem not interested in free, fair and credible elections that is a settled matter, even in smaller African countries.

    Elections provide people the opportunity to choose their leaders for both executive and legislative duties in a democracy. Since the return to democracy in 1999, Nigeria has recorded flawed electoral processes not just during elections. This is because political parties are structured in ways that elections through party congresses and primaries provide the opportunities for the parties to elect those to fly their flags in general elections.

    The Nigerian political party system has not become structurally strong enough to handle seamless processes; the result is that there has been a corruption of the processes by politicians, who in their quest for power tend to break rules. Unlike in developed democracies where campaign funds are monitored and guided strictly by laws, the Nigerian system is not yet structured to make campaign funds and spendings to be strictly streamlined to ensure accountability. Politicians have therefore abused the system in ways that have affected the democratic processes negatively.

    It was therefore, a relief to most Nigerians to learn about the conviction of two chieftains of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for two years in Bauchi State for attempting to influence the outcome of the 2015 elections with N142m bribe. Saleh Gamawa and Aminu Gadiya were found guilty by Judge Hassan Dikko of Federal High Court in Bauchi, on two counts of conspiracy and money laundering totalling N142, 460,000 levelled against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    With the just-concluded general elections and several reported cases of electoral offences, most of them bordering on financial inducements, vote buying and selling and ancillary economic crimes, the conviction of the two top politicians more than seven years after the offence was committed is commendable, even if we feel that justice in this case took too long. We believe that it is better late than never.

    The jailing of the two party chieftains is a good warning to those that have been apprehended by the EFCC during the just-concluded elections. We just hope that the judiciary and the prosecutors, the EFCC and possibly the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can be more thorough and diligent in prosecuting the many offenders that were arrested, before, during and after the 2023 elections. The system must be purged of those that violate the 2022 Electoral Act as amended, and the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    Those who commit electoral crimes must be made to face justice. The fact that most of the offenders are high net-worth individuals must not discourage their prosecution. Democracy is as good as the sanctity of processes of the elections.  It is encouraging to see that despite the fact that those convicted are party bigwigs, they faced the law of the land.

    We must commend the EFCC and possibly the police that made the process of prosecution easier. The jailing of the two party stalwarts would send the right signals to all those who assume that the law is mainly for the common man.

    We feel that the intelligence to make more arrests of offenders in the future is even easier now with technology, the cashless sytem and the internet. Most of the tricks for vote-buying and selling can now be tracked with the aid of technology. It is no longer news that the errand boys are caught, it is now easier to apprehend the big politicians who for long have been corrupting the system with financial inducements. Democracy should never be for sale.

    Beyond monetary inducements, there is a myriad of electoral and financial crimes that the system must begin to nip in the bud. As we have seen during the just-concluded elections, economic crimes do not stop with monetary inducements; there are equally other electoral crimes that the system can begin to prosecute the offenders with the help of technology. Cases of ballot box snatching, result falsification, voter intimidation, and systemic disenfranchisement are all electoral offences that the system must work hard to eliminate basically because those acts taint and stunt democracy.

  • Election lessons: Constitutional amendments

    Elections, with some serious crimes of ballot snatching and burning, terrorizing voters, have passed. Sadly, several have died during the exercise-a mere election. Those who sent the criminals are alive with their own children. No answers for the dead or their mourning families?

    Where are the voters?  Over 60% of 87-93m registered voters were nowhere at the elections.

    A party protested that Governor Seyi Makinde had been ‘bribing’ the citizenry by paying the backlog and current salaries and pensions. Governor Makinde who said correctly that he was doing his duty as governor to his employees and his elders. A party or persons not paying salaries and pensions are committing a crime and should not stand or should lose elections. Citizens’ welfare is first and foremost because with no salaries and pensions, the family, the bedrock of the state, and its hierarchy are destroyed, children rise against and ridicule parents and guardians, the extended family fabric is torn and the state disintegrates from within.

    Seyi Makinde has won re-election in a state where citizens do not grant second term easily. He reached across to other parties in neighbouring states to achieve interstate cohesive development – an almost unheard-of progressive strategy in the past and the recommended way forward. Congratulations to Governor Makinde who will continue to shine through concrete achievements because he, with the G5 governors, have experience crossing party lines fighting for North/South rotation and electing our president-elect. Expect great things from Seyi Makinde through interparty collaboration and people-focused performance. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu also won re-election in Lagos and Governor Dapo Abiodun in Ogun. Congratulations. More great things ahead??

    A warning: The electorate must stay involved. Politicians are our employees. We need a ‘NO STANDING LAW’ demanding we sit when they enter and leave a room except for the president. 

    The president signed into law 16 constitutional amendments. Too little too late at the end-of-term-LastMinute.Com?’ But any devolution of financial and development power is progress needing incoming government expansion. Is there a president’s strategy, including the cashless election and non-interference in elections process in expectation of Mo Ibrahim Good Governance Prize of $5m? Will any decisions require budgetary allocation changes in the supervisory federal ministries? And a revenue allocation formula change.

    Hurray, among the most widely significant constitutional amendments were the removal of electricity, railways and correctional services from the exclusive list, sadly, the jealously guarded federal government preserve. It has cost Nigerian development years of backwardness. These items were inserted into the Concurrent List meaning now shared with states and local governments. The journey has been long and tremendous kudos have to be given to all those Nigerians, both federal and states, civil servants, political office holders and social activists who have contributed to the struggle against the ‘Exclusive List Lovers’ objections.    

    The impact on the psychology of most Nigerians will be very positive as most believe that the federal government is overbearing, underserving and incompetent precipitating  a massively and unapologetically ‘failure to deliver’ to a country requiring at least 100,000Mw power.  The country is affected by the cost of alternative energy sources especially petrol and diesel generators and the noise and environmental pollution effects caused.  Every family is affected by repeated power failure suffering educational, health, food, business and social losses and financial costs of incalculable magnitude.

    Every state governor leads a state population larger than 20 or more other countries each of which proves uninterrupted power. Our governors are equivalent to heads of state in their states and responsible for citizens’ basic needs especially 24/7 power supply. Now that this is a shared responsibility perhaps results of 100,000Mw power supply will be achievable in our lifetime? However, there is the recent federal Siemens Masterplan to be accelerated and upscaling renewable energy especially maximizing solar energy use and the quagmire Mambilla Hydroelectric problem needing liberation.

     But above all, we need honest governors who introduce executable plans and projects within their tenure to avoid the evil ‘Abandoned Project Syndrome’ in their states, the bane of development in Nigeria.

    Railway development has suffered and created year-round traffic jams kilometres long while the railway systems rotted. They are now beginning to be upgraded and becoming useful to the citizenry. The strangulating federal government grip has finally been lifted with transfer of powers for intrastate railways to states, though interstate rail appears to remain on federal exclusive list. Half bread is better than none.

    Prison is also changed to Correctional Services and also moved to the concurrent list allowing states to have their own state prisoners and confinement structures. Of course, this will be abused by politicians and those with connections, but it is necessary and long overdue. This is presumably a prelude to the much-awaited State Police Law being enacted early in the life of the next government.

    We are seeing a form of piecemeal devolution of power to the states to reverse the damage to democracy inflicted by the military since 1966. How long will the whole devolution process take? Forever?

    President Buhari and the outgoing National Assembly can take the belated ‘glory’ for kick-starting this devolution of power and reduction in the exclusive list, so debilitating to Nigeria’s development and for not kicking the ball down the road into the next government.

    The constitutional amendments law now makes it compulsory to name ministers and commissioners within 60 days to counter the sometimes one year plus delays by some governments.