The Nation Newspaper

Category: Letters

  • The menace of Aba metropolitan city

    The menace of Aba metropolitan city

    At times when I behold the scene in Aba, Abia State, I wonder why the town is the way it is. I only but concluded that something has gone wrong somewhere. It will interest you to know that Aba was a town that once competed with big ones like Lagos, Port Harcourt, Kano and others. Aba even was leading, once upon a time, history had it that the economy of Aba was so buoyant that desperadoes ventured into its heart so much. After the Biafran war; things began to take a negative turn. Those investors began to look for town where things are moving well. Whereas, Aba was totally devastated by the war, war is evil. Indeed, Aba became a victim. A town once the chief business centre in Africa. Oh, the problems, of Aba grew worse when the originals of Aba began to challenge the government of Orji Kalu, this warranted the government to show the town its back.

    Aba was totally annihilated when kidnapping became the order of the day, may be to frustrate the people living in the land. This brought the great town to its knee despite its great achievements. The government, of Theodore Orji showed total disregard and negligence to the affairs of the town that once humiliated his predecessor by throwing pure water on him.

    This town has been over taken by evil, religious deception through black magic exhibition, injustice, hatred, wickedness, lack of forgiveness, rituals, extortion and other social vices. I may not be able to explain further on the happenings in this town that has become a nightmare to the world.

    Majority of the people are living in poverty, so much pain is encountered. It is only God that will save Aba.

    God help Abia State!

     

    By Ezinwanyi Ugwuala, Aba,

    Abia State.

     

  • On regional integration and state police

    On regional integration and state police

    SIR: Regional Integration is not national disintegration. A nation is a system that has many parts in which any malfunction or dysfunction of a part will affect the other parts and the whole system. Nigeria is not functioning, and this is glaring, because the regions are not functioning well due to poor financing, maladministration at the centre and lack of visionary and transformation leaders. Regional integration will will turn around the fortune of the nation. Regional integration means the coming together of components regions in a state to benefit from economy of scale.
    The present administration has neglected security as a critical component of national transformation. The country is today in fear of attacks by terrorists who are bent on running the country down. Nigeria is endowed with vast natural resources like iron, lime, tin, gold, petroleum, water sources, arable land and highly informed human resources, yet we lack food security and other infrastructures that can make life meaningful because of dearth of visionary and transformation leaders.
    The central government lacks the capacity to influence the regional parts on the kind of development necessary to move the region and the country forward. While states like Edo, Lagos, Osun, Ekiti, Rivers, Oyo and Ogun are doing well, the central government refuses to show signs of development. Regional integration will ginger developments and healthy competition among the regions like we had in the first republic.
    The establishment of state police will improve the security of the country and help to prevent crime. The recent disapproval in some quarters, especially the elites, who should know better, is expected and welcomed. In 1822, Robert Peel, a wealthy member of the Britain’s Parliament, strongly believed that London’s population, crime rate and crime nature merited a full-time, professional police force. But many English, especially the politicians, objected to the idea. They feared possible restraint of the liberty and atrocities.
    They also feared a strong police organisation because the criminal law was already perceived harsh (by the early 19th century there were 223 crimes in England for which a person could receive capital punishment). Indeed, Peel’s efforts to gain support for full-time, paid  police officers failed for seven years. Peel finally succeeded in 1829. His bill to Parliament – entitled “An Act for Improving the Police In and Near the Metropolis”, which culminated in the establishment of the Metropolitan Police – was popularly known as the Metropolitan Police Act of 1829.
    The intention of policing a community is the prevention of crime. Nigeria has changed socially, economically and demographically from the time the Nigeria Police Force was created by the colonial masters. Nigeria is an amalgamation of different states with different cultures.  Creation of state police is inevitable if we want to maintain peace and other and care for national development.
    Different states have some different security challenges and different states have different priorities for crime prevention and control. A state that is ready to spend more for its security should be allowed to do so.
    • Ademola Adebayo
    Lagos
  • Okada and the Lagos Traffic Law

    Okada and the Lagos Traffic Law

    IR: Some 15 years ago, while I was still in Sokoto, I had flagged down a commercial motorcyclist, what Lagosians call okada, but which is called kabu kabu up there. It was about 9 p.m, and there were few vehicles on the roads, and fewer human traffic still. We were approaching a junction and the traffic light was showing red a distance away.
    Looking that there was no vehicle anywhere and no one I could see around, I expected the motorcyclist to keep moving. But when he got there, he stayed put, waiting for the light to turn green. I was not only moved, I was impressed. Some may have urged him to move on, and perhaps generating an argument, but I never did such. Here was an uneducated northerner, perhaps illiterate, obeying traffic law to the letter.
    I asked him in Hausa why he did not jump the light since there was no vehicle or even anyone in sight, and since he apparently posed no danger. He said he always felt morally obliged to do the right thing. I patted him on the back and his leathery face split into a smile. When I got to my destination, I paid him the fare, and he made to give me my change, I told him to keep the change. And he was very thankful.
    I also remember back then again in Sokoto, I strolled along the street with a friend, when a Caucasian rode past on a motorbike, with full protective gear, and a bold helmet, and my friend yelled at him: “Get real!” And the rider rode on with a confused expression. Perhaps he had done something wrong, he thought. It seems it is not in our nature to obey laws, even that which will save our own lives. Up till today, it is common to see an Okada rider with his passenger both not wearing protective helmets.
    When traffic snarls, I see drivers“jackrabbit” just because they are not patient enough. And I often wonder where they are running to and how much time they think they can gain. But they not only burn their fuel, they could also cause unnecessary panic that could lead to accidents as they try to overtake, vehicles after vehicles.
    Okada riders perhaps pose the greatest risk to a driver in Lagos, and even to pedestrians. Even when they are at fault especially riding one-way, and they hit you, you have bought yourself a cargo whether you like it or not, as sympathisers will package the Okada man for you to take to the hospital and incur unnecessary expenses. Nobody remembers your car that he may have dented.
    The Lagos State government has signed into law new traffic regulations, but instead of welcoming them, many are getting frantic about this. They complain that the penalties are too stiff, and are now fearful of running foul of the law. But doing the right thing, rather than the fear of paying penalties should be the drive to obey traffic laws. The best driver is the one who can predict the other driver. But if the other driver is lawless, it makes it more difficult to predict him.
    The Lagos government is well-meaning and sounding the message for all to hear, and it is for us to cooperate for our own good.
    • Dr Cosmas Odoemena,
    Lagos

  • Ekiti NULGE’s script of distraction

    SIR: The importance of a vibrant and efficient workforce to the realization of the purpose of local government as the third tier of government cannot be overemphasized. Hence, such workforce must be apolitical and must not be subservient to any machination that is aimed at the disruption of government’s developmental plans for the people.

    Since his inauguration in October 2010, Governor Kayode Fayemi has not hidden his passion for the development and alleviation of poverty at the grassroots. It is disheartening to note that NULGE which is supposed to project the corporate interests of the local government council workers and to also collaborate and partner with the government in making life more meaningful to rural dwellers can condescend to raising an unsubstantiated allegation of illegal deduction of one billion naira from local government allocation against the state government.

    Considering the massive and unprecedented turn-around of the socio-economic and infrastructural fortune of the state in the last two years of Fayemi’s administration, one cannot but conclude that Ekiti NULGE was out to do a hatchet job.

    The allegation of illegal deduction raised by the leadership of the Ekiti State chapter of NULGE against the governor is an attempt to cast aspersion on the integrity of the governor and to cause civil unrest and disaffection among the good people of the state.

    The pharisaical actions of the leadership of the state NULGE seems backed by the fifth columnist in the state who has been rattled by the governor’s modest achievement.

    The state ALGON, through its chairman, Rotimi Ajidara in a press briefing on August 26, debunked the illegal deduction claim by the NULGE leadership. Ajidara had logically presented the modalities for the allocation and disbursement of the funds paid into Joint Allocation Account Committee [JAAC] from the Federal Allocation Account Committee [FAAC]. From the ALGON analysis of the monthly allocation to Ekiti State and the 16 Councils, it is impossible to deduct one billion from the councils’ allocation, considering the fact that the councils’ due are usually pre-distributed at the FAAC based on the sharing formula. This, together with the regular deduction for the payment of local government workers salaries and leave bonus, primary school teachers salaries and bonus and subvention to local government parastatals.

    In order to demonstrate probity and transparency, Governor Fayemi put in place relevant laws including the fiscal responsibility law aimed at ensuring transparency in governance, the domestication of the freedom of information law to prevent dwelling on falsehood, misinformation and rumour mongering in the state, inauguration of tenders board to ensure timely and qualitative execution of government contracts and the adoption of electronic payment system also known as bio-metric data device among others.

    In his efforts to fast tract development at the grassroots, the governor contributed N1, 396,811,554.28 towards the construction of five kilometres township road in each of the 16 local government councils.

    The leadership of Ekiti NULGE must embark on soul-searching and also embrace collective bargaining to resolve the misunderstanding between the union and local government administration on the payment of minimum wage as well as special salary package for medical and health workers and any other sundry monetary demands at the council level, rather than embarking on actions that can negatively impinge on the peace and development of the state.

    It must not allow its ranks to be used by some political spent force in the state to denigrate the integrity of the state governor. Development thrives in a conducive and peaceful environment, and to disrupt the new found peace in the state is to do a disservice to the state.

    Ekiti NULGE should withdraw the allegation and apologize to the governor who is advised to humanely drop his litigation plan against the union in the interest of the state.

     

    • Toyin Omogbemile

    Lagos.

  • Should Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala resign?

    SIR: Let’s face it; corruption is presently the most popular culture in our nation today. It is so entrenched deeply in our national consciousness that it now seems odd not to practise it. And anyone who sticks out his/her neck in an attempt to check it would likely have it chopped off.

    It is no surprise that those calling for the head of the Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, are those whose means of livelihood are tied to the corrupt sources that are under ferocious attack from the former World Bank czar.

    Let us recollect that shortly before the arrival of Okonjo-Iweala in the Goodluck Jonathan cabinet in the latter part of 2011, the recurrent expenditure in our national budget for that year stood at an embarrassing 74%. But, she proceeded to reduce it to 71.47% in the 2012 budget, much to the chagrin of some vested interests. She affirmed that the sum would be further reduced to 68.66% in the proposed 2013 budget.

    Mind you, this reduction in the recurrent expenditure started with cuts in personnel cost without the sack of any worker. What this means is that the minister has succeeded in checking the menace of ghost workers in the Nigerian system to a considerable extent.

    Let us look at the budget implementation palaver which generated so much heat lately. In a marked departure from what obtained previously where disbursement of funds to MDAs was much like a bazaar, the finance minister instituted a due diligence process whereby all funds expended by MDAs have to be acknowledged and accounted for before further funds are released to them. This measure, more than anything, put the MDAs on their toes, because subsequent disbursements to them are now tied to performance that would impact on Nigerians and not just the usual hoo-hah about grandiose initiatives which never got implemented, whilst taxpayers’ monies are lodged in high interest-yielding private accounts of crooked civil servants, government officials and politicians.

    In the wake of the brouhaha of this budget implementation saga, the minister is once quoted to have affirmed that: “The issue at stake is more than MDAs getting money. MDAs should get money, but only when the purposes for which they are released are accomplished and properly accounted for. Nigerians deserve no less!”

    But, it seems our lawmakers see things differently. Their ranting about budget implementation betrayed their impatience with the finance minister whom they seem to expect to disburse funds without checks – they way it’s always been done. Perhaps, they can’t bear the thought of losing their cut from monies disbursed to the MDAs when they go in the guise of oversight functions.

    The waves of checks instituted by the finance ministry also extended to the petroleum industry where a clampdown on fraudulent claims by oil marketers has pitched the minister against fuel marketers and their sympathisers in NUPENG. We could recall that, prior to this period, oil marketers were having a field day, as any claim brought forward were speedily processed and paid without a second look. But when OkonjoWahala, as madam minister is dreadfully called by those at the receiving end of her reforms, business ceased to be done as usual.

    It is now so apparent that those against Okonjo-Iweala’s anti-corruption stance are unrelenting in their bid to see her through the exit door. It is therefore imperative that those discerning amongst us rise up to join forces with the reforms army and resist the enemies of our collective resources and well-being.

     

    • Omoade Adelani

    Lagos

  • Thank you Governor Obi

    SIR: I wish to use your medium to appreciate my Governor, Peter Obi, for his intervention in resolving my seemingly intractable problem with the state Civil Service.

    I suffered irregular dismissals from Anambra State Civil Service in 1981 and 1995. I tried everything I could to seek redress and secure reversal of the draconian decisions that sought to repress me. Nothing worked, and I succumbed, albeit with reservations, to the dungeon of ‘Dismissed Civil Servants’ with the multiple social stigmas. When it is said that God’s time is the best, some mortals do not appreciate the full import. That it took the Israelites good 400 years of suffering in Egypt before the good Lord sent Moses to liberate them came real in my situation, with the emergence of Mr. Peter Obi as the Governor of my state in 2006.

    Having watched Obi’s approach to governance and his unparalleled commitment to justice and equity, I told my family that it was time to seek God’s intervention in my unending pains. I then forwarded my petition to the Governor; true to my belief in his respect for fairness, my case received fair review and my dismissal was nullified. As I write this, I have not been able to reach the Governor personally to thank him for facilitating fairness in my case, just as I did not establish any personal contact with him since I put in my petition.

    I wish to use this medium to sincerely thank His Excellency for his care for the oppressed as well as for all the good works he is doing in my state. Sir, you have offered therapy to my mental and physical strife and stress; you have pumped new life into me, my wife, my children and all who look up to me for direction in Okija and beyond.’

    May God continue to uphold the Governor as He did King David; and because he listens to the less privileged, may the Angels of God always minister to him, his wife and his children.

    • Chief B.J. Umeh.

    Ihiala Post Office, Anambra State