The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • Aregbesola, astute manager of resources

    SIR: I write to commend Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State for the astute manner he has handled the finances of the state. I read in the papers on Monday how the share of Osun from the Federation Account for the month of April 2014 has dwindled to N2.6 billion. It was the least collected by any state for that month. It used to be in excess of N4 billion in the past, until July last year when unchecked oil thefts brought a shortfall of 40 per cent to federally collectible revenues and the consequent spread of this misfortune to the 36 states.

    Interestingly, I understand that the state has a wage bill of N3.6 billion, at least from the account I gleamed from the state’s Commissioner of Finance, Wale Bolorunduro. This huge wage bill is a potential crisis generator which has put many states at loggerheads with their workers on account of non-payment of salaries and pensions, slashing of salaries by up to 50 per cent and threat of reduction of the workforce. Many states owe their workers up to four months salaries, while the Federal Government owes workers in some agencies up to three months.

    Aregbesola has been able to beat this menace first, by saving all the state’s excess crude accruals for the raining day and secondly, raising the state’s internally generated revenue (IGR). The IGR he met was a paltry N300 million. When in 2011 he introduced electronic payment system for all government revenues, the figure doubled the next month to N600 million. Today, it has risen to N1.6 billion with huge potentials to rise to N5 billion if well tapped. When this is done, he needs not rely on the unstable federal allocations anymore.

    He has thus been able to build roads, new schools, create jobs and make government more impactful on the people. He is also said to be frugal and has stopped the partyings and other money guzzling frivolities of the past which was the bane of the state’s development under past administrations. All the free loaders of the past (including politicians and religious leaders) are now complaining that he no longer patronises them. They allege that he has been busy spreading the commonwealth to the people, instead of squandering it on the elite and a coterie of palace hangers on. Many of them have secretly waged war against him and are the ones accusing him of habouring an islamising agenda.

    Without doubt, how he has been able turn the fortune of the state around is a testament of astute and visionary leadership committed to development and welfare of the people.

    It is my sincere hope that his mandate will be renewed and he will come out triumphant in the coming governorship election in the state.

     

    • Dele Oluyemo,

    Ilesa, Osun State  

  • Akunyili: An Amazon has departed

    SIR: If tributes were all late Dora Akunyili needed to be brought back to life, she would have since returned to join her fellow delegates at the ongoing National Conference holding in Abuja. The barrage of amazing and well scripted tributes that have so far poured in since this amazon breath her last are indicative of the fact that humanity benefited immensely from her. Quite rare, Nigerians across various social media platforms all praised, hailed and spoke so well of Professor Akunyili. Nigerians from all walks of life; diverse backgrounds and different religious and ideological leanings have brought down the wall that hitherto kept them apart to honour and celebrate an amazon.

    Even in death, Dora remains a force to reckon with. Her rare and startling qualities as displayed both in her private and public activities are handy in grooming future leaders. God had blessed her with all she needed to be comfortable and remained quiet while she attends to family needs, late Dora chose to hit the streets to serve humanity. Unlike her contemporaries who restricted themselves to their respective cocoons and territories for individual reasons, Dora gave her all just to ensure that people live happily and comfortably.

    It will be pretty impossible to forget Dora in decades to come. Dora is like an avatar. People like her come once in every generation. I bless God for gifting Dora to Nigeria and humanity. Patriotism was her other name. Dora’s passion for Nigeria was outstanding. She wasn’t comfortable with the unfair and bad rating Nigeria gets at the world stage. Nigerians, in her estimation should be treated with tremendous respect and nothing less. She was optimistic and confident of the fact that Nigeria deserved much more than what her citizens were/are still according her. Her sermon was simple: for Nigeria to stand tall and firm in all spheres of human endeavours, Nigerians must be ready and willing to do the right thing, at the right time and for the right reasons.

    My hugest satisfaction is that she didn’t allow all the beautiful dreams she had die with her. She shaped, repositioned and improved humanity with her dreams and ideas. She wasn’t greedy. She exhausted all the good-tidings that God deposited in her before she transited to the celestial abode. That was vintage, iconic, pragmatic and exemplary Dora.

    Even ill health couldn’t stop her from taking part in serious national activities. Many expressed shock and disbelief the first time she appeared as delegate at the ongoing National Conference in Abuja. Nigeria has lost one of her leading lights. Her remarkable performances at NAFDAC bear eloquent testimony of the very stuff she had in her. Ma’am, you indeed lived for others. We pray God almighty to grant your sweet soul eternal rest soul.

    • Abdullahi Yunusa,

    Imane, Kogi State.

  • APC National Convention and Wamakko spirit

    SIR: When Governor Wamakko defected to the All Peoples Congress, it became obvious that the party was on its journey to a reverberating victory come 2015. Before Wamakko’s defection to the party, the APC was relatively obscure without visible presence in the state so much so that the party had no befitting office accommodation anywhere in the state. With his joining the party, he breathed life into it all over Sokoto State with colorful party offices across the 23 Local Government Areas and the over 240 wards.

    He came into the APC with all the serving local government chairmen, their councillors and all the notable politicians within the local government areas. That feat was a solid demonstration of his tenacity of purpose and the fact that, the average Sokoto man will always go for Wamakko irrespective of what party he belongs to.

    Governor Wamakko has over the years proved himself to be a politicians’’ politician, a goal-getter, an achiever par excellence, a master strategist and a sagacious mobilizer.

    Before he joined his last party that party merely existed in name only, as we knew the exigencies that made him its candidate in 2006. Immediately he joined, he revived the then comatose party, the PDP, and delivered all the elective offices at all levels 100%.

    Recently, when the state congress was held, Sokoto State was a blueprint of where consensus really worked out well. The elections into the wards, Local and State Executive Councils of the APC were held in remarkable harmony as they were rancour–free. Wamakko’s personal charisma as a dependable and reliable leader worked wonders in making the Sokoto State elections unique without any rumpus.

    Now that the APC at the national level has appointed Governor Wamakko to head its National Convention, what else do we expect? We expect impeccable results, a rancor-free convention, remarkable exercise that would go into the annals of Nigerian political history. His emergence as convention chairman is an ample testimony of the conviction of APC’s top echelon that Governor Wamakko is steadfast; dependable, and reliable and a committed party leader who could always brave the odds and break records.

    We are confident that, Governor Wamakko by God’s grace, will replicate the Sokoto example of rancor-free and acceptable convention. It is normal to urge all the party membership to have faith in the APC, shame its detractors by putting the interest of the party above all other interests.

    The promise of the rainbow is that, the sun will shine again. Governor Wamakko will by God’s blessings conduct an acceptable and transparent convention that will further enrich and solidify APC on its way to changing Nigeria’s misfortunes into fortunes come 2015.

     

    • Mohammed S Umar,

    Liberal Democrats Media Foundation, Sokoto

  • Crackdown on media, unwarranted

    SIR:The three basic functions perform by the media are that of information, education and entertainment. These are the conventional social functions the media render to the public anywhere in the world.

    In performing these functions, the media in Nigeria has contributed in no small measure to national development and the entrenchment, growth and sustenance of democracy, where the fundamental human rights of every citizen are guaranteed.

    It is for the very crucial role of the media in the society in teaching, sensitizing and mobilizing the people via information dissemination, that the freedom of the press is guaranteed in the constitution, besides the freedom of speech enshrined as part of the basic fundamental human rights of citizens.

    This is where the reported clampdown by the Nigerian military on the media, during which some newspapers were reportedly confiscated and distribution vans of media outfits impounded acting on a supposed intelligence report is condemnable.

    I do not think it is proper for the army to launch this kind of onslaught on the media, no matter where the directive may have come from. Rather than this needless intimidation of the media, what the Nigerian Army as a key security agency ought to do is to continue to ensure a very smooth relationship with the press. As a matter of fact, they are supposed to see themselves as partners in progress with media organizations in the fight against terrorism which is seriously hitting us in the face at the moment. The deadly activities of the Boko Haram sect have reportedly claimed about 12, 000 lives since 2009 and the terrorist group is currently holding captive about 300 innocent schoolgirls for almost two months now. The rescue of these girls is what we should concentrate on now and not the terrorization of newspaper firms.

     

    • Michael Jegede,

    Abuja

     

  • If only votes will count in Ekiti election

    SIR: Two weeks to the governorship election in Ekiti State, some evil script is being acted in the state by the powers-that-be to thwart the electoral process.

    It is not an exaggeration. One recalls that Vice President Namadi Sambo, as PDP’s  campaign committee chairman for Ekiti and Osun states, had boasted that the two States would “be made war fronts” to retrieve them from those who presumably annexed them via court judgments.

    Since he made the statement one has never been able to stop wondering: “Why war fronts as a phenomenon? Why the choice of words which conveyed nothing but the extreme of a struggle or fight?

    Now the president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, has come to Ekiti State to flag off the campaign of the PDP’s candidate in Ekiti State, on Saturday, June 7, during which there were statements made that were obviously calculated not only to intimidate but to confirm an intention to impose their candidate by electoral manipulations and damn the consequence.

    Statements such as was later made by Governor Godwin Akpabio of Akwa Ibom in his capacity as PDP GovernorsForum Chairman,to the effect that “the victory of Fayose would trigger a barrage of litigations” which he said PDP would fight to a logical conclusion by engaging the nation’s SANs were, to say the least, pre-empting the PDP’s disposition to rebel against democracy and the government of Ekiti State.

    There, on the rostrum, at the Olukayode Stadium, Ado Ekiti, on  June 7, speaker upon speaker had indulged and incited the PDP candidate to see himself as the anointed by referring to him as the “next governor” or the “in-coming governor” which were the candidate’s own self-aggrandizement in posters and bill-boards, as if everything about Ekiti was waiting to be falsified.

    Interestingly, PDP’s flag-off of campaign had gone peacefully on Saturday, despite obvious provocations targeted at the APC, such as the falsehood that the APC administration in Ekiti State was owing salaries.

    The APC members kept indoors and waited till the next morning to “cleanse Ado Ekiti in a symbolical sweeping with APC brooms, an exercise which ordinarily should have passed as mere electioneering fun but for the police which decided to shoot at sweepers and killed Taiwo Akinola.

    Aren’t we being forced to believe that the police was acting a script since brooms are no weapons of any sort; since the police did not go to quell a riot; since they only went to stop the harmless sweeping?

    Was the ego of the police supposed to have been hurt more than that of the PDP members who had watched the APC sweep the sweepables and the unsweepables in the past and were then not bothered by that particular sweeping fun of Sunday morning?

    It is note-worthy that the police had shamelessly come up with a statement on Monday in which it accused the APC of provoking the violence (nay PDP) with its sweeping exercise on the fateful Sunday but the same police didn’t see any provocation committed against the APC by the PDP only the previous day.

    This evil script may have a next scene in more intimidating killings that can send the opponents of PDP into far inside their holes while the PDP would campaign and create crowds exclusively to justify the enthronement of the PDP candidate.

    The way Abuja is going about things,we may even witness a situation in which votes will not count in Ekiti 2014 and the PDP will employ all the SANs in the universe to justify it.

    That is the fear and, probably, the script.

     

    • Jide Oguntoye,

    Oye-Ekiti.

     

  • Electricity: Let’s join hands to fight vandals

    SIR: Recently, Minister of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo was quoted as saying that the country has lost about 2,100 megawatts of electricity in past few months as a result of vandalism of gas pipelines. According to a press release by the ministry in February, many gas facilities were vandalised. The Escravos-Lagos Pipeline (ELPS A), from Warri which supplies gas to Egbin Power Plant near Lagos was out for over seven months. A loss of 200 million standard cubic feet of gas and generation capacity of about 800MW was recorded. Second, the Trans-Forcados gas line also in Warri was out with a loss of 200 million standard cubic feet of gas and generation capacity of about 800MW. The Alakiri– Onne, Gas pipeline was blasted and it has adversely impacted on gas supply to generation stations. There have been similar attacks onthe Trans Niger Pipeline (TNP), Gbaran-Ubie power plant in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State which is part of the gas liquid evacuation infrastructure, critical for continued domestic power generation for Afam VI Independent power plant. The temporary shutdown of the Chevron gas plant west of the Sombreiro River, Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State on March 12, contributed to the low peak generation of 2,672MW.

    The draw-backs in economic and technological development in the nation could be principally attributed to this problematic electricity situation. Unfortunately it is in our character as Nigerians to regard government’s property as nobody’s property. This can be likened to the case of a goat owned by the community which eventually dies of hunger for lack of care and attention. Why should people look the other way when they see government property being destroyed, vandalised or stolen? The minister of power, security agencies or officials are not ubiquitous, thus, cannot be everywhere all the time to police these facilities.

    Therefore, communities who benefit from these government facilities have a duty to jealously guard and protect them. It is amazing to see cables, copper wires, insulators, or transformer oil being stolen from a substation. While these items may not worth N 20,000, the damage caused to the entire network often throws the entire community; sometimes states, into total darkness, and takes much time, energy and fund to fix. Vandals are not spirits, but human beings who live amongst us and continuously hide under the cover of darkness to perpetrate their heinous crime. They are unpatriotic Nigerians who chose to sabotage efforts of government in their own fatherland just for selfish purposes.

    The power sector cannot give the desired result neither can it impact positively on Nigerians if vandals continue to steal installed facilities and deny gas supply to generation stations.

    Government only cannot deal with this menace alone. Therefore, in the fight against vandalism of critical national infrastructure, all hands must be on deck. The public must be by educated on the negative impact of vandalism on our general wellbeing.There is nowhere in the world where societal development was achieved by government alone. All of us as Nigerians must see to it that we jointly cooperate and support government to achieve this onerous task of stable and constant power supply in Nigeria.

    Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

    Samaru Zaria 

     

  • Akunyili: painful exit of a heroine

    SIR: At a time when Nigeria is at crossroads in all fronts, when young innocent girls are in captivity because of irresponsible leadership, a woman of great virtue was snatched away by death. It is not as if other notable women have not died in Nigeria, but this death affects both the poor and the rich, freeborn and slave.  Before she assumed office as the Director General of National Agency for Food and Drugs and Administration (NAFDAC), every person, every home and every family was in dilemma as to whether a drug was fake or original. Many persons have died of counterfeit drugs that were either locally manufactured or imported. At a time, all hope was almost lost about knowing whether Nigeria would ever be freed from clusters of fake drugs. Behold, a woman of humble background came to the rescue, she took the bull by the horn, fought the fake drug barons at the expense of her life. Indeed, Dora was an incredible Ambassador at home and abroad – to see her laughingly correcting the ills that have befallen our drugs and foods was a joy to behold. The charming face, the hallmark smiles and charismatic look are now gone! The loquacious rebranding agent has succumbed to the cold hands of death. While we mourn Dora and commiserate with her family, there are issues that should interest government and concerned individuals.

    If Dora was denied education as a girl, if she was abducted and kept away perpetually and the government did not act to bring her back in time, we would not have known an anti-drug Czar who delivered Nigeria from fake and adulterated medicines.  Undoubtedly, among the Chibok School girls is a Dora, who will play vital role in our nation building in the nearest future.  The government cannot continue to be sleeping over these girls, real and timely efforts must be made to rescue them and reduce the grief of our nation. Beyond policy-making, a more concrete attention must be given to the education and safety of girl child in every nook and cranny of the nation.  The President should show leadership by applying the rules to punish those whose negligence led to the abduction of the Chibok girls in the first instance. He should take a further step by bringing succour to the traumatized parents who only feel the pain.

    That Professor Dora died of cancer is not as pitiable as the fact that she could not receive treatment in Nigeria where she laboured hard to give a better image. Thankfully, Akunyili had the grace and means to treat the illness abroad. However, there are number of unknown people suffering in silence who could not afford diagnosis not to talk of treatment. The government should be ashamed that in spite of billions of naira being wasted daily, as a nation, we could not boast of state of the art cancer treatment centres. What a shame!  It is high time the government woke up and embark on aggressive campaign of awareness, screening and diagnosis. Nigeria can afford to treat her citizens afflicted with cancer free of charge.

    Dora Akunyili’s death is a big loss to Nigeria, she will be remembered for forthrightness, selflessness, patriotism and efficient service delivery. To me, she was a heroine who should be celebrated even after death!

     

    • Tola Osunnuga

    Ago-Iwoye

     

  • Edo and the menace of VIO

    SIR: Within three days I was stopped six times by six different teams of Vehicle Inspection Officers in Benin City.  Each time, the officials introduced themselves and say “Sir we are the VIO.  We are on vehicle inspection to ensure safety and reduce accidents”.

    Thereafter, they request for my particulars, drivers’ licence, fire extinguisher and inspect my spare tyres.  They conclude the checks by asking me to switch on my lights; head lights, brake lights, reverse lights and blinkers (trafficators).

    I kept asking why me?  Is it because I drive a 1990 Nissan model car?  None of my friends has had the same experience.  One told me to avoid the slow lane on the roads where they stay.  Another told me he does not stop because VIOs have no guns and none of the officers is willing to risk his life for the job.  And another advised me to use my SUV whenever I am going out.  There is also a general consensus that the presence of VIO on the streets of Benin-City is for revenue generation not vehicle safety.

    I have also observed that they do not stop buses or taxi drivers.  Vehicles in these two categories hardly meet up to the standards they expect from me.  Majority of them do not have lights, side-view mirrors or even spare tyres and they get by the VIO without any caution.  These vehicles convey passengers and one would have expected that if the aim was vehicle safety, such vehicles should be made to meet the standards.  I have been made to understand that there is an informal agreement between the commercial vehicle drivers and VIOs. It has been alleged that several VIO officials were former commercial drivers/conductors and would not want to hurt their former colleagues.

    The Edo State VIO has in my opinion chosen a difficult way to monitor vehicle safety.  Every year, the car owner is supposed to renew his Roadworthiness Certificate.  This piece of paper is given without inspecting the vehicles.  All one needs to do is to pay double the official N500 price to the revenue officials who will then settle VIO.  Can the Edo State VIO not set up several offices in town?  These offices must have enough space to take several cars as anyone who wants to renew the Road-worthiness certificate must bring his car for inspection.  Hopefully, vehicle owners will fix the lights and other things before showing up or they may just settle VIO directly.

    In all my encounters with them, they are yet to find a fault with my car.  So it is very refreshing to see the frustrating look on their faces when they ask me to drive off.  “Bad Market!”

    • Nehemiah Sokponba

    Medical Store Road,

    Benin-City.

     

  • The coming cataclysm

    SIR: Is Nigeria not a blessed country what with its affable weather conditions, arable land, natural resources and humungous population? Unlike Europe, Asia, and America that are devastated by acts of Nature, earthquake, cyclone and other natural disasters do not happen in Nigeria. Nigeria is a beautiful country with rolling hills, verdant greenery and rivers. Millions of Nigerians living in the Diaspora are contributing to the growth of their host countries. So, Nigeria is called the giant of Africa. Is Nigeria truly the giant of Africa? No, she isn’t. The truth is, Nigeria has the potentialities to become the true giant of Africa. It is not the giant of Africa.

    Unity has eluded Nigeria since its inception. We are distrustful of one another. Our disunity becomes manifest during national elections. Nigerians root for people who belong to the same ethnic group and religion. Nigeria is polarized along ethnic and religious lines. The Nigeria-Biafra war that raged between 1967 and 1970 was partly caused by ethnic hatred and religious intolerance. Millions of people were killed in that gratuitous civil war.

    Now, the North-east has become a hot-bed of violence; it is a river of blood. Borno State has become a theatre of asymmetrical warfare. Yobe and Adamawa states have become valleys of wailing, as the murderous Boko Haram group have laid siege to them. Members of the Boko Haram group have devastated the north-east. Thousands of their young men were cut down in their prime; their girls are prevented from acquiring western education. Have members of the Boko Haram group not turned the north-east to a benighted and blighted land?

    As the Federal Government is battling the Boko Haram insurgency in the north-east, some misguided oldies are resurrecting the dead Biafra in Enugu. Some days ago, Ben Onwuka with other members of the Biafra Zionist movement stormed the Enugu State Broadcasting Service (ESBS) to broadcast their speech regarding secession. They were repelled and defeated by the police, however. A sister group to the Biafra Zionist movement, MASSOB, is still agitating and making demands for a geographical space that will be called Biafra.

    Are these eruptions of pockets of violence in Nigeria not portents of an impending doom? Some northerners are sabre-rattling with regard to the next year’s presidential election. They are threatening to cause political trouble in the country if power fails to return to the north in 2015. And, the Ijaw would want their son, President Goodluck Jonathan, to continue ruling Nigeria beyond 2015. So, now, Nigeria’s peace is very fragile; it can easily snap, and the country will be thrown into a fratricidal war.

    How can our leaders address these issues that are threatening to dismember Nigeria? Those with political power who are busy lining their pockets may wake up one day and discover that Nigeria has descended into the abyss of a civil war.

     

    •Chiedu Uche Okoye     

    Uruowulu-Obosi, Anambra State

  •  Religious bodies and taxation

    SIR: Despite initial misgivings concerning the real intentions of the promoters of on-going National Conference, it has since kicked off with some very interesting issues already on its front burner. One of such issues is the one that deals with subjecting religious bodies to taxation.

    Some have argued that since some religious institutions make more money than most corporate organisations, they should be brought into the tax net. Others are of the view that the extreme flambouyant lifestyle of some religious leaders in the country is indicative of the excessive wealth at their disposal and as such the organisations which they preside over, which generate such excessive fund in the first place, must be subjected to taxation. Others have equally argued that the business ventures of  most of these religious bodies should be subjected to taxation since they are strictly profit making undertakings.

    Those who are against the move have argued that since the income of religious bodies are largely made up of voluntary gifts, donations, offerings and contributions from willing members, who have already paid taxes on their income, taxing them would only amount to double taxation. Another argument that has been put forward by those opposed to taxation of religious bodies is that what they bring to the table in terms of  providing spiritual coverage for the country is invaluable. Consequently, subjecting them to taxation would be considered an act of ingratitude by the government.

    For one, the current debate on taxation of religious bodies should be seen as a wake- up call by religious leaders in the country, a reflection of the mood of some Nigerians in respect of the ungodly activities of some of them . It is generally believed that some of the religious organisations in the country have become business empires of their leaders who have become cult –figures being worshipped as gods by their followers. Some of them have been accused of subjecting their followers to lives of penury and distress while they continue to live in unbelievable opulence and extravagance.

    The call for taxation of religious bodies should, therefore, be seen as a manifestation of current thinking in the land that some of them are mere business conglomerates established to oil the insatiable thirst of their leaders for material acquisition. It is, indeed, paradoxical that some religious leaders, who preach the transient nature of the world to their followers, now go to any length to acquire worldly opulence. Years ago, calling for religious bodies and their leaders to be taxed, would have been regarded by many as a blasphemous move.  However, current trend within our religious organizations has shown that lots of them have sacrificed piety on the altar of mundane pursuit.

    It is, for instance, immoral and unjustifiable for religious bodies to establish institutions of learning that charge fees that are beyond the reach of majority of their members. In the pre-colonial and colonial periods, when European missionaries introduced western education into the country, what they offered was fee education. Their ultimate goal was to massively educate the people. Indeed, most modern day religious leaders benefited from the free education programme of the early missionaries. It is, thus, ironic that same people could preside over organisations that are taking education beyond the reach of the ordinary folks.

    By and large, the lesson to take away from the controversial issue of taxation of religious organisations is that religious bodies and their leaders should focus more on re-building the collapse spiritual fabric of the society. It is ethically wrong for some of our religious leaders to display extreme affluence in the face of so much poverty, hunger, frustration and impoverishment in the society. Instead of encouraging pointless display of materialism, they need to work hard to ensure the regeneration of waning divine principles such as contentment, selflessness, discipline, integrity and love within their organisations, and the society at large.

    • Tayo Ogunbiyi ,

    Alausa-Ikeja, Lagos