The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Bribery allegation: In defence of Amaechi, morality, common sense

    Blackmail is another weapon Nigerians deploy to flaunt their innocence whenever they are at the threshold of being nailed on any issue. Most times, the manner Nigerians resort to blackmail stands logic on its head, twist morality and offend laws of the land.

    Although, several Justices in Nigeria are under investigation, but the case of the two embattled Supreme Court Justices John Iyang Okoro and Sylvester Ngwuta’s whom the DSS raided, arrested and detained for alleged judicial corruption has assumed an asinine twist.

    Conspiratorially, the duo rushed out in public domain to hear allegations of attempts to corrupt them by former Rivers State governor and Transport Minister, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi.

    They mindlessly lashed out at Amaechi whom they accused of providing the grounds for their persecution for refusal to tinker with some governorship elections petitions before the apex court. They funnily want Nigerians to believe the refusal to be negatively influenced by one person forecloses the chances of accepting the same request from another person.

    Justice Okoro started it all. Precisely, on October 17, 2016, he claimed in a letter to the Chief Justice of Nigeria, (CJN) Justice Mahmud Mohammed that he rejected the offer of Amaechi to influence Justices to alter verdicts on the governorship tussle in favour of APC in Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Abia states. The Justice expressed strong conviction that his present travails may not be unconnected with his snubbing of Amaechi’s request to tamper with the verdicts. And that he made a verbal report to the CJN on February 1, 2016, about Amaechi’s visit to his official residence.

    “In that report, I told you, my Lord that Mr. Amaechi said the President of Nigeria and the All Progressives Congress mandated him to inform me that they must win their election appeals in Rivers State, Akwa Ibom and Abia states at all costs,” he enthused.

    Less than 48 hours after Justice Okoro’s publicized allegations on Amaechi, another embattled colleague also under the heat of DSS over judicial corruption mouthed the same allegation. What separated the two were the states involved-   only Rivers and Ekiti states guber disputes.

    Justice Ngwuta’s allegations were contained in a letter dated October 18, 2016, also addressed to the CJN.  Lamenting his several unfriendly encounters with Amaechi, the Justice reeled out series of mind-boggling issues, including alleged threats he received from Amaechi.

    Interestingly, whatever problem the accused Justices have with the DSS is strictly their burden to resolve. But the hasty roping of Amaechi into their dilemma with the DSS based on such hazy recollections and projection of the abnormal belittles their status as Justices of the apex court.

    By the submissions, it is quite discernible the judges have advertised issues intended to raise a podium to rubbish and blackmail Amaechi; except that they are poorly scripted in timing and factuality.

    First, from the files of the DSS and the EFCC, at least 15 judges at various layers of the Judiciary are under investigation currently for alleged judicial corruption. The submission of Justices Okoro and Ngwuta in the letter to the CJN is forcing a baseless impression that the remaining 13 judges too could have possibly turned down Amaechi’s overtures to influence verdicts in their courts and thus, his invocation of “harassment” from security agents? It cannot be true.

    And let’s hypothetically agree that President Buhari is an interested party in any of the governorships disputes in the mentioned states, under litigation at the Supreme Court, but everyone knows it’s impossible for him to   delegate Amaechi to influence any judge at his behest.

    Ideally, he would rather parley with the CJN directly expressing his interest in the cases and it ends it all. But if he cannot condescend to the level of the CJN, the alternatives are clear and Amaechi is not in this reckoning by any stretch of imagination.

    To further water the impression of the DSS’s arrest and detention of the Justices as vendetta for their refusal to compromise justice, the wailing Justices speak as if the Director-General of the DSS or the Chairman of EFCC take directives from Amaechi, so with his snap of the fingers to settle a personal grievance,   the security agents rushed after the accused Judges.

    But the Justices, especially those on the Bench of the Supreme Court are the final destination in the interpretation of Laws of Nigeria. Like the River State APC Chairman, Chief Davies Ibiamu Ikanya averred in a public statement, the Justices should know better that the giver and taker of bribes commit criminal offences under the   Corrupt Practices And Other Related Offence Act 2000.

    These learned Justices had the opportunity to brighten Nigeria’s perception of Buhari’s anti-graft war by publicly clipping the wings of Amaechi who sought to adulterate their verdicts with bribes. But they reneged; waited for months to be accused of judicial corruption before they remembered their   uprightness or vow not to desecrate their sacred oath of office. These are tales far from the truth.

    Additionally, a very senior Judge like Justice Ngwuta  as disclosed in his distorted epistle to the CJN  was threatened by a politician like Amaechi who came to his house and said  ‘we shall see’ several times,”  and he kept mum?

    It is conceivable that a Supreme Court Judge would bury obvious threats to his life and would not even document it with the National Judicial Council (NJC), but merely inform the CJN verbally.  Is he saying the NJC forbids members of the Bench from taking legal actions against violators of their rights or when their lives are threatened?

    It brings the matter to the doorstep of another realm of reasoning. Almost all the raided, arrested and detained judges are alleging innocence and judicial persecution by the Presidency. They have also qualified the raids of their houses, arrest and detention as illegal and unconstitutional. It implies the DSS and its principals have infringed on their fundamental human rights as Nigerians.

    But they are unprepared to explain to Nigerians what is restraining   them from challenging DSS action in court, if they are convinced of their innocence.  Or are they implying that laws governing the NJC also forbid Judges from seeking legal redress over personal injuries or infringements on them by individuals, government institutions or the government itself?

    These Justices should go back to their factory of doubtful tales and bark out something more convincing to Nigerians. For now, their rehearsed fables with the glaring intent of blackmailing Amaechi nay the FGN to inspire public sympathy has failed to impress anyone and hit the rocks.

    By Nkechi Odoma,

    Guest columnist and public affairs commentator.

  • Lagos shanties of Horror

    Lagos shanties of Horror

    All over the world, shanties in cities is a natural concomitant of urbanisation. In world’s most populous cities such as Bombay, Hong Kong, London and Singapore, the problem of shanties is a recurring decimal which governments in these countries have battled to solve for ages. The cause varies from rural urban migration, illegal immigrants syndrome in capitals like London and Washington DC, to poverty and insufficient and unaffordable accommodation. Coupled with this is the fact that the urban population in the world is rising generally.

    Lagos, a mega city with an estimated population of 22 million inhabitants is not an exception in the menace of shanties and this has been on for ages. The only exception is that Lagos shanties are becoming that of horror where illegal migrants like kidnappers and militants have made their comfort zones, from where they make use of the waterways to ferry their victims to another location.

    Recently, Governor Ambode ordered that all shanties in Ilubirin and along all creeks, waterways and under high tension cables be demolished while the illegal occupants should be evicted. This may sound harsh in the face of the present economic situation, but the fact remains that the action is necessary in order to protect lives and property of about 22 million Lagosians. Building of illegal structures under high tension cables is without doubt, an accident waiting to happen which no responsible government would condone.

    The history of the Ilubinrin shanties especially, reveals that the present illegal occupants moved in and erected illegal structures by cashing in on the time lag created by the redesigning of the Ilubinrin housing project which was started by former Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu about ten years ago with the reclamation of the lagoon while the fishermen who were there at that time were resettled at Badore.

    The housing units which was initially expected to accommodate 1,254 housing units started in 2013, while the scheme was reviewed and redesigned by the administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to accommodate 1,500 families and make the place a live, work and play environment, with the partnership of a private investor. However, the illegal settlers moved into Illubirin waterfront during the process of redesigning the scheme and erected shanties. It is also noteworthy that all quit notices to the illegal occupants have been ignored up till the time that the illegal structures were demolished.

    It is not in doubt that shanties all over the world have always provided a safe haven for all sorts of criminals. In Lagos, shanties, especially those along the coastal areas have become the base of kidnappers as witnessed in Arepo, though in Ogun State, the kidnappers who are suspected militants operated in Lagos and even kidnapped a monarch, Oba Goriola Oseni, the Oniba of Iba. It took the aerial bombardment of the Arepo shanties by the Nigerian Airforce to reduce the once operational base of the kidnappers to rubbles and this has restored relative peace in the area.

    The recent case of kidnap of students and teachers of Lagos Senior and Junior Model College,Igbonla-Epe, on Thursday in their school and who are still in captivity, once again brought to the fore the dangers inherent in allowing these shanties to fester in the state. Before the Epe kidnapping incident, in March 2016, 3 female students of Babington Macaulay Junior Seminary, Ikorodu Lagos, were also abducted and were only rescued six days after, through the prompt intervention of the Lagos State Government.

    With the above incidents, the Governor could hardly be faulted for ordering the demolition of all shanties along creeks and waterways. Apart from the security of lives and property of millions of Lagosians which is the primary responsibility of any government, the move would enhance the government’s pursuit of its policy on cleaner environment and restoration of master plans through the removal of all environmental infractions and nuisances across the state. No investor would bring his money to a city where his life, that of his family and property are not safe.

    While the plight of the urban poor most of who migrated to the city to have a better live must be considered as many of us including Governor Ambode are from humble backgrounds, this does not mean that government should fail in its duty to educate the people on the need to refrain from constructing any structure on river banks, because the safety of about 22 million residents of the State cannot be allowed to be jeopardised by few.

    Not a few people will agree with the obvious fact stated by the state government that, “It is quite worrisome that ramshackle structures, sheds, canopies and shanties, especially along shorelines have turned to the abode of miscreants/street urchins, rapists, kidnappers, touts, street traders and hawkers who often vandalise public utilities and attack innocent citizens”. Apart from the above, lives of the illegal occupants of these shanties are at risk of flooding and other health hazards like cholera and other communicable diseases as a result of poor hygienic conditions of the shanties.

    Just like any other city in the world, the concentration of economic development in a city like Lagos has largely accounted for population boom in very short periods of time which has severely stretched the coping capacity of city governments. One of the most visible outcomes of rapid urbanisation is therefore Urban Slum Formation. The most pragmatic solution to this is that the Lagos state government taking a cue from other developing nations with city slums, is focussing on the effective link established between planned economic development, uban growth and housing.

    This is why Governor Ambode’ s assurance to Lagosians that a lot of houses would be rolled out in the next few months is a cheering news. It is equally heart warming that the private investor will move into the Ilubinrin housing project site with an investment of a whopping $500m anytime from now.

    Boxer and politician Manny Pacquiao, built over 1,000 houses for poor Philippinos in his home town. The multi-millionaire boxing champion, who is also a congressman, and a born-again Christian said, “As faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms, each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others. I’m so happy giving this houses free to my constituents in Sarangani Province from my own pocket more than thousand families are the beneficiaries.”

    I know we may not have another Pacquiao in Nigeria even though we have many religious organisations richer than many state governments, but let such individuals and organisations compliment the effort of government by assisting the poor to have access to decent but affordable accommodation. If they cannot offer the houses free like Pacquaio, they can at least make it so cheap that there will be no need for the urban poor to erect shanties that would later become a safe haven for criminals with the attendant health risks to the inhabitants, especially hapless women and children.

    It is high time the Lagos state government demolish all shanties of horror which has become the abode of kidnappers of our school children while reviewing the law against kidnapping to make it a capital punishment as obtained in other states in Nigeria.

    Akintunde, a development economist, wrote from Lagos.

  • Shi’a victim syndrome: Paid mourners, dangerous propaganda

    Shi’a victim syndrome: Paid mourners, dangerous propaganda

    The Shi’a sect’s manifestation in Nigeria: the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), has apparently been ramping up its propaganda.Its strategy has improved to now include delivering its version of the truth using respectable clerics, editorials of respected online publications, talking heads that saturate the airwaves and columnists that seemingly appear to be writing across the divides.

    One of the latter category, Chris Ngwodo, penned a write up “Nigeria’s War Against the Shi’a” which perfectly fits into the new slant of covertly threatening the nation to accept IMN’s excesses without the extremist group having to tone down its own insurrection against the secular state.Like all the other formats of the newfound strategy,the new approach adopted by the Shi’a sect is drawing on an asset they had the foresight to set up,their convoluted accounts of past events are now being quoted by those newly deployed to manage their propaganda efforts.

    True to a time-worn IMN strategy of blaming just about everyone but themselves, Ngwodo’s article in one breath blamed President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for a phantom Shi’a ordeal while in the same breath acknowledged that they had a run-in with the law in 2014 when a different government held sway. In the traditional disdain. the group has for anything related to constituted authority, security agencies that acted to contain the excesses of a belligerent group and those who dared exercise their rights to speak against IMN extremism were described as “extremist voices” and “monsters”.

    The piece tried to confuse the issues in IMN’s December 2015 confrontation of the Army when it said President Buhari tacitly justified the massacres. It may be a topic for another day and another context but it is fraudulent to describe attackers that died in a counter-military operation as massacred. The ones that survived among them should be answering charges for using helpless women and underaged youths as human shields.

    The writer alluded to a Nigerian state that has “escalated its hostility against the Islamic Movement in Nigeria” since the 2015 incident as a prelude to dismissing the genuine efforts made in getting to the root of that crisis. It did admit that the Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up by the Kaduna State government indicted both the army and the IMN,it sidestepped the report of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC),which was unequivocal in placing the blame on the leadership and members of IMN.That report specifically demanded the immediate trial of IMN leader,Sheikh El-Zakyzaky for precipitating what Ngwodo termed “massacre”.

    The import of two separate but related events were lost on the author of that pro-IMN missive. First, the decision of Katsina, Kano and Kebbi states to follow in the footsteps of Kaduna state in outlawing the IMN is apparently the product of popular demand that other states will do well to emulate. No group has the right to plague persons of other faiths and convictions and not expect the state to step in as an umpire. Secondly, the condemnable attacks on Shi’a Kaduna, Funtua, Sokoto, Kano and Jos should give members of the group and their paid commentators cause to ponder what they did wrong to provoke such morbid outrage among other nationals.

    Describing these developments as “state-backed systematic persecution and extermination of the Shi’a” is, therefore, disingenuous and the true hallmark of bigotry. Several fundamentals might have simmered beneath the surface over the years but where one of the parties to the situation decides to escalate aggression,it will take an irresponsible government not to act in the collective interest of all citizens,which in this case implies that the rest must be protected from the aggression of the errant group. No one has said the Shi’a cannot practice what they hold dear,but they must also recognize by the same token that the rest of the country have the right not to be coerced into Shi’a doctrines.

    The writer of the referenced piece, if he is above 45 years old,may wish to cast his mind back to when he was younger and see if there was so much noise about sectarian differences in Islam.If he is a younger person he should ask those who should know. What he referred to as “anti-Shi’a prejudice” has more to do with the responses of states and individuals to IMN aggression.

    To then try whipping up anti-Sunni prejudice in response to anti-Shi’a prejudice is to be himself guilty of what he is preaching against. If he takes a sincere reality check, he will realize that there is a growing disenchantment with the faiths and sects that are driven offshore. Even if such disenchantment were in its early stage, the pursuit of secularism is what will work for Nigerians and not foreign funded and driven divisions, as he correctly observed at some illuminating point in his article.

    That illumination was however absent when it claimed that IMN members only held peaceful protest marches that were then attacked by mobs and security forces.Such claims could only be made by someone that has never had a taste of the horrors that the Shi’a outfit is capable of inflicting.

    The Charges against the Shi’a

    This capability of the IMN was at the root of outlawing the group. Once it has gotten to the point where it openly took on the Army and even reportedly made an attempt on the life of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) it became glaring that the nation was not dealing with a ragtag of urchins.

    Outlawing the IMN in Kaduna state by the Governor,Mallam Nasir El Rufai was a logical step.As the order noted, IMN does not acknowledge the Nigerian state,a fact demonstrated by it not bothering with registration; the group was militarized, it preaches extremism while its members had remained confrontational and unruly in the aftermath of the 2015 incident.

    Other groups may hold similar views in their closet but they will get a taste of the state when they escalate matters to the level of the IMN. Boko Haram has tried it and they now know better.The oil militants have tried it and they are walking back their folly.

    That El ZakZaky, the IMN leader once take pro-constitutional and pro-state stances does not rule out the possibility of recanting and denying the primacy of the secular Nigerian state.If he once spoke for constitutionality and then more recently opted to fight the institutions and concepts enshrined in the constitution, the previous views expressed are no protection to shield him from security agencies that must do their work.

    This is a mistake that the political class must not repeat.They have in the past allowed demagogic sects to fester and only acted when it was too late.Criticisms like the ones unloaded by Ngwodo must not petrify them from blocking the ride of another extremist group. When IMN take over public spaces with their processions to the discomfort of others it is a matter of time before the will raise flags, claim territories and enforce their own version of reality. Now that it is known that no sect or faith should hijack state infrastructure, we must move to the next state of stopping Friday prayers and Sunday services from obstructing the roads.

    The Strange Politics of Anti-Shi’a Activism

    It is indeed strange that Shi’as are minority in one paragraph and they become strategic to  El Rufai,Buhari,and the All Progressives Congress winning elections. Since their numbers can swing votes then they are not in the minority,at least not on the scale they’re marketing to the world.  They should thus exploit the strength of their numbers at the polls and that is if they are willing to recognize, held by the Nigerian state.

    Sowing the Wind of Extremism

    It is for the precise reason that Nigeria should not be proxy battle ground for the Middle East that it becomes imperative for the Government of The Federal Republic of Nigeria to counter external influences here. If the wind of extremism is being sown in Nigeria the proof have been traced to Iran as state sponsor of terrorism – cache of arms uncovered,spies arrested in Lagos,financial ties with IMN and other smoking guns.Once Saudi Arabia can be implicated even on a smaller scale,any group they are financing would have a run-in with the law.

    It must be noted that it is the institutions of state like the Nigerian Army that have been at the forefront of the anti-terror fight and the IMN has done a lot to attempt tarnishing such entities using Amnesty International and Islamic Human Rights Commission.

    The military has not relented in doing the needful apparently because there is that commitment to ensure that replication of the Middle East kind of chaos would not work here irrespective of how much IMN or any other group assigned to make it happen does.  Ngwodo apparently managed to let slip an agreed talking points for the new IMN propaganda onslaught.

    It is that claim that the other Muslim sects and Christians would be the next in the firing line once the Shi’as have been disposed of. He even found an opportunity to remind readers of ethnic cleansing and genocide in one desperate attempt at fear mongering.
    Protecting Minorities and Securing Democracy.

    Minorities need not take up arms in response to this unwarranted fear mongering.The first protection that minorities – be they ethnic, religious or sectarian – need is to be shielded from the danger posed by IMN.Beyond making life unbearable for everyone,the sect has been promoting the idea that insurrections can be carried out without consequences.No minority group should buy into this fallacy. Rising up against the state is never the best option.

    To protect minorities and secure democracy,what is needed is to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari not to relent in ridding the country of all forms of extremism since it is now clear that Boko Haram is not the only fanatical group.If Mr President can do this for Nigeria then his legacy is secured.

    Onoja writes from Jos.

  • Reparation: A Case For Nigerian Soldiers

    Reparation: A Case For Nigerian Soldiers

    Seven years of Nigeria’s engagement with haunting and revolving internal security crises speak of her most turbulent history since independence. Whether it is the violence of terrorists in Northeast; pulling of the strings by armed bandits and cattle rustlers or stretching further to militants in the Niger Delta and the Southeastern, somewhat, thoughtless agitations for secession have for the same number of years weighed so much on the country’s internal security coherence.

    It has cost Nigeria huge waste of both human and material resources, but most importantly, the loss of its finest military personnel in unnecessary combat escapades for internal national security. No one can doubt that the Nigerian military’s main constitutionally defined duty is to protect the nation against external aggression.

    Internal aggression is basically the duty of other arms of security agencies, such as the Police, and its latter-day sister, Civil Defence. But when breach of internal security gets worse and beyond the capacity of these civil security agencies, the military, especially soldiers are drafted into it in complementary status.

    Lawfully, the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria drums it in section 217, where it clearly outlines the duties of the various arms of the military, like the Army, Navy and Air force. It goes further to assert that Nigeria’s territorial integrity and her borders, whether on land; in the sea or air, must be protected. Quelling internal insurrection by the military is secondary and it publicizes the additional duty of the military.

    Bargaining it the more, Nigerians who have taken to the profession of the armed forces are loved by their country, much as their beloved families. They have graciously chosen to sacrifice their lives to secure Nigeria and her peoples.  They are the rare warriors of the nation, which some communities lack. They are deprived of every comfort to keep Nigeria secured.

    Nigeria’s map today has been re-drawn with massive internal violence. The country has become a replica of a state or nation under siege by its own deviants. The level of sophisticated weapons and ammunitions at the disposal of these agents of destabilization against the state baffles even the devil who might, perhaps, be tempted to rebel against his kingdom. They often overwhelm civil security apparatus, each time they strike, compelling presidential orders for the involvement of the military.

    Most times, such presidential orders are directed at the Nigerian Army. This is not to say, other segments of the armed forces are not important or do not perform similar or vital functions on security in the country.

    But by the nature of soldiers, they are more inclined to assist weakened or overwhelmed civilly-friendly security apparatus in the country. Soldiers operate on ground, but in contrast, the Navy does it in the water and the Airforce, in the air. Soldiers are nearer the police in such dire stress of national security dilemma.

    The argument has been that among armed security forces in Nigeria (and including the Police), the army is the most vulnerable camp of the fraternity. Arguably too, the army parades more number of personnel than the rest other arms of the military.

    In Internal Security Operations (ISOPs) Nigerian soldiers suffer more casualties than any other compartment of the armed forces. Those who are abreast with news would easily testify that whether in the Northeast or the South-South or anywhere, the arm of the Nigerian military which suffer more casualties as always confirmed by the mass media is the Nigerian army.   Screaming news headlines such as “ Boko Haram insurgents kill soldiers,” or “ Soldiers ambushed by Boko Haram” have been the frequent of the media. You hardly hear of the Airforce or the Navy.

    There are dozens of soldiers, who die or get killed in the line of duty.  It’s their sworn voluntary vow to die in loyalty and defence of their country. But the frequency of the deaths of soldiers and their proneness to such preventable hazards in the course of duty has raised serious concerns about the families they leave behind and the need for compensation.

    Two recent outstanding incidents can appropriately punch this plea.  Last month’s attack on soldiers or troops in Bosso LGA of Niger State and the boat incident involving some Nigerian soldiers of the “Operation Crocodile Smile, “ in Bayelsa state comes to mind.

    Numbers of soldiers who have lost their lives in the Boko Haram insurgency need no mention and Nigerians are aware. When news headlines scream about deaths of military personnel, it’s all about soldiers.

    The Bosso LGA, Niger state and the boat mishap incidents in Bayelsa sufficiently conveys the plight of soldiers and why they ought not only to be appreciated, but Nigerians should begin to canvass for a special compensation for their families.

    The NUJ leadership in Abuja, under Comrade Waheed Odusile, penultimate week, hailed Nigerian army as the best in the world.  The commendation emanated from a clan of critical minds, (journalists) permanently insatiable, but were touched by the sacrifice Nigerian soldiers have made to rescue Nigeria from anchors of terrorism. It implies that Nigerians across board are beginning to appreciate them.

    Why this appreciation is necessary and should extend beyond words of mouth could easily be pictured in the two incidents cited earlier. In the Niger state incident, soldiers or troops on “cordon and search” operation in some communities in  Bosso were ambushed on three different fronts by armed bandits and gun-runners by the same community they went to secure.

    At  the end of gunfire, at least, 10 members of the troops lost their lives. But out of the number, eight soldiers, including an officer, lost their lives; however, just two airmen died in the incident, and yet another soldier could not be found immediately.

      Director, Army Public Relations (DAPR), Col. Sani Usman,  explained that,   “following covert surveillance and intelligence reports on the activities of some gun runners and armed bandits in Kopa, Dagma and Gagaw villages of Bosso LGA, Niger State, troops of 31 Artillery Brigade, 1 Division Nigerian Army, in conjunction with Nigeria Air Force detachment on Internal Security Operation MESA went on quick cordon and search in the affected areas to recover suspected weapon cache and arrest the suspected persons and the armed bandits.”

    “While approaching and deploying to carry out their lawful duty, the troops came under simultaneous and sporadic shootings in all the three locations. They however responded as necessary in line with the rules of engagement,” he added.

    In another incident, some Nigerian soldiers attached to ‘Operation Crocodile Smile’ in Bayelsa had a boat accident, when locals ambushed their boat on the sea. Many soldiers also lost their lives.  “It is quite a tragic incident, ” mourned Col. Sani.

    Therefore, it is easy to understand that the army is the mother of other arms of the armed forces. They are on land, in water and everywhere duty beckons.

    But after each death of a soldier, the family’s sorrow is exacerbated with isolation and abandonment. Outside, the late soldier’s legitimate entitlements, in some instances, very meagre,   Nigerians   abandon the family, comprising usually, a wife (s) and children, some of them very tender.

    It’s improper and inhuman to continue this way. Nigeria as a country can do more to assuage the pains of families of soldiers who die on the battle front.

    The Current Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen. Tukur Buratai has promised that every soldier who has partaken in the Northeast terrorism war is entitled to a personal house upon retirement. This and a lot more are achievable in appreciation of Nigeria’s gallant soldiers. Nigerians should begin to think along this line of thought. Its reparation for Nigerian soldiers too much a price, the nation can pay for their sacrifice?

    Akorojo writes from Ikeja, Lagos State.

  • Diaspora Nigerians decry lack of ambassadors

    Diaspora Nigerians decry lack of ambassadors

    Few months after the official screening of the Ambassadorial nominees by the senate committee on foreign affairs, Nigeria is still without any Ambassador in any foreign mission except charge de Affairs.
    The Nigerians both home and in the diaspora deserve to know the reasons behind the non-confirmation of the Ambassadorial nominees by the senate till date. President Muhammadu Buhari already revealed that he decided on the career ambassadors for frugality, adding that the Nigeria economy can not conveniently maintain political appointees at the moment.
    I believe the senate knows and understand the vital roles of Ambassadors in foreign mission especially during the time of recession of any country.
    Apart from the Ambassador being the diplomatic representative of one country in another and the administrative responsibility, the broad set of social and political responsibilities of the Ambassadors have a long way in enhancing trade partnerships and social and cultural alliance in which, if well muzzled across the globe could definitely assist in getting our country out of recession.
    We could take a lesson from the United Kingdom during 2008 financial recession. Between late 2009 and  early 2010, a total number of 25 additional Business Ambassadors were added to the normal UK Ambassadors in foreign missions. Their decision to create and add to the normal Ambassadorial network was basically for them to be able to increase the overall number of international business engagements that they will undertake and to widen the specialist sector coverage they were able to offer.
    During the recession the normal Ambassadors and the Business Ambassadors played critical roles in helping to restore confidence in United Kingdom’s business by getting positive trade and investment messages out to the front line and as well to potential customers and investors across the globe. This method was adopted by the UK in exporting quelling the recession.
    It is a clarion call for our esteem senators and leaders to expedite action on the approval of the ambassadorial nominees and also encourage the Federal government to learn from the tested and tried methods of the UK and other countries and see if it could be another success story for us.
    I can categorically inform that the Ambassadors from the Scandinavia countries to Nigeria constantly invite and lead business delegations to Nigeria trying to connect possibilities and encourage trade partnership. One of such business delegations to Nigeria from Sweden to be led by the Swedish Ambassador to Nigeria is on the way in few weeks in conjunction with the official visit of the Swedish Minister of Trade and EU Affairs.
    I know the senate leadership wants Nigeria out of recession as soon as possible and it will not hesitate to expedite action on any endeavour that will contribute to existing Nigeria from the recession.
    Good bless the Nigerian Senate
    Good bless Nigeria.
    Ayoola Lawal,Chairman, 
    Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC) Scandinavia,
    writes from Sweden.

  • Financing 2020 Olympics: Afe Babalola, Mary Onyali to the rescue

    There is this striking similarity between the election of the first ever non-Italian Pope, the then Cardinal Carol Wojtylar (pronounced Carol Voytihwuh) of Poland in 1978 and the abysmal outing of the Nigerian contingent at the recently concluded Rio Olympics in Brazil.       Shortly before the Conclave of Cardinals that would elect the next Pope, a barrage of Photo Journalists had accosted Wojtylar, who later appropriated the name Pope John Paul II, clicking away without let or hindrance.

    Somewhat taken aback, if not out-rightly embarrassed at the unusual and unsolicited attention from the Press, the would-be Pope retorted: “Certainly, you do not think I will become the next Pope”. But because Wojtylar has been predestined to become Pope, he was accordingly elected and announced the next occupant of the Papacy after the symbolic smoke oozed out of the roofs of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.

    The same way Cardinal Carol Wojtylar did not think he would become Pope, Nigeria’s contingent to the recently concluded Olympic Games in Rio never nursed any hope or ambition to put up any superlative performance at the global tournament: no thanks to shoddy preparations, poor logistics support and lack of the necessary and much required funds, the oil of success in matters like this.

    Let’s go back a little into the history of the Olympics. In 1996, Great Britain finished 36th on the Medals table with one gold medal while Nigeria was ranked 32nd on the table. However, at the recently concluded Rio Olympics, Great Britain finished 2nd overall coasting home 27 Gold, 23 Silver and 17 bronze medals while Nigeria which ranked 32 in 1996 ended up 78th, an abysmal retrogression indeed!.

    The question will naturally arise as to what has happened to Great Britain since 1996 to enable it improve dramatically while Nigeria has suffered a dip in fortune? What has Nigeria failed to do to build on the success of 1996? The answers to these questions do not require a crystal ball. Nigeria has simply failed to put its money where its mouth is. Nigeria as a country has failed to prepare for the funding of sports.

    The quantum leap in the performance of Britain was not magic, neither was it predicated on voodoo. It was strictly the evident result of painstaking planning and clinical implementation of such plans. Worried by the abysmal performance of Britain in the 1996 Olympics and determined to take its rightful place in the Olympics, former British Prime Minister, John Major,  took the bull by the horn by setting up the UK Sports to strategically invest National Lottery and Exchequer income to maximize the performance of UK athletes in the Olympic and Paralympic Games and the global events which precede them.

    Investment decisions are made on a four-year basis to cover a complete Olympic or Paralympic cycle, but are focused on an eight-year performance development model while success is measured by the (number) of medals won, the number of medalists developed and the quality of the systems and processes in place and support the nation’s most promising future champions.

    In addition to investing 70% of its income in Sports, UK Sports also runs a number of world leading centralized strategic support services including the development of world class coaches, running talent identification campaigns, Sports Science and Medicine, Warm weather training and administration, International competition schedules and Athlete development programme as well as Access to high performance training facilities to fast track future medalists in the right sports. All of these would appear to have paid off for Britain at the recently concluded Rio Olympics.

    But what has happened to Nigeria to warrant its carting home only one bronze medal at the Rio Olympics? This dismal performance may not have come as a surprise to some given the chaotic state of the country’s preparation for the games and the abysmal funding available to its athletes. Imagine a situation where participants at the tourney were not properly kitted!  Prior to the start of the games, it was reported that athletes billed to represent the country had been asked to source for funds to pay their airfares to the venue of the games in Brazil. While the accuracy of this report was denied by sports ministry officials, subsequent events and revelations at the games proper called into question the level of funding available for our athletes.

    But long before the 2016 Olympics, Nigeria’s five-time Olympiad and former Queen of the Track, Chief Mary Onyali, has been concerned about the dwindling performance of Nigerian athletes in major continental and international tournaments and she decided to do something about it. Even though she was a 100-metre runner in her days on the track, Onyali behaved like a long distance runner who starts his race early when she, in concert with some former Nigerian internationals, conceptualized the Nigerian Olympic Fund (NOF) some seven years ago to provide funds for Nigerian participants in future Olympics and enhance their performance.

    Speaking at the Celebrity Endorsement to kick-start the NOF recently in Ado-Ekiti, Founder of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekitit (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, who Onyali revealed was overwhelmingly voted as the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Basic Olympic Opportunity Sports Training (BOOST), said the dismal performance during the last Rio Olympics and the dwindling fortunes of sports in the country constitute wake-up calls on all lovers of sports and well-meaning Nigerians.

    He therefore called on all tiers of government and public-spirited individuals to make it a point of duty to contribute to the funding of sports to improve Nigeria’s standing in continental and world tournaments and discourage a repeat of the frustrations that emanated from the just concluded Games in Brazil.

    Babalola, a Sports enthusiast who has made the first rate  Sporting facilities like the nine beautiful courts, the lush 1000-seater Sport Pavilion, the Olympic size Swimming Pool, the modern Football pitch, the multi-billion Naira Talent Discovery Centre which houses 28 different Games among others in his university available for the training of young athletes who will later become stars, added that “we will deliberately turn our fortunes right in Sports and indeed in other areas of human endeavour. I must point out that Government cannot do it alone. There is need for private participation”.

    As a practical demonstration of his commitment and support for the project, Babalola announced a donation of N10 million as part of his contributions to the Fund and success of sports in the country, stressing that he has warmed up to the idea because it tallies with ABUAD’s objective of pioneering excellence along the parameters and perimeters of teaching, research, superlative performance in sports, community impact and scholarship as well as exemplary character.

    He therefore lauded Onyali, the Executive Director (Technical) and the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of NOF, Mr. Olajide Fashikun, for the bold and altruistic initiative and urged other Universities in Nigeria to key into the NOF initiative in the overall interest of all.

    Onyali, in an address at the event, extolled Babalola for his support for sports administration and his acclaimed philanthropic inclinations, the main reasons why he enjoyed the overwhelming endorsement of former Nigerian internationals to emerge the Chairman of the Governing Board of BOOST.

    The former Sprinter turned Sports Administrator said the Celebrity Endorsement which flagged off with Babalola’s public identification with the project is targeted at 10,000 celebrities through which “we shall bring one million children into sports in four years. We have got the latent talents in this country. We shall recruit and keep the very best coaches, sports scientists and sports medics, referees, umpires, volunteers and all”.

    On the proceeds accruable to the Fund, she said: “Whatever monies they give us, we shall take 10% into the National Athlete Welfare Fund to care for ageing former sportsmen and women 30% goes into the NOC Solidarity Fund which sports federations will be able to access based on performance. 50% goes into the BOOST project. The balance of 10% shall go into our operational account to drive this advocacy process.

    According to her, Ekiti state will from January 2017 enjoy the pilot of the project. Six schools have been named and the Elite Athletes programme for Tokyo 2020 will begin in ABUAD.

    “It is my prayer that we will have the courage to be the change agent for sports in this nation. We look forward to the changes in the various communities in a short while. Our return to glory as a nation is here”.

    “From 2018, there will be youth leagues where these kids will compete at state, zonal and national levels. A new generation of stars will be born, professionally-supported and managed to stardom. Our nation will never be the same. Over 27,000 professionals will be expected to work with us on this project at maturity” she concluded.

    With Onyali and Babalola’s intervention, perhaps Nigeria will gradually graduate off the hackneyed phrase that “the joy of Olympics is in participation and not in winning”. That warped and twisted logic should be done away with and the time for that is now.

     

    • Olofintila wrote from Ado-Ekiti.

  • The rebirth of Celestial Church of Christ (CCC) Olu Ayela

    There is a conversation currently going on in some quarters of the Celestial Church of Christ about seven decades after the establishment of the Church by late Bilewu Oshoffa and it is indeed a confirmation of the eternal and timeless wisdom of God as contained in the scriptures. Aptly captured in the memorable statement, is the gem in Ecclesiastics 3:1 that “to everything there is a season and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”

    Among the collectives of the academic pastors of the Church, notable among whom are; Superior Evangelist Folorunsho Omooluwa, Most Senior Evangelist Beleyeke Yomi and Superior Evangelist Michael Akinbami, a permanent secretary in the Ondo State civil service, who is also the Pastor-in-charge, Testimony Parish of the church in Akure, Ondo State Capital is the conversation that is reflecting after a long time of skirmishes in the Church on how and where the wolves crept into the fold, sent the shepherd scampering and scattered the sheep.

    They are critically examining some of the issues that brought the Church down from its glorious height to the mud level and made it a canvas to draw all kinds of ill fitting sketches of rancor, discord and dissention that has brought the Church to disrepute and odium. They are concerned about how to end the drift from the Church which in time past was almost a Church of first choice for many families in the South west of Nigeria. It was such a happy time that there was hardly a single family where a member of the Church could not be found then. But not any longer as can be testified to following the ill wind that has ravaged the flocks since the past three decades.

    Their vision which is quite noble commendable even though at the same time appearing to be very ambitious is they attempt to recover from the tremor that has torn the Church into pieces following the death of the founder and the spiritual head, S.B.J Osofa in 1985. There are not a few efforts to retrace the steps to normalcy but they had all faltered on the rocks of ego and ambitions. There is plenty of hope that this will finally be the cure to the crisis of leadership in the Church.

    The leadership crisis erupted first from the household of the late founder where the tussle over who should be the rightful on with the vision of the father. There is the certainty that with contrasting experiences brought about by the scuffles engender by the problems of polygamy that even the celestial can be trounced by human abilities.

    The rivalry between Tosho Oshoffa who declared himself as a factional pastor while his elder brother, Emmanuel Mobiyina Oshoffa was the spiritual head ensured that the battle for the exalted leader of the Church burned so fiercely that those who were looking to take advantage of the crisis quickly declared independence and hurried away from the unfolding drama leading to many splinter groups including the Evangelical Celestial Church of Christ (ECCC).

    The breakaway of the ECCC which is just one of the groups that broke away was an added fuel and impetus for many parishes under the church to unilaterally changed and modified the established doctrines and ordinances of the church. This power tussle which almost consumed the church to the extent of losing more than half of their membership to other churches is still burning unabated till today.

    The events in the Church seem like a re-enactment of the Bible after the Prophet Malachi, the last of the Old Testament prophets, 400 years, before the emergence of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible recorded that the Israelites were on their own without their God to direct and lead them and were given to ways that had everyone doing what pleased him or her. Today many members of the CCC are doing whatever pleases them including setting up their own parishes without the consent, authority and the approval of the church. It is not uncommon and nothing out of the ordinary to hear and see one member who would just wake up from her bedroom and prophesy that her husband or concubine is the right and authentic spiritual head of the church.

    The abominable practices are unending and even some of the female members of the church who are audacious and acrimonious are now setting up Parishes in a process that violates the tenets and the constitution of the church. This is a totally unacceptable blow to the Church that has been known for years for its orderliness and respect for its rich traditions. It is one other motivation for the urgency to rally the flocks.

    Expectedly, some of the practices that were left unchallenged at the beginning are rearing their ugly heads to compound the Church’s problem. One especially noted for stirring the rupture is a system referred to as Shepherd/Landlord practice. This means that a person (Shepherd) is the owner of the land where the church is built. These Shepherds/Landlords are difficult to sanction and do not respond to any form of disciplinary measures imposed, would not brook the mention of being transferred from the Church they have so ‘planted’. They prefer to have a showdown with the Authority of the church, insult and rail at any attempt at order and eventually prefer to pull out of the Church in the event of a confrontation.

    However, today, after darkness, light cometh. The academic pastors of the church have bonded and are coming together to salvage it and offer relief from the long agonizing period of strife. They are organizing series of seminars, conferences, and workshops to educate, enlighten, galvanize and re-orientate the members in a blitz that is going nationwide. It is a radical departure from many of the reconciliation efforts that has been brokered by eminent Nigerians even including one by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in Abeokuta.

    This move is scripted to allow for an interactive process in a broad and wide consultation among the members of the Church across the nation in a bid to get their input and stir their love for the Church that has been them for them through thick and thin. It is their belief that this consultative process will help usher in a new era of peace and return to more spiritually recharged Church that will drop some of the rituals and practices that are not in line with the expectations of the Lord.

    In one of the most recent initiative of the enlightenment campaigns which held at the Testimony Parish along Idanre Road, Akure, and sponsored by Superior Evangelist Akinbami, the following resolutions adopted were far reaching and believed to be preparing the way for the rebirth of the Church. The participants demanded;

    That the Church authority should urgently abolish the issue of shepherd/landlord dichotomy and that all Parish properties should belong to the church and not individuals.

    That there should be a standard theological school by the church at the Headquarters in Lagos where every shepherd or would-be shepherd must pass exams before being allowed to head a Parish.

    That there must be a total abolition of the so called spiritual works, that emphasis must be placed on pure Salvation of Souls of the members.

    That the church must de-emphasise the influence of the prophets, prophetess and their prophecies asking that an immediate embargo be placed on members of the Church be stopped from patronizing them.

    That the word of God and the love as it was in the beginning of the church should be preached in all the Parishes.

    That henceforth, when the spiritual head of the church dies, it is the pastors-in-council that should select the new spiritual head and this should take place at Imeko only.

    That the original love and respect among members as of old should be restored and a total return to spirituality and not reliance on flesh as being witnessed today in the church.

    That efforts should be made to identify and flush out undesirable elements who have entrenched themselves today as shepherds and pastors in the Church.

    There is no doubt that expectations are high and the world is watching to see how this exercise will work in the long run to bring sanity back to the Church where the seed of disruption planted long ago has seen the rise of even people with questionable characters and affiliations becoming not just members of the Church but becoming Shepherds and heads of Parishes.

    It may be morning yet in creating a new template for the Church but there is no stopping an idea whose time has come. Perhaps, this is the time for the Celestial Church of Christ to re-invent itself and get back not just its lost glory but to get the Church back into the right leadership.

     

    • Olu Ayela, Veteran Journalist, based in Lagos

  • Edo election and its aftermath

    It was expected that the Edo State leadership of the PDP would at least display some grace and respect for the unquestionable verdict of the Edo electorate in the just concluded Edo governorship election; that a modicum of dignity, honour and honesty will be demonstrated in the reaction of PDP to what was obviously a uniquely free, fair and significantly violence-free exercise. For any unbiased participant and observer of the September 28 election, the scenario of the historic date was completely different from the doomsday prediction of the PDP.

    Across the voting units and the wards, incontrovertible reports indicate that the voters – the market women, the civil servants, the teachers, the pensioners of various political stripes related in friendly manner during the voting exercise. Even in situations where spirited and vigorous conversations ensued among the voters about preferences for their candidates, such engagements never degenerated to the gruesome level of anarchic acrimony that Ize-Iyamu’s campaign had secretly calibrated.

    Rather than join the rest of the country and international observers in commending Edo State electorate for the patient and enthusiastic performance of their civic responsibility, the Ize-Iyamu’s group resorted to its characteristic theatrics: the seeming  delusive pattern of perpetual  denial of reality and psychopathic inclination  to blame other people and agencies for their failure. The leadership of Edo PDP has unfortunately resorted to insulting and negating the collective will of the people of Edo State as expressed on September 28 by alleging rigging and other invented excuses for the party’s abysmal defeat. The failed hierarchy of the PDP has shamelessly continued with the same line of lies that they purveyed to their followers right from the beginning of this electoral exercise; the sorry story being peddled now by the former governorship candidate is from the same booklet of political scam that he, Ize-Iyamu, canvassed during the election. Nearly 70 percent of the Edo electorate wisely and clearly rejected the menu of fanciful but poisonous tales from Ize-Iyamu at the polls and opted for credibility and integrity within the paradigm of progressive continuity. The electorate spoke in unison endorsing the economic vision and political mission of the APC and Godwin Obaseki in their 21st Century march to progress.

    Perhaps, it is a quality far beyond the moral universe of Edo PDP factional leadership to rise with a spirit of humble courage, to accept defeat with grace, to embrace political challenge with philosophical nobility and deliver a memorable message of congratulations to their opponent. Maybe, such endearing qualities will never be manifested in the lives of a cabal that is wallowing in the grip of hallucinatory political power and the unquenchable lust for public wealth. And this is a crucial anchor where the post-election conduct and utterances of the PDP leadership engenders a lot of curiosity.

    All through the primary nomination process and campaign period including few hours after voting, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu hardly factored God’s name into his political equation as he attempted to bully his way towards his inordinate terrestrial ambitions, forsaking everything celestial. Now suddenly after the election and having tried but failed to mobilize Edo people around the fake result manufactured by his campaign organization. The pastor now says that his decisions are being guided by the voices of some Higher Mighty powers. It seems that our Pastor would need a combination of sobriety of thought and spiritual re-birth before he can clearly hear the voice of God that we all desire to worship. We are sinners, the Holy Scripture rightly says. We must also forgive, the Holy Book instructs, but, the scripture did not say we should forget especially when the characters involved have not done any truth-telling.

    Let Pastor Ize-Iyamu do what could be of minimal redemption, to immediately step down from the altar of false prophecy and hear the energetic calls of the people to let the incoming government begin work immediately. If Ize-Iyamu was truly  ‘in the spirit’, he would concede that very often, the voice of the people is also the voice of God.

    If the PDP is to ever regain a modicum of respect with the electorate of Edo State, the party should begin with an earnest exercise of soul-searching and rigorous self-assessment. How can the PDP in good conscience be manufacturing tales of victory and rigging when all the self-baptized giants of the party woefully lost either their polling units, their wards or their entire local government areas; what justification do these self-proclaimed ‘Irokos’ have to allege rigging when the truth is that they were nothing but exaggerated Bamboo shrubs when it came to the crucial political ground game on the day of battle.

    From High Chief Raymond Dokpesi to the Oduma (the Lion) of Esan Land, Chief Tom Ikimi who roared into Igueben but sneaked out with meow-like cries of a domesticated cat following his disgraceful defeat, and the members of the self-venerating “House of Igbinedion” in Ovia North East, they all lost their supposed political home fronts. And from Ovia to the zone of state party chairman, often hailed at campaign rallies as the Kulukulu 1(the Commanding General), Chief Dan Orbih in Etsako Central Local Government Area, to Erie, Ward 10 in Oredo Local Government Area, the cultural and political cradle of the Ize-Iyamus, PDP dangled lifelessly between insignificant wins and total defeat. Not even the combined efforts of the reputed Iyasere of Esan Land, Chief Tony Anenih who desperately asked for pity on the grounds of old age and ill-health and the deputy governorship candidate of the party, John Yakubu, could deliver a clear win for the PDP in Esan North East Local Government Area. The High Chief of Gbode fell irredeemably low, the factional personality who recently gallivanted around the country seeking and posturing for the national leadership of PDP could not even win his voting unit.

    This is the bleak landscape of the map that the PDP membership must carefully re-imagine; it is the sad but true picture that the deceived followers of the PDP must now deal with and, perhaps, the unchangeable reality that they must confront. The Ize-Iyamus in their hallucinatory universe may try to write new songs proclaiming the possibility of resurrection for Edo State PDP, but the party of Dan Orbih and Anthony Anenih never had a soul, hence there can be no redemption much less a resurrection. Ize-Iyamu cannot be allowed to open another chapter in his book of political skulduggery; this is the final inglorious burial rites for a plundering economic beast. Edo people have spoken, the chickens have come home to roost and History has been manifested with consequence.

     

    • Adams writes from Benin City.

  • Ibrahim: Appreciating an exceptional public servant

    The letter notifying the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) boss, Mallam Umaru Ibrahim, of his selection by the board of BusinessDay Media Limited for recognition at its annual Nigerian banking industry’s recognition award said it all: “The recognition awards are for exceptional public officials who are involved in the day-to-day regulation and management of the Nigeria’s financial industry. The award committee based its decision to consider you for the award due to the safety of customers’ deposits in the last few years as a result of your rigorous oversight functions.”

    Depositors’ protection is the watchword here. And by all account, those words form the slogan of the NDIC. The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) established by Act No. 16 of 2006 is a risk minimizer with the broad mandate of deposit guarantee, bank supervision, distress resolution and bank liquidation.

    The award could not have come at a better time than now, when all hands are on deck to salvage the country from a major financial crisis. The harsh economic weather in the country has made Nigerians more conscious of the safety of their deposits. That’s why the recent news of some sudden change of management at the Skye Bank Plc elicited some form of panic withdrawals among depositors. It took a lot of campaigns by Central

    Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to calm the frayed nerves of depositors.

    Deposit insurance is a measure implemented in many countries, including Nigeria to protect bank depositors, in full or in part, from losses in the event of failure of a bank. Deposit Insurance System (DIS) is one component of the three components of the financial safety net to promote financial system stability. DIS as an integral part of the global stability framework, plays significant roles during depression and other forms of financial crisis.

    A lack of investor confidence results in the reduction in the value of stocks while a lack of consumer confidence results in a reduction in the flow money within the economy which means businesses see reduced profits. Such scenarios resulted in the Wall Street crash of 1929 and the eventual Great Depression. As a consequence, the United States, the epicentre of the Great Depression, under the leadership of Franklin D. Roosevelt, created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) in 1933.

    The liberalization of the Nigerian banking Industry in the 80’s necessitated the establishment of a body that will among other things engender confidence in the system. Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) was established in 1988 following the promulgation of the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation Decree No 22 of 1988 which has since been amended and re-enacted as the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation Act No 16 of 2006. The NDIC was established to administer the Deposit Insurance Scheme [DIS] by providing financial guarantee to depositors in the event of failure of deposit taking financial institutions by reimbursing funds up to a certain maximum limit as provided by law.

    Countries have a choice between adopting a flat-rate premium system or a premium system that is differentiated on the basis of individual-bank risk profiles. The primary advantage of a flat-rate premium system is the relative ease with which assessments can be calculated and administered.

    However, in a flat-rate system, low-risk banks effectively pay for part of the deposit insurance benefit received by high-risk banks. However, because flat-rate premiums do not reflect the level of risk that a bank poses to the deposit insurance system, banks can increase the risk profile of their portfolios without incurring additional deposit insurance costs. As a result, flat-rate premiums may be perceived as encouraging excessive risk taking by some banks, unless there is a mechanism to impose financial sanctions or penalties.

    Risk-adjusted differential premium systems can mitigate such criticisms and may encourage more prudent risk-management practices at member banks. What does Deposit Insurance Institutions pay depositors when a bank bursts? This is country and economy dependent.

    In the United Kingdom, all savers have the first £85,000 of cash protected in the event of their bank or building society going bust from January 1, 2011. However, just before the Brexit, this was reviewed down by EU to £75,000 – but not without vehement protests. The limit is applied ‘per individual, per bank’. That means joint account customers can get up to £170,000 refunded if their bank fails.

    In Ukraine, an economy in transition, the amount is UAH 1200. The coverage amount could be increased by the decision of the Administrative Board of the Fund, depending on market trends according to the Law on Deposit Guarantee Fund, which took effect on October 24, 2001. There was a review of the Law in 2012, but the amount remains.

    The NDIC-insured limit, until recently, was a maximum of N500,000 for each depositor in respect of deposits held in each insured deposit money bank (DMB) and N200,000 for each depositor in Microfinance Bank (MFB) and Primary Mortgage Bank (PMB) in same right and capacity. This remains the case except with regards to the PMBs for which there was an upward review last two months from N200,000 to N500,000 per depositor and the extension of differential premium assessment system (DPAS) to the PMBs. The approval for the upward review was granted by Minister of Finance on August 4.

    It is part of its statutory functions as a deposit insurer as specified in Section 20 (2) of the NDIC Act 2006, which empowers the NDIC’s Board to periodically review the maximum deposit insurance coverage (MDIC) for licensed banks and other deposit taking financial institutions in accordance with changes in deposit structure, income levels and in line with global best practices. The MDIC review is carried out through studies and surveys and is aimed at ascertaining the adequacy or otherwise of the deposit insurance coverage level for insured institutions in Nigeria. The outcome of the most recent survey conducted in August, 2015 revealed the compelling need for the upward review of the current MDIC for the PMBs from N200,000 to N500,000 per depositor. The survey also revealed that the MDIC increase would cover 99% of depositors of the PMBs in Nigeria.

    The adoption of DPAS in assessing the annual premium payable by PMBs will promote better risk management in the banks in line with international best practices. Presently, over 120 countries across the globe have adopted DPAS as an objective method of insurance premium pricing.

    This is but just one example that NDIC under the leadership of Mallam Umaru Ibrahim has been alive to its mandate. No wonder BusinessDay Media Limited, the publishers of BusinessDay, West Africa’s premier business newspaper, selected him among many existing regulatory institutions for recognition during its 2016 Nigerian banking industry’s recognition award.

    Mallam Ibrahim was recently reappointed for another five –year term as MD/CEO of NDIC. He is a long-standing member of the NDIC family, having been with the institution from its beginning and rising through the ranks to the pinnacle of its management position. Ibrahim joined the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation in May, 1989 as a Deputy Director and a Departmental Head in charge of Financial and Technical Support, one of the key operational departments of the corporation then. In 1991, he became a full Director in charge of the administration department. Between 1992 and 2007, he headed several other departments amongst which were the Human Resource and Corporate Development Departments.

    Since assuming office as MD/CEO of the NDIC in 2010, Malam Ibrahim has repositioned the corporation for improved performance through enhanced capacity building, focusing mainly on risk-based supervision (RBS), compliance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) and the improvement of the corporation’s internal systems and processes which include the automation of ERM processes, automation of performance management system and enhancement of Financial Liquidation Management System (e-FILMS) to make it web-enabled and facilitate depositor reimbursement process, amongst others.

    The achievements of Mallam Ibrahim in the wider financial industry in the last six years are conspicuous. Five years ago NDIC saved 3.7 million depositors from their distressed banks through the bridge bank failure resolution mechanism that became a celebrated case study in the global community. Depositors now look up to the NDIC to offer relief to them when their funds are threatened or trapped in failed or ailing financial institutions. The bridge banking option placed priority on the interests of the banking public, especially the depositors. It prevented outright liquidation, which would have had systemic consequences on the financial system and undermined or eroded public confidence in the banking system.

    The recognition of high performing individuals, as in the case of Ibrahim, will go a long way in boosting the morale of chief executives to achieve more— especially now that the only way out for the country is for its talented lots to excel in whatever they do to get the country out of the woods.

     

    • Owolabi, a financial analyst contributed this piece from Abuja.

  • Where “Change” begins in Nigeria

    The “change begins with me” campaign of the federal government of Nigeria is running into obstacles. One of the latest undesirable hitches is plagiarism of President Obama’s speech in the text of President Buhari’s statement delivered at the recent launch. News, opinions, reports, commentaries and jokes in print, electronic and online media are full of subtle and scathing attacks on the campaign.

    A major argument of some critics is that change begins with the leadership that had promised change but is backpedalling on its responsibility for it, and turning it over to the populace. Another line of criticisms is that the targeted change is undefined, nebulous and opaque. The nuts and bolts of “change begins with me”, it is argued, are as unclear as many policy issues that the President Buhari administration pursues. Put together, the contextual issues around change do not align with the new campaign.

    In communication theories, change is a well-trodden area. Human communication is replete with uses of communication to effect change of knowledge, attitudes, practice and behaviour. Change communication underlies the intellectual discourse of behaviour and social modifications as a critical step towards change. The “change begins with me” campaign, whether stated or not, is premised on the thesis that change of behaviour by Nigerians can and should result in change of the Nigerian society. The behaviour change of citizens will, over time, aggregate to social change of the Nigerian nation. It is, theoretically, a solid basis to build an action programme. This must have been what Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had in mind.

    It is widely accepted that change of behaviour, and ultimately change of society, is complex. It is hardly linear. It requires collaboration of communication with sociology, psychology, anthropology and related fields of human interactions. Extensive studies in change communication show that “good intentions” are far from adequate. In other words, no matter, how well intentioned a change idea is, it does not by fiat materialize into acceptance by the community or society where the change is advantageous or sensible.

    In development communication, examples of good intentions leading to bad outcomes are soberly common. Whether it is smoking, driving while intoxicated or use of seat belts, change of habits and behaviour is arduous. For example, health promotion campaigns that focused on negative health impacts of smoking achieved little for decades. Facts on the nefarious health effects did not discourage reasonable, knowledgeable smokers. The breakthrough came in many countries by making smoking appear so “un-cool”, unfashionable, repulsive, anti-social to “right –thinking” persons. And it was combined with treatment medications, psychosocial approaches, alongside policies and legislation that made cigarettes expensive; smoking was barred from public spaces; and smokers were restricted to corner spaces of undesirability.

    Campaigns against driving whilst intoxicated are witnessing increasing successes in countries that combine special attention to what should be done when one drinks – designate a driver who does not drink alcohol at that occasion, have colleagues monitor each other’s alcohol consumption levels, have bar tenders take charge and restrict drunk drivers, use taxis to return home – with stringent checks by police officers as people leave parties and drinking places. Tough legislations penalize drunk driving, including heavy fines, temporary or permanent ban from driving.

    Advertisers and marketers, to mention a few, use change communication extensively to create acceptance of new products, or to effect change from existing services to newly available ones. It works.

    Success in change of behaviour and society is grounded in theoretical understanding of people and society, and adaptation of knowledge from empirical studies. Behaviour modification and change does not happen quickly. There are short, medium and long term phases, and some successes can be recorded, even in the short term phase when norms begin to be questioned and re-ordered.

    Without enough understanding of the work – theories, studies, processes – that inform Nigeria’s “change begins with me” campaign, it is difficult to say much about it. However, given the official actions and criticisms of it, some points are well in order.

    President Buhari and his All Progressives Congress (APC) party was voted in on the platform of “change”. The massive voters’ support confirmed that change was awaited and would be supported. How will change occur? The first positive signal is that the leadership should demonstrate change.

    Whilst the government, during its 16-month tenure, succeeded convincingly in dealing decisively with Boko Haram, it is yet to show that it can deal with security in its many ratifications. See how long it took to have any serious official pronouncement on herdsmen who ravage farms and villages, kill and maim people.

    Also, whilst government struggles to rein in the spreading kidnap menace, the Niger Delta insurgents appear to thrive under various names. And the initial official commitment to locate the abducted Chibok Girls has fallen by the wayside. Rather, the Police harass peaceful protesters who serve as a constant beacon of the historic tragedy bleeding the nation.

    Corruption, another pillar of the campaign manifesto of the government, has seen some positive efforts at curbing it. But even the consternation and anger of people as revelations of massive looting were revealed is now being dulled by time and inconclusive lengthy processes that drag on. It is apparent that some officials, especially civil servants and law enforcement agents, are falling back wilfully into old ways of public bribe-taking and oppression of the people for the slightest reasons. Not only national budgets are “padded” under the nose of the change leadership, contracts are being padded heavily again. The fight against corruption is being cast as “Buhari’s thing”. His immediate entourage, collaborators and, especially, state governments are not even remotely part of any obvious anti-corruption efforts.

    The dark cloud that covers the nation right now is economic and financial difficulty. It hangs like a giant elephant tusk on the neck of the masses and so-called middle class. It drags people down, into anger, intolerance and hopelessness. The people want to hear more on how and when it will change.

    Candidly, everything seems right about the wording and need for “change begins with me”. But political communication of contradictory verbal and non-verbal exchange is problematic. The entirety of change should be manifested in many more areas and should be read, heard, seen, and interpreted – without doubt. The government, with its main pillars of change agenda in doubtful suspense, cannot expect its subjects to trust that it can lead or sustain change.

     

    • Makinwa is former Africa head of United Nations Population Fund.