The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • OOU and its struggle for survival

    SIR:  After four years in exile, I returned to what looked like a new-improved OOU in June 2013. Between then and now, it seems to me that one of the big debates that should occupy everyone’s mind, and take place, both at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye  and  Governor Ibikunle Amosun’s executive  meetings, over the next one year is what becomes of the institution, and what  model of governance and management is most appropriate for  OOU.

    There are of course many different possible models, and many points of view amongst all the stakeholders. But one might say that on the opposite ends of the spectrum are, on the one side, those who would argue that OOU is a community of scholars who should direct their own affairs by consensus, presided over by a primus inter pares such as the incumbent Vice-Chancellor; and on the other side, those who argue that today’s OOU is modern organization that needs to be run by a strong corporate-style governing body, with appropriate functions and powers delegated to it. Fortunately, both the Vice-Chancellor and the Governing Council are capable, and have managed within short time to rescue the institution from total collapse and academic jingoism deployed on the staff and students during the dark era of Professor Wale Olaitan. That was a period no one would want to remember!

    OOU’s path to regain its lost glory is long and could be accelerated if the sincere efforts of the present administration is complemented by the state government. Nobody ever thought that results could be ready on time again in OOU; No one ever thought staff morale could be slightly boosted above average again? Did anyone ever think it would not be business as usual at OOU? Discipline is taking a strong footing again, and that is a sign of good leadership. Workers and students once again can be proud of OOU. Indeed, there are signs that better days are coming back. There are reasons to once again believe in the great OOU which was in the past the number one choice for admission seekers and dedicated academic and non-academic staff.  However, the state government has not been forthcoming in playing its role effectively. Governor Amosun should wake up and come to the reality that university is a serious business which must be invested in heavily to yield results. No serious nation plays politics with education at any level, it is a social responsibility.

    It is surprising to read on the pages of newspapers that the state government has disbursed N21 billion to the state’s tertiary institutions in the last three years. The conditions of the campuses and morale of the staff do not justify this huge amount.  Irregular payment of salaries and wages, lack of basic teaching and learning facilities and inconducive offices are still major concerns at OOU and others.

    From the look of things, OOU has a system of governance and management that is responsive, flexible and decisive, but lacks financial capacity to meet its needs. The current management seems to be up to the task but the government on the other hand is not sensitive to the views, needs and interests of those who make up the university community.  Unless the government backs the management with political will and required funds, the governing council meetings will become debating chambers that often miss the real issues of strategy and direction. As the university is struggling to find its feet again, its needs should be subjected once again to a strategic review, these needs deserve proper attention. It is not clear that they are receiving it, yet. The first step, which would be in the right direction, is for the state government to take on the responsibility of paying wages and salaries in full, and stop the existing sharing formula. OOU should be allowed to use its internally generated funds to fund research and staff development.

     

    • Tola Osunnuga,

    Ago-Iwoye

     

  • Re: Akpabio, Akpabio

    SIR: I read with keen interest Tunji Adegboyega’s piece with the above title published in The Nation of June 1. I want to say that I was deeply disappointed by your views which I feel is a spite on the feelings of Akwa Ibom people.

    In the first instance, I do not know whether you visited Akwa Ibom in 1999, 2006 and now. It is on the strength of such observations that any commentator should position his assessment. Whatever roads have been constructed in Akwa  Ibom has been done cumulatively; so in essence the road network in Uyo can be attributed to Nkanga, Attah and lately Akpabio. But one thing is worth knowing: Akpabio has received 10 times the amount of money earned by his predecessors but his achievement is not commensurate with that revenue profile. There is endemic poverty in the state while he embarks on white elephant projects like Ibom Tropicana and an e-library.

    The Tropicana project is a monumental waste of public fund as the state government subsidises the Cinema yet not up to 20 people are seen in the cinema hall at a time even though it costs only N250 to watch a movie. This is a stark contrast to Silverbird cinema in Victoria Island and Ikeja where movie watchers are ready to pay N1500 to see a movie. Right now even Akpabio knows that he is a failure. That’s why he is campaigning to have an Eket man succeed him so that that person can fix the roads in Eket which he neglected. Akpabio has promoted sectionalism which manifested in the last civil service recruitment which he was forced to cancel because his Annang kinsmen made up 90% of the employees.

    There are still house boys of Akwa Ibom origin in Lagos. I say so because I lived in Lagos and I know many of them now. Akpabio only made efforts not backed by economic incentive.

    Now he is stealing Akwa Ibom blind with the active collaboration of the State House of Assembly.

    Take it from me. Akpabio has only performed on paper. That’s why he built an edifice for himself with the inscription ‘Akpabiosm, a new concept in leadership’. He is desperate for fame and I cannot wait to celebrate his exit from the hilltop mansion.

    Please visit Akwa Ibom and talk to people on the streets before you make comments about the state. What you see on papers is different from what is on ground.

    • Michael Asuquo,

    mjasuo60@yahoo.com

     

  • President should act like a hero

    SIR: The excuse by President Goodluck Jonathan that his achievements are merely perceived from the prism of the current state of war is inconceivable. As much as I would agree that Nigeria is in a state of war, history is replete with wartime leaders who ended up as heroes of their various nations.

    Abraham Lincoln was president during the American civil war and yet he emerged a hero, after he conquered the forces of slavery and secession to unite America as one independent state.

    Wilson Churchill was the British Prime Minister during the Second World War. At some point in the Second World War, German air raiders blasted London for 77 nights, after the city fell into the aggressive hand of Hitler and his German troops. During those nights, London knew no peace. Part of the Buckingham Palace was touched; residents took to using the tunnels of the London underground as shelter. Yet Wilson Churchill held his head high when others were losing theirs’ to emerge as a never-to-be-forgotten British hero.

    Napoleon was a French revolutionary, a hero; his time was one of the most rancorous and genocidal in the history of France, yet he conquered all forces of regression.

    Franklin Roosevelt is an American hero of the Second World War after he had to be forced into the bitter reality of expending huge budget to prosecute the war, to restore the American pride.

    David the conqueror of Goliath is a divine hero.

    I want the President to be remembered as a Nigerian hero, after he’s gone past his regime. I want Jonathan to act like a hero.

    I want the president to seize the current opportunity to write his name in the history of Nigerian heroes by taking on the challenge posed by Boko Haram by ensuring its overdue death.

    I want the president to use every legal and human means to Bring Back Our Girls ALIVE; Hale and Hearty.  I want him to put a lasting solution to all lingering industrial strikes particularly ASUP’S AND COEASU’S.

     

    • Waliu Olaifa

    olaifawaliu@rocketmail.com

     

  • Re: BRF’s successor: Is Ambode the final choice

    SIR: I write in response to the above article published by The Nation of June 1, written by one Jaiye Opayemi. The article is ordinarily of no concern to me because whoever becomes the governor of Lagos is not the issue but what the person stands for and what direct impact the choice would have on Lagosians.

    However, Opayemi in the write up mentioned that Lagos is not Osun or Ekiti where politicians live on political entertainment. I find that very myopic and abusive.

    Is he possibly saying that those who feed and live on political entertainment are moving to Osun and Ekiti?  The two states practically receive the least allocations among the states in the federation; yet they have achieved more than any other state in the space of three and a half years.

    Opayemi can talk about Lagos as much as he likes but he should desist from bringing Osun and Ekiti into the picture because the heads of the two states are technocrats and focused individuals. Aregbesola laid the platform in which Lagos infrastructural development is today and has in no way turned Osun to a political entertainment scene.

    • Folawiyo Kareem Olajoku

    Osogbo, Osun State.

     

  • Akpabio’s outlandish pension law

    Sir: Despite public outrage and opposition to the self-serving and anti-people’s “Akwa Ibom State Governors and Deputy Governors Pension Bill, 2014”, the state governor, Godswill Akpabio, went on to sign the controversial Bill into law. By this action, the senate-bound governor has succeeded in subjecting the state treasury to his whims and caprices even after leaving office. Nothing could be more insensitive and waste of public funds than this.

    For the rest of his life, Akpabio and his successors will continue to receive free medical service at the sum “not exceeding” a whooping N100 million annually! According to the law, the retired deputy governors will also pocket N30 million for the same “medical service” every year, and it does not matter whether they fall sick or not. The law also makes provision for the ex-governor’s domestic aides at the sum of N5 million per month and N2 million for the deputy governor in a state where the workers receive a meagre N18, 000 as monthly wage.

    Even when the governor has not done enough in the area of affordable housing scheme to the people of the state in the last seven years of his administration, he smuggled a clause into the law “a befitting accommodation not below a five-bedroom maisonette in either Abuja or Akwa Ibom” for himself, if he retires, while his deputy will be entitled to 300% yearly accommodation allowance. In a state, where the ordinary people continue to feed from hands to the mouth, they would be forced to buy, through their taxes, a new official car and a utility vehicle to the governor once in every four years amongst other frivolous expenditures as contained in the law.

    It is inappropriate and misleading for the governor to attempt to defend the scandalous law while making a veiled reference to the former law signed by his predecessor. For instance, the former law did not make provisions for a utility car, a house or place a price tag for medical and domestic service for the governor and his deputy. But surreptitiously all of these are contained in Akpabio’s version and yet he wants Nigerians to accept that the law is a product of prudence!

    What Nigerians are presently witnessing is the last minute attempt by the outgoing governors and their cronies to bleed their various states’ purse and enrich themselves through deceptive legislations. The likes of Akpabio are gradually revealing their true colours, and it is for Nigeria electorates to distinguish between these wolves in sheep skins such that they would be able to exercise their franchise discreetly come next election.

    It is completely unacceptable to continue to maintain the extravagant lifestyle of some of these selfish politicians with public fund when leaders in other climes are cutting down on their expenses and salaries to improve social welfare. Nigerians must rise against these corrupt leaders. We must demand accountability from our public office holders, irrespective of their political and religious affiliations. Those who are hell-bent at enriching their pockets to the detriment of ordinary Nigerians must be shown the exit door in 2015.

     

    • Barrister Okoro Gabriel,

    Ebonyi

     

  • Understanding Ogun APC crisis

    SIR: I have lived in Ogun State since 1977 even though I am from Imo State. I can claim to know about the politics of the region as much as that of the South-east. Besides, I am a student of politics and history.

    At the heart of the crisis in the Ogun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is the fear of election. I do not think the problem is strictly between the incumbent governor, Ibikunle Amosun and former governor, Olusegun Osoba. This is because, at every public forum that I’m aware of, the governor has always acknowledged Osoba as leader of the party, although by virtue of the APC constitution, the governor should be the leader. Equally, the former governor has spoken of the unprecedented achievements of the current governor. So the re-election of Amosun is not under any threat just as the position of Osoba as the party leader is not challenged.

    All over the world, there are tendencies within political parties and members usually gravitate towards one party chieftain or the other. But the current problem in Ogun is that current members of the National Assembly from the state want to retain their position in 2015. They gravitate towards Osoba and, from all indications, have his support. However, there are other aspirants who believe the NASS members have performed below expectation and therefore must be replaced. These aspirants claim they have the sympathies of Amosun.

    But from what I gathered authoritatively, Amosun has not supported anyone for any slot. What he wants is a level-playing field where the current elected office holders, including himself can contest against other aspirants within the party. This is the crux of the matter. The incumbent office holders don’t want election but selection.

    All the talk about parallel ward congress on April 5 is a lie because a few days before the election, Osoba and Amosun worked together and also they jointly monitored the election. It was an open contest, free and fair. But since the loyalists of the NASS members did not have the upper hand, the talk of division and parallel congress began to rent the airwaves. Till date, nobody has been able to tell us the exact location of any parallel ward congress in Ogun on April 5.

    The current talk of non-forgiveness, non-harmonisation, and non-reconciliation is unhelpful to the cause of democracy and internal democracy within political parties, except, of course, this people all along had “hidden agenda”. Unforgiveness is neither in the Bible nor Koran.

    Then people should stop name-dropping. The real Awoists are those who do what Awo did or stood for. If you love with your heart the masses, declare free education, revive agriculture, including farm settlements, construct durable roads and bridges, declare free health, provide security of lives and property, etc. then you are the true Awoist, and the majority of Yoruba will always support such a person, come rain come sunshine. It does not matter whether you ate with Awo, slept on the same bed with him during his life-time or not.

    All lovers of democracy should accept elections, go for primaries. The losers should congratulate the winners and vice versa, because in a contest between members of the same family – as Amosun was quoted to have said recently – ‘there are no victors, no vanquished.”

    • James Ikechukwu

    Owerri

     

  • Expectations from new CBN governor

    SIR: I congratulate the new Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele who assumes duty today Monday June 2, as  11th governor of the apex bank.

    It is said that to whom much is given, much is expected. He will be expected to continue and possibly build on the successes recorded by his predecessor, especially in attaining a workable monetary policy, banking reforms and the cashless policy. The naira and external reserves have not been very strong in recent time. While the naira has continued to slide against the US dollar, Nigeria’s external reserves have steadily dropped from about $50 billion mid last year to less than $37.8 billion. Emefiele will need to introduce proactive measures to stabilise the naira and to shore up the nation’s foreign reserves.

    Price stability is central to economic management; it is one of the major criteria by which a central bank is assessed in its effectiveness. This explains why it is the number one among the mandates or objectives of the central bank. He should focus on the core objective of managing the monetary policy of the country.

    The introduction of a cashless policy stands as one of the remarkable accomplishments of the CBN under Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Linked to this is the $50 million biometric solution project which was inaugurated by Sanusi six days before his suspension. The project aims at building a central database of bank customers in the country. It will specifically serve to identify those transacting business with Automated Teller Machines (ATM) and Point of Sales (PoS) machines. As erstwhile chairman of the Biometrics Sub-committee of the Bankers’ Committee, Emefiele must ensure continuity of the project.

    Nigerian banks charge the highest fees and rates in the entire world. Customers pay N5-10 per sms alert, even for bank error repeat texts – though bulk sms texts are offered to businesses by mobile networks at N1/sms. Hardware token for security is issued at N2000; bank statements are charged at about N40/page; renewal of ATM card attracts a charge of N1000.  N500 is charged monthly as maintenance fee for current accounts; even reference letters come with a charge of up to N2000. And then, you also have the Value added tax, for ‘no value added.’

    When compared to US banks, there is no Commission on Turnover (COT), no deposit fine, no withdrawal fine, customers have several free banking options, ATM cards are replaced for free, bank statements are obtained for free, and text messages are free. But not so in Nigeria where banks are run by a cabal with the CBN working in the interests of the banks and not the people.

    Closely linked with this is how the banking system, within a high interest rate regime, will be able to avail credit to the private sector. In the event that businesses are hamstrung by high interest rates, the major losers will be the Small and Medium Enterprises, which, unfortunately, are supposed to be the fulcrum for the achievement of an all-inclusive growth.

    In the same vein, the microfinance banks in Nigeria have the potential to build the country’s Small and Medium Scale Enterprises and as a result reduce unemployment in the land. The new governor should see the significance of microfinance banks as the catalyst towards development of SMEs in the country.

    Government must not heed the calls for the reduction in the powers of the CBN Governor; instead government must allow the new helmsman unfettered space to carry out his agenda. Political independence and non-partisan monetary policy provide the promise of policy stability over time, which in turn stabilizes expectations in asset markets. Such stability and continuity are essential to a successful monetary policy.

    Here is wishing Emefiele a successful tenure as CBN Governor.

    • John Tosin Ajiboye,

     Lagos, Nigeria

     

  • One product, multiple laws

    SIR: The news came out recently that the Federal Government is planning to introduce a new bill on tobacco regulation in the country. The bills planned to introduce punishment of up to N50, 000 for violators, jail others for up to six months, further restrict the sale and use of tobacco and ban all form of advertisement of the product among others.

    The new plan shows the poor level of policy coordination that exists at the topmost level of governance in the country. There are up to three bills at various stage of reading at the National Assembly and all the bills are saying the basically the same thing with some variance in each.  This will be the fourth bill at the federal level when it is presented for passage and there are also similar laws in other states of federation on the same subject.

    Introducing a new bill when there are up to three already means there is lack of policy coordination as to what policy is needed and what we already have. If one transfers what is ongoing in tobacco laws to other governance areas, it shows why there is lack of development in the economy.

    If this duplication and concentration of efforts could be used in critical areas like infant mortality, malaria prevention and AIDS and HIV prevention, the level of spread of such disease will have reduced or stopped completely. A recent UNICEF report indicates that under-five mortality in Nigeria increased from 138 per 1,000 live births in 2007 to 158 per 1,000 live births in 2011. This implies that 158 out of every 1,000 children born in Nigeria will die before they celebrate their fifth birthday. As you are reading this, there are about 842 million hungry people in the world, the vast majority live in developing countries. AIDS/HIV kills over 300,000 Nigerians annually and not less than 1.5 million children are orphaned yearly due to the virus. These are problems that fall under the health ministry purview, yet they are busy writing new laws on an industry that is already curtailed. Half of the efforts being used in further clamping down on the tobacco industry will improve the health status of some HIV infected patient and will save the lives of some new born. More than 16 youth died in the recent NIS recruitment exercise.

    The ministry and other stakeholders should rather concentrate on more education and information-sharing for a strong knowledge base on any health issue and leave individual alone on the right to choose. If I may ask, where in the public did the government redesign as “smoking areas”? Are the minority not part of the public?

    Lessons should be learned from developed countries particularly where smoking is prevalent. The regulations are clear and balanced, respecting the choice of smokers and non-smokers. Smokers need no victimization once the full knowledge of his act is known to him or her. If those behind this proposed bill properly assess the sector, they will know that multiple legislations are not the solution.

    • Adedayo Thomas,

    Orile-Oshodi, Lagos

     

  • Nigerians should pray for Dora

    SIR: There was a time when counterfeit drugs and unsafe food killed Nigerians; a time when men without conscience made fortunes at the expense of Nigerians’ lives. A time when the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), whose responsibility it is to ‘’safeguard the public health by ensuring that only right quality of food, drug and other regulated products are manufactured, exported, imported, advertised ,used and sold’, was so corrupt that it connived with these  agents of darkness  to poison and kill Nigerians. It is still fresh in our memory. Murderers had their ways as well as flaunted the blood money in our faces. People took chalks as drugs for killer diseases.  Tears of mothers, whose children were killed, filled the streets while they watched those responsible for the murders walk freely. There was so much pain. It looked like it was not going to end.

    Then came a certain Dora Akunyili who took over as Director General  of NAFDAC and we began to breathe a sigh of relief. Akunyili along with her team turned the fortunes of Nigerians around. She took these evil men on, even with threats to her life and that of her family members. She pushed on and on until she ended the era of counterfeit drugs in Nigeria.  She risked it all for Nigerians.

    Dora, I can confidently say is the reason why there is near zero availability of counterfeit drugs in Nigeria today. Millions of lives, especially children, have been saved. This woman literally put her life on the line to save plenty of Nigerian lives.  In her shoes, like those before her, many would have sold out and cashed out at the expense of Nigerian lives.

    Fellow Nigerians, this woman does not deserve to be forgotten so soon; what with her selflessness to the country.  With goings on in this country, we cannot afford to lose people like Dora Akunyili-not now. There are a few of her type left plus she still has a lot to offer Nigeria. She has proven this time and time again. She has been there for us and now needs us all at this time, most especially our prayers.

    Pray for Dora, Nigeria pray.

    • Chiechefulam Ikebuiro

    thalynxis@yahoo.ca

     

  • Do we need a federal agency to combat terrorism?

    Certainly yes, Nigeria needs a federal anti-terrorism agency to combat the domestic terrorism siege on the country today. This does not necessarily mean exaggerating the impact of terrorism on the country’s resources and human psyche to the global community. For whenever the tide of terrorism goes down, such an agency can be merged with one of several security agencies and from there they can still be in veiled operations to checkmate those gangs and other emerging threats. As commendable as the military operations against terrorists are, these gentlemen were trained to protect the territorial integrity of the country and so may only try their best in the offensive that requires counter intelligence that is sophisticated and complex. This is what zoologists refer to as evolutionary adaptability: as the predator evolves new ways to devour the prey, nature also makes it possible for the prey to evolve new ways to escape or evade the predator, so that it cannot be wiped out of existence. Terrorists are like wild animals – very dangerous, highly unpredictable and suspicious of every other animal except one of their kind. Knowledge of the behaviour of animals and animal studies has been used to extrapolate to human findings and this explains while those researches are valued and applied in developed countries. With the granting of amnesty to militants in the Niger Delta and the provision of some opportunities, restiveness in the region has abated save for some pockets of occasional flashpoints by those claiming to be sidelined or not well-catered for in the program. Curiously, the emerging threat of oil thieves operating in that region has impacted negatively on the national economy. This has often resulted in the dwindling allocations to vital components of the government machinery. More worrisome is the recent calls that oil subsidy should be removed. Stealing oil should be considered as an act of national terrorism against the economy and should be matched with appropriate force and enforcement. The outstanding performance of our country in regional peace keeping operations and major Security Council role at the United Nations makes us (Nigeria) a global player in security issues which calls for establishment of such an agency. For we will have no moral justification pontificating on regional and global security issues when our house is in disarray as a result of a rag-tag Boko Haram sect that is threatening us with extinction.  Terrorist activities especially in the northern part of the country have undeniably placed Nigeria on the unenviable global map of terrorism whether we like it or not and this is serious and should be dealt with proactively. Terrorism is a very serious crime against the individual, community and state that needs a special agency or body to tackle it headlong and in perpetuity. After the deadly 9/11 attacks in 2001, America with one of the most efficient and well funded security forces in the world did not stop at taking the war against terror to the door steps of presumed terrorist enclaves, the Department of Homeland Security was formed proactively with a lot of powers to boost security of the homeland and to prevent a recurrence. In our own case, the terrorists noticed all these lapses and staged a second attack within the same Nyanya, Abuja, barely one- two weeks after. This is sad and unfortunate. Public comments are taken for granted on the grounds that one is not an expert in that field, whereas our African fathers of old relied on information sharing from all sources to preserve their families, kingdoms and dynasties.

    I wish to conclude that the anti-terrorism agency is an agency of necessity for our country at this point in time of our national life since security matters affect all of us whether young or old, rich or poor, Christian or Muslim, atheist or traditionalist, Tiv or Yoruba and any other ethnic group. Indeed, an anti-terrorism agency is needed now. Again, where are all the Nigerians that were united against apartheid in South Africa? Where are you? Boko Haram terrorism is yet another good cause to fight against. Every tool must be deployed whether physical, spiritual, temporal or corporate; the battle against terrorism in Nigeria must be won. God bless Nigeria.

    Emmanuel Tyokumbur,

     Department of Zoology,

     University of Ibadan.