The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • El-Rufai and politics of zoning

    El-Rufai and politics of zoning

    By EMMANUEL OLADESU

    It is good that a politician should have courage and capacity for self-correction.

    This may become necessary, especially when a seemingly inflammatory statement capable of sowing seeds of discord and deepening the suspicion and division among the component units of the fragile heterogeneous ‘federal’ country had been previously made by him.

    Nevertheles, that sheer relunctant political repentance, which was preceded by half-hearted open confession and unavoidable admission of error, may still shape public perception about the pompous political actor.

    The eminent politician is not infallible, like all mortals. But, he has also demonstrated that he is capable of retracing his steps from the path of ego, insensitivity and danger.

    Had Nasir el-Rufai, brilliant surveyor, accidental administrator, former Abuja minister and governor of Kaduna State not reframed or reviewed his thoughts on presidential zoning, the brewing tension and confusion about a “regional sit tight agenda” would have continued to heat up the polity and threaten the existing artificial national unity.

    Before the recapitulation, his previous statement, which generated nasty thoughts, had inadvertently set the tone for 2023 presidential election when the president was just settling down for a second term.

    The diminutive, fork-tongued and ebullient Northern star spoke in his personal capacity when he insinuated that 2023 presidential nomination in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) would not be premised on zoning, but merit.

    He called for the abolition of zoning, describing it as “opaque” and a barrier to quality. Many Southern APC gladiators were livid because the South is anticipating zoning to the region in 2023 by the ruling party.

    Many interpretations were given to the personal remarks in the highly complex and divided nation-state where the doctrines of catchment area, federal character, quota system,  zoning,  power shift and rotational presidency fill the public consciousness.

    The first was that the North had decided to test the waters through its emergency mouthpiece, Governor el-Rufai.

    The second was that APC was sending a signal that the interest of the South would be jeopardised due to the inordinate power retention in the North in post- Buhari era.

    The third was that the governor was fighting a personal battle; inspite of predictable obstacles, he is interested in the presidency and he is peddling regional influence by trying to delicately flaunt the acclaimed intimidating numerical strength and fabled superiority of his zone.

    The fourth is that, influential Northerners, knowing that power retention would be a hard option to sell, may strategically divide the South to pave the way for the emergence of a pliable president, who will operate from the armpit of desperate power barons.

    The fifth is that, having realised the futility of a presidential ambition, which, constitutionally speaking, is his fundamental right, Rufai may now be disposed to mobilising the support of the North for his preffered or anointed presidential aspirant from the South, who may in turn reward him with the slot of running mate.

    Unknown to many, Rufai may have been on a lonely journey before reason prevailed. The so-called intellectual may have, momentarily, acted before thinking, unmindful of the dark side of his previous remark and the prolonged controversy and crisis it may unleash.

    Although merit was projected as a superior criterion, it was countered by the plausible explanation by commentators that the six geo-political zones parade men of honour, integrity and capability  who can succeed Predident Muhammadu Buhari in three years time.

    The Kaduna governor has not refuted the two statements credited to him. But, the second remark, which was an affirmation of zoning, showed that he had embraced reality. Many agreed that it would be politically offensive to the South to keep the presidency in the North after eight years of the Buhari administration.

    Noting that there is no justification for a Northerner to take over from President Buhari, the governor said:”The general political consensus in Nigeria is that the Presidency should rotate between the North and the South. It is not written, but everyone understands it.

    “I think that every politician of honour should understand and abide by that consensus, except there is an extenuating circumstance compelling it to be set aside.”

    El-Rufai maintained that “APC has no rotational presidency.” It is debatable. At least, their is a pointer to a power distribution arrangement in the party. The ruling party has in its constitution  a clause or provision that is “nearest in meaning” to zoning or rotational principle.

    In the APC Constitution,  Article 20(iv)(d) stipulates the criteria for nomination. It states:”The National Working Committee shall, subject to approval of the National Executive Committee, make rules and regulations for the nomination of candidates through primary elections. All such rules, regulations and guidelines shall take into consideration and uphold the principle of federal character, gender balance, geo-political spread and rotation of offices, to as much as possible, ensure balance within the constituency covered.” It is incontestable that the entire country is the presidential constituency.

    The agitation for zoning cannot be silenced. It reflects the level of political culture and the circumstances in which Nigeria has found itself. The scramble for presidential power is latent and conflict-ladden that only rotation can somehow stem the potential rift.

    The conventional power distribution formula is even being internalised by major politial parties. In the 36 states, every position is zoned. The governor and House of Assembly Speaker are zoned. In the National Assembly,  the principal offices are zoned. Also, party offices are zoned.

    If zoning is abolished, as initially proposed by el-Rufai, then, the principle of inclusion may be annulled and the minority ethnic groups are edged out.

    Presidential zoning or rotation is not new. It was catapulted to the front burner in the Second Republic when the mood of the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN) suggested that its 1987 presidential would come from Yoruba-West.

    The long years of military rule were remarkable for the domination of a particular zone, which resulted into a feeling of marginalisation and loss of a sense of belonging by other zones.

    The clamour for zoning intensified, culminating in the subtle power shift to the West, although the mandate of the late Chief Moshood Abiola in 1993 presidential election was criminally annulled.

    The injustice reinforced the legitimate demand for zoning in favour of the Southwest. Instructively, after President Olusegun Obasanjo’s two tems of eight years, the slot was zoned to the North and Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua became president.

    The deceased president was succeeded by his deputy, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, who also won an election in 2011. So strong was the zoning argument that the controversy drew the curtains on the Jonathan administration. Majority of leaders in the PDP felt that the ticket should have been zoned to the North.

    Related to zoning is micro-zoning. Whenever the presidential ticket is zoned to the North by the PDP or APC, there may be no major controversy over its micro-zoning to any of the three zones in the North.

    But, the situation in the South is more challenging. At issue is micro-zoning. If the APC presidential slot is zone to the South as a matter of political convention, will the slot go to the Southsouth, which recently produced Dr. Jonathan, but whose people are agitating for the benefit of second term for the region, or the Southeast, which had a poor numerical strength in the ruling party or the Southwest?

    Ahead of next elections, Nigerian political principals and principalities will be locked in more permutations and scheming over core issues that will shape the exercise.

     

     

  • Understanding the Lagos airport toll gate palaver

    Understanding the Lagos airport toll gate palaver

    By Dan Aibangbe

    Dateline Monday February 3, the usual ‘business-as-usual’ became ‘business-unusual’ at the popular Lagos Airport toll plaza. The chicken had come to roost. Interested stakeholders had come to question the status quo relating to the collections and remittances by the concessionaire at the toll plaza.

    The issues at stake centred on the expired concession contract that formed the basis of authority of the Integrated Intelligent Imaging West Africa Ltd (IIIWA) (erstwhile Concessionaires/ Sole Administrators of the plaza). With the contract expiry (in February 2019) came questions such as: adequacy of the remittances, vis-a-vis the actual collections as well as the determination of the appropriate basis for estimating the amount collectible. This issue can be viewed against the backdrop of the current government’s desire to increase revenue generation across board. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN is among prominent revenue generating organs of government.

    The issue of toll collection has assumed a ding-dong dimension as option for road maintenance and revenue generation in Nigeria. Nigerians will recall that government, during the second coming of President Obasanjo, concluded that tolls were not achieving their desired objectives. During that time, the government considered that self-collection was fraught with misappropriation, while the concession model was also tainted with revenue under-declaration. That government ended up demolishing virtually all toll plazas on federal roads.

    Interestingly, the airport toll plaza escaped the hammer and has proven to be a major revenue earner for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and its supervisory aviation ministry. The airport link-road has enjoyed relatively good maintenance, despite its relatively heavy traffic. Furthermore, the ratio of toll-to-mileage has been unprecedented (compared to the nearest competitor- the Lekki express toll plazas). Other airport toll plazas also do not enjoy comparable toll-to-mileage or even traffic.

    The latest issue with the concessionaire and the contract is traceable to the quest by government to optimize collections from all revenue sources and the concessionaire’s intention to maintain the status quo. With the coming of the new FAAN management, it is natural to beam the searchlight on all existing contracts and the revenues generated. Naturally, the toll plaza is a key area of focus. Feelers from the grapevine reveal that while the concessionaire intended to retain the status quo, the new FAAN management, armed with empirical data, believes that the monthly revenue generation and remittances can safely be increased by up to 50% without negatively impacting the bottom line of the erstwhile concessionaire.

    This position of management is being corroborated by the action of the aviation unions which have taken it upon themselves to prove the possibilities by directly involving their members in collections. So, currently, we have the expired concessionaire and its “Sponsors” on one hand, and FAAN and the unions on the other. In between the two groups, the revenue, the law and the traffic are at stake.

    This writer is praying and hoping that this latest issue does not degenerate into deeper crisis, considering that the service being rendered is perishable. Bearing in mind the prevailing circumstances, the honorable thing the concessionaire should have done was to review its operations towards accommodating higher revenue remittances or in the alternative to step aside to let others give it a try.

    One thing this writer finds disagreeable is the sit-tight and entitlement attitude of IIIWA, the concessionaire, to the whole issue. Here is a concessionaire who is about fourth in line. Others had been appointed and discharged prior to IIIWA’s appointment. IIIWA has spent about eight years on this assignment. Their contract has expired, yet, they are still unprepared to discuss revenue growth and contract renewal terms. For a private enterprise, this is an emphatic no-no. Any experienced big accounts manager would have done better than sit-through a 12-month extension to an expired government contract.

    I am particularly excited with the offer of the aviation unions to operate or witness collections for three months to enable independent verification of collectible revenue. Thereafter, a proper contract should be drawn with the next concessionaire based on percentages for allowances to cover pre-determined operational costs and an allowance for profit and growth to the concessionaire.

    The concessionaire ought to realize that the airport toll plaza is not likely to be the last. In fact, going by feelers from government cycles, there is likely to be another era of toll concessioning across the country.

    The new FAAN management has started on a good note but must establish a more efficient process of on-boarding and disengagement of concessionaires and tenants within the length and breadth of its operations for posterity sake. The performance of the new FAAN management must herald a new era of “positive business unusual” to make Nigeria get better within our life time.

    • Aibangbe, a media and public relations practitioner wrote from Lagos.

  • For a better funded House of Reps

    By Yakubu Mantu

    From the inception of the current democratic dispensation, the National Assembly remains the hardest bashed arm of government. The occupiers of the legislative complex in Abuja have had to deal with well entrenched perception of earning jumbo pay more than other functionaries in the other two arms of government, the executive and legislature.

    Lawmakers’ predicament is even more compounded as many Nigerians only relate and rate performance of public office holders in terms of tangible infrastructure they facilitated. Meanwhile, the National Assembly which serves as the bastion of democracy and enabler of sort is perceived as not as important as other arms.

    The annual budget of the National Assembly which comprises emoluments of aides and other career civil servants attached to the legislative institution remains a sensational and topical issue.

    Contrary to the misconception out there, the House of Representatives is struggling financially. This was aptly captioned by the chairman House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Benjamin Kalu who spoke with journalists ahead of the launch of House of Representatives publication called “Green Chamber Magazine”.

    “What you will see as the production outcome is the personal effort and sacrifice of these men sitting with me. They made personal contributions to enable us to get to this level of work we have put into this thing”, he said of the coming of the magazine.

    He added that “Even the Speaker is also struggling with money. I was with him, he personally edited many aspects of the magazine, because he’s very passionate about seeing the House tell it’s one story as they are, so the Speaker had to be personally involved.

    “But the truth of the matter is that this House that you’re seeing is broke. You’re here for briefing and microphones are not working, because there’s no money to fix them. Committees can’t carry out oversight functions as they should because there’s no money.

    “Air-conditioning in your press centre are not working because there’s no money to fix or replace them. So let Nigerians know that we need more money to do their work, and that what we’re currently getting is not adequate for optimal performance”.

    I could not agree less with Kalu. In the United Kingdom for instance, there is an annual budget for parliamentary journal and publications that help in documenting legislative activities for posterity and dissemination of information as regard the activities of the lawmakers in the parliament.

    Everywhere in the world, legislature doesn’t solely depend on the media to tell its stories. The media for reason best known tend to downplay strides in the hollowed chamber and get fixated with inanities that often portrays the lawmakers in not too good light.

    For instance, the Nigerian media never put in public domain that a total of 679 bills have been passed through this current House, and 278 motions have been moved as at last week.

    The non-reportage of such commendable feat contributes to the woeful perception that House members are just lazy folks who milking the nation’s treasury with corresponding labour. Far from it, unknown to many Nigerians, the House of Representatives has been at the vanguard of exposing sleaze in the Ministries, Department and Agencies, MDAs.

    Through their painstaking oversight functions, the House especially under the leadership of Rt. Hon Femi Gbajabiamila has kept an eagle eye on the budgets and also verify outrageous claims of MDAs.

    No doubt, there is need for better funding of the House of Representatives for them to discharge their duty without fear and compromise. In the same vein, the House of Representatives as the eyes and ears of their constituents often fight to protect the interest of the masses.

    Speaker Gbajabiamila has been championing the struggle to end the obnoxious estimated billings and asked the government to order the electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) to meter all their customers and charge people what they actually consume. Not unfair and outrageous crazy bills.

    Legislative business often requires the services of specialists whose services don’t come cheap. For instance, in the United States Congress, there are budgets for experts’ services whose professional inputs will the sought in drafting bills, reviewing of bills and in enactment of Acts for different technical sectors.

    In fact, scholars from ivy league universities like Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford are contracted to work on bills and peruse the legislative piece with the lens of a scholar.

    That is what makes United States of America laws all-encompassing and effective.

    For instance, if the House of Representatives desires to review the Act establishing the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, there will need to hire the services of experts likely from abroad because of the critical nature of the aviation sector.

    The House members cannot depend on the everyday knowledge or layman’s information they gleaned from Google to enact a law that will stand the scrutiny of best global practice.

    The administrative cost of the House of Representatives cannot be run on a shoe-string budget and expect world-class and well researched laws. Nigeria must show commitment to the sustainability of our institutions and sectors by voting sufficient funds to the House to discharge its duty outstandingly.

    Just as the House spokesman noted when he hinted on the launch Green Chamber Magazine, ”The perception of the House of Representatives has not been too good a thing, and we are not what the public sees us to be, perception-wise, and as you know, perception is not fact.

    “So we need this (Green Chamber Magazine) to tell our stories by ourselves. If you hear from the horse’s mouth you are going believe the integrity of the stories more than what a third party can give to you”, Kalu added.

    President Muhammadu Buhari, represented by the Minister for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed also echoed the same well entrenched perception during the launch of the Green Chamber Magazine.

    He said, “Hitherto, the public perception of the National Assembly is that of a bicameral legislature where overly comfortable and highly-overpaid members merely stuff wads of currency notes into their pockets for little work done. This wrong perception has resulted partly from the lack of understanding of the enormous work of lawmakers, especially outside the glare of television cameras.

    “But with a magazine that will be the authoritative source of anything that goes on in the House – motions being moved, bills being passed, national issues being discussed and constituency projects – the public will be better informed on the activities of the House, and this will in turn reflect in an improved public perception.

    “In addition, it will help the House to tell its own story, rather than relying on others to take charge of their narrative. It is said that no one can tell your story better than you.”

    • Mantu writes from Kaduna.

  • Osinbajo to young people: let no one tell you about good old days

    By Yemi Osinbajo

     

    EVERY citadel of learning derives its claim to greatness from the reputation and accomplishments of its students and staff: the great academics and scholars to whom has been given the enormous task of instructing, guiding and inspiring the minds and talents that are destined to define the future.

    Your task is possibly the noblest anyone could ask for, yet often without great reward or even gratitude. But we thank you today for your great and priceless service to this and coming generations.

    It is most pleasing to learn that the proverbial seed planted less than a decade ago, the Federal University, Dutse, has not only produced four sets of graduates already and tomorrow by the grace of God, a fifth set, but has also grown so bounteously to now have over 7,000 students spread across 6 faculties, including a College of Medicine and Health Sciences.

    Yours is the first among the set of Universities set up by the Federal Government in 2011 to establish a College of Medicine and Health Sciences. Congratulations! Equally remarkable are reports of the great exploits being recorded by the University in many fields that amply validate the promise of the fruitful synergy between town and gown.

    Let me cite just two such examples, in recognition of your relevant and innovative research efforts. First is the Federal Ministry of Agriculture selected your University to host the Agribusiness Incubation Centres.

    The second has been your response to the security challenges besetting our nation today, you elected to express a shared commitment to the national search for solution by being the first among your peers to mount a programme on Criminology and Security Studies, thereby demonstrating your relevance and proving that the university should not just be an incubator of ideas, but also a solution provider.

    Congratulations on these sterling achievements. And to the students of this university, and especially the graduating class of 2019, let me just say congratulations and well done! The future is certainly very bright indeed.

    Madam Vice Chancellor, my lecture titled “Facing the New Decade”, a topic you graciously allowed me to choose, is really directed at the young men and women here in this arena today.

    I count myself among those young men and women and I hope that those of us who are here also see ourselves as young men and women.

    The reason why this is addressed to the young people here is first, the young men and women, students of this University, are the future of our country.

    Secondly, that future has already arrived at our doorsteps, perhaps much faster than we expected. For the next few minutes permit me to take you on a brief journey into this imminent future, how it will affect us all and my humble suggestions about what you may need to do to make the best of it.

    Let me begin by making a few general statements and perhaps some predictions. First is that the next few decades will present tremendous opportunities for getting well-paying jobs and lucrative entrepreneurship opportunities all over the world.

    Anyone will be able to access many of those jobs without even having to move from your own country, in some cases even without leaving your home.

    There will be a truly international market place of ideas, talents and opportunities, but to access that market place, you need to become, in many senses, a global citizen by your own effort. Self-education and self-development will be important.

    Second, technology in its various iterations and applications will be crucial in all and every aspect of human existence. The greater our access to technology, our adaptation and application of the ideas we have, the more successful we are likely to be.

    The third is that we are today in the most advanced moment in human history, and on a daily basis, knowledge and its applications grow in leaps and bounds.

    For the first time in human history, anyone of us can be heard or seen all over the world by live-streaming without owning our own satellite TV station. We can share ideas with millions of people in seconds on Facebook or Instagram.

    It was Arthur Clarke, the British Science Fiction writer, who said that “any sufficiently advanced technology is not different anymore from magic.”

    If you follow some of the trends in technology over the past years in particular, much of his statement appears true, as the coming years look set to be one of the most spectacular magic shows ever.

    Last year, DeepMind, which is a learning outfit, announced that one of its healthcare algorithms could detect over 50 eye diseases as accurately as a trained doctor.

    Only recently, we witnessed the trial run of an Artificial Intelligence, AI, a newsreader on the Chinese Xinhua News station, and the unveiling of a digital assistant that can mimic the voice of humans with uncanny likeness.

    It is called ‘Google Duplex’. There are provinces in China that are now trying out AI teachers in remote villages where graduates and young people are not likely to stay.

    In 2018, there was a world-first recording of an Artificial Intelligence system engaged in a two-way debate with a human opponent!

    The fourth and perhaps the most important point I wish to make today is that the abundance of natural resources such as we have in Nigeria, oil and several minerals, even talents, mean little or nothing unless we are able to creatively and by using innovation and adding value, add to whatever it is that we have in terms of talent or resources.

    Let me put it differently, the difference between poverty and wealth or mediocrity and high achievement is creativity, or the capacity and willingness to add value.

    This is the reason why Apple, manufacturers of the iPhone and iPad, make more money in four months than Nigeria earns from oil in one year.

    Apple sells the product of the ingenuity of the human mind, ideas translated to products, services and solutions that millions are prepared to pay for.

    And because the capacity of the human mind for creativity, generation of ideas and for innovation and invention is limitless, the source of wealth of innovative companies and individuals is literally limitless.

    On the other hand, oil drilling and selling, and other extractive activities without adding value by refining and developing a whole petrochemical ecosystem cannot yield optimal profit or create the jobs and wealth.

    Similarly, the mere fact that you have large tracts of arable land for agriculture does not mean you will succeed in agriculture or become wealthy, or even as a nation, feed yourself.

    Anybody can plant a seed and expect a harvest, but the reason why most farmers, our subsistent farmers, remain relatively poor is that they add no value to what they produce by processing, packaging or making other products out of the raw harvest.

    And also, because many times they do not have access to cutting-edge innovations and inventions in farm inputs and farming techniques. Those who can add value to the farmers’ harvest become wealthier than the farmer. So the growers of the raw materials are the weakest in the value chain and the poorest.

    For example, the man who makes chocolates from cocoa is bound to be richer than the cocoa farmer. He has added value to the raw cocoa by processing and designing and packing the chocolates in appealing wrappers. By adding value, he will create more jobs and more wealth.

    So, while we will always need the traditional professionals, doctors, lawyers, accountants and bankers, those adding value to their services will make more money than they can. So those developing Artificial Intelligence for giving legal advice or medical diagnoses, or accounting or banking will be more successful than the professionals themselves.

    So, the future of banking and financial services doesn’t belong to banks or bankers as we know them today, it may well belong to the FinTechs and other technology-enabled solutions. For example, today we have KiaKia, which uses Artificial Intelligence and algorithms, to process loan requests in minutes and grant credit without the hassles of regular banks.

    Besides, there is Kuda Bank, for example, a bank without a single physical branch with all its features built into a mobile application.

    There is also Eyowo, another example of a payment services company which is designed for identifying, enumerating and paying to and collecting repayments from 2.2 million TraderMoni and MarketMoni beneficiaries.

    They have revolutionized financial inclusion, making and receiving payments from the farthest parts of Nigeria. There is also another company called Paystack, whose founders are just over (the age of) 30.

    They have developed applications that make it easier to make payments across the world. There is also InvestBamboo, for example, which was started by two 26-year-olds, and offers new ways for you to save money and invest in stocks, all from a single application.

    Others have developed technologies that make it possible for you to invest in a farm without ever seeing the farm.

    Two Nigerian companies again, ThriveAgric and Farmcrowdy, set up by young Nigerians under the age of 35, are great examples of the service providers that help small-scale farmers scale-up, and access valuable training; and all of these done through crowdfunding.

    In the world of medicine and healthcare, there is LifeBank, owned by a young Nigerian lady. This is a health tech startup, which also uses drone technology to facilitate blood delivery to various health centres.

    We could highlight another called 54gene, a firm that is harnessing genomic data from African DNA to revolutionize the drug industry, and change the future of medicine.

    Even in the usually conservative legal profession, which I am the chairman, entrepreneurs are disrupting old trends. There is a digital legal research company called Law Pavilion, the company’s digital tools help lawyers to do legal research quickly and efficiently and even answer legal questions.

    Judges and lawyers subscribe to it and the usage is a very lucrative value addition to legal practice. Yet the founder and CEO of the company is not even a lawyer.

    So today there are opportunities for entrepreneurs to build their businesses around traditional professions without being professionals themselves.

    The most widely read online publications are neither owned nor run by trained journalists. Some of us are familiar with the news aggregation platform called Nairaland which was started by two Obafemi Awolowo University students while still in school.

    Today it is one of the most successful online platforms we have. Even many of the most successful online advertising or PR companies have no formal training in these disciplines, most are self-thought.

    My nephew, who is a lawyer, is establishing an organic farm and poultry after taking lessons online. His only knowledge is derived from taking a few classes from somebody in Kano State offering online training for people interested in poultry farming.

    But let me direct your minds to the new areas for job opportunities being created today. Data Science is one big area. Currently, we leave vast amounts of personal data online and in the near future, companies will need data scientists to go through it all and generate answers to business questions and make recommendations based on their findings.

    Many businesses already spend time and money going through people’s data so that they can sell their products. This is a new area of opportunities for jobs.

    A big area today is Content Production – 3D/2D animation, Virtual Effects and Special Effects, as well as Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality.

    The use of animation in education, entertainment and media is growing in leaps and bounds. Those who can create content with animation are being and will be much sought after in the years to come.

    According to a recent survey by the US Bureau of Labour Statistics, multimedia artists and animators are among the highest-paid within the US workforce.

    This has translated to more jobs for animators in emerging economies such as India, Vietnam and now Nigeria. The average pay of a 3D animator in Nigeria who has just started out after learning his trade could be in the region of N300,000 – N500,000 monthly.

    In our training of N-Power beneficiaries, we set aside a fair amount of money to train animators. We have carried out two sets of training; one in the North and one in the South of Nigeria. In total, we have trained over 25,000 young men and women in animation.

    Also, remember that content is becoming more in demand with the streaming wars that have engulfed Netflix, Apple, Disney Plus, HBO and only recently, Airtel, the telecommunications provider, launched its own streaming service in Nigeria.

    Then we have the whole range of Cybersecurity, another big area of opportunity. Today, there are new opportunities for cybersecurity specialists.

    How is that? With each technological advance comes the implied addition of more security risks just to store and keep the information secure.

    Therefore, cybersecurity will continue to be a growing sector. In this sense, each country will have its own specific regulations just as we have and many other international regulations, which will ensure that professionals with an advanced technological background capable of nullifying new threats posed to both technology and people, will be in demand all the time.

    The future is about self-education, self-development. It is important for us to invest a little in the incredible opportunities for online education.

    Years ago, it was impossible to do a specialized course in a leading international university without getting an admission, paying a lot of money and then travelling abroad.  Today, you can sit in the comfort of your home and get an Ivy League education.

    Universities such as Harvard University and Dartmouth College, for example, offer full-time online courses on Data Science and Linux Programming through an online learning platform called EdX.

    This means you can learn a whole new programming language in a year, for less than it would cost you to even get to America! There are new means of self-education and they are more accessible than you might have thought.

    There is no question that an exciting future lies ahead. There are breakthroughs in radical technologies, capable of disrupting whole industries, and perhaps even our very conception of work itself.

    For higher institutions who are getting graduates ready for the world of work, for the graduates, and new and near graduates who are here today, what does the disruption of the workforce by emerging technologies signify for both livelihoods and employment?

    Today, there are several important implications related to the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technologies that will change the way we work and our economies.

    So, we have seen for example that much of what is considered analytical work by lawyers, investment bankers, accountants, and other age-old professions will be performed better by machines in a fraction of the time that humans can. There is a need to train these professionals differently, and with these new opportunities and challenges in mind.

    With the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the Internet of Things, the world of work is in a state of flux, changing as never before, driven by inexorable forces that have an impact, not only on professional services but on manufacturing and trade, global supply chains and the digitalization of the global economy to name just a few.

    So, for example, the supervision work that managers do is changing rapidly and there may be no more need for it. A young lady who owns a clothing store in Abuja and Lagos, who lives in Abuja was showing me how she can remotely see all that is going on in her shop in Lagos on her laptop in real-time.

    And she can speak to all her employees from her laptop in real-time. In other words, she can supervise her store herself from anywhere in the world. So, the type of manager you will need going forward will be a different type.

    Education today must be education for employability, the sort of education that makes us employable and relevant in the technologies and opportunities that present themselves today.

    So, our university curricula must be versatile and dynamic. The focus must be on innovation, critical thinking, interdisciplinary thinking, design thinking, synergizing and collaboration with others across the world to solve problems.

    The era of cramming the teacher’s notes and regurgitating for high grades is over. The graduate of the future is a problem solver, a thinker, an entrepreneur.

    Our educators, policymakers, schools, universities must now adapt their curricula, policies and projects to improve the skills that enable the graduate to nimbly and constantly respond to the ever-changing face of the economy and the workplace.

    A student of humanities today equipped with the right skills and mindset will be a crucial part of the collaboration required to build an application that will redefine an aspect of business. In other words, a student of History, English, Languages, without any previous scientific training or knowledge, can with the right skills being taught today, with self-teaching, develop applications that will change business and industries, earn a lot of money.

    Applications are developed through collaborations; there are those that are scientists, there are those who come from the point of view of imagination and others from the point of view of design; all of them collaborating together.

    Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, was more of an artist than a computer scientist. Yet he developed some of the most incredible applications that we have ever seen and made the kind of profit that makes people wonder whether they are not in the wrong profession.

    A man or woman of ideas, no matter your degree, can become, in collaboration with others, the designers or owners of the next application that will make billions and create jobs for millions. This is the exciting future ahead of us, the opportunities are limitless.

    I want to urge all of us, especially the young people who are here, to note that we are in the best times in the history of mankind.  Let nobody tell you about the good old days.

    I said before, and I am quoting someone, I’m not so sure who he is, he said that “those who remind us of the good old days are probably suffering from memory loss.”

    We must not allow them to keep talking about the good old days.  We are in the best times possible today. And the reason why these are the best times is that we are in the most technologically advanced human history.

    This is the most technologically advanced moment. This is the most advanced moment in the history of mankind, we have never been advanced as we are today.

    It was Fareed Zakaria, the CNN journalist, who said and I’m quoting him that, “the smartphones that we have today, have more computing powers than all of the computing power that took men to the moon on the spacecraft,  all of the computing powers that were in that spacecraft, we now have a hundred times of that computing power in the smartphone that we carry about today.”

    So, we are living in a time of sheer magic! We must take every advantage of it and I know the young people today, especially those in this Federal University Dutse, are rearing to go. The future is certainly bright!

     

    * Being excerpts from the convocation lecture delivered by Vice President  Yemi Osinbajo, at the 5th Convocation of the Federal University of Dutse, Jigawa State, on February 21

  • Farida Waziri: Just as she is

    By  Segun Ayobolu

     

    ‘Just as I am’. That is the title of the engrossing autobiography by world renowned evangelist, Billy Graham, who simply, honestly, frankly and in a down to earth manner tells the story of his epic life from his childhood through to the height of his fame as perhaps the world’s most prominent and widely travelled preacher of the gospel of Christ.

    Billy Graham’s unforgettable anecdotes, his sense of humour and his sincere self portrayal came to my mind as I  read Mrs Farida Waziri’s gripping memoir, titled ‘One Step Ahead: Life as a spy, detective and anti-graft Czar’.

    This unpretentious narrative is a portrait of the essential Farida Waziri; the young, innocent and fervent Catholic girl who yearned to become a reverend sister but was destined for an eventful career in policing and crime fighting, legal practice and also playing a frontline role in the country’s war against crippling corruption at a critical point in the evolution of this political dispensation.

    Of course, there is all too much to whet the appetite, excite the senses and titillate the imagination in this superbly narrated book.

    It is thus not surprising that the intrigues that characterized her tenure as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), her nerve wracking and superlative exploits as pioneer Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Fraud Unit (SFU) or her fascinating and deeply emotional rendering of her recollections of and roles in the aftermath of the 1976 Colonel B.S. Dimka  coup as well as the 1995 phantom coup that purportedly sought to overthrow the regime of General Sani Abacha, for instance, have made the headlines and dominated the very effective pre-launch publicity of the book.

    What I, however, found most enjoyable about the book are the many lessons it offers about life and living drawn from the very personal and most intimate stories of Mrs Waziri – her childhood, education, marriage, career trajectory, faith and even painful encounters with death when she lost loved ones.

    There is so much wisdom woven into every facet of this book, all distilled from the invaluable life experiences of the author.

    Mrs. Waziri nostalgically captures her love-suffused upbringing as a child in Gboko, Benue state, and how her parents inculcated in her a healthy sense of self esteem that guaranteed her psychological stability and emotional security later in life.

    In her words, “Father’s words tide me over in my human odyssey. He blessed me with his declarations. His parenting style, as embodied in his love for me, taught me valuable lessons. Call your children good names. Speak good words into their lives. Advise them wisely.

    Then your prayers over them will come to pass. I have seen people who rebuked their offspring with vain and vulgar names – and not surprisingly, the children chose accursed paths…

    There are better ways of correcting a child. Correct them, if you must, and firmly too. But, also talk to them softly. Counsel them with positive examples”.

    The young Farida’s early dreams of becoming a medical doctor was quickly jettisoned due to the unpleasant emotions she experienced on her first sighting of a corpse.

    Rather, her young imagination was fuelled by a desire to become a lawyer; an ambition partly influenced by a fictional character, Perry Mason, a brilliant investigative lawyer, she encountered in a detective novel series she read avidly. She was determined to obtain a university education and train to be a lawyer.

    However, as a result of subtle, albeit well meaning pressure, from one of her Uncles, the young Farida found herself enlisting in the Nigeria Police Force and pursuing a different career trajectory altogether.

    And this was despite her passing the entrance examination into the Catholic-owned Sacred Heart College, Kaduna, from where she could have pursued her dream of going to university and studying law.

    Did she give in to discouragement and disappointment when she had to discontinue her education at Sacred Heart College? Not on your life.

    In her words, “I missed my opportunity to continue my education at Sacred Heart College. But I did not waste my time wallowing in recrimination and resentment. The same singular dedication I had devoted to education was redirected to the training at the Police College in Kaduna”.

    Not surprisingly, she won the Baton for Best Recruit at the Police College and was among the ten best graduating police recruits to be moved to Lagos and given specialized training as an informant, intelligence officer and police spy.

    She gives an interesting insight into the life of a police spy when she writes, “An interesting part of the job involved operating incognito.

    To be a spy, you have got to be good at disguising. You had to be adept at dressing to be inconspicuous. I could easily transform into a rich woman if the occasion was for prominent people and I had to blend into the backdrop.

    I could also, if the situation warranted, transform into an anonymous woman on the street, modestly clad, wearing bathroom slippers and not any different from groundnut sellers on the street”.

    Read Also: Farida Waziri was simply hired to attack me, says Jonathan

     

    The author regales us with her invaluable experiences as a detective with the then famous intelligence arm of the police more popularly known as the “E” Department, a name which I first encountered in Wole Soyinka’s prison memoirs, ‘The man Died’.

    Perhaps the most touching parts of the book are when she writes with such candour and disarming innocence about her first meeting with her future husband and her falling in love, getting married and building a home.

    Her first encounter as a young girl with the man she later married, Senator Adamu Ajuji Waziri makes interesting reading. In her words, “One day, my uncle, Asaa, took me to the Police Officers’ Mess for my first experience of the Tombola.

    I sat close to him at his table. Across from us was a young man that openly ogled at me. His gaze was intense and it made me uncomfortable. Why was he staring at me? I was sure that I did not know him from anywhere.

    I was seeing him for the first time, yet, he kept his eyes on me. A few minutes later, he made his way to our table, greeted my uncle, and greeted my uncle, and tried to borrow a pen from him. “You are not serious.

    If I give you mine, what will I use?” retorted Uncle Asaa. I gave him the biro I had with me. He thanked me and went back to his seat’.

    Mrs Waziri tells in a vivid and moving manner the story of her falling love and marrying her husband and the mutually fulfilling life they shared until his death; an experience that elicits deep sadness not only in the narrator but which the reader cannot but share.

    Out of her profound love for him, Mrs Waziri later converted to Islam even though her husband gave her utter freedom to continue to practice her Catholic religion.

    She movingly tells the story of their life together, her deft combination of marriage and career and the bringing up of their five children with love and compassion combined with discipline and firmness.

    It is testimony to the author’s tenacity and diligence that after bearing and raising her children, she later pursued her dream of studying law at the University of Lagos and graduated with a Second Class Upper honours degree before proceeding to the Nigerian law school from where she also successfully graduated. She was also later to obtain a Masters Degree in Strategic Studies from the University of Ibadan.

    Mrs Waziri’s effective discharge of her responsibilities as the pioneer Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Fraud Unit at the height of the infamous ‘419’ menace in Nigeria no doubt recommended her much later for appointment as Chairman of the EFCC.

    Although constantly faced with danger including assassination attempts as Head of the SFU, she undertook her assignment with courage and resilience. Under her leadership, the SFU recorded 11 convictions in two years in addition to making significant recoveries.

    Before her appointment as EFCC Chairman, Mrs. Waziri had retired meritoriously from the Nigeria Police Force after a 35 year career in which she served variously as Commissioner in Charge of Administration at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Commissioner of Police for General Investigations, Commissioner in charge of X-Squad and Commissioner in charge of SFU. She reports, remarkably, that she did not receive a single query throughout her career.

    Easily the most vilified and traduced Chairman of the EFCC, the undeniable record of her achievements in that office are documented for posterity in this book.

    It is certainly impossible to efface the over three and a half decades of dedicated service to her fatherland in different roles in the police prior to her appointment as EFCC Czar.

    It is certainly noteworthy that one of the country’s most highly respected former Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Aliyu Ibrahim Atta (RTD) testifies eloquently about Mrs. Waziri’s competence and character in his foreword to the book.

    In his words, “I am pleased to write the forward to this masterpiece. Mrs Farida Waziri was an extraordinarily intelligent officer and being invited to write the forward to her book is an honour to me. I feel confident because I have interacted with her throughout her professional career.

    I knew her from the start of her police career, watched her progress up to her retirement, and followed her post-retirement activities at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

    She towers in intelligence and character amongst her contemporaries. Her remarkable story is of benefit to our country now and in the future”.

  • NBA presidency: That history may not repeat itself

    By Busola ARO

     

    Although the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) elections are scheduled to come up in July 2020, and ban on campaigns yet to be lifted, the politics of who succeeds the incumbent, Paul Usoro SAN led executives is already in high gear..

    Based on the political calculations of the zoning arrangements that usually defined the outcome of previous elections, various individuals, political machineries and forces are already coming together with the sole intent of clinching the much coveted NBA presidency and accociated political powers.

    It’s trite that political power, especially that derived from a most respected professional group such as the NBA can be very potent, strong, and influential in the national politics of Nigeria, depending on who wields it.

    Prominent legal luminaries such as Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu SAN, Dr Olisa Agbakoba SAN and Joseph Bodurin Daudu SAN  occupied the powerful NBA presidency and set remarkable records, using the NBA power to further the interests of the legal profession and course of nation building at large.

    All these men became NBA presidents through the agreed principle of zoning. However, this principle has its own intricacies that could make the journey to the NBA presidency a landmine of intrigues and even treachery.

    For example, the current zoning formula merges the Eastern part of the country with the South South under the Eastern Zone.

    The Midwest states of Edo and Delta are regarded as part of the Western Zone, while the 19 states in the North and North Central states of Niger, Plateau,Nasarawa, Kaduna, Benue, are all under the Northern zone.

    However, if there is any zone where the principle has caused the most rancour and animosity, it is in the South West zone.

    More often than not, the Yoruba lawyers have found it difficult to agree on a single candidate and consequently lose to their brothers in the Midwest except in 2008 when Dcn Dele Adesina SAN in obedience to the decision of Egbe Amofin, the umbrella body of lawyers in the South West, stepped down for Mr Rotimi Akeredolu SAN, who by that singilar act became president of the association unopposed.

    For insyance in 1989 when a Benin City lawyer, Chief Charles Idehen, succeeded Mr Alao Aka-Bashorun, two Yoruba lawyers, the late Chief Bamidele Aiku SAN, and Mr Yinka Fayokun battled themselves to a standstill only to pave the way for Chief Idehen.

    In 2002, Egbe Amofin endorsed Chief Olanipekun as the candidate of the South West. Mr Segun Onakoya defied the decision of Egbe, and contested against Olanipekun but lost.

    As was the case in 1989, the same situation repeated itself in 2014, when three Yoruba prominent lawyers, Mrs Funke Adekoya SAN, Chief Niyi Akintola SAN  and Dcn Dele Adesina SAN divided Yoruba votes and lost to Augustine Alegeh SAN, another Edo State candidate from the Midwest zone.

     

    Will history repeat itself?

    On February 9, 2020, the hope of the South West to produce the next President  became brighter when Egbe Amofin ni Eko, the Lagos branch of the Egbe Amofin Oduduwa, decided to comply with the decision of the mother group in its choice of Dcn Adesina as its candidate for the presidency of the largest bar in Africa in the upcoming 2020 elections.

    The chairman of the group, Otunba Martin Ogunleye, had at the meeting stated: “We are true sons and daughters of Oduduwa and we stand on the decision of the Egbe reached in Ibadan over the endorsement of a single candidate.

    Another meeting of the Egbe is only 13 days away. Any aggrieved candidate should approach Egbe. But for us, we stand on the decision of the mother group”, Ogunleye said.

    It will be recalled that the mother group, Egbe Amofin, had on Saturday December 14, 2019, picked Adesina out of five contestants as its official candidate for the President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) in 2020 election

    The contestants are  Abuja-based lawyer, Chief Muyiwa Akinboro SAN, past NBA General Secretary, Mr Awoniyi Alabi based in Osogbo, past legal adviser,Lagos-based Dr Tunde Ajibade.

    However, Mr Olumide Akpata.is the only candidate from the Midwest

    While other candidates like Awoniyi and Akinboro abided by the decision of the Egbe and stepped down for Adesina, only one candidate,  Ajibade, has refused to step down, claiming that the procedure adopted in reaching the consensus was not acceptable to him.

    Investigations revealed that senior Yoruba lawyers, including Aare Afe Babalola SAN, Chief Felix Fagbohungbe SAN, Chief Abiodun Dabiri, Chief Tunde Ajomole, past chairman Body of Benchers have pleaded with him to abide by the group decision and step down for the group candidate, but it has not yielded much result.

    It is as if the worst fears of the Egbe Amofin leadership are starring them in the face again. Still living with the disgraceful loss it suffered in 2014, the Egbe resolved to start its selection process early and to be firm and endorse only one candidate for the presidency of the Association.

    The Egbe met on August 27, 2019 in Lagos and decided to re-invigorate and strengthen the union for the common good of South West lawyers.

    It was also decided that the Egbe will present only one candidate for the presidency in 2020. Present at the meeting were leaders like Chief Mrs Priscilla Kuye, Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN, both past presidents, Chief Tunde Ajomole, former Chairman, Body of Benchers, Chief Adegboyega Awomolo SAN, Chief Felix Fagboungbe SAN, Chief Ifedayo Adedipe SAN, Moyosore Onigbanjo SAN, the Attorney General of Lagos State as well as  chairmen and secretaries of the branches of the association in the South West.

    The meeting, which was chaired by Mrs Kuye, resolved not only  to unite in the interest of all South West lawyers, but also to strengthen the association.The meeting was adjourned thereafter and a new date of October 26, 2019 was slated for another meeting in Ibadan, Oyo State.

    Read Also: NBA, SANs: Appeal Court needs more justices

     

    On October 26, a committee was set up to look at all candidates vying for the position and recommend one candidate that the Egbe will support and endorse for the election.

    The committee was chaired by Chief Akintola and was comprised of all NBA branch chairmen in the South West. The meeting then adjourned till December 14, 2019 for the report of the Akintola committee.

    Delivering the report of his committee on Saturday December 14, 2019, at the Afe Babalola Bar Centre, Ibadan, Chief Akintola said that it had drawn up certain yardsticks a candidate must possess to qualify.

    The yardsticks include that such a candidate must have good and standard practice; he or she must have proven leadership skills; must be a person who is receptive to the generality of members; must have experience in general law practice and must be exposed.

    Such a candidate must also have played a significant role in the NBA as a professional body, in addition to being a person of integrity. He must also have widespread appeal in other zones of the association.

    Akintola said having considered all these, the committee members then voted through secret ballot and overwhelmingly decided that Adesina met and even exceeded the set criteria

    The Chairman of the occasion then called on the house to comment on the committee’s report. After an exjaustive discussion of the report, Mr Ayotunde Ibitoye from Ile-Ife branch moved the motion for the adoption of the report, while it was seconded by Mr Adetunji Osho from Akure branch.

    Chief Olanipekun, who chaired the meetingy thereafter called on one of the contestants, Aare Muyiwa Akinboro to address the gathering.

    Akinboro in his comments said he accepted the decision of the Egbe in good faith. “What is paramount to me is that a Yoruba man must emerge as the next president of the NBA.

    As a son of the Egbe Amofin, I accept this decision and announce my withdrawal from the NBA presidential race forthwith.

    My name will never be mentioned in history as a person that prevented the progress of the Yoruba race. I hereby pledge my support and loyalty to my brother, Adesina that the Egbe Amofin has chosen”.

    The hall exploded in jubilation and a standing ovation was given to Akinboro. Olanipekun thereafter called on one of the elders, Chief Abiodun to pray for Akinboro.

    It was a solemn and emotional moment as the septuagenarian said heartfelt prayers, not only for Akinboro, but also every member of the association that had contributed in fostering the newly found unity of the Yoruba lawyers after a long time.

    Chief Olanipekun thereafter directed all members of the committee who are also Chairmen of all branches in the South West to sign the report. “This report will be forwarded to our brothers in Eastern Bar Forum, Arewa Forum and the Midwest as the position of Egbe Amofin”, he said.

    However, in spite of the overwhelming goodwill and spirit of  sacrifice and camaradaire demonstrated by the group’sdecision, Ajibade has continued to campaign across the country claiming wrongly that the Egbe’s adoption process was flawed. Some of his people have even argued that it was only a faction of the Egbe that adopted Adesina.

    Prince Kunle Adetowubo, former chairman, Ondo branch of the association in his reaction, was unequivocal in expressing his disappointment about this development.

    He said: “I wonder at some sons of Yoruba race and their penchant for self destruction, deceit and falsehood. I also wonder where to locate the fault? In them or in their stars? When will patriotism begin to guide our aspirations?  Where lies our integrity and honour not just as lawyers but more importantly as “omoluabi”?

    Adetowubo particularly reacted to the comments of one Mr Adebayo Orekoya who claimed that the adoption of Adesina at the Ibadan meeting of December 14, 2019 was lopsided and hand picked committee and that it did not represent the decision of majority of the South West Bar.

    Adetowubo said: “ It is very saddening that Mr Orekoya intentionally fabricated lies about the Egbe Amofin Oodua’s meeting of December 14th,  2019 and deliberately misinformed his members just to achieve a selfish and predetermined intention. He has a wew questions for Mr Orekoya..

    “Where were you on August 27th, 2019 when both leaders and followers of Egbe Amofin resolved unanimously at their Ikoyi Lagos meeting that they were going to field ONLY one candidate for the 2020 NBA Presidential election to remedy the mistakes of 2014?;

    Where were you in October 26th, 2019 when Egbe Amofin congregated at Aare Afe Babalola SAN Bar centre Ibadan and after exhaustive deliberations resolved and constituted the 26 Chairmen of the South West NBA branches into a Committee headed by Chief Niyi Akintola SAN to screen and recommend one person in accordance with the earlier decision of August 27th 2019?

    Where you aware that four people indicated their interests to run for the office of NBA President at the meeting and that all of them supported the setting up of the Committee with clear undertaking by each of them  to abide by the decision of the Committee and the house on the matter?;

    Are you aware that in line with the undertakings, some aspirants, men of honour  and integrity in the overall interest of Yoruba Lawyers have stepped down in honour of their promise?;

    You said the Committee members were handpicked. Are you aware that branch Chairmen who were elected by members of their branches and that they were members by virtue of being the Chairman of their branches?

    You talked about a faction of Egbe Amofin,  but you failed to name the other faction nor present any fact to substantiate your false and fertile imagination”

    Can the decision of Ajibade cause division and split South West votes? The tendency is higher than if he subjects himself to the group decision.

    However,  Dele Oloke, Chairman of NBA Ikeja branch does not foresee any division. Using his branch as an example, he said: “The presidency is now the turn of Yorubas of the South West by the constitution of the NBA.

    We understand the constitution and politics of the NBA. We are free born of Oduduwa. I concede that among 12 disciples of Jesus Christ, there was Judas Iscariot, but I’m consoled that the Bible was fulfilled through crucifixion and resurrection.

    This heralds the hope of eternity. We all know what Jesus said of Judas. It depends on what side of the divide each and every one wants to stand. Ikeja branch members will not use their left hand to point to their father’s house. O deewo (it is a taboo)”, he said.

    Adesina had been in the race three times. He was asked by the Egbe to step down for Mr Rotimi Akeredolu SAN, now the governor of Ondo State in 2008. He had a good performance in 2014 but lost due to the disunity of the Egbe.

    As the Egbe again prepares for its meeting on February 22, Adesina’s words at the February 19 meeting of Egbe Amofin ni Eko, in the presence of Ajibade and more than 70 members remain pugnant: “If the entire members in this meeting will have to prostrate and beg my junior brother (Ajibade) to respect the decision of the group and step down, we should do it”.

    It may be the only way that the Yoruba candidate can emerge as president of the bar. If it is achieved, it will send the message to Mr Akpata;”The die is cast, the battle is lost and won”.

  • Constitution review: Another tokenism?

    By EMMANUEL OLADESU

     

    EYES are on the National Assembly Panel on Constitution Amendment, led by Deputy Senate Leader Ovie Omo-Agege. Will the committee live to expectation? Will it justify public confidence?

    There is no time frame. But, there is background knowledge. The issues and items are clear. What is in short supply is consensus.

    The more the country moves away from constitution review, the more it progresses towards unitarism. The more centralisation is entrenched, the more aggrieved and restless stakeholders will push for systematic balkanisation.

    Therefore, for the fragile nation-state to survive, its federalism must be redesigned, re-conjured or remodelled to reflect collective aspirations and guarantee unity in diversity.

    The motivation for review is the defective 1999 Constitution, which has continued to lie against itself through the prefix: “We Nigerians…” The dangerous document was imposed on the country in a hurry by the military government and it has continued to wreck incalculable havoc on the beleaguered nation.

    The unitary constitution may have predisposed Nigeria to state fragility, which may also be a prelude to ultimate state failure.

    If at the end of the exercise the envisaged alteration, addition or amendment does not foster or enhance “true” federalism, the efforts would have been in vain. It would have amounted to a colossal waste of time, energy, resources and public expectation.

    Previous amendments had paled into tokenism. They were piecemeal amendments akin to a drop in the ocean. Two core items often being avoided as “no-go areas” are restructuring, which could herald devolution or decentralisation of powers, and national unity.

    It has been difficult to build cross-regional consensus on vital issues that are germane to the resolution of the national question. Yet, the resolution of the fundamental challenge is critical to peaceful coexistence among the diverse ethnic groups forcefully lumped together by British interlopers.

    The proposed progression to federalism has often been sacrificed on the altar of mutual suspicion and antagonistic distributive politics.

    The debate on Sovereign National Conference (SNC) appears to be fading. Pro-restructuring crusaders may have adjusted and become louder in their agitations for national conference, a peculiar talk shop that has also become old-fashioned and boring in Nigeria.

    The parliament is asserting itself as the representative umbrella with taproots across the nooks and crannies of the country and a substitute to a new conference.

    Legislators, even in their comfort zones, may have also embraced the reality that while leaders of the geo-political zones tend to subscribe to “one Nigeria,” the terms have never been agreed upon since the demise of the First Republic.

    The slain Federal Justice Miniser, James Ajibola Ige, posed the question to his generation. “Do you want to continue to live together as Nigeriansin the same country?” The answer by his audience was “yes.” Then, he asked:”How? On what terms?” That “how” was, and is still, the crux of the matter; the basis of togetherness and the kind of constitution that should regulate the supposedly voluntary relationship.

    Since the Unification Decree enacted by Gen. Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi banished federalism in 1966, successive governments have failed to correct the monumental and devastating error.

    Now, a greater error is the pervading feeling that the lopsided federal structure should not be tinkered with because it is to the advantage of a section of the country that has always feared its redesign.

    This perception is not without justification. There is nothing that suggests, either through presidential body language, public utterances and concrete steps, that a comprehensive overhauling of the jaundiced constitution is a priority to the Federal Government.

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, manifested the same ambivalence. He set up a National Conference whose report he was not courageous to implement, blaming his sudden apathy on the imminence of 2015 elections. To that extent, the APC national leader who described the conference as a Greek Gift was vindicated.

    However, the current government has not fared better, judging by its snail-like speed and approach to constitutional reforms.

    The subsisting argument is that, if the presidency is determined and the National Assembly is serious, the reports of 2004 and 2014 National Conferences, and the report of the Mallam Nosiru el-Rufai-led All Progressives Congress (APC) Committee on Restructuring can actually be the guide to a new dawn.

    This approach may also, in the final analysis, be a cost-effective method, instead of holding a repetitive confab, where new issues would not come to the front burner beyond what had been dissected as components of the contentious national question.

    In moving forward, the Omo-Agege Committee should investigate previous obstacles to amendment. For example, the Bills on the selection of Land Use Act, Devolution of Powers to permit transference of some items from Con current Legislative List to states; Separation of Offices of Attorney-General from Justice Minister and Commissioner, and Independent Candidacy, were shut down by senators in the past.

    The Omo-Agege Panel has access bundles of proposals on constitutional reforms. If a fresh public hearing is held today, the issues will not be significantly different.

    They will still revolve around revenue allocation and resource control, the Land Use Act, Petroleum Act, the adoption of six zone structure, reforms of electoral laws, fiscal federalism, and the abolition of what Prof. Itsey Sagay (SAN) described as ‘federal absolutism,’ particularly in the operation of the police, census, mineral resources, labour, trade and industrial relations, registration of business names, electric power.

     

    Read Also: Restructuring or constitutional amendment (1)

     

    The amendment may reduce certain patterns of injustice, which in the words of the political scientist, Prof.Dipo Kolawole, have made Nigeria “a federation of an excessively strong central government, supposedly partnered by ridiculously weak 36 states with a Federal Capital Territory, supported by obviously ineffective 774 local governments.

    All other 801 governments combined are weaker than the Central Government.”
    During public hearings and consultative regional meetings between the committee and stakeholdes, the same core issues will be on the table.

    For example, the derivation principle and resource control are intertwined. What percentage of federal collectable resources, including crude oil, solid minerals and Value Added Tax(VAT), for example , should be given back to their sources?

    Should states, regions or zones be allowed to exclusively or personally own, exploit and tap the financial benefits of natural resources in their domains and just pay taxes to the Federal Government?

    The component units may not be able to cope with the power-loaded Federal Government in the future. It is desirable that it should shed weight. What, therefore, should be the role of the Federal Government in agriculture? Who owns the land?

    Also, what should be the new sharing formula among federal, state and local governments that will reflect their share of constitutional responsibilities?

    The founding fathers of Nigerian nation, or liberators from colonial rule, subscribed to a just and fair formula, based on principles of derivation (50 percent), need and national interest.

    It was turned upside down by succeeding regimes. Although there is emphasis on revenue sharing, there is less emphasis on how the revenues are generated from certain communities states and regions.

    Already, there is an imminent partial devolution of power, particularly policing. Amotekun is instructive. It may be the signpost to state and community policing.

    Governors who are Chief Security Officers of their states should not rely on the Police Commissioners who only take orders from the distant Police Inspector-General for maintenance of law and order.

    Indeed, state and community policemen should be recruited from the ethnic groups they are meant to serve, live in the community, speak the language of the people and understand their culture and environment for effective policing.

    The review committee will have to contend with the agitation for local government autonomy. There are puzzles: Is local government a third tier in Nigeria? Are they not administrative units created by states for ease of administration at the grassroots?

    Why should they have direct revenue sourcing from the Federal Government? What remains of the state when local governments are taken away?Why should councils be listed in the constitution? Why should the Senate retain the power of listing?

    If these proposals are painstaking considered by the committee, and they make their report to the National Assembly, then, there will be a ray of hope. If the parliament can develop them into bills and pass the progressive bills in the interest of “true” federslism, then, the exercise is meaningful and worthwhile.
    The last hurdle: will President Buhari has the courage to assent to the bill’s?

  • Osun: The storm foreseen (2)

    By Abiodun Komolafe

     

    “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences”  –  William I. Thomas

     

    Fellow Nigerians, if the feedback to last week’s intervention in this Column is anything to go by, it means that all is evidently not well with the politics and governance issues in Osun State.

    So, it’s time men of goodwill rallied to address the issues currently ailing the state, and the earlier this is done; the better for the survival, progress, and destiny of the state.

    That said, let me also confess that Nigeria is a wonderful country, full of wonders! The late Dele Giwa was right when he said that ‘Nigerians have been shocked into a state of ‘in-shockability’ and nothing shocks them again.’

    The emergence of diverse groups of politically aggrieved people in the society, whose socio-political worldview is ‘free-loading’, and their psychological disposition towards life and survival is ‘entitlement’, may not be good for the growth and wellbeing of the society.

    This ‘entitlement’ mentality predisposes these people to a frictionless, rudderless and clueless lifestyle, which becomes handy in politics, especially, during political campaigns, voter mobilization and election monitoring activities, among others.

    The sad side is that we have these groups aplenty now in Osun; and the way forward is both dicey and unclear. In a country where politics has become a ‘contested concept’ and “a conquered land of surrender where playing safe” is “the basis for survival”, success at containment of an ugly trend such as the one in play is almost uncertain.

    By all accounts, politics and political life of Osun is atrophying. Prebendal politics in its crude and unadulterated version is back, aggressively navigating the body polity, ravaging the extant socio-political structures and public institutions with cruising speed! Horrible as it may sound, the structure and the extant socio-political milieu in the state may have allowed for the birth and spread of bad politics.

    Mass unemployment, waning interest of farmers in Agriculture,  round-tripping policies in Commerce, and the muzzling of the life-link of the domestic economy under the guise of revenue generation, all have joined hands to compose the dirges of perpetual economic subservience, aided and sustained by the ambivalence in the socioeconomic cum political structures in the state. Curiously, there is a new dance in town; and the highest bidder takes the floor!

    The tempting truth is that Osun is largely an agrarian society, with minimal state meaningful intervention. Lifestyle and social expectations are also still low and simple.

    However, the pervasive crippling effects of poverty are becoming staggeringly obvious by the day. It’s therefore time this administration injected life and meaning into the street because no government can record any progress without support from the people.

    It is also time our political gladiators realized that the success of a government comes from a combination of hard work and cooperation.

    So, let the process of confidence building begin through the greening of the streets, with democratic dividends trickling into the people’s stomachs, because people with empty stomachs are not likely to be favourably disposed to the finesse of the essence or philosophy of long-term development plan.

    Besides, a system that prides itself in only 4 permanent teachers, 10 npower and 5 OYES corps ministering to the teaching needs of over-450 students in, say, Ijebu-Jesa Grammar School, my alma mater, gives a lot of impression about how we take education. That it has been done before does not mean that it is right!

    Let’s also face it: organized labour may soon be at loggerheads with the governor unless the magic that brought forth 26 exotic cars for State Honourabless also activates the payment of the outstanding salary and pension arrears of its workers and retirees who can’t even feed their families.

    Read Also: Re: Osun: The storm foreseen

    Interestingly, civil servants in the State are grateful for the prompt payment of salary since the inception of this administration.

    Notwithstanding however, the workers consider prompt payment of salary, a statutory duty of any responsible government.

    Further still, the only way the ruling party and former Governor Rauf Aregbesola can cover their past in glory and escape unforgettable sanctions in 2022 is for the government to do something about their arrears before it is too late!

    We agree Osun is a civil service state, looking for economic and sustainable development breakthroughs in, virtually, all sectors of the domestic economy.

    But, in a situation where the leadership attributes and available talents in government can, at best, be described as disorganized, the notion of economic revitalization in a non-cohesive, security-challenged, no-swagger-driven mobilisation, and non-development agenda-focussed society, can only be likened to a lie from the pit of hell.

    As the cloud thickens and the clock also ticks in favour of 2022, let the gladiators in Osun be reminded that good governance is about building a team, not an empire. It is about a brand, not a name.

    The reason is simple: while the former runs on the anvil of courage of conviction and sense of equality, the latter is woven in competing narratives and conflicting experiences by ‘a o m’erin j’oba’, ‘igi da, eye fo’ accidental democrats who only politic for self-serving interests.

    For instance, Nigerians are still wondering how Ademola Adeleke, who, in spite of the scandals allegedly hanging on his neck, was able to give a sitting government, which came into office with enormous goodwill in 2010, a run for its money.

    Of course, the answer finds succour and intelligibility in the persona and legacy of the late Isiaka Adeleke and where the people held Serubawon’s humanity in their hearts.

    Finally, those who hold the notion that September 22 and 27, 2018 in the life of Osun have signposted what to expect in 2022 might also have forgotten that elections globally are not a tea party.

    But then, 2022 may not be as difficult as 2018 if we have people who are committed to doing the needful because the ruling party would have done more than half of the job.

    In other words, the election will be half-won when people see progress; when they can decipher truth and openness in the business of running the government.

    Audentes fortuna iuvat! Oyetola is a good-natured man whose government should not be allowed to fail due to no fault of his!

    May the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world, grant us peace in Osun!

     

  • Supreme Court: Prison, Life ban

    By Tony Marinho

    Two weeks ago the strain of coronavirus which has killed 1,600 and infected over 67,000 was called ‘2019-nCoV’. Today that virus is re-named ‘COVID19’. Protect yourself. Now, 38 human victims killed in one day, eight humans killed by herdsmen Delta State. About 30 victims early this week outside Maiduguri. When will war be declared by Nigeria?

    Politics is not a game. It kills and is an extractive criminal industrial enterprise -taking from the people and the treasury. Nigeria suffers horrendously from political criminality – 87% poverty, poor MDG/SDG compliance. Politics has failed us and we demand penalties – long jail time and high fines for political criminality.

    There are issues arising from the Supreme Court judgement disqualifying the deputy governor-elect for fraud and sacking the ‘innocent’ governor-elect, as collateral damage. Is the governor innocent or a collaborator?

    First: we have a fraudulent unqualified politician illegally seeking office. Politics has the lowest qualifications but still some politicians must cheat. We need punishing jail time! He is now an alleged criminal, deserving 21 years jail term on each count on conviction, as recommended by his National Assembly (NASS) colleagues for WAEC exam fraud.

    Second: he should be jailed for attempting to defraud the state by illegitimately accessing a salary, perks and privileges for four years.

    Third: the party background check system failed or stinks from bullying, bribery, old boy network, zoning et cetera.

    Fourth: the judiciary is too slow and should have dealt with this matter long ago. In many countries including South Africa, by law the local ‘INEC’ publishes all politicians’ alleged qualifications for public scrutiny. EFCC also failed in screening candidates for governorship office.

    Fifth: the judiciary must punish criminals, political and otherwise, it detects immediately, including the negligent party unleashing criminals as candidates, by a hefty fine, even a time bound ban, for failing in screening candidates.

    Six: INEC should sue to recover money covering election costs, financial redress, with fines for deception, intent to defraud and derail the electoral process and electoral mandate.

    Seven: The Supreme Court and or INEC must take action against the political parties for oversight illegalities.

    Nigeria reverses the natural order. Sins of the children are visited upon the parent. The deputy incapacitated, has maliciously incapacitated the governor. Why? Why not sack him and ask the governor to appoint a new deputy governor? How did the candidate escape party vetting? To sanitise all political parties, we demand intraparty punishment for incompetence, connivance and corruption. Was it the old boy network, blatant lies, money or was he a rabid politician? What a monumental disservice to properly qualified candidates and the party all now abandoned for the next four years at least. Why is the cheating politician not banned for life from political office? Compute the cost to honest voting party members if not corrupt party members of the entire time, money talk, travel wasted in the election process?

    But it is monumental political historical landmark. The Supreme Court has dealt a death blow to the ‘Political Forgers Club’ as it has put a powerful weapon of ‘only true certified candidates to step forward’ in the hands of all parties. This strengthens the hand of honest party members, weakens dishonest ones and will stop the plague of corruption and certificate forgery. There is rumour that the replacement also has a case to answer. Why it should take so long for such criminal forgeries to be adjudicated upon is a huge stain on the party and the judiciary and a question only they can answer.

    Forgery upon forgery- all is forgery!! The lion roared and the deputy ate him.  Now the ‘De-Selected, Dis-Elected or Sacked Governor-Elect’. A lion devoured by the cub: A pointer to the legal dangers of imposing party people without thorough screening. Too often unqualified former thugs seize office directly themselves with brute force and even murder of opponents and blood-thirsty rituals.

    The Supreme Court judgement is that a person has committed a criminal office with intent to illegally insinuate himself into a political position to defraud the government of the income of that position. By implication, the over 300,000 voters were criminally misled into mis-voting and have been defrauded of their political choice for four years.

    INEC has been deceived to register this person and the judgement has nullified the election and cost INEC its reputation. INEC must sue for malicious intent, false pretences, deception and charge costs. All these must have a real cost and the criminal responsible has been found guilty by the Supreme Court. His property must be impounded by the Supreme Court to help pay the billions lost.

    The Supreme Court must complete the cycle!  Politicians can only be stopped by ‘crime, dismissal and punishment’.

    The Supreme Court must announce the introduction of the principle of ‘Payment for a Debt of Deception’ or ‘Cost of Criminality’ based on the ‘Depth of Deception’. The first crime is ‘Criminal Deceit in Wasting the Time of The Supreme Court’. The Supreme Court must impose commensurate fines in cases that come before it on the losing party if the loser has committed a criminal act or lied or misled the legal process to get to the Supreme Court. The deceivers must no longer walk free but owe and must pay a ‘Debt of Deception’ in cash, kind, property seizures, jail and denial of political participation. After all they seek to profit from poisoning and polluting politics.

  • China: Beyond the scourge of Coronavirus

    By Charles Onunaiju

    It has been nearly seven years since Beijing launched the most far-reaching and comprehensive global development framework, the “Belt and Road Initiative” in 2013, which the World Bank acknowledged as “China-led effort to improve connectivity and regional cooperation on a trans-continental scale through large scale investments.” But the massive infrastructure connectivity already up and running in many regions of the world and also a work in progress would be the practical expression of the construction of a community of shared future for mankind which on March 11, 2017 was included in a UN Security Council resolution and in September of the same year, its underlying principle of achieving shared growth through discussion and collaboration was incorporated in the UN General Assembly resolution on global governance.

    Some estimates suggest that over $900 billion of financing in grants and concessional loans for Belt and Road projects have been or about to be spent in more than 160 countries with three-fifths of the world population. According to the Economist Magazine,” “in real terms, that dwarfs the Marshall plan ($130 billion in today’s money) that America advanced to revive Europe’s war-ravaged economies”.

    China’s contribution to global economic growth from 2013-2018 on average was 28.1 per cent, ranking the first place in the world and largest trading partner for more than 120 countries in the world. According to report issued last July from the Mckinsey Global Institute, it said from market perspective that depending on China’s engagement with the world in the coming years, economic value of between $22 trillion to $37 trillion could be added or subtracted from global economy by 2040. In the Mckinsey report which analysed 186 countries, China was found to be largest export destination for 33 countries and the largest source of imports for 65. In addition to its huge presence in trade, China has also grown over the years to become a major player in global investment flows. From 2015 to 2017, it was the world largest source of outbound foreign direct investment and second-largest recipient of inbound investment according to the Mckinsey report.

    At the centre of further unlocking trade and enabling the strategic connectivity through which it could be mutually and beneficially engaged by the world, the World Bank has acknowledged that the Belt and Road Initiative would reduce time and cost of international trade and boast cumulative global output, considerably contributing to shared prosperity and human prospects, despite the existing vicissitudes of the contemporary international system.

    Africa has particularly charted a brilliant course with the engagement of the China opportunities which is filling the gap of the continent’s vacuum in building a network of critical infrastructures that are opening  key prospect of regional economies of scale and optimizing the comparative advantages of the respective national economies in the region.

    There is no other international partnership with post-colonial states in Africa that has brought tangible results and outcomes as Africa-China cooperation whose concrete institutional expression has been the phenomenal Forum on China-Africa cooperation, (FOCAC) founded in 2000.

    With China’s enigmatic engagement with world and the prospects it portends, how would the international community react to the outbreak of the coronavirus last December, but which grabbed international headlines from January? A monstrous, villainous virus that first hit Wuhan, capital city of China’s Hubei province did not just threaten China but the entire global prospects not because Beijing is in the frontline of it, but even for the ethical values of our common humanity most robustly demonstrated in 2018 when Thailand’s teenage football players and their coach were entrapped in a horrific flooded cave.

    The outbreak of the novel disease raised concern across the world but the global health governing body, the World Health Organization urged caution and restraint in reaction, and also giving the Chinese authorities a clean bill of health in transparency and competence in managing and containing the spread of the virus after declaring that Covid-19 epidemic, “a public health emergency of international concern.” The World Health Organization further added that “the only way we will defeat this outbreak is for all countries to work together in a spirit of solidarity and cooperation. We are all in this together and we can only stop it together. This is the time for facts, not fear. This is the time for science, not rumours. This is the time for solidarity, not stigma.”

    Even with a clarion call for concerted international efforts to rein in the novel virus, some western and more specifically U.S politicians wished the worst for China and hope to take advantage. Speaking to Fox television, U.S Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross said that the outbreak would “give businesses another thing to consider when they go through their review of their supply chain,” and “a risk factor that people need to take into account” while cynically expressing that “I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America…”

    This attitude is beneath the universal value of our common humanity.

    In two straight years, China has organized two world import expo to bring the opportunities of China’s huge market to the world, along with other batteries of reform measures to open wider and deeper the Chinese market. A novel virus is actually not needed to pull down Chinese economy for others to add jobs or other opportunities to their economies.

    As Chinese ambassador to Nigeria, Dr. Zhou Pingjian said recently at a dialogue forum organized by Abuja-based Think Tank, that “it is understandable that some countries have taken necessary and appropriate preventive measures,” but added “we disapprove of measures out of proportion,” because “as World health Organization insists, there is no pandemic yet and there is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international trade and trade.”

    He further assured that “guided by vision of a community with a shared future for mankind, China is fulfilling its responsibility for life and health of its own people and for global public health,” and that her “effective response has averted the further spread of the virus in the world.”

    According to the envoy, his country is “a resilient nation that has emerged stronger from numerous trials and tribulations,” that “with its people united as one with China’s institutional strength in mobilizing resources for major undertaking and with strong material and technological capacities and with rich experience, China has the confidence, capacity and determination to not only win a full victory against the epidemic but also meet its economic and social development goals.”

    Suffice it to summarize here that given to the fact, that the theoretical foundation of the Communist Party of China is to constantly engage contradictions and contradictions are not linear categories of happy endings, the country’s governance outlook is primed to anticipate emergencies with huge national reservoir of human and material contingencies, always in place to deal and contain the excesses before it disrupts the social order and threaten stability.

    Therefore, outbreak of the coronavirus is not outside the realm of emergencies anticipated by the China’s system of eternal vigilance.

    • Onunaiju is of Centre for China Studies, Utako, Abuja.