The Nation Newspaper

Category: Tuesday

  • Community value

    Community value

    Community value as core driver of patriotism?  Why not? 

    If you love your community, why should you hate your country?  If you rally to build your home town, why would you tarry to build your country?

    But that should be no one-sided question.  If leaders are earnest and trusted, why would followers dither when love of country or duty to fatherland calls?  A case of positive or negative symbiosis that delivers perfectly logical results either way?

    Those thought flashed through the mind at the 19th yearly convocation of Ilese-Ijebu people, in Ogun State.  At that rally, the natives and invited friends gathered to joy and track the town’s development graph, from when they left it the previous year.

    For friends of Otunba Kunle Kalejaye, SAN, aka KK — like Ripples, Prof. Akinyemi Onigbinde, the philosopher academic, Foluso Adelaja, himself a native, Taofeek Adewale Bello aka “Aji se bi Oyo”, famed broadcaster and eternal compere at the yearly gathering, and Idowu Odedidran, broadcaster with Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese — it’s pretty much a yearly pilgrimage to Ilese, on October 10 and 11.

    Does this yearly rally blossom because Ilese leaders have earned the trust of Ilese people — young and old — who look forward to the August home-coming?

    Could such symbiosis be replicated in all Nigeria’s local government areas, the entire 36 states?  Can it peak as a national ethos — with folks too immersed in positive communality, to have time for negative vibes about other folks?

    With community development as serious business, would there be less public anger? Is public ire rampant because leaders often lack community value?

    A belt of questions!  Yet, they are thought-provoking because each year you returned to that town, you saw something new.  This year was even more startling. 

    In 2017, the Ijebu-Ode-Ilese-Ijebu Mushin-Ijebu Ife road, which courses through the Ilese town centre, suddenly flared into a four-lane affair, with a wide median.

    It was the closing years of Governor Ibikunle Amosun, with his much-vaunted “Ogun standard”: its proud covenant to doughty and modern roads — and why not? 

    To the classical-minded however, that “flare” was a 21st century open sesame that thrust, upon Ilese, the Appian Way of old Rome!

    But the snag was that the Amosun government never completed that road, much as one of its top hierarchs pledged at the 2018 Ilese Day.

    Only one side of two lanes, of the four-lane road, was tarred — and even that in fits and starts, not covering the entire stretch.  So, the yearly rally with its peak human and vehicular traffic; aside the many carnival floats pulling stunts in road shows, always buried Ilese in a cascade of dust.

    Not anymore this year!  But for a little patch of work-in-progress, around the the Ogun State Polytechnic of Health and Allied Sciences, it had all been tarred — both sides!   Again, a yearly visitor would whoop in pleasant surprise: whodunnit?

    Vital linkages — issuing from community value — did: as KK explained, at the turn of one of the honourees, Adedamola Kuti, a civil engineer and top civil servant at Abuja.  Engr. Kuti, though an Ijebu Imushin native, was instrumental to tarring that vital road.

    The tertiary school that Ilese hosts also morphed from the Ogun State College of Heath Sciences, into a full-fledged polytechnic, between 2013 and now. That too wasn’t happenstance. 

    Again, llese leaders had converted personal capital (influence) with the Ogun State government to social capital (community value) — to the glory of their town.

    Otunba Gbenga Daniel (OGD), former Ogun governor; now Senator for Ogun East under which Ilese falls, was there too — hinting, during his speech, at even more goodies for the town, as constituency project. 

    Again, someone, somewhere, has earned Ilese a good deal, undescoring umpteenth community value.

    Why, a town heroine, also glowed to high heavens!  Ilese girl, Selimot Olugbemileke, then a young Police officer, presented the Police flag to new President Nnamdi Azikiwe on 1 October 1963, when Nigeria became a republic.

    KK, also the new chairman of the Ilese Development Council (IDC), crowed over how the town’s elite back then, swooning with pride, mopped up — and filed away — copies of newspapers that published that iconic picture. 

    KK himself was four back then in 1963!  But he got the glorious tale from his parents.

    That young cop of old, since a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), was the honoured chairperson for Ilese Day 2014.  Talk of the glorious return of the native — a prophet(ess), to flip that biblical quip, with honour: in her own country, among her own people!

    But the one that literarily brought down the roof in thundering cheers was home boy and Chief Launcher, Oladapo Oguntayo, chairman, Arsenal Technologies Ltd, who donated N10 million — and he wasn’t even there!  His spouse announced the gift.

    Read Also: First Dangote PMS delivery set for September

    Still, that buy-in story — inside and outside Ilese — is incomplete without the golden mites of the 118-strong Ilese natives (individual and corporate), listed in this year’s brochure, that pooled their odd Naira and kobo to the glory of dear home town.

    Can this Ilese model work in our public space, were the government more credible and trust-worthy?

    But even with 2024 business still rolling, KK was already pointing at future projects. 

    One: to electrify the new “Appian Way” with be-fitting street-lighting, to beautify the town and secure it at night.  Two: to tackle erosion, always Ilese’s prime headache, shredding its stock of roads, as some over-starched, ragged old shirt!

    Is someone, somewhere thinking of a special federal environmental intervention, similar to the great works at Okemesi, in Ekiti State?  Don’t rule it out!

    It was, therefore, a fulfilled Ilese monarch, the Elese of Ilese, Oba Owolabi Obayomi, himself a retired Ogun permanent secretary, that read out a long speech, thanking everyone — after which he named KK the new Asiwaju Ilese, with thunderous cheers.

    Indeed, between the Ilese Traditional Council, over which the Elese presides; and the IDC, which KK chairs, the Ilese elite, traditional and modern, have struck a synergy which should continue to drive the town’s development; and serve the folks well.

    In that well-woven fabric is Otunba Sola Mogaji, FCA, chair of the Ilese Day Planning Committee, the engine room that yearly puts on the Ilese show.

    For KK, the journey to Asiwaju Ilese has been well-storied.  Ten years ago — or so –Ripples noted branded borehole projects in the town, courtesy the illustrious silk. 

    Now, it’s Eagle FM, Awodi TV, the radio’s television arm that just secured its licence, the Eagle Amusement Park, in the same compound, moving the venture from just broadcasting into an integrated fun hub.  The three employ qualified Ilese youths.

    Of course, there’s the coummunity’s Catland Microfinance Bank — in which he’s heavily involved, just as he is in the Polytechnic.  One employs.  The other admits.  Winners are qualified Ilese youths.

    Yet, this silk is no politician — only a driven native, with immense community value, that loves his town so dearly.  When will Nigerians begin to love Nigeria that deeply?

  • Bala Mohammed’s diatribe

    Bala Mohammed’s diatribe

    In politics, passing the buck is a standard practice. So, what Governor Bala Mohammed tried to do, by blaming President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT), for the national economic challenges while he campaigned for the state local government election, which predictably, his party cleared, is common. Addressing his party faithful, during the #Endbadgovernance protest, the Bauchi State governor said: “I listened to Mr. President’s speech with rapt attention and with all humility and courage what he said was empty.”

    While the governor is entitled to play politics against an opposition political party, what requires his courage most is the challenge facing his state and the northern Nigeria. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, 65 percent of the poorest Nigerians live in the north, and that is about 86 million Nigerians. And in a paper presented by Dr. Umar Farouk Musa and Aliyu Mahmmed Malami, in 2020, on “Exploring the Living Standard Dimension of Poverty in Bauchi state,” the state scored abysmally low in relevant indices.

    The writers said: “Bauchi state of Nigeria recorded 89.5 percent shortfall across living standard, in health care and education as well as complemented by destitution. The parameter applied cut across the ten indicators associated to schooling, enrollment, nutrition, sanitation, mortality, electricity, water, cooking fuel, assets and floor.” The deplorable state of Bauchi is similar to the challenges facing other states in the northwest and northeast. Sadly, the existential crisis facing the northern Nigeria manifested eloquently during the recent protests, as thousands of out-of-school children, flooded the streets, maiming, burning and destroying the scant infrastructure in the region.

    Yet, in the midst of these challenges, facing his state, Governor Mohammed is accused of engaging in acts of extravagance by his people. Over the weekend, the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) expressed shock and outrage over the choice of the governor to buy exotic multimillion naira SUVs for the six first class emirs in the state while majority of the citizens are stymied in multi-dimensional poverty. Such choices over several decades are at the root of the fearful cataclysm awaiting the northern Nigeria, and by extension, the entire country.

    As succinctly expressed by the PRP: “This is an egregious display of the callousness and disregard for the welfare of the people who elected him into office. At a time when many residents of Bauchi State are struggling to put food on their tables, the governor has chosen to prioritize luxury and indulgence for the privileged few.” They went on: “We condemn this flagrant waste of public funds and call on Governor Bala Mohammed to account for his actions. The people of Bauchi State deserve better than to be governed by someone who prioritizes the pampering of a few at the expense of the many.”  

    Getting northern Nigeria and by extension Nigeria out of the poverty quagmire is the responsibility of the federal as well as sub-national governments. The former Secretary General of Arewa Consultative Forum, Anthony Sani, captured the real challenge that demands courage in an interview, when he said: “Poverty in the North is real. And this is because education, which is the instrument of empowerment that narrows inequality is stymied by the number of out-of-school children. This stokes ignorance and the poverty.”

    While definitely the federal government has a role to play to alleviate poverty in every part of the country, the states and the local governments have important roles to play to make that happen. With the increase in state allocation, arising principally from the removal of the fuel subsidy, which is the agent provocateur for the protests that Governor Mohammed exploited, it is expected that states would increase their poverty alleviation policies.  And by Bauchi State government’s account, there has been substantial increase in state income receipts.

    Read Also: First Dangote PMS delivery set for September

    According to the state budget performance index, out of the N159,088,077,055. 00, income projection for the year, from the FAAC, the sum of N42,591,866,864.58, representing 26.8 percent were received in the first quarter of the year. The state government attributed the significant receipts to the removal of oil subsidy. If Bauchi, like the rest of other states have received higher income arising from the fuel subsidy regime, and instead of channeling the resources earned to improve the socio-economic wellbeing of the people of the state, the governor chose rather to spend more on luxury items for a privileged class, it smacks of deceit to blame the president for not turning his speech to a magic wand.

    While every effort should be made to turn the national economy around, the demand for reversal of fuel subsidy should never be contemplated. The simplest reason being that to subsidize fuel in Nigeria, means to subsidize fuel in neighbouring countries, especially in the northern part of the country with vast unmanned borders. Those agitating for the return of fuel subsidy would agree that no matter how wealthy Nigeria may pretend to be, it has no capacity to subsidize fuel, for her neighbours.

    And those pushing the narrative that what is needed is a strong policing of our boarders miss the point. As seen during the debacle arising from the closure of the northern borders with Niger Republic after the coup in that country, and further confirmed with the flying of Russian flags during the protests, a cross-over influence from Niger, the so-called national border, is a mere artificial creation dividing brothers. Clearly, the movement of people, goods and services across the artificial borders created by Europeans during the balkanization of Africa is unrestrained amongst brothers separated and living in different countries, knowing they are one and the same.

    In fairness to Governor Bala Mohammed, the act of spending scarce state resources on unreasonable ventures, while the people suffer, is not common to him alone. One example, though not as tawdry, as Bala Mohammed’s luxury cars, is the proliferation of airports in Nigeria. Out of the 33 airports in the country – all but two entirely owned by the federal or state governments – statistics indicate that only three airports account for 92 percent of all passenger journeys nationwide. A similar attraction for misplaced priority is fly-overs, in states with insignificant traffics.

    So, instead of playing the blame game, especially with the venom exhibited by young Nigerians during the #Endbadgovernance protest, Governor Bala Mohammed and his brother governors, and even the local government administrations, should end the debilitating mismanagement of scare resources, and use it to lift their citizens from multi-dimensional poverty. Sadly, the transformative effort of the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government administration may not be realized if states continue to make a mockery of local government elections as allegedly witnessed in Bauchi State, last week. With 73.9 percent poverty rate in Bauchi State, the real challenge requiring courage from Governor Bala Mohammed is clearly spelt out.

  • Reps salary in a jar

    Reps salary in a jar

    In a tepid attempt to show solidarity with the ordinary Nigerians, as the #Endbadgovernance protest was about to start, the House of Representatives, announced that her members will forfeit 50 percent of their salaries to the national purse as an act of sacrifice. Ever since the promise was made, controversy has trailed what constitutes the salary of the members of the House of Representatives, and most recently their Siamese twins, the Senate. Expectedly, the Representatives have claimed that their monthly salary is a meagre N600,000 and not the humongous salary and allowances which by some accounts is in the region of nearly N20 million, monthly. 

    Even before the members, sought to separate Paul from Barnabas, every Nigerian who has been following the controversies over the unlawful earnings of members of the National Assembly, knew they could only be referring to what should be their legitimate salary, and not the several unlawful allowances and perks they have over the years amassed as part of their illegitimate monthly earning. As the legislators know, what they should legitimately earn must be sanctioned by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), and not what they determine by their whims and caprices.

    The 1999 constitution (as amended) in the Third Schedule Part 1N paragraph 32 eloquently provides: “The Commission shall have power to – (a) monitor the accruals to and disbursement of revenue from the Federation Account: (b) review from time to time the revenue allocation formulae and principles in operation to ensure conformity with changing realities: Provided that any formula which has been accepted by an Act of the National Assembly shall remain in force for a period of not less than five years from the date of commencement of the Act.”

    The Constitution in paragraph 32(d) further provides: “The Commission shall have power to determine the remuneration appropriate for political office holders, including the President, Vice President, Governors, Deputy Governors, Ministers, Commissioners, Special Advisers, Legislators and the holder of offices mentioned in section 84 and 124 of this constitution.” Sections 84 and 124 deal with federal and state, executive and judicial officials, which are enumerated in the respective sub section 4, and does not include the legislators at federal and state levels.

    So, the remuneration that members of the National Assembly should earn shall be determined by RMAFC. But that is far from what is obtainable in practice. Presently, members of the National Assembly, while receiving the salary recommended by RMAFC, also earn heavy loads of all manners of allowances and perks attached to their offices, which many Nigerians have rightly described as unconscionable and unconstitutional. By their actions, they pooh-pooh the provision of the constitution that sought to ensure that since the National Assembly has control over the national cookie jar, they shouldn’t help themselves to the cookies in the jar, indiscriminately.

    In the 2024 budget, the salaries and allowances of the 109 senators will gulp N8.67bn, while the 360 members in the House of Representatives will get N24.43bn in salaries and allowances. But, according to a Punch newspaper report, out of the 19 allowances earmarked for the Senate President and his deputy, only five allowances were assigned specific figure. There are similar undisclosed figures for the other members of the National Assembly, and it is similar with the members of the state Houses of Assembly. One may ask, why such opacity, in the allowances of the members?

    Read Also: Senate, House of Reps deny fixing own salaries

    It is such opacity that makes some Nigerians pour invectives on the legislators, especially members of the National Assembly, with respect to their unearned allowances. This writer has written essays, arguing that the National Assembly can only legitimately earn salaries and allowances, approved by the RMAFC, as clearly provided by the 1999 constitution (as amended). While there might be corrupt practices in the executive and judicial arms of government, this writer has always argued that for the National Assembly to effectively exercise its power of oversight, it must earn within its constitutional boundaries.

    The National Assembly cannot, while arguably abusing its expansive powers and control over public funds, expect Nigerians not to be offended. Their usual argument that what is appropriated to the National Assembly is insignificant, when compared to what is allocated to the care of the executive amounts to red herring. Moreover, by virtue of section 88 of the constitution, the National Assembly has powers to ensure that what is allocated to the care of the executive is appropriately used for purpose.

    The recent protests, even with its omnibus hashtag, showed that the Nigerian youths are increasingly getting impatient with the status quo, and so, urgent steps must be taken to stave-off a national upheaval. For this writer, the National Assembly has an important role to play in monitoring and ensuring that the economic programs of this administration yields the promised fruits. They can ensure that monies earmarked for infrastructural developments are used for purpose, by virtue of the doctrine of checks and balances, in a presidential democracy.

    That is a more effective way to ameliorate the hardship that made a lot of Nigerians to join the protest. Should the budgeted national resources be put to the uses they are earmarked for, many of the challenges facing the citizens would abate. The controversy over whether a member of the House of Representative, earns either N900, 000 or the N600,000 in a month, is a mere distraction. By some accounts, the members earn tens of millions every month, which explains their life style. It is therefore cunning for their spokesperson, to tell Nigerians they earn N600,000 monthly, unless they have become the biblical Widow of Zarephath, who was blessed by Elijah, and her jar of oil never ran out.

    In the Bible story, Elijah on God’s mission to teach the Israelites a lesson caused a drought in the land. While hiding as he was commanded, God asked him to go to Zarephath, to stay with a widow, who will feed him, while the drought lasted. When he accosted the widow and asked her to make him a meal of bread, the woman informed Elijah that she had only a handful of meal in a jar and a little oil in a jug, and she was gathering sticks to make fire, to cook the last meal, and after, they will die.

    Undaunted, Elijah asked her, to first make a meal for him, from that meagre flour and oil, and that thereafter, her jar of meal and oil, will never run dry. And miraculously, it happened as Elijah predicted. So, when members of the House of Representatives offered to forfeit one-half of their salaries, giving the impression that they can survive on the remaining half, of N600,000, I wondered who the miracle-working prophet, that could help them survive on one-half of their salary, could be.

  • Re: Armageddon army

    Re: Armageddon army

    • By Pius O. Omachonu

    Your “Armaggedon Army” piece (July 6) tingled as always.  A number of take-aways:

    Bayo Onaguga’s shock treatment: principle of force compliance; well designed, measured and tailored.

    Release Kanu, while at the same time messing up his case: we’ll see how it pans out.

    Sore losers and sour grapes — and politicians’ capacity for nefarious multi-tasking.

    The penchant for creating new establishments to solve even ancient problems: from OMPADEC to NDDC, and now regional Development Commissions.

    The North and the politics of Nigeria.  The North — or at least a part of it — went bitter against the government it largely enthroned. Do you think PBAT needs to find out why?

    Economic policies and what comes in their wake: I like neither subsidy removal nor the floating of the Naira.  Ha Joon Chang, the South Korean economic buff, called the minders of Bretton Wood Institutions “Bad Samaritans” — they sure are!

    Temporary food import: but why import food at all? Temporary? Niger Delta Amnesty programe, with all the huge costs, was “temporary”. But it has come to stay. Reminds me of what Prof. P.F. Drucker calls “the longevity of the temporary”.

    Read Also:273 Army officers begin senior staff course exams in Jaji

    Instead, let’s free our farms from banditry.  Can’t we talk to bandits as we did to militants?  Banditry, militancy: each is a crime in a democracy.

    All in all, BAT needs to infuse affective and effective management into his policies.  He should also take a closer look at policies that amount to multiple taxation.

    He should also know that policies in themselves do not develop economies.  Management does.  But in Nigeria, management is not managing at all levels. That is the crux of the matter.

    • HRH Pius O. Omachonu, the Ata Oja II of Olumbanasa, writes from Anambra State.
  • Hunger protest, sinister agenda

    Hunger protest, sinister agenda

    • By Azubike Nass

    Protests are part of the civic rights to draw leaders’ attention to issues, which a section of the society are opposed to — a legitimate way for citizens to express their feelings.

    Whether the citizens or the authorities are right or wrong, in a given instance, may be a matter of differing perception.  Peaceful protests are legitimate.  But riots are criminal.

    Nigeria has always had a vibrant civil society and media, even before the present social media generation with its new class of influencers.  They moderate the society and raise public awareness to hold the leadership to account. They protect public interests and make the leaders think out of the box, in solving problems and facing challenges.

    The saying that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely, remains correct. Those in power can easily lose touch with the situation at the grassroots.

    Thus, civil society groups and sundry activists come in to protect public interest. But like any other aspects of the society, they too have the good, the bad, and the ugly.

    Idealism, on how to get things done, is always far away from practical actions. So, the civil society and anxious citizens often hold simplistic answers to solving a problem.

    That’s why the citizens must also understand those in government. Seeking a viable solution to longstanding problem is like cultivating a farmland and tending it to harvest time. It is not like pressing a button on the computer keyboard and the pictures would immediately disappear from the screen.

    Sometimes, it’s like becoming an anarchist to be a rights activist in Nigeria. Yet, such activism can only happen in peace; not in anomie, which breeds violence and arson.

    The Federal Government just completed a digital skills acquisition hub in Kano  — a World Bank-supported project that took a lot of efforts to achieve; designed to train thousands of youths on marketable digital skills for empowerment and employment. 

    But under the guise of a hunger protest, some misguided youths massed up, broke in, looted and destroyed that facility!

    Many of the supposed activists, and social media influencers, saw nothing to condemn in that action; and in the widespread looting of private businesses.  But they are busy attacking the government: warning against harm to “unarmed peaceful protesters”.

    To social media influencers, that appears the only way to retain high traffic and virtual mob followers.

    Therefore, it’s not too hard for an open mind to see that sinister political agenda had capitalized on the socio-economic condition that drove the original call for the protest.

    This writer is non-partisan. But everyone knows the political forces are the same that, after fairly losing the 2023 presidential election, were very bitter. Each one claimed to have won.  They threatened to stop the inauguration of the then President-elect, by mass protests; and were “begging” the military to take over.

    Their plan was countered, and it failed woefully.  But they have pressed on to illegally remove a duly elected sitting President, even if it means bringing the roof down; and plunging the nation into crisis that could generate a military take-over.

    In the early years of Barak Obama’s presidency of the United States (c. 2009/2010), the United States faced severe economic downturn that affected most sectors of the economy.  The international financial crisis of that time blighted Europe and America.

    Read Also: Playing politics with protest

    Because of that crisis, President Obama faced hostile political and non-political attacks from the opposition Republicans; and even from some high-ranking members of his Democratic party, aside from sundry White Supremacist and racist groups, some of who regarded him as the worst misfortune to befall the United States, and called for his removal through any available means.

    Popular US pollsters rated his public acceptance as very low. The Secret Service tightened measures against possible assassination attempt. But by the third and fourth years of his presidency, economic indicators had changed to remarkable recovery and growth.   That provided the key campaign issues that handsomely won his re-election for the second term.

    In Nigeria’s present situation, the rapid reforms instituted by the Tinubu administration, in its first year, have been favourably assessed by credible global financial institutions and development rating agencies — all indicating a positive outlook.

    The results are daily becoming visible at home with positive indicators which only the biased minds would refuse to see. But food prices remain high at moment and that is what generates complaints from the masses.

    One clear fact is that the present situation is as a result of a longstanding retrogressive trend.  Present efforts to redress the situation come with some seismic shocks before things could later stabilise.

    By the third and fourth year, the on-going reforms would have produced more visible and positive results that would power the President to a second term — similar to Obama’s US experience.

    I think the vicious opposition can sense that, and are fighting hard to stop the president in his tracks before he goes the distance. 

    I don’t see them succeeding. I rest my case.

    • Col. Nass, a retired officer of the Nigerian Army, writes from Enugu, Enugu State.
  • Dangote vs. NNPCL: The pin in the haystack

    Dangote vs. NNPCL: The pin in the haystack

    Finally, Nigerians may have begun to come to terms with the fact that the long awaited messiah – the Dangote Refinery – on which they have pinned their hopes for rescue isn’t about to live up to its promise anytime soon. Only yesterday, it again emerged that the company’s earlier pledge to supply the premium motor spirit (petrol) to the market anytime from August 10 – 12 is no longer realisable.

    With just about everything that could have gone wrong going tragically haywire, there has been no let-up in rationalisations,  arm-twisting, blackmail and other psych-ops; and with a good dose of nationalist sentiments thrown into the mix, Nigerians are left to struggle in their bid to make sense of what is going on. If searching for the truth in the circumstance is akin to looking for a lone needle in a proverbial haystack, the overwhelming nationalist sentiments would appear to convey the uncanny impression that niceties of process and regulation could be dispensed with in moments of assumed national exigency particularly when a major player is involved! 

    Truth however is that months after the country ought to have turned the corner in domestic refining, it remains a struggle of who to believe, between the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited which claimed to have ‘technically completed’ its Port Harcourt refinery and Dangote Refinery. Recall that Aliko Dangote had promised at the company’s inauguration on May 22, 2023 that the products would be in the market by August 2023. Well, if the production of diesel and aviation fuel that only commenced this year qualifies as progress, it was perhaps a case of expectant Nigerians not caring a hoot since public funds were not involved!

    But then, shouldn’t Nigerians worry at the on-going revelations about the company’s neglect of those fundamentals considered so basic to business processes that a sophomore Business Administration student would find a failure in the regard as astounding? For if we are to believe everything that is being offloaded into the public sphere by Africa’s foremost entrepreneur himself, it is that his $20 billion conglomerate has only recently begun work on securing access to its most important raw material – the old sweet Nigerian crude – to service his 650,000 barrels refinery!

    Read Also: Enforce PIA Act, Dangote urges NUPRC

    For an entity that has been nearly a decade in the making, one which is known to have sent hundreds if not thousands of young Nigerians on overseas training in anticipation of this moment, it seems to yours truly that this particular lapse in judgment (or dereliction?) is at the root of the problems between her, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited and the regulators.

    Hopefully, by the time the dusts finally settle, both the grandmaster and the cohort stridently pushing the blatantly one-sided narrative would have had one or two things to teach the rest of the world about business the Nigerian way, particularly the world of difference between what obtains here and the rest of the organised world in matters of planning and future contracts!

    For when truly reduced to its basics, the matter between the NNPCL, the regulators and Dangote Refinery comes basically to the very point: the latter wants the right of refusal for NNPCL’s share of oil production! You ask: how does that add up to a company with existing contractual obligations? More than that, it wants International Oil Corporations (IOCs) to extend the gesture to her, convinced that it is eminently deserving of it! Talk of other matters surrounding it as mere passing derivative!

    As a Nigerian, the company would ordinarily have my sympathy at any time. This sympathy, I guess is what has berthed in the hordes of Nigerians trooping to its Ibeju-Lekki facility in solidarity. And so the familiar argument that the country, having dwelt so long on this path, is deserving of the respite that Dangote Refinery is in vantage position to give; and that any obstacle, no matter the cost, ought to be considered fair game to be removed. With most Nigerians already trained to see that flick of light in that dark tunnel of hopelessness, it seems only natural that they would be up in arms in what is advertised to be a defence of the nation’s best interest.

    The problem is that the situation is more nuanced than has been presented. First, if it seems unimaginable that the refinery didn’t appear to have done its homework as would be expected, in signing valid contracts for crude supply, more baffling is that the company wouldn’t  even think of getting down to hard-nosed negotiation with the parties to address the obvious lacuna!

    And so enters the season of muck raking: currently, the story out there is that the NNPCL is not only a kill-joy; it has found a partner in the IOCs sworn to ensure that the refinery does not see the light of day! And for daring to accuse Dangote Refinery of pushing for unfair trade practices and other sundry regulatory infractions, the company wants the head of the regulator – the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA) – served on the platter!

    As for the upstream regulator – Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Regulatory Commission (NUPRC) – the latter is being upbraided for failing to force producers to abide by a law that stipulates they supply local refineries, saying that lax enforcement was raising its operational costs! Nothing matters, including the argument, which I believe has been well made, about existing contract obligations to third parties and such other constraining issues. They are apparently irrelevant in what appears to be a war that Dangote Refinery is sworn to vanquish every single actor in the value chain.

    At this point, the few still discerning Nigerians must wonder about what it is that makes the Dangote people right all of the time and every other player of note and/or institution in the country, wrong at the same time. For while I have nothing against those for whom the enthralling wonders of the $20 billion facility has held their awe, my understanding of the current situation is that the country’s best interests are best served when the parties – the crude suppliers, the regulators and Dangote Refinery management – are able to lower the temperature, engage meaningfully and respectfully as against the road shows that seems to have been designed to muddle if not obfuscate the issues.

    To restate the obvious, yours truly wants Dangote Refinery to succeed. It has to!  It deserves the support of every Nigerian to make the dream come true. In fact, I have on this page, written of how proud one should be that a single Nigerian, Aliko Dangote, has dared to dream that big in a country that is easily the graveyard of pious dreams. Having come this far, I do understand why the seduction to messiahnism can sometimes prove irresistible. We are talking of a time royalties, leaders of parliament, ex-presidents, journalists, politicians of different shapes and hues including the high and the mighty are coming together to sing praise of his achievement. Perish the thought that yours truly would dare to offer a word of counsel to Africa’s richest man to tread softly! Yet, it seems one instance when less noise would serve the moment!

  • Armageddon army

    Armageddon army

    The Armageddon Army (AA) promised a sweeping, nationwide blitzkrieg.  They instead delivered a northern volcano.

    Still, it parlayed no less tragedy: with child hoodlums looting and burning, in Kano, Kaduna, Borno, Katsina and Jigawa. 

    This anti-protest point bears making and remaking: you can’t bait street chaos and call it civil protest.  The chaos in the North just confirmed that explosive mischief.

    But it could have been worse, given the EndSARS experience of 2020.

    That violence on August 1, the very first of the 10-day “Days of Rage”, proved the protest was a bad idea. But hey, it’s a democracy!  In there, the demons of sense and nonsense often squeal for space!

    Still, that regional — against national — intensity, and reduced casualty, were ode to the shock therapy of Bayo Onanuga, tested guerrilla journalist of the IBB/Abacha era.

    The AA has a standard operational procedure (SOP).  Their mealy-mouthed lawyers, activists, cash-vitists and equal-opportunity anarchists, coo peace under civil rights.  But they crave war, under anomie, powered by lawless “rights”.

    It’s classic right without duty, privilege without responsibility.  But Bayo Onanuga would not have that crap.  So, he named names; and forced a cacophony of baleful denials and distancing that, day after day, defanged the coming Armageddon.

    By the time the hurricane touched down on August 1, it was much cultured.  But make no mistake, that wasn’t the intent.  Imagine if August 1 had been a nationwide orgy!

    So, naming names was a coup that jolted the faceless planners, nay plotters. 

    While Peter Obi and Pat Utomi distanced themselves, threatening jumbo suits, the Obidients — that loud, rowdy, raucous, irksome, rude and crude army of cyberspace — suddenly turned gentle lambs that couldn’t even come to the streets to rage!

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    The lawyers ensemble told even a more dramatic tale.  Ebunolu Adegboruwa, SAN, made a last-minute show-up for the so-called Take It Back Movement.  But even he was hollering, at his clients, to take back the lunacy of “10 days of rage”; and reduce the raging to one — or max: three days.

    Yele Sowore, who four years ago was dashing around Lagos streets, drawing his “Revolution Now!” graffiti on public walls, salted himself away to faraway USA, from where he continued his infantile row.

    Why, from his US haven, Sowore even pushes the banging of pots and pans for homes as protest against hunger!  Some excellent idea for an asylum! Does this fellow think everyone is unhinged?

    Then, the Sowore-Adegboruwa face-off!  While Adegoruwa, in-situ, calls for a halt to protests, Sowore, far-away, screams more protest, including a hallucination about a nationwide mob storming Abuja’s Unity Park! 

    Are we seeing, in Sowore, a much defanged Nnamdi Kanu who, four years ago, was pointing, to his demented goons, property to burn and assets to raze? 

    You bet those now clamouring for springing this blessed IPOB “pacifist” have all forgotten his satanic exploits during EndSARS!  Some of us still remember! 

    And just as well: one of the demands, of the present protest, was Release Nnamdi Kanu! For us, a perfect memory jog.  For them, a costly Freudian slip!

    Still, thank God.  It could have been worse, but for Bayo Onanuga’s shock therapy; and the Tinubu government that rallied opinion leaders to rally against the rally; and the security agencies that have stood doughty against the subversive plots. 

    Had the entire country been burning now, these same double-faced peaceniks that goaded the simplistic to mayhem, under the ambit of “human rights”, would be the same calling out the government for “incompetence”.

    Now, where is that balance that preserves the people’s rights but also checks anarchy and destruction? 

    Despite loud posturing, that appears non-existent in the doomsday dictionary of this AA, eternally feasting on people’s angst and woes.

    That’s the grim challenge facing a delicate democracy, after decades of junta rule.

    Still, from the North, the riots have been an eye-opener.  How come the bulk of the rioters  — Governor Babagana Zulum of Borno State put it at 95 per cent — are kids and early teens, who barely understand the issues?

    Hand of Esau but the voice of Jacob — the satanic hands the clear work of the vile opposition simmering with bile, fed into the shrill voices of impressionable kids?  The security agencies must dig deep to ferret out these clear subverts. 

    But that subversion could well be across party lines: for whoever is lord of the manor in Abuja could also be grumpy opposition in the states!  The Police and DSS owe us a duty to root out these devils, to face the law, before they cause greater havoc.

    The North!  These protests just confirmed that region sits on a keg of gunpowder!  Those now busy trading development commissions, as some sickening national pork, had better direct them to the regions that need them most: North East and North West. 

    The violence out there is umpteenth living proof.

    Still, the immediate spark of the protests — and violence in some states — is the double-whammy of removing fuel subsidy and floating the Naira to find its parity. 

    That has resulted in massive inflation — especially in the prices of staple foods — that has fired hunger — and anger. 

    Yet, from the presidential speech of August 4 in response to the protests, not much would change in the administration’s policy framework, beyond the six-month buffer of zero duties on imported grains and drugs.

    Though the president intoned “in the first instance” (an ad-lip?) in that speech, it had better not be true — for a wider window beyond six months would toss Nigeria back to pre-2015 reckless food imports.

    That not only robbed willing Nigerians of farm work (but instead employed foreign farm hands), it would also endanger post-2015 investment in rice mills, which sprang up to face the new but pleasant challenge of Nigerian rice. 

    Besides, it mocks the large expanse of fertile and cultivable land.  How can you have such vast tracks of land and yet claim you can’t feed yourself?  Grow what you eat and eat what you grow — simple!

    So, what follows now is a tight short-term control.  The policy thrusts are good for the long run.  Selling crude oil to local refineries in Naira is a smart move.  If that can pour a decent volume of crude into Dangote Refinery and others, that might just tamp fuel pump prices. 

    But the President, as Oil minister, must root out those powers and principalities inside NNPC Ltd.  Or else, his government would labour in vain.

    CNG — compressed natural gas — is even sweeter: for the cheapest petrol is costlier than CNG.  That’s why the President needs to fire, full blast, Dangote and co, in the short run.  After, petrol can exclusively earn forex.  That should strengthen the Naira and enhance its parity.

    The snag though is CNG cannot be mainstreamed till say another three years.

    So, let President Tinubu get cracking with his short-term policy tactics, and tweak his communications back to 2015, instead of 2023.

  • After the rage

    After the rage

    When the dusts finally settle, Nigerians, it must be acknowledged still owe the security agencies a debt of gratitude for their rather measured response in the wake of the so-called hunger protests. For while it is regrettable that some lives were still lost to the mayhem in parts of Kaduna, Kano and Niger states, over all, there have been largely no credible reports of excessive use of force by the security agencies even when some of the actions of the protesters amounted to a death wish. This must have constituted terrible embarrassment for our hordes of fledging conflict-preneurs and their mercy-industrial complex for whom an alternative outcome would have meant more donor funds pouring in! 

    Yes, we have been reminded over and over again in the last few days that the rights of the citizens to protest are absolute and inviolate; and that the best the government is expected to do in the face of the advertised protest is to sit back and watch in the vain hope that things would by itself calm down!

    Government’s appeal, as indeed those of traditional, religious and other leaders in the civil society, urging restraint was not supposed to matter a jot. After all, the protesters, in their righteous indignation and, if you like, mindless rage, having long made up their minds that nothing short of capitulation by a government that is barely 15 months in office would be acceptable, still nonetheless deserve their day!

    As for the police, head or tail, they could not be seen to win the battle. Ironically, while insisting on their rights to police protection while their rage lasted, the same protest leaders, when asked to offer their own counter guarantees that things would not go awry simply retorted without scruples that it is not theirs but the police to give!

    So much for their craving for power without responsibility; for amorphous groups that prefer to see themselves as leaderless and whose point of departure is to draw attention of the government to the hunger ravaging the land, does it matter that their preference was for crude threats not least the pointless hyping of rage to press their cases? It was for them the time for elected leaders at every level to be routinely insulted and called names. Dignitaries, including faith leaders, pleading for restraint, were mercilessly mauled by the mob. In some cases, names, telephone numbers and addresses of public figures said to be government officials and their sympathisers were gleefully splashed on X (twitter) with accompanying calls on members of the protest movement to bombard them with unsolicited, hate messages!

    Should it therefore surprise anyone that their hateful messages somewhat robbed negatively on more discerning Nigerians? We saw the carnage in Niger, Kaduna, Kano, Yobe and Borno where the earth shook with the mindless mob unleashed on a hapless people accompanied by massive looting; has the fears of the everyday Nigerian about the possible descent to anarchy not been borne out?

    So much for the subsidy issue said to be at the heart of the crisis; if one had thought that the issue of the had long been settled or that Nigerians were, more than a year after, in better understanding of why it had to go, it seems to me the height of mischief that some so-called activists could still convince themselves and their supporters to see its return as the elixir at this point in time.

    Read Also: Protest: Keep faith with Tinubu – Mba, Umahi urge southeast

    After all, this was an item that presidential contenders in the 2023 elections had all staked their honour as having no place in their political lexicon. More than that, this administration in particular, is not known to have minced words about how the old iniquitous foreign exchange regime encouraged rent, arbitrage and hence corruption, and so had to be jettisoned. Mercifully, the administration has since passed a new national minimum wage of N70,000 which the organised labour, despite initial objections has since accepted as pragmatic in the current circumstances. Noteworthy is that the same opposition elements have somewhat convinced their ranks – not Labour – that nothing short of N300,000 was acceptable – a case of their crying more than the bereaved!

    Yes, it is also to the administration’s credit that it admitted that the reforms would occasion a huge dose of discomfort particularly in a country with an ignoble record of import dependency. In fact, it never at any time fought shy of admitting that there could be no such a thing as anyone waving the magic wand for the problems to dissolve overnight. What the administration is on record to have promised is that things would certainly get better with time and this with a plea for understanding and patience while waiting for the fruits of the reforms to cascade.

    As to the question of whether or not the administration could have done things differently, particularly in mitigating the pains of its reforms, again, this is open to debate. What is intolerable is that the elements, massing under the umbrella of their right to protest think little of holding the gun to the head of the administration while scuppering the rights of the silent majority in the process.

    By the way, the protesters also demanded that the president speaks directly to them.  Well, he did on Sunday. He regretted that lives were needless lost; deplored the looting that attenuated the protests, and then went on to enumerate some of the measures his administration had taken to address the problems – fundamentally. As if to tell the folks that this is no time for placebos, he called for patience and understanding, while assuring citizens that the country has since turned the corner.

    Expectedly, none of the measures he enumerated seems to have impressed his implacable foes; not even those policies designed precisely to address the supposed agitations at the roots. Those among them who heard the president pretended to be tone deaf while those saw the text claim they couldn’t make sense of them. To some others still, it would have been in order had the president chosen not to speak at all!  In other words, the battle isn’t one that this presidency can win!

    Let me end this piece with a words for those said to be craving for good governance. It seems to me that good governance and good citizenship are the obverse sides of the same coin. You simply cannot have one without the other! It is hypocritical to mouth Endbadgovernance while exhibiting the most heinous forms of political delinquency! How about a matching campaign for EndBadCitizens?

    Yes, the government, as the ultimate guarantor of public should be able to know when to draw the line beyond which wayward citizens could only cross at the pain of retribution. This is what the ongoing riots in the United Kingdom clearly instruct. 

  • Recalibrating consumer protection

    Recalibrating consumer protection

    The presidential appointment and subsequent confirmation by the senate of Tunji Bello, as the Executive Vice Chairman, of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), should reinvigorate the commission to achieve on its core mandate, which is to ‘promote fair business practices and safeguard the interest of consumers’. There is no doubt that Nigerians are afflicted by severe economic hardship, especially, the runaway food-inflation, which has pushed many into the streets, as protesters.

    Sadly, the protest turned out bloody in a few states, and lives and properties were lost. Last week, this column had asked for protest without violence, but noted that it is a near impossibility. Some of those who promoted the protest are now regretting the outcome even though it was predictable. With the protest tempering out after the address by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (PBAT), this column urges the attention of the federal, state and local governments, to refocus on making life easier for the ordinary Nigerians.

    The FCCPC has a role to play, in making life better for Nigerians, if it pursues vigorous consumer protecting policies. While taming inflation is principally the domain of financial and economic management ministries and agencies, fighting unbridled anti-competition practices, importation and distribution of fake products, and artificial price manipulations, which also cause inflation, fall within the domain of the FCCPC. So, in the new Nigeria that PBAT promised Nigerians during his campaign, and reiterated to the disillusioned protesters, the FCCPC has a significant role to play.

    The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2018 grants the Commission enormous and far reaching mandate, which should impact on the nation’s economy, if vigorously pursued. The mandate to combat anti-competitive practices is geared to fighting monopolists, price fixing and similar obnoxious practices that incrementally destabilize the economy. Such mandate cuts across all sectors of the economy, as the Commission is the ombudsman for the protection of public interest. In the entertainment industry for instance, there is an anti-competitive practice where a provider has an exclusive contract that makes it a monopolist.

    There are similar challenges in order arears, and the FCCPC has the mandate to protect the interests of competitors and consumers. Another expansive oversight is the authority to evaluate mergers and acquisitions, to forestall those that could significantly diminish competition in any industry. The FCCPC has authority to approve, reject, or set conditions for such transactions. The Commission is enjoined to review and analyse mergers and business combination to ensure that any potential merger or acquisition do not distort or impede efficiency in any industry.

    Read Also: Military vows to resist agendas pushing for undemocratic change of government

    The market-driven economy which the PBAT administration pushes for needs a vigorous and vibrant Commission to fight anti-competitive practices. And in the president’s speech on Sunday, he enumerated economic actives geared to promote competition. The president said that 600,000 nano-businesses have benefited from the nano-grants and another 400,000 more are expected to benefit. Also, that 75,000 micro and small businesses would receive N1 million single-digit interest loans, while large manufacturers would get N1 billion single-digit interest loans, to boast manufacturing output and stimulate growth.

    Clearly, these are pro-competition policies, and if properly implemented would engender economic growth, and create employment for the teeming youths across the country, feeding the protests. Government officials, calling on the youths to stop the protests have an eye on these policies, which could return the country to enhanced economic growth. The 2024, first quarter 2.98 percent economic growth, though higher than the 2.31 percent of the first quarter of 2023, needs to accelerate to higher levels, to be impactful for a nation with 2.39 percent growth in population, in 2023.

    The 2024, growth forecast for Nigeria, by the International Monetary Fund, in May was 3.3 percent, while Guyana in South America, the world’s fastest growing economy is projected to expand by 33.9 percent. Of note, while Nigeria ranks the sixth most populated country in the world, and its economy is projected to grow at 3.3 percent, the first, second and fourth most populated countries, which are India, China and Indonesia, will grow at 6.8 percent, 5 percent and 5.2 percent respectively. Meanwhile, Nigeria is projected to become the third most populous country in the world by 2050, behind India and China.

    So, the projected economic growth that can drag Nigeria out of poverty is seven percent, which is more than double of the current 3.3 percent. In effect, to steer Nigeria away from perpetual protests, the growth dynamics has to change. As this column has always maintained, those at the helm of affairs have to lead this change, if they are interested in the survival of the country. The greatest challenge of course, remains corruption in public spaces, and unless that cankerworm is wrestled to the ground, the country would not make significant progress.

    Even in the face of severe challenges occasioned by the current protests, the scarecrow of corruption scares a bleeding nation. In his address, PBAT said that N570 billion has been released to the 36 states to expand livelihood support to their citizens. This column wishes an audit, to know the whereabouts of the monies. Of course, if the monies had cascaded down to those in most need, the ongoing crisis may have been averted. If our past experience is a lead, substantial part of the monies may have gone to private coffers.

    Another disease afflicting the nation is the misapplication of scarce resources; in most parts fuelled by corruption and egoism. Many state governors engage in unnecessary projects, geared to massage personal egos, and give abundant room for corruption. By engaging in multi-billion naira projects, the chances of stealing exponentially are higher. That explains the many airports and flyovers, in states with insignificant economic activities. Of course, there will be insignificant leg room for stealing, where they to concentrate on social infrastructure, including health, education and poverty alleviation.

    Perhaps, the hardship protest will make the states reset their priorities. This is particularly important in the northern part of the country, with massive out-of-school children, which was weaponized by friends and enemies alike, to cause mayhem. As should be obvious to the northern political leaders, political power, unless used to change important social dynamics, does not matter when poverty breaks the banks. Despite the recent eight years of Muhammadu Buhari’s presidency, by some accounts, there are 15.23 million out-of-school children in northern Nigeria.

    The PBAT’s regime remains a great opportunity to reset the country, for the benefit of the majority of Nigerians, who are mere consumers of political, social, religious and economic activities. To encourage Nigerians to stay away from the streets, the many laudable economic plans of the Tinubu administration must hit the streets. The FCCPC exercising its surveillance and investigation mandate, should monitor how the economic policies stimulate competition, which is vital to national growth.

  • Jega to the rescue?

    Jega to the rescue?

    How different: President Bola Tinubu’s livestock reforms with the creation of a Federal Ministry of Livestock Development from the Buhari-era Livestock Transformation Plan/RUGA — rural grazing area — proposal?

    That may well lie in the thickness of your bias; or for regime spin doctors, in the acuteness of your spin!

    But the basics: both plans toast ranching.  That means nomadic herders, who move from place to place to find fresh grazing for their cattle, will settle for a confined space.  In there, they can feed and nurture their bulls and cows.

    Thanks to routine technology — no resort to rocket science — the grass can be green for all seasons, water can be piped to slake bovine thirst, and processed dairy — milk, cheese, cream, butter, yogurt, etc — can fire sundry agro-cottage industries, all from that paradise regained: ranches!

    The economics of it is simple enough.  But the politics?  Not so!

    So, when RUGA was proposed, ethnic champions and their media confederates, with the willy-nilly army of thick prejudice and noxious bias, started foaming in the mouth!

    But maybe, the acronym RUGA was a grave communication error?  Perhaps it was too close to rugga — Fulani for human settlement — for folks: particularly in the South and the Benue/Plateau areas of North Central, not to go ga-ga with worry?

    Besides, was RUGA not of the Fulani power hegemons, for killer Fulani herdsmen, coveting and corralling other ethnics’ lands and homestead, by a “Fulani” president?  Kai!  We no go gree!

    Not even the policy history of RUGA could have dented that angst.  The Obasanjo regime, when Major-Gen. Shehu Musa Yar’Adua was No. 2, first bruited RUGA.  But then, wasn’t  Obasanjo — the arch-skeptics, if not cynics, would likely have sneered — a client of the “North”?

    But now that a “Yoruba” president just re-bruited the idea, what has really changed?  The bias: from nay to yeah — because the president has changed, so ethnic feelings must alter?

    Or maybe the anti-Fulani paranoia just got cooled off, since a Fulani is no longer president?  Paranoia!

    At the height of the RUGA bedlam, in which the Fulani herdsmen dissonance reached a crescendo, some social media Solons from the South West, and Solomons from the South East, hollered for the boycott of beef — to push the hated killer “Fulani herdsmen” out of business!

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    Not a bad idea.  The snag though was even if Yoruba households could boycott beef and sustain it — brave souls! — what would happen to the famous Yoruba weekend Owambe shindigs? 

    Imagine an Owambe without beef and its sundry orisirisi! Though the rain pours and the sun blazes, nothing stops the Owambe groove!  Imagine that without beef, its soul!

    But the exclusive link of the Fulani to livestock business just exposed the troubling ignorance of many — if not most — of the impassioned commentators and crusaders.

    True, northern Nigeria might have enjoyed comparative advantage in cattle and sundry animal husbandry.  But it was no monopoly, given the plan Premier Obafemi Awolowo, who governed the Western Region from 1952 to 1959, executed.

    Prof. Adewunmi Taiwo, in a revealing video clip, has told that rich story; and how the military killed the home-bred cattle market of Western Nigeria.

    Awo’s Agriculture Minister, Chief Akin Deko, had attended an agricultural show at Hampshire College of Agriculture, England, at which a Nigerian was one of the fair guides.  The minister invited him home to power the region’s animal farming policy.

    At the heart of that was the 1, 200-hectare Fashola Breeding Farm, near Oyo.  The Awolowo government imported the Ndama cattle breed from Mali.  This hornless species resisted a mass cattle-slaying disease, spread by tsetse fly, which made cattle-breeding perilous in the tropical forest belt, near the coast.

    These hardy Ndama were the grandparent stock.  They bred the parent stock, which bred the commercial stock.  Neither grandparent nor parent stocks were sold.  They just bred.  Only the commercial stock hit the market.

    Fashola, the chief ranch, fed other ranches: at Odeda, Onise-Ire, Iwo-Oloba, etc: with their vast and many paddocks; and feeding and water troughs.  The cattle grazed from paddock to paddock — from grass grazed thin; to fodder fresh, lush and thick.  The grazing was purely organic.

    The result was remarkable.  The hornless Ndama — lean, strong bones, thick, rich meat — bred in the Western Region weighed some 500 kg, against its other bovine cousins, which weighed some 150 kg.

    But the military governments and cronies in the West, after 1966, killed the industry by eating off the grandparent stock! 

    That stock was quite pricey — N1.5 million, compared with parent stock: N500, 000 or commercial stock (the actual ones readily sold): N100, 000, according to Prof. Taiwo, now of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State.

    Why this not-so-brief detour into Western Region cattle history, anyway?  Just to prove that every part of Nigeria can invest in cattle breeding and sales — and it need not be nomadic.

    If it is business, and there is legit money to be made, there ought not have been any row over RUGA.  Nor should there be unease over a Federal Ministry of Livestock Development, on the excuse that it’s a mere fob to placate the “North”. 

    It’s not.  Every part of the country can take advantage of it.

    Even if it were, mainstreaming ranching, away from itinerant grazing, with grim herder tale of vanishing grass; and curdling farmer tale of blood and gore, is certainly worth trying — without profiling innocent herders for the crime of a few; or insulting Fulani heritage because their folks are herdsmen.

    Still, dislodging fixed minds won’t be easy: which is why making Prof. Attahiru Jega to drive the ranching process opens a window of opportunity — even if slightly.

    He seems to have a cross-over appeal rare among the Nigerian elite.  He was radical enough to be elected ASUU president (1990), yet trusted — if not conservative — enough to be appointed vice chancellor of Bayero University, Kano in 2005.

    Before Jega came on the electoral scene in 2011, Maurice Iwu, who conducted the grand heist that was the 2007 election, had turned that civic exercise into a war of fake ballots, hewn limbs and cracked skulls. 

    But under Jega from 2011, INEC started making incremental improvements in poll conduct, peaking with the defeat of PDP, as federal ruling party, in 2015.

    Will Prof. Jega’s “cross appeal” galvanize his northern folks to buy into ranching; and wean southern cynics off their gruffness — with both sides seeing ranching and cattle business as a win-win, of which everyone can take advantage?

    We wait and see.