The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • NPDC and dwindling crude oil reserves

    SIR: Two breaking news in Nigeria in recent time should not go without comment. One was  news of the successful listings of Seplat on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) and London Stock Exchange (LSE).  The other was the disturbing news that Nigeria’s crude oil reserves had dropped to 35 billion barrels from the 37 billion barrels it stood in the last two years.  The reasons were linked to the lull in hydrocarbon exploration activities to replace depleted ones. This sorry situation was further confirmed with the recent rebasing of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), showing that the share of crude oil and natural gas to the nominal GDP has declined to 17.52 percent, 15.89 percent and 14.40 percent for 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively.

    I doubt that there is any Nigerian that would not  reflect on that news considering the harm that depleting reserves could do to Nigeria’s economy given that crude oil accounts for more than 90 per cent of the nation’s revenue. The question  that most people have demanded an answer to is, ‘what really is responsible for the dearth in the exploration and production of crude oil in Nigeria’? The answer lies in the inability to pass the proposed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) into law.

    But then, there is another issue.   And that has to do with the challenges that serious exploration and production firms partnering with state-owned firms like the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) face in the quest to jointly bring on-stream, projects that would boost both Nigeria’s crude oil reserves and production capacity.

    Seplat’s success can be traced back to the period between 2010 and 2012, when Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) in the bid to divest some of its onshore assets, sold about eight Oil Mining Licenses to some indigenous companies. Today, only Seplat has been in full production since it acquired these assets from Shell. The reasons have to do with undue delays from government bureaucracy.  It is one factor that has dampened indigenous companies’ ability to fund and develop the oil and gas sector, and to build a promising indigenous upstream industry. And one of the reasons why local banks are refusing to fund any project where NPDC is the operator is because of the inconsistency in government policy and bureaucratic delays and undue government interferences.

    Delays stifle investments; it is inimical to efforts to create jobs and curb rising unemployment; it diminishes the opportunity for human capital development and training opportunities for Nigerians; provides less or fewer contracts opportunities for local contractors, and thus contributing to militancy in the oil communities.

    •Chinedu Gregory,  

  • Shake if off

    Life, indeed, is not a bed of roses as we are confronted with each passing day, the good, bad and the ugly. This means that life can be pleasant at times, and at other times unpleasant. This goes a long way in determining our philosophy about life or how we perceive it. To some, life is wicked, cruel, uninteresting, frustrating, while to others, life is good, sweet, interesting, and the like.

    Those who belong to the first school of thought accept anything life hurls at them as fate, destiny or God’s wish.   They give all manner of excuses to justify their dire or pathetic state. They say life is unkind to them and as such they resign to fate. To them, they cannot break the status quo. That is to say that they do not think outside the box. They are constraint by what they hear and see around them.

    On the contrary, according to one of my most interesting authors I have ever come across, ‘your background does not have the right to put your back to the background.’ His name is Steve Harris. In his book entitled ‘from college dropout to corporate manager’, he asserted that where you are coming from does not matter but where you are going to and nobody can stop you unless with your consent. Little wonder, a famous American politician once said, “Nobody can berate you except with your consent.”

    An elderly man once told me a story of a small boy who wanted to ascertain how wise the old man who was adjudged to be the wisest in a village was. The young boy confronted the old man and enquired ‘I leant you are a wise man,’ the man responded by saying yes.  Then, while they were strolling, the boy caught a fly and trapped it inside his fist. He asked the old man to prove his wisdom by telling him if the fly was alive or dead. The old man looked at the boy and smiled and said: The fly is in your hand so you determine whether it is alive or dead.” This connotes that we determine what happens to us. And we allow that based on our mindset which is occasioned by the kind of information we expose ourselves to.

    The miserable tale of the wealthiest black American woman, Oprah Winfred, during her teens lends credence to this, as she went through hell. She was impregnated at the age of thirteen as an orphan. After a while, she lost her baby. Her teenage days were really horrible but one notable thing she did was to think outside the box. With that, she was able to break the status quo and, today, she is celebrated. This reminds me of one of my secondary school teachers who once told me; every problem has a solution and any problem that does not have a solution is not a problem. The difference between fact and problem is that, facts are immutable while problems are mutable.

    I have come across a plethora of hurdles in my sojourn expedition which at first looked insurmountable, but the thought of a motivating expedition keeps me going. Let me share it with you. It is about a farmer who owned a small horse. One day, it fell into a well and the farmer thought of how to rescue it, but there was no brain wave. So, the farmer decided to bury the horse and started pouring sands and gravels on the well. At first, the horse was confused but while it thought of what to do, an idea struck it. While the farmer continued pouring sands and gravels on it, it kept shaking them off and stepping on them until, the sands and gravels formed adequate debris which it used to step out of the well.

    Another person who inspires me much is Ben Carson, a renowned neurosurgeon. He was a pauper in one of the ghettos in the United States. According to him, they started living a miserable life when his dad left them for another woman. But because his mum was hard working and thought outside the box, today they have a different story to tell as he is one of the best neurosurgeons the world has ever had. Even though he was born in an environment where racism was at its peak, he did not allow that to deter him.

    So instead of bemoaning your present palpable and laughable state, why not think of how you can reverse the situation to your advantage just like the small horse that shook off the gravels and sands poured on it. Do not just sit there and conclude that it is God’s wish for you. No, He says the plan I have for you is of good and not of evil.

    By Emmanuel Onoja,

  • Orji and job opportunities in Abia

    Phony claim is one unattractive phenomenon that has been established in the country by persons with distasteful character, which invariably contributes to the lacklustre situation the citizens have found themselves.

    This scenery of making bogus claims where none perhaps exists is one feature that can be seen in the Abia State Governor, Theodore Ahamefule Orji.

    Just recently, the governor audaciously informed the world that he would make sure that his ‘transformation agenda’ for the state is completed before he leaves office in 2015, even though that he had accepted that about 80% of the population in the state are jobless.

    In an interview with a national paper April 05 2014, the governor brazenly said: “Employment by government is not easy because the fund is not there. So, providing employment through government agencies like the civil service is very limited. A lot of people are unemployed; if you go through government agencies, it will only take a limited number of youths but then they have to live and they have to move forward.”

    While Gov. Orji is still using feint perhaps in order to mislead the suspecting and unsuspecting peoples of Abia State and, by extension the entire Nigerian populace, it would behove on the masses to note that Abia State is one state affirmed in the country that has refused to manage its huge Federal Allocation amounting to N54b annually; Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) estimated at N48b naira annually and, N64b collected from the federal account between January and December 2012. This money has been collected by the Abia State government.

    Analysts have said that this implies that the state has garnered more money in the year 2013 to 2014. Such allocations as Excess Crude Account, Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P), Domestic Crude Account, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) refund and foreign exchange discrepancies for oil producing states are not accounted for.

    An account by one ASOPADEC Chairman, Mr. Samuel Nwogu, had revealed: “The Commission derives its funding from the 13 per cent derivation. If Abia State gets 13 per cent, the law permits the state government to give ASOPADEC 30 per cent of the derivation fund. So it is with this 30 per cent from the derivation fund that the Commission did all we have achieved since 2010. From inception, the governor directed the Ministry of Finance to release our funds as at when due because it is statutory.”

    It is certain today that the governor is boasting of making kidnapping disappear in the state. He had told newsmen that his critics and political opponents thought that it would not be easy. What is amiss is that with the skill and level the governor said that he had made kidnapping to disappear from the state, he could not make unemployment to disappear from the state as well, even upon the huge funds that the state grabs monthly and annually.

     

    By Odimegwu Onwumere,

    Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

     

  • That ‘Posterity’ advert

    SIR: Currently, a nebulous group called ‘Protectors of Nigerian Posterity‘ is running a political campaign advert on major national televisions. In the said advert, the group is placing President Goodluck Jonathan in the mould of international leaders  like Dr Martin Luther King Jnr. of the American civil rights fame, Lee Kuan of Singapore who is reputed for transforming that nation from a third world one to a first rate one. The group is also talking about the legendary Nelson Mandela of South Africa and President Barrack Obama of the United States of America. In the unashamedly sycophantic propaganda, the group speaks of the transformational agenda of the president, saying that those supporting the president are more than those against him and it climbed the political high horse by chorusing that change was not easy to accept.

    Of course, it is propaganda, pure and simple. This is deliberate falsehood with the intention to mislead so as to achieve programmed result. And the aim of the Protectors of Nigerian Posterity is that Jonathan is doing a wonderful job in the country and that there is need for people to support him.

    And at times like this when the virus of insurgency is chocking the nation, a more understanding leadership would have withdrawn the advert. But not for this administration which is so consumed with the vaulting ambition of retaining power for itself and dispensing political patronage to the army of hangers-on and sycophants. This state of affairs cannot continue and the press must stand up against this political infamy and communication transgressions.

    It is true that purposeful, dynamic and goal oriented leadership do not grow on every tree. It is equally true that leadership traits that meet the aspirations of the people are not the products of media propaganda by a sycophantic group that wants part of the national pie under the veneer of media consultancy.  The media handlers of the president are doing a great disservice to the nation and the man. You cannot compare a president that gives nods to corruption under whose watch $20 billion of oil money disappeared to world iconic leaders.  Martin Luther King Jnr stood against white American racism and challenged the status quo and died for that goal. His famous speech: ‘I have a Dream‘ is a political gospel about how unity of purpose propelled America into great heights. That you have a black man in the White House today is because of the civil rights efforts of King Jnr.  It is therefore just scandalous to compare our president to such a person. The case of Lee Kuan is even more inspiring. Bubbling with energy and uncommon drive marked with sacrifice and nationalist stripe, Lee Kuan mobilized his country  men and women and transformed his nation from a third world one to a first world. That is why Singapore is among the world best rated economy with the people enjoying high standard of living. As for Nelson Mandela, it will be a bore to repeat his towering achievements in South Africa. His 27 years in jail, his one term in office and the respect the whole world accorded him during his funeral are the lasting testimonies to his unique style of leadership. This is the icon the pretenders of Protectors of Nigerian Posterity are comparing our president!

    The election of President Barrack Obama is like breaking the glass ceiling of American politics. A first term senator became a president because of his grey matters, his unique message and love for his nation. His fight against terrorism that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden and his health care programme are his commitments to improve the lives of the Americans. No amount of political propaganda can place Jonathan in the league of these world leaders. Those behind the political adverts know that they are swimming against the current of events and more interested in the size of their bank accounts.

    • Akpoyibo Unutemeta,

  • Surrendering sovereignty to terrorists

    SIR: If you are a Nigerian living abroad like me, chances are that you have been inundated by many of your friends and neighbours with questions asking about Nigeria. The lead story on the local news in my neck of the woods for the past two weeks have all been about the kidnap of the Chibok girls. While at an event yesterday, I was accosted by the Mayor of my city, and the city attorney with the following questions: “What is wrong with the Nigerian president? How could he be that clueless? How can a nation with distinguished Nobel laureate and reputable scholars from all fields of science and humanities succumb to buffoonish leadership? And by the way, what is wrong with asking for help when you are lost and in over your head?”

    Many have said that Nigeria is a cursed nation. I beg to differ. Nigeria is a blessed nation saddled with crazed leaders who has made greed and avarice their directive principle in life. The urge to loot by our leaders is what brought us to a situation where a military once renowned all over the world for its bravery is now the joke of the whole world. Nigeria military has never been underfunded; the problem is not with budget of the ministry of defense, but the misappropriation of those funds by successive regimes since the 1980s. The rot in our government has now affected the military just as it is rearing its ugly head in other institutions like judiciary and even our sports ministry!

    We may not get back the Chibok girls but can we at least have honest conversations about the state of leadership in our dear country. A nation where the so called First Lady of Nigeria-a position unknown to our constitution and any extant law-will order the arrest of protesters is a nation in peril. Let’s call a spade a spade: the Jonathan regime is lost and unraveling before our very eyes. It is time to move on and start planning on how we as citizens could take our destiny in our hand and save our floundering ship. We need to start making a demand on the future leaders of our country and abhor imposition of leaders by political godfathers.

    • Francis Adewale

    Spokane, WA , USA

  • The Jonathans: There is God oo!

    SIR: I watched Dame Patience Jonathan’s meeting on Channels TV and came away with more than mixed feelings. As I watched this important gathering that Mrs Jonathan had pulled together on the back of lack of results in the rescue of the abducted school girls of Chibok in Borno State, my immediate impression was that, with the right handling, this lady could be a good leader.  And since we are already being led, or must be led by a Jonathan, we are probably being governed by the wrong one.

    Sometimes, a leader just has to lead; period.  Mrs Jonathan, in her own garrulous way, did just that at the end of last week.  Through Mrs Jonathan’s effort, we also found out that the governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, despite West African Examination Council’s (WAEC) advice to the contrary, deliberately left the school (a State school) open for exams and therefore left it vulnerable to what subsequently befell those girls.   Mr Shettima refused for the students to be moved to relatively safer examination centres in Maiduguri.  Instead, he wrote to WAEC assuring them that adequate security will be provided for the school.  Obviously, adequate security wasn’t provided; look what has happened!  You can begin to see why Mrs Jonathan veered off tangent and gave in to her more impulsive, antediluvian and suspicious side.

    This should give all of us a pause.  The rest of us and Mr Jonathan need to rethink our approach to this menace.  Furthermore, I was shocked to hear the President say that we do not have a modern army.  We don’t?  What then has been happening to all the billions that go into defence budgets every year?  So, in a way, I was relieved to learn that the Americans are coming to help us out.  At this point, any help would be better than what has obtained for three long weeks.  However, it would be best if the Americans assist from the ‘rear’ so that their humanitarian intervention doesn’t turn into another theatre of good versus evil confrontation.  My guess is that the cowardly Boko Haram members are still holding on to the school girls in the forest as human shields.

    And this is why I disagree with Ms Iyabo Obasanjo who in a recent open letter to Boko Haram likened that group to a revolutionary one. I don’t know whether Ms Obasanjo’s take was informed by her on-going walk down the cathartic path, but to christen Boko Haram a revolutionary group sounds close to blasphemy.  If anything, Boko Haram is the military arm of one-half of the exploitative and thieving cabal that holds Nigeria down.  Their current campaign is directed squarely at the people – the exact opposite definition of a revolution.  After maiming and killing fellow citizens, their leaders can often be found cooling off in the inner recesses of the mansions and guest houses of cabal members.

    Do revolutionaries drive past schools of the privileged, head for schools for ordinary folks and gun down sleeping students in their beds?   Do revolutionaries drive past opulent mansions and other obscene edifices of graft and go bomb a motor park for the exclusive use of ordinary folks?  I don’t think so.

    It really burns me that Mr Jonathan continues to refuse to pick up the sponsors of Boko Haram.  What really is stopping him?  I don’t at all understand this kind of leadership model.

    I found Mrs Jonathan’s effort and contribution (which sadly later degenerated into a spectacle) in unravelling this national heartbreak refreshing.  We just wish Mr Jonathan could be more like her in some aspects.

    • Michael Egbejumi-David

    demdem@hotmail.co.uk  

  • Don’t de-list LGs from constitution

    SIR: The news credited to the Political Reconstruction Committee of the National Conference that local governments should be de-listed from the Nigeria constitution, shows that members of the committee are out of touch with the reality about the place of the local government administration in grassroots development in Nigeria. It appears those in the committee are aliens in Nigeria if not, they would have known that save for the local government administration, rural areas would have been “de-listed” from development.

    Apparently, there is a conspiracy against the existence of the local governments. Unfortunately, the 1999 constitution has not helped the matter by making local governments an appendage of the states. Yet, the best thing is for the local governments to be independent of state governments if is to serve the interest of the grassroots. In most of the states where elections have not been held, local government chairmen are in office as the representatives of the governors and could hardly execute any project unless as dictated by the governors. That is one of the reasons why priorities of many local government administrations are at variance with the interest of the people.

    One thing that members of committee forget is that some of the existing local governments like some states were created in order to settle communal disputes in some states. An example is Ife East Area council at Modakeke, Ile-Ife, Osun State. If the local governments are de-listed from the constitution as the committee proposes, are they expecting Modakeke community to revert to Ife East local government at Ile-Ife?

    Grassroots people cherish local governments than even the federal government. This is because it is the nearest to them. They believe if the normal local government allocation from the federal government reaches the local governments, they will feel the effects in the town. This is not to talk of the assistance rendered to the people by the political office holders like councillors, supervisory councillors and even chairmen where elected officials run the affairs of the councils. As a matter of fact, all projects to be executed by the councils under the elected leaders would be done by the grassroots people, who will patronize grassroots markets. Other functions of local government like construction and maintenance of rural roads, construction of wells or boreholes, provision of employment opportunities, provision of primary health care, supervision of the primary education amongst others make the idea of de-listing local governments from the constitution objectionable. Instead of promoting the idea of scrapping the local government administrations, what should be done by the committee or any other body saddled with reviewing the idea of local government is to work out modalities to entrench the system, create more and make it fiscally independent of the state governments and democratic.

    The committee is advised to reconsider its suggestion as it is highly destructive. Unless they are living in the state capitals or in Abuja, they must have known the usefulness of the local governments and never toy with the idea that can crippled the system.

    • Adewuyi Adegbite

    Apake, Ogbomoso.

  • Chibok girls and the rest of us

    SIR: There is no doubt that the Nigerian government is faced with an uphill task in the search for the abducted school girls in Chibok, Borno State. This latest despicable and inhuman act by the Boko Haram insurgents has laid bare the capacity of the Nigerian security apparatus in the fight against terrorism. It exposes Nigeria as lacking in modern technologies and strategies for protecting its porous borders and its defenceless citizens despite being the giant of Africa.

    Clearly, the attitude of the Goodluck Jonathan-led administration to the insurgency lately has been lackadaisical and laidback. If not, why would it take Nigerian officials weeks to start responding

    publicly to the abduction?

    I listened with disgust  to statements by Doyin Okupe (Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs) and Labaran Maku (Minister for Information) on CNN yesterday that the Nigerian government is doing all it can to rescue the girls but cannot reel out all actions being taken by the government on the search for these girls.

    These officials fail to realize that they owe parents of these girls and Nigerians at large, serious explanations on even the minutest detail in the search for the girls. Nigerians want assurances and

    concrete leads from the government that it has the capacity to defeat Boko Haram and other terrorist groups threatening Nigeria’s sovereignty. Unfortunately we are not getting the assurances and it is mind-boggling!

    This is a trying time and dark period for our country. As such, all hands must be on deck to overcome this challenge. We must all shun the temptation to politicize or “religionise” the insecurity

    bedevilling us in this country today. Nigerian leaders in all spheres must rise and come up with uncommon strategies in fighting the insecurity.

    Above all, it is high time we introduced community/state policing as an integral part of our federalism. The state of the nation today must have to lead us somewhere better than where we are today.

    • Adedayo Abass-Olisa

    Simpson Street, Lagos.

  • That alleged chemical attack in Benue

    SIR: Nigerians woke up recently to the startling news that chemical weapons had been used in some of the Fulani herdsmen’s attacks on defenceless Benue State villages. Never in the history of inter-ethnic or religious skirmishes had such demonic instruments of destruction been used by any citizens of one country against their compatriots!

    So unprecedented was this reprehensible development that few, if any, Nigerian was prepared to believe it. In fact, it was not until the Director General of  NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii went to the theatre of “war” there in Benue State and personally confirmed that chemical weapons had indeed been used, did the whole thing begin to sink in.

    For keen watchers of the serial killing of Benue State inhabitants, the tragic event didn’t come as a surprise. After all, it would be recalled that for so long these marauders had run amok all over a particular Benue community (Agatu) killing, raping, and maiming. In the course of their relentless attacks which reached its zenith about this time last year (and which still continued unabated), thousands of lives and properties worth hundreds of millions of naira were destroyed by the invaders.

    More shocking as it may be, the cause of these senseless killings is none other than the “right” of the herdsmen’s cows to trample on their victims’ farm; and with reckless abandon. As if their cattle are more valuable than humans, the typical herdsman would pull out his dagger or gun and instantly kill any farmer who dares to challenge them for destroying his crops!

    Sadly while this impunity reigned supreme in Agatu (in the course of which many villages were destroyed and the people rendered homeless), their cries for help went largely unheeded. Emboldened by the government’s inaction, tens of heavily armed herdsmen would swoop on the defenceless people (usually at night) and butcher them with abandon.

    The point to note here is that by the time the killing spree got to the level of using chemical weapons, the attackers had been allowed to run amok for far too long. And, as they say, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. In this case, the killings in Agatu has inexorably started to rear its ugly head all over, with the villages of Governor Suswam as well as Tor Tiv (the royal father of the Tivs of Benue State) being the latest victims.

    As long as injustice is allowed to fester unabated, nobody is safe; any other community could be the next target of the rampaging killers. No less instructive is the fact that the killer herdsmen who hitherto used to rely on sticks and daggers eventually “graduated” to guns before resorting to chemical weapons (as they allegedly did in Benue recently.

    Given that a stitch in time saves nine,I sincerely believe that it’s about time the government became more proactive in its obligation to protect law-abiding citizen and their properties. Too many of our people have died in Agatu in particular and Benue State in general, the time to act is now.

     

    • Dr. Adebo Ichekpa

    Nyanya Gwandara, Nasarawa State.

  • When will our girls return?

    SIR: It has been three weeks now since Boko Haram, Nigeria’s tormentor in chief (after poverty), seized over 200 girls from us and there seems to be no end in sight to the hell these girls have been made to go through. It must have been three weeks of horror for these young girls, whose only crime is being born in Nigeria as well as going to school. Since the kidnap of these innocent girls what we have been treated to is buck passing, as if that’s going to bring back our girls. Even citizens have joined in. I totally agree now, that indeed Nigerians are part of the reasons Nigeria is where she is today. You have to see how citizens have trivialized this matter. I hope Nigerians’ eyes are now open to reality now that the names of some of the missing girls have been released. The presidential media chat of Sunday night, unfortunately offers little hope. What was that about not knowing where the girls are, from the commander-in-chief?  That suggests that even the military does not know anything about these kidnapped girls in the past three weeks, as whatever information the president will have, will have to come from the military. Does it mean not much efforts have been made since then? The fact that a committee was just set up days ago to look into the kidnap of these girls actually confirms that we are not putting in more efforts to bring back these girls. Was it a decoy? I would have loved it to be but something tells me the president was honest with that answer, which unfortunately is bad news. Now we are hearing that the girls must have been married out to infidels in neighboring countries and the president is saying those rumors are unfounded. Pray, how will the president know if they have been married out or not when he doesn’t even have a clue about where they are? The trauma, psychological and otherwise, this must have brought upon these girls and their families is better imagined. I just think more efforts needs to be put in to make sure these girls are re-united with their families safely. Nigeria has failed them! Is there enough intelligence gathering from our military? Does Boko Haram have more men than our military? What is being done to make our borders, especially with Cameroon and Niger republic less porous? Is the President in touch with the Presidents of these countries to find a lasting solution to the activities of these infidels? Are the Boko Haram elements in the government (as the president admitted) invisible? What’s been done to fish them out?  Is there enough information on Boko Haram sponsors? Seriously we are tired of talks. We are tired of accusations and allegations without results. On a larger scale, what is been done to reduce the massive illiteracy rate in the North? How about the high unemployment rate there too? What is our budget on security? Or does everybody just collect security votes and leave us to our fate? What is the state of mind of our military men? What’s their take home? Do we take care of them like a country should take care of their security men? Are they well motivated to want to die for their country? We need answers. The citizens, especially those around Borno State and environs have roles to play too, if we are going to stop this reign of terror. The fact is that some citizens know the where about of these infidels, but for some reasons have refused to come forward. They will be doing Nigeria a great service by coming forward with useful information about the sect. They should be encouraged too, as some of them are rightly afraid that their identities will be revealed once they give useful tips to the military . They don’t know who is who. Even the military may have been infiltrated. More needs to be done before Boko Haram wipes us all out,but first, the government has to bring back our girls.   •Chiechefulam Ikebuiro thalynxis@yahoo.ca