Category: Saturday

It stands to reason that President Buhari’s decision to appoint Mr Ibrahim Magu as Acting Chairman of the EFFC on November 9, 2015, could not have been one taken lightly or casually. His suitability for the job, including his professional and ethical antecedents, must have been carefully scrutinized. And before making such an appointment, the presidency would have been very careless indeed not to have asked for routine security checks on the appointee. One of the foundation staff of the EFCC, Magu is said to have a reputation within the security community for honesty, diligence and courage. The trained financial crimes investigator has a background in forensic accounting. He honed his sleuthing instincts at such prestigious training centers as the FBI Institute and the London Metropolitan Institute.

As head of the Economic Governance Unit of the EFCC under Ribadu he proved his mettle. He was in charge of investigating high profile corruption allegation cases such as that of James Ibori as Delta State governor as well as the role of Dr Bukola Saraki, now the Senate President, in the collapse of Societe Generale Bank, when he was governor of Kwara state. By 2008, the political climate became unfavourable, even hostile, to the likes of Magu and his boss, Nuhu Ribadu, as some of those they had diligently investigated and sought to prosecute came to wield enormous influence at the highest levels of the country’s power structure. A distinguished senior lawyer who should know pointedly told me that “Magu was the most effective officer under Nuhu Ribadu”. Unfortunately, In November of that year, Magu was arrested and harassed when official files and a computer on which were stored classified documents were reportedly discovered in his residence in Abuja.

Ever since the resurrection of his career with his appointment as Acting Chairman of the EFCC by Buhari, Magu has proven that his reputation for incorruptibility and high performance is no fluke. There has been the rejuvenation of a previously comatose EFCC under his leadership. Of course, Magu has been lucky that Buhari’s uncompromising anti-corruption stance has given him necessary cover to operate with utmost boldness and courag. This is a far cry from the constricting political and moral climate under Presidents Umaru Yar’A dua and Goodluck Jonathan that led to the forced exit of Nuhu Ribadu and Mrs Farida Waziri in controversial circumstances and the complete incapacitation of an ordinarily proactive and resourceful Ibrahim Lamorde.

Under Magu, the EFCC has secured a total of 187 convictions within one year in addition to the recovery of billions of dollars of proceeds of corruption and assorted financial crimes. Once again, the fear of the EFCC has become the beginning of wisdom for the country’s political, economic and business elite.

Obviously satisfied with his performance in acting capacity, the presidency through Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, transmitted a letter to the Senate on June 17, 2016, requesting Magu’s confirmation as EFCC Chairman. Although President Buhari was on a ten day vacation outside the country at the time, it is inconceivable that Osinbajo, who was acting for him, could have sought the Senate’s confirmation of Magu without the knowledge and consent of his boss. Even though the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, read the confirmation request on the floor of the Senate on July 14, 2016, it was not until mid December, last year, that the upper chamber deigned to consider the matter. Even then, it was not at plenary on the floor of the chamber that the senators deliberated on Magu’s confirmation but at a closed executive session, whose proceedings were inaccessible to the public.

It was after this opaque session that the senate’s spokesman, Abdullahi Sabi, in a most casual and cavalier manner, told the press that the Senate had rejected the request for Magu’s confirmation based on security report available to them. He said: “The nomination of Ibrahim Magu is hereby rejected and has been returned to the President for further action”. But can the Senate reject the request for confirmation of appointment without holding a confirmation hearing at plenary on the floor giving the nominee an opportunity to respond to any allegations against him? After all, this was what was done in the case of Ministerial nominees when those with allegations levied against them such as Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN) and Rotimi Amaechi, were cleared after they had publicly given their own sides of the story to the obvious satisfaction of the lawmakers.

Despite the purported rejection of his confirmation by the Senate, Magu has continued to function as Acting Chairman of the EFCC raising hopes that the presidency will re-present his name to the Senate. A former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Joseph Dauda (SAN), insists, however, that the rejection of Magu’s nomination by the Senate “automatically ended his role within the EFCC”. Another lawyer and human rights activist, Ebun Olu Adegboruwa, concurs. He has filed a suit urging a Federal High Court in Lagos to stop Magu from parading himself as acting Chairman of the EFCC.

Distinguished human rights lawyer and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Femi Falana, contends that the senate can neither confirm nor reject the request without a proper and transparent confirmation hearing at plenary giving the nominee an opportunity to respond to allegations and enabling the voice and vote of every senator to count. The Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption, (PACC), Professor Itse Sagay, aligns with this view. Speaking to the online magazine, The Interview, he says: “Since Nuhu Ribadu left we have not had a man with such sterling qualities as Ibrahim Magu and whether they like it or not, Magu will be there until he completes his term under the law”.

The role of the Department of State Services (DSS) in the entire affair is enigmatic. It obviously did not advice the presidency against forwarding Magu’s name to the Senate for confirmation. Yet, it reportedly sent an unfavourable report to the Senate, signed on behalf of its Director-General, Lawal Daura, by one Folashade Ojo, which was the basis for the purported rejection of Magu’s confirmation. It does not appear that the DSS appreciates how much damage its action has caused the image of the presidency, which has been portrayed as tardy, inefficient, careless and administratively deficient.

Without prejudice to the merits or demerits of the allegations against Magu, it is this column’s view that he should be given the opportunity to defend himself on the floor of the Senate in an open and transparent manner before the upper chamber can arrive at a credible ad acceptable decision to confirm or reject his appointment. The vast majority of Senators who have nothing to fear from the EFCC must not allow themselves to be used to blunt the edge of the anti-corruption war by a tiny minority who have skeletons in their cupboards and dread their own shadows. Most importantly, President Buhari should know that if Magu’s confirmation is successfully blocked through spurious means and ‘mago mago’ tactics, his anti-corruption war will be as good as dead. Nobody appointed as head of any anti-corruption agency after that will ever have the confidence that he will have the president’s back when corruption fights back.

Day Lagos celebrated pensioners

‘Take a Stand Against Ageism’. That was the theme of the Y2016 Senior Citizens/Pensioners Day, last celebrated 12 years ago but was resurrected on December 22, last year by the governor Akinwunmi Ambode administration to honour pensioners and senior citizens in the state. The theme for the event was deliberately chosen to draw attention to the “discrimination and prejudiced attitudes towards older people, old age and the ageing process” said Governor Akinwunmi Ambode who was represented by the Deputy Governor, Dr (Mrs) Idiat Adebule, on the occasion. He cited the resuscitation of the annual event as a demonstration of his administration’s commitment to the welfare of senior citizens.

This commitment has been concretely shown, Ambode said, by the regular payment of salaries for those in active service as well as the prioritization of payment of Retirees benefits especially those that have accrued over the years. “For instance, under this dispensation, a total of N21.929 billion has been paid to 5,027 Retirees. Also, the sum of N1.5 billion intervention fund was approved for the payment of outstanding gratuities and accrued pensions to Local Government Retirees including the balance of 142%pension arrears”. And in the 2017 budget, the administration has made a provision of N2.698 billion for the construction of Elderly Care Centers in Ikorodu, Épé, Badagry, Alimosho and Lagos Island.

Alhaji, Comrade Nojeemdeen Adebayo Ibrahim, Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners for Lagos and the South West, acknowledges the Ambode government’s compassion for pensioners which is evident, he said through prompt and regular payment of workers salaries and pensions and aggressive clearance of the pensions liabilities the administration met on ground. But Alhaji Ibrahim could not resist playing the Oliver Twist by asking for more. He requested not only that remaining gratuities of all affected pensioners be cleared but also the harmonization of all pensioners in the state since they are all affected by the economic recession.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Establishment, Training and Pensions, Dr Akintola Benson Oke, said pensioners were worth celebrating because they had “at different times and levels served meritoriously and selflessly to ensure that our dear state become what it is today; a catalyst for development in Nigeria – a state of excellence”. He pledged the commitment of the Ambode administration not only to ensuring that retirees get what is statutorily due to them but they are empowered through socio-economic activities designed to make life worth living for them.

Ordinarily, it is the spiritual sphere that should set the highest standards of moral integrity for the secular realm to look up to and seek to emulate. In our context and with respect to the two dominant religions in Nigeria, Christianity and Islam, the spiritual should shine the light of ethical rectitude for the secular to find the way to higher levels of transparency, accountability and responsibility. If the spiritual does not exhibit the elevated values of honesty, trust, equity, fairness, restraint, modesty, justice or fidelity in the management of its affairs, how can it claim moral superiority over the secular? Unfortunately, it is the secular that has taken the initiative to enforce strict and firm adherence to corporate governance laws and regulations designed to ensure the proper management of the affairs of the spiritual in the interest of the vast majority of members of the latter.

There has been a sense of triumphalism particularly in Pentecostal Christian circles ever since the removal this week by President Muhammadu Buhari of the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) Executive Secretary, Mr Jim Obazee, and the reconstitution of the organization’s board. This is understandable, perhaps even justifiable. Obazee’s insistence on enforcing Governance Code 2016 of the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria Act, No. 6, 2011, which stipulates a maximum period of 20 years for the heads of all registered churches, mosques, and civil society organizations, had forced the stepping aside of the highly revered General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye and the announcement of his successor, Pastor Joseph Obayemi as the new overseer of the church in Nigeria. It also implied that other popular and charismatic Pentecostal leaders such as Bishop David Oyedepo, Pastor Kumuyi, Bishop Mike Okonkwo, Pastor Tunde Bakare, Pastor Ayo Ortsejafor, Rev. Chris Okotie, Pastor Mathew Ashimolowo, Pastor Chris Oyakhilome, Pastor Samuel Abiara among scores of others would have to follow suit.

 Obazee’s naivety and overzealousness in the way he went about enforcing the FRC Act especially within the context of the sensitivity of religious politics in contemporary Nigeria is truly amazing. Perhaps it was not naivety after all and he was actuated by deep seated ulterior motives. And from all indications, he did not properly and maturely manage his relationship with other stakeholders under his regulatory purview outside the church.  It is emerging he appeared to have been of a harsh and temperamental disposition clearly ill suited to handle the enormous responsibilities requiring caution, patience, calm, diplomacy, serenity and a sense of balance that his position demanded.

Not only did Obazee appear to lack all these, he was also said to have positively taken some mean, unfair and draconian decisions designed to hurt certain corporate interests for self-serving reasons. Furthermore, the brazenness and boldness with which he defied the directive of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah is inexplicable and unprecedented. It depicts the gross systemic and organizational disarticulation that characterizes the Buhari administration.  Obazee clearly hardly had the moral authority and integrity to hold the office.

However, a distinction must be made between Obazee as an individual and the FRC as a corporate body with the responsibility of implementing and overseeing Governance Code 2016 of the Financial Reporting Council Act of Nigeria Act, No 6, 2011. Obazee may have been morally perverse and psychologically unsuited for the position he occupied but the FRC Act regulating the activities of Not For Profit Organizations (NFPO) appears to me to be a very good law from the aspects I have read even though its current suspension for more consultation among stakeholders is quite in order given its sensitivity and far reaching implications.

It does not appear to me that Obazee could have arbitrarily imposed the law. It must have gone through due process. Governance Code 2016 provides that the founder or leader of a NFPO shall not simultaneously occupy the three governance positions of chairman of the board of trustees, the governing board or council, or the headship of the executive management or their governance equivalents. It seeks to limit tenure of the leader or founder occupying any of these positions to no more than 20 years or attainment of the age of 70. It prevents blood relations from succeeding the founder or leader. The intent is obvious and the motive altruistic. It is to prevent excessive concentration of power in an individual or the transmutation of a collective enterprise into a nepotistic family inheritance.

Reacting to Obazee’s removal, the General Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) was effusive in his excitement. In his words, “Thank God the authorities have stepped in to right the wrong. He should have been fired a long time ago”. This is probably true. He then says “The entire code should be thrown out completely because government should not interfere with the church”. This is disputable. Arguing in the same vein, the Senior Pastor Living Spring Chapel International, Lagos, Pastor Femi Emmanuel, is of the view that “Government has no business meddling in the internal structure and governance of the church”.

Government, of course, has no interest meddling in the affairs of the church for as long as the church operates within the ambit of the law. It is the business of the state to protect the interests and guarantee the rights of every citizen including members of the church. The scope of the state is universal within its territorial jurisdiction while that of the state is partial. Membership of the state is compulsory through citizenship but that of the church voluntary by affiliation. If the internal structure of the church undermines the principles of fairness and equity and justice, it abridges the rights of its members. The state, in such a situation cannot be disinterested.

This is an opportunity now for Pentecostal churches to undertake a thorough introspection leading to the re-orientation and re-structuring of the way they manage their affairs. Even though many Pentecostal leaders are sincere and committed, the absence of effective internal organizational checks and restraints makes them vulnerable to the kind of ostentatious excesses in the midst of poverty that has brought the church into disrepute and severely impugned the image of Christ. Not every leader can be an Adeboye or a Kumuyi, for instance, who have the force of character and self control to remain modest, simple and humble despite their high intellect and the immense wealth, power and influence their churches control.

It is thus wise for Pentecostal church leaders to build a cohesive structural hedge around themselves and their organizations through functional and effective boards that can contribute to more qualitative decision making. Yes it is only natural for many Pentecostal church founders to want to be succeeded by their blood relatives as has happened in so many cases. After all, many of them invested so much time, energy and other resources in building the churches into what they are today suffering much in the process. But their business is a peculiar one. It is the voluntary investment of life in the business of God. Their reward is to be received in heaven when the Lord they have served faithfully on earth puts on their head a crown of glory.

In any case, does the Bible not say that this world is not our home and we are just passing through? Does it not say further that everything will pass away and only the word of God will endure forever? The Catholics seem to understand this very well. The Catholic Church is probably far wealthier than many of the biggest Pentecostal churches put together. But Catholic clerics right up to the Pope live the simplest and most modest of lives. They gave us the immortal Mother Theresa, an exemplar of ascetic, self-denying and sacrificial living.

Surely, it is not for nothing that in the secular sphere, Federal and State Executive Councils are constituted to assist Chief Executives in the process of governance. Beyond the constitutional imperative in this regard, a wise President or Governor will pick executive council members whose opinions and advice they are compelled to respect even if not necessarily agree with. For, ultimately responsibility for the final decision rests on the Chief Executive. But the appropriateness and degree of efficacy that decision achieves when implemented will be a function of the quality of thinking and expertise that went into its production.

It may well be that the Pentecostals, in fiercely opposing the regulation, are genuinely concerned about protecting the church from the undesirable and portentous intrusion of the state. They cannot be faulted on that. But they must not be unmindful of the popular, even if mistaken, perception that it is all ultimately about money and power. They should work hard to dispel this notion because as we all know perception is often stronger than reality.

Year 2016 was momentous  for the cause of South West economic integration even if the politics of the region remains as fractious, unpredictable and treacherous as it has and perhaps will always be. The year ended on a rousing note when the South West governors, irrespective of political affiliation, ideological orientation or temperamental disposition met in Ibadan to reiterate and reinforce their commitment to a common economic agenda for the region.  They agreed to work towards uniform tariffs on commodities as well as cooperate in agriculture, rail transportation, sports and other areas of developmental import. This meeting, which was one of the key activities that brought 2016 to a close, showed that the governors’ conclave that opened the year was no fluke. For, in January, 2016, the five owner states of the Odu’a Investment conglomerate – Oyo, Ondo, Ogun, Osun and Ekiti – met again in Ibadan and took the historic decision to admit Lagos State into the Odu’a Group as the sixth owner state. They also agreed that Odua’a would be re-positioned to drive the economic integration of the region.

It is significant that the Odu’a Group, perhaps the most enduring legacy of the region’s founding fathers, has become the pivot around which the South West’s economic engineering efforts revolve. Earlier in October, last year, Illuminations had an interaction with the Group Managing Director of Odu’a a, Mr Adewale Raji, in his expansive office on the 25th floor of the iconic Cocoa House, Ibadan, conceptualized and actualized over five decades ago by the trail blazing Obafemi Awolowo administration of the Western Region. From that height, one has a fascinating spectacle of a vast swathe of the sprawling city reminding one of the poet, John Pepper Clark’s, stunning description of Ibadan as “running splash of rust and gold; flung and scattered among seven hills, like broken China in the sun”.

Mr Raji was understandably upbeat and optimistic about the prospects of the company and its capacity to live up to the historic responsibility the South West governors have placed on its shoulders. Yet, but for the herculean efforts of the former Managing Director – Distribution Services, PZ of PZ Cussons Nigeria Group before his present appointment,  Odu’ a would have been in no position today to be at the vanguard of South West economic integration. Yes, Odu’a was once a giant in the African Sun. As at 2004 it had no less than 30 subsidiaries. The company then had an asset base of approximately N10 trillion – Africa’s largest conglomerate. The company the current GMD inherited, however, was a shadow of itself. Much of its valuable assets had been recklessly sold off. Many of the subsidiaries were – and still are – ailing. Staff morale across the group had plummeted. Partisan politics had been allowed to interfere unduly with its professional management.

The current GMD is reluctant to take issues with his predecessors. He is more predisposed to giving them credit for at least keeping the organization afloat in difficult circumstances. However, he does not deny that had the Group taken a different business and corporate trajectory over the years as well as built effectively on the illustrious legacy of its founding fathers, it should today be a major player in the regional economy not just of Nigeria but of Africa. “We lost a lot in terms of how the economy has been restructured as well as from the point of view of how we have managed our resources”, Raji explains.

He cites the example of the banking sector, which with the Soludo reforms has seen the participation in the ownership of banks by the federal or state governments limited to 10% as a matter of policy. Although, he believes this has been positive for the economy as participation in banking by government had undermined the credibility of the sector, the consequences for the Odu’ a Group have been severe. As Raji explains, “Whereas in the element of National Bank which was under us and the other side which is WEMA Bank, in which we had 42% ownership, what were we able to take out following the Soludo reforms? Because of the management and leadership deficit on our part, when we were exiting these entities we left empty handed. Whatever our shareholder value and other things were used to liquidate non-performing loans that we had perpetrated while we superintended these entities”.

Raji cites the manufacturing sector as another example. Odu’ a Group owned the Nigerian Wire Cable 100%. It had 70% ownership of Cocoa Industries Ltd. The GMD laments that “There were requirements to study the economic trends and make adaptive decisions as the economy was changing. There were challenges of declining power supply. We should have planned for alternative sources of electricity.  The cost of raw materials was going up. There are ways to mitigate this in management decisions. We knew equipment were growing old and getting obsolete. We should have planned proactively on how to renew our equipment.  Focus went more into ballooning operational expenses rather than value added investment to ensure our present and our future. Thus, it was not only what we inherited that shrunk, we were also not adding to it”.

The GMD also regretted the way Odua’s entry into the telecoms industry was managed through Odu’a telecoms saying “the kind of loss we accumulated in our investment was colossal”. Hence, one of the first key initiatives of the Raji management team and the company’s Board was a major Strategic Retreat supported by competent consultants from outside. The objective was, according to him “to look back in order to learn from the past and create a vision for the future. We tried to understand the basic principles on which thriving conglomerates operate”. A major case study was made of UAC, which also went through a major downturn and under Mr Ayo Ajayi as Chief Executive Officer in a single term of five years, achieved a complete turnaround. Another reference point for the retreat, Mr Raji says, was the Dangote Group, which was a trading company but is today Africa’s biggest conglomerate.

In the words of Raji, “We realized that we needed to ask the reason for our existence as an entity. We are a business and we need to focus on our business. We need to focus on our numbers and make sure that our responsibilities are met internally and externally. So this vision being shared by the management and the board with the buy in and input of our staff has helped us to refocus the company to say, we are a business though we are owned by government so the expectations of business everywhere to shareholders, which is profitability, we must deliver. That is why shareholder value is growing. That is what has enabled us to start on a new pedestal and shift to a new paradigm”.

The results have been impressive in the two years of Raji’s tenure. In 2014, the company recorded a revenue of N4.29 billion and profit before tax of N759 million representing a 53% increase over the 2013 figure of N95 million.  Odu ‘a Group paid dividends of N150 million to its owner states. It was unprecedented. No dividends had been paid to the owner states in the previous six years. Again, in 2016, Odu’a Investments paid N175 million dividends to its owner states as well as declaring a profit before tax of N597 million despite the adverse economic climate.

 Briefing the press after one of the South West governor’s meetings, Mr Ayodele Fayose, Ekiti State Governor, said that the management of Odua’ a Group as well as the nascent Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) have been admonished to remain apolitical and to play a neutral role in their relationships with the owner states. If that principle is adhered to, Odu’ a Group’s tomorrow and the possibilities of South West economic integration is very bright indeed.

I can still vividly recall the then simply Tunji Olaopa walking along the corridors of the Department of Political Science, University of Ibadan, a pen stuck between one of his ears, an open book always in his hand, reading as he walked some three decades ago. He was easily one of the most studious and precocious in our class both at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. In the 1982/1983 session, Tunji suddenly decided to contest for the Students’ Union presidency. His campaign was a dazzling display of intellectual razzmatazz and philosophical exegesis. But that is not the stuff of politics Tunji learnt. He lost to an empty headed, sloganeering political buffoon  who turned out to be a colossal disaster and had to be impeached out of office. Today, Dr Tunji Olaopa, former Federal Permanent Secretary and now Executive Vice-Chairman, Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy, is one of Nigeria’s frontline academics, administrators and public intellectuals. His vivacious and no less brainy daughter, Opeyemi, got married to her heartthrob, Olanrewaju Omotosho, in an enthralling ceremony in Abuja on 15 and 17 December, 2016. Opeyemi, LL.B, B.L LL.M (Queen Mary, University of London) works in the Regulatory Division of the National Communication Commission (NCC). Olanrewaju, a Security Services Consultant, retired from the US Military service, where he served in Afghanistan and Iraq, among others, before relocating to Nigeria. It will be a fascinating home indeed. We wish the couple a union of marital florescence trumping this season of economic aridity. Blessings.