The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Robber state can now drink her oil

    THE hope of restoring normalcy to a morally bankrupt nation to a place in the sun greater than it had ever been is ebbing gradually. Nigeria is in economic straits, maimed by official corruption, which slices off more than 50 % of her revenue. The nation’s oil deals which has been shrouded in the caucuses of bargaining and appalling crudity has left the people in abject poverty.

    But President Goodluck Jonathan’s sidekick wouldn’t have any of such. They are used to thinking that the ugly picture is a mere grotesque hodgepodge concocted by half-baked, uneducated neurotics who are bent on sabotaging the humane president. It’s time the President summoned the moral courage and pledge the reversal of the nation’s menacing presence and the future.

    Regrettably, the argument of Jonathanians is not supported by the President’s broken promises, overt corruption, oil theft and pipeline vandalism.

    In 2011, the NNPC signed a USD28.5 billion Memorandum of Understanding, MOU with the Chinese to build the  Greenfield Refineries in Bayelsa, Kogi, and Lagos states. So far, none has been built, four years down the line. In 2012 at the Nigerian Oil and Gas Conference, the minister promised that Turn Around Maintenance’, TAM, will gulp USD700 million  for the four refineries within 12 months.

    As we speak, none of the four refineries operates with more than 60% capacities. Kaduna refinery operates below 30% of installed capacity. That is after billions of dollars was expended. How else can we explain that TAM was a waste of our common patrimony and the crudest form of corruption? The four refineries can produce 445,000 barrel of oil per day, if they are functioning at 100% capabilities; which is still  below Nigeria’s current need of about 39 million litres according to the PPPRA per day!

    President Jonathan’s government expended trillions of dollars on the so-called fuel subsidy that reeked with hyper-corruption. When Nigerians protested the enrichment of the President’s cronies with the oil scam, Diezani Alison-Madueke deadened her concerns scornfully and bluntly told the nation to go to hell or that the fuel subsidy would be reduced by half any time she choses.

    It was a show of unconcealed disdain for the Nigeria masses. The protest against fuel subsidy was partly against her career of gross abuse of office and blatant assault on the volition of the people to benefit from the resources of their nation. While the people haggled and groaned under the excruciating  hike in the price of fuel, the federal government remained blunted in its responsibilities to the electorate as stipulated by the constitution.

    That profound deadening of consciousness is the sheerest  negation of nation-building, where the peoples’ demand for access to common till is viewed as doing them favour. Any surprise that President Jonathan gloated and gloried in suppressing protesters who seek the reversal of fuel increments in the past? Even after many people have lost their lives, all the promises of palliatives never came.

    Till now, the consistent figure of about N200 billion the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, pays to petroleum marketeers quarterly for subsidy hasn’t changed. Yet, Nigeria remains one of the few OPEC members still importing majority of refined petroleum products to the tune of over USD15 billion yearly.

    Today, the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, has accumulated dust wherever is it kept. This is due largely to the frosty relationship between the Minister and the National Assembly members. This has resulted into her getting court injunction stopping them from investigating the alleged N10 billion allegedly expended on private jets. This is away from the USD20 billion missing in the NNPC accounts as alleged by the former CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, now the Emir of Kano.

    The Presidency is aware that the non-passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, is gravely affecting investment in the oil and gas industry and that  continued delay is inimical to the nation’s economy. The passage of the PIB would have fast-tracked the exploration of oil in many parts of the country where oil has recently been discovered.  The President is also aware that the passage of PIB will stem the tide of mega-corruption and the suitcase oil portfolios will come to an abrupt end.

    We are back to the same position. The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, in alliance with the Petroleum and National Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, has embarked on industrial action, grounding the already traumatised economy for lack of faith in the government of the day. The oil unions are accusing the president of inability to fix existing and build new refineries, bad roads, arbitrary sacking of union members by oil companies.

    The Trade Union Congress even took it further. Arising from its National Executive Council, NEC, the central labour union stated: “The congress expresses dismay that the prices of refined petroleum products have remained unchanged despite the significant fall of crude oil prices which the CBN acknowledged as a steady one. We therefore called on the government to direct the appropriate agency to respond by adjusting the pump price of petroleum products, which will ameliorate the impact on the purchasing power by the devaluation of the Naira”.

    Over the weekend, the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Godwin Emefiele disclosed that Nigeria loses N24 billion yearly on waivers granted to importers of crude oil. This is in spite the fact that those enjoying the waiver are the same people as those criminally benefiting from fuel subsidy graft.

    Both the International Energy Agency and former U.S. Energy Information chief Guy Caruso predict oil prices are likely to remain lower for a while, barring a major disruption in supply. “It’s highly unlikely OPEC gets their act together, so I see prices being weak for the next six months or so,” Mr Caruso said.

    It’s obvious that Nigeria will remain politically stunted, economically traumatised, developmentally backward for many years to come for refusing to diversify. It’s a stark choice we have to make. Either we diversify or we start drinking our oil! An anti-state agent? A megalomania? A sadistic fancy? All of them in part.  It’s because the state itself has become the biggest swindler and crook. A robbers’ state! The hope of nation-becoming, which early in 2011 vividly accomplished President Jonathan’s restoration’s campaigns has faded in the twilight of 2014.

    There is no re-telling that Jonathan’s moribund regime represents the most harrowing of the nation’s nightmares over and beyond even the horror visited on the nation by military juntas. I am certain Nigerians will be approaching the polling booths across the country on February 14, 2015 with one thing in mind: Nations collapse or perish for whom it exists when the loss of force of resistance by the people give way to oppressive despots to triumph in their oppression.

    • Ikhide, a public affairs analyst writes from Lagos

  • Time to learn from Lagos

    Two different, yet somewhat related,  reports in the national media struck me in the last week of November. The first report quoted the Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswan, as confessing that, like most governments in Nigeria, his government, already in arrears of salary payment, would not be able to meet basic obligations if crude oil prices remained at less than $90 per barrel. By the time the report was published, the Nigerian variant of crude oil was selling at well over $70 per barrel. As I am writing this piece, it is selling at less than $60 a barrel, with a high prospect of the price sliding further. This means that both the Nigerian people and the government are in for a rough time. But the national government, because of the forthcoming election, is creating the impression that all is well. There are no austerity or belt tightening measures yet, like doing away with humungous amounts spent by ministries, departments and agencies on Christmas and New Year gifts. But all cannot possibly be well with an economy which depends on crude oil for over 90% of its foreign exchange earnings. Business should not be as usual.

    The second report had to do with the 2015 budget presentation by the Lagos State governor, Babatunde Fashola, on November 24.  The budget is N489.69 billion, the same size as that of 2014. In other words, the government is convinced that the sharp drops in oil prices would not have “a significant” impact on its revenue base. Hardly surprising. Over 87% of the state’s resources have in the last few years come from internally generated revenue (IGR), as opposed to the monthly allocations from the federation account which professional economists call transfers. Practically every state, including the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja, depends on the federation account for survival.

    This dependency syndrome is at the root cause of the crisis of our federalism. There are too many states, and there are all manner of campaigns to create more states, including the preposterous recommendation of an additional 18 states at the National Conference, even when it is clear that the centre, which is already too powerful, becomes stronger with each new state. Each campaign for a new state is driven by the mentality of grabbing more and more from the centre. Everyone is eager to share in the so-called national cake, but not in the baking. As I have had cause to tell an audience sometime ago, one of my saddest days was to watch Adebayo Adedeji, a respected professor of public administration and erstwhile executive secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), lead a delegation of people to submit a request to the National Assembly for the creation of Ijebu State. I can understand the shenanigan of professional politicians like Senate President David Mark who would hoodwink ignorant elements into believing that new states like Apa could be created, but can never understand why such a refined, urbane and learned person as Adedeji could engage in an enterprise that is clearly injurious to the health of the nation. We hope that the cascading oil prices and the growing inability of most of the existing state governments will drive home the point that the multiplication of the number and recurrent expenditures of the states is a particularly bad and unproductive idea.

    In contrast, Fashola’s Lagos has demonstrated the need for Nigeria to have states or component groups of the federation which will be self-sustaining. A lot of new businesses are emerging in Lagos daily. Almost every new foreign direct investment (FDI) in Nigeria ends up in Lagos. The worsening security across the country has led to more businesses migrating to Lagos. Is it surprising that every bank in Nigeria has its headquarters in Lagos? Lagos State offers the most friendly investment and business climate in the country. Lagos is a liberal, dynamic, open, cosmopolitan and sophisticated environment. At a time many politicians are becoming increasingly parochial and clannish for immediate self-serving purposes, Governor Fashola rather acknowledges the pre-eminent contribution of non-indigenes to the growth of the state, which is striving to become a world class mega city by 2035. There is an important expression the governor uses in recognition of the enormous contributions of non-indigenes in the state: migrant capital. It is migrant capital that built New York, Los Angeles, etc. This is a story for another day.

    Let us face it: an increasing rate of business growth does not necessarily translate to huge internal revenues for any state government. Among factors required for a reflection of the business growth in the internally generated revenue of every state is personal discipline. I have seen a number of state governors in recent times who have asked their officials in charge of markets and tax collection to bring only cash (no drafts or cheques) to their homes! This is why in many of the states where there has been increased economic activity and increased tax or levy payment, the increase in IGR has been minimal. In other words, the fact that Lagos generates well over 85% of its revenue from IGR shows a high level discipline among its top government officials.

    One question which should be agitating the minds of policymakers and analysts in Nigeria, all the more so in the light of the declining oil revenues and the attendant severe consequences for governments at all levels, is how to make the states become viable economic units. The states, as currently constituted, are too many and too weak. The corollary is that there is a profound lack of seriousness in their governance. Governors are like emperors, they have pocketed the state legislatures, thus making a mockery of the doctrine of separation of power and the concept of checks and balances. This is one of the reasons why the venerable former vice president, Dr Alex Ekwueme, has, right from the Constitutional Conference in 1994/5, been calling for the collapse of the 36 states into six federating units. The federating units must be brought to scratch, a far cry from the present arrangement where the states, which are the federating units, are like fiefdoms. Indeed, the challenge before us now is to turn each of the nation’s six geopolitical zones into a Lagos, that is, a viable economic zone. Right now, Lagos is the only economic centre which does not depend directly on crude oil for survival. One viable economic centre is not enough for a nation of 170 million people with a population growth rate of 2.3% per annum.

    The robust 2015 Lagos State budget in the midst of dwindling oil revenues, which could make Nigeria appear increasingly like a failed state when  basic obligations are not met, should serve as a wakeup call to all Nigerians.

     

    • Dr Udeaja, an economist, writes from Lagos
  • Tinubu: Putting issues in perspective

    Tinubu: Putting issues in perspective

    Eric Arthur Blair (1903 – 1950), an English novelist, essayist, journalist and critic, is globally known under the pen name George Orwell. His works, usually laced with lucid prose is particularly geared towards creating awareness about social injustice, totalitarianism, and the need to promote democratic socialism. Pundits ranked him as one of the most influential English writers of the 20th century, and as one of the most important chroniclers of English culture of his generation.

    Sometime in his life time while on service at the Spanish war front, this author of the master piece: ‘Animal Farm,’ realised the speciousness of political propaganda when he declared: ‘Political language… is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.’ This statement truly applies to moves by some political deviants and their cronies to seize any opportunity to demonise Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, former governor of Lagos state.

    The just concluded presidential primaries of All Progressives Congress (APC) and the process leading to the nomination of deputy to General Mohammadu Buhari, presidential flag bearer of the party curiously offered envious pathological haters of the Tinubu political giant strides to go to town with propaganda which according to Orwell is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.

    It is ironic that adversaries of Tinubu will read meanings into each of his political moves even when propelled by altruistic motive. This is pardonable because we live in a world where finding fault in others seems to be the favorite sport which has long been the basis of political campaign strategy that has not done our clime any good. This development cannot be compared with a situation of valid competition which pushes individuals and the society to do better. The truth which has since been neglected but which cannot be denied is that competition through party primaries is not just the basis for protection election contenders, but is also an incentive for achieving progress.

    The issues in the nomination of deputy to General Buhari in the aftermath of last APC presidential primaries were: Was Tinubu voluntarily offered the vice-presidential slots through the South-West by Buhari? If yes, why then the hue and cries. Can anyone question Tinubu’s constitutional eligibility for the position? Didn’t he have the right to aspire to such position during the negotiation period especially when such is offered his geo-political area? What is selfish about aspiration for a political position where one’s invaluable contributions are seriously craved? Despite the fact that Tinubu could have gone ahead and ensured, at any cost that he got the post, he allowed the statesman in him, as always, to overshadow personal aspiration by conceding the post to one of the most brilliant living legal minds from the SouthWest-Professor Yemi Osinbajo. He is used to identifying skills/talents with brains wherever they are and deploying them for public good as will be shown later in this piece.

    Tinubu puts it more succinctly while debunking speculations, especially from the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) that he has turned APC into his personal fiefdom and wanted the post badly; he said: “I am contented being the National Leader of the party…I am a Nigerian who loves my country. I am hopeful about what it can become. I have seen and conducted myself as a patriot long before I thought of myself as a politician.  I shall always walk this line and no other…After all the political calculations are made and the dust of competition has settled, it must be this nation and its people who stand first and foremost. The question becomes whether we stand strong, able to shape ourselves into our best future or will we stand frail and trembling, burdened by the abject failure to surmount the multiple problems confronting us. The PDP and other interests have stoked fear of a Muslim/Muslim ticket.”

    What other personal political sacrifice could have been more than this for a person so powerfully positioned like Tinubu to cede such a juicy post to a competent associate in Osinbajo which nobody but the PDP can deride on the altar of partisan politics, not progressive national interest. The man has really paid his political dues and should be accorded such recognition. Since 1992 when he was elected to the Nigerian Senate as representative of the Lagos West constituency in the short-lived Nigerian Third Republic, Tinubu has never looked back; making from, and ceaselessly giving back to the Nigerian society. Consequent upon the annulment of the 12 June 1993 presidential elections, he became a founding member of the pro-democracy National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), which mobilized support for the restoration of democracy and recognition of the June 12 results. He went into exile in 1994 and returned to the country in 1998 after the death of military despot Sani Abacha, which ushered in the transition to civilian rule.

    In the run-up to the 1999 elections, he contested under the platform of Alliance for Democracy (AD) for, and was elected as governor of Lagos state and served two terms of eight years. While serving as governor, his panoramic eye for discovering raw skills and talents came to the fore at a time when other leaders were inflicting political misfits on the people through public office. He, unlike some leaders, never gets intimidated when surrounded by egg heads from different fields of intellectual endeavours. Yet, he is at the same time at home with the hoi polloi as he never at any time while in power and outside it looked down on anybody. No wonder, Tinubu built one of the most admired and respected cabinets in the country where robust debates and superior arguments prevailed in the day to day running of his administration.

    His cabinet had champions in different fields like Yemi Osinbajo, Wale Edu, Yemi Cardoso, Dele Alake, Tunji Bello, Leke Pitan and Babatunde Raji Fashola, now governor of Lagos State amongst others that are still reference points in the nation’s public affairs.  Tinubu identified and deployed these distinguished Nigerians to the service of humanity. At the same period, the best that the ruling PDP and its leaders including ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo could do for the country was to promote mediocrity by looking for malleable and challenged personalities like late Umaru YarÁdua and Goodluck Jonathan to govern the nation when we had brains scattered in the nooks and crannies of the country waiting to be harnessed. The result is the inept and clueless governance that we have staring us in the face today across the land.

    It was the bid to fill in this avoidable leadership gap at especially the national level that led Tinubu to inspire others from his clan and top shots from the remaining geo-political zones/party platforms to rally together and form a mega-party that has come to be known as APC. In his  discerning eyes, he has also identified another distinguished professional and accomplished technocrat, Akinwunmi Ambode to take over from Fashola come 2015 after having won in the APC free and fair transparent governorship primaries early this month. What a man that is mischievously being derided for his sheer political sagacity and industry.

    The truth is that Tinubu remains yet unsung by political adversaries and envious folks despite his rare political sacrifice to the nation and humanity. He is being maligned in his pursuits of the long desired political change from PDP’s tyranny come 2015. The wind of change has become inevitable with his deft management of APC from its enemies predicted implosion. The imminent change is just a matter of time.

     

    –Adisa is a public commentator based in Lagos

     

     

  • Worshipping the false messiahs of Nigeria

    Doyin Okupe presented President Goodluck Jonathan as Jesus Christ in the mostopportune time. We were in Christmas mood and should have been most receptive to the revelation of god among us.

    Okupe’s job description as the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs is to appraise and praise his principal. And security on the job lies at the extreme end of hyperbole.

    He has to be (seen to be) sufficiently worshipful of the President or he gets the sack. This incentivizes Okupe to work overtime, talking Jonathan up. And sure enough, it predisposes him to sounding stupid. But this attempt to make up the profane with the sacred shows that Okupe’s sycophancy has mutated into wanton license.

    It couldn’t have been his answer to Wole Soyinka’s portrayal of Jonathan as King Nebuchadnezzar. Soyinka, the Nobel Laureate, called a press conference just to vent and he kept his metaphor within the bounds of the secular. But Okupe, the self-acclaimed Attack Lion, went to a breakfast TV show for expediency and ran into profanities.

    Basically, the overreach testifies that Okupe has run out of material. After placing Jonathan in the peer group of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Lee Kaun Yew and Barack Obama and ranking him as the greatest Nigerian leader since independence, there are no more fitting mortals left for comparison. So Jonathan has to be equated with Jesus.

    Jonathan deserves some congratulations, though. He is one of the rare humans who have managed to inspire the veneration of their persons. His own evolution to divinity makes him measure up to his wife. Patience, according to Evans Bipi, the arrowhead of an anti-Amaechi gang, was ”Jesus Christ on earth”.

    It’s good that President Jonathan’s catch-up worked out fine. This leaves Nigeria with a couple of Jesus Christ’s in the State House. One Jesus and a spare.

    But the paradox is that the countries that are led by mere mortals fare better than theocratic Nigeria. They have higher standards of living. They have very low child mortality rates. They have public schools that are training their youths to participate in a future where knowledge will become the principal commodity.

    They have efficient transport systems that move people and goods with few instances of avoidable mishaps. They have portable water at the turn of the tap. They maintain healthcare systems that our Jesus doubles resort to when they fall ill.

    Actually, the Jonathans are not the only saviors. There is a glut of claimants to the title of messiah, from the lowest tier up to the presidency. They base their claims on some grudging tokens. The roads that begin to deteriorate with the onset of the first rains. The schools they can’t suffer their children to attend. The hospitals their family members cannot patronize.

    Since May 1999, these false messiahs have been saving only their family and friends. They have been offering the populace more hype than governance deliverables. They have been investing in looking good than doing good. And they have always liked to hire fawning loudmouths.

    But it should be obvious that this kind of salesmanship – borrowing from the

    supernatural realm to improve their bottom line – is counterproductive. It betrays the brand as so flawed that its marketability can only be helped by a bogus label.

    President Jonathan should be worried. He should be concerned that his promoters are nauseating and alienating the multitude instead of converting them. He has continued to pretend to be too absorbed in some otherworldly business to notice the sacrileges his hirelings are perpetrating in his name.

    Jonathan winked at the tweaking of #BringBackOurGirls hashtag into his re-election campaign promo. He was content to let it persist until Washington Post shamed him into issuing a disclaimer. He pretended to be asleep while the police desecrated the premises of the National Assembly on the orders of Inspector General Suleiman Abba.

    And he has yet to wake up. Jonathan must rein in Okupe and other sycophants. Chinua Achebe reminds us that those whose palm kernels were cracked by the gods must remain humble. A shoeless school boy who rose to the presidency cannot afford to have an aide misrepresenting him as a contestant for the position of Jesus Christ.

     

    Emmanuel Uchenna Ugwu

    @emmaugwutheman

  • Cross River 2015: Hatemongers and their desperate antics

    Cross River 2015: Hatemongers and their desperate antics

    The peace and serenity of Cross River State is being challenged today by those who think that things must either be done their way, go their way or nothing.  These are politicians whose pastime has been no other than abuse, name calling and condemnation.

    They attempt to contrive perilous times for the state. In their contemplation, the debauchery of yesterday must be reinvented.

    To think that these are men and women of yesterday who saw themselves as demi-gods and goddesses and who broached no opposition while they held sway, are today prancing about attempting to serve to others the same dish they had so much revulsion for.

    How fast time flies in politics. And how quickly can politicians forget. Since the start of political activities for the next transition in Cross River, the airwaves have been cackling and the press awash with cants from those challenging for the spoils ahead of 2015.

    Men and women who ordinarily should be role models have condescended to such a base level of name calling, abuse and the deployment of uncouth language against anyone considered as a stumbling block.

    In the weekend Chronicle of Friday April 2, 2010, I published an article titled – “Between Liyel Imoke and his detractors”. Barely one year after Governor Imoke had assumed office, there were clear indications that some people who were not comfortable with his pedigree and who perceived that their influence on the state was expiring were up to a scheme.

    While some character contemplated a migration to other parties as speculations were then. Most of us did not like the idea as it would amount to pulling the rug under Imoke’s feet. This article was intended to remind some of these political harlots and jobbers then that such a move was only typical of ambitious people with narcissistic tendencies.

    I warned in that article that if that development was not halted, men and women of reason would conclude that it amounted to a situation where a man may say because I have drawn water from the well, it can now dry up.

    The decision of the leadership of the state PDP which was heavily backed by the leader of the party, Governor Liyel Imoke to zone the governorship to the Northern Senatorial District, seemingly threw up a new crop of king makers.

    Those who never saw anything good about the zone, suddenly realised that it was an orphanage from where they must go for an adoption. This was even as they deliberately refused to recognize the existence of the zone as an orphanage.

    This is where the ‘sins’ and political ‘inequities’ of Governor Imoke can rightly be situated: for daring to make the North an exciting orphanage for adoption to take place.

    However, when that exercise was being pursued by Imoke, we are aware that some people who think that they must now come to limelight to shine were never in complete support of this shift of power. Imoke did it almost single handedly, in case someone is forgetting.

    While the ongoing series of attacks on the governor can be said to be a consequence or price of his wisdom to give a sense of belonging to the northern part of the state, it is more so for refusing to align with the choice of an adoptee.

    Our yesterday men and women who would never subscribe to this act of meddlesomeness and would exact appropriate pound of flesh for such audacity have all forged a common front against a sitting governor who has become their ‘Common Enemy Number 1’.

    Among these political degenerates are those whose political profile would never be complete without the mention of Governor Imoke as a benefactor. From the highest political office to the lowest, they all owe their ascendancy as senators, House of Reps members and as former commissioners to the governor they have suddenly found a common ground to hate.

    Some of these turncoats have variously at public functions admitting copiously to Governor Imoke having a large heart to accommodate their nuisance values and excesses.  How indeed time flies!

    It is indeed, worrisome and sad, that the same people taking up spaces in the papers and televisions to attack Governor Imoke have so soon forgotten that the level they have reached is where tact and diplomacy is most needed on issues of politics. When a man or woman has become governor, senator or holding such high national office, he has, as much as I know reached a state to be counted among the pantheons of our national leaders. And at a point, he could even be referred to as elder statesman. But how can you merit this if you do not allow forbearance, wisdom and sanity to prevail?

    I am worried that for all he has laboured upon over the years to institutionalize in our polity, a few disgruntled and disoriented people could be so unconscionable enough to want to rubbish all on the altar of political expediency and narcissism.

    Rather than get ready to clap the governor out of dais for having acquitted himself as a servant leader, some of our self-seeking sons and daughters are busy trying to deliver killer punches. I think the governor’s calm mien must have been misread as docility. How wrong can they be!

    As a leader, we still recall how Imoke, on assumption of office, tried very hard to remain focused on the task ahead of him rather than get distracted by the listlessness of the past which the state is still grappling with today.

    Whatever is on ground in the state since 2007, when Imoke took over is as a result of his ingenuity. How could anyone have succeeded with an empty treasury? This claim has been justified inadvertently by some of the governor’s haters in the past. They were quoted to have said that “some of our neighbouring states go home every month with about N20 billion from the Federation account while Cross River State goes home with a paltry N2 billion.”

    In this relentless attack on Governor Imoke, while some have cashed in on the opportunity of a governorship aspirant to vent their personal vendetta, others have chosen outright, to make the fight more personal and have openly declared so.

    However, what is ahead of us is not a fight or warfare. We do not need to trade tackles to achieve our varied aims. We do not need to betray ourselves to the outside world. We do not need to promote hate, otherwise, we would be throwing the state into turmoil and darkness even if we win the election. What we have in front of us is a political struggle to put a worthy and deserving successor to Imoke.

    I know that Cross Riverians realise this fact and as smart people who cherish their peace, they would reject every attempt by hatemongers to foist themselves on the people. Anything that would dislocate and rupture the peace that Imoke has helped to engender in the state would be unacceptable.

  • Osun’s unforgetable years

    Osun’s unforgetable years

    From the pre colonial era, when in 1951 H. L. Butcher Commission gave  birth to Osun District, till 1991, when the General Ibrahim Babangida-led administration created Osun out of the old Oyo State, several efforts have been made to place the state on the proper position it ought to occupy on the world map. But none has been able to attain the golden age as it is today within four years under Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, governor of the state.

    From the days of surplus, when the military administrators were in-charge, till the coming of the civilian administration in1999, except for the period under Chief Bisi Akande, who started the restructuring of the infrastructure and the opening of the rural roads, so as to increase agricultural products, no one else has done what Aregbesola has done under four years of dynamic and purposeful leadership.

    Abraham Lincoln stated: ” Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power. ” Power is a test of character. In the hands of a person of integrity, it is of tremendous benefit: in the hands of a tyrant, it causes terrible destruction.” The struggle for power lasted 3 and half years for the incubent. Under 4 years, most of the chronic political opponents with whom he wrestled power from have since become one in a political family. It is a credit to Aregbesola that his first term has brought in his successor; Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, Senator Isaka Adeleke , first Executive Governor of the state, Peter Babalola (Peter Action) and many other political gladiators.  The implication of the aforesaid,  is the presence of peace and security in the state.  The 1999 Constitution of Nigeria, Section 14 (4) encapsulates that the state must ensure security of lives and properties, as well as the welfare of the  people.  Aregbesola no doubt has done marvellously well in this aspect .

    In every age, there comes forth to meet the needs of the hour. Aregbesola’s emergence in the state was similar to the Presidency of Franklin Delaino Roosevelt emergence in the USA presidential election. His major opponents never gave him a chance of success.  The United States was in the midst of depression; banks were falling at an alarming rate; unemployment was rife; and life was brutish,  hard and unpleasant.  But against all odds, FDR emerged victorious. Roosevelt,  in his victory speech, promised to lead the country in a completely new direction. Roosevelt successfully revived the American economy through a socio-economic template he called New Deal.

    Aregbesola came on board when the state was in critical need of turn-around. A state noted for poverty, under-development and stagnancy, but the story has since changed,  that even the blind and the deaf now know that development in a magnitude that was unprecedented has taken place, in education, agriculture, infrastructure,  health and in social welfare.

    EDUCATION

    Aregbesola’s education policy centred on the total man; complete child, complete youth, complete citizen. His aim is to prepare the youths for generational change that will make them technically competent and economically motivated, thereby becoming potential entrepreneurs that will not be wondering or roaming the streets  for jobs that are not available .

    The governor shares the view of former American President,  Bill Clinton, as he stated in Arkansas that ” education is the key to our economic revival and our  perennial quest for prosperity.  We must dedicate more of our limited resources to paying teachers better; expanding educational opportunities in poor and small districts; improving and diversifying vocational and high technology programmes…Without competence in basic skills, our people cannot move on to more advanced achievement. ” The first term of this administration has witnessed huge investment on education, in all the local government areas, there are massive modern school buildings, well-equipped laboratories, as well as other instructional materials to meet the educational pursuit of the 21st century in any part of the world.

    The  school reclassification by the Aregbesola’s administration into ; Elementary,  Middle and High schools is synonymous to global trends in which effective teaching and learning take place. The new educational policy is in tandem with the National Educational policy . Under the reclassification,  Osun government runs the modified National 9-3-4 system, as well as the normal school academic calendar. What Osun has now is 4-5-3-4 system, both systems are in harmony with the WAEC syllabus.

    O’MEALS SCHEME

    In the last two years, Aregbesola’s administration has successfully embarked on  O’meal scheme,  that is the school feeding programme.  The result has been tremendous and amazing. So far, the pupils are robusly learning with free and well-nutritious meals daily at the huge sum of N3.6 billion annually. Thus, it has positively impacted on the public enrolment of pupils in primary schools, the highest in Nigeria. The school enrolment moved from 155, 318 in May 2012 to over 300, 000 pupils in 2014. These scheme also created jobs for 3, 000 women that prepare the meals. Osun farmers are patronised by the food vendors that utilised farm produces for their meals. Poultry Association members are also smiling to banks, as the pupils are being fed with eggs daily.

    Great Britain  did not only emulate the Osun free feeding scheme, in 2013, but invited the governor to address their parliament and to share his experiences with the former colonial lords. Indeed, this invitation and the address has gone a long way in boosting the image of our country and Osun in particular.

    OPON IMO

    Opon Imo, tablet of knowledge, is an educational computer device for learning,  a celebrated academic tools that has come to revolutionise the academic world. It is a device  for the students and non-students, who strive for knowledge. It has been so programmed to instruct without a visible tutor. It is a mobile libary and  an amazing device that has come to move the world to the next stage for human development. It is the product of a thinking leader, whose desire is to give the best education for a complete man. In the next few years, the world will remember this regime for turning around the education sector, not only of Osun but the whole world.

    AGRICULTURE

    This agricultural revolution is on and cannot be denied, as the old and young farmers are competing for the war against hunger and poverty in the midst of plenty; due to self-destruction caused by long time neglect of agriculture as a means for living by any serious nation. Africa and Nigeria are blessed by vast arable land but the oil boom that turned oil doom in our nation made people to turn their backs at tilling the soil. Aregbesola has since preached, practiced ‘go back to land’ for battle against poverty. O’REAP is an agricultural project that has given the youths  hope of earning a living. Some of our people are today employers of labour through agricultural investment.

    Fertilisers and other useful chemicals that would boost agricultural production have been made available to farmers across the state.  Seedlings were provided, lands cleared by government free of charge for would-be farmers. Cooperative societies were created for farmers to enhance fund for big time farmers. Today, the cost of living is far cheaper and economical. Poverty has been reduced drastically and unemployment has equally reduced and the state economy is adjudged the best seven in the Federation.

    As Aregbesola commences his second term,  his desire is to accomplish 20 year’s work under four years that his second term would cover.

  • Buhari’s fourth try: It will be real now

    My instinct made me to believe, that General Muhammadu Buhari would clinch the just concluded All Progressives Congress (APC’s) primaries

    The other four contenders- Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso, Governor Rochas and Mr. Sam Isaiah will not really pose any threat in making the Buhari candidacy under the platform of the APC, because the retired General has enjoyed and still enjoys the people’s confidence in yearning for positive change in this country.                                      It is therefore not a surprise, that when counting of the ballots started at the primaries, General Muhammadu Buhari polled a total vote of 3,430 out of the more than 7,000 delegates votes.              It is only General Muhammadu Buhari, in the whole of this country that can still be enjoying mass appeal of the people. A lot of things that are unexpected happened as the primaries was held in Lagos and one of the things that came to the open was the acceptability of General Buhari in South-East and the South-South by the people.

    The massive supports given to General Buhari during the concluded primaries has break the jinx, that was associated with him as a strong religious bigot, who only care for the Muslims.                                      Those who tagged him with such incredulous label are political adversaries that are threatened by the support he enjoys from the people of this country from different parts of this country. It is clear that General Buhari in the election proper in 2015 would give the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan a good run for his money.

    Most of the co-contenders like the former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has shown good sportsmanship by conceding defeat and congratulating the General over his victory.

    The task has now shifted from General Buhari to all the party men and women to now vigorously come out from any shell they may be in to assiduously work for the victory of the party, and General Buhari, at the polls next year.

    General Buhari stands a good chance in becoming the next

    President of this country in next year’s election once the people will put aside any primordial interest and work in unison for the success of the party and the candidate against the dreaded PDP and its candidate.  People should eschew political rancor and money bags and vote according to their conscience in order to ease out the PDP and their presidential candidate.

    The people have suffered too much especially in the North East where insurgents have ravaged so many towns and villages with scores of people losing their lives and hard-earned properties worth billions of naira.

    Insecurity has scuttled the business opportunities of the people as people now live from hand to mouth. The year for real General Buhari’s presidency is now and the people should rally round and see to its actualization.

    General Muhammadu Buhari will transform this country that all can claim to be worthy in staying. This generation and indeed future generations yet unborn have no any other country than Nigeria and we must stay here and salvage it together.

    – Santuraki is a Political Analyst/ public from Yola.

  • A star is gone: Tribute to Ambassador G.H. Bristol

    A star is gone: Tribute to Ambassador G.H. Bristol

    The Nigerian Foreign Service community recently suffered a huge loss in the untimely passing away of Ambassador Gordon Harry Bristol, Under Secretary for African Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  This is a tribute to his friendship and a shared love and passion for Nigeria and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which we both joined as part of the legendary 1980 set.

    A tribute to a friend lost to eternity in the prime of his life is a difficult one to compose as the storyline can only be jagged and rough consisting as it does of hugely unfinished business and of potential that will remain forever untapped.  The best approach then is to speak to his qualities which included a huge and towering intellect, a penchant for hard work, an ebullient personality, a love of diplomacy and a passion for Nigeria.

    Ambassador Bristol’s painful and untimely demise has left a void that cannot be filled in the life of his family.  This is equally true for his friends and colleagues especially those in the Foreign Service where he spent all his working life after completing National Youth Service.  He was the first friend I made in the Foreign Service that had not been my contemporary at then Unife.  We were introduced by Emeka Ifezulike (Ifez) who was one of my closest friends during our Youth Corps year and with whom Gordon had gone to Unilag.

    Gordon Bristol was one of the brightest members of the 1980 set and this was no mean feat in a formidable group with several first rate minds coming from across the length and breadth of Nigeria.  If I recall rightly, Ifez in introducing Gordon had informed me that he won the prize as the best student in the faculty of his graduating class.  Gordon’s intellect and quest for knowledge was such that right from our early encounters we were always planning to go to either Oxford or Cambridge and exchanging ideas on how best to gain admission and pay our way.  He eventually went several years before I did and paid his school fees by selling off a car he had bought during our one year attachment abroad!  Since he did not then have the resources nor indeed time off from work to pursue  his doctorate Gordon always insisted that he would not do a PhD from a lesser institution so as not to sully his hard won MPhil (Cantab).

    Given that his intellect was matched by a huge capacity for work, it was not surprising that Gordon was often called upon to support very senior officials and given special assignments.  He thus worked as Assistant to several Ministers of Foreign Affairs including Professor AB Akinyemi, Major-General IOS Nwachukwu, and Chief MT Mbu. Indeed, with the advent of civilian government in 1999, we served together in the State House with Gordon as the right hand man to Amb (Dr.) PD Cole, Special Adviser to the President on International Relations and later on to Mr Stephen Oronsaye, when he was Permanent Secretary, State House.  Hard work and a nimble mind ensured that Gordon quickly won the confidence of these highly regarded people but I am sure it was the additional quality of his ability to speak truth to power in the most diplomatic of ways that endeared him to them.

    In addition to being personable, negotiations and communications are at the heart of diplomacy.  These skills were Gordon’s forte.  He spoke clearly and eloquently and negotiations

    were second nature to him in multilateral forums such as the United Nations and African Union.  Indeed, in his last role as Under Secretary for African Affairs, he led the Nigerian delegation to the Africa-Turkey Summit which took place in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea less than a month ago.  Gordon had a fine pen and his writing while lucid, crisp and concise was also underpinned by rigour and logical flow.  I can attest to Gordon’s great drafting skill because prior to our working together in the State House, Gordon and I had worked together on the Foreign Service Book Project to produce two under-appreciated tomes of work on ‘Nigeria at the United Nations’ and ‘Nigeria in the Organization of African Unity’.  It was while working on this project and on a visit to Vienna that Gordon learned of the untimely loss of his dear father.  He was completely distraught and heartbroken and a far cry from the confident, ebullient GHB that I had come to know.

    To know Gordon Bristol was to come into contact with a completely self-assured and well composed Nigerian diplomat.  He had a great sense of humour and laughed loudly and with great gusto.  When he was serving in the Permanent Mission of Nigeria to the United Nations in New York, he would regale me with stories of how his name had spared him from rudeness over the telephone only for his interlocutors, sometimes landlords, to find out after seeing him in the flesh that he was a fully born and bred Bonny Man.  Of course, Gordon never failed to remind anyone who was listening that Nigeria’s most famous product was ”Bonny Light.

    Gordon had a very large heart and did not bear needless grudges.  He quickly put misunderstandings and altercations behind him and when he was the victim of some malfeasance, he would tell the story with some amazement about human behaviour and then visibly shrug it off and move on to other things.  This made him a natural born leader and he was very much in the forefront of the struggle by the 1980 and 1981 sets to fight the effort to pension them off early.  Even then, when I spoke to him about the matter, he bore no grudges and was instead looking to the future with optimism.

    Perhaps the greatest attribute that those who knew Gordon would attest to was his passion for Nigeria and desire to use diplomacy as a tool to promote Nigeria’s interests.  This much was evident from his work including a pioneering contribution to the framing of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) and the yet unfulfilled desire to see the Ministry of Foreign Affairs play its proper and functional role in the area of technical cooperation.  Gordon was a huge success in his diplomatic postings spanning bilateral and multilateral missions such as Vienna, New York, Stockholm, Doula and Paris, the latter two in which he served as Head of Mission in the capacity of Consul-General and Ambassador respectively.

    Gordon was immensely proud and protective of his family.  His equally bright, hard working and lovely wife, Ambassador Ijeoma Bristol was one of our set and it took someone of her calibre to win Gordon’s heart for keeps.  I know he was immensely pleased with the academic achievements of his children, which as we always said was the one compensation we all got from the very disruptive life of serving our country abroad.  One cannot begin to imagine the deep sorrow that this close knit family is feeling at this time but I would want them to know that we shared a love for Gordon whose memory will remain evergreen in our hearts and minds.  His was a great mind, a happy presence and a kind heart.

    Adieu, my brother, my friend. Adieu.

    – Ambassador Dipeolu, is Director of the Capacity Development Division of the UN Economic Commission for Africa.  He wrote this piece in his personal capacity.

  • Wamakko: That threat from high above

    Wamakko: That threat from high above

    While addressing the stakeholders of his party recently, the very distraught Governor Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko complained openly that he had received a threatening sms from the very powerful National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki, who happens to be a prominent Sokoto prince. According to the governor, he had, in a radio interview spoken against the assault by security officials on the National Assembly. He claimed to have said in the interview that, “…in a normal society, the National Security Adviser and the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba were supposed to have resigned from their appointments because they have failed Nigerians as a result of the action…”

    Soon after, according to the governor, he received a text message on his phone from the NSA telling that, which in his own words said: “I have heard you, you will be hearing from me”. He regarded took that as a direct threat both to this life and position.

    Given that there have been no public rebuttal to the allegation of the Sokoto governor by the NSA that one is aware of, one is led to conclude that the facts as Governor Wamakko had averred were true. Yet, without hearing the NSA’s version, it would be too presumptuous to take the sms on its face value, which should ordinarily imply an unconcealed threat from a man who has ample access to both means of protection and harm. All the same, in these dangerous times and judging from the fact that Governor Wamakko belongs to the Opposition, the alleged sms from the NSA is naturally viewed with seriousness, especially within the ranks of his group which currently feels haunted by the government whose coercive instruments the NSA commands.

    The apprehension expressed by the Sokoto governor needs not be dismissed with a wave of the hand, judging from the recent behaviour of the security arms of the government which on the last 20th November tried to bar the Speaker of the House of Representatives from accessing his official place of work, on the ultra vires assumption of the duties of the Judiciary by the Police boss, who had arbitrarily assumed the responsibility of interpreting the laws of the land. Not being all lawyers, the polity is more attuned to interpreting the issues on the ground on their face value and within the confines of common-sense. That is why the general impression in Nigeria and outside is that the fracas at the National Assembly was a brazen affront on the right of the Opposition, which has been further interpreted as victimization.

    In other words, while the action of the security agents which has been classified as high-handed, in spite of the explanation of their act as being in line with its duty to prevent crime after it had received intelligence information, is still under public scrutiny, any such sms from the NSA which obviously conveys some traces of a threat, is expected to be taken seriously and with trepidation. A situation whereby a person at the high pedestal of a governor publicly expresses fears over such a threat is a very dangerous to the polity which seems to be at its shakiest state at the moment. More significantly, the NSA, from his vantage position should be most aware of the fact that if there is anything the nation needs at the moment it is not the aggravation of domestic tension when all hands, all resources and all faculties are needed to confront the external enemy which is terror.

    After 16 years of the current practice of democracy, one would assumed that it should have become obvious to all that no one is above public scrutiny and that Nigeria should have since outgrown a situation whereby people would be sanctioned for voicing their opinions. In Governor Wamakko’s estimation, the apparently innocuous statement which might have attracted the reported reaction of the NSA was his call on the inspector general of Police and the national security adviser to resign from their jobs for the assault on the National Assembly last month. One cannot but say that it would be unfortunate if the NSA is riled by such a call which has become a mantra across the country in the recent times, not just for the NASS imbroglio but for the citizens’ lack of satisfaction on how the war against terror is being prosecuted. If the NSA and his security apparatchik are not aware of public discontentment over many issues in the country at the moment, then it would be a very unfortunate development.

    Yes, the calls from many quarters – both real and mischievous – for many high officers of the state to resign, have taken on very high decibel, and such calls have often been made on the president, too. At each of those instances when the president has been called upon to resign by the Opposition elements, his aides had either ignored them or made explanations, based on how weighty they consider such calls. The Presidency has never gone out to threaten or make insinuating gestures against those who had called on him to resign; knowing that it is a right guaranteed them by the Constitution under a democratic clime.

    But then, that is the stuff of which democracy is made, whereby institutions are greater than individuals that head them and who must be humble enough to feel that they are accountable to the people and must be sensitive to the vagaries of their feelings. Nigeria cannot be an island and must fit into and aspire to the best practices of other nations. There should be nothing to break heads when a political appointee of the government is called upon to resign, especially by the Opposition. Rather, it should be the responsibility of that official so called upon to show cause why he should not resign and never an occasion for sabre-rattling or issuance of threats. Even under the military dispensation, people have mustered courage to call on their leaders and occupiers of high office to resign when their performance is viewed as suspect.

    Just very recently, the Inspector General of Police of Kenya voluntarily resigned from his office while the Interior Minister who oversights the Police was shown the door by the president for the outrage caused by the terrorists who had crossed the northern border from Somalia into Kenya to massacre innocent civilians. So, resignations had never been new for security officials when breaches occur. Would it be wrong to suggest that the breach that happened in Kenya which resulted in the resignation of the police chief and the Interior Minister do not pale into insignificance when compared to the situation in Nigeria? To that extent, does anybody making such a call deserve any threats at all?

    More surprisingly, one would have expected that Colonel Dasuki would have appreciated the unique position of Sokoto State which has remained a refreshing oasis in the torrid desert of insecurity in the North. More than anybody else, from his military  training, current posting and as prince of the ancient and revered Sokoto Caliphate, the NSA ought to lecture everybody else on the role of chief executives of states in ensuring peace, stability and security in their states. Governor Wamakko is widely acclaimed and extolled as an experienced and cool-headed administrator, who is very much loved by his people because he has been one of them and has identified with their tears and laughter. It is difficult to find anybody in Sokoto State who speaks ill of the governor because of his painstaking attention to issues of community development which takes the people into great consideration.

    The fact that the governor does not discriminate among the inhabitants of the state, on basis of their ethnic origins or religion has created an unprecedented sense of belonging to all who reside in the state. Very approachable and humane, Aliyu Wamakko is said to have become a veritable example of what Pope Francis described as a “shepherd who smells like his sheep”.

    Therefore, the fact that Sokoto remains the most peaceful corner of Nigeria today is not out of luck, but rather out of a systematic build-up of good governance and care for the people, as well as a legacy of good governance which has been inherited from the days of Othman dan Fodio and his successors since in 1804. Wamakko has been a great apostle of this great legacy which other parts of Nigeria need to emulate.

    The NSA definitely appreciates the importance of sustaining this peace and stability at his home base and needs to work hand in hand with the political and traditional leaders in his home state to ensure that Sokoto becomes better and continues to remain safe and peaceful as the last bastion of peace and stability. Governor Wamakko might be in the APC today, probably making the NSA jittery over his statements and pronouncements. But that need not be so, as differences are the best ingredients of progress in a democratic setting.

    In these perilous times when a tiny spark could easily balloon into an inferno, it behoves on those whose prime responsibility it is to prevent the small sparks as well as big infernos to always seek ways that would douse all fires – big or small. It is not for the likes of NSA to stoke fires, but a primary responsibility to douse them, even when they are started by others. A situation whereby a state governor of the calibre and experience of Dr. Aliyu Wamakko is made to feel threatened can only be an ill-wind which will blow nobody well.

    –  Haruna Jimme, a political scientist , writes from Abuja

  • Ogun: Farming is our specialty

    Ogun: Farming is our specialty

    There is a popular refrain  from a popular Yoruba song which is taught in schools. Ise agbe n’ise ile wa. The full lines of the song state that “Western education without basic knowledge of farming and other food production methods is inadequate because ours is an agrarian population. Those who refuse to work hard will resort to stealing”.

    The lines of the above stated song apply more to Ogun State than most other states in our country in several ways. The state has 16,432 square kilometers of land, 80 percent of which is arable. As part of the state’s profile, it is noted that it has” evergreen forest vegetation and soil suitable for the cultivation of cash and food crops like cassava, rice, oil palm, cocoa, rubber, kolanut, pineapple, vegetables, cotton, cocoyam, citrus and banana”. What this translates to, is that the state is traditionally agrarian in nature and population.

    Also, the third item on the five cardinal programme of the current administration in the state is increased agricultural production leading to industrialisation. In a more symbolic manner which demonstrates that Western education must go hand in hand with the knowledge and promotion of agriculture, the Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun appointed an urbane corporate lawyer, Mrs. Ronke Sokefun as commissioner in charge of the ministry with the responsibility to execute the plan to use agriculture as a means of creating wealth, generating employment among the teeming youths, increasing food production thereby eliminating hunger among the people.

    As a good model, Sokefun has actually taken up the challenge by leading a team which is pursuing initiatives aimed at positioning the state as a food basket of the nation, dependable source of raw materials for agro-based industries and exporter ready to earn more foreign exchange.

    The team has been discharging its roles by using investment in equipment, provision of technical, financial, material and advisory support to farmers, revival of inherited farm estates, creation of large  state-owned demonstration farms through which they create employment, spread knowledge about new farming techniques and encourage partnership between government and farmers (both small and big). Other means through which the Amosun government is executing its increased agricultural production agenda are creation of a corps of graduate farmers who will serve as model employers for others to emulate and embrace farming, liberalisation of access to land by potential investors and partnership with the Federal Government to enhance agricultural production.

    For instance, the state has embarked on an all-year round pullet rearing for sale to farmers aimed at replacing culled layers during all festivals. Thus, 75,000 pullets were reared. It is intended that the pullets would produce over 100 million eggs in a year. The pullet production programme will end up helping to achieve self sufficiency in poultry meat and egg production.

    Also, the government has rehabilitated the Central Livestock Feeds Depot which had been moribund for 15 years. The feed mill has not only helped in achieving the pullet rearing plan, it is now the major supplier of feed to the 8000 layers owned by the 40 graduate farmers resident in the Owowo Farm Settlement.

    There is also the Balekan Poultry Project which has been given a face-lift with increased capacity to produce a total of 3,866,383 eggs while the Oke Eri Poultry also owned by the government produces 1,175,051 eggs.

    There is also an on-going beef multiplication project at Odeda which has successfully upgraded indigenous breed of cattle by crossing the Ndama and the White Fulani. This is aimed at helping local farmers to increase the population of their herd.

    In the area of fish production, the Amosun administration has rehabilitated the three government fish farms located at Odeda, Ilaro and Ikenne, all of which have been in serious state of disuse in the past years. The pond reservoirs were then supplied fish seeds. Today, the three farms produce an average of 29 tons of table-size fish per annum. To increase the capacity of these fish farms, the government also constructed three new hatcheries with ability to produce an average of 500,000 fish seeds per year for sale to farmers at subsidised rate.

    The government also installed modern smoking kilns for fish processing for the three fish farms. These have provided better opportunity for value addition in fish production. Again, the Amosun administration has provided basic implements for local farmers at subsidized rates. These include 13 outboard engines, 226 bundles of fishing nets, 1,111 rolls of twine and 4,444 floats. The facilities have helped to rejuvenate fish production and energise the local economy in riverine areas of the state.

    Realising that during the golden era of the Western region when agriculture provided 67 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product, cocoa, rubber and other tree crops were sources of the wealth, the department of tree crops and rural development was mandated to provide high quality seedlings and extension services to farmers. Thus, the department provided one million cocoa seedlings for farmers at no cost.

    The ministry has established two hectares of cocoa seed garden at Alagbagba in Odeda local government while it has engaged in the cultivation of 50 hectares of cocoa in the same neighbourhood.

    In the area of cassava production, the Ministry has a unit under its Agricultural Services Department called Cassava Revolution Programme which has helped to mobilize relevant stakeholders for the adoption of improved, high yielding, early maturing and disease resistant cassava varieties. The unit has since distributed 43,000 bundles of improved varieties of cassava cuttings to farmers under the GES. The government is set to install a high quality cassava flour plant in the state while it has also cultivated thousands of hectares of land for cassava so as to help in meeting the raw material needs of the proposed plant and other industries which are daily setting up shop in the state.

    Apart from cassava, other farm produce which the state government has focused on, both in direct involvement and helping local farmers to increase their production capacity are rice, cotton, cashew and tomato. In fact, the government has invested heavily in establishing Green Technology farms for the production of tomato and pepper. The farms located in Kotopo provide employment opportunity for about 50 youths who are managing them. It also served as a centre for transfer of technology as there are now 30 others which sprang up across the state after learning from the government project.

    The state government is also encouraging farmers through the purchase of land clearing equipment worth N600m which is hired to farmers at subsidized rate. This has made the job of ploughing, harrowing, slashing, planting, spraying and shelling very easy and affordable for farmers. Access to fertiliser has equally been made easy and cheaper. Also, farmers now get soft loans from the N1 billion facility from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) being administered by the state.

    Other major projects embarked upon by the government for the benefit of the people are the cultivation of 50-hectare cashew farm located in Afon, 50-hectare rice plantation in Onidundu, another 50-hectare oil palm plantation in Ipokia and the partnership it entered into with the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture for the development of 250 hectares of paddy paddy rice. These are projects that will change the face of food production in the state judging by the benefit that will accrue to the people.

    It is also worthy of mentioning that the Ministry of Agricuture in Ogun State has created what it calls Oja Irorun, an outlet where public servants can shop for Agricultural produce at farm gate prices. A more elaborate version of this market is the beautiful edifice in Asero area of the state capital which is open to all members of the public. It is called Agric Mart or Oja Agbe.

    More importantly, the government has consistently liberalized the process of obtaining land by investors in agriculture and agro-based industries. That is why the longest road being constructed by the government, the 107 Kilometre Ilara-Ijoun-Egua road, is aimed at opening up the many square kilometres of arable land in four local government areas of Ogun West senatorial district.

    It is, however, necessary to mention the establishment of the Owowo Model Farm Estate in which 40 graduates were selected after a rigorous process and provided comfortable accommodation. The graduate farmers engage in various aspects of agricultural production including arable crop production, poultry and fish farming. They are demonstration agents to other educated youths that farming is not only for the unlearned rural people.

    It is believed that with all these efforts and more that cannot be captured in this piece because of space constraint, Ogun is set to reclaim its lost glory as the nation’s most viable farming region.

     

    • Olaniyonu is Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Ogun State.