The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • No letting up in fight to end polio

    SIR: With over 3000 deaths recorded in West Africa alone, and as the number grows daily, there is the need for all to pull the necessary resources together in the eradication and spread of Ebola. While global effort against the disease continues, we must not forget that although no viable vaccine has been fully certified by global health bodies, the disease is controllable through what Tom Frieden of the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls “rapid, focused interventions”.

    It is today clear that Nigeria’s effort at containing Ebola is an indication that it can also deal with some of its other health challenges, most importantly polio. Polio is severe mostly because of its lasting physical disability on its victims. These individuals face daily challenges that mostly impede them from living normal lives. Significant progress in the global effort to eradicate the disease has however been made, with 99 per cent reduction since 1988. Nigeria, Pakistan and Afghanistan remain polio endemic countries. While Pakistan recently immunised 34.2 million children or 95 per cent of all children below five across the country, with further hope of immunisation, Nigeria’s effort has been remarkable.

    According to Ted Turner in a recent article, Nigeria has so far recorded just six polio cases in two states in 2014 which is over 85 per cent reduction. The article observed that more than 75 per cent of all children have received the oral polio vaccine in eight northern Nigerian states, a proof of the significant progress made on polio.

    Interestingly, the effectiveness of Nigeria’s polio initiatives and its dramatic reduction has been hinged on the support of stakeholders (traditional and religious leaders) at all levels of government. In fact, Turner’s article aptly noted that “Their commitment to ending polio…was clear, and they have delivered on [it] in the intervening years.” Turner would add that “Nigeria’s progress on polio is… fragile” and that “there is reason to be concerned about a decline in high-level oversight at the state and local government levels”.

    The truth is that government at all levels, including traditional and religious leaders, cannot do it alone. We have seen significant efforts of UN agencies like World Health Organisation and UNICEF, Rotary International, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the United Nations Foundation, governments in the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

    And as Africa’s only endemic country, few Nigerians or organisations have made polio eradication an important task. One of such Nigerian is Sir Emeka Offor through the Sir Emeka Offor Foundation (SEOF). In August 2013, he cemented his commitment to the END POLIO NOW with a grand donation of $1.3 million to Rotary International in Lisbon, Portugal.

    With the level of funding among other Polio related initiatives, Nigeria’s polio status will sooner end. With 95 per cent reduction in polio cases, we are now this close to ending polio.

     

    • Raheem Oluwafunminiyi

    Lagos

     

  • Re: No fourth term for Chukwumerije

    SIR: On Monday, November 10, page 20, The Nation carried an opinion by Jasper Uche, captioned – No Fourth Term for Chukwumerije.

    Uche Chukwumerije is not a man pursuing after popularity, fame or status. God bestowed success, fame and status to him at a much younger age than some folks may expect. Providentially, he has been a man of history starting from the days of struggle for self-determination by the Igbos to the military and democratic experience in Nigeria. A ranking Senator of repute, fearless and forthright in his approach to National discourse, decked with high sense of integrity laced with courage and patriotism for his people and fatherland. A man in a hurry to impact to our generation the core values of hard work, integrity and courage is now a subject of discourse, insult and abuse by an individual he picked from the university and made his assistant in National Assembly, Special assistant to Abia state Governor and later gave him the opportunity to serve as a Transition Chairman of Umunneochi L.G.A.

    A self-acclaimed born again may not know what it means to grief the Holy Spirit with lies. No congress was held in Abia State by PDP. At least, all the people that bought the delegate forms are living witnesses including the members of PDP that waited in the scorching sun from morning till evening without election. Elections are not concluded on the pages of a newspaper. The people of Abia North are waiting for the opportunity to elect their representatives. Let’s wait and hear the outcome of the election. One man’s vote is not synonymous with failure. The people with Chukwumerije are much more than the people against him.

    Chukwumerije has won elections for three terms without the barrel of a gun, and with assurances coming from the people of Abia North, he shall win again. Great societies like USA and Britain thrive on democracy with tenets of free choice, accountability and fairness. No cabal is allowed to stay in the confines of a hotel room to determine the choice of the people.

    If democracy is encouraged in our country, Chukwumerije will surely cruise to victory in his fourth term bid and so shall Senator David Mark, Senator Ike Ekweremadu etc.

    Alternatively, “automatic ticket” as a doctrine of necessity, employed by the NWC of PDP in order to extricate the masses from the structural capture by state chief executives is commendable.  “The party is supreme”.

     

    • Nkem Okoro, JP, KSC

    Former chairman and former transition committee chairman,

    Arochukwu LGA, Abia State

     

  • Kudos to NYSC-DG

    SIR: This to commend the Director-General of the Nigerian Youths Service Corps (NYSC) for the brilliant job is he is doing at the NYSC. In life there are times when just the display of affection and love ignites healing and recovery. This is what the DG of NYSC has done when he chose to visit the injured corps member, Babatunde Oluwagbenga, currently receiving treatment at the University of Benin Teaching Hospital for injuries sustained in an accident on his way to orientation camp in Bayelsa State.

    According to media reports, the DG directed the payment the hospital bill, gave the mother of the recuperating corps member some financial assistance from his own pocket, and granted the redeployment request of the corps member. I commend the DG for this rare display of sympathy and empathy. This is a lesson in responsive leadership.

    Well-done Brig. Gen. Johnson Olawumi.

     

    •Lydia Yakzum,

    Bukuru, Jos.

     

  • NYSC and safety of corps members

    SIR: Since the inception of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) 41 years ago, a lot has happened to make people argue for and against its relevance and benefits to the Nigerian youth. The history of the NYSC is indeed replete with momentous events. For some of us, commenting on issues like this is more than just writing. It’s a way to wake up, to calm down, to spark an idea, and to share a story. And this is the story of the transformation going on right now in the NYSC.

    I recall when the present Director General of the NYSC, Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi, assumed office, he clearly highlighted the path he wanted his administration to take. He gave a brilliant four-point agenda aimed at increasing the impact and relevance of NYSC by improving the service content of the scheme, enhancing the welfare and safety of corps members and staff; expanding partnerships for greater impact, funding and support for the scheme; and increasing the visibility and relevance of the scheme.

    Pursuant of the second agenda,  the DG recently paid a visit to corps member, Babatunde Oluwagbenga who was involved in an auto accident alongside five of his colleagues on their way to the NYSC orientation camp in Bayelsa State. The visit by the DG showed the premium placed on the lives of corps members.

    I gathered that the DG was in Benin on his nationwide tour of orientation camps when he heard about the unfortunate incident. News reports said he made a detour to the University of Benin Teaching Hospital where the injured corps member was being treated. But that is not all there is to it. He actually ordered the payment of the victim’s medical bills, which he could have done by instruction and not necessarily visiting physically. He could have sent the Edo State coordinator of the NYSC to monitor the situation and report back to him. But no, he visited himself, which I think was exemplary. That in itself was a statement of two uncommon folds: translating words to action.

    We were all witnesses to the unfortunate events of 2011 where some corps members in the north lost their lives in the post-election violence of that year. The memory isn’t something we can wish away easily. The nation mourned. And questions were asked. Answers were provided, if not satisfactorily. I think the NYSC has realised that corps members are vulnerable to attacks hence the premium placed on their safety and welfare at all times. And the visit of the DG to the injured corps member consolidates this view.

    I also understand that during the orientation exercise, all camps have had security personnel doubled with the military, police, SSS, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps collaborating to provide adequate security for corps members. In addition, after the orientation exercise, the NYSC provided the various state police commands and the state security service commands with the location of lodges of corps members in case of emergencies. There is also the distress call centre that was established for corps members to use in times of distress. This should be good news for parents and guardians especially given the security situation in the country.

    The distress call centre can best be described as innovative. I gather it works this way: when corps members are deployed to their places of primary assignment, their full data such as names, phone number, states code, and places of primary assignment, and addresses of security agencies within that area are sent by the state coordinators to the NYSC headquarters. The information is then uploaded into the scheme’s database. In times of distress, when a corps member calls with the registered phone number, his or her data page will appear on the screen. Security operatives within the vicinity would then be notified immediately.

    What can be more reassuring than this? Play back this scenario to the 2011 post-election violence. Imagine the number of lives that would have been saved by a mere phone call before evil befell them. And the nation would have been saved the agony of the bizarre event.  But there is no point agonising over what cannot be undone.

    However, it is comforting to know that more than ever before, the lives of corps members are more secured, and that their welfare is being given the utmost attention it deserves. By building on what he met on the ground and adding his own thrust and touch, the DG of the NYSC, Brig. Gen Johnson Olawumi has started well. We can only wish he sustains the tempo and continues to introduce cutting-edge innovations to make the NYSC a more responsive organisation.

     

    •James Mancha

    Jalingo, Taraba

  • Rivers PDP gubernational imbroglio  

    SIR: The on-going controversy over who bears the PDP flag in the Rivers 2015 governorship election is getting to a disturbing level. An interesting angle to it, is Governor Chibuike Amaechi’s insistence that it would be unfair, unjust and even politically immoral for an Ikwerre to succeed him, an Ikwerre himself. Should this happen, he keeps singing like a song, it would be a recipe for disunity, inequity and injustice in a state that has enjoyed relative peace in the past few years? I am not an Amaechi fan, but I find this his reasoning resoundingly mature and acceptable to many Rivers people. He does not want Rivers State on fire after his regime.

    One does not need to look too far to observe that since the return of democratic rule in May 1999, Rivers State has been governed, back to back, by our brothers from the upland section of our state. Yet, there is a clear and natural divide in our state – upland and riverine areas. Governor Peter Odili, from 1999 to 2007, governed Rivers State. He is upland and during his swearing-in ceremony on May 30, 1999, he promised that the next governor, after him, would come from the riverine. He reneged and proposed his crony, Chibuike Amaechi, to vie for the number one position in the state. President Obasanjo who did not want Amaechi for a number of reasons, retaliated by withdrawing his support for Odili’s presidential, and later vice-presidential ambition. Out of panic, Odili substituted Amaechi with his (Amaechi) cousin, Celestine Omehia. Amaechi later got what he and Odili wanted through a Supreme Court ruling.

    Amaechi is due to hand over power by May 2015, and has sustained his insistence that for justice, fairness and peace, another Ikwerre should not succeed him. Sincere and average Ikwerre person agree with him. Based on the array of the 16 candidates who addressed a successful pro-zoning rally in Port Harcourt recently, it is clear that front runners, in the following order, Beks Dagogo-Jack, Dumo Lulu Briggs, Samson Ngeribara, among the lot, seem to be carrying popular acceptability among party stalwarts and membership.

    There are many questions to be asked. Are the party leadership at the national level of the PDP not reading the political temperature in Rivers State? Are they so distant that they are not getting the feeling that Nyesom Wike, though an asset to the party, cannot win if eventually imposed on members of the party? Can’t they feel the pulse from their Abuja enclave? Are the signals not clear enough to them by now, and what else are they waiting?

    Chief Wike’s inordinate ambition must be halted, not massaged by the national leadership of the party. He claims he rescued the party when Amaechi almost orphaned it, as it were, but that is not very correct. He along with other party stakeholders in the state ensured that Amaechi’s exit from the party did not cause its sudden death. The rescue mission couldn’t have been a one-man project. No person should claim to be God here! The party is not for sale nor was it collectively rescued for the benefit of the highest bidder. The party should know the best way to compensate Wike and others who played roles when it mattered most. What our state needs now is a sound technocrat who understands what is needed to move this beautiful and naturally endowed state to the next level.

     

    •Cosmas Omoku,

    Diobu, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

     

     

     

  • Trouble with educational sector

    SIR: Nigeria’s educational sector needs urgent attention to halt further deterioration. Our educational sector is nothing to write home about. Nigeria’s educational sector is deteriorating so badly because of negligence by the government.

    Schools are dilapidated; infrastructures in our schools are inadequate. Teachers are forced to teach due to lack of motivation. Students on their part are not well-equipped for learning. They lack textbooks, notebooks and some other learning materials with classes in some schools held in uncompleted buildings. Learning is crippled and students tend to even run away from school due to these factors. If the learning environment is friendly, the student will also find learning friendly.

    Government needs to motivate teachers for adequate teaching to take place.  Teachers in Nigeria are the suffering civil servants, especially those that are working in public schools. It is crucial and important to satisfy the teachers for them to be able to teach very well and be ready to teach not forced to teach. If teachers are motivated to teach, adequate teaching and learning will take place and the nation will be better for it. When you ask students what they want to be in future, they will never mention to be a teacher, not because it is not a good profession but because it is not encouraged by the government. This is a clarion call on the government to help encourage teaching /teachers.

    The incessant attacks by insurgents in our schools in the North show the terrible state of security.  We need to beef up security in our schools because if there is no assurance of security, students will find it difficult to go to school not to talk of staying there to learn.

    As must be obvious to everyone, education is the bedrock of development; so it will be a disaster for any government to shun education when building its economy. It is supposed to be the foundation for the economy. The Nigerian government should increase the budget for education so that education can receive a boost.

    Emmanuel Oye,

    Ilorin, Kwara State

  • Let’s have our own president in 2015

    SIR: Since the 1914 amalgamation by Nigeria’s colonial masters, life has not remained the same for her people. The colonialists sought to bring the different tribes together for the smooth administration and exploitation of the country.

    The people were hardly consulted, neither were they given the opportunity to discuss the terms of their coming together. Many people had expected the colonial masters to take steps to foster unity and instill a feeling of oneness among the people. Sadly, they didn’t. Instead of uniting the people, the colonial masters, for selfish reasons, further planted division among the people. People were taught to regard those from their ethnic group more than others. In every engagement, regional interest towers above national consideration. People were ready to die for their regions and none was ready to die for Nigeria. The nationalists of that time were seen more as ethnic and not national heroes. All tribes lived in mutual suspicion of one another. Lies and baseless rumours were fabricated and shared with reckless abandon against one another, and many people fell for it.

    This was the situation in the pre-independence Nigeria. After independence, the situation did not change. Instead coming together and ensuring that the ‘new’ country breeds progress and development, most nationalist and anti-colonialism fighters withdrew to their regions to propagate regional and not national interest.

    There was hardly anyone genuinely championing the Nigerian cause. It was either a Northern, Southern or Western region affair; there was no Nigerian affair.

    This state of affairs has continued till date. At every stage of our national life, issues of regionalism and tribalism take the center stage against national interest. Merit and competence is slaughtered on the altar of religion, tribalism and nepotism. One area where this is prominent is in elections. During elections, people are more concerned about the ethnicity and region the candidate belongs to, and not his or her competence.

    All the leaders we have had as a country are/were products of this faulty mindset. We are yet to enjoy the dividends of having a true and genuine Nigerian leader and president, one who will not be judged by where he comes from, but by the love and interest he has for the country. We need a president who will not play the ethnic or religious card when he assumes office. One who will tell his people, that “although I am one of you, I am now for Nigeria and Nigerians and will operate as such for the next four or eight years.”

    We must note that a Nigerian president cannot emerge without a change in the orientation of the Nigerians. Until this happens, Nigeria will remain where it is; making motion without movement.

    As the 2015 elections approach, one hopes Nigerians will shove issues of regionalism, tribalism and religion aside and see through all the contestants for presidency and elect a true and genuine leader. We cannot continue to make the mistake of the past. 2015 offers us an opportunity to correct the mistakes we have been making since 1914. I pray Nigerians find their own president.

    • Frank Ijege

    frankijege@yahoo.com

     

  • Urgent need to rebuild

    Sir: I was going on the road recently when some ‘boys’ repairing a fictitious pot-hole stopped the guy carrying me. They requested money from the innocent guy and when he couldn’t give them, I gave them N100. When they collected the money, come and see how they started hailing me. One of them even prostrated, and they continued like that till I left.

    I felt very sad. Is this what Nigerians have been reduced to? That moment, I felt a raw hatred for the Nigerian ruling class. In a nation of plenty, people of the same nation are living in abject poverty.

    It is sad that the same people that feel the effects of mismanagement and blue-black looting will still continue to harbour hope in this failed system.

    This nation has failed so many people. The growth of the economy happens in worlds they don’t belong to. The steady developmental rise is bookish and has no place in their own reality. Yet these same people continue to expect things to get better. These same people continue to hope that at 40 and earning N10, 000, the future is bright. These same people continue to believe the false hope sold to them by religion and its agents. These same people continue to ‘sow bountifully’ to maintain their preachers’ jets, while waiting endlessly for a bountiful harvest that will never come.

    The situation of this nation has never been clearer than it is now. Recycling leaders, changing party names and supervising mergers, perpetuating religious differences and championing regional sentiments will take us nowhere. Post-2015 polls will make it even clearer that the problems of this nation goes beyond individual failures and inabilities; you don’t patch up systemic failures this pronounced, neither do you repair it; you either overturn the system or you continue in the four-year national delusion that we have been practising for the past 16 years.

    Nigerians will have started on the journey to a genuine national liberation when they lose hope in this system and begin to organise to take the nation back from the thieving ruling class and inconsiderate ruling elites who are bent on not just looting the nation dry but also giving their children and friends the go-ahead to run the nation down.

    Our salvation lies solely in our hands; not in the hands of any party or any political aspirant. The day we discover that is the day we take the first step in the long and tedious road to a genuine peoples’ national liberation.

    James Ogunjimi

     

    Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State

  • The many travails of the North

    That the late Sir Ahmadu Bello (Sardauna of Sokoto) will be turning angrily in his grave or heaven about the current plight of northern Nigeria is not a strange thing to imagine. Here was an elder statesman that saw to the rapid development of the region irrespective of religion, ethnic affiliation or gender. Under him as the premier of the northern region, there was development in all facets of progression. Like the late sage Obafemi Awolowo, development to the premier of northern region was synonymous to existence in itself. Under him, a university sprang up in Zaria, a polytechnic and various industries in Kaduna, diverse scholarships for educational attainment and an assured future for the region in Nigeria.

    Today, the story is different and abhorrent to all northerners and all Nigerians in general .In Nigeria, what constitutes a northerner? To some scholars, a northerner in Nigeria is anybody that is born in the northern part who has embraced the culture and traditions of the region. Thus the elder statesman General Yakubu Gowon is an embodiment of what a true northerner is having been born and brought up in Zaria even though originally from Plateau State as well as other southerners born and bred in the north. Yet to some parochial others, a northerner is anybody who can speak Hausa language fluently even though not all people from the northern states can speak the language. To others, the concept of a monolithic north does not exist in Nigeria. What then are the many travails of the north?

    Firstly, it is the problem of education. This problem which was recognised nationally on the basis of educationally disadvantaged states was taken care of by past administrations through admission quotas allocated to the region and through the various schools of basic studies. Why then would a Shekau and his cohorts rise up in this generation to torment the north and Nigeria in general given this opportunity that would have captured him as a beneficiary? Similar programmes had been put in place and lately the Almajiri program of President Jonathan to address the educational lapses of the region. Without serving as a mouth piece of the same administration, nine out of the twelve universities established to resolve the imbalance in federal universities in all states of the country came from the region. So why is the region so educationally backward and in effect dragging the entire country in the reverse direction? Perhaps post-graduation employment would be the answer. For many graduates remained jobless many years after graduation nationally and therefore the incentive of citing new universities did not become an automatic carrot to bite.

    Secondly, it is the problem of transportation. Incidentally, the present Minister of Transport is from the north. Since the north has no sea ports and rather land-locked it must rely on the ports of Lagos, Port-Harcourt and Calabar. Moreover, the population of the north has expanded considerably thereby putting pressure on our road networks for the conveyance of goods from the sea ports to the north. The goods are variable from consumer goods to petroleum products since our railroads are phenomenally only working on papers rather than on the tracks. A trip on the southwestern flank of the roads to the north will convince doubting thomases.This include from the Oyo city through to Ilorin, Jebba .Mokwa, Kaduna, Minna and Abuja. The roads are literally closed down by heavy haulage trucks especially at bad sectors of the road thereby increasing cost of procurement on the end users in the north. What business has heavy tankers conveying petroleum products on our roads when they can be conveyed by pipelines for refining in Kaduna and onward distribution at the NNPC depots? To the most ardent Jonathan supporter, a trip on the Oyo-Ogbomosho, Ilorin-Jebba, Mokwa and the other parts of the north will convince you about the slim chances he has in 2015 save for the minimal repair works going on there. This anger can be sighted in other parts of the country as well.

    Thirdly, it is in the area of air transport. There are no cargo airports in the north and this explains why the roads are continually choked up to a gridlock stage. For if there were cargo airports in the north, most of the goods would be imported directly to the main cities and the heavy trucks blocking the highways would only have to convey the goods from the airport to their various destinations that would be nearby anyway. Who is then ready to rehabiliate the truck owners when the development comes? Water melon that is a delicacy in all parts of the country would be internally airlifted as much as other fruits and vegetables from the north to other parts of the country thereby making the roads free of traffic jam and prone to accidents. It also appears most northerners see themselves more in the light of the religion which they profess rather than as Nigerians thereby obstructing their collective need to demand for international airports that would airlift them to their various pilgrimages for spiritual rejuvenation and for cargo transport that would create jobs.

    Fourthly, the north more than ever before faces the problem of security of lives and property. This is occasioned by the incessant Boko Haram attacks that does not spare anybody .The most recent is the Mubi and Gombe attacks with complete takeover of some parts of Adamawa by the insurgents. Most shocking is the fact that the sect leaders have a dream of leading Nigeria (not even northern Nigeria!).This shows that the sect has noticed a leadership vacuum in the north as provided by the late Sardauna of Sokoto which unfortunately cannot be reversed to the previous status quo. The north as we know it has been officially fragmented into different states created by the federal government with irreversible power affiliation to the old northern region. This is why the security arrangement is different in all states of the north and Benue for instance can order the evacuation of her students from Adamawa schools especially in Mubi for safety reasons from the rampaging and neurotic insurgents. This was unheard of during the days of the Sardauna when security was intact in the north.

    Fifthly, the north faces the problem of trust among the various constituents. This is why you can hear of north-west, north-central and north-central that is all self-serving to politicians and the powers that be on paper. Unemployment and poverty remains very high in the region. Some blame it on neglect from past leadership of the country which was held in trust for many years in the north. Most industries in Kaduna and many parts of the north have remained closed down due to diverse problems. Textile industries that used to be one of the highest employers of labour in the north are also majorly shut. There is the need to support agriculture in the region in order to solve the twin problems of unemployment and poverty.

    In conclusion, the north needs peace in order to develop competitively with other regions of the country. Boko Haram is not the answer.

     

    – Emmanuel Tyokumbur

    Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan.

  • Falling oil prices and raining day

    SIR: From Qatar to Kuwait all the way to Venezuela, and even in Nigeria, one sound rings clear on the balance sheets of these countries: revenue from oil is declining. The drastic fall of oil prices is making many of the oil producing nations tighten their belts and make adjustments in the national budget. This fall in revenue will surely necessitate a reduction in spending by oil producing nations across the world.

    Nigeria, which is presently battling lots of challenges, will also have her own share of cuts on spending. However, as price of oil goes on a freefall, Nigeria is being shielded by the Excess Crude Account!

    As a reminder, the Excess Crude Account (ECA) came to reality through Dr. Okonjo-Iweala during the Obasanjo era. ECA was envisaged to warehouse proceeds from oil revenue that shoots above the annual budget projections. The idea behind the establishment of the ECA then was that if oil price, like we are having now, or output unexpectedly falls, Nigeria will be under no pressure to forcibly borrow at high cost in order to fund revenue shortfalls.

    Seeing things in different light, the National Assembly, especially the House of Representatives, have been up in arms battling the Minister for this noble idea. It is amazing that the reps don’t take into consideration that numerous OPEC countries adopt comparatively much lower crude oil budget benchmarks than Nigeria.

    Members of the House Committee on Finance fail to understand the gains inherent in ECA. They fail to understand that the establishment of the ECA is actually empowered through Section 162(1) of the Nigerian Constitution, which provides that the federation shall maintain a special account into which shall be paid all revenue collected by the federal government.

    Likewise, Section 35(1) of the 2007 Fiscal Responsibility Act stipulates that “Where a reference commodity price rises above the predetermined level, the resulting excess proceeds shall be saved”.  In further justification of the rationale for the establishment of the ECA, the Minister cited Section 16(1a) of the 1999 Constitution, which stipulates that “…the State shall harness the resources of the nation, and promote national prosperity and an efficient, dynamic and self-reliant economy”.

    In spite of this constitutional justification for the ECA, the House of Reps didn’t fail every year to invoke Sections 59, 81 and 82 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, which empower them to juggle the national budget’s estimate by constantly increasing the benchmark of the budget. They believe that the raining days is here and we must spend all that we earn at a go!

    In 2013, the benchmark was increased from $75 per barrel that the executive proposed to $80, while the Senate took a middle position and pegged its own benchmark for $78. In arriving at this decision, the House of Representatives posit that increasing the benchmark will reduce the budget deficit and domestic debts by as much as 66%. While opposing the position of the national assembly, Dr. Okonjo-Iweala warns that jerking the oil benchmark to $80 will affect Nigeria’s credit rating; make borrowing more expensive; lower the Foreign Direct Investment; impact negatively on macroeconomic stability, and the country will lose $20 instead of gaining $5.

    It is obvious that the Minister of Finance has made the right decision by establishing the ECA and ensuring that the account is constantly being enriched despite opposition from the National Assembly. Pray, what would have happened to the Nigerian economy in this season of economic uncertainty as the price of oil goes on downward path? The ECA is coming handy this season guiding against our nation going broke.

    • Abdullahi M. Seidu,

       Abuja.