The Nation Newspaper

Category: ARINZE IGBOELI

  • Nigeria’s poor regulatory systems

    Nigeria’s poor regulatory systems

    Sister Olawunmi just subscribed for a 2Gb data plan on one of the nation’s telecom networks, sadly by the next day she cannot make use of such services for her thesis research, efforts to reach the customer care to lay complaints are automatically frustrated as that network is off the air leaving Sister Wunmi frustrated at a system where regulation has failed to work, it’s not just telecoms, every  sector in Nigeria  has repeatedly suffered from the non existence of proper regulation passing on the buck to the ordinary Nigerian who is vulnerable. The absence of effective regulations in Nigeria is indeed a reason why Nigeria continues to be a limping giant with a number of it’s goods and services not meeting set standards of other nations as well as has failed to help attract the required investments in a number of sectors.

    Regulatory agencies naturally should play  play a critical role in ensuring compliance with laws and regulations, promoting fair competition, and safeguarding public interests. However, in Nigeria, these institutions have far too often failed to fulfill their mandates, resulting in dire consequences for the country’s economy and society. This essay aims to discuss the poor performance of regulatory agencies in Nigeria and the implications it has had on various sectors.

    There are a number of reasons for the poor performance of regulatory agencies in Nigeria, one of them is notably corruption, while we also have lack of funding, political interference, inadequate legal framework, lack of accountability and incompetent personell.

    When buildings collapse trapping and killing many within such structures, a 9 out of 10 reasons for such a tragedy would be majorly due to a lack of regulatory functions. While banks continue to cause their clients much havoc owing to a number of their transactions failing while they snugly assure such a customer of getting his money back within a particular amount of days irrespective of what such transactions were meant to resolve. Let’s not even talk about the penny pinching that goes on within our accounts for which we are to laid back to question.

    Truth is that regulatory agencies will not work for as long as the regulatory officials are known to demand bribes or engage in other forms of corrupt practices in carrying out their duties. This not only undermines the effectiveness of these agencies but also erodes public trust in them.

    Stemming from a lack of funding, this in turn leads to a lack of resources and capacity for these agencies to effectively carry out their regulatory functions. Insufficient funds also limit their ability to recruit and retain qualified personnel, resulting in reduced productivity and effectiveness.

     Regulatory agencies in Nigeria are often subject to political interference, with politicians and other powerful figures exerting influence over their operations. This interference compromises their autonomy and independence, leading to decisions that may not be in the best interest of the public.

    Inadequate legal framework: The legal framework governing regulatory agencies in Nigeria is often weak and outdated. This hampers their ability to enforce regulations effectively, as they face legal constraints and loopholes that can be exploited by those they are supposed to regulate. Similarly regulatory agencies in Nigeria often operate without proper checks and balances. There is a lack of transparent and effective mechanisms for holding these agencies accountable for their actions or inactions. This creates a culture of impunity and negligence, further contributing to their poor performance.

    Lastly, a combination of these factors naturally result in the recruiting of Incompetent and poorly skilled staff as many regulatory agencies in Nigeria suffer from a lack of competent and qualified personnel. There is often a disconnect between the knowledge and skills required for effective regulation and the capabilities of those appointed to regulatory positions. This lack of expertise compromises the efficacy of these agencies.

    To address the poor performance of regulatory agencies in Nigeria, there is a need for systemic reforms. This includes improving transparency, accountability, and professionalism within these agencies. Additionally, tackling corruption, providing adequate funding, updating the legal framework, and reducing political interference are crucial steps for improving their effectiveness.

    The poor performance of regulatory agencies in Nigeria has created significant obstacles for business growth and foreign investments. Corruption and bureaucratic red tape have stifled entrepreneurship and discouraged potential investors. The World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business Index consistently ranks Nigeria poorly due to these issues, deterring both local and international investors.

    Moreover, weak regulatory enforcement has allowed the spread of informal and unregistered businesses, undermining the competitiveness of formal businesses subjected to stringent taxation and compliance requirements. This concept of unfairness further deters potential investors and discourages job creation within the formal economy.

    The failure of regulatory agencies in Nigeria has had far-reaching consequences on the economy, public health, and business growth. Addressing the issues afflicting these institutions is essential for the country’s development and progress. Transparent and accountable governance, coupled with institutional reforms, are necessary to restore public trust, combat corruption, and strengthen regulatory oversight. By doing so, Nigeria can create an enabling environment for businesses, attract investments, and ensure the well-being of its citizens

  • On the rising food prices in Nigeria

    On the rising food prices in Nigeria

    Nigeria is presently facing its biggest rise in food prices as inflation continues to clamber up all over the world even as the global economy slowly recovers from the coronavirus pandemic with a number of consequences for the nation.

    As we speak, the price of staples such as rice, beans and garri has moved up by a huge percentage against the real incomes of the average Nigerian which has continued to shrink by the day while the country continues to wriggle itself out of the twin problems of low oil prices and the pandemic. Such price rise of staples which are required by a majority of households in Nigeria for their daily nourishment not only takes such staples away from their reach, dealing a blow on their nutritional needs as well as pushing millions of Nigerians (About 6 million Nigerians) below the poverty line.

    Understanding the impact of such price rise is simple economics not requiring the ponderous personalities of doomsday economists to tell us in that Warri parlance “E don Red” ( Which means it is that bad) With food prices galloping to more than 23 percent since the onset of the coronavirus crisis, the challenges of feeding oneself and it becomes worse if one has a family is indeed a monumental one, it is thus important for us to sound the alarm and perhaps wake up those in charge of the numerous policies that may impact positively one way or the other and help arrest such hikes and perhaps bring down the prices.

    Within the earlier mentioned challenges, we would have more children suffer from malnutrition as providing three square meals would be a daunting task and worse more such meals could lack the basic nutrients meant to stave off malnourishment among children. As it stands now, it is bad enough that over 17 million children in Nigeria are malnourished and suffer from a number of ailments that can be traced to such malnourishment, it is thus a given that with such a hike in prices of such staples and the absence of other alternatives many more children will join such numbers, sad indeed!

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    The price of beans, a major staple which is the nation’s chief supplier of plant proteins has gone up for example by 62 percent forcing a number of families to reduce its consumption. For rice, the story has not much been different with the staple doing a 15 percent rise in price despite the fact that a majority of our rice consumed here is locally produced as whatever rice that is allowed to be imported must do so through the ports with a tariff rate of 70 percent slammed on such imports to discourage the business while a subsisting ban hovers over the importation of rice via our borders. One wonders why despite the long run as well as the increase in rice farming in states like Kebbi, Ebonyi, Jigawa, Ekiti and Kano the much needed push in the demand for the staple has not readily provided the much needed investment in the sector as well as allow for price stability since a majority of our consumed rice is no longer subject to our exchange rates.

    Other staples such as yam, maize and plantains have also tanked north causing a majority of Nigerian households to increase their spending on food or at most reduce the quality of food consumed. What this means is that Nigerians will reduce the amount they spend on other aspects such as rent, education, healthcare and lastly leisure thus stifling these sectors from recording any meaningful growth.

    What bothers me the most is that the reasons for such food price increases is not driven alone by global factors or the pandemic: Nigeria’s rise in food prices is largely caused by the fact that a number of policies meant to ensure that 40 percent of our food is not wasted owing to the lack of proper storage facilities, our transport system is still in dire straits and policies that are meant to improve the agricultural value chain in Nigeria are either lacking or are not fully implemented.

    Worse still is the growing insecurity situation in Nigeria that has seen herdsmen clash repeatedly with farmers over access to land. In farming areas in a number of states, people are scared to go to the farms for the fear of been slaughtered in their own farms by suspected criminal herdsmen, this naturally has affected the level of production of these staples creating a form of supply induced scarcity which in turn has led to an increase in such prices of staples.

    These have been worsened with the continuous war against terrorism, the rise in banditry, kidnapping as well as ethnic wars between communities in Nigeria.

    The truth is that such food price increases makes a mess of the exploits in agriculture by this present administration. This should serve as a clarion call to the ministers of agriculture as well as other coordinating bodies to begin to do the needful as Nigerians have no business with been hungry otherwise soon, the chickens will begin to come home to roost!

    I had written this in 2021, now fast forward to 2024 and owing to a number of factors, the price of staples mentioned here have more than quadrupled and seem not to be abating soon. While such a situation is not the exclusive preserve of Nigerians alone, as the situation seems to be the same all over the world, the truth remains that Nigeria has no business grappling with such if we had paid heed to agriculture rather than dumping it for the petrodollars which we have also not managed.

    The Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration must tackle this problem headlong otherwise it would have the frustrations of Nigerians as it’s major concerns. A hungry man is an angry man!

    Need I say more…

    Nigeria Must Succeed!

  • Will President Tinubu restructure this nation

    Will President Tinubu restructure this nation

    As Nigeria continues to experiment with its journey into nationhood, reputed statesmen, scholars, patriots and groups alike have repeatedly called for the total overhaul of the nation’s political system and the ushering of another which would best suit its present configuration and one that will guarantee the total development of the nation as well as its continued  stability.

    Whether we like it or not, restructuring remains the elixir to the nation’s cauldron of socio-economic cum socio-political conundrums. While I might agree with the school of thought that the major problem of this nation has been the challenge of leadership, the truth remains that even if you give Nigeria the saintliest of saints as its leader or select of leaders, the present stack of our nation’s quasi federal structure would at best frustrate whatever efforts such a Saintly Leader would exert in the course of his duties.

    One of the reasons why I supported President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was owing to his stance on restructuring. Of the three major candidates that vied for the presidency, Tinubu was the ‘talk na do’ candidate on restructuring! How can anyone forget that he was a victim of the overt lopsidedness of the nation’s federalism which saw President Obasanjo antagonize him for his pro federalism views and nuances? Tinubu as an advocate for true federalism did not budge and the nation today is better for it, call it, a small step for the father of modern Lagos, one giant leap for the nation.

    Sadly, the Tinubu administration has been taciturn on the subject of restructuring that many have wondered if it is the same “Jigi Bola” that is at the helm of affairs in this nation. In a country given to a number of urban legends about the cloning of our presidents, such a question may not be out of place, even with its hilarious bent.

    While my president has kept Nigerians second guessing about his stance on restructuring, events since his assumption of office has drummed up with staccato strokes the need to do otherwise and with much urgency.

    The present situation where the Supra-national, the Federal Government receives 52.6 per cent of Nigeria’s while the sub national, the states as well as the LG’s share the rest cannot guarantee true federalism and the inclusive gains of development and growth. A situation where the goose that lays the eggs boasts of decrepit infrastructure and the residuals of oil pollution whereas states that contribute little or nothing continue to benefit much from the dividends of such wealth cannot put the nation on the path of economic progress.

    Imagine a situation where a local government like Njikoka has much more control on resources located within, the desire for the LG to be dependent on the centre for its resources would be near zero and Njikoka, like every other LGA would develop at its own pace. This  development would see the LGs as spurs for economic growth.

    Imagine if each state had control over its own police structure, partnering with the Federal police on matters such as terrorism? Would the states not fare better in fighting crime and would our governors face the problem of crime squarely without laying blames on the centre over its non control of the police in their respective states?

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    President Tinubu must take unto cognizance the fact that his party, the All Progressives Congress,APC  had made restructuring one of its campaign promises before the 2015 elections, while I am aware that the party sometime in 2017, set up a committee to that effect, nothing further was heard about its report not to talk about its implementation, it did seem that President Buhari and his handlers wasn’t too keen on such a promise and thus such a moment for positioning the nation for greatness was lost.

    The future of this nation and its stability rests much on the restructuring of Nigeria, otherwise the strictures presently faced would continue to breed agitation among the components of our federation, let’s face it the recent clamour for secessionist republics of Biafra, Oduduwa and the Niger Delta stems from such imbalance, give Nigerians true federalism, restructure this country and such clamour would die a natural death.

    President Tinubu and his handlers must therefore heed the call by numerous persons, some of these voices have served as voices of conscience for the nation and did not just wake up now to call for such. He must heed such calls as posterity would much be grateful to him for such an act!

    Mr. President like those words on President Harry S Truman’s table did announce, “ The buck stops on your table”

    Restructure this nation!

    May Nigeria Succeed

  • January 15 and Fani Kayode’s historical negationism (2)

    January 15 and Fani Kayode’s historical negationism (2)

    Before proceeding further I wish to note that I am not in anyway in support of the bloodshed that occurred in the day of January 15, 1966, whether it be civilian or military, that is not to say that the coup of January 15 1966 given all relevant facts was not justified, matter of fact Nzeogwu’s coup was much more justified than the coups of 1975 and 1983 which were effected to correct a number of certain ills those behind the coup perceived in the regimes or administration they toppled then.

    I had in the last piece mentioned that the brains of the January 15th coup had wanted to install an Obafemi Awolowo, a Yoruba of Ijebu from Remo in the then Western Region of Nigeria as Premier and not an Azikiwe or MI Okpara, how this piece of information escaped the colourful mind of the “Omo Karo Jire” exponent is at first mind boggling but on deeper reflection one finds that it is merely due to the inter ethnic political squabbles that raged on in the early 60’s between the supporters of Awolowo and Akintola, one must recall that FFK’s father, Remi Fani Kayode had served as Deputy Premier in the puppeteer administration of Ladoke Akintola and perhaps was primed for bigger things in that “finest hour” period of theirs, however the coup of 1966 did shatter such permutations breaking their ugly hold onto power in the Western Region. Perhaps such could be the singular reason why his scion,FFK chooses each and every time to demonize the January 15th coupists.

    Major Nzeogwu one of the leaders of that coup barely spoke the Igbo language, dressed more in Northern attire and saw himself first as a Nigerian and nothing more. On the slated day of the coup, Nzeogwu’s entire strike force in the North comprised more of Northern soldiers than those from either the Eastern or Western Regions, same too can be said of soldiers used by Major General Aguiyi Ironsi who mobilized against the coup in the South, notably in Lagos and Ibadan.

    An Igbo coup as ponderously illustrated by Fani Kayode would not have seen Nzeogwu threaten to invade the Southern part of Nigeria and Lagos to complete the goals of the Revolution , neither would it have seen General Ironsi calling off such with much commando bluster, that for a short period of time the entire nation was thrown into that eerie feeling that the nation was about to be engulfed in a civil war. So much for an Igbo coup that Nzeogwu, contrary to the agreements later reached between him and IronsI in order to prevent further bloodshed in the aftermath of the coup’s failure in the South was rather arrested and detained in Kirikiri Lagos before he was moved to Aba .

    Documented history about events leading to the civil war also posit that Ojukwu then as Military Governor of the East had shown immense reluctance to release Nzeogwu from detention following the blood letting of July 29 coup, it was only after students of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka had engaged in a series of protests calling on Ojukwu to release Nzeogwu did Ojukwu do so in March 1967.

    In an excerpt from a letter written by Nzeogwu to his onetime military roommate and firwnd Olusegun Obasanjo, Nzeogwu had this to say of Ojukwu.

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    ” You have no doubt heard a lot of rumours about my relations with Ojukwu. We obviously see things quite differently after what he did to my supporters in January 1966. ” This sums all what I have been saying.

    As far as I am concerned the present scapegoating of NdiIgbo via the attempted negation of history by FFK is akin to the anti-Semitic behaviour in NAZI Germany , particularly when the Jews were blamed for the defeat of Germany in World War 1. Labelling the coup as an Igbo one, despite the numerous evidence that suggests it is not and never was, is merely the excuse for the senseless killings that occurred during and after the July 29th coup. What FFK fails to note is that those who plotted the July 29 coup, the Muritala’s, Gowon’s, Danjuma’s and Abacha’s had to give reason not only for.the slaughter of those accused of plotting the coup but also the killing of innocent officers and even civilians.

    The trouble with the likes of FFK who have been bitten by this Igbo Coup bug is that rather than seek out the truth of such an event from the numerous facts available, they have rather lazily hung unto their negations like some child to some unbelievable urban legend , spooks and ghost stories.

    As a Third Generation Nigerian, it is instructive that the lessons of the past are put to good use in our search for a united Nigeria and in our quest for reconciliation and healing, it becomes ideal that we embrace the truth and nothing more, otherwise we will continue to be that fractious entity, though laden with Immense opportunities and a vibrant population continue to totter while nations less endowed make giant strides.

    The January 15 coup was thus never an Igbo Coup.

    Period!

    May Nigeria Succeed!!

  • January 15 and Fani Kayode’s historical negationism (1)

    January 15 and Fani Kayode’s historical negationism (1)

    Give it to Femi Fani Kayode! He is indeed a master with words and regularly writes the kind of prose with some elements of poignancy, a reader’s delight I must add, given his  penchant for causing seismic like shifts with his use of pun!

    That said, FFK’s latest treatise which criticises the non teaching of history in our national curriculum is essential for a number of our policy makers to perhaps have a rethink and do an about turn on such via it’s reintroduction into our curriculum.

    Truth remains that a people who are not familiar with their history have already  lost a part of their consciousness, and it doesn’t much matter if such a generation describes itself as the “woke or soro soke” generation, if that generation is breaking boundaries and attaining feats worldwide, no!

    So  on this plank, I much  agree with FFK, matter of fact I see the effects of such on a daily basis, particularly within the unguarded gateways of social media where many attempt to distort history and many more who are gullible lap such distortions as truth, becoming bigoted as they help disseminate such nonsense.

    FFK, however fails to note that it is not only the GenZ that have the predilections to in his own words predicate and rationalise their nation’s existence on lies, misinformation, disinformation, falsehood, folklore, fairy tales, fantasy, self-serving and selective clap trap and a more than heavy dose of intellectual distortion and historical revisionism, even scholars and historical buffs such as himself can also be victims of what Kornberg Jaques (1933-2020) refers to as historical negationism or historical denialism.

    In seeking to draw a bridge to nowhere, FFK attempts to explain the importance of the January 15 date, a date that houses two very remarkable events in the annals of our nation’s chequered history, first it witnessed the January 15, 1966 coup and second it was also the day that the Nigerian Biafran war came to it’s end with the surrender of Biafra’s number two man, Philip Effiong. Thus the date  has since that period become the Armed Forces Memorial Day, to commemorate those officers and men who have repeatedly given their lives not only in that civil war but also in World Wars 1 and 2, a number of international peace keeping missions and the recent war against terrorism and banditry.

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    FFK mentions the bloody coup of January 15, 1966 and describes it as” the day where our seemingly unending troubles and turmoil really started.” It is at this point that the faux historian in FFK is unleashed otherwise the scion of the Fani Kayode dynasty would not attribute the nation’s problems to January 15 which was rather an intervention to stop the country from drifting into the abyss under the civilian leadership led by the Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa.

    Fani Kayode forgets or at most attempts to negate that as at January the 14th, 1966 a number of sections of the Nigerian nation were up in flames, the Western Region had become a blood soaked land owing to the ‘ Operation Wetie’ crisis as a result of the massive rigging carried out in the Western Region elections of 1965 that had witnessed an Akintola boasting that even if the people of the region did not vote for him that he would still win and win he did with all the shenanigans that whilst celebrating the heist of that election, Remi Adetokumbo Fani Kayode was alleged to have declared Churchillian style that ” This is our finest hour” . Indeed,  it was a fine hour in vote stealing and electoral malpractice, a precursor to what we were to experience in the Second Republic and this present one.

    Fani Kayode has also forgotten the Tiv riots in which soldiers repeatedly massacred citizens of present day Benue State. Now, while Balewa had been quick to declare a state of emergency in the Western Region owing merely to a fight between parliamentarians , the same Balewa had much dawdled and even told the same audience that he had no power to declare same much in the wake of the bloodletting experienced therein.

    Fani Kayode then goes for broke in his attempts to negate history by agreeing to the nauseating argument that the January 15th coup was an Igbo Coup and in his words described the coup as one in which the Igbos had “attempted to take power through the barrel of the gun and impose an ethnic and religious agenda.’

    Try as much as he may  Fani Kayode rcannot negate  the roles played by John Thomas Umunakwe Aguiyi Ironsi who rallied Federal troops to stop the coup from gaining any success in Lagos and Ibadan, again  his selective amnesia may have also forgotten the other role played by Colonel Emeka Ojukwu who was in charge of the 5th battalion Kano refused to partake in the coup and even told Nzeogwu via the phone that he would not take orders from a Major. It is to his credit that the coup lost it’s verve in the North and in a couple of days Nzeogwu was to surrender to Ironsi. Were these men Yoruba or Birom? If these men played noble parts in shutting down the coup then how could the coup have been an Igbo Coup?

    An Igbo Coup would have sought to entrench an Azikiwe or an M.I Okpara in power, or how else could they have imposed their ethnic and religious agenda as viley suggested by FFK if one of their own did not suceed. The likes of FFK know that the main thrust of the coup was for the release of an Obafemi Awolowo from Calabar Prison and his establishment as Premier of the nation, enamoured by his exploits as Premier, these young coupists including a Major Adewale Ademoyega, a Yoruba and the likes of Odia Ofeimun and several other witnesses to history have attested to such, if it was an Igbo Coup, I guess the great Obafemi  Awolowo must have  hailed from my native Enu Orofia Village in Abagana?

  • Will NCMDB be alive to it’s responsibilities?

    Will NCMDB be alive to it’s responsibilities?

    No serious nation with a juicy sector such as that of the oil and gas sector would toy with its  local workforce and allow expatriates earn a living at the expense of such a workforce, not when the same nation possesses such workforce capacity with the requisite skills and much needed experience to take on such jobs.

    Such a picture painted above  therefore supplies the raisin d etre for the establishment of the  Nigerian Content and Development Monitoring Board, NCDMB which bears the mandate to guide, monitor, coordinate and implement the provisions of the NOGICD Act which was signed into law sometime in 2010.

    Two major key functions of the NCDMB are the setting up of guidelines and minimum content levels for project related activities across the oil and gas value chain and its proactive engagement  in ensuring effective capacity building interventions which would enhance the nation’s indigenous capacity, particularly in the field of Human Capital Development and other areas strategic to the nation’s determination to be a major player in the oil and gas business.

    While it would be unfair to dismiss the NCMDB as having failed to uphold the nation’s content intentions, I must point out that the agency could do more to enhance the nation’s content policy, particularly in the oil and gas sector. The aforementioned sector is a perfect example of how Nigeria is regularly becoming shortchanged as against the expectations of the Nigerian content act. Owing to the high rate of unemployment, a number of companies majorly, Chinese, Indian and Lebanese are basically shortchanging the country.

    Recently these companies have surreptitiously  been laying off indigenous staff, replacing them with their own nationals, who do not possess the requisite papers to work or earn a living here.

    These companies apart from engaging most of their indigenous staff in unhealthy work practices and environments as well as treat their Nigerian workers with disdain. At most occasions these indigenous staff are subjected to all kinds of humiliating work experiences, they are forced to sign contracts in which their welfare or rights as workers is neither guaranteed nor protected, most times they are eventually laid off with no benefits even after years of service.

    There is also the tendency for these firms to overshoot their expatriate quota,  there are examples of how these Chinese and Indian firms bring in their nationals who are allegedly serving jail terms are brought into the country and are used to displace indigenous staff.

    Take for example a situation where an oil and gas firm located in Delta state recently sacked over 40 Nigerian staff and has been replacing them with Indians.

    The company by name  BAAMOC Integrated services has facilities spread all over the country comprising of wellheads, mud plants, flow stations, jetties, boat building facilities, LPG facilities, CNG facilities, pipe line assets, lube oil facilities, quarries, etc. As I pen this now, they are also setting up a petrochemical and fertilizer complex in Akwa ibom.

    From my investigations the firm has repeatedly made life so difficult for its indigenous staff , they are reportedly being bullied, they are also  poorly equipped and are given frustrating tasks to carry out.

    Recently Indians without papers were brought into the firm as storekeepers, a majority of them are alleged to be undocumented aliens and have recently gone on to become HSE staff within a miraculous short period of three months? Readers must note that these rapidly promoted Indians who have replaced over 40 Nigerians do not possess the barest knowledge nor certification to be Health, Safety and Environment workers.

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    This development naturally violates the Nigerian Local Content Act which posits that Nigerians be given first  consideration for employment and training in any project by any operator or project promoter in the industry. While Section 35 requires that “all operators and companies to employ only Nigerians in their junior and intermediate cadre”. “

    The BAMOOC incident which is just one amongst several other cases serves as an indictment not only on the NCMDB but also the National Assembly, the Ministry for Interior , NLC and ISPON.

    Asides from laying away Nigerians, a number of labourers/ workers are reportedly exposed to hazardous environments with little or no compensation should accidents occur. There are also numerous instances of workers losing their limbs and lives owing to the non-provision of protective equipment by these firms.

    The BAMOOC incident negates the desire for Nigeria to add or create composite value to the its economy. Such a practice if allowed to continue would lead to a dearth in jobs, skills development and capacity building.

    While I will not lay the blame on the table of the NCMDB alone, I believe that it needs to live up to its functions by ensuring that the local content  policy of this nation is fervently implemented. I would also call out the National Assembly, particularly its committees on Local Content to look into the BAMOOC incident and ensure that the 40 indigenous staff as one reportedly died in the hospital after receiving his sack letter are either reinstated or duly compensated by the firm.

    Others such as the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry for Interior, Immigration , NLC and PENGASSAN  must begin to mete out the consequences for such  to these firms, we must begin to address these issues frontally otherwise the likes of BAMOOC will continue to treat Nigerians as second class citizens in their own country!

    May Nigeria Succeed!

  • On Osagie’s hypocritical outburst

    On Osagie’s hypocritical outburst

    I did not have the chance to immediately read one Crusoe Osagie‘s attempt to spin entirely my piece on the shameless politics in Edo State where I had chided Obaseki for taking the posture of a godfather, one he had earlier rebuffed in 2020. The depressingly dull article with the title ‘Shameless journalism helps oppressors vanquish the oppressed’ was brought to my notice by a colleague who had read it on an online medium.

    My initial thoughts on reading the piece was to ignore Osagie who as an S A On Media Projects was merely doing his attack dog role for which he gets paid for monthly, besides I was busy with my last series which was on the recent scarcity of the Naira and wouldn’t have dignified Osagie with an immediate response.

    My reasons however for replying are two bit: First, Osagiie accuses me of writing the article without premise! How one can sit comfortably and scribble such when there is mounting evidence to the contrary baffles me but I understand ! Osagie has to earn his salary.

    Osagie states that journalists like me are the problem and I ask how? Is it because I brought to fore the dictatorial antics of the King Obaseki, particularly against the ambition of his deputy and his one time ‘Man Friday’, Philip Shaibu?

    Crusoe attempts to pass Emperor Obaseki as a democrat by referring to situations where Obaseki pays lip service to Shaibu’s right and freedom to pursue his ambition amuses me, it’s either he is a barefaced liar or naive as to the nature of politics and its art! One politician once described it as knowing how to change between ‘was’ and ‘is ‘in a moment.

    What other premise is the hapless Crusoe gunning for? Recently, the same deputy governor had told the world that his office had not received any allocation in the last six months, is Crusoe who is pretentiously passionate about the fourth estate playing their roles as watchdogs of the society oblivious to such a fact? Crusoe accused me of cooking up a rift between Shaibu and Emperor Obaseki his principal maybe this non allocation is a sign of a healthy romance between the duo. Matter of fact, the attack dog in Crusoe will have us believe that the non allocation is one way in which Emperor Obaseki showers his love on Shaibu and is pleased with him!

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    Here’s even the more bizarre, recently the Edo State House of Assembly passed the state’s 2024 budget, the house, typical of a number of state house of assemblies all over the country acts as a rubber stamp to Emperor Obaseki’s whims and caprice allocated the paltry sum of N345 million to Shaibu as against the N1.5billion allocated to the office in the 2023 budget. Compare this with the N19 billion allocated to the Office of the State Governor, N8bn to the Office of the Secretary to the State Government and N 968m to the Office of the Head of Service. In other words the office of the deputy governor has been reduced to a level that even the head of service now receives much more allocation than it, laughable! The likes of Crusoe may still attempt a  silly response as to the real reason why the office of the deputy governor is being starved of funds! However the Speaker, Rt Hon Blessing Agbebaku has already beaten him to the tape of such escapism by suggesting that the slash was due to the ambition of Shaibu to be governor as he wouldn’t have much then to do, now this reminds me of how a former First Lady, Turai Yar Adua had adviced the then Vice President Goodluck Jonathan to reduce his role as number two man to reading newspapers in his office. Let me ask what was the budgetary allocation to Shaibu In 2020, while he was running alongside Obaseki for a second term? Was it the paltry amount at present? What is different now?

    Crusoe likewise accuses me of drawing a false equivalence between the rift between Obaseki and Shaibu and the one between Wike and Fubara in Rivers State, how? I am wondering where I did so or it seems Crusoe also has comprehension challenges which then should see me sympathize with his principal and the people of Edo. I will advice him to read that article again, or suggest that it be translated into Bini language to aid his comprehension.

    Who is behind the pulled down billboards built by Shaibu? Who has even directed civil servants posted to Shaibu’s office to report to some other official for clearance even after the deputy governor has given a directive? Haba? How then can this be a weak script to procure public sympathy for Shaibu as stated by Crusoe?

    Crusoe then does the laughable, he posits with hilarious arrogance that if there is any aggressor it is Shaibu! Whether this is veiled mockery or not only Crusoe knows but it is akin to that Esan proverb which says “That which we have not eaten, may it not be found in our mouth. “

    Lastly on the advice that i should spare my ink for the truly downtrodden, one can see Crusoe bare his hypocrisy in its thorough nakedness. For while he wants me to wash my hands off the maltreatment meted out to Shaibu he goes miles on the same route  to exonerate his principal who is the oppressor here, what then could be more shameless I ask?

  • Who’s hoarding naira? (2)

    Who’s hoarding naira? (2)

    While the other peculiarities of failed transactions and poor network services by banks do not feature this time around as compared with the Emefiele era, the Naira scarcity still bites despite the recent assurance of the CBN that there is still N3.4 trillion in circulation nationwide.

    Now coming at a time when the  marginal propensity to spend is more likely to be on the increase, owing to the festive periods such as the Yuletide and the new year, such artificial  scarcity of the Naira will incur more hardship on ordinary Nigerians as it will affect the prices of goods and services, leaving Nigerians to pay more.

    So how come with a rise in circulation of money by N2.4 trillion, Nigerians are still in the search for Naira notes? The CBN’ s story of 3.4 trillion being in circulation seems not to be adding up. Rather the situation seems to resemble the times when the apex bank removed N2.3 trillion cash from circulation, an act that crippled the economy resulting in the loss of almost 20 trillion Naira.

    Another scapegoat for the Naira scarcity  has been labeled as panic withdrawals by Nigerians who are apprehensive of God knows what reasons. These Nigerians according to the CBN are alleged to have withdrawn huge amounts of cash and kept them in their abodes, expecting some sort of chaos as witnessed early in the year.

    How plausible is this? How can these alleged hoarders hoard at most 50 to 69  percent of the such stated cash in circulation? Let us assume that this is allegedly true, to what ends then? What institutional capacity do these hoarders have to keep such monies out of circulation? Again, even if these hoarders are seeking to avoid a repeat of what transpired in February 2023, should such hoarding not be only the newly redesigned notes? How come the scarcity is felt both ways with the new and old notes becoming scarce legal tender? It definitely isn’t adding up!

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    Isn’t it indeed funny that in a spate of 16 days, the Federal Government and the CBN have repeatedly contradicted each other? While I had earlier pointed out the comments of the honourable minister for information alongside the reactions of the apex bank, the sum total of both contradictory statements suggests that there is something sinister about the whole situation, call me a conspiracy theorist, call me an alarmist but there is more to this situation than it appears.

    Is there a problem with the stability of the nation’s banking sector? Are our funds within the Nigerian banking system secure? Now while a scarcity of the legal tender isn’t really  a clear indication of such a situation, it could be misinterpreted by the populace as such, thus leading to  panic withdrawals.

    The scarcity of such notes bears with it some form of economic consequences, I am only hopeful that those at the helm of affairs understand the weight of such. Asides the disruptions that will arise with such there is also the issue of a depreciation in investor confidence.

    The average Nigerian who is apparently not smiling owing to the prevailing economic situation in the country cannot now welcome such. It is an added punishment to the suffering Nigerian who has not only grappled with rising costs in energy but also in the price of staples.

    In a country where Cash transactions still top in number the type of transactions available to our people, it is therefore imperative that we resolve such an imbroglio while planning ahead to deepen the level of fiscal inclusivity amongst other choices. They should however ensure a steady flow of the Naira notes.

    May Nigeria Succeed!

    This is also wishing my readers a wonderful 2024!

  • From Edo to Rivers, It’s all shameless politics

    From Edo to Rivers, It’s all shameless politics

    I had initially planned to write about Comrade Philip Shaibu’s  travails with his boss, Governor Godwin Obaseki and their surugede dancing, however with the duo of Fubara and Wike engaging in a much more macabre form of breakdancing, I had to infuse the latter into this treatise.

    For a start, I have some sympathy for Philip Shaibu the self acclaimed “Homeboy” of Edo State Politics. Having served as a one time President of the National Association of Nigerian Students ( NANS), an association I also participated in my heydays as a student activist and radical where we cherished several ideals derived from what we termed as the struggle to entrench a better society within our nation.

    Shaibu’s sin is that he chose to be loyal to his principal than to his mentor or should I say benefactor when the duo of Godwin Obaseki and Adams Oshiomole were engaged in a battle for supremacy, faced between the horns of such dilemma, Shaibu opted to pitch his tent with Obaseki, forsaking his benefactor in Oshiomhole, sadly today the same Shaibu is at the receiving end of Obaseki’s penchant for turn-coating, the drama might be a soothing one for the former NLC President who might with a smirk on his face be saying  “Shebi I tell am!”

    Nigerians can recall how both the duo of Shaibu and Obaseki mauled the character of their joint benefactor owing to Oshiomhole’s insistence that those who laboured to make Obaseki a Governor be carried along in the running of the affairs of Edo State. It was indeed an ugly sight to see the dour looking Obaseki who would never have been even a councilor plotting against and undermining the same Oshiomhole who had insisted on making him governor! It is however much more uglier, matter of fact grotesque that the same Obaseki who had disavowed godfatherism is now hiding under a number of guises  to wear the same dishonorable robe.

    One ought not to have any issues with Obaseki’s choice for successor but to seek to emasculate others, particularly those who displayed unalloyed loyalty when it seemed rather foolhardy and foolish to do so puts Obaseki in moral quicksand and registers much his true character.

    Now, while he hides under the plank of power rotation to gift the ticket to another ‘Johnny Just Come’ like himself from Edo Central, a plank not in tandem with the political culture of Edo State, would it not be better if an Obaseki allows for a free process similar to how he emerged rather than hound Shaibu who deserves better from Obaseki?

    Even if we agree that Shaibu had it coming, should it be coming from a man he burnt bridges for? This indeed sums up the politics of Obaseki as shameful, hypocrisy laden and ought to be condemned by all. Moving on to Rivers State, the kind of breakdance there is something else, it is the infusion of the acrobatic dance known as atilogwu with the nervous disorder we described as ‘boogie’ with each personality attempting to outwit the other. I had previously written on the debacle in which i had berated Governor Fubara for actually going above the bar in his desire to retain his seat such as the alleged election of a new speaker, the alleged sacking of the chief judge of the state  and the dissolution of the tenures of the chairmen of the 23 local government councils in the state, I spared not Wike either by wondering what crimes Fubara had done or committed in his six months as governor to warrant his impeachment.

    Sadly, the uneasy peace many thought would  prevail seems to have collapsed with the duo resorting to the shameful in their attempts to pull out all the stops!

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    With 27 legislators who are allegedly loyal to Wike on Monday announcing that they had decamped from the People’s Democratic Party, PDP to the All Progressives Congress, APC, the message from the decampees must have sent Fubara reeling in extensive apprehension that he immediately ordered the demolition of the Rivers State House of Assembly Complex an edifice worth billions of Naira, with the excuse that the complex, owing to the bomb attack a month ago had suffered structural defects and was unfit for human use!

    Fubara and Wike
    Fubara and Wike

    Nigerians however know that the real reasons for the demolition is to prevent the 27 man majority loyal to Wike from sitting within the assembly complex to impeach Fubara. Fubara immediately followed such with a master stroke in shameless politics by moving the sitting venue for the state house of assembly into Brick House, his own official residence where he even presented his budget to only five members.

    Does it not bother Fubara that the cost of a new house of assembly complex would be borne by the tax payers in Rivers? Monies that ought to have gone into a number of development sectors ranging from healthcare to education, infrastructure or ploughed into a sovereign wealth fund or something similar to it for the benefit of generations unborn.

    Can Fubara show the world where those structural defects lay and what engineering firms carried and certified such a study? I am even in wonderment what sort of bomb could have created such defect? An A bomb?

    While I again insist that the war of attrition against Fubara is unnecessary and deserves full condemnation, Fubara in his fight for survival has not taken the honorable path but has again exposed the Nigerian elite/ political as a self serving base only interested in preserving its status even at the detriment of the state and its citizens.

    Ladies and gentlemen it’s all shameless politics!

    May Nigerian succeed!

  • One and half gbosa for Nigerian Senate

    One and half gbosa for Nigerian Senate

    The Nigerian Senate for a long time has existed in the calloused minds of the Nigerian people as a chamber where a hundred and nine men and women merely meet to discuss how to divvy the nation’s resources amongst themselves. While this may not be entirely true, the Senate on several occasions may not have also exhibited the character that millions of Nigerians all over the country and in diaspora are indeed yearning for. Asides from the election of a number of characters who naturally have no business in the business of legislating laws for the benefit of the Nigerian people, there is hardly a season that the Senate isn’t embroiled in one scandal after another, earning itself  some level of lavish notoriety with respect to allegations of corruption since the commencement of this republic, in May 1999.

    However, news that the Senate had asked President Bola Tinubu to Bola Ahmed Tinubu to withhold funds to the various Local Governments that deliberately failed to elect persons to fill spaces available to run or administer the LGs for a time frame as indicated in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria gladdened my heart as for once the Senate deserved some accolades for considering such a motion.

    Section 7 (1) of the Constitution which focuses on the issue of the Local Government System specifically states that: The system of the local government  by democratically elected local government councils is under this Constitution guaranteed…

    Even to a layman, the basic interpretation of such a section cannot end ambiguously, thus the continuous dependence by a number of state governors on the appointment of interim appointees under the nominal “Transition Committee “ to oversee the administration of  the Local Government System is a flagrant disregard for the constitution and should be frowned upon.

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    A situation where an executive governor decides to appoint lackeys and yesmen  into positions for a particular period of time negates not only the democratic principle but also denies the persons at this level the opportunity to elect their choices. In a multiparty system such as ours, such automatically confers a systematic politics of exclusion on members of the other opposition parties who cannot have any representation by virtue of the fact that the governor handpicks party loyalists.

    Such a system much  affects also the deepening  of democracy in our political parties. As most appointments removes the process of competition amongst party men and women. Power therefore resides not in the people but in a few people.

    More-so, the lack of democracy within these councils denies the masses at the local government system any opportunity to adequately interact with the system which is the closest form of governance to them. Naturally, a duly elected local government chairman would naturally be accountable for funds allocated to his LG. Conversely, under the system of “transition! transition!! ”( Apologies to our former IG) the transiting chairman take whatever the Governor allots them but signs that he may have received more. It is a clear case of graft and is one of the means used by most governors, past and present to siphon funds into their own pockets.

    This way the LG’s are denied real development as all ideas relating to development rather than flow from bottom up are handed from top to bottom. This denies not only the LG’s from being competitive forms of government but also the state also loses as it is denied those outbursts of growth that ought to have occurred simultaneously across the state.

    The LG’s which then should be hubs of development are hubs of lethargy with no meaningful growth.

    The senate thus deserves at least one and half gbosa l( Naturally it ought to be three but…) such a resolution is in consonance with the demands of most Nigerians who are sick and tired of the lethargy at the grassroots. This may perhaps be the journey to a restructured Nigeria who knows?

    We cannot argue for true devolution of powers without a functional and democratic local government system.

    In my home state, Anambra, the duo of Willie Obiano and the present incumbent in Professor Chukwuma Soludo refused to conduct LG elections, Peter Obi in his holier than thou posturing conducted his in the twilight of his eight year tenure, compare this to the pace of development within states like Anambra and Kaduna that have regularly held LG’s and the difference will be as clear as between light and day!

    Unelected LG Chairmen and other officials are an aberration to our democracy and thus should not be allowed to subsist in our democracy which has grown beyond the context of being a nascent one.

    In an article sometime ago, I had clearly shown the nexus between the nation’s poverty level and our poor functional LG system. I thus enjoin the Senate and President Bola Tinubu to stand firm with the resolution and ensure that the right things are done! They should shun all forms of distraction and even the arguments that the Supreme Court has ruled on this matter in favour  of the states. That judgement was in favour of democratically elected governments and not that of appointees.

    Again, One and Half Gbosa for the Senate.