The Nation Newspaper

Category: Gabriel Amalu

  • Enforcing practice direction

    Enforcing practice direction

    After a long hiatus, this writer appeared before a Magistrate court over a small claims case (less than N10 million liquidated money demand), and the experience before Magistrate Odubayo Oluwafumilayo, shows that our adversarial legal system is not irredeemable after all. The adversarial legal system is an accusatorial legal system, in which the opposing parties are allowed by the courts to slug it out, each relying on every opportunity or loophole provided by the law to win a case. The other, inquisitorial, allows a judge suo moto to dig deeper than what the parties presented before the court, in the interest of justice.

    In practice the adversarial system sometimes don’t approximate to what a common man would regard as fair and just, especially where the contending advocates rely on technicality. The above background is necessary for the reader to understand why this writer, unlike what he experiences at the High Court and appeal courts, was enthused when he appeared before the magistrate. The first pleasant experience was that filling at the Magistrate Court in Lagos State has become automated, and a new Handbook on Small Claims (2023), the Small Claims Court Forms and Practice Direction on Small Claims (2023) issued by Hon. Justice Kazeem O. Alogba, the Honourable Chief Judge of Lagos State, are in use.

    The contents of the handbook show a potential litigant how to start a case in the Small Claims Court, file a simple debt recovery claim in the Small Claims Court, find the right court for a claim and obtain and enforce judgment. The forms are designed to make filing easy, with prototype of letters of demand, complaint form, summons, application for summary judgment, affidavit in support, affidavit of non-service, form of admission, defence and counterclaim, defendant’s counter affidavit of service, motion ex-parte for substituted service and forms for appeal process and garnishee processes.

    Armed with the above practice direction, the court moves with definite alacrity. For the proceedings at the court, Article 10(1) of the Practice Directions, provides that the magistrate shall promote, encourage, and facilitate an amicable settlement of the dispute among the parties by providing settlement options to the parties as the magistrate deems fit. The process of facilitating an amicable settlement shall not exceed seven days. The parties are also encouraged to contact one another to explore settlement. It is important that while providing opportunity for settlement, a specific time frame is given so that the defendant would not use it to buy time.

    Where settlement fails, the matter moves expeditiously, and no party or counsel on either side is allowed to cause any form of delay. Article 10(3) provides that if the parties are unable to settle the dispute amicably, the magistrate shall proceed to hear the application for Summary Judgment or give directions for hearing the Claim or Counterclaim. Article 10(4) provides that the hearing shall be conducted by the court from day to day as far as is practicable and may only be adjourned as a last resort and for the shortest possible time. Subsection 7 provides that the entire hearing period shall not be more than 30 days from the first date of the hearing, inclusive of the seven days for amicable settlement.

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    Article 11 provides that the parties may represent themselves at the proceedings in the Small Claims Court, while Article 12(1) provides that parties may testify for themselves and tender all necessary documents and they may call other witnesses to give evidence at the hearing. Article 12(2) provides that in the interest of justice, the court may depart from the strict application of the provisions of the Evidence Act. Furthermore, Article 13(1) provides that the magistrate shall deliver judgment within 14 days of the completion of the hearing. The court shall include in its judgment, rulings on any interlocutory applications heard in the proceedings.

    In practice, for a determined magistrate, the application of the rules has made hearing and determination of simple, clear, unambiguous and straight forward cases of Small Claims very expeditious. And that is what a working justice system should be. A magistrate relying on the Practice Direction can insist that all applications must be determined together with the judgment. That once the claim is filed and served, the application for summary judgment already designed should be filed and served. A defendant must within six days file his defence and a counter-affidavit stating why a summary judgment should not be entered.

    While appearing, I was also observing with amusement the discomfiture of lawyers, including this writer, as the new practice direction has displaced the usual lethargy of law practitioners, especially defendants and their counsels, who have no defence to the claim against them. All attempts by counsels to get a long date are rebuffed. When there is a little challenge which can be quickly dealt with, instead of an adjournment, the magistrate would stand the matter down, to enable the challenged party go to the registry to resolve the problem.

    I witnessed some claimants conducting their cases themselves with the magistrate directing them on the necessary steps to take in accordance with the Practice Direction. A Special Registry and Sheriff Section have also been created for the Small Claims Court, and while there are challenges with adjusting to the new innovative technology, the speed of getting a matter filed and served is commendable. Where necessary, a form for substituted service by pasting or through a WhatsApp number is provided for by the rules and immediately approved, upon an application before the court.

    Article 15 provides on Appeals. Article 15(2) provides that the aggrieved party shall file the Notice of Appeal within 14 days of delivery of the judgment stating the reasons for the appeal, while sub-section 3 provides that the Assistant Chief Registrar shall compile the Records of Appeal within 14 days of the submission of the Notice of Appeal. The matter is sent to the Fast Track Registry of the High Court, where it is assigned to a Judge of the Fast Track Court designated to hear appeals from the Small Claims Court.

    Article 15(7) provides that the whole process from the assignment of the appeal to judgment shall not exceed 30 days. Article 16 provides for the regulation, monitoring and assessment of the magistrates of the Small Claims Court. This column commends the Honourable Chief Judge of Lagos State, Hon. Justice Alogba for the elaborate Practice Procedure, and accompanying documents, and earnestly prays that it will be strictly adhered to by all those concerned.

    Chief Judges of the High Courts across the country are encouraged to adopt similar Practice Procedure, for their Magistrate and High Courts. The adversarial legal system needs modification, and enforcing efficient practice direction could aid justice before the courts and in the eyes of the public.

  • Southeast reawakening

    Southeast reawakening

    The summit on economy and security, organized by governors of the southeast region in Owerri, Imo State, last week, should portend a reawakening of the region. As if under a spell, the region has been ensconced in severe insecurity in the past few years, such that going to some communities was akin to visiting a war zone. At the height of the insecurity, state capitals were not even safe, as a Correctional Centre in Owerri was attacked and 1844 inmates released. Citizens dared not ride in any vehicles that gave them out as being affluent, or seemingly an official of government.

    Part of the trigger was the activities and subsequent detention of Nnamdi Kanu of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). The other trigger was the activities of the herdsmen, and kidnapping and attacks by armed groups. Following the detention of the leader of the IPOB, his followers decreed a sit-at-home every day he was taken before a federal court to answer the charge of treason. When it appeared the sit-at-home on court days were not achieving the desired result, IPOB leaders decreed a sit-at-home every Monday of the week. And where the directive is disobeyed, enforces were sent into the streets with devastating consequences. 

    As if bad was not enough, the herdsmen added salt to the festering injury, as they attacked communities, to enforce open grazing. They worsened the situation when they turned to kidnapping for ransom as business venture. Going to farms and even driving on lonely highways became a security risk, and many were kidnapped and huge ransoms extorted from relations of the kidnapped. With security agents sometimes accused of compromise or completely missing in action, the southeast governors met in Owerri, in 2021, to raise a regional security network to confront the menace.

    Accused of prevarication and division within themselves, IPOB which was posturing as an alternative to the elected government officials, quickly formed the Eastern Security Network (ESN) and set their own rules to fight the herdsmen attacks. Sooner than later, a local variant of kidnapping for ransom mutated in the region and going to the region became the worst nightmare. Some of those who dared had heart rendering stories to tell, sometimes with relations working in concert with kidnappers to effect maximum damage.

    Slowly but surely, the economy of the region began to grind to a halt as going to the region for business or leisure was considered a risk even by natives. Coupled with the devastating economic meltdown of COVID19 and allied challenges, and mismanagement of the national economy by agents of governments at the federal and sub-national levels, pauperization of the people became the regional ethos. Victimized by nationwide general economic crisis and home grown calamity, the people of the region sunk deeper into multi-dimensional poverty.

    The security challenge got so bad that many police stations in the rural areas were shut down, as they became targets of attack by those referred to as unknown gunmen. While accusing fingers were pointed at members of IPOB and their security arm, ESN, their spokesman, fancifully called Emma Powerful, continually denounced the accusation, stating that they are a non-violent organization. When the sit-at-home became an object of public odium, IPOB called off the protest, asking the people to go about their business on Mondays. But with the division within IPOB, championed by Simon Ekpe, living in Finland, a countermand order ensures that sit-at-home endures.

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    The effort by state governors to forcefully end the sit-at-home has worked fitfully, in some state capitals and a few commercial cities, where the government can ensure reasonable security. But of course, businesses thrive where there is security and less fear and trepidation. So, the governments of the region know that they can only end the sit-at-home if the people and businesses feel secured, and not in obedience to their command or the arms of the federal armed forces. A further unhealthy dimension was the addiction to a dangerous illegal drug called methamphetamine, known in local parlance as mkpuru mmiri, by some youths.

    I have tried to trace a trajectory of the grave insecurity and economic woes bedevilling the southeast region, to help those tasked to find the solution. As the Igbos say, he who does not know where the rain started beating him, would not remember where and when it stopped. Interestingly, it was in the same Owerri that the governors met in 2021, after the Correctional Centre attack, and they couldn’t meet the great expectations of setting up a regional security outfit. Perhaps, that effort was consumed by the 2023 general elections which polarized the governors.

    Would any good thing come out of Nazareth this time? Maybe. At the recent summit, all the governors canvased the need for unity of purpose, both in dealing with security and the economy. A proposal by the host governor gladdens this column, considering its exertions for such a unity of purpose in the past. Gov. Uzodimma postulated: “There is need for the Igbos to turn within themselves for solutions, pool resources together and cooperate in order to be able to contain the dangers posed by insecurity.”

    He further canvased: “The South East Economic Development Fund will go a long way in financing research that will bring prosperity to the people.” It will be a thing of joy if the governors can set up such a fund and effectively fund it. As I have argued previously on this page, the states in the zone should take advantage of their natural strength in agro-allied industrialization. There are very fertile agricultural belts in all the states in the region which can be turned to the food baskets of the region.

    States in the region also have enormous mineral resources, which they should tap into. For starters, the Nkalagu cement factory which used to be the flagship of the Eastern Nigeria, while Michael Okpara held sway as regional premier; and the abundant coal deposits in Enugu, which are comatose should receive interest from such pool of common funds. As originally envisaged, there are now several universities and research institutions which can churn out research to optimize the natural endowments. With the recent constitutional amendment, regional generation and distribution of electricity and inter-state railways should also attract their common interest.

    Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala in her address professed the major challenge, which is the lack of unity amongst the governors. Of course, in the search for unity, they must work in concert with other Nigerians. The governor of Anambra State had that in mind when he said: “We need not just ourselves, we need Nigeria. Ndigbo needs Nigeria and Nigeria needs Ndigbo. Ndigbo needs Africa and the world and the World and Africa need Ndigbo. As an itinerant people, we cannot be an intolerant people.”

  • A deal to avoid strike

    This column is concerned that the federal government is yet to offer the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) a proposal to end the perennial threat of a nation-wide strike, since May 29. Or could it be that the NLC which stands accused of having a partisan interest in the 2023 election, which is beyond their primary responsibility of protecting workers’ welfare, have a hidden agenda to torpedo the new administration?

    This writer is worried that the fragile national economy cannot sustain a prolonged nation-wide strike, and therefore urge the federal government and the NLC/TUC to work together to avert it.

    The meeting between the government and labour scheduled for today must be put to maximum use in the interest of the country. While four months is too short to make a comprehensive deal with the labour unions, considering the varied interest groups, such as the National Assembly, state governments, employers’ association, wages and salaries commission, budget and planning commission and others interests that must be widely consulted, there ought to be serious negotiations ongoing to avoid the distractions of threat of strike.

    Agreeably, the problems inherited by the federal government are as high as Mount Kilimanjaro, but in the order of priority, the NLC and TUC demands for better working condition should be amongst the top interests to receive attention. Under the prevailing economic condition, the public wage structure, particularly the national minimum wage, is a scandal. The value of the naira cannot depreciate by over 250% since the last review of the minimum wage in 2019, while the wages and salaries of workers remain the same.

    On its part, the NLC must eschew every iota of partisan interest in negotiating a new minimum wage. For this column, it was a mistake for the NLC which controls majority of workers in Nigeria to openly support a political party, as happened in the 2023 elections. The reason is that there would be a blur between partisan interest and workers’ interests. And that blur would affect both the leadership and rank and file, as it is impossible to force all workers belong to one political party.

    Again, where the labour union’s preferred party lose the election, the union will be in a quagmire in dealing with the party that won the election throughout the tenure. Any action, even when in pursuit of workers’ interest could be interpreted by the successful party as a partisan exercise. But considering that the harm has been done, the NLC and the TUC must eschew partisanship and negotiate for the welfare of the workers, bearing in mind that their paramount interest should be the wellbeing and survival of the country. 

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    While it will be unreasonable to expect a new minimum wage in place after barely four months into the new administration, the shape of what is to come ought to be in the skyline. This column believes President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration will be a labour-friendly administration as borne out by the experience of workers in Lagos State where the president held sway as governor between 1999-2007. While historically it was bumpy with the union leaders at the beginning, the Lagos workers went on to become the best paid and most secured after the initial hiccups.

    The Minister of Labour and Employment Simon Lalong, as well as the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkiruka Onyejeocha appears to be distracted by their cases at the National Assembly Election Petitions Tribunals. While Lalong has been declared as the duly elected senator for Plateau South district, Onyejeocha has been declared the winner of Isiukwuato Umunneochi Federal Constituency, in the 2023 general elections. It is likely that managing the election cases may have affected their concentration on the urgent job of negotiating with the NLC and TUC to avoid a national strike.

    Unfortunately, the two ministers have become like the proverbial dog distracted by which of the two plates of food to concentrate on, with the recent judgements of the tribunals. Will they forgo their ministerial appointments and return to the red and green chambers respectively? Interestingly, some women groups are already urging Onyejeocha to forgo the ministerial appointment and return to the National Assembly, where she would be a top ranking representative considering her years as a legislator. Regardless of which preferences they have, the more important concern here is the drag in dealing with the labour unions.

    Hopefully, President Tinubu would find an answer to that distraction and get results to avert a national strike if the delay is from the ministers. This column hopes the present administration would eventually secure a holistic wage review to minimize sectoral threats of strike. One of the sectors that urgently needs attention is the health sector. As the statistics have shown, Nigerian medical personnel, whether doctors, nurses or other professions in the sector, form a large chunk of the emigrants to Europe, North America and even Asia.

    Hopefully, the Minister of Labour would not dismiss the worrisome brain drain in the health sector the way his predecessor Chris Ngige, dismissed our common worries. The former minister claimed that Nigeria has 350,000 medical doctors, far more than the 250,000 which according to him the World Health Organisation prescribed for the country, and as such those who want to leave because of the poor remuneration in the sector should leave. As if heeding the call, Nigerian medical personnel are leaving the country in droves, because of poor working condition.

    Yet, a simple research shows that while some years ago, Nigeria has about four doctors to 10,000, the WHO recommendation standard is one doctor to 600 patients. Last year, it was reported that Nigeria has only 24,000 licensed medical doctors practicing in the country, which is projected at less than ten per cent of the number needed to meet the WHO recommendation. Of course, the country has trained about four times that number, but the majority of them have emigrated to other countries, with the United Kingdom being the highest beneficiary.

    Recently, the United Kingdom initiated a teaching opportunity in priority subjects in the country. This new program would soon draw a large chunk of our best teachers to the UK, unless measures are put in place to pay a living wage to teachers in Nigeria. With a salary of about £28,000 dangled at prospective teachers, and with one pound equal to about to about N1250 in the parallel market, exodus of teachers may become the next national emergency, if there is no urgent wage review.

    Without further delay, this column urges the federal government to review upwards the national minimum wage. On their part, the labour unions must exhibit patriotism, instead of partisanship, in their negotiation with their employers and the governments at all levels.

  • APC hopes on Imo

    APC hopes on Imo

    Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State, and the entire All Progressive Congress (APC) leadership in the Southeast must be hoping to steer the region closer to the ruling party at the centre, by winning the forthcoming governorship election in Imo State. Before Hope Uzodimma emerged through the controversial judgment of the Supreme Court in 2020, the region looked impregnable to the APC. But after Uzodimma came, Governor Dave Umahi decamped from the PDP to APC, with his entire state elected officials.

    With two state governors in APC, it was believed that the party has become a significant player in the southeast region, as the 2023 general elections drew near. But unfortunately for the party, it increasingly became encumbered by the tragic conflict between the farmers and herders which was vigorously interpreted by many persons as a Jihad movement, meant to exterminate the people of the region and hand over their lands and ancestral homes to the alleged Fulani invaders.

    Even more regrettable, President Mohammadu Buhari, the titular head of the party, by his actions, seemed to give credence to the alleged hidden agenda. After winning the second term election, President Buhari who had contested presidential elections with vice presidential candidates from the region, by his pronouncement seemed to have drawn a line against the people of the region. So, with his skewed appointments, poor handling of the farmers-herders clashes and gaffes against the people of the region, promoting APC in the region was framed as a sabotage, with all its implications.

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    To add fuel to the simmering fire, political gladiators sprinkled religious incense on the burning charcoal, and the conflagration consumed many and almost torpedoed the region’s economic progress. Unfortunately for APC, Peter Obi (Okwute), after winning the presidential primary of the LP, projected himself as the long foretold redeemer of the people of the region from all their problems since after the civil war, problems allegedly exacerbated by Buhari.

    Overnight, the LP which had no structure, which had no serious membership base, and operating a vehicle gotten more or less on hire-purchase, became what the Igbo would call ugbo di oma, and there was bedlam to support the party. The hoopla against the APC was fever pitched. As explained by the Minister of Works and former governor of Ebonyi State, Engr. Dave Umahi, while he voted APC, his family members voted LP. For a long suffering people, the frugal but very wealthy and soft spoken Peter Obi fitted the image of a political messiah.

    In the 2023, general election, up against what can be called Obi thunderstorm, many candidates contesting on other political platforms in the southeast were swept into political wilderness, by political neophytes sponsored by the LP, whose only credential is that they proclaimed Peter Obi as their political master. The PDP which had held sway in the southeast since the advent of this democratic era in 1999 was decapitated across the region in the presidential and National Assembly elections, not to talk of the APC with all its challenges.

    After the general elections, many voters realized that in a fitful moment of anger against the system, they had thrown away the baby with the dirty bath water. In the governorship election which held three weeks after the presidential and National Assembly elections, in three out of five states, PDP managed to push back the effect of the thunderstorm and retained two states, but there were still casualties in the state legislative elections.  Some have since also realized that as Shakespeare wrote: “all that glitters is not gold”.  

    So, the Imo election will show how far other political gladiators have barricaded their terrains from the Obi thunderstorm. In fairness to Hope Uzodimma, for instance, while he entered the Imo State Government House tendentiously, he has established himself as a performing governor. Sounding out those who know the political trend in the state, there is hope that Hope Uzodimma will triumph at the polls, if performance will be the parameter to judge. Of course, the measure of performance is usually the quality of infrastructure built by a returning governor.

    According to my sources, Hope is a man of class for whom only the best is good enough. So, the roads and buildings built by Hope’s government in his current term as governor are reputed to be of the highest standards. The governor also engineered the ground breaking ceremony of the Oguta seaport by the immediate past regime of President Buhari. Of note, a seaport in the southeast is a totem of political worship like the completed second Niger Bridge, which the APC-led federal government delivered.

    Another plus for Hope is that he has also reasonably tamed the insecurity ravaging his state. While some may term his style as ruthless, he leaned on the Nigerian Army to confront the unknown gun men, who made many parts of Imo State a no go area for years. He also appears to have curtailed the atrocities of the armed herdsmen which many in the southeast, rightly or wrongly, believe were sent to annihilate the people of the region. How much he has contained that contagion will impact his re-election project.     

    According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Imo gubernatorial election would hold on November 11. Among the major political party gladiators, the Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are the ones that should be giving the APC leaders sleepless nights. The state which started off as a PDP state in 1999, went to the Peoples Progressive Party (PPA) in 2007, with Ikedi Ohakim, declared the winner. In 2011, despite the incumbent Governor Ohakim contesting on the platform of the federal ruling party, the PDP, Rochas Okorocha, of the All Progressive Alliance (APGA) won the election.

    In 2019, because of the internal crisis in APC, the PDP won back the state, with Emeka Ihedioha as governor. But following the judgment of the Supreme Court, the state fell into the palms of the APC again. So, the political trajectory of party politics in the state shows volatility, and the APC must double its effort to retain the state. At the inauguration of Governor Hope Uzodimma Campaign Council over the weekend, the chairman of APC, Dr Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, recognized that challenge, as he pleaded with the people of the state to re-elect Governor Hope Uzodimma, to be able key into the plans of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the centre.

    No doubt, the people of Imo State would fare better, if the ruling party in the state is the same as the one at the centre, more so, with the acclaimed performance of the incumbent governor, Hope Uzodimma. The November 11, gubernatorial election, will show whether the Obi Thunderstorm is still potent.  

  • PBAT as salesman

    When President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT) said to state governors and other elected leaders that they should not make heavy weather about the poor state of economic affairs inherited in their respective political jurisdictions, but should rather go do the work they begged and danced for, he surely took his own lessons well.  In the past 100 days plus, President Tinubu has turned into the most enthusiastic international salesman for Nigeria, and he is making a kill of it.

    His performance in India, on the side-lines of the G20 summit, where he went to cut multiple deals for Nigeria, showcases the sterner stuff of a salesman. Within hours of landing in the country, he held meetings with leading Indian multinational companies which yielded over $14 Billion in investment plans. At the meeting he told the business leaders that he has a formidable team, of which he is the captain. He promised he will be available to solve all challenges that businesses face in his country, and that those who heed his call would not regret taking his bait.

    The president followed up with talks with leaders of Korea, India and Germany, and the German leader is billed to visit Nigeria next month. This column urges state governors regardless of party affiliations to learn one or two tricks from the president, which is to market their states for investment opportunities. The governor of Enugu State, Peter Mbah, another businessman-politician, appears to understand the most critical responsibility of the chief executive. He recently hosted the first Enugu State Investment and Economic Growth Stakeholder Roundtable.

    According to him, he plans to move the state economy from its present GDP of about $4.4 billion to $30 billion. At the roundtable, he unveiled 30 potential investment opportunities said to worth about $2.1 billion.  He said: “projects in our pipeline range from specialist geriatric, paediatric, and maternal care hospitals to natural gas-to-power plants and renewable energy parks to meet our state’s 690 megawatts base load requirement and ensure the sustainability of the energy sector.”

    This writer is particularly enthused by the governor’s plan to take advantage of the constitutional amendment that placed electricity in the concurrent legislative list. In an earlier article, this writer wrote on the imminent emergence of super states in Nigeria, following that amendment. Clearly, unlocking the electricity requirement by any state government is a sure strategy to join the emerging elite club of states which will not depend on federal allocations to survive. Interestingly, President Tinubu recently recognized electricity as the most important modern factor of production.

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    Another potential gold mine for Enugu is agriculture and agro-allied industrialization. Again as this column has argued severally on this page, the southeast states have an agricultural belt which they should exploit. Of the states in the region, Enugu is particularly blessed with enormous potentials, and hopefully the state governor would walk his talk. Amongst the cash crops targeted by the state, cashew nuts should enjoy pre-eminence, as the state can tap into the long abandoned cashew belt wasting in the state.

    On its part, Lagos State which is already a super state is on the highway to mega state status. With an economy valued at $75.965 billion, while many states are celebrating the construction of flyovers as achievement, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu recently launched the state’s blue line rail, the first of the planned rail lines in the state. The governor with plans to make the state a 24hour economy hopes to exponentially expand the state economy. One of the several exciting infrastructure development is the fourth mainland bridge, which will link Ikorodu to the Lagos Island, with all the economic potentials.

    Another interesting development coming to Lagos is the Lagos-Abuja superhighway, proposed by the Minister for Works, Engineer Dave Umahi. Such a highway showcases the vision of the PBAT administration, who chose Umahi to head the vital ministry, despite the poor vote harvest from his region, as rightly observed by Governor Chukwuma Soludo of Anambra State. And considering the pedigree of the minister, there is every likelihood that the concrete road will be delivered within the maximum eight years that PBAT may likely serve. Moving from region to region, inspecting federal roads, most of which are dilapidated, Minister Umahi should do the Ebonyi magic across the country.

    The vice president, Kashim Shettima is clearly among the team PBAT talked about. In his usual jocularly manner, but dead serious in its import, the vice president has promised to retire former vice President Atiku Abubakar to his farm. It is interesting to see governors of the northeast flock around him, as he inaugurated projects delivered by the Northeast Development Commission (NEDC) over the weekend. Of course PBAT made a strategic choice in Shettima, a development oriented leader, like himself.

    If Shettima can led the charge to teach the northeast and even the northwest leaders the need to focus on developmental projects, instead of personal aggrandizement that has held their regions down for decades, history would be kind to the PBAT administration. One shudders what would have been the fate of the region, if the party of under-development leaders like Senator Aminu Tambuwwal, had won the presidential election. What happened to Sokoto State under the former governor in terms of massive underdevelopment would have been the lot of the country.

    For this writer, the future of Nigeria lies in entrusting power and authority in the hands of development oriented leaders. PBAT shows himself such a leader, and this column urges governors regardless of party affiliation to tap into that leadership skill. The urgency of the situation does not allow for bigotry and excessive partisanship. President Tinubu exhibits that sense of urgency in his presidency, as he is constantly consulting and hosting meetings with businesses and groups that can add value to his work. By the time his efforts begin to yield abundant fruits, Nigeria will return to the growth era, especially in non-oil areas.

    Those who invited PBAT to the G20 summit understand the potentials of Nigeria, and the fact that for the first time in its recent history, a leader capable of moving the country effectively to a medium economy in international relations is at the helm of affairs. President Tinubu also showed understanding of international relations by not showing enthusiasm to the 15th annual summit of the BRICS countries held recently in South Africa. At the critical juncture Nigeria stands, she must first get back to economic and social prosperity, before it can play effectively in the international politics of anti-west.

    As PBAT showed at the G20 meeting, his job is to sell Nigeria to the world, and through foreign direct investment, bring prosperity back to the country. Hopefully, state governors would also become salesmen too. This writer admonishes: seek ye first economic freedom, and every other thing shall be added unto you!

  • Saving African democracy

    Saving African democracy

    That could be the cause of the sudden regression of African democracies to autocratic military rule, when many thought democracy was steadying across the continent? Sadly, within the last five years, five countries formerly under democratic rule have suddenly fallen on military swords slaying democracy. Interestingly, the five countries of Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad, Niger and Gabon are all French speaking countries. But unlike in the past, when military takeover is targeted to upend internal governance structure, whether civilian or military, the coups in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger appears targeted against the former colonial power, France.

    While the coup in Chad in 2021 to install Mahamat Idris Deby after his father President Idriss Deby was killed by military insurgents had the support of France and the regional power Nigeria, that of Gabon last week according to the military junta that took over, was to restore state institutions, whatever that means. In the three West African countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, it remains to be seen how far the anti-French sentiment can carry the coupists?

    Unfortunately, for many of the countries in Africa, especially the French colonized countries, their economic, political and social umbilical cords are tied to the apron of their former colonizer for survival. In 2021, Niger was rated as the least developed country in the world by the United Nations. But interestingly, Niger sits on some of the world’s largest uranium deposits, and France relies on 50 percent of the country’s uranium for 70 percent of its nuclear power. Again, it supplies about 25.4 percent of the European Union’s uranium needs.

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    Burkina Faso, considered as poor even by African standards, is also a highly dependent country. The country is however rich in gold and cotton, the later reportedly regarded as the white gold because of its contribution to the nation’s economy. Unfortunately, the country is plagued by attacks from militant Islamist groups, droughts and reoccurring military coups. On its part, Mali is also rated as a very poor country, with more than half of its population living in extreme poverty. Again, its main export is gold and salt.

    But Mali has a rich history of being home to the richest man that ever lived, Mansa Musa, according to Wikipedia. And for over four centuries Mali was a very powerful empire, with a very powerful army and economically buoyant, trading in gold and salt and benefiting from being a trade route between the north and West Africa. But Mali is now one of the poorest countries in the world, and according to black history, the Mali Empire collapsed due to internal conflicts, attacks from neighbouring states and the collapse of the trans-Saharan trade network.

    Conversely by African standards, Gabon is reputed to be a rich country, with a per capita GDP of $8,220 compared to Nigeria’s per capita GDP of $2,066. But that wealth is in the hands of a few people, particularly the deposed President Ali Bongo’s family, who with the father had ruled the country for the past 50 years. The father Omar Bongo ruled from 1967 until his death in 2009, and was reputed to be one of the richest men in the world, thanks to the oil wealth of the Gabonese.

    From the above trajectory, the major twin cause of the tragic end of democracy in the named countries can be summarized under poverty and corruption. Of course, the causes of corruption are myriad. In the present instance, it ranges from the exploitation of the peoples by their leaders, and the neo-colonist France. With unaccountable leaders, the little resources available for the entire country are fizzled away through sundry corrupt practices. On her part, France maliciously tied the poor former colonies economy to its apron, and duplicitously exploits the people and their natural resources.

    Sadly, these very poor former colonies of France cannot survive the multi-dimensional effects of poverty, without the support of France, as boasted by the President Macron, few days ago. The military men, who have taken over in those countries, would soon realize the tragedy of governing a poverty stricken population. To get out of the mess is a herculean task, and even with the best of intentions they would need the long patience of the populace to dent the poverty index. In no time those hailing them as saviours would soon shout, crucify them.

    The double whammy for the people is that sooner than later, these soldiers would fall into the corruption that plagued those they overthrew. With weak state institutions, and the difficulty of making any meaningful progress, and the agitation from the masses that would soon come, the likely option for the power usurpers would be to engage in survival strategy. And when a leader is forced by whatever circumstance to seek all means to survive, one of the likely options would be to amass illegitimate wealth to pay for survival. 

    Of course, corruption takes pre-eminence in Africa because of the prevalence of weak institutions, which is exploited by public office holders as well as the ordinary people. Like what became of communism, those who pretend to be lovers of the people will soon become lovers of self, and the circle of poverty endures. And the more endemic corruption becomes, the weaker the state institutions gets, until the state fails. Tragically that appears to be the fate of many African countries.

    So, for this column, those celebrating the military takeover in the neighbouring Niger Republic and foolishly calling for similar thing to happen in Nigeria are missing the point. What is needed is to encourage President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to exercise his democratic credentials to reform and strengthen state institutions. Luckily, Nigeria is not similar to these countries, whose economy is tied to their former colonial master, France. Instead of calling for a coup, democratic pressure should be mounted on state institutions, to make laws for the good of the country, and implement the laws for the good of the country.

    As any reasonable Nigeria should know, overthrowing the democratic government of Tafawa Balewa in 1966, even with all the corruption allegations against them was a tragedy that has plagued the country since then. With the incremental looting that is associated with the military regimes that subsequently exercised power from 1966 until 1999, it would have been better to fight the political and economic corruption for which they were overthrown, using democratic means however tenuous.

    Saving democracy in Africa is in the hands of the elites, who should realize that European and American powers, whether France or Russia or United States of America are only interested in exploiting the rich resources of the continent. To think that Russian or Chinese suzerainty would be better than the French or America neo-colonialism is an illusion.

  • Abuja cow tribunal

    Abuja cow tribunal

    Last week Monday, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, swore in 45 ministers, to constitute the Federal Executive Council, as required by the 1999 constitution (as amended). Nigerians anxiously look forward to the capacity of the Tinubu cabinet, made up of talented technocrats and politicians to unlock the economic potentials of a country in dire need of economic rejuvenation. Among the notable ministers, is the former governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, who is the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

    A man of theatre and accomplishment, Wike immediately sparked a row when he thundered that he would pull down illegal structures to restore the Abuja master plan, regardless of whose ox would be gored. He stirred the hornets’ nest of land speculators when he promised to revoke the land allocations of those who have failed to develop them as provided by law. He dared the itinerant cattle herders, who see the flowered and paved streets of Abuja as their customary estate. But some commentators are daring Wike to walk his talk, and face the consequences.

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    A commentator said that once a new FCT minister boasts that his priority is to restore the Abuja master plan, he dismisses the person as unserious, because it is impossible to restore the master plan. He also claimed that it is anachronistic for someone to be boasting that he would restore a plan designed more than 40 years ago, instead of thinking how to review the archaic plan in the light of overriding developments.

    For this column, one boast which will task Wike’s implementation stratagem is the eradication of open grazing in Abuja, considering the sense of entitlement of the practitioners of that manifestly unfair business practice. For those who have been deceived to believe that open grazing is an unchangeable cultural practice, which requires understanding from other non-practitioners, this column has severally argued otherwise, in the past. Clearly, open grazing is an economic practice which allows owners of cattle to enjoy economic benefit of rearing cows at minimal cost.

    That culture endures because the owners of the cows are economic shylocks, who do not see the necessity of liberating their kit and kin. If the owners are fair minded, they would rather support any program that would liberate the herders from roaming the wild, and encourage them to live in communities where they could go to school and enjoy other socio-economic benefits of a modern life. There are also allegations that the herders are missionaries and agents of counter-civilization and conquest.

    As a friend of former governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, Wike should be privy to the problems that befell his friend, following the crisis of confidence between the governor and the federal government over the handling of the herders-farmers clashes in that state. On many occasions, Ortom openly accused President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime of engineering insecurity and mayhem in his state, for untoward expansionist agenda of the Fulani. At other times, Ortom claimed that the former president used the nation’s security agencies to provide covert support for that agenda.

    Wike will recall that as a counter to the open grazing law passed by the Benue State House of Assembly, criminals alleged to be Fulani militia intermittently attacked communities in the state, killing hundreds, burning entire communities and engaging in genocidal acts, to foster open grazing. Some herders defied the state government and breached the open grazing law, daring the governor to do his worst. When the governor seemed defiant to the acrid warnings of the herders, he was attacked when he visited his farmland at the outskirts of the state capital, Makurdi. 

    Many other states came under siege over their efforts to enforce an end to open grazing. Some states were afraid to pass the law banning open grazing, because of the massive lobby by the Buhari government. Simon Lalong of Plateau State, now a minister, who resorted to political détente as a political strategy suffered severe political backlash at the 2023 polls. And tragically, his rapprochement could not save communities in his state from attacks, killings, and malicious destruction of property by the rampaging militia.

    So, how will Wike end open grazing in Abuja, without backlash from the economic exploiters masquerading as cultural practitioners of a destabilizing economic activity? As he would soon realize, those who do not wish the nation’s capital the dignity of streets devoid of cow dungs and its putrid smell, would place obstacles on his partway to keeping Abuja clean. They would throw laws, politics, religion, and culture at him, to maintain the status quo. They may even resort to the rough tactics of destabilizing the federal capital as witnessed in many states.

    This column hopes the federal executive and legislative councils would throw their weight behind the new minister to sanitize Abuja. It is a shame that the laudable efforts of Nasir El Rufai, while he was the minister of the federal capital territory under President Olusegun Obasanjo, incrementally degenerated, until the mess left behind by the immediate past minister, Mohammed Bello, under President Muhammadu Buhari. Obviously, for a minister to succeed, he must have the implicit thrust of his principal, the president.

    The task ahead of Wike and his fellow ministers are enormous. As they ought to know, the biggest challenge facing them is the stabilization of the economy of the country. The nation’s currency has to be stabilized and inflation tamed. Again, what is paid to workers currently as the minimum wage is provocative and should be addressed as soon as practicable. The education sector, particularly tertiary education, with emphasis on university education, needs immediate attention. The federal and state government should quickly reach a sustainable compromise with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics and that of Colleges of Education.

    Insecurity across the country may have tinned down, but those in charge must realize that some of the causative factors of insecurity are seasonal. Even in rural settings, when the community are in their harvesting season, peace and tranquillity reigns, unlike during and after planting season when hunger reigns across the land. So, security agencies must plan precautionary measures to forestall the worsening of insecurity, as the high season of insecurity approaches.

    Even the challenge of open grazing gets worse during the dry season, when the northern part of the country becomes unhospitable for the cattle herders, and they are forced by survival instincts to head south, which inevitably results in the clashes with farmers whose crops turn to food for cattle. So, the time to plan is now. Cows must not become a dictator in our lives. But how will Minister Wike manage those who will defy his plans? May be he will seek for laws to set up tribunals to try cows and their herders.

  • Palliatives must alleviate

    Palliatives must alleviate

    A buzz word has been added to the lexicology of political governance by politicians and even the military. They call it kinetic and non-kinetic methods of dealing with the fury and aggravated madness that come from the hungry and bad Nigerians, respectively. Governors in whose domains there are crisis and banditry talk of applying kinetic and non-kinetic methods to the raging challenges. Clearly what the users in the Nigerian context mean is that they use the soft and hard approach to solve those challenges.

    Luckily for the governors, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu last week approved a whooping N5 billion per state as palliative to tame the gruelling challenges faced by Nigerians, especially the poor. It is such palliatives that politicians and even the military refer to as non-kinetic method. This column hopes the governors know that if the palliative is not well shared to ameliorate the hunger in the land, it may create circumstances that could lead to the use of kinetic measures to deal with.

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    For the governors who were not there during the COVID-19 crisis and the resultant palliative war across many states, and even the EndSARS uprising, they should not make the mistake of treating the money due to their states as a private war chest to do with as they wish. They must use the money to deal with the brewing crisis waiting to erupt. They should invest in public transportation programme in cooperation with the labour unions in their state, to stem the anger amongst the workers, while awaiting the central negotiation for new wages.

    The state could also pay up some long outstanding pensions and salaries, abandoned by their predecessors. Some can also create state-based social register of the poor and make at least a one-off payment to ameliorate poverty for those hardest hit by the fuel subsidy removal and ravaging food inflationary pressure. Another non-kinetic measure is the purchase and distribution of basic food items to households. Governors can also consider distributing vouchers to its workers or making a one off payments as hardship allowance.

    Of course, not the abusive hardship allowance collected by members of the National Assembly, who recently made a joke of the poor in their chambers. The senate president, Goodswill Akpabio in presenting a motion by Senator Akintunde Abiodun of Oyo Senatorial district on stopping the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and distribution companies from increasing their tariff, was accused of mocking the poor, when he referenced it as “let the poor breathe” motion. Though the senate president has apologized, those scandalized may be waiting for their pound of flesh.

    Regardless of the motive of the senate president, he struck a chord that the poor needs to be allowed to breathe, and if I may add, so the nation can side-step a potential uprising over the economic pains ravaging the country. As has been rightly highlighted by experts, President Tinubu inherited an economic mess from the past regime, and unless he applies the difficult measures of subsidy removal and harmonization of the foreign exchange market, Nigeria would plunge further into an economic quagmire, which may consume the country.

    For this column, Nigeria is standing at crossroads. It either reforms with the attendant pains, but with a hope of better economic future if the reforms are well implemented; or avoid the difficult reforms and allow the economy to fail. The two roads are fraught with danger, but at least the reformatory road has the potential of birthing a new economically viable nation. Of course, if the reforms are not well thought out, the nation may yet be consumed by the fury in the streets.

    A peep into the economic statistics before the Tinubu presidency and the present inflationary pressure would explain the challenges faced by the country. As has been reported, President Muhammadu Buhari was literally operating with borrowed funds, both for recurrent and capital expenditure. Some statistics claimed that the country was spending about 95% of its total income on servicing its humongous debts, leaving the paltry balance for government expenditure. And experts agree that to unlock progress for our country at doldrums, the equation must change.

    The two measures taken so far by the Tinubu presidency, which is the removal of fuel subsidy and merging the foreign exchange market have been hailed. The outcome of those difficult but necessary measures is that the government at all levels is no more as broke as they were before the measures were taken. However, on the part of the people, the inflationary pressure put at 24.08% as at July is becoming nearly unbearable, necessitating the N5 billion per state intervention by the Tinubu administration.     

    Interestingly, the federal executive council has also been constituted yesterday, and while there is the concern about the large number of ministers, this column in promoting the emergence of the Tinubu presidency, always argued that the president’s special skill is to increase the size of the cake to be shared. So, the expectation is that while the expenses will grow, the result would glow. This writer agrees that at the current income capacity, Nigeria is comparatively a poor country. According to available statistics, Nigeria GDP is expected to reach $491.71 billion by end of 2023, while that of South Africa the second largest economy in Africa, will be $407.49 billion. But conversely, the per capita for South Africa is expected to reach $6043.00 by end of 2023, while that of Nigeria will reach $2523.00.

    So, for those who say Nigeria is the largest economy and bring out their vuvuzela to compare human and infrastructural development in other countries with the life of poverty Nigerians live, they miss the vital economic point that with a population of over 200 million, the GDP we relish is nothing. What is needed is to increase the wealth-creation capacity of businesses and governments at all levels. The proverbial Nigerian cake needs to be quadrupled if majority of Nigerians would be able to leave a life of a middle income nation.

    Of course, the road to that threshold would be fraught with many difficult patches both for the governments and the people. President Tinubu, an ex-governor and a people-person should understand and connect to the excruciating sufferings in the land. The way to go is to encourage transparency in governance at the federal, state and local government levels. If it requires publication of the accrued revenues to all tiers of government, and less ostentatious governmental expenses especially under his federal government control, so be it.

    Finally, the palliative shared by the Federal Government to the states, and hopefully by states to local governments must significantly alleviate the sufferings of the masses. Those in power must not ignore the tell-tale signs of a nation at it breaking point.

  • Emefiele born anew

    Emefiele born anew

    The joke is on the suspended governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, in the social media, over how he clutched a Bible and was led like a lamb to the court by a lady alleged to be an official of the Federal High Court, last Tuesday. But the joke is also on the officials of the State Security Services also known as Department of State Security (DSS) and the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCS) over their disgraceful conduct in fighting over who takes custody of Emefiele, after the court granted him bail.

    This writer goes to court regularly, but has never witnessed such emotional attachment by a court official as exhibited by the lady who held Emefiele’s hand like a doting mother to shield him away from vagrants who may be lying about on the walkway to the court. One wonders what interest she had that prompted such display of emotional attachment. Was she merely acting in the line of her duty or was she motivated by other interests?

    On his part, Emefiele tenaciously clutched a Bible, in the same manner a zealous preacher would, to show his fervent believe in the words of the Holy book. But all the while Emefiele was abusing his office as governor of CBN, he never showed the fervour of a Christian believer, as portrayed last week. In fact, this writer remembers vividly and indeed condemned Emefiele on this column, when he abused those who cautioned him that he should not mix his position as CBN governor with politics.

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    He said something to the effect that like an unruly bull, he was forging ahead with his illegal participation in politics while exercising the functions of the CBN governor, and anyone who contends otherwise should come forward for a bull fight. It is therefore surprising that he has become as humble as a lamb. Perhaps he has been born anew in the confines of the DSS and has become a firm believer in the contents of the Holy book, which enjoins humility as the hallmark of public service.

    Unfortunately, not so for his present adversaries – the DSS. In flagrant disobedience to the rule of law, the agency rearrested Emefiele within the court premises after he was granted bail, by the court. Like Emefiele has found out now, the court remains the fall back for everyone, and to ridicule the court is actually to remove the carpet from under our collective feet. This column recalls that Emefiele now a victim refused earlier this year to obey the order of the Supreme Court on the issue of naira redesign, preferring to await the directive of then president, Muhammadu Buhari.

    Perhaps, the DSS is aping Emefiele, before it would obey the clear order of the court, forgetting that one day they too may need the help of the court. Of course, the court could not have refused Emefiele bail, to punish him the way he and his cohorts punished Nigerians late last year and earlier this year, in a flagrant manipulation of the monetary policy for a political end. Hopefully, the probe of the Central Bank as ordered by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would unearth the level of mismanagement of public trust by Emefiele.

    But while condemning the use of public office for private gain by Emefiele, we must also condemn the public shame of the NCS and DSS, two agencies of the federal government fighting over the custody of a detainee. While not exculpating the DSS for its contemptuous conduct within the premises of the court, the NCS which has a corrupt reputation about how they treat detainees with deep pocket as VIPs, showed its desperation to have the former governor of CBN in their custody regardless of how long.

    As reported in the media, senior officials of the NCS were in court, as if they had a premonition that their net was going to catch a big fish on that day. And when the DSS illegally wanted to torpedo the fishing expedition, the NCS lost their cool and became desperate. On their part, the DSS who many believe are hamstrung to charge Emefiele for the more serious offences he was earlier accused of, before he was arrested, are desperate to keep him in custody.

    There is the believe out there that the DSS is restrained from charging Emefiele for more serious offences, because that would ruffle the feathers of top members of former president Buhari’s kitchen cabinet. Considering the likely offences Emefiele could have committed as the apex bank chief, there is the challenge of what offences the DSS can legitimately investigate and prosecute, considering the limitation of their constitutional responsibility. While there are potential possibilities of economic crimes against Emefiele, he doesn’t look like someone with the capacity to fund terrorism against the state, as earlier alleged.

    While awaiting the probe ordered by the president, the DSS should admit Emefiele to bail as ordered by the court. In obedience to the rule of law, any further evidence they have should be presented to the court which granted him bail, and if the court is disposed to the new issue raised, would revoke his bail. The attempt by DSS to use ex parte order of a court of coordinate jurisdiction to keep him in detention is an abuse of the court process. The conduct demeans the DSS before the court of public opinion.

    While court of public opinion may be slow in meting out punishment, it is the ultimate court for all Nigerians. If the public loses confidence in the state to such an extent that the state fails, there would be no DSS and no state to protect its internal security, which is the primary function of the organization. The DSS, NCS and even the courts must appreciate the low level of public confidence in public institutions, and the best service to Nigerians is to enforce the tenets of democracy to shower up public confidence in their institutions.

    Those who abuse their offices as Emefiele did in the past, can only be dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the law. To do otherwise is to foist a state of anarchy on the polity. This column hopes the DSS and NCS would conduct internal administrative processes to deal appropriately with their officers who depicted the country in very bad light, before Nigerians and the international community. And they will buoy public confidence by making such administrative process transparent and public. 

    On the wheels of social media, the shame of last Tuesday at the Federal High Court Lagos, in flagrant disobedience to the order of Hon. Justice Nicholas Oweibo, would have travelled round the world, without any diplomatic cover. Those who hold public positions should always remember they hold it in trust for every Nigerian, and must exercise judiciously.

  • The best palliative

    The best palliative

    Since the advent of COVID 19, the word palliative has become a political lexis with dynamism, especially in Nigeria. It became synonymous with the sharing of largesse to ameliorate the suffering of the masses. Political pundits extol it as the desiderata of all types of socio-economic commotion of existentialism in Nigeria. Last week, the National Executive Council (NEC), principally made up of the vice president, Kashim Shettima, and the 36 state governors in their monthly meeting in Abuja, made palliative a top agenda.

    While NEC over the years has made the sharing of the money accumulated in the coffers of the federation account its top priority, and a handsome N907 billion was shared amongst the three tiers of government for the month of June, what made headlines was discussion on the palliative to ameliorate the impact of removal of fuel subsidy, on Nigerians. The council members threw away the opaque social register used by former president, Muhammadu Buhari’s regime and proposed state registers to share the forthcoming palliative.   

    On their part, Nigerians are arguing whether the proposed palliative can deaden the inflationary pressure on the lives of ordinary Nigerians. Social critics are making comparison between the sum of money allocated for palliative to the ordinary Nigerians, and that budgeted for the benefit of the political elites in the legislature and the judiciary. As for the erudite Femi Falana, SAN, the elites are the greatest beneficiaries of palliatives, otherwise called subsidy. And he gave several examples.

    While not discountenancing palliative in whatever form the political actors may choose to caste it, this column believes the best palliative that would alleviate the economic, social and political well-being of Nigerians is the judicious use of the windfall from fuel subsidy removal. It is judicious use of the available resources that will strengthen the nation’s currency, crush inflation, reduce unemployment, increase productivity, eschew political violence and dim social upheavals. Where and when such improvements are made, the value of the naira would bring down the cost of fuel and other inflationary pressures.

    So, the best palliative will be the prudent management of the impending massive windfall from the bold initiative of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. By several accounts, Nigeria distributable revenue increased from N786.161 billion in May to about N1.9 trillion in June, more than 150% increase. Luckily, the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) shared N907.054 billion, albeit the highest since January, instead of the entire earned revenue. In the past, bigoted constitutionalists argue that relying on section 162(3) of the 1999 constitution (as amended) all money in the federation account must be shared, without savings.  

    One imagines the massive impact on the national economy, should the N907.054 billion shared amongst the three tiers of government, be efficiently infused into the economy of local government councils, the states and the federal government. Hopefully, the present governments would reduce the waste associated with public offices. Already, Nigerians are worried that the National Assembly allocated to themselves a humongous sum of N110 billion, substantial part of which will be used to buy exotic cars which will merely enrich foreign manufacturers and the importing contractors.

    Again, imagine if public officials could resist ostentatious lifestyle, bearing in mind that most Nigerians, especially the impressionable youths, are assailed by the waste they see amongst public officials. A prudent management of the nation’s resources would result in job opportunities for graduates and skilled Nigerians. Presently, unemployment in Nigeria is estimated at 41% by KPMG. Clearly, that is a ticking time bomb, and while the unemployed would need immediate palliatives, what they need most is employment opportunities.

    A hefty increase in employment opportunities would reduce insecurity in the land, and that should be the concern of the political actors. With the eradication of the corrupt multiple-exchange window of the Buhari administration, the nation’s macro-economy is now attractive to foreign direct investment (FDI). But what will determine where the FDIs would go within the country, is substantially within the control of the state governments. States where the ease of doing business is taken seriously by state governments and local government administration would attract higher percentage of the FDIs.  

    With its first steps, the Tinubu administration appears determined to put in place economic policies that would galvanize national and state economies. The creation of an Infrastructure Support Fund (ISF) attests to that. According to the president’s spokesman, Dele Alake, “the new infrastructure fund will enable the states to intervene and invest in the critical areas of transportation, including farm-to-market road improvements, agriculture, encompassing livestock and ranching solutions, health, with a focus on basic healthcare, education, especially basic education, power and water resources, that will improve economic competitiveness, create jobs and deliver economic prosperity for Nigerians.”

    As I wrote on this column, few weeks ago, the emergence of super states may be imminent, as the critical enablers are falling into place. The 5th Alteration Act, which made electricity production and distribution a matter for the concurrent legislative list, gave states the opportunity to solve perhaps the most critical dissonance retarding economic growth in Nigeria. Hopefully, states would latch on the ISF and in partnership with private capital, create competitive business environment to attract FDIs to their state.

    Obviously, the president’s body language is a quick-march economic rejuvenation of our country. This column enjoins the state governors and local council administrators to join the federal government to ensure the rebound of the national economy. If they succeed, many of the socio-political challenges that have been debilitating our nation’s progress would disappear across the country. Those who fail to collaborate would lose out in what may be referred to in future, as the Tinubu plan.

    Luckily, as a former two-term governor of Lagos State and a federal legislator, Tinubu has the experience for collaborative opportunities with states, and how federal government funding can support states. As governor of Lagos, Tinubu initiated collaborative partnership in power production, even though he was eventually frustrated by the federal government. But for that frustration Lagos State would have been self-sufficient in electricity production and distribution by now. Again, he initiated the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, a collaborative effort that enhanced the capacity of security agencies operating within Lagos.

    So, with Tinubu in power, state governors have the best chance to tap into the expansive resources available to the federal government. Last weekend, Niger Delta stakeholders charged their state governors to feel the pulse of President Tinubu’s administration, and tap into the impending infrastructure revolution, for the benefit of the people of the region. That is a wise call. An industrial revolution, and enhanced derivative principle, is the antidote to the age long crisis that have squelched progress in the region. Massive infrastructure development is the best palliative for Nigerians.