The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Wanted: Another Fashola for Lagos in 2015

    It is safe to argue that Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola has been one of the most admired governors since the nation returned to democratic governance in 1999. Although he might not have set out for a cult following, his relentless pursuit of the ideals of democracy, his pervasive and profound achievements in spite of a drastic shortfall in federal revenue allocation, and his Catholic devotion to bettering the lives of Lagosians have thrown him up as a primus inter pares (first among equals). And the fact that he doesn’t make a song his achievements further portrays him as an exception in a political clime where governors celebrate payment of civil servants’ salaries as a landmark achievement.

    Really, it is hard not to love BRF as he is fondly called by Nigerians of all ages, races and religions. A gangling force of nature, Fashola’s gregarious charm, razor-sharp intellect and the innate gravitas he brings to governance make many analysts and social commentators compare him to the charismatic American President, Barack Obama. Interestingly, the comparisons are hinged on their trajectory and individual characteristics. Both are trained lawyers serving their second terms in public office. Both are southpaws, keen sports fans (Obama plays basketball and doesn’t mind getting bloodied on the court while Fashola plays football avidly) and have incredible appeal among youths.

    But that is where the similarities end. While Obama rode into office on a tidal wave of genuine love and desire for change, Fashola was the anonymous, self-effacing technocrat railroaded into the maelstrom of Lagos politics by his former principal, the former Governor of Lagos State now the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Interestingly, while Obama’s rating in the eyes of Americans has plummeted in the last one and a half years, Fashola has been enjoying stratospheric adulation wherever he turns, whether in Lagos or Lafia. Yet, it is not because Obama has lost his charisma and oratorical appeal; it is just that Fashola’s type is rare in this clime. His dynamic insight and robust foresight have placed him as a leader who does not flounder in torrid times. Going forward, that is the kind of leader Lagos State needs; not tentative, ill-prepared also-rans.

    Lagos is Nigeria’s most important state. And one does not need higher education to understand this. It is the socio-economic nerve-centre and heartbeat of Nigeria. It is home to Nigeria’s second largest population after Kano, according to census figures, even though many would argue that it is the other way round. Whatever is the case, the fact remains that Lagos is too important to be left in the hands of charlatans or inordinately ambitious politicians whose only aim is to feather their own nests and those of their cronies to the detriment of millions of Lagosians.

    It is therefore very interesting to see the horde of aspirants jostling to succeed Governor Fashola. At the last count, there must be over 30 aspirants across the major political parties. In the ruling APC, there are no fewer than 10 gladiators ranging from the current Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, and the Commissioner for Works, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, to Akinwunmi Ambode, Senator Ganiyu Solomon and a former Attorney-General of the state, Olasupo Sasore.

    In other parties too, the number of aspirants angling to fly their party’s flag is as intimidating as it is laughable. There are also-rans and half-hearted aspirants just as there are politicians who are way past their prime. But that is not the focus of this writer.

    Less than a decade ago, Oshodi was the avatar of negativity. The hotbed of criminal activities perpetrated in broad daylight, with a permanent and frustrating traffic jam at all times of the day, Oshodi’s case seemed intractable until Fashola emerged on the scene. The action governor did not only weed out criminals from the place, he turned it into a beautiful sight that became the envy of even the elite. The cleansing of Oshodi was one of the highlights of Fashola’s first term. So is the state’s internally generated revenue which has jumped from about N4 billion in 2007 to N21 billion now, with a propensity to grow exponentially in the coming years provided there is no disruption in policies. The growth in the state’s IGR has manifested in the construction of new roads and repair and expansion of others around the state.

    These days, you can drive round Lagos without looking over your shoulders, as there are security patrol teams in all corners of the state. Work has reached advanced stage with the expansion of the Lagos-Badagry expressway into a 10-lane super highway. A lot of little minds who do not understand the workings of the state tripe about that the Fashola administration is elitist. Yet it has completed 165 rural electrification projects under its rural intervention scheme, hundreds of transformers and 100 solar-powered water projects have been distributed to various communities while more than 38 communities have benefited from the integrated rural development (IRD) programme through the provision of ‘alternative energy/power’ and provision of solar energy to power their water supply, television with generating sets.

    The Lagos mono-rail, scheduled for deployment this year, is designed to move approximately 90,000 passengers per hour, per day making it the first real urban mass transit system in Nigeria. This would not only ease traffic congestion in the state, commuters will enjoy safe, affordable, comfortable and efficient mass transit. Fashola’s achievements in critical sectors like education, healthcare, agriculture and the environment are too numerous to mention. And he plans to do more, but time is no longer on his side.

    That is why it is indeed very important that the sturdy foundation laid by Fashola for the wholesome development of Lagos is not allowed to be eroded with the intrusion of outsiders. The next governor of Lagos State must be an insider, somebody who understands the workings of the current administration and who can hit the ground running without having to spend his first six months trying to grapple with the realities of the challenges before him. Lagos deserves another well-rounded technocrat who can ensure the continuity and consolidation of the achievements recorded by the previous administrations. This is why some of Fashola’s aides say he finds reports of a brewing acrimony between him and Asiwaju on the choice of his successor laughable and ludicrous. According to them, all that Fashola desires is continuity of his policies and projects.

    The task of selecting the flag bearers of each party should therefore not be predicated on politics or satisfying any parochial or personal interest. Indeed, there would never be another Fashola, but Lagos needs a man in his mould: a visionary, a tireless worker, a breath of fresh air, someone who can simplify the art of governance just as he has done; a leader who would be studied for generations, and a role model for everyone of this generation.

    • Giwa wrote in from Lagos.

  • Why Nigeria’s future is tied to the girl-child

    The quest for women’s advancement in Nigeria can only begin with a closer look at the prospects of the girl-child with regards to her worth in society. To  underscore its importance, the status of the girl-child was one of the critical issues discussed at the 4th United Nations conference on women, Beijing in 1995 with over 186 countries in attendance, and after which nine strategic objectives were outlined to galvanise governments to uphold the rights of the girl-child and ensure her protection.

    It may seem trite to say every woman was once a girl-child and that every girl-child is a potential woman and mother. But these assertions take on added significance when   their place in society is considered. Every great woman celebrated today was once a girl-child who had access to education that qualitatively shaped her transition from childhood to adulthood; from  obscurity to prominence and from days of small beginnings to a future of great accomplishments. Hence, concealed in every girl-child is a potential Mother Teresa, a future Margaret Ekpo, a possible Fumilayo Kuti, a Gambo Sawaba.

    If education is indeed a key determinant of favourable outcomes in life and the pathway for a girl-child to become self-actualized as a woman; a national asset and a raiser of future nation builders, then girl-child education in Nigeria deserves priority attention. Indeed surveys have shown that educated girls become better mothers and educated mothers insist on their girl children being educated which implies more girls going to school and the progression continues towards a more gender compliant system.

    In spite of the strategic role the girl-child plays in the development of a nation, and the transforming impact that education has in the empowerment of the girl-child, United Nations statistics show that a vast percentage of them either do not go to school at all, or drop out at a certain level due to adversities like child-marriage, child-labour and trafficking, terrorism and sexual exploitation. Indeed the girl-child has continued to confront enormous challenges militating against her educational progress.

    According to a 2014 UNICEF report, Nigeria has 10.5 million children out of school,  the highest number in the world with about 60 per cent of those children being girls. It also stated that “almost one of three primary age children is out of school, and roughly one of four junior secondary age children is out of school.” What this implies is that the Nigerian girl-child is one of the most disadvantaged in the world suffering from neglect in all its ramifications especially in the northern part of Nigeria.

    It was in view of such challenges that the convention on the rights of the child was framed in 1989, which gives every child irrespective of gender, a right to education. Furthermore, the United Nations designated October 11annually as International Day of the Girl Child and  which was first observed globally in October  2012. The objective of this day is for everyone to reflect on the dwindling prospects of the girl-child and her overwhelming but surmountable  challenges. It is designed to provoke global interventions  at all levels and to protect every girl child regardless of their geographical location.  Nigeria is marching in lockstep with the rest of the globe. She is a signatory to that UN convention on the Rights of the Child since 1999, and is also a signatory to the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child. But there is clear need for more concerted action regarding the protection of the rights of the girl child in Nigeria.

    In response to the growing challenges of the girl child in Nigeria, and to commemorate this year’s United Nations International Day for the Girl Child, the reinvigorated National Centre for Women Development under the leadership of Lady Onyeka Onwenu is leading the charge. Under the inspiration of the First Lady, Patience Jonathan and in collaboration with an NGO, Friends Africa, the centre is convening a 2 -day Women and Girls summit with the theme: Reinforcing the Agenda for Girl Child Education on October 13-14 and is expected to witness a convergence of diverse key stakeholders in girl child education.

    According to the First Lady, “educating the girl-child is educating a nation”and“access to education is a fundamental human right, whether a child is physically challenged or disadvantaged.” Indeed, educating the girl-child is one of the most important investments any country can make for its future. It empowers girl-children and women with the ability to insist on their rights, and become more profitably integrated into the society.

    Lady Onwenu  visualizesthe  Women and Girls Summit as a “game changer” and designed to midwife concrete changes in the society. On a television programme recently, she spoke of the brazen neglect of the girl-child in Nigeria over the years and said this was why the summit would not be the usual talkshop which often masquerade as action but would have  a concrete and sustained follow up plan of action that will be meticulously implemented to tackle identified issues head-on. This she said is  in a bid to reposition the girl-child as a national asset beginning with  free access to quality education.

    If such an  outcome is realised, then the convocation of the women and girls summit will be a true game changer and coming at a time when the fiendish threat of Boko Haram to the dignity and self-actualization of women occupies centre stage.

     

    . Archibong is an Abuja-based public analyst.

  • Another look at NYSC user fees

    Broadly defined, user fees are monetary charges for the consumption of public goods and services. These fees became fashionable in countries where the recurrent budget is no longer sufficient to provide public goods and services due either to increased demand or greater pressure on public resources.

    Recently, the NYSC introduced charges for corps members who wish to use its new online registration and mobilization application. Since the announcement, debate has raged about whether prospective corps members should pay to use the online platform. Specifically, some have raised questions about the amount charged, and whether it is the right price to be charged for such service.

    Legitimate as these questions are, it is difficult to even begin to talk about right price until we have assessed the product or service on offer. In terms of tangible deliverables, I hear that the new application is designed to enable prospective corps members to register online from any location, save time that would normally be spent travelling and queuing up in schools to collect call-up letters, allow corps members to print call-up letters directly from the internet as well as enable them to retrieve lost call-up letters with the aid of biometrics. So, they are saying in essence that the system is being reformed for greater efficiency.

    From the debate so far, there seem to be no contention over the efficiency claims. So, it is safe to assume that this is a settled matter – that we all accept the reality that the old system needs some kind of modernization.

    So that takes us very quickly to the subject of appropriate pricing.

    Not unexpectedly, the subject of pricing constitutes the core of academic and policy literature on user fees, since the argument for abolition has long been pegged back by the reality of the inadequacy of public sector finances. To this end, focus has shifted (inevitably)to the method of pricing and level of fees to be charged.

    In the classic user charge framework, there is a price that allows the public good or service to be provided optimally – at the right quantity and desired quality. However, society is unwilling (or unable) to pay this price, so government must subsidize to the tune of the difference between the cost and the socially desirable price. However, as capacity to subsidize diminishes, either quality declines or quantity of goods also diminishes to the point that a sizable fraction of the population is denied the benefit of the service due to scarcity. Here is where user charges become necessary. They are necessary to raise additional resources to increase quantity of goods or raise quality so that they (goods, services) may once be available in greater quantity and better quality.

    But this is the economic solution, not the social welfare one. Because the presence of a user charge creates its own brand of social exclusion. Incidentally (and maybe for reasons of convenient scape-goating), this category of social exclusion historically has assumed greater popularity than the one created by resource insufficiency. The literature however observes, with considerable validity, that the inability to subsidize, reinforced by the unwillingness to user-charge, actually hurts the poor more than the rich, as the latter possess the capacity to afford and access alternative (though more expensive) sources.

    In the context of the NYSC call-up letter and miscellaneous charges, this scenario may have played out in the domain of long-distance travel (to collect call-up letters) and the variety and quality of options available to the different social classes before the new regime. So much has been made (and rightly so) of the hundreds of miles and the number of hours it took corps members to travel to pick up call-up letters. But nothing says that even back then, all classes of corps members were doing this drill. For some it was just a car drop away from the next airport and back, mostly a single day. Maybe even a few hours. These ones wouldn’t be bothered about the cost as with the distance. They just didn’t need the stress. But the not-so-privileged corps members just did not have this option. So with the old system (without the option of user charges), the not-so-rich were simply condemned to the distance (and the stress). So we find another NYSC-case correlation with the user charge hypothesis – that the poor suffers more with poor services. The rich have the option of flight. And maybe they could also receive theirs through other (express) means, who knows.

    But there is something still unresolved about the appropriate level of pricing in the NYSC call-up letter and miscellaneous charges debate. In the literature, the right price is prescribed to be high enough to improve service provision and expand access, but not so high as to disadvantage the poor to the benefit of the rich. Hence the next vital and very core social welfare proposition of user fees – the quality-equity substitution. It says: Do not be too beholden to raising quality that only the rich can afford the new quality. In other words, do not rob equity to pay quality. This takes us back to the ‘user fees, no user fees, both benefit the rich, both punish the poor conundrum’.

    So what price is most appropriate, that NYSC can charge for its online registration and mobilization service? It is foolhardy to pretend to know for sure, to the last cent (kobo), or to aspire to this goal in a 1,500 words essay. But I can attempt to do a product content analysis on one hand, and agency comparative analysis on the other, with greater confidence.

    According to the NYSC’s explanations, the cost of the services was derived from the material costs and the personnel cost. The material cost includes cost of providing hardware. I do not know the entire composition of the hardware paraphernalia, but I assume it is the cost of computers, accessories, biometric machines etc. These items and accessories we understand are to be deployed in all the NYSC orientation camps across Nigeria. The software cost, we also understand to be cost of programme application (simply software). If the organization would hold the entire registration database on the internet storage system as we assume it would, then it would also include cost of bandwidth ‘sold’ to NYSC and maintained by what the IT people call ISP (Internet Service Provider). The personnel cost is simply the cost of deploying IT personnel to these centers in 36 states and the FCT to operate the systems.

    Going back to the user fee postulations, this is not a social welfare conception. It is entirely an accounting one. So we are back to the normative contestations around user fees. Except that this time, we might actually be seeing a problem where there is really none to see. If it is not an essential service, and if it is an avoidable cost to the user, then, as they say in basic economics, demand for this service is nearly perfectly elastic. Given this realization, we can therefore no longer talk about a ‘safe price’ but a ‘risky’ one – if people are not willing to buy at the price you offer it, you cannot sell.

    So maybe the one to ‘feel for’ here is the NYSC and its ISP taking what is effectively a business risk. But, incidentally, neither is our social welfare candidate so there is really nothing here for us to fret or fume about. But we can return to the broad discussion on user charges in the context of what is efficient, what is fair and what is necessary.

    For starters, there can be no disagreement, even among die-hard social welfarists, on the need to improve the welfare of society through better quality services. It is our eternal desire that government would one day provide for not only our needs, but also our desires. But, like the Americans would say, that would be the day! The grim and very present reality is that resources do not grow in proportion to our needs, much less our desires. Plus, the public sector has universally never really been an expert in quality and efficiency in service provision.

    We are therefore reminded that we need new approaches to public welfare themes. The growing popularity of the public-private model obviously signifies the absence of a more practical alternative to providing public goods and enhancing social welfare. Inevitably, partnership between state and non-state actors will continue to generate discussions on the balance between the role of government, society and the market.

    While we have a legitimate responsibility to ensure that all actors are accountable, we cannot however expect to share in the output of these partnerships without assuming our own share of responsibility for the inputs. It is in this context that I see the efforts by the NYSC to improve its service delivery systems and processes.

    • Okpene, a policy analyst, lives in Abuja.

  • Imperative of professionalising Nigerian Civil Service (2)

    To be or not to be? That is the essential question that the Nigerian Civil Service (NCS) must necessarily answer if it must indeed earn the epithet of a functional democratic state that is committed to an efficient and effective service delivery to its citizens. In the first part, we saw how that since its inauguration, the evolution of the NCS constitutes the sum total of outstanding starts; evolving, immature and weak structures; ambivalent decisions; bold steps; compromised reforms and fortuitous breakthroughs. This evolution simply implies that the organisational growth of the NCS has failed to reach a point of maturity from which it could commence a reformulation of its original objectives. Thus, most of the reform efforts since its inauguration have been mere attempts at damage control. Hence, when Prof. Adamolekun categorised Nigeria as a hesitant reformer, it is not difficult to see the analogy with Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

    It is often said that when a person or an institution is through changing, then it is through. It doesn’t really appear that the NCS is through changing despite its compromised institutional growth trajectory. When the wave of democratisation began in the early 90s, Nigeria had to decide whether it still wanted to be a hesitant reformer or make the urgent push for advancement in reform management. From 1985 to date, we have had five specific reform attempts aimed at refurbishing the professional status of the Nigerian civil servant-the 1985/1988 Phillips Commission, the Ayida Reform of 1995, the Obasanjo Renewal Programme, Yar’Adua Civil Service Reform Programme and the present Jonathan Transformation Agenda. Put together, all these reforms had a very simple objective: Reconstructing the persona of the Nigerian civil servant through professionalising the NCS and its HRM architecture. Some of the essential steps taken in this direction include: (a) To re-professionalise as a means of creating a new generation of officers and technocrats with sufficient skills, knowledge and motivation for institutional innovation; (b) the conduct of vigorous and systematic evaluation and reporting of professional performance to make policy-makers accountable for resources used and for results; (c) modernising core operations and systems of the NCS using ICT; (d) creation of a number of more specialised cadres; (e) putting in place a system of capacity utilisation wherein core skills are better matched with jobs; (f) injection of high skills and competencies available in other sectors of the economy into the public service, using a range of incentives; and (g) strengthening policy and research synergies through enhanced collaborative projects, including public-private partnerships.

    Yet, reconstructing the modus operandi of the NCS requires more than just token attention to the imperative of reform. It requires, essentially, a paradigm shift. The simple reason is that we can never hope to continue at this hesitant rate and hope to achieve a world class status with the same indecisive level of administrative functionality. Transforming into a ‘new public service’ involves answering two simple but basic questions: How do we want to be seen as an administrative institution? What must we do to achieve this new perception? The National Strategy for Public Service Reform (NSPSR) provides a straightforward answer to the first question: The Nigerian Civil Service ought to be perceived and to function as ‘A world-class public service delivering government policies and programmes with professionalism, excellence and passion.’ And its mission statement is also simple: To efficiently and effectively implement the policies and programmes of government, operating collaboratively and transparently with other stakeholders to ensure quality delivery of public services.

    The answer to the second question follows automatically: To achieve this large vision of a world class and democratic public service, we need to urgently get the basics of reform execution and management right. Getting the basics right implies the need to build the fundamental strengths of our public service institution before deploying best practices to ignite the changes we desire. Consequently, reform must create the government context for agency-level systemic changes to take root. In a 2008 essay titled ‘The Public Service of 2025,’ Jocelyne Bourgon outlines five fundamental trends around which the vision of the NSPSR can coalesce if its mission statement is to become a reality for Nigerians. These paradigmatic trends include: Trend One-Hybridisation of Public Human Resource Models. This would involve a civil service system exploring the possibility of a mixed regime that combined the career-based and position-based models of recruitment into the civil service. Trend Two-A Reduction of Protection, Immunity and Privilege. In this regard, there has been a serious encroachment on the traditional permanent tenure of the civil servants in favour of flexible and fixed-term contract appointments. Trend Three-Emphasis on Individual Performance. Such a future civil service would also be concerned with how its HRM framework can been capacitated enough with pay, compensation and incentives to build individual and unit performance that would result in organisational progress. Trend Four-Decentralisation of HRM Policies. This involves achieving flexibility and freedom in HRM policy implementation through devolving powers to implement to MDAs. Such a decentralisation would be done within several frameworks that could have no central agency, a single agency or multiple agencies facilitating the implementation. Trend Five-Cultivation of a Senior Civil Servant System. This would be an attempt to separate a top echelon of intelligent and competent administrative officers that would focus the leadership of the civil service and direct its policy formulation and implementation capacity.

    If the NSPSR provides the vision and the mission statement, and Bourgon gives us a framework within which the vision and mission can be calibrated into a dynamic future-defining new public service anchored on a functional HRM architecture, then McGregor identifies a further underlining component that motivates the paradigm shift. This involves challenging existing bureaucratic behaviour. Since we are basically concerned with the persona of the Nigerian civil servant, it becomes inevitable that we transit from an administrative behavioural framework that Douglas McGregor calls Theory X to another he calls Theory Y. Theory X, for McGregor, derives from a very strict administrative regimen and gloomy picture of human nature at three levels: first, management involves the deployment of people, material and money as means towards the achievement of particular economic objectives; second, that organisational objectives require the control and motivation of people; and, third, that without a strict organisational regimen, humans are usually unproductive and resistant to organisational needs. On the other hand, Theory Y has at its base a picture of a transformational leadership and a philosophical insight which insists that that humans are motivated by the need to satisfy the higher-order needs like social relationship, the search for esteem and dignity as well as the need to exercise their creative genius especially with regards to organisational performance. The responsibility of a Theory Y leader is therefore to provide the atmosphere that unleashes these potentials of his already motivated employees.

    The paradigm shift in HRM framework therefore demands an ingenious mix of components of Theory X and Theory Y to achieve a dynamic framework for creating a new generation of neo-Weberian professionals sufficiently capacitated and incentivised to function differently and outside of all existing bureaucratic pathologies afflicting the Nigerian civil service. These new professionals will be dedicated to the demands of a new productivity paradigm undergirding the performance-oriented dynamics of the NCS. And they will be backstopped by the evolution of management competencies, values and ethics necessary for the successful management of the reform processes in the public services. This takes issue with the HRM policy and framework of the NCS.

    A dynamics HR framework isn’t just personnel management or even HRM. It involves

     

  • Right of first refusal and 2015 Bayelsa guber election

    Since the journey of democratization began in 1998, Nigerians have witnessed the formation of several political parties. Some of these political parties have been described as bedroom political parties said to be owned by few friends and even husband and wife for the purpose of seeking greener pastures.

    Some of these so called parties use it for all kinds of bargaining chips. This is what is called politics of the stomach as evident in the recent Ekiti gubernatorial election which is being referred to as stomach infrastructure. Others are formed for the purpose of articulating regional interest.

    Like the Biblical story of the sower who went out to sow where most of the seeds that fell on the rocky ground naturally withered, some that fell among the thorns, were choked and never saw the light of growth, those that fell on the good soil were nurtured by the photosynthesis to fruition and people appreciate the fruit for consumption.

    That is that, and that has been the story of party formation in Nigeria where a good number of them barely survived and others are like a flash in the pan. This is why critics of contemporary politics in Nigeria have often accused political parties and its members of being bereft of any ideology. In spite of the explanations offered by some political parties like the APC who are avowed progressives with all the tilt of the progressive mould, the accusations of lack of ideology have continued to rent the air and remain unabated.

    However, the birth of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in 1998, formed by thirty four wise men known as the G34, drawn from the North-South political configuration of the country marked a turning point in the democratic evolution of Nigeria.

    As the dominant political party, it has often pride itself as the largest political party in Africa. This singular self adulation by the party is not just for anything but in tandem with its uncommon ability at managing the centrifugal forces that makeup the party, even in the face of its seeming overwhelming challenges is most interesting.

    And interestingly, this writer burst into laughter when he overheard somebody describing PDP as a party that cuddles political prodigals which translates to the same issue of lack of culture of discipline and the dearth of ideology. “This writer simply interrupted him and retorted, “Gentleman, I beg to disagree, the PDP is ideologically rooted and wearing the garment of the Republicans, that of APC is the Nigerian version of the democrats, other political parties are pretenders”.

    That was the brief argument that ensued.

    Now back to the real business. About a fortnight ago, the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN, a political Non-Governmental Organization that has been in the forefront of persuading President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to accept the clarion call across the country  to seek re-election recorded its first gain, when the Governor Godswill Akpabio led ruling PDP Governors Forum unanimously endorsed President Jonathan for second term and made the most generous offer of what it referred to as “The Right of First Refusal” to fly the flag of the party in the 2015 presidential election.

    Governor Akpabio stated that the offer would deepen the party internal democracy, stressing that,

    “The adoption is democracy in action”. In U.S that we are copying the incumbent president does not go through primaries. We are not saying that the president will not face the general election. So the idea of him spending presidential time instead of facing insurgency, food insufficiency and other things that may affect the country and began to campaign for the party ticket, when he is already the incumbent president is what we want to avoid. I think this is very fantastic model of internal democracy”.

    Shortly after the adoption by the PDP Governors Forum, it was followed by the endorsement of National Executive Committee, the highest decision making organ of the Peoples Democratic Party, at its meeting with President Jonathan in attendance comprising the governors and all the leaders of the party from the local government councils to the presidency.

    A former National Chairman of the party, Colonel Ahmadu Ali (Retd.) moved the motion for the justification for the right of first refusal, stating that, “This is in keeping with the precedent in other countries where democracy is being practiced especially in the U.S”.

    Speaking after his endorsement by the NEC of the PDP President Jonathan re-echoed the same conviction that, “When the party leaders endorsed me, by that endorsement I have the right of first refusal. That is what is done in advance democracies”. It shows clearly that the PDP is advancing.

    President Jonathan further gave an insight into the party’s internal democracy that;

    “There are no dictators in the PDP. There is no one that is so powerful to determine who becomes a Councilor, Local Government Chairman, State House of Assembly, House of Representatives Member, Senator, Governor and even Presidential in the PDP. The decision is by the people for the people and that is why the PDP will continue to do new things and give right leadership”.

    One could recall vividly, in 2013 the Chairman Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Tony Aninih flew the kite when he called on the party to offer President Jonathan the much vaunted “Right of first refusal” at the South-South leaders summit. Many people likened Chief Aninih’s call to that of the Biblical John the Baptist, the forerunner who announced the coming of Jesus Christ whose shoe he said it will be difficult for him to untie. Chief Tony Aninih who wears the aura of a political deity, an Ishan born High Chief regarded as Mr. Fix provided the road map for the endorsement of President Jonathan to enjoy for the first time the right of first refusal imported from the U.S.

    Since the adoption of this right of first refusal by the PDP, it has as usual attracted criticisms from cross sections of Nigerians particularly the main opposition political party, APC. The criticism is hinged on the moral ground that it is a bad precedent set by the ruling party, adding that, there is nothing democratic about it. Others hold the view that it has eroded the values of competition and the right of participation which are the hallmarks of liberal democracy. Their argument may hold water when viewed through the universal prism of democracy.

    However, looking at the other side of the coin with a broad spectrum, particularly given our peculiar experience as a transitional democracy when placed within the context of the judgment of an emerging process, the option is quite irresistible. Whichever way the pendulum of the argument swings, the fact remains that, the PDP has imported one of the finest political culture to garnish the fastest growing democracy in the world for the overall stability of the nation’s polity.

    The right of first refusal accorded to Mr. President will reduce to the barest minimum the unhealthy competition and rivalry that often tear the party to shreds during and after election. It will also save the party a whole lot of resources that would have been wasted at the party primary which could now be ploughed to tackle critical infrastructure needs of the citizens of the country.

    The right of first refusal will promote cohesion and harmony among party faithfuls especially those who revel in budding divisive tendencies. This has laid a formidable foundation of breaking the jinx of nomination for re-election of a sitting executive.

     

    In Bayelsa State, the road to Damascus is already cleared; going by this precedent and definitely the inexplicable re-election jinx has been broken by this novel political culture. Following the announcement of conceding the right of first refusal to Mr. President, there was a wild jubilation in virtually all the headquarters of the eight local government areas in the state including the state capital Yenagoa.

    The spontaneous jubilation came on the heels of subterranean moves by some Abuja based political hawks reportedly plotting to undermine the government of Hon. Seriake Dickson. The people of the state believe that it was a double celebration, because on one hand, PDP has officially unveiled its candidate and cleared the coast for a hitch-free presidential and gubernatorial primary without any rancour; on the other hand it is an affirmation of what is good for the goose must be good for the gander.

    There is no doubt; one of the calculi of the right of refusal is the verifiable achievements of the sitting governor. A peep into the performance sheet of governor Dickson shows that even his ardent critics will lavishly concede to the fact that he deserves the right of first refusal.

    In the area of road construction, the state capital, Yenagoa and its environs are now wearing the  true  look of a  cosmopolitan state capital as

  • Omo-Agege: Delta beyond ethnicity

    Propaganda not propriety, sentiments not sequence have so far defined the search for Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan’s successor. At the last check, over 30 governorship aspirants are jostling with all manners of plots and power play. The domino effect is that shallow stereotypes and warped perspectives are thrown up daily in the public domain by a desperate crowd of power mongers and sympathizers

    A dangerous game in power politics is raging in Delta State. A lethal game plan called AGENDA. Today politicians seeking fortune at all costs have inundated our psyche with Anioma Agenda, Urhobo agenda, Ijaw agenda e t c. Majority of the contenders in the 2015 gubernatorial battle seem to have been entrapped in a particular obsession – desire for party ticket with ethnic card. When politicians hold tribalism as the only ladder to power, democracy is in trouble !

    One aspirant who has clearly shunned the temptation is Obaisi (Barr) Ovie Omo-Agege. A detached study of his manifesto, speeches, consultations and body language easily unveils a man with a carriage that looms larger than the toga of ethnic garb. Truly Omo-Agege does not see Delta from the blinkers of ethnicity, unlike most of his peers in the governorship race. Whether in words or deeds, enlightened public opinion can uphold that he has a pan -Delta agenda in his quest to govern. This perception is unassailable for good reasons.

    Though Urhobo by origin, Omo-Agege does not have the all too familiar tribal marks of nepotism, sectionalism and self centered clannishness, common with the typical Nigerian politician . He is averse to egocentric mindset. He is not persuaded by a narrow world view. His contacts and company transcends tribal, religious and political boundaries.  He is overly cosmopolitan. Omo-Agege symbolizes the soul of Delta, its destiny and essence. He embodies the cultured pacifist spirit of the Anioma, dignified comportment of the Itsekiri, vivacious robust tendency of the Urhobo, spartan courageous latitude of the Ijaw and easy going accommodating posture of the Isoko.

    This admirable personae is rooted in his pedigree. After graduating with excellent grades in law at Nigeria’s most sought after university, UNIBEN  in 1985, he went higher in 2002 to obtain an LLM (masters of law) degree in Tulane university, United States of America, rated among the top 20 universities in the world. A distinguished academic orientation that prepared him for a dignified future.

    It is no surprise that he took  a phenomenal flight from this tutelage into the political hierarchy of Delta state, serving as Executive Assistant and then  civil commissioner under the Ibori Administration in 2005. He would fulfill a waiting destiny about a year later when he rose to become secretary to the state government, the youngest ever, setting a trail blazing direction, through service of purpose and vision. In terms of experience in governance, Omo-Agege easily takes the piece of cake. He has the matchless competence, commitment and character to lead the people of Delta.

    In Delta North senatorial district where the much advertised issue of zoning or power rotation has continued to resonate, an Omo-Agege governorship will settle all prejudices and worries. He maintains strong age old links with the Anioma people, as his native Orogun and Aboh kingdom share historical bonds of genealogy, friendship and brotherhood. He went to Obinomba Grammar School, Ukwuani local government area in the heart of Delta north where he enjoyed a large community of life-long childhood friends. By cultural and sociological heritage, no one can be more Anioma than Omo-Agege. Those who lay claim to zoning within Delta North can only exclude him by spurious geography not sound logic.

    He has in his populist agenda, envisioned and articulated a brilliant road map for the development of Delta North and indeed Central and South senatorial districts. He has made a solemn pledge to fix the bane of Agbor –  erosion, acute water problem in Asaba- Ogwashi Uku – Issele uku axis and improve the road networks in Delta north. He is poised to provide people-centered security as well as basic social infrastructure and pursue a coordinated agrarian and industrialization programmes across the three senatorial districts for the good of all.

    Again the behavior of Omo-Agege as a politician deserves celebration. He was the first and only governorship candidate to concede victory to Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan, after his  April 26, 2011 election for a second tenure. He went ahead to attend Uduaghan’s inauguration at the Cenotaph Asaba and openly congratulated him to the bewilderment of all, especially the political class who see election as war.

    Omo-Agege’s mellow and restrained personality owe much to his good breeding, education and self discipline. This polished, highly educated son of a legendary Justice will make a good Governor. With his political maturity, civility and excellent manners, Delta has everything to gain.

    • Jonathan Okolo is a public affairs analyst based in Asaba

     

  • IG Abba and policing challenges

    There are still doubts in several important quarters of the Nigerian polity about the capability of the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, to put a handle on Nigeria’s policing challenges. This is in spite of the fact that he made it clear in his median speech to the media that his “vision is to make the Nigeria police force a leading national, professional and efficient law enforcement organization. A police force that is dynamic, robust,… that never rests or abdicates its professional duty; that studies and analyses what works and what doesn’t, acknowledges and learns from its mistakes, and celebrates its victories”.

    In an editorial entitled, “A bad start”, of August 7, The Nation for instance, wondered what Abba meant when he said “he will place premium on ‘attitudinal change’ in the force”, and concluded that it would be “difficult to empirically appraise his (Abba’s) performance” as the helmsman of the security outfit. The newspaper also suggested in the said editorial that Abba’s claim that it is only the police reforms under the Yar’Adua/Goodluck administration that have made positive impact in policing meant he does not appreciate  “the enormity of the challenge before him”. How The Nation came to this unflattering conclusion is difficult to decipher.

    As a matter of fact, the unkindest cut of all against the acting IGP was where the newspaper chastised him for choosing “to take it on himself to absolve the Federal Government of complicity in the recent assassination attempt on General Muhammadu Buhari in Kaduna” and, therefore, insinuated that the statement was a devious attempt at influencing President Jonathan to confirm him as the substantive Inspector-General of the Nigeria Police Force. In the other words, The Nation wants the world to believe that Abba is not the best material at this time to preside over the security affairs of the nation as the IGP, and may not have what it takes to safeguard the 2015 general elections.

    Now, in all seriousness, do these attacks on the acting IGP hold water? First of all, given that Abba’s position is that he wants “every police officer to know the values in policing and then work in conformity with the provisions of the Code of Ethics”, why would a newspaper editorial wonder how it would be possible “to empirically appraise his performance during his tenure”? If officers of the police, in strict obedience to the Code of Ethics as being promoted by the acting IGP, become men and women of good character, as well as perform their duties within the provisions of the law, would the public not begin to accept police operatives as true friends whom they should partner and work with to fight crimes? This is the import of the ‘attitudinal change’ the acting IGP is talking about in policing matters; and the performance of any institution or organization can be conveniently and empirically evaluated within this context and parameter.

    When Abba, therefore, maintains that previous police reforms failed because they did not focus on ‘attitudinal change’, he was simply saying that his regime will change the character traits and ideological orientation of the rank and file to a disciplined effort towards securing lives and property in Nigeria, as opposed to the situation at hand where even The Nation’s editorial admitted that “Mr. Abubakar has left the NPF as morally and professionally bankrupt as he met it”.

    In any case, in what sense can anyone objectively charge the acting IGP of the non-appreciation of the policing challenges before him when he pointedly declared that his “focus will be on violent crimes which include violence against the weak and the vulnerable” in the society? Can anyone legitimately charge him of the non-appreciation of the policing challenges of 2014 when he has vowed that “violent crimes like armed robbery, like kidnapping and terrorism will be tackled with renewed vigour”? Given the import of what has been essayed so far, can The Nation, by its editorial of August 2, escape the charge of embarking on a mischievous mission to paint Abba in very bad light just to denigrate him in the eyes of President Jonathan and the Nigerian people?

    Editorial writing must be above board and must never be used to advance selfish interests against that of any individual or institution.

    As a notable columnist and security expert, Ben Okezie, pointed out recently, one of the policing reforms introduced under the Yar’Adua/Goodluck administration that has positively impacted society, as suggested by the acting IGP, is MD Abubakar’s recreation of the Intelligence arm of the police under the astute management of AIG Solomon Arase. According to Okezie, “Arase has profoundly transformed the Intelligence department of the Police to an enviable height worthy of the commendation of all security observers”. In this wise, is it possible to insist, as The Nation did, that Abba’s actions since becoming acting IGP suggests he does not appreciate the policing challenges before him? Can the charge of the non-appreciation of policing duties hold water even when he has pointedly told Nigerians that his regime will ensure that “policing becomes truly intelligence-driven, while enforcement and crime-prevention initiatives are integrated and supportive of each other”? Who does not know that the bane of security since 1976 in Nigeria has been the decayed or non-existent Intelligence unit in the Nigeria Police Force?

    Even then, the suggestion that the acting IGP embarked on an unsolicited endeavour of absolving the Federal Government of any complicity in the alleged assassination attempt on the life of Gen. Buhari because he wants to woo President Jonathan to confirm him as the Inspector-General of police defies logic and commonsense. In the first place, Abba was the AIG in charge of zone 7, which oversees police activities in the FCT, Niger and Kaduna States. Given that the assassination attempt took place in Kaduna, is it not normal that Abba’s men would conduct police investigations on the matter? So, in what sense can it be objectively held that merely announcing the outcome of investigations conducted by his own men as AIG zone 7 is tantamount to groveling before President Jonathan so that he will not lose his job?

    Incidentally, there is nothing untoward in appointing Abba in acting capacity before confirming him as a substantive IGP. Several past IGP’s went through the same acting route before they were confirmed. Even the immediate past IGP, MD Abubakar, was acting IGP for several months before he was confirmed as substantive IGP. So, the ludicrous anxiety exhibited by The Nation’s editorial as to why a qualified Abba was not confirmed immediately as the substantive IGP is neither here nor there. Similarly, the suggestion that Abba’s actions so far as acting IGP may have been informed by the desire to be confirmed by the Jonathan Presidency is not only preposterous but remains a highly misplaced conjecture.

     

    • Ibekwe, writes from Abuja

     

     

  • Chibok girls: Fate of a nation

    Recently, news filtered that one of the missing Chibok girls who escaped from captivity was seen with about four months pregnancy.   She was reported to be in unstable mental condition.   This did not come as a surprise because no sane person would have come out of the den of those depraved lunatics and remain the same.   For inexplicable reasons government officials allegedly took custody of the expectant mother, hushed, and suppressed any further details neither confirming nor denying the report.   To have expected anything different from the Boko Haram insurgents would have been a delusion because in every sense of the word, the group is an embodiment of a beast bereft of any scintilla of humanness.    We still have hope that by design, many of the girls would return but some would never come back again while some others amongst them may have died or killed by the sect

    In all good conscience, the nation did not do enough for those innocent girls who are now at the mercy of the elements, exposed to the vicissitude of Sambisa and Danboa forests.   They have been reduced to sub-human apes, harvesting and eating roots and grasses just to survive.   Worst still, we allow them to be violated, and ravished and ravaged by maniacs who have turned them to sex bags.  These are bloodthirsty vermin and monsters strewn with lice and ticks that are not fit to be amongst civilized people.

    We have taken our time as a nation while our leaders play politics with the liberty of the girls who are now domiciled in the forest not out of their choice but because the country has failed them, and allowed them to be kept in captivity against their will.   The trauma these poor girls would have gone through would have made them lose their sanity for life for those that would come back alive.   Whatever we may do today, the lives of those poor girls would never be the same again.   They are at the mercy of the elements, beaten by the rain and dried by the sun. Mosquitoes, tsetse flies and other crawlers feast on them while will sleep and wake up in the comfort of our homes.   All we care for is to scheme for electoral victory come 2015.

    For over six months, all that our government and security forces tell us is that they know where the insurgents kept the girls and that they are planning their rescue.   My heart goes to those noble Nigerians who in spite of name calling and stigmatization remain resolute, demanding that the government should, “Bring Back Our Girls”   It is the fundamental duty and responsibility of the state to provide security and safety for the citizens.   Therefore, this strident call from the Bring Our Girls campaigners is the voice of God; it will only be satanic to ignore it.

    Rather than take practical steps, every government official and minister speak on procurement of arms and ammunition on every available opportunity and platform, subject matters that otherwise are classified.   What on earth would make the Minister of Finance and self-styled coordinating Minister of the Economy be the one telling Nigerians about procuring of arms, munitions and materiel for the military in the fight against insurgency?   What are the Minister of Defence, Chief of Defence Staff and indeed any of the Service Chiefs doing?   Every strategic and tactical movement of troops in the theatre of operation geared towards combating the insurgents are on the pages of newspapers and television stations by every other government official.

    Every imaginable procurement real and surreal are topics for political party rallies organized by Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN).   It is sad that some privileged Nigerians are feeding fat on the insecurity and misfortune of the entire nation.   A few weeks back, a private jet that was intercepted by the South African government carrying about US$9 million said to be going to procure arms for fighting insurgency.   There is another US$5 million which said to have been wired to a South African Company that went sour.   There is certainly something uncanny and sinister about these nebulous transactions and of course, we may never know the truth.   Some people who rationalize that arms could be procured through a corridor and windows of the black market for a country like Nigeria in the 21st Century need have their heads truly examined.    I refuse to align myself with that school of thought because it makes our nation to reek in the putrid odium of incurable corruption.  Indeed I distant myself from it as I think every patriotic Nigerian should.   Obviously, in the fight against insecurity and banditry across the country, there is lack of rhythm and harmony on the part of the government.

    That the case of the Chibok Girls is a national tragedy of monumental proportion more than anything else the nation is going through is stating the obvious.   We have seen how nations faced with similar circumstances have reacted in the face of national challenge now facing us today. They come together as one and bury partisanship and other sectarian considerations, religion, ethnicity and ideological differences.

    During the 9/11 tragedy in America, there was unanimity of purpose by the Democrats and the Republicans alike.  Indeed, every American rallied behind their government in that moment of national grief.   I do not care what political divide anybody belongs but I do care that our country should be governed and run well in the best tradition so that our people would not be alienated when the knell summons.   No sacrifice is too much for the soul of our nation, including laying down our lives where necessary.   Those poor Chibok girls today are the souls of our nation.   Their bondage and captivity are the shackle and fetters on our arms and legs as a nation today.

    It is therefore, infantile and puerile that we should play politics with the liberty and freedom of these poor girls who have the misfortune of being born in a country that does not place premium on human lives.    If the Chibok girls were to be released tomorrow, nobody would give us a pat on the back that we have done well as a people and a nation.    As a nation, we have exposed and shown the world the poor leadership that we can muster in the face of adversary.   No excuse for the delay and failure to secure the release of these girls after six months would be acceptable.   Whatever the military and the security forces are able to do or fail to do in combating insurgency in Nigeria  in the past five years and particularly in freeing the Chibok Girls, we are all carrying the dent and stain of that  failure.

    The tide may be changing and we may yet win the war against the Boko Haram insurgents but there is a deep wound and a festering sore that will take time to heal.   It does not matter the number of insurgents killed or whether Shekau has been killed three times over, the lacuna in the strength, capability and capacity of our security forces to secure our nation and protect our citizens have been exposed.

    Everything the government has done about the insurgency has been haphazard and suspicious because they appear completely lacking in the idea and will.   A few weeks back, the government denied the Australian negotiator, Davis Stephen who was allegedly engaged to negotiate with the insurgents for the release of the girls.    There are some things that did not add up in the government claim.   How did the man get into the country?   How did he get approval to visit the theatre of operation to discuss with the Boko Haram sect if the government did not approve of it or involved in the entire drama.   How did he get access to the people he interviewed if government officials in the know were not involved?   Why the choice of a foreigner who from his identity could hardly command the acceptability of the sect? Why do we like to make ourselves a laughing stock before the global community and still expect respect from our neighbours and citizens?  In our spiritual inebriation, we should fervently importune God the divine, to exorcize our political class and leaders of the spirit of incubus to make us face reality of our situation and lead our country aright.

     

    •Kebonkwu Esq writes from Abuja

  • FCT minister and Ohio Summit

    Most Nigerians are in agreement that the greatest obstacle to Nigeria’s accelerated development is lack of continuity in government policies and programmes. That explains why Nigeria, prior to the inception of this administration, was virtually a huge cemetery of abandoned projects. The development has necessitated the all-important question: How can the nation experience accelerated development and attract foreign investors when government’s policies and programmes continue to change with the rapidity of Lake Victoria Falls?

    This is where Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed, FCT minister is proving a world of difference. When he took charge as minister of the Federal Capital Territory in 2010, he not only ensured the completion of some of his predecessors’ viable projects, he also initiated new ones capable of taking the territory from the fringes of development to an Eldorado.

    Ever since he mounted the saddle at the FCT, his battle cry, both at home and abroad, has been that of expeditious development of the territory in all ramifications. Recently, his quest to attract foreign investment into the territory found expression at the 2014 Conference of Nigerians in Diaspora held at the Embassy Suites, Columbus, Ohio, USA, where he called on Nigerians in the Diaspora to take opportunity of the current transformation agenda and invest in Nigeria, particularly the Federal Capital Territory.

    Represented by the Permanent Secretary of FCT, John Chukwu, Bala, who urged the Nigerian Diasporans to think more about what they can contribute to the development of Nigeria, said that the implementation thrust of the Transformation Agenda in FCT was to open up the territory to unfettered private capital-driven development, especially through Land Swap programme.

    The celebrated event with the epochal theme, “Nigeria’s Transformation Agenda and Leadership Accountability: The Role of Nigerians in Diaspora,” generated world-wide attention on account of the minister’s innovative land swap policy, which was designed to catalyze development and at the same time bring down spiraling property cost in the nation’s capital.

    It is interesting to note that the event equally offered a wonderful window of opportunity to Nigerians in the Diaspora, highly influential and other notable groups to be enamoured of the developments in the FCT and the reforms that have taken place so far under the minister’s leadership, which has opened up the territory for private capital inflow, thereby accelerating its development.

    One fundamental issue that ran through the entire gamut of discussion among the delegates at the summit was the strong correlation some of them drew between the unfolding infrastructural revolution taking place in Abuja and the awe-inspiring transformation of Dubai under its Prime Minister, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

     The land reform decree issued by Sheikh Mohammed in 2002 allowing foreigners to own real estate in Dubai —  first in any Gulf state, is akin to the courageous land reforms and the swap strategy introduced by Senator Mohammed in 2011 in FCT.

    While prior to the reforms introduced by Sheikh Mohammad, Dubai had no real estate market and land was given out under semi-feudalism, the land swap initiative of the Bala Mohammed administration permits investors to sell plots of land or houses to individuals, companies and institutions as the case may be, provided the investor has serviced the district with stipulated infrastructure. The sole intention is to narrow the gap between plots/housing demand and supply.

    In the case of the land swap programme, the private sector under the programme would be incentivized to provide site and services within the districts. The emphasis would be for the government to provide the policy, legal regulatory environment for seamless private sector participation in the development of the districts of the FCT.

    The total land area for the development in the present package is 4,283.2 hectares within Phase IV of the Federal Capital City (FCC), which is projected to gulp a staggering $3.8 billion of private sector capital.

    Just like his namesake in Dubai, Bala Mohammed is a visionary leader who wants the FCT to be number one in virtually every area of human endeavour: education, health, housing, infrastructure etc.

    Since his appointment, the entire concept of governance has undergone revolutionary changes in the territory on account of his inspired leadership and admirable husbandry of both human and financial resources. Through unparallel exhibition of discipline, result-oriented work, consistent performance and financial frugality, Bala, like Sheikh Mohammad of Dubai, has put FCT on the path of accelerated development worthy of emulation by his other ministerial contemporaries.

    And that is not where the similarity ends: another area is in meeting adversity with courage and optimism, a weapon often deployed by Bala and the Sheikh in answering critics of their massive transformation agenda. The exponential development in the FCT is personified by the calculated determination of Bala to tackle the challenges headlong, irrespective of paucity of funds.

    Just a few years down the road, the minister has delivered other major projects such as the Abuja Light rail and Abuja—Kaduna railway; multi-billion roads/bypasses/bridges; completion of works on Tanks 1 and 6 with 40,000 cubic centimeters water storage capacity; World Trade Centre, while others like Abuja Town Trade Centre; Abuja Millennium City Project; Abuja Film Village International etc are on-going.

    Bala Mohammed has played a crucial role in meeting the needs of the people and also the expectations of his principal at the Villa. An essential element to his extraordinary vision for the growth and expansion of territory has been the untiring focus in building a world-class infrastructure.

    The  investment initiatives of the FCT administration is expected to generate over 300,000 jobs; an inflow of over N1 trillion investment to the FCT; reduction of housing deficit by 20%; reduction of cost of rent/lease by 15%; increased funding to human capital development and enhanced security of lives and property; increase by 20% of schooling population.

    With the right policy and a robust security network in place, the Federal Capital Territory is reshaping business and redefining the African economy for a powerful launch on the global stage.

    This is why conscious efforts be made to sustain Bala’s jaw-dropping achievements in the FCT. In civilized nay development countries of the world, performing public officials are not just dropped whimsically or just for the fun of it, they are allowed to carry out their revolutionary agenda to a logical conclusion. Bala Mohammed should be allowed to continue to nurture the fruit of development that he has sown in the FCT to blossom under his watch and guidance.

     

    • Ochela, a Public Affairs Analyst contributed this piece from Abuja.

  • Between TA Orji and Orji Uzor Kalu

    SINCE August this year, former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu has mounted a vigorous campaign against his successor, Chief Theodore Orji. Readers of Kalu’s newspapers would have noticed that there is hardly any edition that does not have a write-up on Abia State or T.A. Orji by Kalu or his cohorts. By also carrying the campaign to the electronic media, he shows that he is expressing a deep-seated pain he has endured for a long time. He is probably unhappy that Governor Orji dumped him, destroyed his political empire and joined forces with others to prevent his re-admission into PDP.

    The reactions and comments that have followed these articles have elicited request by Kalu for an audit of his administration and that of T.A. Orji by reputable audit firms.

    Kalu has poured vituperations at the reputation of Governor Orji, members of his family and those of us that had the rare privilege of working with Governor Orji. It is necessary to state that I schooled in the prestigious Government College Umuahia from 1975 to 1980, regularly visited Umuahia on account of my professional calling as a lawyer, from 1987 to 2007, served as a Commissioner in Abia State under T.A. Orji between 2007 and 2011 and has continued to visit Umuahia till date to handle litigations for our law office.

    Sometime in 2007, I was on my way to Lagos High Court when my mentor, Elder Iheanacho Orji called me and requested to know if I would like to serve as a Commissioner in Abia State. I promptly told him to give me time to reflect on the matter because commissioners I knew under Kalu served for a fleeting moment, appeared unkempt and incurred public opprobrium. When a relation of mine convinced me that Governor Orji would be different, I accepted the offer and volunteered to serve with a caveat.

    When my name was published, friends threw banters at me insinuating that by accepting to serve I had become a member of the dreaded Okija shrine. My assurances that I cannot submit myself to any ritual fell on deaf ears.

    I discussed my fears with my mentor and can boldly assert without equivocation that no office holder under Governor Orji was made to take any fetish oath. It is on record that the main evidence that led the tribunal to nullify the election of Orji in its judgment was the damning evidence of the petitioner’s witness (PW5) that Orji was a member of the Okija secret cult. In fact, the star witness made it clear that virtually all those that served in Orji Kalu’s administration were initiated into the secret society. Please see Orji vs. Ugochukwu (2009) 14 NWLR (PT 1161) 207.

    As a Commissioner under Governor Orji, all you do is seek approval from the governor to execute projects within the budget of your ministry. If approved, the governor would authorise release of funds to the ministry when there is money and you would have an absolute free hand to execute the project.

    Once the money is released, you can be sure that T.A. Orji would visit the project site unannounced regularly and sack you if he finds you wanting. An illustration of this would suffice. As Commissioner for Housing, I applied to complete the Amaokwe Housing Estate, abandoned by two private developers. In my proposal, I stated that I would need seed money from government and then use funds from off-takers to execute the project. T.A. Orji approved and subsequently released N50 million to the ministry. We started and T.A. Orji became a regular visitor to site.

    Whenever he noticed that work had slowed down, he would ask me why and when I tell him that we had run short of funds, he ensured that we were funded.

    On many occasions, he would call the Accountant General to release money to the ministry. The ministry executed the N870 million projects without interference from anyone. I wrote huge cheques to pay contractors from the account of my ministry without recourse to him or Accountant General.

    The houses were allocated to off-takers and not even one was taken by the governor or members of his family. When the then Chief of Army Staff, General Azubuike Onyebor Ihejirika visited the site, he was accompanied by the governor. He was impressed with the quality of the houses and expressed a desire to own one duplex. Governor Orji demanded that I allocate one to him. I politely told him that the houses had all been allocated, hence I cannot revoke an allottee’s house and give the General and that was the end of the matter. At one time, a man came and told me he was sent by Her Excellency, the wife of the Governor of Abia State, Chief Mrs. Odochi Orji to supply materials to the project. I did not oblige. When he persisted, I told him that I do not take orders from her Excellency and that was it. Throughout my tenure, I only met Engineer Chinedu Orji (the son of the governor) once. This was when he visited Umuahia township stadium to see a friend while I was inspecting repainting work at Umuahia township stadium. He never interfered with my work.

    When I left Government College Umuahia in 1980, the town still had vestiges of the colonial era and projects executed by Michael Opkara like Golden Guinea Breweries. When I visited in 1998, the military administrators had built two roads in Ogurube layout, the House of Assembly, a government secretariat, uncompleted commissioner quarters and dualised a part of Aba road.

    When I visited in 2007, the commissioners quarters had been completed, legislators quarters were uncompleted, a Deputy Governors office built, and Old Umuahia Aba, road (Ururuka road) rehabilitated; Ehimini Housing Estate bought from a developer had been expanded by allotees through loans obtained by allottees directly from Union Homes.

    In Aba, there was Okpulo-Umuobo road built by a church, an uncompleted and heavily indebted Osisioma Housing Estate (built with funds borrowed from Union Homes which borrowed funds is still unresolved till date), a few rehabilitated federal roads had gone bad. At Government College, Kalu’s administration re-roofed and repainted Nile House.

    A visitor to Umuahia today would see the towering ultra modern secretariat buildings for workers, Digital Library, ASEPA building, New High Court Complex, New BCA House, Specialist Hospital and Diagnostic Centre, newly-built school buildings and refurbished Old buildings, Amaokwe Housing Estate, completed legislators quarters, Traders Housing Estate, Afara Housing Estate, Government Guest House, Public Servants Housing Scheme, Isieke Housing Estate, Army Command quarters, over 40 roads spanning several kilometres to mention a few. T.A. Orji has bought over 4000 vehicles. These are verifiable facts.

    The crux of Kalu’s pain is the fact that he and members of his family no longer determine who get what, when and how in Abia State. Ask any Abian the meaning of “Mamacracy” that crept into Abia lexicon and he would define it as a “Government by a mother and her children for the benefit of themselves, their relations and friends”.

    This definition aptly describes Orji Kalu’s administration that resulted in the underdevelopment of Abia State and the development of his business empires. When his tenure was ending, “Mamacrats” needed a man who would do their bidding so they can continue to govern Abia from outside. He chose his Chief of Staff under the mistaken belief that T.A. Orji was an unrepentant loyalist, malleable and will run a surrogate government.

    I confess that between 2007 and 2010 T.A. Orji was not the de facto governor of Abia State. “Mamacracy” held sway. People working with him felt the impact. I refused to bow to Mamacracy and when the heat was too much, I went to T.A. Orji and told him, that I will not visit Mama or Papa. As a result, I only visited Kalu and the mother when all the commissioners go to present their compulsory Christmas gift and when a friend asked me to accompany him to keep an appointment with Kalu as a witness.

    Kalu is not a man that accepts defeat. His recent campaign is nothing but an attempt to re-launch a beleaguered political career. His assertion that he has re-joined PDP must be taken with a pinch of salt. We concede he has a constitutional right to join a political party. The party also has a right to refuse to admit him. If the party chooses not to admit him, his remedy lies in joining another party if he must play politics.

    Ordinarily, I would have asked T.A. Orji to accept the invitation of auditors but there is no need for that. In a democratic dispensation, the people are the auditors.

    • Ihediwa, former Abia State Commissioner for Housing, wrote from Lagos.