The Nation Newspaper

Category: Friday

  • Problem of Tafsir

    Problem of Tafsir

    It is understandable that most of the Tafsir books available in the world today are in Arabic language. The language of the revelation of the Qur’an is Arabic. Most of the companions of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) who interacted closely with him and were privileged to deeply understand the interpretation of the Qur’an were Arabs. Arabic itself as a language is exceptionally rich literarily and semantically. For centuries after the revelation of the Qur’an, it was mostly the Arabs who assumed authority on its interpretation. Others, like the Persians (Iranians), the Indians and the Turks who tried to compete with the Arabs in the field of Tafsir, could only do so in Arabic language which they first had to learn as a second language.Thus, from the very beginning, Arabic had been the authoritative language of Tafsir.

    Therefore, in those days, whoever wanted to attain scholarship in the field of Tafsir ought to have mastered Arabic language. But the anomaly in this becomes very conspicuous when one remembers that over four fifth of the world’s Muslims today are non-Arabic speakers.

    This seems to have created some hurdles for humanity in understanding the practical meaning of the Qur’an and in appreciating its real essence.

    Read Also; Six ways to pass WAEC exams well

    There is nothing like being literate in one’s mother tongue. The Arabs have demonstrated this abundantly through Tafsir. But since Tafsir of the Qur’an is not meant for the Arabs alone,shouldn’t there be a means of making it available to majority of Muslims in the languages understandable to them?

    That is one major question which the global Muslim leadership was unable to answer for centuries but which technology has come to answer succinctly especially through the means of computer. Any Muslim scholar who is not computer literate today is therefore an illiterate who may not be strictly qualified to be called a scholar. 

    In this computer age, the world needs the Qur’an more than ever before. And it is only Tafsir that can justify that need. Muslims and non-Muslims alike should be able to read the interpretations of the Qur’an in languages other than Arabic. Read more on Tafsir tomorrow.

    RAMADAN KARIM!

  • Breaking In Error

    Breaking In Error

    For the first few days in Ramadan, every year, there is tendency for some Muslims to forget that they are fasting and thus break their fasts inadvertently during the day. Naturally, the possibility of eating or drinking accidentally due to sheer forgetfulness in the early days of Ramadan is apt. This often occurs to Muslims who hardly fast outside the month of Ramadan.

    If it happens to you, there should be nothing to worry about. As soon as you remember, just recondition yourself to the regulations of Ramadan and continue your fast. Do not tell anybody. Let it remain a secret between you and your Lord. It does not matter whether you remember while eating and drinking or thereafter. In Islam, actions are judged according to intentions. And who else judges both actions and intentions other than Allah, the All-seer and All-knower. Even in the five obligatory Salats observed daily by all genuine Muslims, provisions are made for rectification of errors made through forgetfulness. This is done in terms of ‘Sujudus-Sahwi’. But like in Salat, the forgetfulness in Ramadan involves neither drunkenness nor sexual intercourse nor cheating of any kind.

    Read Also: Tinubu writes House, seeks repeal, re-enactment of Student Loan Bill

    As a Muslim, you are not supposed to eat any forbidden food or drink any intoxicant in the first place, Ramadan or no Ramadan. To be drunk, therefore, in Ramadan, under the pretext of forgetfulness is a confirmation of hypocrisy or infidelity.

    As for sexual intercourse which should only occur legitimately between a husband and his wife, it is impossible to be done out of forgetfulness. At least if the husband cannot remember Ramadan, the wife should. Sexual intercourse cannot be done unconsciously.

    But if intercourse occurs in your dream and you suddenly wake up to discover that you are already wet, all you need to do is to clean up with Janabah (purification) bath. And, then, you continue your fast. Fasting, especially in Ramadan, is a means of rejuvenating spiritual consciousness and renewal of good intention. Anyone who breaks his/her fast in errord ue to forgetfulness should immediately repent and abstain from any situation that can cause its repetition. Allah is forgiving and merciful. •RAMADAN KARIM!      

  • Policy impact assessment  of expatriate Employment Levy    

    Policy impact assessment  of expatriate Employment Levy    

    About 3 weeks ago Nigeria was inundated by the introduction of the Expatriate Employment Levy by the Ministry of Interior asking business organizations to pay annual levies of $15,000 and $20,000 for every expatriate employee or Director respectively.

     The new levies were vehemently opposed by the business community across all sectors of the economy, with the Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (MAN), and various chambers of commerce across the country, raising serious concerns on the multiple, negative concomitant implications on not just the businesses and investments but especially on the economy of Nigeria, short, mid, to long terms. I had also stated in various media engagements that the EEL is ill-timed and will be counterproductive to the overarching objective of President Tinubu’s administration. The Letter written by MAN to President Tinubu seeking his intervention on this very important issue was germane and timely.

     I commend Mr. President for suspending EEL implementation pending more stakeholders’ engagements. However, I also advise that there should be proper policy interagency collaboration and coordination to ensure that policies are not inadvertently frustrating the efforts of the government.

     It is based on the foregoing that I share with us an impact assessment of this policy and other policies vis-à-vis the importance of policy coordination and coherence for efficient, effective, and result-oriented policy strategy.

     Investment Acquisition Versus Investment Retention

    According to the World Bank, the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) profile of Nigeria plunged to almost 60% within 11 years between 2010 to 2021 from about $5.8Billion to about N2.8 Billion, and to make matters worse, Nigeria’s FDI inflows plunged further down to about $840million last year (according to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics). The woeful FDI track record of the last 12 years is a clear indication of our dire need to reverse the trend in order to turn around the economic situation of Nigeria and subsequently put it on a progressive trajectory.

     President Bola Tinubu says his 9months old administration has so far attracted $30 billion in Direct Foreign Investment commitments into the real sectors of the economy, including manufacturing, telecoms, healthcare, oil and gas, and others.

    However, it is worthy of note that, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 3rd quarter report of 2023, by Q4 of last year, foreign investors divested over $200million with the departure of major investors who have been divesting from Nigeria in the past 4 years including Shoprite, one of the major Oil and Gas companies Exxon Mobil is moving to Egypt, and recently GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), etc.

     There are 3 things that ensure the sustainability of investment and trade climates anywhere in the world and they are investor acquisition, secondly, the enabling environment for the investments to thrive and the economic objective to be achieved, and thirdly and most importantly investor retention. If investors are not retained because most infrastructure and manufacturing investments are long-term; incoherent or inconsistent policies will kill the investments and economic activities around the value chain ultimately defeating the main objectives of acquiring and making the investments.

     Therefore, it is my view that policy coordination and coherence are critical success factors to ensuring that the investment commitments become realities and more importantly the existing investments are fully supported to be sustainable. This is because there is the need for an immediate inflow of capital to build critical infrastructure and catalyze production, in the domestic and export markets.

    Policy Coordination And Coherence

     Some of the major banes of our progress as a nation are policy incoherence and the lack of policy coordination by MDAs, albeit the intention may be good when government agencies work at cross-purposes to the detriment of the Country. From a policy coherence perspective, some germane questions arise, i.e. The questions that arise are as follows: What sort of work were put in place by MDAs when conceptualizing such policies? What level of inter-agency collaborations takes place while formulating policies to ensure that agencies do not bring policies that will be at cross purpose with the overarching objective of government or with other subsisting policies, either within the realm of their own entities or in other entities? What level of critical stakeholders’ engagement in the noble intentions behind conceptualizing the policies will not end up being counterproductive or unsuccessful in execution? Those questions are key to the formulation of far-reaching and impactful policies that will add value to the overall strategy of the government.

    I am bringing this topic to the fore because President Bola Tinubu has one big selling point and achievement since the beginning of his administration 9months ago and it is that he has invested a lot of time and money around the world to bring Foreign Direct Investment (FDIs), and we end up with some policies that could inadvertently negate all those efforts. From a strategy, risk assessment, and investment perspective, investors undertake due diligence before they commit to investment commitments notwithstanding the assurances that will be given to the President of a Country, and one of the key instruments of delivering due diligence if the SWOT Analysis, which is an acronym Strengths Weakness, Opportunities and Threats) During SWOT Analysis, it has been confirmed that “inconsistent government policies” are one of the “Threats” to any investment, local and international. Therefore, the preponderance of inconsistent government policies, and incoherent policies are red flags that stop investors from making investments especially the mid to long-term investments that are huge running into millions or billions of US Dollars over a long period of time.

    Read Also: Tinubu urges Senate to confirm Adamu Galunje as CCB chairman

    Another key point to always note is that such policies are not only impacting foreigners but also our local investors, for example, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) local businesses have strategic and technical partnerships with foreign organizations and like also mentioned increasing the levy from $2,000 to $15,000 or $20,000 is based on what yardstick given the current global and domestic socio-economic realities in Nigeria. How will such a policy trigger a counter to rising inflation for example? So, in essence, a policy could be ill-timed and will certainly exacerbate the condition of our operating environment.

    Potential Violation of Bilateral or Multilateral Agreements or Laws

    Nigeria is a signatory to various international agreements and treaties for example the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) and ECOWAS. Therefore, there is no gainsaying that it is important to undertake research and coordination with relevant MDAs to ensure that the policies under consideration will not breach any subsisting agreements of treaties and in cases where such agreements and treaties must be breached we should have answers to those breaches otherwise there will be negative consequences on Nigeria and Nigerians, either on the short and mid-terms or on the long terms. For example, the provisions of the AfCFTA and ECOWAS are very clear regarding breaking down trade barriers amongst African Countries (of West Africa in the case of ECOWAS) to ensure the free flow of persons, goods, and services for the ease of trade and business across borders without encumbrances. The EEL policy could have some negative diplomatic consequences on Nigeria due to reciprocal diplomacy whereby other Countries may swiftly apply such a levy. The same levies on Nigerians providing goods and services in other African Countries or even other Countries around the world. With over 17 million Nigerians in the diaspora, the potential ripple and concomitant effect on our polity will be a strategic mistake that could have a negative impact on a struggling economy that Mr. President is trying to salvage it.

    From an economic perspective, there is a need to have a robust assessment of our policy coordination and policy coherence initiatives. For example, a situation whereby Mr. President is trying so hard to catalyze economic growth, investment, and trade and we have within the same administration policies that are counterproductive to the overarching objective of the administration. Another instance is that within two months this year (from January 1st to February 14 this year), the CBN adjusted the import duty rating 5 times, this is important because import duties are benchmarked against the US Dollar the implication will be the impact of the cost of doing business, ease of doing business, a galloping inflation rate which will ultimately directly or indirectly increase the cost of living crisis. Introducing the EEL having adjusted import duty ratings 5 times within 2 months will certainly negatively affect the efforts of Mr. President to not just bring FDIs who will be discouraged to come in but to also further compound situations for the productive sectors of the economy struggling to survive under the brutal impact of economic challenges.

    In closing, I hope that the EEL episode will be a learning point for key drivers of MDA to take note of policy coordination and coherence while formulating policies for our common good.

  • Pa Makanju Abbas: A father’s legacy (2)

    Pa Makanju Abbas: A father’s legacy (2)

    “And your Lord has decreed that you should worship none except Him and be kind to your parents (especially) when one or both of them attain old age. Do not ever bully on them or shun them. Address them with gentle voice and humility. And always pray Allah to be compassionate with both of them as they were compassionate with you at childhood”. Q. 17: 22.

    Man after demise

    “Man surely becomes a subject of talk after his demise. Whoever is privileged to be alive should therefore endeavour to become a pleasant talk for those coming behind”. -By an Arab poet.

    Preamble

    Inna Lillah, wa inna ilayhi raji’un. We are all from God and to God we shall all return. Those whose fathers are still alive should conscientiously abide by the above quoted verse of the Qur’an. It is after such demise that one realizes that a father in the life of his children is like a sun beaming its rays to a farm and photosynthesizing the crops therein for nourishment and fruitfulness. At a stage, the scorch of such rays may become unbearable for the crops. But without the rays, those crops may lack the energy for growth and nourishment. Until the sun sets, the crops may not know its value in their lives.

    The Book of life

    Human life is like a book of many chapters. Each chapter often opens to another in what may constitute a smooth reading for those who are left behind to read it. Every human being is, consciously or unconsciously, a writer of a book and the readers are free to analyze or interpret the chapters of the book according to their understanding. 

    Pa Abbas’ resume

    At a time when birth records were hardly available, Alhaji Muhammadul Awwal Oyelola Makanjuola Abbas Abioye was born in Iwo, Osun state in about 1913. He was the second of his parents’ eight children, all of whom except one were males. Pa Abbas was one year older than amalgamation the country called Nigeria. He was not just a contemporary of Nigeria’s first indigenous rulers; he was actually a friend of some of them. Despite his limited literacy, he was particularly close to Obafemi Awolowo and Samuel Ladoke Akintola but more to the latter than the former. There was no official record for his birth but we (his children) were able to determine his age when he told us that his friend, Chief  S.L. Akintola was older than him by one year. And since the latter was born in 1912, we concluded that our father, Pa Abbas was born in 1913, a year before the amalgamation of what became Nigeria. Though, born in Iwo, he settled down for a living with his parents in Afaake, Ejigbo local government of Osun State.

    Through his peregrination in life, Pa Abbas came across many useful instances and met many people of substances. At a time, he was an apprentice in carpentry which became his first calling in life. It was he along with some of his artisan colleagues who carried out the carpentry work of our family house in 1954. He also led some other carpenters into fixing the carpentry works of our elementary school, Tajudeen primary school, Ilawo of which he was a board member.

     His travels

    Besides his brothers who sojourned in Abidjan and other cities and towns of Cote d’Ivoire, no villager from Afaake can claim to be more travelled than Pa Abbas whose journeys through apprenticeship and political traverses took him across regions in Nigeria including the North, the South-West, the then Mid-West and South-East. By the local standard of the 1950s and 1960s, he was a traveler par excellence. He climaxed those journeys with a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1975, the year in which a onetime Head of State, Murtala Muhammed performed Hajj.

     His artisanship years

    Apart from his engagement with carpentry, Pa Abbas was also involved in produce buying of cocoa and palm kernel which encouraged him to establish a big farm of cocoa plantation in Ondo state. That was in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

    Some years later, Pa Abbas discovered that the farmers in the village including his own father were not prosperous in cocoa farming because they depended fully on wild cocoa plantation that yielded few profitable products. He therefore invited some agriculturists to introduce cocoa nursery to his village, Afaake. With this, he gathered all the farmers in the village for tutorial on how to plant and nurse modern cocoa trees. From there, a cooperative emerged which was named ‘Egbejoda’ (short form: Egbeda), meaning ‘cooperative farming’. It was also Pa Abbas who introduced tobacco farming to Afaake farmers.

    Read Also: Speaker Abbas tasks security agencies over Borno, Kaduna kidnap

     Impact

    This adjusted the focus of those farmers against the mono-product cash crops that cocoa represented in the late 1950s. Tobacco farming turned out to be so profitable that most farmers in the village almost forgot about cocoa. Yet, in the early 1960s, it was also Pa Abbas that introduced commercial pineapple farming to Afaake village in which both men and women were assiduously engaged. The pineapple farming reigned for quite some time as merchants came from Moore plantation and other relevant companies in Ibadan to purchase the products in bulk. All these activities opened the eyes of the village farmers to the value of agricultural commerce.

     Contribution to manpower development

    Pa Abbas’ inquisitiveness in life was not limited to agricultural endeavour alone; it extended to the building of human intellect and manpower. For instance, when adult education was introduced by the Action Group government in 1954, Pa Abbas was the one who invited the mobile teachers to Afaake village to teach the male and female farmers how to read and write in what was called adult literacy classes. Through that skill, some farmers in the village were able to read and write. Foremost among them was Pa Abbas himself. And when the same Action Group government introduced free primary education in 1955, it was the same Pa Abbas that championed the sighting of one of those schools in Ilawo to serve the three adjacent villages of Ilawo, Afaake and Inisha-Edoro.

    That was the beginning of civilization in the area. The school was named Tajudeen primary school, Ilawo.  

  • States, rise up to cost of living crisis

    States, rise up to cost of living crisis

    THE NEED FOR URGENT ACTION

    The cost of living crisis in Nigeria is getting worse with brutal consequences for citizens, and this requires urgent action by the State Governments. Three weeks ago (on February 16), I wrote on the same topic with a focus on the Federal Government. In today’s edition, I have some notes for the State Governors where they are dealing firsthand with citizens’ reactions to this terrible situation.

     Nigerians are expecting accelerated interventions at the subnational level. I commend the efforts of some Governors who have already taken proactive steps to mitigate the impact of the removal of fuel subsidies on their populace. The notion that the President is the only one responsible for the welfare and well-being of the citizens of Nigeria is not correct. The Governors are also key to the delivery of good governance as is evident in your various activities and interventions. But there is a need for more action and performance, with consequent positive impacts and more visibility. It is also worth noting that the political consciousness of Nigerians has been at its highest since independence, and therefore the citizens are watching and will be sensitive to developments (positive or negative)

     The Federal Government cannot do it alone, state governors must think out of the box, because all the states in Nigeria are so blessed with man and material resources such that no state has any business being poor. Socio-economic recovery and sustainability can only be achieved with value creation and value innovation.

    FOOD SECURITY

    One of the key interventions that Mr. President provided was the release of over 24,000 tonnes of grains. But it is important for us to note the rule of subtraction without addition – it means we are depleting or we have already depleted our strategic reserves. The global warming indicators have shown that food production this year will be less and then there is the big elephant in the room, i.e. insecurity that has kept farmers away from the farms for a long time. Therefore, there is anticipated global food insecurity. So, I expect that within the whole intervention framework, we will have plans to replenish the strategic grain reserves as quickly as possible, because the strategic grain reserves are the last lines of defense and must be available at all times. Otherwise in the next 5 to 6 months during the rainy seasons, naturally there are food shortages during the rainy seasons even without the issues of insecurity, global warming, and the depleted strategic grain reserves. It means that there is a potential disaster by quarter 4 of this year if a concerted well-thought-out strategy is in place immediately to proactively manage the impending danger.

     There is a connection between food insecurity and health, education, and poverty. Because the agriculture value chain produces not just food, but raw materials for industries, raw materials for medicine, and healthcare. Food insecurity will also increase the rate of malnutrition in some parts of Nigeria, especially the northern region where we have the highest number of multi-dimensionally poor Nigerians constituting about 70%. In addition, because of malnutrition and increased infant mortality, there is already a prevalence of hunger and poverty. People are dying due to hunger, and people have started resorting to desperate measures resulting in social unrest and an increase in crime.

      The critical success factor to turn around the socio-economic malaise in Nigeria is first and foremost tackling insecurity. Otherwise, any other initiative will be a “flash in the pan”. This is because the recent escalation of insecurity around the northwest, north-central, and even southeast is hampering food production, otherwise, we are taking two steps forward and three steps backward. This has significantly impacted food security. The northern part of Nigeria is the food basket of the nation and is arguably some part of the West African sub-region. Farmers have gone to the farm late this year. Climate change is impacting, and the danger of food insecurity is looming. There is a need for quick actions

     CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTORS

    •       We should not lose sight of the significance of national security as a critical success factor in achieving food security. For instance, the fertilizers that will be shared will be worthy of note that the fertilizers will be useless if the farmers cannot go to the farms to produce due to insecurity. Farmers need to return to their farms as soon as possible to produce more food and raw materials for the economy to mitigate the looming food shortage with dire consequences.

    •      Value innovation through Public-Private Sector (PPP) initiatives. In this case, I dare say the “real, people-oriented and impactful PPP” models (and not white elephant projects) if used viably and efficiently as strategic tools, will change the dwindling fortunes of the States, especially in terms if critical infrastructure like roads, bridges, agriculture, solid minerals exploration and management, health care systems, etc.

    •      Another critical success factor is in the area of Youth Empowerment. I urge you to continuously harness the skills of Youths and channel them to productivity and development, from technical skills acquisition, talent hunting, value, and job creation, entrepreneurship, and importantly education in all its ramifications, value re-orientation, and leadership by example. To enable them to earn sustainable good lives and livelihoods.

    •In addition, at the National Executive Council level, to see some new strategic synergies of creativity to engender productive states and national economies in the short to long term.

    •Inter-state collaboration and partnerships regardless of party affiliations are very important going forward. I expect to see more of such collaborations by individual states and also by leveraging platforms like the Nigerian Governors Forum, for governors to look beyond party lines and to look at the constitutional mandate of governorship and align the provisions with the visions and aspirations of Governors. Such partnerships could result in an increase in the income of your respective states, create more jobs, and better the welfare and well-being of your people.

    •Entrenchment of the culture of excellence and prudence in the public sector by providing quintessential leadership, i.e. starting the reforms from the top and setting examples with zero tolerance for indolence, mediocrity, nepotism, and sycophancy.

    •Transparency and Accountability in public service, resource allocation, and utilization

    •Anticorruption Strategy and Value-Reorientation: Beyond the mantra to action through realistic, practical, and pragmatic plans and actions with the requisite strategy, management, and execution.

    •Local Government Autonomy: While this topic remains a thorny issue in line with the principle of devolution of powers, I will still urge your excellencies to ensure the entrenchment of the autonomy of the Local Government Administrations as a critical success factor for governance at the State level. This will remove a pile of blame from Governors for the non-performance of some Local Government Chairmen and their Councilors.

    Read Also:High cost of living: Be patient with Tinubu, Oyetola tells Nigerians

     YOUTH EMPOWERMENT IN AGRICULTURE

    The youths of any society or nation are key to the development and substance of that nation.  A very worrisome situation in Nigeria is the lack of deepening commitments and impacts with regard to the support for Nigerian youths to seriously take Agriculture as a profession or business. Part of the issue is that Agriculture has been nationally unattractive and more of a campaign tool than a national and state economic development tool. Over time, successive administrations have not sustained agriculture initiatives and interventions that would have made agriculture the “go-to” industry, for people to be encouraged to join farming.

     ROLE OF STATES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

    The importance of the roles of the States and Local Governments to improve our Agricultural value chain and its socio-economic contributions cannot be over-emphasized. Apart from the national agriculture sectoral reform strategy, which I suggested in last week’s episode of this Column, that we should have at the Federal level, the State Governors, the National Assembly, and state assemblies need to do more in crafting their various Agriculture reform strategies that will key into the overarching national development plan while taking into cognizance their peculiarities with a view to harnessing all their agricultural resources in the states for better socio-economic impacts -short to long term.

     In conclusion, your excellencies, I know that governance at this critical time in the history of Nigeria is not easy, and I commend you for taking the bold and tough decision to serve as governor in the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I am also sure that you prepared for this moment knowing the challenges that you will face, and more importantly, your people elected you with a lot of expectations. Therefore, to whom much is given, much is expected.  I leave you with this quote. I wish you all, Mr. Present and all Nigerians, God’s Guidance and Grace. May Almighty God Continue to Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

  • Pa Makanju Abbas: A father’s legacy

    Pa Makanju Abbas: A father’s legacy

    “And your Lord has decreed that you should worship none except Him and be kind to your parents (especially) when one or both of them attain old age. Do not ever bully on them or shun them. Address them with gentle voice and humility. And always pray Allah to be compassionate with both of them as they were compassionate with you at childhood”. Q. 17: 22.

    Man after demise

    “Man surely becomes a subject of talk after his demise. Whoever is privileged to be alive should therefore endeavour to become a pleasant talk for those coming behind”. -By an Arab poet.

    Preamble

    Inna Lillah, wa inna ilayhi raji’un. We are all from God and to God we shall all return. Those whose fathers are still alive should conscientiously abide by the above quoted verse of the Qur’an. It is after such demise that one realizes that a father in the life of his children is like a sun beaming its rays to a farm and photosynthesizing the crops therein for nourishment and fruitfulness. At a stage, the scorch of such rays may become unbearable for the crops. But without the rays, those crops may lack the energy for growth and nourishment. Until the sun sets, the crops may not know its value in their lives.

    The Book of life

    Human life is like a book of many chapters. Each chapter often opens to another in what may constitute a smooth reading for those who are left behind to read it. Every human being is, consciously or unconsciously, a writer of a book and the readers are free to analyze or interpret the chapters of the book according to their understanding. 

    Pa Abbas’ resume

    At a time when birth records were hardly available, Alhaji Muhammadul Awwal Oyelola Makanjuola Abbas Abioye was born in Iwo, Osun state in about 1913. He was the second of his parents’ eight children, all of whom except one were males. Pa Abbas was one year older than amalgamation the country called Nigeria. He was not just a contemporary of Nigeria’s first indigenous rulers; he was actually a friend of some of them. Despite his limited literacy, he was particularly close to Obafemi Awolowo and Samuel Ladoke Akintola but more to the latter than the former. There was no official record for his birth but we (his children) were able to determine his age when he told us that his friend, Chief  S.L. Akintola was older than him by one year. And since the latter was born in 1912, we concluded that our father, Pa Abbas was born in 1913, a year before the amalgamation of what became Nigeria. Though, born in Iwo, he settled down for a living with his parents in Afaake, Ejigbo local government of Osun State.

    Through his peregrination in life, Pa Abbas came across many useful instances and met many people of substances. At a time, he was an apprentice in carpentry which became his first calling in life. It was he along with some of his artisan colleagues who carried out the carpentry work of our family house in 1954. He also led some other carpenters into fixing the carpentry works of our elementary school, Tajudeen primary school, Ilawo of which he was a board member.

     His travels

    Besides his brothers who sojourned in Abidjan and other cities and towns of Cote d’Ivoire, no villager from Afaake can claim to be more travelled than Pa Abbas whose journeys through apprenticeship and political traverses took him across regions in Nigeria including the North, the South-West, the then Mid-West and South-East. By the local standard of the 1950s and 1960s, he was a traveler par excellence. He climaxed those journeys with a pilgrimage to Mecca in 1975, the year in which a onetime Head of State, Murtala Muhammed performed Hajj.

     His artisanship years

    Apart from his engagement with carpentry, Pa Abbas was also involved in produce buying of cocoa and palm kernel which encouraged him to establish a big farm of cocoa plantation in Ondo state. That was in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

    Some years later, Pa Abbas discovered that the farmers in the village including his own father were not prosperous in cocoa farming because they depended fully on wild cocoa plantation that yielded few profitable products. He therefore invited some agriculturists to introduce cocoa nursery to his village, Afaake. With this, he gathered all the farmers in the village for tutorial on how to plant and nurse modern cocoa trees. From there, a cooperative emerged which was named ‘Egbejoda’ (short form: Egbeda), meaning ‘cooperative farming’. It was also Pa Abbas who introduced tobacco farming to Afaake farmers.

     Impact

    This adjusted the focus of those farmers against the mono-product cash crops that cocoa represented in the late 1950s. Tobacco farming turned out to be so profitable that most farmers in the village almost forgot about cocoa. Yet, in the early 1960s, it was also Pa Abbas that introduced commercial pineapple farming to Afaake village in which both men and women were assiduously engaged. The pineapple farming reigned for quite some time as merchants came from Moore plantation and other relevant companies in Ibadan to purchase the products in bulk. All these activities opened the eyes of the village farmers to the value of agricultural commerce.

     Contribution to manpower development

    Pa Abbas’ inquisitiveness in life was not limited to agricultural endeavour alone; it extended to the building of human intellect and manpower. For instance, when adult education was introduced by the Action Group government in 1954, Pa Abbas was the one who invited the mobile teachers to Afaake village to teach the male and female farmers how to read and write in what was called adult literacy classes. Through that skill, some farmers in the village were able to read and write. Foremost among them was Pa Abbas himself. And when the same Action Group government introduced free primary education in 1955, it was the same Pa Abbas that championed the sighting of one of those schools in Ilawo to serve the three adjacent villages of Ilawo, Afaake and Inisha-Edoro.

    That was the beginning of civilization in the area. The school was named Tajudeen primary school, Ilawo.

    After the establishment of that school, Pa Abbas took it upon himself to ensure the enforcement of attending the school by every child in Afaake. And he did not stop there, he also wrote to those who settled in Cote d’Ivoire to send their children and wards home for enrolment in the school.

    Effect of education

    Many children who attended that school including yours sincerely have risen in life to become men and women of positive identities. Through those invaluable efforts, the family of Abbas Abioye has become a towering citadel of knowledge that no tempest can wipe off the scene. At least, there is no notable profession today in which the children of Abbas are not found. Among his children, his grandchildren and his great grandchildren and their spouses are professionals like Lawyers, Accountants, Doctors, Engineers, Lecturers, Civil servants, Farmers, Businessmen and women, as well as communicators like yours sincerely. If any human tree of value can be regarded as a reference point in both Western and Islamic education in Osun state today, Abbas family will be foremost courtesy of Pa Abbas’ effort, despite his half-literacy. This confirms the verse of the Qur’an which goes thus;

    “Have you not seen how your Lord has planted a seed of words like a gargantuan tree standing gorgeously with its roots firmly planted in the belly of the earth and its foliages sprouting gorgeously into the firmaments of the sky…?”  Q. 14: 24.

    His contribution to religious development

    It was the same Pa Abbas who initiated the idea of building a mosque in Afaake and led a team of other carpenters to package the carpentry apparel of the mosque. He also introduced madrasa system of education into the mosque and championed the hiring of a mu’allim (malim) to teach the village children who were attending Tajudeen primary school. Pa Abbas’ contribution to human and material development of the village was quite legendary and the evidence is still vivid today. He did not only encourage children to attend school for Western education, he also geared them towards acquisition of Islamic education through attendance of Madrasah. Thus, most of the children who attended Tajudeen primary school also attended Madrasah as Pa Abbas believed that acquisition of Western education was incomplete without Islamic education.

    His philosophy of life

    In his philosophy of life, Pa Abbas believed that no matter how much was realized from farm products, it could not be as valuable and as lasting as education. He does advised all other farmers in the village to invest in the education of their children, pointing to them that the future of those children would depend on the education they were given. He therefore invited the then headmaster of Tajudeen primary school, Mr. Bisi Akande, who later became the deputy governor of bigger Oyo state and later governor of Osun state to enlighten those farmers on the importance of education. And the latter did that dedicatedly in style.

    Although Pa Abbas was not quite literate, his exposure through travels made his philosophy of life a pattern of that of an American statesman and intellectual, Williams Webster who stated thus inter alia:

    “If we work marble, it will perish; if we work upon brass, time will efface it; if we rear temples, they will crumble into dust. But if we work upon immortal minds and instil in them just principles, we are then engraving that upon tablets which no time can efface but will brighten to all eternity”.

    Were it possible for the demised to look back and evaluate his contribution to human growth and development, Pa Abbas would have heaved a sigh of relief even while approaching the gates of paradise with confidence.

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    “Who shares his life’s pure pleasure and walks the honest road; who trades with heaping measure and lifts his brother’s load; who turns the wrong down bluntly and lends the right a hand; he dwells in God’s own country and tills the Holy Land”. We are living witnesses.

    The old man (Pa Abbas) passed on quietly in his sleep at about 4 a.m. on Thursday, August 10, 2017 at the ripe age of 104 and he was interned at about 3 p.m. same day.

    God bless the souls of way-pavers. God bless the rightly-guided followers who handed over the baton to other rightly-guided men and women. God bless the soul of Pa Abbas and his likes.

     Conclusion

    That is the legacy of a father who had a vision not only for his own children but for the children of others as well as adults who aspired to make the world a pleasant place to live in. That vision was not just a dream, but also the realization of a dream. As a worthy son of this great father, if I did not write this article in commemoration of a man who left a footprint on the sands of time to show gratitude for good deed, who else should do it? If this is an ode to a gold mind who continues to live in glorious history, let those who value glory read it again and again. This legacy is indelible and we thank Allah for it.

     Appreciation

    The entire family of Abbas Abioye home and abroad seizes this opportunity to thank all relatives, friends and well-wishers who attended the Janazah or attempted to attend it despite the short notice. We also thank those who sent messages of condolence praying Allah to stand by them all in all circumstances of life. God bless you all.

  • Ammendment of the 1999 Constitution: A call on the Elites

    Ammendment of the 1999 Constitution: A call on the Elites

    “We cannot be mere consumers of good governance, we must be participants; we must be co-creators. As citizens, we have to co-create good governance, we cannot outsource it and hope to be passively happy consumers. Like everything worth its while, good governance must be earned.” … Rohini Nilekani – Indian writer, author and philanthropist

    About 10 days ago President Bola Tinubu met with the 36 state governors to discuss the rising food insecurity, inflation, cost of living crisis, and insecurity. The outcome of the meeting chaired by Mr. President was the decision to establish State Police at the subnationals as one of the critical success factors to stop the rising insecurity in Nigeria. Consequently, legislative processes have been initiated at the national assembly to kick-start the process of amendment of the 1999 Constitution which is a Sine qua non for the establishment of the State and Community Policing, restructuring/ devolution of powers, local government autonomy, etc.

     Accordingly, the 10th National Assembly has commenced the process of amendment of the 1999 Constitution. Three days ago, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, the House of Representatives inaugurated a Special Committee to review the Constitution, which is to be Chaired by the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon Benjamin Kalu.  Some State Governors have also kick-started the process that will initiate legislation for the establishment of State Police. The Special Committee will deliberate on about 44 Bills which include; devolution of powers, state police, local government autonomy, gender mainstreaming , change of our legislative system to a unicameral parliamentary system, etc  Interestingly, at the event, the Conference of Speakers of the Nigeria States of Assembly represented by their Chairman, Honourable Adebo Odundoyin have expressed their full support for the Constitution Amendment Process and state the readiness of the State Assemblies to undertake legislative reviews at subnational levels to ensure development in their respective States in particular and the Country in General.

     It is against the background of the aforementioned developments that I find it necessary to speak to all well-meaning Nigerians, particularly the elites, through this medium , on the importance of citizens participation in the legislative process as a crucial value-addition to the enactment of sound, far-reaching, , practical, relevant and impactful amendment of the Nigerian constitution and also laws that will further unify Nigeria and ensure delivery of good governance. By “elites”, I mean the middle-class citizens, who are mostly educated, gainfully employed, and part of the governance and leadership structure of Nigeria in the Civil Service, Public Service, and Private sector. We are mostly employees or employers of labour as professionals, business men/women, entrepreneurs, academics, craftsmen, etc within the organized and informal sectors.

     MY CALL TO THE ELITES OF NIGERIA

    The political landscape is broadening and the political consciousness of Nigerians has heightened over time, with citizens demanding for good governance and increasingly knowing the power of their votes. 

     However, in my opinion, good governance is not just about waiting for politician to do as they wish while we lament about how things have been going worse in the past 24 years since the return of Nigeria to  democracy, but good governance is a process which includes citizens making demand and actually setting the parameters, standards of the kind of leadership their want and the accountability and performance framework based on which they will measure their leaders at all levels and hold them accountable.

    I dare say that except for the 2015 and then 2023 general elections, the elites of this country have been serially and unfairly undeserving of the political evolution of Nigeria by not being actively part of the political process. We mainly engage in “arm chair “criticisms and cynicisms. the question is what are the contributions and sacrifices we are making to better the political process? It is not good enough to just lament and pontificate. What solutions are we offering and how are we part of the solutions? As the saying goes, talk is cheap! It is time for action. Take note that not participating in the political process is also a vote of confidence on the status quo. And if we don’t participate, then we lose the moral ground to challenge and hold our leaders accountable because we would have a really failed ab initio in our roles as citizens.

     We, the elites have been failing the masses of this Country by not really taking tangible actions that add value to our political process. Only when things affect our relatively comfortable lives do we try to gaslight the situation and make it look as if we are all in it together! That is what I call the “hypocrisy of our expectations “. It’s not good enough to carry placards, because the elites don’t even carry the placards anyway. I urge us to actively and consistently engage the leadership of this country at national and sun national levels so that we can all “own” the outcomes or collectively “disown” the outcomes of our political processes in the overall interest of Nigeria.

     So, to the elites and the “sabi sabi”, “egg-heads” and “arm chair leaders” amongst the elites (and they are in the majority) – it’s time to get down from our high horses and be part of the process. We should articulate our respective WhatsApp group banters, lamentations, arguments, and pontifications to real actions and contributions by articulating position papers and term papers and by attending public hearings. These are some of the most crucial and value adding actions the elites should take! Enough with idealism, judging, criticisms, and “talk shops” – LET US BE PART OF THE PROCESS.

     Meanwhile, I recognize the efforts of a few elites who have ventured to speak truth to power in trying to put the Government on its toes, those efforts are impressive and highly commendable. But to demonstrate sincerity of purpose, we should remain consistent. We have a lot of work to do in order to make Nigeria great.  Insults and toxic cultures will only plunge us further into the abyss of backwardness as a nation and as a people.

     SOME POINTS TO NOTE

    I humbly submit an action plan to guide our thoughts and conversations:

     •Going forward, we should Mainstream group discussions by articulation, lobby, advocacy, and participating in public hearings, and submitting papers to relevant arms, and institutions of government at state and sub national levels

    •Leveraging Technology and Social Media to raise awareness and galvanise support for very crucial provisions to be made or included in the constitution amendment. All these can be done in an organized manner. WhatsApp groups and other conventional community and interest groups and societies could articulate and refine their thoughts and positions on  the various topics of review and submit them as proposals to the respective Constitution amendment Committees and also fully participate in the legislation process through follow-ups and performance reviews. 

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    •These engagements should not stop only with the Constitution Amendment but to also include other subsequent legislations  to introduce new Acts/ laws or for the review of existing laws.

    •Confining our conversations only to Whatsapp groups, dinner table conversations of side talks means that we have abdicated our responsibilities as citizens and that is why we end up hamstrung with ambiguous laws or incoherent policies that in most cases destroy our economy and social structure and system while we complain on the side lines to no effect.

    •We must not leave the entire thought processes and actions of legislation to politicians who in most cases do not even consult their constituents but rather push some other agendas to the detriment of the people. If these continue to happen, we should all have ourselves to blame and importantly we will actually continue to live the brutal consequences of not paying attention and participating in our political process, or die as a result.

    •We should please note that the process is the most important part of our political evolution. Because the process will determine the quality of the outcome and impacts.

    •As citizens, we should also be very aware and fully engage in sectoral reform legislation to ensure that our individual and collective skills, competencies, and capacities add value to the process so that our various areas of profession or interest are supported for our collective good as a people and as a Country. I believe that active and more robust stakeholders engagements and citizens participation will not only strengthen our democracy but more importantly will ensure good governance and consistent delivery of the dividends of democracy at all sectors and strata of our Country.

     I will leave us with a food for thought to reflect on: The achievement of the national growth and development that we dream of will continue to be a mirage, until we actively participate in the political process of the evolution of Nigeria.

  • Imperative of state, community policing

    Imperative of state, community policing

    The need for the establishment of state policing is long overdue. Therefore, the meeting convened by President Tinubu last week to initiate a process to set up state policing is a welcome development. However, I have some concerns about how the structure and setup of the state and community policing will be, so that we ensure that we have a state and community policing that will succeed.

     PROCESS AND MODALITIES

    I am of the opinion that some of the key next steps include; the setup of think tanks for state and community police at national and state levels; undertaking gap analyses at national and state levels and follow-up comparison of notes to ensure that common issues and also peculiarities are identified ab initio, so that the state legislations will address those common issues and also peculiarities to ensure the formulation of coherent policies and operational protocols that will handshake the federal policy framework for efficiencies, effectiveness and positive impacts; there should also be robust stakeholder engagements to get the buy-in of all stakeholders.

      I am aware that there are some papers and term sheets on community policing that have been done by some stakeholders. There are/were also existing community policing models in Nigeria that have been operational, for example, the Hisbah in Kano State, the Amotekoun in Ondo State, and the Ebube Agu in Ebonyi State. Therefore, Committees and national and state levels of people of proven experience, expertise, track record, and integrity, could be mandated as think tanks to come up with some concepts that would be reviewed at state and national levels as part of the process of achieving robust, practical, achievable and effective community policing models.

     The next crucial step is the legislative process, to enable the enactment of State and community policing at local government, state, and national levels. I recognize the fact that the 10th National Assembly and some states have already initiated processes of constitutional review and legislation to that effect. However, an important question for us to immediately address includes: what are the roles of the state and community police? What could be the interplays or interplaying roles between the local government, and the state and federal police? What will be the state of play? What would be the protocols and/ or standard operating procedures (SOPs)? What would be the escalation points, and what would be the boundaries of authority and accountability? What will be the safeguards to ensure that the state Governors do not abuse the powers of controlling the state and/ or local government police? etc.

     It is worthy of note that the role of community policing is largely information and intelligence gathering, fostering peaceful co-existence, ensuring some level of law enforcement, and taking pre-emptive and preventive measures/steps, to curtail or contain threats (kinetic and non-kinetic) while relating and keying-into the federal policy when and if necessary. There is the notion the state police could also be armed, and that is why the legislative process is very important. Readers may recall that in February last year, Justice Riman Fatun of the Federal High Court, Abakalaki, disbanded the Ebubeagu as a result of illegal arrests, extortions, possession of illegal firearms, human rights abuses, etc. This is a reminder of how important the process of setting up the state and community police will be in ensuring that it will not be abused.

     In addition, because it will be a new instrument of power and coercion at the subnational since its existence and abolishment in Nigeria over 60 years ago, we should expect and plan to deal with the teething problems of how such immense power of the state should be managed and if necessary contained especially given the fact that even the Nigerian Police Force is facing multiple cases of abuse of power, human rights abuses, etc. Therefore, the fundamentals of community policing have to be right strong, and the pillars have to be firm and enduring. I advocate for thorough legislation, I urge us not to “rush” the legislation and in the process enact weak laws to support our community policing which in the end could backfire on the good citizens and residents of Nigeria. We must be careful with the timeline of legislation before enactment into law, then the setup of the forces, the recruitment process, the tooling and kitting, doctrine and training, etc. before fully operationalizing the community police forces, and then we start feeling impacts. In my opinion, an expedited process could take up to 1 year or more before we start seeing and feeling the overall impact of Community policing depending on how seriously it is taken and how well it is set up and activated at the subnational level.

    THE BIGGER PICTURE OBJECTIVE- THE NIGERIA ARMED FORCES

     While the euphoria of the need for setting up community policing is overtaking us, we should not lose sight of the bigger objective. The Nigerian Armed Forces are seriously undermanned and under-served. There are currently about 370,000 policemen and women in the Nigeria Police Force with a ratio of 1 police officer to 600 Nigerians. Recently the IGP made a public declaration that the Nigeria Police force requires an additional 190,000 personnel which in my opinion is not even enough, we have less than 300,000 military personnel, and less than 30,000 Nigeria Immigration officers manning our land, marine, and air borders, with over 1,400 unmanned and illegal land borders. Secure borders are a critical success factor in securing the nation.  There are also less than 10,000 Nigerian Civil Defense Corps officers in the entire Country. The aforementioned law enforcement agencies have their statutory roles in maintaining law and order and also ensuring Nigeria’s internal security. The shortfall of boots on the ground of these agencies is reflecting the increasing state of insecurity in Nigeria.  Therefore, while we are addressing the issue of state and community policing, I urge President Tinubu and the National Assembly to as a matter of national priority increase the capacity of our military, police, immigration, civil defense corps, and other law enforcement agencies so that we don’t lose focus on the bigger picture and come back later to react to multi-dimensional challenges that we may not be able to contain.

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     FUNDING IMPERATIVES

    While we are all excited about State and community policing, let us also note that for the past 5 years about 20 States of the Federation have not been paying the minimum wages of N30,000.00 agreed to between the Government and organized labor since 2019. Some states regularly owe the state employees monthly salaries sometimes for months. Now we have a very crucial national priority of tackling insecurity. The Community Policing project will test the resolve of the governors because state police have to be funded by the State Governments. The man and material resources requirement to set up and operate state police in terms of Capital Expenditure and operations expenses and recurring expenses must be properly planned and catered for. I believe that we should have robust, fully functional, efficient, and effective community policing and not a ragtag arrangement of some people who will not be able to deliver the mandate. 

     CONCERNS ABOUT THE POTENTIAL ABUSE OF THE POWER OF COERCION BY THE GOVERNORS

    I share the concern of many Nigerians about the possible abuse of the State Police if and when enacted into law by some State Governors, to the detriment of democracy, and the fundamental human rights of the people. There are concerns that some Governors could abuse this instrument of coercion and power to their undue advantage while they use the same instrument to anybody or people that they consider adversaries. I have given an instance with the abolishment of Ebubeagu by the Federal High Court in Ebonyi. We have a political system that has given so much power to the Governors and to that extent, such powers are misused by some Governors.  Therefore, the concern is how these organizations will be properly and adequately used for the purpose and objectives that will be set and not for political and/ or parochial interests.

     Accordingly, it is important that the National Assembly make adequate provisions of safeguards during the amendment of the Constitution to ensure that there can be interventions by the 4 arms of the Federal Government (Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary) to save any state that will be unfortunate to have Governor who will use the State Police structure and machinery for monstrous purposes or any reason(s) other than to protect and serve the peoples. If this is not done then the State police will become a problem that will be worse than our mounting socio-economic and security challenges because we would have given constitutional backing to anarchy.

  • Cost of living, price control and other matters

    Cost of living, price control and other matters

    “If people cannot trust their Government to do the job for which it exists – to protect them and promote their welfare – all else is lost”- Barrack Obama, the 44th President of the United States of America.

    THE NEED FOR URGENT ACTION

    The cost of living crisis in Nigeria is rising to epic proportions which if not addressed decisively will plunge this country into a worse national dilemma.

     I applaud the increase in the level of seriousness with which President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is trying to tackle the issue with the convening of a meeting yesterday, with Governors and other critical stakeholders in Government yesterday to look into the issue, the setup of the presidential committee to review the minimum wage, the intervention of releasing over 24,000 tonnes of grains, etc. This is a follow-up to the declaration of emergency on food insecurity last year and also the action points with the NLC/TUC about 6 months ago, etc.

     While the above initiatives are laudable and reflect the readiness of the administration of President Tinubu to mitigate the impact of the subsidy removal and other economic downturns, it is important that decision-makers, leaders at various strata, and critical stakeholders note that urgent execution of the action points hitherto agreed to and committed to with follow-up milestones communication and corrective actions taken if and when necessary are essential to successfully managing this very worrisome situation which is actually a global malaise, albeit worsened in Nigeria by the bad choices and actions/inactions of previous administrations at Federal and State levels.

    MINIMUM WAGE SHOULD TAKE WORKERS HOME

    The current cost of living crisis in Nigeria is not a function of food scarcity, but a function of purchasing power due to the eroding value of the Naira and the non-increment of the wages and salaries of workers in Nigeria for over 14 years. This is more so despite the fact that the 2018/2019 increase of minimum wage to N30,000 is yet to be applied by about 20 States in Nigeria – and that’s the bottom line.

     Importantly, I hope and pray that the outcome of the work by the Minimum Wage Review Committee set up by President Tinubu with the Chairman Vice President Kashim Shettima as the Chairman will improve the welfare and livelihood of the Nigerian workers so that they get succor because the rising cost of living is a very big issue, Nigerians are really struggling.

     CONTAINING THE RISING COST OF LIVING VERSUS PRICE CONTROL

    The issues of price control can be traced to the fundamental issues of the erosion of our value systems in Nigeria. The fact that unscrupulous traders and businesses are looking for the slightest opportunity to over-price their goods and services due to the sheer wickedness of desire to profit on the suffering of their fellow citizens and yet they blame only the government for our woes is pathetic, to say the least. Therefore, I agree that we should have a mechanism that will be controlling those excesses or extortion.

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    However, if we continue chasing those wicked traders and businessmen/women without dealing with the foundational issues, we will perpetually continue to face these recurring issues.  Nigeria has a galloping inflation that is currently hovering close to 30% with no indication that it will slow down in the short to midterm, with the debt profile and issue of cost of borrowing, etc. We may be facing the vagaries of inflation and the consequent brutal economic impacts for the next 6 months or even more.

     Therefore, there is an urgent need to deal with the factors that drive inflation i.e. cost of production, availability of the products (e.g. food, or other goods and services), cost of logistics, cost of storage, availability and cost of power (electricity), insecurity, etc. In the case of food security and availability for example, currently, some farmers cannot go to their farms due to kidnappings, banditry, and other forms of terrorism. And for those farmers that go to the farms they end up most likely paying three or four types of taxes/levies, i.e. Local Government levies, State Government levies, Federal Government levies, and the levies they pay to terrorists/ bandits or kidnappers. We cannot expect those farmers/up-takers to sell the products at a “reasonable” price” without considering their cost of production. In terms of production, power is not available, people have to resort to self—help to generate power at a cost that is rising (e.g. Diesel) to be able to produce goods or provide services. The government needs to be practical and sincere and address the key drivers of production in the economy so that we can turn around the rising cost of living. But I agree that there should be a measure of containment and control of over-pricing which can only be feasible if we deal with the aforementioned issues. For example, tackling insecurity at national and state levels so that farmers can go back to the farms this year’s farming season should be the first step and will be a critical success factor.

     With regards to a proposal to establish a Price control Board, My opinion is that we should get our priorities right as a Country, and the National Assembly should rather focus on key priorities that will immediately result in the following: reduction in the cost of production of goods and services which will ensure supply to address rising demand, tackle insecurity, provide interventions that will support protect our farmers and traders to produce enough food and raw materials, availability of power, reduce cost of doing business, etc. Those should be the focus of the National and State legislature as a matter of national priority and not the creation of an agency of government that will be of no value or consequence in the short to long term.

     The truth is that endemic corruption in our Country is another causative factor of the rising cost of living. I dare say that we currently have enough laws and regulations in Nigeria. But the execution of the laws in terms of enforcement of laws and regulations, surveillance, monitoring, and evaluation, ensuring compliance with regulations and extant laws, taking proactive steps to prevent a breach of laws and regulations, and the lack of consequences of breaking the laws and regulations are the issues. We have solid organizations like the Standard Organizations of Nigeria (SON), NAFDAC, Nigeria Customs and Excise, Consumer Protection Board, etc. organizations that have full legal backing to ensure the delivery of quality goods and services and protection of consumers also in terms of overpricing, etc. What I will expect is that the Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary arms of Governments at the Federal and State levels ensure that organizations are living up to the expectations of their existence in line with the laws setting them up. 

      Accordingly, I strongly recommend that the government, at all arms and tiers, focus on the correct priorities with decisive actions in terms of good governance, and doing the right things. Otherwise, the Price Control Board will become another additional cost of governance with no value on an already over-bloated civil service that most Nigerians are calling for to cut down on the cost of governance. Because there will be a huge cost required to undertake the legislation that will create the Price Control Board, then the cost of activating the Board, appointing Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer, other executives and staff, creating of offices, etc. which will ultimately be becoming another huge recurrent cost in our annual Federal and State budget. Additionally, the Board may become a political vehicle or a vehicle for corruption whereby there will be collusion to defeat the objective of setting up the Board in the first place. The key to solving this issue of price increase is to open up the value chains and supply chains, break barriers of trade, and ensure the ease of doing business which will in turn, ensure competition and enough supply to surpass demand which will ultimately naturized hoarding and speculation which are the key levers of price increase.

     IMPACTS AND VALUE CREATION AT STATE LEVELS

    More than any other arm or tier of government, the state government has a more direct and tangential role to play in alleviating the lives of their people. Going forward there will be more attention from the people on the state Governors and demand for good governance accountability and performance as will be seen in the coming months because citizens are becoming more aware of their rights and expectations of leaders at all arms and tiers of government. The coming months will be key indicators. 

     Citizens should demand more transparency and good governance at subnational levels to catalyze better service by their respective governors and legislators. We pay too much attention to the Federal Government, such that we forget the immense responsibility placed on the Governors to deliver good governance.

  • Issues on 2024 U.S. presidential election (1)

    Issues on 2024 U.S. presidential election (1)

    In today’s episode, I will reflect on some of the mechanics and dynamics of the political landscape in the United States of America (US, or USA) building up to the 2024 US Presidential elections. In subsequent episodes, I will delve deeper into the analysis of political permutations and combinations with the attendant potential homeland and global impacts.

     IS THE USA GOING THROUGH A PHASE OF POLITICAL METAMORPHOSIS?

    In my opinion, the US is undergoing a phase of political metamorphosis with both the Republican and Democratic political parties undergoing sublime internal ideological restructuring which will ultimately impact the mid to long-term political outlook of the United States of America. Indeed, the interest of the USA remains paramount to both political parties and their flag bearers. But what I call the ‘emerging game-changing personalities ‘, and “consequent tendencies” will determine the homeland and foreign priorities that are emerging in the political landscape of the US.

     The mechanics and dynamics of US politics are surely changing as is evidenced in the emerging political landscape of the past 7 years since the emergence of Donald Trump as the President of the US and especially after the emergence of President Joe Biden in 2021, which stopped Donald Trump from a second term in office, after a tight, bitter and toxic contest. Who would have thought that in modern-day America, the bastion of democracy, freedom, and liberty could have one of the most hotly contested and challenged elections in history leading the insurrection at Capitol Hill, the Legislative Arm of the Government and the cradle of democracy was attacked and desecrated, and the legislators and the then Vice President held hostage by aggrieved citizens who strongly believed it is their candidate, Mr. Donald trump that won the elections.

     For a long time, in the United States, the world did not hear such serious allegations or see evidence of election malpractice in the United States, like; voter suppression in some states, ballot numbers manipulations, voter intimidation, election violence, etc. We saw opposing sides violently fighting on the streets which was reminiscent of politics and elections in “developing nations/democracies” – It was an embarrassing moment for the USA. Indeed the 2021 US presidential elections was a watershed in the political history of the US. Over 3 years after the presidential elections and the emergence of President Joe Biden, the election results were contested in the courts of the United States of America by Mr. Trump and his supporters, while the prosecution of suspects of the insurrection of the Capitol Hill is ongoing as some of them have been convicted while some have been discharged and acquitted.

     CHANGING FACTORS OF CONSIDERATION FOR CHOOSING LEADERS 

    The parameters of candidates’ evaluation for selection of leaders in the US political leaders, especially the President, is changing daily as can be seen in the last two presidential elections. Mr. Donald Trump weathered the moral, and credibility storms to become the 45th President of the USA in 2017.

     Furthermore, it now appears that moral, reputational, age, and legal issues are no longer priority considerations for the American electorate because even the Hunter Biden allegations of illegal dealings with some foreign interests did not cause any significant damage to Joe Biden’s campaign. Interestingly, all the allegations of sexual harassment and financial misdemeanors against Mr. Donald Trump were inconsequential and did not stop Donald Trump from becoming the President of the USA in 2017. It appears from the foregoing, that for the average American, leadership is no longer about idealism or perfection, but about political ideology, capacity, and competence over and beyond integrity. It is not as if integrity does not matter, but that a good/ideal candidate without capacity and competence is likely to lose to a candidate with more capacity and competence than integrity. The downside of this theory is the continuous erosion of the value systems of that society, which is what we saw when President Trump gaslighted the insurrection of Capitol Hill, which will remain a sore part of American history for years to come.

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     PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN’S CANDIDACY AND THE DARK HORSE SCENARIO

    The Democrats are struggling with an internal party crisis, with an increasing number of democratic party leaders feeling strongly against the candidacy of President Joe Biden who they feel will not be a strong candidate despite his power of incumbency given his age, seeming fragility, and some underlying health concerns as well as his failing foreign policies that are backfiring which are impacting on the popularity and salability of the Democratic party’s ideals to average Americans especially the undecided and upcoming voters and this could have a long-standing impact on the Democrats especially in sustaining the getting new members and supporters i.e. the youth and the some moderates and democratic socialists (radical) groups within the Democratic party.

     Accordingly, some of Biden’s allies and strategists are worried about the rising popularity and availability of potential alternative candidates like Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, and Jill Stein who some believe will bring freshness and more competitiveness for the Democratic Party, especially in wooing some aggrieved or “concerned” Republican Party leaders and voters who do not like Trump’s style of politics and leaderships and the attendant consequences. Therefore, even though it’s highly unlikely that President Joe Biden will be upstaged as the Democratic party candidate, it is plausible that a “dark horse” candidate may emerge as the Democratic Party candidate. What is important for the Democratic party is unity of purpose and party cohesion. They don’t want to go into the presidential elections with disgruntled members, albeit to reduce the Party’s competitiveness given that every number should count in this tight and bitter contest. Some members may decide to abstain from voting which as far as am concerned is in itself a referendum. The scenario of voter apathy for the Republican party is also a possibility given how strongly some Republicans feel about Trump and his MAGA movement. Notwithstanding, I am of the opinion that the Democrats stand more chance of losing to their voters’ apathy than the Republicans. The Republicans will come out strongly this time to ensure that they cast their votes having learned the lesson of some of them staying back from voting in 2019.

     FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP SWIMMING AGAINST THE TIDE

    Former President Donald Trump has knocked out all the major presidential aspirants and is bulldozing his way to be the most likely Republican Party candidate. Despite his legal tussles which he and his allies consider as a witch hunt and gimmick to stop him from contesting the elections, his popularity within the Republican Party and conservative electorates is soaring. He is also gradually gaining the sympathy of the undecided voters and young Americans who are just reaching the legally allowed voting age. These factors are significant deciding factors in the upcoming elections.

    With the party’s latest triumphs at the IOWA, and New Hampshire Caucuses despite the political optics and legal challenges he is facing, Mr. Trump looks set to give the incumbent President Joe Biden a good fight. This is especially so as Trump is further consolidating his grip on the Republican Party structure in the states across the United States. Indications and information are rife that Trump has concluded plans to upstage the current Chair of the Republican National Committee Chair, Ronna McDaniel who has already started discussing the possibility of stepping down during a private meeting with former President Trump, with both agreeing to delay a decision until after South Carolina’s primary later this month. This will be the final strategic move by Trump to take control of the Republican Party. Essentially, Trump’s grip on a third presidential nomination is tightening, as the MAGA voices are carrying more clout.

    McDaniel’s potential ouster confirms the growing influence of Trump’s MAGA group’s dominance in the GOP affairs on the eve of a new general election season, upstaging the longest-serving Republican Party chair since the American Civil War which happened almost 160 years ago, having served for about 7 consecutive years. The stage is now set for a new RNC with the likes of including North Carolina GOP Chair Michael Whatley, who has ties both to the Republican establishment and Trump.

    The only major contender to Donald Trump in the Primaries is Nikki Haley, a 52-year-old former South Carolina Governor and Trump’s Ambassador to the United Nations, and a solid conservative. The bottom line is that former President Donald Trump will emerge as the flag bearer of the Republican Party.

    We will continue with part-2 of the reflections on US Presidential elections in subsequent episodes.