The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • Still on Nigeria and MDGs 2015 target

    SIR: September 2000, 189 heads of State and government adopted the UN Millennium Declaration. The eight key goals and 21 targets that were set and agreed to be attained on or before 2015 are eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, achievement of universal primary education, promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women, reduction in child mortality rates, improvement in maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS pandemic, malaria other diseases, environmental sustainability as well to develop a global partnership for development.

    Thirteen years after, Nigeria’s attainment of the set goals has been rated differently from good to bad and to worse depending on who is saying it. What is glaring to all and sundry is that life has not been a bed of roses under the harsh economic climate.

    For instance, President Goodluck Jonathan, at the Water Summit, held recently in Abuja stated that Nigeria needs over N350 billion annually to meet its water and sanitation targets while Vice President, Mohammed Sambo, at a stakeholders meeting in Abuja also said that “Although Nigeria has made significant strides in reducing maternal mortality from figures that were above 1000/100,000 live births in 1990 to 545/100,000 live births in 2008, attainment of the health MDGs still remain a challenge in Nigeria, as the current annual reduction in under-five mortality of 4% is far below the 13% annual reduction needed to bend the curve to attain Goal 4 by 2015”.

    To the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Nigeria is among the 38 countries that have already met the internationally set hunger eradication targets ahead of 2015! According to the Director-General of FAO, José Graziano da Silva, “these countries are leading the way to a better future. They are proof that with strong political will, coordination and cooperation, it is possible to achieve rapid and lasting reductions in hunger”.

    On-track are the MDG 2 goal of achieving universal primary education; MDG 3 of promoting gender equality; MDG 6 of combating HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, malaria and other diseases; and  MDG 8, centered on global partnership for development.

    Off-track targets are MDG 1 that covers the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; MDG 4 – reduction in child mortality; MDG 5 – improvement in maternal health; and MDG 7 – ensuring environmental sustainability.

    The status of MDGs in Nigeria indicates that the country is unlikely to meet most of the targets. The incidence of poverty is reported to have increased from 54.4 percent in 2004 to 65.1 percent in 2010 while about 10 million children of school going age are out of school.

    In the 2011 elections, women representation at the National Assembly was found to have declined and the national average is about six per cent which is one of the lowest in Africa while climate-related shocks, as manifested by extreme harsh weather conditions, claiming livelihoods and exacerbated Africa’s food insecurity, resulting in a high incidence of strife, widespread hunger, underweight children and extremely low dietary consumption patterns in which the World Bank says over 70 per cent of Nigerian adults are poor.

    The post 2015 development agenda should recognize the changed context of the world, the changing geography of poverty and the need not only to improve the content but also put in place an accountability framework. Additionally, it must recognize the changed demographics of the world, youth issues and the challenge of terrorism.

    • Adewale Kupoluyi,

    Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

  • Nigerians too hungry to be civilized

    SIR: A critical observation of the situation in Nigeria will show that at the root of the nation’s problem is poverty.  The ill functioning of the government is basically as a result of people engaging in corrupt practices to survive.  The mushroom of religious groups in every street corner is mostly a consequence of economic hardship.  The perennial upsurge of regional crisis is traceable to insecurity of the natural resources.  These excesses of human behavior can be controlled by a country that can sufficiently provide for its citizens.  It is the principal function of an enlightened government to attain this objective.

    The anatomy of corruption in Nigeria can be dissected from a psychological impact of poverty.  The aggressiveness of most Nigerians in government to unduly grab the nation’s wealth as if it is vanishing could be attributed to the fear that they may not have the chance again.  This behavior stems from the reality that most families are generally one or two generations away from poverty.  The fresh memory of coming from a background where one has experienced an abject lack makes one desperate.  The scarcity of opportunity leads to a rush by any means to escape being a part of the downtrodden.

    People go through tremendous prayers and visits to powerful pastors including voodoo doctors, and by a supernatural endeavour, they are freed from the demonic bound of poverty.  Living in hopelessness in a country where there is no social safety net leaves the citizens in the phenomenal dispensation of a miracle.  A young woman graduates from the university and could not find a job.  Her parents are too poor to support her; probably it was a lover that assisted her through her education.  She feels the pressure to make money to bring her family out of suffering.  She turns to prostitution.  Before she could settle to the easy life, she contracts HIV.  A pastor comes and assures her that she could be delivered from the afflictions of the devil.  The pastor wins her soul and also her tithe.  She expects a miracle, other than that; she will whittle away and die in silence.

    Youths agitate about their plight. They live in communities with abundant natural resources and yet they are severely deprived.  The revenue generated from their region is grossly expended in places they have never been and by people they do not know.  The industrial consequences of producing this wealth dispose their community to all sorts of danger.  No one comes to their aid when they start suffering the harmful effects of these exposures.  The fatal instinct to survive sets in as they observe the exploitation of their livelihood. They go on a rampage burning down the effigies of their torment.

    It is unfortunate that the Nigerian government is paying lip service to solving the economic woes of the masses.  The foundation to elevating the country to a civilized society lies in poverty alleviation.  The elite are dismayed when the West looks down on them about the country.  A situation where the leaders of the nation are roguishly rich reduces everybody to the rule of the jungle.  If the government can put the abundant resources of the country to good use and seriously create a large middle class society, one will find out that majority of Nigerians will prefer the luxury of basking in the sun in a beach to the demeaning lifestyle of hustling for a living.

    Pius Okaneme

    Umuoji, Anambra State.

  • Air crashes and regulators’ dilemma

    SIR: The October 3, crash of Associated Airline plane in Lagos which claimed about 16 lives out of the 20 on board has diminished the great works the regulatory agencies have been doing to make Nigeria’s airspace safe. Since the ill-fated Dana plane crash of June 3, 2012 in Lagos, the aviation ministry and agencies under it have been intensifying effort to enforce compliance with policies and procedures guiding the operations of the airlines. Not only that, many of the airports dotting the Nigerian landscape has been receiving facelift with the Akanu Ibiam Airport in Enugu recently upgraded to international status.

    Aviation experts are wont to saying that the sector is the most regulated of all the means of transportation. Unfortunately, in spite of the perceived strict regulations, air crashes is gradually becoming a perennial event in Nigeria. What is missing? From what has been in the public domain since the latest mishap, it would seem some of the airlines have been cooking the books and doctoring their certifications. Everything looks good on paper – maintenance done as at when due, pilots well trained, etc. However, in reality, those documentations may have been forged. There is insinuation that the crashed Associated Airplane may not have valid insurance. Last Friday, a Commissioner with the Accident Investigation Bureau, Capt. Muktar Usman revealed that information gotten from the black box retrieved from the crashed plane showed that the pilots ignored the automated warning from the onboard computer voice, alerting them of a possible problem with the aircraft flaps and right engine. Should this claim be true, the competence of the pilots who flew the plane is in doubt.

    There are allegations that pilots and engineers in some airlines are being owed salaries and allowances and as such may not be in good frame of mind to perform their delicate duties. This is aside the accusation that some spare parts used in the repair of some planes may be obsolete. The regulatory authorities need to do more to sanitize the sector.

    • Jide Ojo,

    Wuse 2, Abuja

     

  • The dialogue Nigeria needs

    SIR: The amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates by Lord Lugard in 1914 was said to have lacked the imprimatur of all the ethnic nationalities in Nigeria. It was viewed as a marriage of convenience aimed at fostering ease of administration of the two protectorates by the colonial masters but turned blind eye to the uniqueness, differences, complexities, needs and aspirations of the ethnic nationalities.

    Sir Hugh Clifford, the British Governor of Nigeria described the nation in 1920 as “… a collection of self-contained and mutually independent native states separated from one another…by vast distances, by differences of history and tradition and by ethnological, racial, tribal, political, social and religious barriers.”

    Sir Clifford’s apt view captures the real essence of Nigeria, the pivot and the apparently ignored differences which have had enormous bearing on the psyche of individuals and nationalities, thus; the imperative for a national dialogue. Calls for a national dialogue whether sovereign or not is not new in the political lexicon of Nigeria but it gathered momentum after the annulment of June 12 elections.

    Why agitation for dialogue? Nigeria in the eyes of many is simply glued together only by the map but has since been religiously, tribally and psychologically divided. Beside socio-cultural conflicts, religious crises- mainly inter-religious – have since become an enduring feature capable of dismembering Nigeria. There could be a correlation between socio-religious crises and the poor economy, which has been the landmark of Nigeria since the second half of the 1980s.

    The political crisis which unfortunately plunged the nation into a 30 month civil war, the military rules that accompanied it, lopsided allocation of government largess, and the annulled June 12 election have pitched the nation against each other. This breeds suspicion and has continued to pitch the north against the south. It is obvious that the pendulum of government presence in infrastructural development and even political appointments either at federal, states and local government levels tends to swing to the ethnic nationality of the man at the helm of affairs. Were there purpose driven leadership, good governance and even good followership, mutual suspicion would not have surfaced. The mutual suspicion has virtually turned every ethnic nationality in Nigeria into marginalised entities.

    Moreover, Boko Haram insurgency and demand for an Islamic State in the North, a call for the Sovereign state of Biafra in South-East; the demand by South-West for Oduduwa State and a clamour by militants in the South-South for 50% derivation of oil resources are germane enough for a dialogue. The list of why we should jaw-jaw is endless. Therefore, this platform offers the timely opportunity.

    What kind of dialogue does the nation need at this moment? It is that of sincerity of purpose, of patriotism and constructive approach to national rebirth. The nation has outlived parochial sentiments and ethnic jingoism which rendered the previous two attempts useless. We should be bold to call a spade a spade. The time ticks. Those who do not know where they were drenched by the rains will not even know where it dries up. With patriotic approach to all issues that will eventually crop up at the conference, Nigeria will be redeemed. Others might have failed but this one must not for the sake of Nigeria. From the political fireworks pervading the polity, there is no auspicious time for this dialogue than now.

     

    • Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

    Zaria, Kaduna State

  • Re: In support of Fashola on Tobacco

    SIR: The above titled piece published in The Nation of Thursday October 10, page 18 refers. Intellectual honesty requires a declaration of interest. This writer in spite of his lifelong opposition to capital punishment has inadvertently sentenced himself to death by indulging in tobacco smoking for over four decades. I will therefore like to save others from an indulgence which does not do anybody any good. Mr. Adebayo Thomas, the writer of the piece in reference, should also show the same intellectual honesty. He should have stated whose interest he is serving.

    The inconvenient facts which Thomas glosses over include the well known fact that tobacco use is the leading cause of death worldwide. The grim reality is that tobacco uses cause more than five million deaths per year. This is serious stuff. Even more disconcerting is that with the market drying up in the developed countries, the tobacco merchants (of death) have shifted their marketing focus and campaign to the third world.

    This marketing strategy makes sense. The developing world has a demographic bulge tilted in favour of a younger age group. It is an enticing promising market. The problem here is that these are also countries which have weak institutions. They cannot stand up to the tobacco companies and stop them from marketing or advertising. More ominously these countries simply do not have the public health facilities to cope with tobacco related diseases. Their public health budgets are already inadequate and the medical personnel are fleeing to the developed countries for a myriad of reasons.

    Thomas’ analogy on prohibition is also incorrect. No one is asking for an outright ban on tobacco. It is not practicable to set up the necessary administrative mechanism to enforce such a proposition. Such an action will not even be compatible with the spirit of a democracy. What is actually needed is enlightenment and moral suasion. This is why the greatly admired and much respected Governor Babatunde Fashola should not have inadvertently conferred a veneer of respectability on the tobacco lobby and companies by granting them audience. It was a faux pas.

    Everyone is in love with the get-up-and-go Fashola. Like his predecessor he has made giant strides in uplifting the quality of life in Lagos state. Nevertheless, every human being has the occasional off-day. So did the great soccer exponents, Pele, Maradona, Lionel Messi; fantastic players but occasionally they miss an open goal scoring opportunity which my grandmother might have tucked in. That however is the nature of the human condition. Humans are error prone.

    Governments at all levels have a moral imperative to distance themselves from the Public Relations antics of the tobacco companies. It is not just a question of moral suasion. It is also predicated on even the most rudimentary of cost/benefit analyses. Since Thomas is not going to help Fashola to fund his health budget, he should face up to inconvenient facts. This is that Fashola simply does not have enough funds or the personnel to cope with tobacco induced or related diseases. And let’s face the facts, the World Health Organisation projection is that by 2030, 80% of projected tobacco related deaths will be in the third world.

    Adebayo Thomas should do Governor Fashola a favour. He should give him a paper on how he and his successors will fund the public health sector. The use of tobacco is a dangerous, suicidal indulgence and should be discouraged. I have made a declaration of interest as a victim. Thomas should declare his own interest. Whose side is he on?

    • Ayo Badmus

    Lafiagi, Lagos

  • Marginalisation of Kogi West

    SIR: The endless journey of marginalization in Kogi State since its creation in 1991 (22 years ago) began with the people of the Central and the West Senatorial Districts occupying all the available seats in the train driven by a winner-takes-all driver. The Central Senatorial District have decided to collectively alight from the train leaving only the Okun people of West Senatorial District in the aura of helplessness occasioned by our inability to speak with one voice amidst the divide and rule tactics in governance that has unfortunately been achieving the desired result to the disadvantage of our people.

    Today, the people of the Central Senatorial District are in the position to sing a different tune on the political terrain of Kogi State if their upward movement in state appointments today is anything to go by. This is happening right under our eyes and as opposed to the backward movement of our people in the scheme of things fuelled by self-centredness to which we have myopically remained glued.

    How feasible is the possibility of our alighting from this train in spite of the avalanche of eggheads and the who is who in all fields of endeavour known to man in and outside the shores of Nigeria in the face of our contentment with eating of falling crumbs from the state’s political table?

    Here is the distribution of political appointments in the state as at October 2013. Whereas the Igalas have 19 commissioners and the Ebira 10, the Okuns have only four commissioners! As for Special Advisers, the Igalas have 57, Ebiras 33 and the Okuns eight. The Igalas also take the big chunk of Senior Special Advisers with 32, flowed by the Ebiras 24 and four for the Okuns. The same picture of lopsidedness is reflected in the number of permanent secretaries where the Igalas have 32, Ebiras 24 and the Okuns four.

    Although Kogi East represents only 45 per cent of the 3.3 million Kogi State population in the 2006 national census, with Kogi West and Kogi Central accounting for 55 per cent of the population, successive governments from Abubakar Audu through Ibrahim Idris to Idris Wada, have always used a sharing formula that varies between 70:30 to 80:20 ratio of state resources and political offices between the East and the remaining two senatorial districts.

    Yet Kogi East contributes the least internally generated revenue (IGR) of seven per cent, compared to 72 per cent from Kogi Central and 21 per cent from Kogi West. As much as 80 per cent of all capital projects go to Kogi East while Kogi West gets 15 per cent and Kogi Central gets a paltry five per cent.

    Of the 28,000-strong state civil service, Kogi East alone has 24,621 as at November 2012 while Kogi West has 6,519 and Kogi Central 4,069.

    How long will this trend continue?

    • Odunayo Joseph

    Lagos

  • Dana Air as aviation industry’s fall guy

    SIR: In the wake of the recent Associated Airlines crash, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority in its usual knee jerk style clamped down the wings of  Dana airline to give a false impression of closely monitoring the activities of airlines which it had hitherto abdicated.  The airline has become the fall guy of the inefficiency and incompetence of the NCAA. A crash occurs and the first thing to do is to look for a scape-goat, instead of focusing on the real issues bedeviling the industry.

    Well, the NCAA  has told Nigerians that there will be an audit on the operations of the airline; yet nobody has explained to Nigerians  the basis for the operational audit? How long it will take?  Nobody has told Nigerians  if the audit is going to be blanket, or if Dana is just the only defaulter in the industry? Who is deceiving who?

    Expectedly, airfares have gone up and the other airlines are smiling to the banks.

    Dana, according to reports credited to the NCAA, was grounded as a result of an air return it had recently. Where is it written that the regulator should ground an airline because of an air return? Air returns are initiated in line with ICAO standards and in the interest of safety of passengers and crew (It is a precautionary safety procedure). This is not the case in Nigeria, as the entire airline was reportedly grounded by the minister herself! If this is truly the case, then the NCAA should be grounded! What are they there for?

    Under ICAO standards, the NCAA ought to be autonomous to be able to perform its responsibilities without fear or bias. The government’s interference with the responsibilities of the regulatory agencies is a bad precedence that might lead to the country’s blacklist on the ICAO registry and the loss of the coveted Category One status.

    This domino effect of this action has indirectly thrown some people into the labour market. Because, if the airline doesn’t return to operations, Nigerians working there will lose their jobs and those they just recruited as a result of their route expansion will lose the opportunity.

    My advice to the management of the airline is to make judicious use of government’s intervention fund (that is if the government is truly committed to it)  to improve its services and acquire newer aircraft to its fleet.

    Finally, I will advise NCAA to be dispassionate in the audit of ALL the airlines, as it is not only Dana that needs to be audited. They should ensure they maintain their autonomy as interference won’t help the sector.

     

    • Comrade Bayo Idowu

    Lagos.

  • Mr. President must hear this

    I recently visited Toronto. On Our way from the airport, I engaged my host in a discussion about the country in general. These are some of the insights:

    First was the deliberate plan of the Canadian government to discourage excessive wealth acquisition. How is it done? I probed. Due to the transparency in the system, all monies earned are traceable. Therefore, the more money you make, the more the tax you pay. This made a lot of sense to me. Wealth can easily be spread and too much affluence will not reside with few as we have in Nigeria.

    As each day progressed, I learnt new things. I discovered that their housing system was well structured; my host enlightened me on their mortgage system. One deposits about 30% of the house value with interest rate of not more than 5% with credit receivable after 5 years. What that means is that you could sell the house after 5 years and use the credit to buy a bigger house if one desires. To my chagrin, I discovered that cars are leased to buyers at interest free loan payable within 78 months.

     I also learnt that people pay heavy tax but enjoy the value in the provisions of good road, free health care and education. Government pays for all students. There is legislation for students to attend schools within a geographical axis they reside. My host told me that, the choice of their children’s school informed where they live.

    On my way back to Nigeria, the problem started from the airport as the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) officials could not set bars for passengers to queue on a straight line. With the air conditioners not working, chaos started. Anyway, we grumbled our way through immigration and waited again endlessly for our baggage to roll out of the conveyor belt. The custom men too harassed what is left of the tolerance in some of us.

    By the time I got to Lagos Ibadan expressway, the road I left bad a few weeks ago had gone worse due to rain and usage. I thought the contract for this road was awarded? I asked myself. Couldn’t the contractor patch the bad portions and reduce traffic on this road? On entering my area, the roads were almost impassable. On getting home, there was no light, we had to start the generator to first pump water and enjoy electricity by polluting the environment. I was seriously depressed and felt like selling all I have acquired and relocate.

    As I was reflecting on my predicament, my friend who accompanied me from the airport said  ” Agagu is dead.” Without much thought, two things about him flashed through my memory. What will Nigerians and people of Ondo State remember him for when he was minister for power and steel and governor?

    Life truly is vanity. Agagu is gone but our President is still alive and can make the necessary change. This 2015 distraction is too much. It looks like a deliberate ploy for him to fail.  Obasanjo gave us GSM, Mr. President should give us light.

    Remember, all you have is today. Tomorrow is in God’s hand.

    Kupoluyi works in Lagos and live in Ogun State

  • Nigeria’s ‘big man’ syndrome

    SIR: : Many Nigerians have had the experience of being driven off the road by siren-blaring politicians. Recently, I was in traffic when a police patrol team came racing like mad with ear-splitting siren. The Hilux van was not only driving against traffic but chasing other vehicles on their legitimate lane off the road. The policeman sitting in front waved a thick stick menacingly at oncoming vehicles some of which ran into the gutter in their bid to escape taking a blow. The scene was one of pandemonium. Other officers hung conspicuously at the back of the vehicle. Etched on their faces were pride, arrogance, disdain; they were drunk with power.

    On another occasion, I was in a bank when a young man walked in. He observed the quite short queue briefly, squared his shoulders and then marched majestically to the cashier. Soon an argument ensued between him and some of the customers in the queue. One couldn’t help but observe his feeling of superiority, and the arrogance with which he addressed those standing in line. The above scenes and similar others which are by no means rare got me thinking. Why do we seem to disdain the law; why do we like to do those things that make for disorder?

    Ours is a very proud and elitist society. We are so much in love with the concept of ‘the big man’, of ‘levels’. We love class segregation. While the elite discriminate against those at the lower rung of the social ladder, even the down-trodden discriminate among themselves. It is not uncommon, for instance, to see men in a dispute leave the subject matter to vigorously question who each other is. “Who are you, I say, who are you?” they would bark. Hubris and a near obsession for distinction are among our most damaging weaknesses.

    Ours is a rather shallow and degenerate society. Our idea of greatness and the great man is largely faulty. Unlike in saner climes where one attains greatness and distinction through honest labour, competence, integrity, service to humanity and other positive attributes, here, a pocket full of money and importantly, ability to flout the law are about the major requirements.

    Thus, an individual deep down, may not necessarily like disorder or prefer a disorderly society, still, he feels he must flout the law, act out of order to distinguish himself from the pack, to demonstrate that he is a big man. Greatness means nothing, power amounts to nothing unless the bearer can trample on the law and other citizens. A powerful man is one that stands above the law; only ordinary folks are expected to subject themselves to it. The politicians and policemen must chase other road users off the road to demonstrate they are in authority. Tragically, many who suffer the ill-treatment today long for the day they would be able to do same to others. The young man who disdains to join the queue at the bank wants to distinguish himself from the ‘ordinary’ folks standing in line. Yea, how do you expect a big guy to queue up with others without ‘levels’?

    A people’s philosophy and values go a long way in determining their circumstance. Most of the maladies plaguing the country can be traced to wrong philosophies, wrong values. This underscores why one of the greatest tasks facing the country is change in philosophy, value reorientation. Indeed we need to revisit our idea of greatness and the great man, power and the powerful man.

    • Nnoli Chidiebere

    Aba, Abia State.

  • Youths need paradigm shift

    IR: The thin line between the old and new is not just the age, looks or taste; it is a clear departure from those features that stunted the growth and wellbeing of the old. Youths of today must take their destinies in their hands and decide to have a future or be damned by their elders. This has become a recurrent decimal as the youths are perennially neglected by successive leadership perpetuated and dominated by gerontocrats.

    In this fight, one must be able to distinguish between the venial and the venal, ordinary and outsized wrongdoing. Make no mistake; hardship brings out the best in no one. The elders have created monsters out of the youths of today and they can no longer sleep or enjoy their privileged access to the commanding height of power.

    The visionless youths being used today by those selfish ruling class in control of power are no doubt hampered by filial or blind loyalty. They pretend blind loyalty, though intelligent loyalty is an admirable quality, but sometimes loyalty could blind you to the truth.

    The January 2011 subsidy protest and the place of Nigerian youths marked a turning point in the history of mass protest in Nigeria. This declaration is incontestable given the active participation (covert or overt) of the Nigerian youths especially the Lagos axis. When in future such mass action is sustained nationwide, then the revolution may have begun.

    In retrospect, we should with knowledge of hindsight analyze the benefits and lesson inherent in that momentous action; the government was put on its toe, forced to be more accountable, responsive to the yearnings of the people and respect the will of the people. The invaluable lessons embedded in the mass action will remain indelible in our memories. The Nigerian people have solidarity, that common pains unite a people across the divide. That social media is a catalyst in mass action. That synergy between organized labour, civil society coalition and well-organized masses is a bulwark that can bring any unpopular government down.

    Furthermore, that sovereignty is truly in the hands of the people when they believe and accept it. The mass action also generated topical debates on national issues that hitherto were latent and suppressed by prolonged military regime, subsequently exacerbated by recalcitrant and irresponsible governments over time.

    Finally, that corruption has been unanimously identified as the bane of the Nigerian state. That singular epochal mass action has been the redeeming feature of the Nigerian youths from untimely systemic extinction by a state where youths are not leaders of tomorrow.

    • Comrade Ogbu Ameh Alex

    Abuja