The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • On Nigerian Civil Service as the ‘Best In The World’ debate

    On Nigerian Civil Service as the ‘Best In The World’ debate

    On 22nd June, 2024, at a sporting event organized for civil servants as part of activities to mark the 2024 Civil Service Week, the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation (HCSF), Dr. Folasade Yemi-Esan, made a fundamental claim about the status of the Nigerian Civil Service. At that event, the HCSF commended the hardworking and intelligent civil and public servants, and noted that Nigeria has the best civil service in the world. That was a most fundamental statement coming from such a significant personality in the civil service hierarchy. That statement has sufficient weight and implications as to defy the gravity of silence. And it was only just to be expected that this would not just be brought to my notice, but that I would be asked by many, including a few revered global scholars that I cannot ignore, to make a statement about it. The HCSF and I occupy positions that are key in the chain of structural and institutional integrity of the civil service system in Nigeria. We are both aware of the internal working and potential of the civil service system. But more than this, we both are sensitive to the public service value of esprit de corps, that unwritten rule about our collective responsibility and loyalty to the institutional well-being of this great institution that is responsible for transforming the lives of Nigerians as the engine room and brain box of government.

    But there is no doubt that such a statement would generate some forms of reactions from Nigerians. There would be some that would simply wave it aside as a mere statement that does not deserve a response. But, as Simon Kolawole has exemplified, there are those who take the statement with deep umbrage given that it does not represent their felt perception of the efficiency level and the image that the civil service has earned for itself within the context of Nigeria’s democratic governance. But I will go beyond these two kinds of reaction to the statement of the HCSF to articulate a more nuanced understanding of how the statement should be interrogated but without the benefits of a rebuttal or a critique, the reason that this essay is deliberately made somewhat academic. Like the HCSF, I am an insider who have a sense of the struggles and laudable visions of the HCSF and could spin her sense of the heights the civil service system needs to attain. 

    So, I think I understand where the HCSF is coming from when she made the statement. My first instinct on reading the submission of the HCSF is to imagine that a similar statement had been made in a conference of public administration experts, scholars and professionals. One methodological approach of a response to this statement—suggested by my research and comparative inclinations—would be to situate the HCSF’s confidence within the historical trajectory of the civil service in Nigeria.

    There are two significant administrative moments in the evolution of the civil service history in Nigeria that foretell its immense possibilities. The first is the immense administrative achievements of the old western region civil service, one regional administrative success story that I have studied and published on. Within the context of the Awolowo-Adebo governance collaborative paradigm therefore, the civil service in Nigeria in the ’60s became renowned as one of the best in the Commonwealth community of practice.

    The second was the critical and outstanding performance of the General Yakubu Gowon’s super-permanent secretaries before, during and after the Nigerian civil war. But then, despite having the credentials to lay claims to being one of the best civil service systems at those moments, such a statement was never made. The nuance in the story is to know why. To say a civil service system is the best in the world demands that certain administrative minimum and maximum be already in place. Indeed, such a statement would have already found the country backstopped by civil service system on top of many human development indices and ISO certification to boot.

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    Even though the grammatical form of what the HCSF said does not support my next claim, one could think that the statement was actually meant to be taken in aspirational terms. In other words, given the dedication, intelligence, patriotism and credentials of the crop of civil and public servants Nigeria is blessed with (who are unarguably a minority), as well as the quantum of reform efforts that have been sowed, the civil service has the real potential to become one of the best administrative systems in the world. It would be unfair to the HCSF to imagine that those who are grinding within the civil service system do not have a sense of how crippling the dysfunction of the system is. And yet, they keep toiling to keep afloat a system that was once one of the best and that keeps standing staunchly as the engine room for making Nigeria’s democratic governance work. And I can make a parallel claim that Nigerian civil servants are among the best I have met anywhere in the world, as I have observed for decades how they keep toiling in an impossible administrative system, and finding it hard to understand why they are being derided by everyone in spite of their best effort.

    But who has the responsibility to fix that system but the civil service profession itself?

  • Rishi Sunak: For whom everything that could go wrong, went wrong

    Rishi Sunak: For whom everything that could go wrong, went wrong

    By Andrew Whitehead

    To the country, I would like to say first and foremost, I am sorry”. Those were Rishi Sunak’s words as he left Downing Street for the last time. “I have heard your anger, your disappointment”, he declared, “and I take responsibility for this loss.”

    Sunak was addressing the nation outside Ten Downing Street, with his wife, Akshata Murty, at his side, before heading to the palace to resign as Britain’s Prime Minister. It was a brief and dignified address, tinged with humility and regret. The scale of the election defeat suffered by Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives is truly remarkable. The party has lost two-thirds of its seats in Parliament; there will be just over 120 Conservative MPs among the 650 members of the newly elected House of Commons. It’s the Conservatives’ worst-ever general election result.

    Verdict: Failure

    The final verdict on Rishi Sunak’s 20 months in office has to be: failure. He failed to achieve several of the political goals he had publicly set himself; he didn’t cut waiting times for hospital treatment or stem illegal immigration. He failed to unite his own party which, after 14 unbroken years in power, was increasingly quarrelsome and faction-ridden. And he failed to persuade the voters that he had a vision for Britain’s future.

    There were some successes too. Rishi Sunak, a decent man, restored integrity to the post of Prime Minister after the damage inflicted by Boris Johnson’s clowning and deceit; he presided over a gradual improvement in the country’s economy; and he sorted out some of the lingering mess in the wake of Britain’s departure from the European Union.

    But he proved to have poor political instincts. He never gave the impression of being fully in charge, and was battered and buffeted by the rivalries within his own party. His election campaign was spectacularly inept. And his own reputation was tarnished by a bizarre decision to pull out early from global commemorations of the 80th anniversary of D-Day, a proud moment in Britain’s history that marked the turning of the tide against Nazi Germany in the Second World War.

    At times, Rishi Sunak has faced political vitriol that some would see as racist. The right-winger Nigel Farage – leader of an anti-immigration party, Reform UK, which took millions of votes from the Conservatives – said during the campaign that Sunak’s D-Day misjudgement was because “he doesn’t understand our history and culture”. But Sunak’s lasting place in history is that he has been the first person of colour to head Britain’s government, and he has demonstrated beyond doubt that race is no longer a barrier to getting to the very top.

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    What Changes Under Starmer?

    The Labour Party has achieved a landslide victory with the slogan ‘time for change’. Its leader, Keir Starmer – who has now succeeded Sunak as prime minister – will have a huge Parliamentary majority.

    But in fact, there is likely to be little immediate change. Starmer has made clear that a Labour government will not increase taxes and there will be no alteration in foreign policy. The only immediate policy reversal is likely to be the abandoning of Sunak’s controversial and ill-considered plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda in central Africa.

    Rishi Sunak has made clear that he will stand down as leader of the Conservative party, but not straight away. He will remain in the post until a successor is chosen. And he emphasised that Conservatives needed to provide a ‘professional and effective’ opposition to the new Labour government – which will be seen as a warning against the Conservatives lurching to the right in the aftermath of their stinging defeat.

    Sunak, The ex-Politician?

    Sunak has said he will remain an MP and he has denied suggestions that he’s planning to move to California, where the family has a home. But his time at the highest echelons of British politics is almost over. There is rarely any way back for a vanquished prime minister, and Sunak has been so bruised by his time in office that it’s unlikely he wants to return to top level politics. At 44, he’s young for a former prime minister, he is formidably clever, and he will not find life as a backbench MP very satisfying. So sooner or later, he’s likely to depart the political landscape altogether and carve out a new career.

    ·               This article was first published in www.ndtv.com

  • Powerless: Nigeria’s unending struggle with electricity

    Powerless: Nigeria’s unending struggle with electricity

    Available records show that the first public electricity generation took place at Pearl Street Station in New York in 1882 and that electricity generation in Nigeria began in Lagos in 1886. Therefore, one can safely say that this year marks the 142nd anniversary of commercial electricity globally. It also means that all this talk about artificial intelligence as if the world wants to come to an end is the same way the world looked at electricity as a game changer almost a century and a half years ago. Put simply, railways were the game changers of an era before electricity happened to our world! It also means that artificial intelligence is similar to how we once had steam and internal combustion engines, which were revolutionary in their time.

    In all frankness, Nigeria’s electricity crisis is a stark reminder of her chronic inability to address critical infrastructure needs. That we are not taking the issue seriously is just another Nigerian debacle which, if not resolved, may catalyse unintended consequences. The botched privatization of the power sector, marred by a lack of technical expertise and plagued by cronyism, has failed to deliver on its promises. Instead of ushering in a new era of reliable power supply, Nigerians are still grappling with the same old ‘padi-padi’ problems that have held us back for decades. Of course, that’s why we keep seeing the same Egyptians we had left many decades ago! To avoid exacerbating this fleeting illusion, we must rethink our approach and prioritize competence over connections.

    Nigeria’s electricity generation is grossly insufficient, woefully hindering economic growth and global competitiveness. Despite 142 years of global electricity generation, Nigeria’s output remains abysmally low, struggling to reach 10,000 megawatts for its large population. For perspective, a city like Lagos requires significantly more energy to power its districts, with estimates suggesting over 40,000 megawatts to rival global hubs like New York, Singapore, or Johannesburg. Addressing this energy gap is crucial for the country’s development.

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    If we had been as serious, Nigeria ought to have prioritized alternative energy sources, like solar power. While previous governments’ efforts were commendable, the country could have done more. With abundant raw materials and a large market, Nigeria could have become a significant producer and exporter of solar panels, generating billions in foreign exchange and reducing electricity costs. This would have created sustainable jobs and stimulated economic growth. With the creation of the credit corporations by President Bola Tinubu, access to credit would have made it easier for individuals to invest in solar panels. By developing our renewable energy sector, we can unlock economic benefits and create a more sustainable future.

    The Gujarat Hybrid Renewable Energy Park in India is five times the size of Paris. Do we know how much energy that is? But again, how did we get here? In Nigeria, there are places in the North that are so hot that we could have had solar farms that can generate electricity. However, the country’s energy development is hindered by a constitution that prioritizes internal consumption over export-oriented production. This has led to a system characterized by state-funded privileges, parasitic elitism and patronage politics. Clientelism, corruption and lack of political will are also part of the party. Regrettably too, organized labor has limited influence in this context. Since it was not involved in the privatization process, its input to resolve “this deeper crisis of values” is zero!

    Gone were the days of the 1950s and 1960s when Nigeria was a productive powerhouse. According to the 1961 UN Yearbook, the Nigerian Ports Authority ranked 7th globally in efficiency. Then, Nigeria was a significant exporter of commodities like cocoa, rubber, palm oil, and groundnuts. If the country had maintained this momentum, what Nigeria would have been is that, by now, she would have diversified her economy and developed a robust rubber industry. This could have led to significant exports of tyres to major car manufacturers in South Africa, Japan, and the UK, potentially generating billions of dollars in revenue annually.

    Thirty years ago, China was not considered a major player in global electricity production. However, through vision and seriousness of intent, China has become a leader in this field. Similarly, Iran, Qatar, Russia and Vietnam have achieved notable success in providing affordable electricity even as Nigeria still struggles to provide basic necessities like education and electricity to her teeming population. So, do we have to do a degree in Statistics before coming to terms with the fact that a large population without education and other basic necessities of life is not an achievement?

    Ekiti, Enugu, and Imo States deserve recognition for their efforts to establish independent electricity generation frameworks. However, it’s concerning that only a few states are taking proactive steps towards energy self-sufficiency. Osun is a special case and the reasons are obvious! In the current situation, even the blind can see that a dynasty owns Osun State in the way Obafemi Awolowo could not have thought of owning the now-rested Western Region. But who do we blame? After all, he who controls the government controls the resources of the state! Coincidentally, the template has already been institutionalized and there’s nothing anyone can do about it! Anyway, that’s an issue for another day!

    Energy ‘is indeed the lifeblood of modern society’, as former US Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz once said. To get out of the woods therefore, Tinubu as an affirmed Federalist has a historic opportunity to make a lasting impact on Nigeria’s energy landscape. To achieve this, the president must listen to reason and act decisively. He must recognize the fact that, by fostering collective progress, regional cooperation, shared expertise and a cohesive strategy can accelerate electricity development. The proposed Southwest Electricity Development Board offers a promising model, and similar initiatives in other regions could replicate its success.

    The paradox of Nigeria’s power sector reforms is that they reveal the fragility of human control and that, despite our vaunted technological advancements, the flickering lights and darkness that pervade our lives bear witness to the limits of our mastery. It is sad to note that electricity – that transient force we daily seek to harness – remains an elusive will-o’-the-wisp, always promising but never fully delivering! Bearing these in mind, Tinubu must recognize that the complexity of agreements and arrangements in the energy sector stifles meaningful reform, discourages new investment and hinders progress and that the sector must be liberalized to achieve economies of scale and reduce prices. However, the dominant players’ reluctance to adopt metering and end estimated billing raises questions about these monopolists’ commitment to a competitive market. Unlike telecommunication companies, which have embraced transparent billing practices, the energy sector’s resistance to reform is striking.

    The introduction of foreign concepts like band grading has been misguided from the start, undermining the effectiveness of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC). Yes, the focus on increasing power availability hours is crucial, as it directly translates to increased revenue for generation and distribution companies. Nonetheless, the excuses for rate hikes become unjustifiable, especially when their destinies are tied to the temperatures of the dollar.

    In the final analysis, the president must hold his appointees accountable for their performance. If they fail to deliver, he should not hesitate to replace them. The sweet truth is that Nigeria cannot afford to repeat past mistakes, which have hindered progress for generations. To move forward, we need diligence and integrity. International examples like Germany’s Energiewende program and Australia’s willingness to reassess her privatization approach offer valuable lessons. By learning from these success stories and leveraging economies of scale, we can drive Nigeria’s progress and achieve meaningful reform.

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

  • Kano: Yusuf and challenges of education sector

    Kano: Yusuf and challenges of education sector

    By Umar Haruna Doguwa

    One of Africa’s greatest sons and former president of South Africa, Dr. Nelson Mandela once said “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

     In saying these immortal words of wisdom, I think the great man of history had Kano State in mind considering the many strides being made by the incumbent government led by Engr. Abba Kabir Yusuf.

     A product of the Kwankwassiyya Movement where he emerged from, Governor Abba is greatly toeing the line of the torch bearer of the movement and National Leader of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), Sen. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, to Gov. Abba “Education is a leveler”

     The aim and the objective of the Kwankwassiyya Movement is simple, the emancipation of the average masses for a more productive, rewarding, and impactful life with the view to contributing effectively to the progress and development of mankind as a whole.

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     To the ubiquitous movement, education remains the only potent key to unlocking the genius in the state personality and the successive governments except the last administration that reverses all the past gains.

    His Excellency, Gov. Abba has put in place modalities in implementing this noble objective religiously. Perhaps, one man who has shown uncommon passion like the leader of Kwankwassiyya, Sen. Kwankwaso in giving vent to this aspiration is Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf who has made so much progress along this line since mounting the saddle last year.

    And in putting education first, a forth night ago, His Excellency, Gov. Abba declared a ‘State of Emergency’ in order to overhaul the education sector as it happened during former Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

     Despite a series of landmines and deliberate distractions that have been put in his way by the discredited opposition elements, he keeps forging ahead like a Trojan horse. It should be known that the governor met the education sector in a complete shambles.

     The education sector didn’t fare well during the immediate past administration to the point where the pupils didn’t have a roof over their heads and cluster stones became their furniture.

     For a better appreciation of the accomplishments in the sector, some of the policies and actions in the last one year should be put in proper perspective.

     It is to the credit of the governor that the Kano State Government has expended nearly N5 billion naira on the construction,  and rehabilitation of classrooms across the 44 local government areas of the state in its phase one action plans.

     By the same token, over N2.92 billion has been set aside for the construction of new blocks while the sum of N1.95 billion has also been earmarked for rehabilitation and other dilapidated structures in schools across the state. For his love for knowledge, the governor strongly believes in strengthening the elementary sector of education which is pivotal in the process of acquiring knowledge.

    And in the area of primary education, which is seen as the foundation for learning, Gov. Abba Yusuf on Tuesday personally presented a cheque to the management of CRC and other stakeholders for various projects in the educational sector.

     The event was well attended. Stakeholders from CRC, SUBEB, and others from all the LGAs across the state were in attendance.

     In the period under review, the state government also paid in full all the required funding for the various programmes and policies in the sector. Kano State Government paid the fees required for registration by students writing their National Examination Council (NECO).

     The government not only paid outstanding fees for students on its Foreign Scholarship schemes, it also embarked on clearing school fees of all indigenes in higher institutions across the country.

     The workaholic governor has also shared millions of stationary and instructional materials to the pupils across the 44 LGAs.

    In a few weeks to come, basic textbooks, and uniforms will follow. To bridge the gap in the existing teacher-to-student ratio, the state government employed over five thousand teaching staff in the various primary and secondary schools across the state.

     Apart from putting in place a conducive learning environment for the pupils and the teachers, the state government has embarked on numerous welfare schemes for the teaching staff.

     For instance, the governor has cleared all the promotional issues. In addition to this, he has cleared all pension arrears due to school teachers which the immediate past government failed to do. To ensure quality education, the state government has also stepped up inspectorate mechanisms across the schools with a view to ensuring that the pupils are properly being instructed based on the provisions of their teaching manual. With all these in place, coupled with the fact that the state government still has a lot in stock for the people of Kano State, the desire to make the state the centre for knowledge and research is gradually coming to fruition.  

  • Unpacking the logic of labour union activism in Nigeria   

    Unpacking the logic of labour union activism in Nigeria   

    The incessant labour union strike, from ASUU to the NLC, has become a regular staple in Nigeria’s litany of underdevelopment characteristics. And the industrial disputes usually result from labour unions reactions to what is perceived as government’s recurring insensitivity to the plight of workers in the dynamics of governance. The current labour action—a demand for a realistic minimum wage—is waged on the platform of the argument that government has the means of paying the new wage it proposed. The labour unions, in their arguments, try to justify its theory of government’s insensitivity on two planks. One, there is the widespread indices of poverty and suffering by Nigerians arising from the cost-of-living crisis and the evident loss of purchasing power. Two, there is also the hype around the whole issue of wastes and redundancies as well as political and bureaucratic corruption embedded in costs of servicing the indulgences of some categories of government functionaries.

    On the other hand, government—and even the organized private sector—think the proposal of labour is unrealistic. And that argument is founded on a range of interconnected economic realities and dynamics, ranging from payroll cost as percentage of budget, dwindling national revenue earning and consequent fiscal deficit, the huge national indebtedness and the imperative need to attract more investible capital, a galloping inflation, devaluation of the naira and fluctuations in the GDP growth rates to Nigeria’s anomalous federal system and the challenges of affordability for some states and all the local government areas. In between the back-and-forth negotiations is the hanging question: what happens to wage increment that a galloping inflation is waiting to invalidate?  

    And yet, the issues involved in the adversarial conflict between the Nigerian government and labour transcend wage increment. It goes to the very heart of the place of productivity in Nigeria’s development management, resource use efficiency, and the urgency of good governance in the transformation of the lives of Nigerians. Inserting developmental industrial action and orientation into Nigeria’s development challenges requires cross-cutting institutional and governance arguments as bases for reform actions. This is what I intend in this piece—to provide a technical perspective that should underpin remedial action of the tripartite in redressing the chaotic and adversarial industrial relations which has become dysfunctional to national progress in favor of a more developmental praxis.

    Let us lay the cards on the table upfront. One of the key objectives of any state’s development policy must necessarily be the achievement of industrial harmony as a first critical condition for creating the enabling climate for growing an economy that is standing on very weak substrutures. Even more significant is the critical relationship between developmental industrial relations and the urgency of a national change management strategy meant to rejuvenate the productivity of the Nigerian state as the instigator of good governance through institutional and governance reforms. The critical point to unravel the overall challenge lies in the causal relationship between cost of governance, labour relations and the challenge of productivity in Nigeria.

    The wasteful governance architecture that supports Nigeria’s non-developmental federalism is unarguably a major binding constraint to successive governments’ development performance since the 1970s. This resulted from the unguarded multiplication of public institutions, accentuated by the prodigal and geometric increases in state creation and local government structures as well as a pervasive national indiscipline in policy, programme and project implementation. Our focus in this contribution is the institutional component of Nigeria’s allocative and resource use inefficiency and the imperative need for salvage same through the launch of a national productivity movement, and one at that with a significant national waste management strategy component.

    Indeed, one of the most immediate signals of the loss of efficiency in the productivity model of the Nigerian administrative protocols therefore, is the weak or near-collapsed internal management control mechanism in Nigeria’s public administration system. This internal administrative mechanism was built around the control tools of organization and method (O&M) and the treasury control of establishment that benchmark the ratio of capital and recurrent budget. The core elements of these controls were the manpower forecasting and planning system of identifying, planning and acting upon human resource requirements and problems related to the conceptualization of the role of the state in the running of the national economy, as well as the trend analysis of service’s growth in size and expansion of the scope of responsibilities. However, this mechanism collapsed under the weight of the laxity and politization of entry level recruitment into the public service and institutional multiplication that was not matched by due diligence in HR function and an a-developmental federalism.

    The breakdown of the internal mechanism of productive efficiency—from the systematic planning for short and long-term needs and anticipated vacancies founded on periodic functional reviews to structural changes and quantum of workload incidental, as well as basic restructuring due to privatization of government concerns, etc.—was compounded by the creation of ad hoc structures and units of government business parallel to the existing bureaucratic structures as a rule by virtually all governments, and the replication of these parallel structures by some agencies across each state of the federation. And these parallel structures, units and agencies are staffed not with an attention to the aggregate requirements of the federal civil service, but based on an arbitrary departmental and ministerial staffing decisions that dumps lots of deadwoods onto the system. This makes it institutionally inevitable to de-escalate the cost of governance implication of this development through a genuine need to achieve governance accountability that will lead to efficiency in government business. And efficiency can only be achieved with the repositioning of the MDAs to achieve more with less and guided rightsizing.

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    The Oronsaye Report that the Tinubu Government recently committed to, holds many possibilities, but also many unintended likely consequences. The Report, issued in 2012, is already twelve years unprepared for so many realities that have encumbered governance in Nigeria. Most importantly however is the issue of rationalization that is taken to be the key to gaining institutional efficiency. But then, institutional rationalization carries the burden of redundancy management that is often attended inevitably by the pain of retrenchment and downsizing. And if, by some governance miracle, the government is able to restrict the Report to the elimination of overhead cost for the government, it will still have to confront the redundancies induced by the intended rationalization, and the attendant inefficiency in capacity utilization and associated productivity challenges. It is thus between this need to enhance (labour) productivity while limiting government expenses that labour and government often generate the adversarial industrial relations conflict that inevitably further undermine productivity efficiency. The argument of labour unions is simple – and this is of course the raison d’etre of unions – if past government in its wisdom or unwisdom is lax in recruiting people, successive government is bound to respect such employment contract whatever current reality dictates

    What is significant is that both the labour unions and the government cannot be unproductively locked in an adversarial industrial relation that neglect the more fundamental roots of the conflict. One of the most significant is the conversation labour and the government need to have around the role of the state in national development, and what implications a redefinition of the role of government in managing the development process would have for structure, function and service delivery business model of the entire public service.

    This is the starting point for a comprehensive reengineering that will ignite the paradigmatic shift in the national productivity profile. The productivity movement will be facilitated by two correlative institutional reform projects. The first is through a waste management strategy that is managed with new productivity metrics that compel each sector of the economy to set productivity targets that is embedded in the national development plan and managed within framework of performance bond. Indeed, if each MDA expenditure is scrutinized and recalibrated so they focus on their core functions while the non-core performed using alternative service delivery models, funds and resources could then be freed for significant investment in real development programmes and projects. The second urgent institutional reform both labour and the government need to focus on is critical unbundling of the public sector workforce through deep-seated reskilling, re-professionalization, and the injection of high-end skills that appropriate funds hitherto expended on external expertise and consulting services. The public service is presently in the grip of a bureaucratic culture that seems to have fossilized the energies for efficiency and effectiveness. It is only through a sincere commitment to the institutional reform that transforms the workforce skills composition through reform to redress the low public service organizational intelligence quotient (IQ) that the government and labour can achieve the joint objective of national productivity.

    The collective bargaining that will hammer out the intricacies of these issues and deliver a living wage must not be taken out of the context of fiscal federalism that has become a contentious constitutional matter in Nigeria. There is no iota of fairness for example in any attempt to fix a national minimum wage within the context of federating states that are fiscally the same. It does not make any sense that workers in Lagos, Gombe, Rivers and Osun states will be earning the same minimum wage. And then imposing that wage on local government areas that are still enmeshed in a governance palaver with states drives the unfairness deeper. Government and labour must necessarily take heed to the principle of affordability that conditions wage negotiation in a federal system.

    Finally, the negotiation cannot also be taken out of the context of technical-rational practices of collective bargaining, especially within a developing context like Nigeria that is struggling to deliver the dividends of democratic governance. This is to say two things. One, industrial actions like strikes must be circumscribed by constitutional legality and reasonability. The current adversarial or “aluta” militant labour unionism bothers on treasonable criminality that allows a small percentage of a nation’s workforces to hold the entire nation to ransom. It is only a lack of humanity that will allow an industrial action to totally paralyze essential services like healthcare and electricity via the shutting down of the national grid, one that eventuate unnecessary deaths and paralyses. However, if government must initiate legislation that will rein in this sort of excessive industrial action, it must also come to equity with clean hands. This implies that government must approach the collective bargaining table with a genuine policy action to undertake the unbundling of the overall government costs and expenditure structures through productivity audit. This will not only put the labour unions on a footing of mutual understanding (outside of the political undercurrents of the justified labour activism), but also articulate a distinct template that correlate the state of Nigeria’s economy with the demands for increase wages. It is not axiomatic that if waste management system is installed, the almost unproductive and bankrupt Nigerian economy will automatically be able to pay a N250,000 minimum wage. The capacity to reach a consensus depends on coming to the collective bargaining table with full disclosure.  

  • Medical tourism to Nigeria (1)

    Medical tourism to Nigeria (1)

    It’s a year now since the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu administration was inaugurated. Within the year, the government has endeavoured to institute policies in line with the United-Nations-related template for good governance. Specifically, the global template states that one of the targets of good governance is “effectively guaranteeing the right to health.”

    In a 31 December, 2023 report in Nairametrics, titled “Top 5 health policies announced by federal government in 2023”, Chioma Chukwunedu, highlighted the following: Eye health takes centre stage (consisting of the national eye health plan, the Nigeria glaucoma guidelines and toolkit, and the national guidelines for screening and management of diabetic retinopathy); National Task Shifting and Task Sharing (NTSTS) policy to combat non-communicable diseases (involving the efficient utilisation of primary healthcare resources to reduce mortality rates from NCDs); Combatting cancer with strategic policies (consisting of the national strategic cancer control plan, the national cancer research agenda, the national strategic plan for the prevention of cancer of different forms; the national workplace policy on HIV/AIDS for Nigerian workplaces; and policies to reduce suicide and address mental conditions.

    Meanwhile, on 12 December, 2023, the government signed a compact involving the Federal Government, State Governments and development partners on the Nigeria Health Sector Renewal Investment Initiative (NHSRII). The key goal of the initiative is to facilitate Universal Health Coverage (UHC). A State House press release of that date reported that President Tinubu said as follows at the occasion: “Delivering improved quality health is an underpinning factor in my promise of Renewed Hope to Nigerians. That hope is ignited here today with the support of all multilateral partners and agencies; health is back on the front burner.”

    He was also reported to have said: “This occasion marks an opportunity for collective reflection and action as we recommit ourselves to the noble pursuit of health for all. The theme for this year ‘Health for All: Time for Action’ encapsulates the urgency and the determination with which we must approach this noble goal. Health is not merely the absence of disease but the embodiment of physical, mental, and social well-being. It is a fundamental human right and Nigeria’s commitment to achieving Universal Health Care Coverage is reflected in the unwavering dedication of my administration to uphold this right for every individual, young or old, in rural or urban areas.”

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    In his endorsement and goodwill message to the country, the Director-General of the World Health Organisation, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said: “WHO is proud to join you in signing the health sector renewal compact and we remain committed to working with all of you on the road towards universal health coverage and a healthier, safer, more equitable and more prosperous future for all Nigerians. As the Yoruba proverb says, “Ilera l’oro.” (‘Health is wealth.’)

    The 28 May, 2024 issue of Premium Times carried a report by Mariam Ileyemi, titled “Nigeria losing health professionals to countries that did not invest in their education – Minister.” The story has the note, “Over 5,000 Nigerian medical doctors migrated to the UK between 2015 and 2022.” In the report, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, was reported as making remarks at the opening plenary of the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA) in Geneva, Switzerland, from 27 May to 1 June, on the theme “All for Health, Health for All.” He was quoted as saying, with respect to Nigeria: “We are increasing domestic financing, expanding primary healthcare and financial protection for the poor and vulnerable, retraining frontline health workers and increasing training quotas for new ones, stimulating local production of commodities, reinforcing core public health capacities, strengthening prevention and preparedness, and controlling various disease outbreaks.”

    In the light of the foregoing, it would be helpful to examine the public perception of healthcare in Nigeria, especially in the context of medical tourism. When the expression “medical tourism” has been mentioned in the not too distant past, it has been done in relation to travelling from Western countries such as the United States to non-Western countries such as India to seek high quality, faster and cost-effective healthcare. When the term has been used in relation to Nigeria, it has been in relation to seeking from foreign lands the quality of education that was supposedly not available in the country.  In this regard, cost-effectiveness was never a consideration and relative time for accessing the healthcare was neither here nor there. This has placed foreign exchange pressure on the country, exacerbated brain drain and engendered increasing lack of confidence in the nation’s healthcare system.

    As the government continues to introduce fundamental policies to enhance the quality of and accessibility to healthcare in the country, and as the private sector continues to engage in innovative investment in the sector, it would be interesting to find out whether Nigeria is finding space among the world’s destination for medical tourism. This exercise is particularly motivated by some medical experiences which some beneficiaries have been gracious enough to share with me in recent times. One of such experiences concerned a patient who had need for a very complex, high risk surgery recently. Normally, a number of local and foreign health facilities were considered for the medical intervention. After a critical review of the options, medical experts decided that the surgery should be carried out in Nigeria.

    When the patient became stable after the apparently very successful operation, they were advised to go for an expert review of the procedures carried out and the level of success of the intervention. The choice of the country for the review was the United Kingdom. It was a highly-elated, more confident person who returned to Nigeria after they had been told, following the review by the UK experts, that there were no additional medical interventions needed, because the doctors who handled the health challenge had done a fantastic job.

    Corroborating the declaration of a high degree of confidence in Nigerian doctors, a Lagos-based lawyer narrated this experience: “My client informed me of a close friend of hers, a high profile individual in Nigeria who had a severe medical condition. Several times, the friend had been to the United Kingdom for treatment. However, there was no improvement. He never, for once, consulted with Nigerians doctors here in Nigeria or even Nigerian doctors outside the country, as he had the mindset that non-Nigerian doctors, outside Nigeria, were the ones whose expertise could be assured. He was subsequently referred to the United States for further examination and treatment. On getting there, he was assigned a Nigerian doctor, and he expressed his displeasure, saying ‘I came all the way from Nigeria to the United States. Why am I being assigned a Nigerian doctor? If I wanted a Nigerian doctor, I would have stayed back in Nigeria. To his surprise, he was informed by the white doctors that the Nigerian doctor assigned to him was actually the best and that he, was in fact, the head of the department. He was amazed. Thereafter,

    consultation was done, a date was scheduled for operation and the operation was carried out successfully; and his seemingly intractable problem was solved.”

    Then just last week a Nigerian-American came to Nigeria for a complex dental surgery. He arrived the country on Saturday, 25 May, 2024, had the operation on Monday, 27 May and by Wednesday, 29 May, he was strong enough to tour some states, before returning to the US on 1 June, 2024. He has kept expressing his amazement about the medical attention he received in terms of the swiftness of the commencement of the medical procedure, the expertise displayed and painstaking care by the doctor who treated him, and the unimaginably low cost of the surgery.          

    Taking a broader look at the issue, a Lagos-based Medical Diagnostic Representive said: “With the establishment of several world class healthcare facilities in Nigeria, the country is set to become a veritable destination for medical tourism, in addition to reversing the brain drain in the health sector. These world class healthcare facilities springing up in Nigeria will also curb medical tourism abroad, conserve foreign reserves and create jobs. To mention just a few, there are the likes of Duchess International Hospital, Evercare Hospital, Cedarcrest Hospital, Marcelle Ruth Cancer Centre, Clinix Healthcare, complemented by facilities such as Echolab Radiology which offers a one-stop-shop to medical and diagnostic services. Their establishment is aimed at delivering the highest standards of healthcare, using the  most advanced technology and treatments to provide Nigerians with the best medical expertise available anywhere in the world and serve as a dragnet for foreign medical tourists.”

    To enhance this trend, he counseled: “The Federal Government needs to provide financial incentives to the private sector health establishments and increase opportunities for the kind of public private partnership that is already ongoing in states like Lagos where some renowned diagnostic outfits positioned within General Hospitals offer an array of laboratory testing at well-discounted costs. The essence of these financial interventions and projects in the critical healthcare sector is to fast-track the evolvement of world class healthcare facilities like the ones mentioned above. With that, the nation’s foreign reserves can be conserved, more foreign exchange can be made for the country, jobs can be created, brain drain can be reversed, and the country can become a destination for medical tourists and also ensure affordable and standard healthcare for Nigerians. The government therefore needs to deliberately encourage the private sector. Indeed, the best time in the history of Nigeria to offer itself as the best destination for Healthcare investment is now, and the opportunity should not be missed.”

    This set of views are in consonance with the following admonition of the Director-General of WHO, Dr. Ghebreyesus, in his goodwill message to the unveiling of the NHSRII compact of 12 December, 2024: “As we always say, Universal Health Coverage is a political choice and it’s a choice you’re making. But it’s not a choice that’s made just on paper. It’s made in budget and policy decisions inside and outside the health sector. Most of all, it’s made by investing in Primary Health Care which is the most inclusive, equitable, cost-effective and efficient path to Universal Health coverage … investing in the people who deliver it, the health and care workers who are the backbone of every health system.”

    The point is therefore that if healthcare is widely or generally available to the citizens and the quality is confidence-inspiring, the attraction of non-Nigerians whose patronage can, in turn, be of immense value to the nation’s healthcare system and foreign exchange profile can be induced. To achieve these noble goals, sharp policy focus, policy consistency and enabling action are essential. In the meantime, as a complement to the rather anecdotal evidence presented in this column today, it is important to avail the nation of more systematic and more concrete evidence of the comforting trend of medical tourism to Nigeria.   

  • How Biden should use Trump’s conviction against him

    How Biden should use Trump’s conviction against him

    By David Rothkopf

    The Trump verdict continues to send shockwaves across the American political landscape—and on Friday, at his rambling Trump Tower press conference, the convicted felon continued to complain, decrying (absurdly, falsely) a “rigged” court that had done him wrong. As Joe Biden said afterward, “It is reckless, it is dangerous, it is irresponsible for anyone to say this was rigged just because they don’t like the verdict. The justice system should be respected and we should never allow anyone to tear it down.”

    This, of course, is precisely what Trump and his supporters want to do to the rule of law, as revealed in the widely differing reactions of America’s two political parties to the verdict. The GOP offered a coordinated message condemning the verdict, amplifying its impact and making it clear that attacking the rule of law in America is now a platform plank of the party. Democrats from the White House on down largely offered measured responses praising the judge and jurors and celebrating that our system of justice worked as it should.

    The word from the folks at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue immediately after the verdict was, “We respect the rule of law, and have no additional comment.” The Biden campaign offered a terse “No one is above the law.” Hakeem Jeffries, the Democratic House leader asserted, according to the Huffington Post, that “responsible leadership requires the verdict to be respected.” The article went on to quote a “Democratic aide” as saying, “What is the point of crowing? As an important fact, it makes its own point.”

    However, after Trump had spoken Friday, the Biden campaign wrote to supporters in a fundraising appeal, “Donald Trump is threatening our democracy.”

    There is also a growing chorus of voices arguing that Democrats should play up the guilty verdict. USA Today columnist Rex Huppke wrote, “Democrats should make sure (Trump’s status as a convicted felon is) all but stamped on his forehead. They should shout it from the rooftops, blast it out in every ad on every available platform. No voters should enter a polling place without knowing full well their options are between Democratic President Joe Biden and a convicted felon.

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    At The New Republic, Greg Sargent argued persuasively that because Trump’s conviction “shatters the myth of his invincibility” it should be used against him “ruthlessly and effectively.” (Note: my company produces Greg Sargent’s daily TNR podcast “The Daily Blast.”)

    In another instance of a critique of the comparatively low-key Dem response, one “democratic strategist” texted Semafor that “the party was making a mistake by not attacking Trump more directly over his conviction.”

    In this instance, both sides of this debate are correct.

    It is appropriate and also necessary for Democratic office holders, especially the president and those directly associated with him, to offer the subdued reaction they did. First, because that’s how senior officials who have sworn an oath to the Constitution traditionally react to such matters in the judiciary… and therefore the remarks stand in stark contrast to the orchestrated litany of GOP attacks on the rule of law in America that emanated from every corner of the GOP during the hours immediately following the verdict.

    Next, it is vitally important that the White House underscore through its actions that as in all judicial matters it plays a hands-off role—that this trial and all other trials involving Trump are not in any way being interfered with for political reasons despite GOP lies to the contrary. (The fact that the Hunter Biden trial begins next week neatly and compellingly provides evidence of that fact.)

    Finally, as the commentator in the Huffington Post noted, there is no need for the president, the vice president, or the White House to emphasize that Trump is a convicted felon because it is a label that has been forever affixed to his name. Those who don’t care, won’t care. But for those to whom it matters, the news was so massive that it cannot be ignored and it will not be forgotten.

    Should the President make passing reference to it when it is relevant? Of course. Should he and his surrogates condemn the orchestrated MAGA GOP attack on the rule of law in America, on the jurors who did their duty, on the prosecutors who diligently compiled and presented the evidence in the case? Definitely. The disgraceful Republican onslaught—coordinated across all 50 GOP state parties—cuts to one of the core issues the White House does intend to emphasize: the threat Trump and his MAGA followers pose to our institutions and to democracy in America. It should be highlighted from dawn to dusk because it is so pernicious and dangerous.

    But we should also be clear on the fact that campaign 2024 is not solely about pronouncements by the presidential candidates. The public debate will include, thanks to social media, millions of voices. The most prominent of those—and average Democrats with just a handful of followers—on the leading web-based platforms do not work within the constraints that should and do affect the president and other senior officials.

    The fact that Trump is a felon, sexual abuser, fraudster, and a traitor, the fact of all of his 91 felony indictments, the intersection of his criminal and legal record with his two impeachments, and his lifetime of deceit, corruption, and business failure, his role as a coup plotter, as author of the big lie, his theft of national secrets… all these things compose the picture of who Trump is that must be conveyed as Huppke and Sargent and others argue.

    Down-ballot Democrats, senatorial and congressional candidates who see the benefit of hammering home the terrible reality of what another Trump term would mean should definitely incorporate this week’s verdict into their messaging. So too should independent political groups, the producers of the videos and other statements that will populate our information ecosystem from now through Election Day.

    In those cases, it is not merely about presenting the fact that Trump is a convicted felon. It is about weaving that fact into the broader narrative of his shameful character and of the threat another four years in office of this reprobate would mean.

    So, yes, while the president and senior officials conduct themselves with the dignity and responsibilities their offices demand and thus distinguish themselves from their unprincipled opponents, we should hear a chorus of voices from across the entire Democratic Party emphasizing that whereas Trump’s conviction was a historical first, we cannot afford to set another precedent by making Trump the first convicted felon to be elected president of the United States.

    ·               This article was originally published in www.thedailybeast.com with the headline ‘This Is How Biden Should Use Trump’s Conviction Against Him’

  • Ibrahim Lamorde: Nigeria lost a gem to cold hands of death

    Ibrahim Lamorde: Nigeria lost a gem to cold hands of death

    By Mohammed Bello Adoke

    The nation was, in the early hours of Sunday, 26th May 2024, awoke to the sad news of the demise of DIG Larmorde, who was undergoing medical treatment in faraway Egypt. The news of his demise was shocking to the generality of Nigerians who knew him in much the same way as it evoked a deep sense of loss for those who had the good fortune of working and interacting closely with this dutiful, unassuming and gentlemanly Officer of the Nigerian Police Force.

    My first encounter with DIG Lamorde was in 2007, when I was representing a high-profile political figure from the south-south geopolitical zone of the country. He was courteous and pleasant and treated my client with dignity. Our paths were to cross again in November 2011 when President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR, appointed him as the Ag. Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) while I was serving as the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice. 

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    In all my interactions with him and his official capacity as chairman of the EFCC, I found Ibrahim Lamorde to be passionate and dutiful in the discharge of his duties. Under him, the EFCC’s operations were professional, cases were painstakingly investigated, and the rights of persons under investigation were duly respected as they were treated with respect and the dignity they deserved. Mr Ibrahim Lamorde would, in his characteristic candour, proffer opinion based on facts before him and independently discharge his duties in accordance with the dictates of his conscience and the best traditions of reputable investigating authorities.

    Despite his rank and exalted position, Ibrahim Lamorde was never carried away with the allure of power. He was humble yet firm in his convictions. I recall vividly his discussions with me regarding his modus operandi as a top cop and Chairman of the EFCC. He stated, “Public Officers must hold themselves accountable to their superiors, the society and most importantly, God.” This was the barometer against which all his official actions and conduct were measured. He often reiterated his resolve not to pander to the wishes of people in authority, as he felt bound to do right at all times and circumstances. Given my experiences with those who have held the office of EFCC Chairman before and after him, I am moved to state boldly that he was a rare gem.

    As we mourn his passing to the great beyond, I am convinced that his good works will speak for him before his creator. May Allah console his family and grant him Ajannah Firduarsi.

    Adieu to a Gentleman, Officer, and Patriot.

  • Back to the trenches

    Back to the trenches

    I apologise profusely and most sincerely to those who have turned to this column for the third part of our discussion on Land. I crave your indigence for a postponement in favour of a subject of deep personal interest, that is the situation in our universities. It is now fourteen years since the Federal government of Nigeria of her own free will and volition signed an agreement with ASUU, the representative body of Nigerian lecturers. Successive governments have through their refusal to move into the area of implementation have trashed an agreement which had the potential of elevating our universities to their rightful place. The time left for members of my generation to derive any benefits from this agreement is running out and if at this time, a government, any government does not do the needful, we would have waited in vain for what we have worked for. It would be an act of rascality were the government to continue to behave like a deranged bull in a china shop and continue to repudiate the extant agreement with ASUU.  This issue is particularly pressing because the 2009 agreement was to have been renegotiated in 2011 and several times since then. There is an issue of honesty and trust before us and these are currently weighier issues than my musing on land, something which all this rascality has driven beyond the reach of most Nigerian university lecturers.

    ASUU, as she has had to do at distressingly frequent intervals since 1992, has recently gone back to banging the drums of war. As is usual, nobody with even a modicum of government authority has so far, pretended to have had their ear drums disturbed by the thumping sounds of those drums. Going by established form, we are on the threshold of another ASUU strike which will bring all academic activities to a grinding halt in all our public universities. This will be accompanied by the usual rigmarole of apparent government indifference, followed by half hearted discussions, issuance of threats, appeals by all sorts of self-appointed interested parties to the striking lecturers to call off their strike ‘in the interest of their children and the future of the nation.’ Thoroughly and most effectively blackmailed, the lecturers will call off their strike before achieving anything remotely tangible and begin to agitate for the payment of their withheld salaries which they get after several months of sabre rattling by the government amidst threats by the lecturers to resume their strike which they insist they had only suspended. In the meantime, nothing tangible or sensible is achieved and the situation within our universities continues to deteriorate at an increasingly alarming rate . Given that this situation has existed for more than thirty years, one can only wonder if there is anything left to rescue from our university system which furthermore, has had to cope with an explosion of student number without a concurrent improvement in provided facilities, including competent lecturers. In addition to the mess on ground, the number of public universities increases almost by the day in the imitation of the witch  making a bad thing worse by producing an endless succession of daughters. The government which has not provided for the maintenance of existing universities thinks nothing of conjuring any number of new universities from thin air at the slightest hint of provocation or, of even none at all. The number of witches is enhanced alarmingly.

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    There is no need to gaze into a crystal ball to know that another ASUU strike is only round the corner. All the objective signs are there.  It is now only a matter of when the next strike will start.

    It is really frustrating that lecturers have presented the same catalogue of demands to successive governments since 1992 and that alone puts the problem in proper perspective. The stark reality is that our lecturers are disgracefully poorly paid. I know that very well since I was a professor within the system for all of thirty-one years, the last fifteen and more of which my take home pay stubbornly remained the same. It really does not matter how much I was paid but something is grievously wrong if my employer pays me the same amount in salary every month for more than fifteen years. Even within that system, I am entitled to an annual increase in salary as long as I remain in my post but I am denied that increase because there is a bar above which I am not able to rise unless there is a general review of salary. Surely, that cannot be right, if only because of pressure from the forces of inflation which dictates that if my salary increase is below the rate of inflation, what I have to deal with in real terms is a reduction in salary year after year. And that is what happened. How did I cope with that nonsense? The truth is, I did not and could not and I need to apologise to my nearest and dearest for exposing them to brutality of  penury in a country where money does all the talking for you. This is what happened to my colleagues except for those of them who found refuge in other establishments in and out of government control. It is not difficult to imagine that this route was open to only a few people in academia.

    The situation in which Academics have found themselves was, or beg your pardon, is truly appalling. This is especially so because when in my early twenties I hung the noose of academia around my neck, I was offered arguably the most attractive set of career prospects going. Not many of us were called and much fewer were chosen but the tacit understanding was that once you signed on those proverbial dotted lines, you were made for life. And, at least for me, there did not seem to be any obstacles on my career path, at least for the first fifteen years or so.

    One year after graduation my university admitted me to her excellent staff development scheme under which I was sent off for postgraduate training abroad. That went for a cohort of us who had graduated around 1972. Most, if not all of us promptly returned home after the completion of our studies, eager to take up the responsibility of contributing our quota to the development of our university. We were bursting with current ideas for university administration and development to complement what already existed in a university which was well placed to take the next step forward towards attaining world class status. The amount of money available to the university was adequate to take care of her needs to the extent that research grants were available to all members of staff who could generate viable research proposals. This was of critical importance because the rate at which you climbed up the ladder to attain the terminal post of professor depended on the quality and quantity of your research as seniority counts for nothing in the university. Some professors arrive at the top faster than those that taught them at the undergraduate level. In such a place, you are only in competition with yourself and the earlier you settled down to work, the better for your prospects of promotion and other forms of recognition.

    Lecturers are supposedly promoted on the bases of  their contribution to teaching, research and service, first to the university and then to the community. In reality however, research carried the greatest burden of the weight. A lecturer that carries a heavy load of teaching cannot be an effective teacher if he is not involved in meaningful research because his lectures will only be validated by his research activities. The more you carry out research, the more you will be able to teach on the current boundaries of your area .of academic interest. The first sign that things were falling apart in our universities was the drastic fall in the value of available research grants following the drastic devaluation of the Naira in those smoky Babangida days when university research took a back seat to every other activity on our various campuses destroying the orderliness of academic transactions.

    With the virtual disappearance of money for research came the problem of money to buy the materials necessary to teach the students. Laboratory materials could not be found for love or money and stationery became unavailable. True story, when my promotion to professor was finally communicated to me, I received an accompanying memo from the registrar asking me to send so many sheets of full scrap paper so that the registry could inform all relevant departments of the change in my status. I promptly wrote back, with a copy to the Vice Chancellor saying that I had no intention of complying with that request adding that I considered the request an egregious insult. The Vice Chancellor being a professor, graciously intervened decisively in the matter and resolved it in my favour.

    From not having paper for running the university, it was one short step to paying lecturers derisory salaries which left them gasping for more. That was in 1992 and today with crushing inflationary pressures, the situation is much worse. Lecturers at all levels have now been pushed to the wall and they have nowhere else to turn.

    In the early seventies, lecturers had the best of everything and there was no shortage of young men and women who were keen on becoming university lecturers. The best students were creamed off by academia, to the envy of their peers. True, some companies in the private sector offered more remuneration than the universities, the difference was not decisive and there were even some who abandoned jobs in oil companies for university employment. Today, there is nothing attractive about an academic career and it is not surprising that our best students, those who should be pushing the limits of academic boundaries are instead pushing files in some bank or oil company even to the detriment of their own interests as capable human beings.

    We have been having this corrosive conversation for far too long and the current government has no excuse if like its far from illustrious predecessors, it continues in the policy of ignoring the legitimate demands of a crucial sector of the nation’s productive sector. There are many things wrong with our university system and there is nothing left to talk about. Now is the time to move forward by implementing the terms of the 2009 ASUU – Government agreement as a basis for bringing our universities in from the cold. Anything less is betrayal of a sacred trust.

  • Appraising Tinubu’s one year in office

    Appraising Tinubu’s one year in office

    By Abu Ibrahim

    As President Bola Ahmed Tinubu marks one year in office this week, Nigerians are evaluating his performance in the various sectors so far. His election marked a critical moment in Nigeria’s political history, evoking expectations and scrutiny. This is often the case. In doing this, however, most of the analyses on Tinubu’s performance do not do justice to the dire economic challenges that confronted Nigeria before his swearing-in. An analysis of the president’s performance in the last year must be put in proper context. Some of the “little things” the president needs to do, especially for the downtrodden, will also be highlighted.

    The Tinubu administration inherited sluggish economic growth, record debt and shrinking oil output. He also had zero budget for fuel subsidy. These challenges have made life tough for Nigerians. Nigeria’s debt ballooned by nearly 60 per cent since 2015, hitting $103 billion in early 2023, according to figures released by the Debt Management Office. Considering the off-book loans from the Central Bank of Nigeria, the country’s indebtedness appears higher, at $167 billion. This was why finance experts asserted that as much as 90 per cent of the revenue would be needed to service the debt.

    In January 2023, ratings agency, Moody’s downgraded Nigeria, citing those figures. According to some calculations, debt servicing costs surpassed revenue last year. Nigeria’s shockingly low levels of government revenue also raised questions about its ability to spend to boost growth. The debt pressures are symptomatic of that lack of government revenue.

    The shortfall in revenue stems from rampant, industrial-scale theft which pressed oil output in 2023 to its lowest in more than 30 years. Oil and gas typically fund half of Nigeria’s budget and 90 per cent of our foreign exchange. Continued theft, underinvestment and industrial disputes hinder output. On top of this, crippling fuel subsidies drain what is left of oil sales. Fitch Ratings estimated that the implicit petrol subsidy must have cost the government approximately 2.4 per cent of GDP in foregone revenue. Experts say taming the subsidy and boosting oil output, is the path away from an economic conundrum.

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    The previous administration created a complicated web of official and parallel exchange rates to support the embattled naira. It also created a long list of items banned from using central bank foreign exchange. This policy, businesses say, resulted in widespread dollar shortages that impacted negatively on growth, while investors say the difficulty in getting money out of the country has strangled investment. The Tinubu administration began tackling this through its monetary and fiscal policies especially as inflation hit a nearly two-decade high, eating into savings and salaries.

    There are also multifaceted security challenges. The country’s six geopolitical zones are faced with one or more forms of insecurity from banditry, kidnapping, separatist agitations, assassinations, farmer-herder clashes, and communal clashes, coupled with over a decade-long fight against Boko Haram terrorists.

    These were the challenges Tinubu inherited last year. To forge ahead, he needed to take tough economic decisions. He removed the crippling fuel subsidy regime which all the presidential candidates in the 2023 election said they would do too. He liberalised the foreign exchange market and constituted a high-powered committee to reform the tax policy. These steps – which are painful, no doubt – are necessary because Nigeria’s many problems need to be addressed urgently for various reasons. The population is growing and based on projections, it is expected to be the third most populated country in the world by 2050. Also, it is witnessing a brain drain due to citizens leaving the country in droves for socioeconomic reasons.

    So, how do I appraise the president’s performance in the last year?

    Given the prevailing circumstances highlighted above, the president has done well in the last year. He has laid a solid foundation for economic growth. President Tinubu is resolutely focused on policies and actions that will attract long-term local and foreign investments to Nigeria, knowing that every naira and dollar of new investment means new jobs, increased productivity for local consumption and export, and much-needed economic growth. For these investments to happen, the business environment must be conducive. This explains the ongoing effort to rebuild the capacity of the Central Bank of Nigeria. It also accounts for tax and fiscal reforms in the country, to reduce the burden on businesses.

    The establishment of the Renewed Hope Infrastructure Development Fund (RHIDF) is worth mentioning at this stage. The RHIDF is geared toward mobilising billions of dollars for critical infrastructure projects like roads and highways, airports and seaports, and power plants, among other things. Since he assumed office, the president has undertaken several foreign trips engaging with local and foreign investors with remarkable success. This economic diplomacy has seen investment commitments of more than $30 billion across various sectors.

    Equally important is the repositioning of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP). The NSIP is the signature project of the APC in reaching vulnerable Nigerians. The repositioning aims to deliver maximum value to the intended beneficiaries, without the distortion by middlemen. This vision of targeted economic relief has also led to the launch, in recent weeks, of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) and the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CrediCorp), and a Presidential Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative to provide a cheaper alternative to petrol and diesel for transporters.

    In the last year, the government has also provided direct and targeted economic relief and benefits to boost the livelihoods of Nigerians. The reliefs include grants, education loans, food and fertilizer distribution, cash transfers, health insurance, and consumer credit. Disbursement has since commenced of the nano-grants of fifty thousand Naira each intended for one million Nigerians, part of a larger 200 billion Naira MSMEs credit programme. Understanding the desirability of these grants, the president recently spoke at the World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, he said, “Concerning the question of subsidy removal, there is no doubt that it was a necessary action for my country not to go bankrupt and to reset the economy and the pathway to growth. It was going to be difficult, but the hallmark of leadership is making difficult decisions when they need to be made.”

    The liberalisation of the forex market was one of the measures the Tinubu administration took in its early days. On this the president said, “The currency management was necessary, equally to remove the artificial element of value in our currency. Hence, our local currency finds its level and competes with the rest of the world’s currencies as we remove corrupt arbitrage and opaqueness.” President Tinubu wants to reposition the country to become competitive on the global stage. Because of this, we can no longer afford certain ways of doing things. We must push past the false comfort of certain ingrained habits and practices, and endure inevitable but temporary discomfort because we are certain that ahead of us lies lasting reward.

    President Tinubu also campaigned on providing a student loan which he did with the setting up of the Students Loan Act. When issues were raised regarding some aspects of the Act, the president promptly ordered adjustments. He later sent the Act back to the National Assembly, where it was revised in record time and returned for presidential assent. Today we have a much-improved Act that will deliver even greater value to the young Nigerians for whom it is intended.

    I am confident that as the implementation of the first full-year budget of the Tinubu administration gathers momentum, Nigerians will increasingly see, across all sectors of the economy, concrete manifestations of the renewed hope they ushered in a year ago. While Nigeria is facing economic challenges, it is essential to view these challenges as opportunities for positive transformation. By embracing comprehensive economic reforms, prioritising social welfare, creating job opportunities, accelerating infrastructure development, and fostering inclusive governance, Nigeria can move faster on a path of sustainable growth and development. The collective effort of government, private sector, and citizens is paramount in shaping a future where economic policies are not just markers of change but catalysts for progress and prosperity for all.

    President Bola Tinubu is advised to continue his high-powered engagement with the 36 state governors and the National Assembly, especially in fast-tracking local government autonomy. I am passionate about local governments because they are established to ensure effective governance at the grassroots. The essence is to give them specific powers to perform a range of functions assigned to it by law and to perform an array of functions, plan, formulate and execute its policies, programmes and projects, and its own rules and regulations as deemed for its local needs. One of these policies should centre on security and employment generation. If this is done, the security challenges and the high unemployment the country is grappling with can be nipped in the bud. 

    • Senator Ibrahim was a member of the 6th, 7th and 8th National Assembly