The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • National Carrier: Roads not taken

    The need for Nigeria to have highly functional and globally competitive national airline(s) has for so many years occupied minds within and outside the industry.  Like an incubus, the issue has refused to go away.  The discourse and arguments are laced with facts, half-truths, blurred perception and, more often than not, highly emotional on the sides of protagonists and antagonists alike.

    Very few Nigerians know, even in the industry, that there were three great chances created between 1992 and 2001, any one of which would have put us on a sound footing for competitive airline business operation.

    These three chances were Capt Mohammed Joji’s “Air Nigeria” – 1992/1993, Engr Ibrahim Jani’s  ”Turn Around” – 1997/1999 and the International Finance Corporation (IFC)’s “New Co” – 2000/2001.

    The second great opportunity thrown away was in 1997/1999 when Alhaji Jani Ibrahim, an oil and gas industry professional with experience in property management was appointed the MD/CEO of Nigeria Airways.

    Jani took over from Group Captain Peter Gana, a serving Air Force officer, who took over from late Engineer Agom.  With Agom’s foreclosure of Joji’s Air Nigeria project and return to the Ministry, the airline’s fortunes began a new decline.  By the time he handed over to Gana, the airline’s challenges had mounted.  The debt profile, both domestic and external, had risen, over-flight charges had mounted, insurance premium unpaid and operational aircraft grounded or seized.  Delays in staff salaries set in and pensioners were in the cold.  Nigeria Airways was no longer operating to London due government policies and the airline’s debts.  This was Gana’s operating environment.

    By the last week of Gana’s exit, the challenges of his inherited operating environment had snowballed into strangulating dimension as the airline’s insurance broker – Alexander Howden, had withdrawn its insurance cover which crippled all operations including the two last return Christian Pilgrimage flights out of Israel.  As the crises raged on, Peter Gana was removed and replaced with Jani.  With severely contracted operations and mounting debts, even Drucker would have shuddered.  Many a manager would have sought funding from the government.  But Jani did not.  Rather, armed with a first-class engineering degree and, most probably, one of the soundest minds that ever ran Nigeria Airways, he proceeded first with a painstaking study of the airline challenges so as to know the Achilles’ point in the vicious cycle of the dwindling fortunes of the airline.  His first action was to keep the skeletal operations going.  Then, he invested the airline pension funds which had been left sitting with no accruing benefits.  He then cut down travels, sought to expand cargo operations through leases and began debt negotiations to achieve debt restructuring and reduction.  As at this time, Nigeria Airways was not flying to London due debt issues and Abacha’s sanction on British Airways, banning its operations in reciprocity.  Nigeria Airways was also not operating to New York, primarily due to the US ban on Murtala Mohammed Airport, citing safety issues.  So, unlike his predecessors, Jani had only Jeddah, a religious pilgrimage route, rather than high traffic commercial routes and Dubai, a new route started by Peter Gana and still under development.

    Jani now turned to his management with a gospel of partnership with airlines – African and foreign that Nigeria Airways could reach a code-share or joint-venture arrangement to enlarge its market share and widen its revenue base.  Under consideration were Ethiopian airline and Cameroon airline.  But before this could emerge from the drawing board, Jani suffered a setback.  Jani was picked up by the Directorate of Military Intelligence over allegation of involvement in Abacha’s phantom coup.  Many believed that was the end of Jani, even if he was freed, he would not, as is usual, be allowed to return to the airline. However, in the period of his absence, while one hawkish director, in fact the most junior, pushed to replace him, the management he left stepped up his joint venture idea and entered into a despicable arrangement with Bellview Airline, a domestic airline, to fly Nigeria Airways Amsterdam route.

    The agreement exposed the lack of knowledge and exposure of the management to business negotiations.  The smarter MD of Bellview – Kayode Odukoya went away with the meat, leaving Nigeria Airways with feathers he easily could shed and shed, he did.  Just on the day of commencement of the Bellview operations, Jani surprisingly returned to his job with his integrity intact.  He ran through the agreement and literally blew up at the ridiculous terms.  All attempts made to redraw the agreement were rebuffed by Bellview as it continued operations.  Jani distanced Nigeria Airways from that operation, refused to repudiate the agreement, predicting the collapse of the operation without Nigeria Airways involvement.  He was correct the Bellview venture to Amsterdam faced loss-making challenges and eventually collapsed with the repossession of its operating aircraft due default in lease payment.

    In the very short course of time, Abacha shockingly died.  Gen. Abubakar who succeeded him lifted the ban on British Airways and this was the great turnaround opportunity which nobody in Airways imagined.  Only Jani imagined and saw it.  For us all in Nigeria Airways, British Airways was not only a colossal competitor but a predator.  In pursuit of his strategy, Jani opened up contact with BA authorities led by Allan Burnet, and secured the first ever assistance when BA offered Nigeria Airways two of its B737 to lift players round the country during the FIFA U-21 world cup hosted by Nigeria.  The BA gesture was at no significant cost to Nigeria Airways despite the revenue which accrued, though NFA did not pay substantial part of the bill till the airline’s demise.

    Jani further solidified this new relationship as it now opened up a JV partnership discussion with BA.  The mutual respect that arose culminated in one of the best airline JV ever entered into by any airline globally.  As at this time, all Nigeria Airways wide-body aircraft – DC10s and A310s were either grounded or seized by creditors.  Jani agreed with British Airways to deploy one of its B747 jumbo to fly Nigeria Airways seven weekly frequency on the Lagos/London route.  The aircraft would be painted in Nigeria Airways livery, use Nigeria Airways call-sign.  The aircraft would be operated by British Airways with some Nigeria Airways cabin crew, trained by BA in joint operation with BA cabin crew.  Nigeria Airways was to have 100 seats free and would not incur any cost whatsoever for the entire operations.  This JV was approved by late Dr. Olusegun Agagu who was then the Minister of Aviation.

    Having achieved this, Jani turned to the marketing department, especially to the highly resourceful manager in London, Jonathan Jiya, charging him to fill up the 100 seats.  Following Jani’s footsteps, Jiya, who later became MD of Nigeria Airways and now traditional ruler of Esan community in Bida, invented, for the first time ever in the global aviation industry, the 2-piece concept which allowed passengers to check-in two baggages of 23kg each.  Jani approved this and its market success alarmed not only BA but all European airlines at inception.  Today, 2-piece concept is now a global practice.  Not many Nigerians, let alone the global aviation world, know that the innovative marketing strategy was a Jiya/Jani creation.

    More importantly, the British Airways JV earned Nigeria Airways N100million monthly.  This improved liquidity, made timely salary payment easier and regular, same for pension and freed revenue from other sources for debt repayment, administration, retraining and maintenance.

    Without fear of being controverted, had Joji, or Jani or indeed the IFC been allowed to drive on, our nation would have been a cynosure of successful airline operations.

    As the effort to find a solution to the floatation of a sound national carrier continues, the stunning strategies of Joji and Jani as well as the IFC advisory and excellent professional approach will remain a reference in any future effort towards a virile national carrier.

    • Aligbe, an aviation consultant writes from Lagos

  • Understanding and containing Ebola virus

    Since the break of the news of the deadly Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) in a Liberian, Patrick Sawyer, a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) consultant at the Ministry of Finance in Liberia and his subsequent death, fears have heightened among Nigerians about the ‘mysterious’ nature of the dreadful Ebola virus, especially as the World Health Organization (WHO) says the virus spread might continue for some months in West Africa. With several reports of Ebola infection in the West Coast of Africa, countries such as Mali, Gambia, Ghana and Sierra Leone, are currently experiencing the most demanding outbreak since the disease was first discovered 38 years ago.

    The tension over the killer disease is obviously high because Ebola is known to kill up to 90 percent of infected people while death can occur in as little as one week after contacting the disease. As usual, this situation has created many self-made “Doctors” and health experts on the social media who have been bombarding Nigerians with different “authentic information” on Ebola. Presently, there is no inoculation and there is no cure for it, as doctors have only been able to trace its symptoms as high fever, redness of the eyes, bleeding from all body openings, blister rashes on the skin, vomiting, diarrhoea and general weakness of the body.

    The Ebola virus, which derives its name from Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it was first discovered in 1976, is, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), a “zoonotic” disease whose virus can easily spread between animals and humans. In the view of scientists, the virus was originally present in wild animals living in tropical rainforests of equatorial Africa. Fruit bats are one of the main hosts of the virus, as they can transmit the disease while remaining unaffected by it. The disease spreads to humans when they come into contact with blood or other body fluids from infected animals.

    The disease is highly infectious. It can be transmitted through bodily fluids, skin contact with an infected person or through indirect contact with environments contaminated by the disease. It can have a long incubation period, lasting up to three weeks, which allows it to spread rapidly before diagnosis and quarantine can take place. Patients who have recovered from it can still pass it on, through sexual contact, for up to seven weeks. It is that dangerous!

    Suspect Ebola in people who complain of fever, headache, joint and muscle aches, weakness, diarrhoea, vomiting, stomach pain and lack of appetite. Some patients may also experience blister rashes, red eyes, hiccups, cough, sore throat, chest pain, difficulty in breathing and swallowing, as well as bleeding inside and outside of the body. Symptoms may appear anywhere from two to 21 days after exposure to the virus though 8-10 days is most common. Some people who become sick with Ebola HF are able to recover, while others do not. However, it is a common fact that patients who die usually have not reported it or commenced treatment early before it gets to critical stage and have not developed a significant immune response to the virus at the time of death.

    Prevention of Ebola hemorrhagic fever is still difficult, as doctors are still trying to unravel the mystery behind its high lethal nature. However, early testing and isolation of the patient, as well as barrier protection for care-givers (mask, gown, goggles, and gloves), is very important to prevent others from getting infected. As at now, researchers, scientists and medical workers are still trying to comprehend the Ebola virus and identify its environmental reservoirs in order to fully comprehend how outbreaks occur. They are actively engaged trying to establish an effective vaccine against Ebola viruses by using several experimental methods, but there is no vaccine available currently.

    Therefore, considering the dearth of effective treatment and a human vaccine, raising awareness on the risk factors for Ebola infection and protective measures available for individuals appears the only way to reduce human infection and death. It is, however, very important, first and foremost, to correct certain misconceptions and deliberate lies about the disease so that people do not fall victims of con men who are out now to deceive them to succumb to their plots. It is, for instance, imperative to stress that the disease is strictly a medical matter and, as such, should not be garbed in spiritual clothing. There have been reports that some religious leaders are already claiming they could cure the disease. This is a dangerous trend, as it could lead to the spread of the deadly virus all in the name of trying to heal victims of the disease. Only doctors, not spiritual, community or political leaders, have answer to Ebola and Nigerians should learn to take the right decisions to save us from ignorantly spreading unhygienic conditions. Our leaders too should be honest enough to direct their followers to the hospital when they have health issues. That is the right thing to do.

    Similarly, it must be stressed that Ebola is not contagious if people do not have contact with an infected person. It is important to emphasise this, as reports have indicated that people no longer want to exchange pleasantries through handshake for the fear of contacting the disease. One really needs to come into very close contact with blood, organs, or bodily fluids of infected animals, including people. If you educate people properly and isolate those who are potentially infected, it should be something you can bring under control.

    Also, it is equally important that our people remain calm as there is absolutely no need to panic. The situation is under control as the Lagos State Government is currently working with the Federal Ministry of Health, Centre for Disease Control, WHO and other relevant stakeholders to ensure that everything is done to keep our country secure from the disease. There is, therefore, no need for people to send panic messages through phone or social media, as this will only escalate fear and increase agitation among the citizens. Also, all self-defeating claims that Ebola can be contacted in the market, at bus stop, cinema, town hall meeting, social engagements, hair dressing salon or on football field are not medically supported because affected people, whose bodily contact could transmit the disease, cannot have the strength to attend those public places.  It is, however, vital that our people follow the basic rules of hygiene such as washing of hands, with soap and water, especially after using the gents, washing fruits before eating, cooking meat and food properly before serving, maintaining clean environment and avoiding self medication. We must be alert until the disease, which has refused to leave Africa for 38 years now, is chased away from those neighbouring countries where it is now.

    On a final note, we implore everyone to become alert to their individual health condition and promptly report any strange health situation to the nearest Primary Health care Centre to them. Fortunately, each of the 57 councils in Lagos has at least one flagship PHC which have enough facilities and trained health workers to address developing strange medical issues. Inability to do this at the appropriate time could endanger many lives. This is not the time to joke with health related issues and this is not the time to feel ashamed of revealing your health condition, procrastinate about it, be complacent, get frustrated, be superstitious or get too religious about your health, for a stitch in time, they say, saves nine.

    • Ibirogba is Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State
  • Celebrating an icon, Anenih at 81

    Celebrating an icon, Anenih at 81

    It is without a doubt that leadership is the ability to transform vision into reality; it is also not contestable that before anyone becomes a leader, being successful will be about growing oneself, however, when you become a leader, success will then be about growing others.

    This is where Chief Tony Anenih (CFR), Iyasele of Esanland, PDP Board of Trustees (BOT) Chairman fits in. The man has been able to build so many people some of whom have become leader over the years.

    The man everyone likes to refer to as the solid rock of the Nigerian politics has been able to achieve a lot in his life that he has become a sort of reference and model to the younger ones.

    Chief got the sobriquet ‘Mr. Fix It’ because of his outstanding skills in the political field. Yet, many others believe that it is by dint of hard work and perseverance that shot him to the apex of his career as a high-flying Police officer and also a political success. To put it straight, he has become a living legend to our present generation; and when he eventually bows out, his name will definitely be etched in the nation’s hall of fame.

    One area Chief Anenih has also excelled is the area of philanthropy; he is blessed with jumbo heart and robust giving spirit. The great man of inestimable worth and remarkable achievement is better defined by his quiet philanthropic disposition, large heart, giving spirit, boundless energy and endless desire to serve and help the poor and needy irrespective of tribe or state.

    Of great note is his insightful passion for the aged. In Ibadan, for instance, the Uromi High Chief singlehandedly erected a home for the old people. Not just a house but one that is fully equipped. Besides, he also spares a thought for religion. Of course, he is a devote Christian and he has done more for the Christian faith, yet he does not bypass others.

    Chief Anenih unlike most successful men will not allow himself to be locked in his house like a prisoner because of security; hence he makes sure that he attends to anyone notwithstanding the tribe and tongue of those who wish to gain his attention.

    A typical example was given, when he was going out of his gate and he saw a certain man by the gate who was looking dejected, he quickly ordered his driver to stop and inquired the mission of the man who has been denied access to him. As soon as the man relayed whatever message he brought, Chief Anenih ‘blessed’ him and the sad face instantly began shinning again.

    This is vintage Anenih which makes him different from the rest. It may also explain his large followership across the country and why his abode has remained a Mecca of sorts. His extra- large heart and untiring giving spirits are the allure.

    Chief Anenih’s philanthropic interest has always moved beyond wanting to impress anyone; to him it is a part of him that nature has blessed him with. His leadership persona and extraordinary political dexterity had always assured him of the leadership position anywhere he found himself

    Truly his calm ways, simplicity of life, sincerity of purpose, robust giving spirit, religious commitment to human capital development, willing assistance to the poor and needy and readiness to serve humanity are rare in our clime. They are vital to understanding his choice of career and foray into politics after retirement.

    Those who know him during his early life have testified to the fact that he has always exhibited the trait of quality leadership right from day one. This unique quality saw him climbing the ladder of his career in a short while after the white men discovered his leadership qualities.

    The man they call “Leader” is certainly a cat of many lives, and under Goodluck Jonathan’s presidency, has reclaimed the one space he cherishes, in the dark, smoke-filled inner recesses of the cloak-and-dagger world of politics, where he wields effective powers of influence and control.

    In July 2005, the erudite politician was invited to his hometown in Uromi where the powers that be of Esanland jointly conferred on him the title, Iyasele of Esanland, thereby making him a High Chief and pioneer Prime Minister and Chief Spokesman of the Esan Community comprising the entire Edo Central Senatorial District in Edo State.

    But therein Chief Anenih is an enigma and one of the greatest survivors in the Nigerian slippery political scene. The man has an excellent ability to survive, stay relevant and protect those under his wings. His rare think-tank and strategic planning and mobilization prowess keeps endearing him to high and mighty on the political scene.

    Unlike many of other elite in his class who love taking advantage of their position to impose people into positions of authority, you’ll be shocked to know that he has neither presented himself nor any of his children or ward for any elective office. He has always shown disdain for such style of politics.

    Those who do not know him tried hard in 2011 when some people besieged him with so much demands that he should support any of his kids for Edo governorship election, he turned the offer down and opted to support another candidate that is in nowhere close to his linage. That act alone won him respect the more from many people.

    Hate him or love him, Chief Anenih is a political mega force you cannot shove aside in strategies; he has been giving enormous support to the government of President Jonathan whom he believe will take us to that Eldorado state he has been craving for.

    If there is anything Chief Anenih loves the most, it is the singular act of loyalty; it is an open secret that if you are 100% loyal to him, he’ll do everything in his powers to pay back the loyalty; a reason he has had many loyalists at his at his beck and call.

    His pastimes include jogging, reading, music and philanthropy. He loves Lucky Dube’s music a great deal. He can also be very humourous when he decides to be.

    This is a birthday wish to a great but quiet giver and helper of the poor and needy and committed developer of men and women and communities.

    Sir, May you always have as much strength and courage to lead us and, more importantly, a truly happy life. Happy birthday to the priceless gem of our time.

    -Okojie, wrote in from Lagos.

  • Osun: Crushing the Jonathan siege

    “Champions aren’t made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them – a desire, a dream, a vision.” – Cassius Marcellus Clay.

    Individual interpretations notwithstanding, elections are generally regarded as contests. The United States of America’s quadrennial election of 1876, which eventually led to the Compromise of 1877, through Kenya’s “tribalism-marked” election of 2007, to Zimbabwe’s “deeply flawed” presidential contest of 2008, even, Venezuela’s “decisive” election of 2012, among numerous others, all point to the fact that, Nigeria as an indivisible part of the Global Village cannot be said to be indifferent to the dynamics of its global villageness.

    As a matter of fact, anyone who has read the book, ‘Why Nations Fail’ by Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson would readily admit that there’s clearly more to the gubernatorial election which returned Ayodele Fayose as Governor-elect than meets the eye. Aside any other reasons already in circulation for the sad event of June 21, I have personally described the quintessential Governor Kayode Fayemi as the Fashola of Ekiti State. The question then is: if the Fashola in Fayemi did so well – and, he did very well – in Ekiti, why then did he lose the election by such a wide margin? In my considered opinion, the answer is simple: the Bola Tinubu of Ekiti politics was conspicuously absent; and the Lamidi Adedibu, the Azeez Arisekola Alao and the Olusola Saraki of Ekiti politics were either dead, unrecognized, or simply gone into self-imposed exile, thereby leaving the stage for the pro-masses-yet-integrity-deficient Fayose with such a landslide.

    Welcome Osun, the Land of  Virtue! On August 9, residents of the state will go to the polls to elect the governor who’ll run the affairs of the state for the next four years. And, as a respected political leader once remarked, with the way this “mere geographical expression” is constitutionally structured, in any of the country’s 36 states, after God, the next person is the governor. Little wonder why every Tom, Dick or Harry wants to grab power at all costs! What more? With Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria’s sitting Khalifa, unwilling to let go of power; and, with the North scheming with unparalleled crudity to take back the power it “willingly conceded to the South”, the ruling party at the centre is indeed desperate in its bid to capture the South-west in order to make up for any shortcomings that may come its way from the Northern part of the country during next year’s general elections.

    ”The journey is the reward”, said the Chinese Proverb. In other words, it is a settled case that Rauf Aregbesola, the sitting governor, has simplified the art of governance and has laid the foundation for modern welfare in the state. Apart from some of his achievements which have been comprehensively articulated by respected commentators, the governor has also surpassed the people’s expectations in other areas. For example, his first term in office witnessed the establishment of the Quick Impact Intervention Programme (QIIP) – to deal with small-scale farmers on a cooperative basis; and Osun Debt Management Office – to centrally coordinating the management of the state’s debt. 185 Km Oyo Boundary (Asejire) to Osun-Ondo Boundary (Owena) was beautified; super highways to connect Osun to Lagos and Osun to Kwara States were built; and Freedom Park, the first of its kind in the history of the state, was constructed.

    Aregbesola’s administration also saw to the payment of salaries to old age people (referred to as Agba Osun). Not that alone, over 3,000 permanent teachers were employed into the state’s education sector while 339 university graduates were recruited into Osun State Civil Service. Even, as we speak, there are free rail services to all indigenes of the state living in Lagos State; and 61 township roads covering128km are being upgraded all over the state.

    Albert Einstein describes politics as being more complicated than science. He was right! Politics is all about issues. It is about morality and credibility. It is about loyalty to the country, not to any particular individual, however strong, powerful or connected. Politics is about leadership; and leadership leads to good governance. It is all about the presence of the rule of law, not abuse of authority or the practice of nepotism. It is transparent, accountable, consensus-driven and predicated on the fundamentals of equity, efficiency, responsiveness and effectiveness.

    Intrigues of power-play! Physical demonstration of incompetence! Twists of tension and turns of pretension! In our very eyes, politics has gone beyond being the survival of the fittest to the exclusive preserve of the horrid and the bucolic. Added to this is a blend of “dumb horse-traders” and “perpetual complainants who do nothing about their complaints apart from moaning and moping.” In the midst of these, terrorists continue to torment us but, as far as our president is concerned, once political ‘Skelewu’ is on course, all other issues of statecraft can even go to blazes!

    Though leadership is about a leader’s ability to match words with action, in Nigeria, it is a different ball-game entirely! Here, it is about men with no “proud history of radical measures” lording it over a hapless populace. For instance, once our president promised Nigerians that, by April, Boko Haram menace would “be a thing of the past.” Now, not insurgents but innocent Nigerians are being sent to early graves. No thanks to Boko-bombs.

    Casual politicians and political casualty: strangely related! For instance, PDP had no better candidate as its flag-bearer for Ekiti governorship election than Fayose, the man on whose neck two murder cases in addition to a lawful impeachment were hanging. In Osun, Iyiola Omisore, the man linked with the death of Bola Ige, then serving Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, is being offered for election. Granted that he’s been acquitted by the law court and that his impeachment as Deputy Governor of Osun State has survived the constitutionally-stipulated moratorium of 10 years, yet, unanswered questions on Ige’s death, coupled with his election as senator in questionable circumstances no doubt speaks volume of how bad things have gone in the country. Sad that a Minister of Justice could not get justice, even in his country!

    In the words of Bear Bryant, “It’s not the will to win, but the will to prepare to win that makes the difference”. August 9, is no doubt a day of decision for Osun and its people. It is a day of choice between the principalities of darkness and the powers of light; between the twists of fury and the tears of joy. Even with the presidential threat of flooding the state with twice the number of security officers that were deployed to Ekiti, it remains the day when the foundation of falsehood shall become so badly thrashed that it’ll become permanently consigned to the dustbin of history.

    Yes! Osun is not Ekiti and Osun cannot go the way of Ekiti! Reason: in Aregbesola lie both the Fashola and the Tinubu of Osun politics. Oranmiyan, as he is fondly called, is an astute administrator and a political juggernaut who knows his onions. But it doesn’t end there. The electorate must be prepared not only to cast their ballot, they must also be prepared to jealously guard their votes, not forgetting in a hurry what the PDP is known for.

  • Still on Abia youth empowerment scheme

    Recently at Bende ,headquarters of Bende council area in Abia State, the state governor, Chief Theodore Orji in continuation of his government’s youth empowerment programme gave out 200 vehicles to unemployed youths, and N2 million each to 13 unemployed graduates.

    Beneficiaries of this were mainly unemployed youths from Arochukwu, Ohafia and Bende council areas, all in Abia North district. Before now youths from other two zones in the state Abia South and Abia Central had benefitted from programme.  It would be recalled that since coming into office in 2007, Governor Orji never pretended or reneged on his government’s genuine commitment towards empowering the teeming unemployed youths in the state aimed at reducing crime drastically.

    On several fora, Orji has emphasized that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop, stressing on the need for the youths to be meaningful engaged no matter how small. Today in the state are more than 4,000 youths that were selected across the council areas and placed on monthly stipend of N20,000 each as social security since 2007. The programme has enabled most of the beneficiaries to live a life of their own, and search for employment without overburdening their parents after graduation.

    Through Ochendo Scholarship Scheme, so many youths in the state whose parents cannot afford to train in school have been offered scholarship to study at home and abroad at graduate and post-graduate levels. Those of them in primary and secondary schools have been enjoying free bus ride to schools since 2007. Bursary award of N50,000 each for the first time in the history of the state is being offered to indigenous undergraduates in tertiary institutions across the country by the state government. Also not left out in the bursary arrangement are indigenes of the state that are currently studying in Nigerian Law schools across the country.

    At a time many thought that it was impossible for the state governments to give out free vehicles to the youths, the present government in Abia State has since given out more than 500 vehicles free to the youths in the state. Details of the beneficiaries of this and particular of the vehicles and models were always made public, confirming the authenticity of the scheme. Also given out free to the youths were more than 500 tricycles, sewing machines, computers, and others through the state youth empowerment programme.

    I recalled reading some baseless and sponsored articles in some newspapers criticizing the state youth empowerment scheme alleging that the government was giving out rickety vehicles to graduates and PDP members in the name of youth empowerment in the state. But surprisingly, some of the published beneficiaries of the programme were from Anambra and Imo states, but were born, brought up and are still residing in Abia State.

    Some of the beneficiaries of the vehicles have added one or two cars to their fleets and have provided jobs for idle drivers and at same time put food on the table of their family members. Across the state today, commercial taxi business is booming and one can easily pick cab to any part of the state or outside at ease.

    The governor has also embarked on aggressive and sustained agricultural revolution in the state. His government was the first in the country to introduce Youth-In-Agriculture Initiative which was aimed at encouraging and supporting youths in practising commercial farming. Since then, so many unemployed youths in the state have been trained and supported by government to practise agriculture in the state. Some of them are already employers of labour today after being trained at the government established liberation farms in all the council areas of the state.

    There is no doubt that the Abia Youth Empowerment Scheme is unique and a model that is worthy of emulation by present and successive governments across the country. Empower Nigeria’s partnership with the Abia State government is a right step towards sustained and successful youth empowerment in the state. It will also encourage other youth development partners to be partners in progress with the state government in keeping and setting the pace for youth empowerment.

    It could be recalled that the collapse of major industries across the country did not begin today; rather it is as a result of long years of neglect by successive governments. And it is clear that the industries cannot be fixed overnight because of the huge capital and technical knowhow required, having been neglected for decades.

    So investing a huge chunk of public funds in their revitalization will surely affect other critical sectors of the economy that also require urgent attention. In this regard, while the Abia State government is working on revitalizing the ailing industries it inherited, her idea of doing something in the immediate to tackle youth unemployment through her youth empowerment scheme should be highly commended.

    Waiting until the ailing industries are brought back to life before the unemployed youths could be empowered or employed will be a time bomb. That is why states across the country should adopt the Abia Youth Empowerment Programme Scheme model to pre-empt possible youths restiveness. It is a more practical approach to youth empowerment. Also the long-term approach, which has to do with the revitalization and construction of industries should be worked on.

    The Abia youth scheme is the surest way of taking the unemployed youths out of the streets to reduce crime rate. No wonder the crime rate in the state has reduced drastically since the commencement of the programme.

    The success of the programme is predicated on the fact that it is being carried out in a most transparent manner which has made it difficult for politicians to hijack it for selfish political purposes. There are no middlemen between the beneficiaries and the state government to avoid exploitation and fraud. The state government should not only continue with the scheme, there is also the need for the in-coming government to sustain it, at least pending the resuscication of the ailing industries that are undergoing rehabilitation in the state.

     

    • Okenwe, a beneficiary of the state youth empowerment scheme wrote Umuahia, Abia State

  • Nigeria’s adult children

    It was a few weeks ago I read in a foreign newspaper that the percentage of adult children in Europe and in the Americas is growing at a very alarming rate. The figures churned out of adults in the age range of 25 and 35 who have moved back from the comfort of their own rented apartments to live with their parents were mind-boggling. It was not that I was ignorant of the growing trend the world over that a good number of  those children who had moved out of their parents’ control since age 18 or thereabout were compelled to move back to live with their parents as a result of the global economic crunch but that the figure had assumed alarming proportion.

    It was while reading the said article on the plane en-route Canada that my mind raced back to my own home country where adults have remained children for at least two decades now. In the peculiar circumstance of Nigeria’s adult children, the worrisome part was that those children who are now adults never had the opportunity to move out of their parents’ or guardians’ abodes! They were compelled by circumstances beyond their control to remain in the same house where they were born and raised up to and beyond the time they ought to have moved out and start their own independent lives.

    But how could they?

    Some of these adult children who had graduated from the university or the polytechnic and had done their mandatory National Youth Service since seven years ago are yet to secure any gainful employment. And they have had no access to any form of capital to start their own business with. They have become relatively advanced in age but in terms of financial capacity and responsibility they have remained the children they were when they were adolescents in the High School!

    They have reached marriageable age but neither the male nor the female in their age group could afford the rent of a one-bedroom apartment! They simply cannot marry or be married.

    We now have a multitude of men and women well past age 35 who technically are just children living with their parents, guardians or, worse still are mere squatters with friends who in most cases are also living off their parents’ patronage.

    We are fast breeding a generation of extremely dissatisfied and frustrated citizenry whose tolerance level may snap some day. These are men and women, well educated, exposed, and had tasted a great measure of freedom and independence while at the college but are now forced against their wish and will to revert back to the lives they had lived one-and-a-half decades before. They are very ripe for marriage and they must of necessity perform all of nature’s functions. And yet they cannot afford to get pregnant because they cannot afford the financial implications of child-rearing. They live a life of perpetual dilemma which may be compounded by their religious persuasion.

    We are compelled to raise alarm especially when we remember and consider the relative comfort and ease of our generation and the generations before ours. Most men and women in my generation were married before age 30. In fact it was most fashionable for men to marry at age 26 or 27 while our female counterparts got married before they turned 25. I recall an article written by humour merchant and one of Nigeria’s most celebrated columnists Gbolabo Ogunsanwo where he declared emphatically that any lady who was not married at 27 would have her mother spending sleepless nights at Prayer Mountains! That was 1974.

    But now a great number of ladies in their late 30s are still more worried about securing a regular means of livelihood, for self-survival than looking for husband, who also may be jobless. The men also are not ready because they are merely men biologically but children as far as responsibility is concerned.

    The implication for this scenario in the future is that we are going to have men and women in their 60s who will still be carrying children to High Schools! Or women in their 50s who will still be carrying children to nursery schools whereas a good number of my contemporaries had stopped child-bearing at age 35. I already had the last of my five children before age 36 and I consider myself to have married late, four years after graduation, by the standards of our time.

    What we have is a very dangerous trend. When you have adults, who are constrained from acting as adults because of economic problems, and live a life of near hopelessness, we should know that collectively we have a big problem. When you have adults whose self-confidence has been eroded, whose understanding of their own self-worth is in doubt, and who feel alienated by the society, then we should start for a barrage of health challenges that are bound to follow either sooner or later.

    Emotional problems, psychological problems, mental problems are most likely to set in when one is not allowed to act one’s age. We can even begin to recognise some of these growing abnormalities where adult children in their late 30s are sagging their pants and women in the same age bracket of 35 plus dress like girls just out of Senior Secondary. You cannot blame them. They see themselves as children in adult bodies!

    Now I will not call on government. I’ll rather call on the larger society and draw our attention to this unfortunate and demoralising situation. In the article I read on the plane, Europe and the Americas were called upon to reverse the trend, pay serious attention to acquisition of skills and stop the mass unemployment which is currently plaguing the world.

    We should create an enabling economic environment that will guarantee a future of hope and satisfaction to our growing population. A situation where generations of school leavers is allowed to continue to swell an army of the unemployed is not healthy and is not good for the psyche of our youths.

    It does not make one feel happy that citizens who live in a more technically advanced age and who logically should be living a better life than the one we had when we were their age are forced by our planlessness and collective selfishness and greed to live a life less than enviable. If in my generation almost all my age group had moved into their own buildings before they turned 35, and all had become independent of their parents and guardians well before age 25, why should we allow children born 35 years thereafter to stagnate as children even at age 39-40?

    Why should we sentence our 35-40-year old adults to a life of children who still require N1,200 transport fee to travel from point A to point B?

    And nobody should tell me: why can’t they go and farm?’ ‘Or why can’t they go into business?’ Do you farm or go into business with empty hands? Where is the seed money for initial take-off?

  • FRESH’s deregistration battle

    The rule of law is not something to be taken for granted in any functional democracy, but not so for Nigeria. Here, the line that demarcates separation of powers is broken by government functionaries with astonishing impunity; so much so that this disregard for the rule of law constantly challenges the autonomy of the judiciary. Much unlike Oliver Twist, they don’t just ask for more, they take it by force or tacit manoeuvrings as evident in the Senate’s re-amendment of the Electoral Act.

    Ojeikpon Imoukhuede wrote an article in The Nation on July 12, titled ‘Who is afraid of Chris Okotie?’ In the said piece, the writer attempted to put down executive lawlessness to xenophobic opposition of our sit-tight leaders to the tide of change engendered by forceful personages like Rev. Chris Okotie. This, he said, may be because his paradigm shift philosophy offers an alternative to the status quo.

    Imoukhuede wrote: “… No excuse is tenable in law for the blatant disobedience of a court order. We cannot accept the argument that because the legislative authorities decided that only big or ‘money bag’ parties with effective capacities to appropriate enough votes to win some elections are dominant today, other parties should ‘fall down and die’. Democracy is about a level playing field. The absence of this has blighted our processes and actions. This INEC and lawmakers’ impunity in the FRESH case is unpalatable.

    Some people are even asking: ‘Who is afraid of Chris Okotie? Is all these attempts to shut out his party a sign of genuine phobia for the man and his paradigm shift ideals? If FRESH claims to be the only serious alternative to the present political shenanigans, we should allow the electorate to decide.”

    In my humble opinion, it goes beyond that. True, Rev. Okotie and FRESH’s entry into Nigeria’s political fray marked a ‘paradigm shift’ in the calibre of contestants, as he emerged on the scene with an unsullied record, having never joined the crony corridor-of-power politics. Above and beyond that, the party’s ideological input and Okotie’s grasp of Nigeria’s socio-economic complexities and his proffered solutions put him steps ahead of his political peers. He has both challenged and upturned the status quo with his can-do pragmatism, and has over the last decade maintained an unflinching belief in the paradigm shift philosophy which led to Fresh Party seizing the initiative by challenging its de-registration in court, leading to the landmark judgment, and subsequently, the series of sporadic and uncoordinated responses by INEC and now the Senate re-amendment of the Electoral Act.

    The behaviour of the ruling class does not embrace institutional democracy, jurisprudence and the rule of law. Therefore, any hint of a challenge which will offer the populace a glimmer of hope automatically becomes a threat to their ‘rulership’. In essence, the modest step which the Fresh Party took by way of the court victory has been turned into a hard slog by INEC’s backdoor politics occasioned by the Senate’s re-amendment of the Electoral Act. These key pointers in understanding the backstage politics of this de-registration stalemate is further strengthened when we realise that this new lease of life which the electoral agency’s de-registration campaign is enjoying is reminiscent of some of the world’s political history’s darkest moments.

    In an internet website, History Today, Russel Tarr, in his article of 15 July, titled Lenin in Power wrote: “In Russia, the Bolshevik Party faced massive opposition following its seizure of power in 1917. The Social Revolutionaries (party of the peasants) had more support in the countryside, whilst the Bolsheviks (party of the proletariat) did not command the overwhelming support of the Soviets. Lenin contemptuously dissolved the Assembly, calling his action ‘true democracy’.

    “By the end of May 1918 Lenin expelled opposition parties from the Central Executive Committee. His close associate Leon Trotsky justified this by saying that, ‘We have trampled underfoot the principles of democracy for the sake of the loftier principles of a social revolution’. By the time of Lenin’s death, political opposition parties had been formally banned and the Bolshevik Party (renamed the Communist Party in 1919) reigned supreme.”

    Also in www.historylearningsite.com, when Hitler was appointed Chancellor at the head of Germany’s coalition government in January 1933, the nation was a democracy. The death of President Hindenburg in August 1934, allowed him to combine both Chancellor’s and President’s positions into one (Fuehrer and Reich Chancellor), and Germany soon became a dictatorship. Germany’s largest non-Nazi political resistance, the Social Democratic Party (SPD), was declared illegal in May 1933, robbed of its funds and forced to disband. On July 14, 1933, a law was passed making it illegal to form a new political party. It also made the Nazi Party the only legal political party in Germany.

    Rana Muhammad Taha said in an article in www.dailynewsegypt.com titled Parties Call for Inclusion in Amending Laws to Govern Parliamentary Elections: “… The Egyptian Social Democratic Party (ESDP) and the Free Egyptians Party (FEP) called on the committee tasked with amending the Political Participation Law to be more inclusive in its activities. The parties noted that in order to avoid ‘exclusion’, representatives from political parties should meet with the committee to put forward their proposals regarding the amendment to the laws. Five parties met to discuss (and) later released a statement condemning the draft. The legislation was also criticised by the Egyptian Social Democratic Party (ESDP) and Misr Al-Qawia (Strong Egypt) Party in two separate statements.

    The statement said: “… ignoring political movements’ demands could push citizens to find ‘other channels of expressing their needs’. They criticised an Article 3 of the constitution, stating that this formation would deprive the ‘underprivileged’ of their chance of winning the elections, given that the costs of running for the elections individually would be “no less than EGP 1m.”

    This is the path of political discontent which INEC is treading upon by depriving smaller political parties their right of participation. It is spurious, and the potential for harm by the Senate’s re-amendment of the Electoral law that empowers INEC to ban parties far outweights the imaginary gains of eliminating them. The notion of a big party dominating the political space belongs to a by-gone age, and that attempt is only doomed to failure if embarked on in this era. I wholesomely agree with the path Okotie has chosen: to tackle this new political menace head-on. He is fighting for our future.

      

    • Oke wrote in from Lagos

  • Nigerian youths and vested interests

    I was trying to write a piece on “President Jonathan and the Search for Empathy” on the Chibok abduction when I stumbled on a lecture delivered by former Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, and now Emir of Kano Sanusi Lamido Sanusi on youTube. It was a TEDx talk with youths on ideas that can change the world. He spoke for 18 minutes. I took the pains to transcribe the talk for the readers and then added my conclusion.

    “I am going to speak to you on the Topic overcoming the fear of vested Interest. It’s a topic that I have come to be engaged in mentally because I have learnt in four years or so that I have been in Abuja that if we understand that we may begin to unlock the key of how to change our country.

    What is this country? It is a country of about 167million; it specializes in exporting what it does not produce and import what it produces. One of the largest world producers of oil that does not refine its own petroleum products, the world’s largest producer of cassava that does not produce starch or ethanol, large tomato belt yet large importer of tomato paste. In my four years in Abuja, I have come to the conclusion that we need to overcome the fear of vested interests to make our potentials a reality.

    I became the CBN governor in 2009 and this was in the middle of global financial crisis. I came in knowing that banks had problems thinking that the problems believing that they were caused by the collapse in price of oil, capital markets and they will be addressed by using the normal risk management issues in banks. However, I discovered that the Nigerian banking system was infested with the corruption; that a number of bank chief executives had taken their banks and literally taken depositors money to buy properties all over the world. The banks were sites for rent seeking. We recovered from one of the chief executive officers of a Bank through our banking reforms 200 pieces of real estates in DUBAI, Johannesburg, and shares in over 100 companies purchased with depositors fund. We went to the court against another CEO in UK and got a judgment of N142billion stolen from the Bank and taken to buy manipulated shares and transferred outside the country to buy properties. For the first CEO, we got a six month sentence in one case. In the second CEO we established case against him, but two weeks before the closing statements were made, the judge was miraculously promoted to the federal Appeal court after three years of trial.

    We took a decision that would pitch us against powerful political and economic forces. We were dealing with chief executives that in 2009 had become invincible. They were in the seat of power. They had economic power and they had bought political protection. They were into political parties, they had financed elections of officers and they believed that nobody could touch them. And every time I said it was time for us to take action, people said to me you can’t touch this people, you will be sacked. Oh you can’t touch this people! They will kill you. I said to them, we are going to take them on. And we took the decision we were going to remove them and we removed them and nothing happened. We said we were going to prosecute them and we are going to put them in jail and we put one of them in jail. We also said we were going to recover these assets because the way CBN operated in the past was these guys take all these monies and the Central Bank says the bank has failed! The Banks that we saved had N4.4trillion in deposit, they had eight to 10 million customers but the government and the system as always been on the side of the rich people.

    The old woman in Gboko or in Yenagoa who has been told to save their money and who have saved money for 15 years and wakes up one to hear that all her savings are gone or the civil servant who has put in 35years in service and kept his pension money in the bank, the school fees of his children, and his medical bills. He wakes up and found that his bank is barricaded because banks have failed! Banks do not fail. It’s like seeing a man whose foot has been slipped and you say he is dead. He did not die, he was killed. And those that murdered the banks destroyed these deposits have always walked away: they become senators, governors, captains of industry; they set up new banks and they continue at the expense of the millions of poor people who do not have a voice.

    But the banking industry is just one part of Nigeria. What is happening in other areas (sectors)? Take the oil industry, we are talking about fuel subsidy, in 2009 this country paid N291billion as subsidy for petroleum product. By 2011 it jumped to N2.7trillion. Did the population of Nigerians multiply ten times? Did we start consuming ten times as much petrol? Did the population of Nigeria multiply ten times?

    There have been investigations and what did we discover? That a lot of that money never went into fuel subsidy that was consumed by Nigerians. These are people in this country that produce pieces of paper and brought it to PPRA and somebody stamped it and paid them subsidy. We discovered that some ships claimed to have brought 30,000 metric tonnes was nowhere near the coast of Nigeria on that date. We have seen vessels that did not even exist on Bills of Laden and money has been paid. And you know what? None of them as I speak to you has gone to jail.

    This is the only country in the world where you have something called oil-theft where vessels can simply come and take crude oil and literally drive out of the country. Yet, we have got the Navy, NIMASA, security services and the oil company themselves. And every day we complain about lack of development. We don’t have development because vested interests continue to rape this country and continue to take the money out. And the only way you are going to move from potentials to reality is to stop preaching and start asking yourself how can we overcome the fear of vested interests and how can we confront them?

    We have 65million youths in Nigeria. What does it take for one of you to get your vote and be the president of this country? What does it take to say you are tired of my generation? Why does it have to take fuel subsidy removal for us to come out and challenge the rot in our country? What are we afraid of? We are afraid of losing the security that we have today. We may not lose it today. We will lose it tomorrow. So there is one message I have for Nigerians is to remember is that the problems of Nigeria are enormous, the solution is simple and that solution is that we must overcome and recognize that at the heart of Nigeria problems (Boko Haram, religious crisis, ethnic crisis, unemployment, lack of education, lack of health care) are people who profit from the poverty and underdevelopment of this country and these people are called vested interests. So long as they remain entrenched and so long as we have not overcome our fears of them and dislodge them, we are not going to reach our true potentials…”

    This is a task for 2015 elections and isolated governorship elections. Let the youths determine their future with their votes. Marrianne Williamson wrote in A Return to Love: Reflections on the Principles of a Course in Miracles that: “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, ‘Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?’ Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.  Nelson Mandela said “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

     

    • Dr Tade, a sociologist writes from Ibadan

  • Tinubu: Lest we forget

    Lionel Messi is the best football ever! This was the declaration of a 12 year old boy to his grandfather during the recently concluded 2014 football World Cup won by Germany. The grandfather took time to educate him about a former Brazilian player called Pele who made four world cup appearances, won three world cups, scored 12 World Cup goals and more than 1000 goals in his professional career. He then told him about the exploits of a former French player Fontaine in 1958 World Cup in Sweden where he scored 13 goals and about another legendary former Argentina Player called Diego Maradona, etc. The boy immediately recanted.

    Just like the great Obafemi Awolowo who was vilified by political opponents in the First Republic and eventually sent to prison on trumped up charges of treasonable felony, there appears to be a calculated and orchestrated attempt to distort history especially to post 1999 youngsters in Nigeria about Bola Tinubu, hence the need to set the records straight. Recall that while Awolowo was providing advanced and exemplary leadership for the unprecedented educational and economic development of the Western Region, his less endowed and less focused enemies were painting him black in the eyes of the people to score cheap political points.

    A brief research into the political career of Tinubu would therefore suffice. He was elected Senator to represent Lagos West Senatorial District in 1992. Thereafter when the military truncated Nigeria’s democracy after the June 12, 1993 elections which led to the death of M.K.O Abiola and his wife Kudirat, he fought doggedly with other democrats and suffered grave deprivations while taking sides with the oppressed people of this country. Together with other patriots, he fought gallantly to chase away the military despots.

    In 1999, he was elected Governor of Lagos State where he served till 2007. For those may have forgotten, traffic gridlock all round Lagos was partly caused by mountains of refuse which usually blocked half of all the existing roads. It was during Tinubu’s administration that the modernization and re-equipping of Lagos State Waste Management Authority (LAWMA) that brought this eye sore to an end was carried out. He also introduced the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system to ease transportation difficulties of commuters.

    In the area of infrastructure, he embarked on massive road construction and dualization. They include Kudirat Abiola Road, Oregun, Ikeja, Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Akin Adesola Road, Victoria Island, Ikotun – Igando Road, Yaba – Itire – Lawanson – Ojuelegba Road, LASU – Iba Road, Ojo. Others include Ajah-Badore Road Eti Osa; Oba Sekunmade Road, Ikorodu; Adetokunbo Ademola Road, Victoria Island. He undertook the modernization of six roads in the Central Business District and the historic Tinubu Square of Lagos Island to mention but a few.

    In the health sector, he upgraded the buildings and facilities at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) to international standards; expanded and rehabilitated old General Hospitals in Lagos, Gbagada, Epe, Isolo, Ikorodu, Badagry, Agege and the Island Maternity. He also built new General Hospitals in  Mushin, Shomolu, Ibeju Lekki and Isheri – Iba as well as upgrading of existing health centers to full fledged hospitals at Ijede, Ketu, Agbowa, Agege, etc.

    In the housing sector, he constructed 6,000 housing units such as Abraham Adesanya Estate, Ajah, Ibeshe Low Income Housing Scheme, Amuwo Odofin Housing Scheme, Oba Adeyinka Oyekan Estate, Lekki. Others are Anyagburen Phase II, Ojokoro Millennium Housing Scheme, Alagba Low Income Housing Scheme, Oke Eletu and Oko Oba Low Income Housing schemes amongst others. He constructed Micro Water Works at Onikan, Ikeja, Iwaya, Igando, Oworonsoki, Atan, Bariga, Isolo, Shomolu, Iponrin, etc.

    I am sure that most young people below the age of 25 years might not be aware of these giant strides by Tinubu and certainly many above 25 years might have started to forget. He constructed new High Courts, computerized them, enhanced the welfare of judicial officers and established the Office of the Public Defender (OPD) to provide free legal services to indigent persons and established the Citizen Mediation Centre as an alternative dispute resolution mechanism. Honestly, one would not have gone to the extent of highlighting these concrete achievements, but it is very disgusting when political failures try to confuse the people about genuine heroes like Tinubu who have been working tirelessly in the last 22 years to improve their lot.

    In the field of education, he introduced nursery education, built 14 new schools, 77 information technology centres in public primary and secondary schools in the state. He did not stop at that. He introduced introductory technology in secondary schools. There was massive construction of school furniture and equipping of the laboratories. The icing on the cake was the provision of free education in all public primary and secondary schools including payment of WAEC/NECO fees as well as all internal examination fees to ensure that indigent children did not drop out of school.

    I am sure that at this point many people looking back objectively at the facts would now begin to understand that all the propaganda directed against Tinubu are merely concocted to deceive the masses to their own waterloo. However there is an Igbo adage that says that in a village where there are no elders, children may mistake vultures for chickens. This writer’s intervention is only to set the records straight.

    There is no doubt that Tinubu has his own flip side, just like any other human being. He has been accused of dishing out political favours to anyone he likes to the chagrin of others who may feel left out. But on the whole, he is a committed democrat who is passionate about making the lives of people better. He displayed a keen seen of political sagacity when he groomed several leaders including Rauf Aregbesola and even a successor in the person of Babatunde Fashola. Fashola’s sterling achievement today is there for anybody to see as Lagos remains a pacesetter and a reference point in people oriented development.

    In conclusion, according to the sage Awolowo at the end of the 1958 Constitutional Conference, “In the years that lie ahead, those of us who have the good fortune to lead our people will need statesmanship of a high order and God’s guidance in managing the affairs of our country for the benefits of every Nigerian citizen”. Further according to Harry Truman, “Men make history and not the other way round. In periods where there is no leadership, society stands still. Progress occurs when courageous skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better. Certainly, Tinubu is one of those leaders Truman is talking about.  History shall be fair to him because available records have shown that he is an exceptional leader.

     

    • Njoku is a lawyer
  •  Osun O-REAP:Beyond the purview of mischief

     Osun O-REAP:Beyond the purview of mischief

    There is no doubt about  the fact that agricultural policies and programme of the current administration in Osun State headed by Rauf Aregbesola remain a key factor for economic transformation through food security, job and wealth creation especially for the youths.

    It is not an overstatement that the state’s agricultural programme called Osun Rural Enterprise and agriculture programme (O-REAP) has been very strategic to the Six Point Integral Action Plan of the Rauf Aregbesola administration targeted at farm estate development through the upgrade of infrastructures in the existing farm settlements  such as rural roads, construction of culverts, channelization, river crossing among others.

    The roads completed are Iwo-Pataara (12km), Esa-Oke-Esa-Odo Farm Settlement Road 5km, Mokore Farm Settlement Road (17.8km), Orile-Owu-Ago-Owu Farm Settlement-Ogedengbe Road (30km), Idiroko-Akinleye Farm Settlement Road (10.8km), Farmers Plank Sellers, Ido-Osun Road Network (5.5km) and Alaguntan Forest Reserve Road (20km).

    Also completed are QIIP Farm Road, Kuta (9km), Okinni-Igbokiti-O-Fish Farm (9.8km), Reclamation of Olufi Market, grading of Iyanfoworogi-Orisunbare-Ajobo Junction and Aba Opa (10km), Fashina-Agbagba-Adekanye-Osu Express Road (5.5km), bridge on Saasa river to link Akinlalu, Oyere, while several other are on-going.

    The O-REAP programme is an innovative programme and unique in its design as it focuses on a very ambitious and aggressive programme of mass food production through the implementation of different component activities by an array of ministries, departments and agencies of government.

    It was also designed to strengthen farmers’ cooperatives associations, expand land available for food crop production and promote ground breaking investments and partnerships in agriculture.

    Contrary to some spurious and very frivolous allegations in a section of the media by an opposition party that sees nothing good in the Aregbesola administration,off-handedly declaring that the O-REAP programe was fraudulent and amounts to nothing for the farmers, over 150 rural roads especially those leading to the existing the farm estates have indeed been constructed with river crossings and culverts where necessary amongst many other landmarks as will be revealed presently.

    As at the time of filing this report, all the nine farm estates in the state including the ones established by chief Obafemi Awolowo in the 60s have been upgraded with necessary infrastructural facilities including electricity and potable water.All these were provided for the entire population living in the estates.

    The government has also set up farm service centres in the nine federal constituencies in the state to enable farmers have access to agricultural inputs.

    It was further gathered that 78 hectares of cattle hub was established at Oloba farm with the capacity of 10,000 cattle at full operation ,while an additional 400 hectares and 1,600 hectares of land had been secured by the state government for development of two additional cattle hubs in Ede and Ejigbo.

    In the provision of storage facilities, one 500 metric tonnes capacity warehouse abandoned since 2009 has been revisited and completed in Osogbo; another 1,000 metric tonnes capacity warehouse abandoned since 1991 when the state was created has been completed while one hundred 10metric tonnes cribs have been constructed across the state to serve as on and off farm storage facilities.

    The present administration has also empowered youth cooperative groups consisting of 40 youths engaging in cattle fattening, as part of first phase of the O-Beef empowerment programme across the State of Osun.

    “N40million has been given as loans to support Piggery Farmers in the State, 3,645 Farmers across the State benefited from the sum of N476,350,000 from the Government Guaranteed Agriculture Loan Scheme; 268 Farmers benefited from the sum of N45,662,065 from O-REAP Loan Scheme, N153.6m ($952,000) agriculture finance loan for 66 farmer cooperative group”

    The State Government procured 5,000 metric tons of fertilizers and sold it to farmers at 50% subsidy over the last 2 years; 1,830 rural farmers in 61 local communities received farm inputs from the state in collaboration with UNICEF. The government also re-constituted the fertilizer distribution committee to block leakages and ensure that the fertilizer gets to the farmers directly through innovative private sector led agricultural input supply programme.

    It is on record that the state government sponsored 40 youths to Germany for intensive training in modern agriculture and 96 secondary schools assisted in arable crop production, fisheries and livestock production systems since 2013.

    The government also established (O-REAP) Youth Academy as a deliberate effort towards giving youths a sustainable career in modern agriculture and 1,606 OYES Cadets have been trained in Modern Agriculture at the newly established O-REAP Youth Academies located in the nine federal constituencies of the state for increased food production.

    Corroborating the feat recorded by the current administration in the agricultural programme, the Director General of the Office of Economic Development and Partnerships(OEDP) and  Coordinator of the O-REAP Program, Dr. Charles Diji Akinola said that the state government further went into partnering with private sector such as TUNS Farm Nigeria Limited to promote broiler production to empower poultry farmers and create jobs under the Osun Broilers Out-growers Production Scheme (OBOPS) with the sum of N539, 435,200. 578. Farms have been stocked with over 3,654,612 Day-Old-Chicks from inception in 2011 and Over N200 million have been made as profit by the Out-growers in the Scheme.

    He stated that these schemes are meant to supply chicken and fish to O-MEAL Food Vendors to feed the Grade one to four pupils in the state public schools under the free school feeding.

    Akinola also stated that the state government has for example, through an O-REAP programme activity QIIP encouraged rice production at Onilapa (Ogbagba) on a 410hectares of land aimed at increasing production yield from 1.5tonnes to 5tonnes.

    On Tree Crop Production, Akinola noted that 64,000 oil palm seedlings and 25,000 cashew seedlings have been raised for sale, 500,000 cocoa seedlings, 6,000 Kola and 6,000 bitter kola seedlings distributed free to cocoa/bitter kola farmers respectively across the state while an all year round vegetable production project in Kuta on a 210 hectares of land is now fully operational.

    He explained further that 2,000 farmers were supported to plant 1.3 million plantain suckers for refined plantain flour production, encourages cooperative groups to cultivate 80 hectares of yam farm cluster, for yam flour production adding that over 5,000 new farmer cooperative groups have been registered in the state by the Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives and Empowerment.

    Under the agricultural land expansion programme, Akinola noted that land validation and perimeter survey in nine farm settlements using GIS and Remote Sensing Technology, has been carried out under the O-REAP programme.

    While noting that Aregbesola’s agricultural program has within the last three and half years put food on the tables of the people of the state, created jobs and wealth especially for the youths,Akinola described the wild and unfounded allegation of the opposition that the programme was fraudulent and meaningless to farmers in the state as reckless and mischievous in intent and should be dismissed by the good people of State of Osun.