The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Tambuwal: The speech Jonathan failed to make

    It was purely by chance that I found myself in the chamber of Nigeria’s House of Representatives on Tuesday March 11. A wise man once said that it is often by chance that we are present when real history is being made. Now I know what he meant. That morning, I had gone to the National Assembly (NASS) to sit in on the appearance of the Minister of Petroleum Resources and her team before the House Budget Committee. I had looked forward to another series of tales by moonlight by the comedic cast of Diezani Alison-Madueke and company. It was while already at the NASS premises that I learned that the House was resuming from break that day and had indeed declared the day a Day of Mourning in honour of the school children massacred by Boko Harm at Federal Government College Bunu Yadi in late February.

    I recall that the first thought that occurred to me when I heard this was to wonder whether the Senate would think of making even such a symbolic gesture. I wondered, not for the first time, how it is that the House always tends to identify with the issues of the ordinary Nigerian far more readily than the Senate. I remember wondering if perhaps this had something to do with the respective leadership of the two chambers. House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal has consistently shown himself to be a man with his finger on the pulse of the people. Little did I know that in thinking these thoughts, I was being prescient. For before that morning was over, I was going to receive a crash course on the quality and substance of Tambuwal as a man and a leader.

    That morning, unbeknownst to me as I took my seat high up in the gallery of the House chamber, Speaker Tambuwal was about to give the speech of his life, as it was characterized by a clearly emotion-overwhelmed man sitting next to me in the gallery. Addressing his colleagues on the mindless massacre of innocent students and on the general insecurity across the nation, the Speaker gave a speech that would move a heart of stone. I was not surprised to notice that a good number of the Honourable members, especially the female members, were sobbing quietly. It was not just one factor that made Tambuwal’s speech a huge success. It was a combination of factors: the timing, the content the tone, all pitch perfect.

    But for me, from the beginning of the speech to the end, it was Tambuwal’s demeanour that caught and held my attention. He gave the speech like a man in pain. He came across as not merely narrating other people’s pain but also addressing his own anguish. He did not stand before Nigerians as a neutral, mercenary spiritual warrior stepping forward to combat and exorcise demons that are tormenting other people. Rather he came across as a man for whom the fight is personal; a man wrestling with demons tormenting him just as mercilessly as they are tormenting his people. He did not sit there mouthing mere platitudes. Rather he channeled the raw emotions of a whole nation. And, even more importantly, he channeled the raw emotions in his own soul.

    In his speech, the Speaker descended with Nigerians into the depths of their grief, and then lifted them up again onto a higher ground from where he invited them to look into the horizon and see in their not-too-distant distant future the glimmers of a normal life of peace. He took Nigerians into the besieged hostels of the school at Bunu Yadi and forced us to witness with our own eyes the horror that transpired that night. After showing us the horror, and acknowledging our justifiable despondency, he reassured us that there is light at the end of the dark tunnel. However, he made it clear that to reach that light, all Nigerians must work together to clear the debris that make further progress along the tunnel possible. He urged us to focus on what is best in us as a nation while inviting us to turn our backs on what is worst in us.

    The speech Tambuwal gave that morning is the sort of speech that Nigerians are hungry to hear every time they confront afresh the recurrent nightmare of terrorism. It is the sort of speech the leaders of a nation should give to their people whenever they find themselves swimming against the fast flowing tides of despair. Specifically, it is the sort of speech citizens of any nation expect and deserve to hear from one leader in particular: the President of their nation. Unfortunately, the Tambuwal speech is a speech Nigerians have never heard from their own President. It is the sort of speech President Goodluck Jonathan has never given to Nigerians despite the torrents of Nigerian blood that have seeped into the soil during the Jonathan presidency.

    More disturbingly, one suspects that the Tambuwal Speech is not only a speech that Jonathan has never given, but is indeed a speech that Jonathan can never give, for the simple reason that he does not have it in him. President Jonathan has shown himself to be incapable of embodying the grief of Nigerians. He often appears incapable of conveying solemnity even in the most solemn occasions. He seems to lack the acumen to tap into and channel the raw emotions of his people towards the building of a more cohesive nation.

    Sadly, President Jonathan has never really come across as truly cognizant of the trauma Nigerians have suffered as a result of Boko Haram terrorism and other violent manifestations of deep national malaise. How could he when the people around him are more concerned with telling Nigerians who and who said they would make Nigeria ungovernable for President Jonathan? The result is that whenever the President gives another one of his infamously banal speeches, many Nigerians yawn and turn away, convinced once again that that the man simply does not get it.

    On Tuesday, March 11, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal gave a heartfelt speech that convinced Nigerians that he gets it.

    As I descended from the gallery of the House of Reps afterwards, my one regret was that Speaker Tambuwal’s blockbuster speech had been restricted to the chamber of the House he leads. I was convinced the speech deserved a wider audience. It deserved to be presented to Nigerians in a national broadcast. A speech like that is one that Nigerians deserve to hear directly from the mouth of their leaders. Such a speech would go some way to restore the faith of Nigerians in the ability of their leaders to feel their pain. And if their President is unable to give such a speech, it becomes the duty of any other capable national leader to step up and give the speech. House Speaker Aminu Tambuwal stepped up that morning, and gave one heck of a speech.

     

    •Nwoko wrote from Asokoro, Abuja

  • Crisis of institution in Nigeria’s leadership equation

    Anthony ‘Lee’ Iacocca, the American businessman, titled his 2007 bestseller Where Have All the Leaders Gone? In the book, Iacocca was concerned about the role of leadership in the governance equation of any organisation. In his case, he worried about the lack of direction that characterised the political situation of America. The same worry resonates everywhere that governance fails to meet expectations. This anxiety about leadership is not diminished especially when we consider the relationship that ought to be in place between politics and administration that determines the trajectory of good governance especially within a democracy. The significance of Iacocca’s question is essentially the stress it places on the role of leadership in the evolution of institutions and overall institution building. Where this force is absent, such a state is not going anywhere.

    Before my argument is subsumed in nuances, let me state it upfront. I subscribe to the perspective that the future of any nation and the rate of its real development are signalled by the kind of institutions it puts in place. A nation is therefore as good as its institutions or what it makes of them. Leadership effectiveness is thus a function of how effectively the institutions carry the weight of governance and service delivery. The first test for a transformational leader then becomes the priority it places on institutional reform and the building of basic soft infrastructure which s/he will take advantage of to deliver, ultimately, the development outcomes that will in turn translate into good life and prosperity for the teeming masses.

    Leadership is a critical issue that straddles much of the ongoing research in the human sciences, especially political science, sociology, policy development and public administration. Achebe’s The Trouble with Nigeria is a short but decisive articulation of the leadership predicament in Nigeria. We all have something or the other to say about the role of leadership in nation building. Yet, leadership cannot be the omnipotent variable that explains everything; it needs some explaining itself. Within the discourse, the fundamental debate basically surrounds the causal link between leadership and institutions that a leader presides over. Does leadership explain institutions or it is the institutions that influence how a particular leadership behaves?

    Both sides of the divide have their unique contention. For the institutionalists, who a leader is, is a function of the kind of institutions that a state has created for itself. Leaders are therefore strengthened or weakened by existing institutions and structure to become or achieve what they are able to. Thus, a Barack Obama has certain sets of legal and constitutional limitations on his powers. And it was Obama himself who once states that Africa needs strong and behaviour-shaping institutions rather than a strong man. On the other hand, those who advocate the significance of leadership over structures argue essentially that it is actually the presence of a strong man that facilitates the creative combination of centripetal forces and cements their operational dynamics. Without such a strong man or leader, structures and rules would not become institutionalised.

    Even though I have simplified this discourse on leadership and institutions, its essence is still clear: We must choose between the agency of the strong man and the strong institutions. I think this is a false opposition. Human behaviour is so vast and complex to be reduced to an either/or distinction. On the contrary, complex issues like the administration of the human society cannot usually be resolved through one-sided analysis—one singular cause cannot explain political or administrative behaviour of the Nigerian state. A better explanation is found in how leadership and institutions interact: Nigeria’s administrative development requires a critical interaction between the strong man and the strong institution. In other words, leadership is often tasked with the fundamental task of engineering and strengthening institutional capacities which in turn determine leadership quality. Both become essential leverage for delivering developmental outcomes that transform the lives of the citizens. A structure can only be as good as the vision that guides its functions.

    Nowhere is this more urgent than in the collaboration required to propel the political and administrative leadership to a heightened awareness of pushing our institutions beyond the boundaries of low performances and poor outcomes. ‘If there is a spark of genius in the leadership function at all,’ according to Warren Bennis, then ‘it must lie in this transcending ability…to assemble…a clearly articulated vision of the future that is at once simple, easily understood, clearly desirable, and energizing.’ This vision is represented by the entire institutional dynamics that the leadership supervises and motivates. In Nigeria, this translates into the urgent need to create service delivery machinery, represented by the civil service, which serves as the arrowhead for executing the governance strategies of the government. It is in this sense that the civil service, for Schumpeter, becomes a critical complement to democracy.

    It therefore stands to reason that the synergy between these two levels of leadership—the political and the administrative—should facilitate the foundation of effective institutions which would, in turn, define the values and behavioural relationship of the leaders themselves. In this way, we can conveniently transcend the false opposition between leadership and institutions in the administrative framework. What seems certain within the Nigerian context is that the leadership problem is aggravated within an institutional anomie where decisions fail to impact the governance process and agenda. The decision making quotient of the leadership often serve as the strategic fulcrum that motivates the evolution of sustainable institutions. Thus, leadership is inextricably tied with the institutions and structures that influence it.

    The failure to propel these institutions to greater performances results, according to Jared Diamond, from four levels of administrative failures that explain why we allow our institutions to deteriorate to a point of incapacity before we recognise the need to reform them. One, the administrators failure to anticipate a problem before it surfaced; two, failure to see the problem for what it is when it surfaced; three, ignoring the problem even when properly perceived; and finally, failure of attempts to resolve the problem. In other words, the leadership factor in institutional renewal fails to utilise the problem-solving capacity of these institutions for development purposes. It is the task of the leadership to bridge the institutional gap that links decision to social policy and implementation in governance. The first incontrovertible step in this direction is the urgent need to capacitate the institutional matrix to do the right thing and to do things right. Capacitance, to use an electrical term, requires the ability to generate enough electrical charge within the civil service institution that will jolt it into development-readiness.

    The work of development has been laid out for the civil service to do. And here, the truth is that development outcome is dependent on execution relative to national visioning and strategy by a ratio of 85/15 percent. The bigger task, however, is how to execute in an efficient and effective manner that will translate development policies into development outcomes. For Jeffrey Pfeiffer, ‘A company’s…ability to generate those exceptional returns in a knowledge-based economy is dependent, in large measure, upon its ability to attract, retain, and develop the right work force—and whether it succeeds in unleashing their mental capabilities.’ If we are looking for the right leadership direction, this is the path to look at—the path of administrative capacitance. This is where to locate the leaders Iacocca was looking for.

     

    • Olaopa is Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communication Technology, Abuja

  • Return of Nigerian coins to circulation

    Return of Nigerian coins to circulation

    It would not be far from being right, if we insinuated outright that the origin of coins or the advent of coinage as a medium of exchange could be equated with the third stage in the evolution of money while the barter system and commodity money or indirect exchange came first and second respectively.

    The third stage is the development of metal money made from either gold, silver, alloy or nickel while the development of paper money came fourth in the evolution process. On 1st July, 1959 when the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) came into full operations, the CBN issued the Nigerian currency notes and coins while the West African Currency Board (WACB) notes and coins which were in circulation between 1912-1959 were withdrawn. Due to the misuse of the country’s currency notes and coins during war the notes were again changed in 1968.

    On 31st March, 1971, the former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) announced decimalisation of the Nigerian currency as from 1st January, 1973 when the major unit of currency which used to be £1 (one pound) no longer exists and that the major currency unit would be called Naira equivalent to ten (10) shillings as the minor unit would be called kobo while one hundred (100) kobo would make one Naira as recommended by the Decimal Currency Committee set up in 1962 which submitted its report two years after in 1964.Also in January 1973, coins were introduced by the CBN in denominations of ½, 1, 5, 10 and 25 kobo, with the ½ and 1 kobo in bronze and the higher denominations in cupronickel.

    In 1991, smaller 1, 10 and 25 kobo coins were issued in copper-plated steel, along with nickel-plated steel 50 kobo and 1 naira. On 11th February, 1977 a new note N20 bearing the portrait of a Nigerian citizen, late Head of State, General Muritala Ramat Muhammed. The new N20was the first currency note and the highest denomination so far issued by CBN to cater for the growth of incomes in the country and to immortalise Muritala who was the torch bearer of the Nigerian revolution of July, 1975.On 2nd July, 1979, new currency notes of three denominations, namely,N1,N5, and N10 were introduced bearing the portraits of three eminent Nigerians who were declared national heroes on 1st October, 1978 while in 1992, both the 50k and N1 notes were coined. To cater for the boom in economic activities and to facilitate an efficient payments system, the N100, N200,N500 and N1000 notes were introduced in December 1999, November 2000, April 2001 and October 2005 respectively while on 28 February 2007, new coins were issued in denominations of 50 kobo, 1 and 2 naira, with the 1 and 2 naira bimetallic, that is each coin consists of more than one metal or alloy, generally arranged with an outer ring around the contrasting center.

    All nations, both developed and the less developed settle transactions with notes and coins in their respective circulations with varying ratios of dominance, say,90:10% or 95:5% respectively while Nigeria operates only currency notes in a monocultural circulation. With reference to the disappearance of coins in the Nigerian circulation, I would like to draw attentions of former Nigerian Presidents, former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governors and former Finance Ministers including the incumbent trio of the stated office holders to ponder on the circumstances that premised the zooming off of the Nigerian coins due to administrative misconceptions, feeling ‘too big’ or reluctant to spend coins or inbuilt errors in circulating mechanism. As governments operate in continuum, I therefore directly task Dr Goodluck Jonathan, President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr NgoziOkonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister and Coordinating Minister for the economy and the acting Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to devise ways of returning the Nigerian precious and prestigious metal monies in gold and silver to circulation in order to meet up with the world currencies standard.

    The main motive behind this write-out is premised on my transactions experience in London, England, November 2011 where I expended Great British Pound(GBP) coins and Shillings at different places –stores, malls, train and bus stations, London Eye and hotels as well as my recent coins transactions in France, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Germany and Switzerland in December 2013 while specifically in Basel, Switzerland and Dubai, UAE where I spent Euro coins to buy some items at shopping malls with change given to me in Swiss franc and UAE dirham coins respectively. At every transaction point with coins in Europe and Asia, my mind would pause…., flashed back home Nigeria where our twelve year old children never see or experience what is called a Nigerian coin and to come up with an illuminating strategy for restoration.

    To give coins a come-back, Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), through Federal Ministry of Finance (FMF) and Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) need to jointly revisit the proposal of the former CBN Governor, Professor Charles Soludo on redenomination of Naira in2007 or embark on direct coinage of N50-N5 polymer notes. In the same parlance and or in alternative, I would also like the trio of FGN, FMF and the CBN financial regulators to implement my research paper titled ‘Revisiting the Central Bank of Nigeria August 14, 2007 Proposal on Redenomination of the Nigerian Naira’ published in London by the Journal of African Macroeconomic Reviewin2011.In 2007,Soludo stated at a Bankers’ Committee meeting in Lagos that:‘‘…. we intend to restructure the entire currency by dropping two zeroes or moving two decimal points to the left from the currency, and issuing more coin denominations. This would entail a total currency exchange and phasing-out of all the existing denominations from August 1, 2008. Effectively, at the current exchange rate, this policy would mean that the Naira/US dollar exchange rate would be around N1.25 to US$1 then. All Naira assets, prices and contracts will be re-denominated by dropping two zeroes or two decimal points to the left with effect from this date’’.

     

    CBN in 2007 explicated how the currency would be redenominated. It is by dropping two zeros from the currency or moving two decimal places to the left as it occurred to Ghana in 2007 with four zeros dropped and Turkey in 2005 as six zeros shed while the name of the Nigerian currency will still remain the Naira. During the transition period, the existing naira will be referred to as the “Old Naira”, and the new one to be called the “New Naira” as presented in the table below. After the transition period, the word “new” may be removed while some commentators came up with a suggestion to keep all the Kobo in coins and all the Naira in notes. The aborted attempt of introducing N5000 note by Lamido Sanusi would have let N50 be the highest currency if redenomination should hold contrary to the proposed N20 as the highest note by Charles Soludo in 2007. Buttressing the redenomination proposal, CBN in 2007 contrarily stated that, adding of zeros to the currency is called decimalization, which in management of currencies, is the process of converting from traditional denominations to a ‘decimal’ system, usually with two units differing by a factor of one hundred (100) typically when Nigeria adoptedthe decimal system on 1st January 1973, changing from Pound, Shillings and Pence to Naira and Kobo.

     

    August 2007 CBN Proposed Table of Redenomination

     

    Old Naira

    (i.e, Existing Naira as at today)

     

    		 New Naira

    (as from the proposed August 1,

    2008)
    50 kobo Half kobo**
    N 1 1 kobo coin
    N 2 2 kobo coin
    N 5 5 kobo coin
    N 10 10 kobo coin
    N 20 20 kobo coin
    N 50 50 kobo coin or note***
    N 100 N 1
    N 200 N 2 **
    N 500 N 5
    N 1000 N 10
    N2000 * N 20
    N 5000 1 N 50

    Source: CBN (2007), * not issued, ** will not be issued, 1 writer’s inclusion.

     

    It was either the presidency of Late Umar Yar’Adua in 2007 that didn’t get redenomination attempt right with Soludo or Soludo was not convincive enough or the instilled phobia that the millionaires and billionaires would be relegated to thousandnaires and millionaires respectively or combination of the trio not knowing fully well that new values of their money would remain the same as the old ones. CBN in 2007 announced a four-point agenda designed to make the naira the “Reference Currency in Africa”, as part of the Financial System Strategy 2020 (FSS2020) and the elements of the agenda were: (a) currency redenomination, (b) adoption of inflation targeting framework for the conduct of monetary policy, (c) sharing part of the Federation Account funds in US Dollars to deepen the forex market and for liquidity management and (d) current account liberalization/convertibility and accession to Article VIII of the IMF.

     

    Benefits accruable from redenomination, and to be specific, from reintroducing the Nigerian coins to circulation include but not limited to the following: (a) to retain the beauty and cultivating the habit of using coins, (b) making pricing more efficient. Given the level of prices and low purchasing power of the coins, prices generally adjust in discrete jumps of five or ten Naira, rather than in Kobo. After redenomination, one kobo will have relative value and we can see the price of petrol go up from say, 70kobo to say, 71 or 72 kobo (coins)per litre instead of the jumps of N75 to N97 per litre and to the further hikes.

    Correcting this distortion in pricing structure can have enormous impact on the national economy, especially as we commit to low inflation. (c) As we aspire for an international financial status and to become Africa’s financial hub by 2020, redenomination will make for easy conversion to other currencies. As a ‘Reference Currency’, it will be easy for citizens of West Africa and other countries to convert to their national currencies and other currencies, (d) reducing the risks associated with carrying large physical cash as we eliminate large denominations with very little value, (e) as promoting a more efficient payments system for instance making Automated Teller Machines (ATM) part of our payment culture and decongesting banking halls. Instead of withdrawing N50,000 or N100,000 from an ATM, one N500 or N1000 notes of the ‘new naira’ will command exactly the same value respectively, and (f) discouraging the abuse of the naira as each naira note under the ‘new naira’ will have relatively high value, and coins will dominate transactions at the lower end ofthe market.

     

    In order to facilitate the return of the Nigerian coins into circulation, either redenomination of naira or direct coinage of N50-N5 polymer notes is recommended to FGN through Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for implementation. Finally, to redeem the Nigerian coins from pendulous existence and perpetual extinction, I would like to further advise the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan to see a necessity, as part of his transformation agenda, in according ‘Redenomination of Nigerian Naira’ a top priority at the National Conference with a reasonable numbers of Economists to consolidate with Federal Government delegates at the confab.

     

     

    Alao is a Lecturer in the department of Economics, Adeyemi College of Education (ACE),Ondo,Nigeria. rasheedalao74@gmail.com

  • New technology would have prevented NIS recruitment deaths

    New technology would have prevented NIS recruitment deaths

    Regrettably Job seekers in Nigeria died over the weekend trying to secure appointment with the Nigerian Immigration Service.

    This did not have to happen!

    Where there are high levels of unemployment it is to be expected that the demand for available vacancies will far outweigh supply of jobs, hence the large turnout for the exercise.

    As long as we are unable to cater for the teeming graduates seeking work, not to talk of those who are underemployed, we would continue to have a high turnout as witnessed.

    However this did not have to happen.

    Technological advancement has brought about solutions to deal with large number of candidates seeking few jobs.

    It was reported that over 500,000 candidates applied for the exercise.

    The first step is to short list those candidate who meet the recruitment criteria which would have been pre determined by the recruiting organisation.

    Apparently the entire candidates were invited to attend a form of screen at various centres across Nigeria.

    A short listing exercise would have been screened out those who fail to meet the criteria. Only those who meet the requirement advance to the next stage of the selection process.

    There are competent organisations in Nigeria who could have offered this solution.

    Each candidate can sit the initial verification exercise at the comfort of their home using their computer or at designated Test  Centres.

    Where recruiting organisation has concerns about the authenticity of the candidate responding to the initial verification, there are also solutions available to validate the initial screening, which may further reduce the number of applicants.

    At the end of the two stage process described above, the recruiting organisation would have a manageable number and failing that, further assessment could be carried out using Assessment Centres before commencing to the interview stages.

    Several private sector organisations and multinationals have successfully adopted this approach. A typical recruitment exercise by Shell Nigeria receives no less than half a million responses and they   manage the recruitment process effectively using online recruitment solutions.

    It is time we take advantage of technology to manage our recruitment and avoid what I call avoidable accidents.

    It is not rocket science to predict the NIS exercise was an accident waiting to happen.

    Other government agencies need to take note to avoid a repeat of this incident.

    It need not happen and we pray it does not happen again.

    May the souls of the departed rest in peace.

    Shola Ajani  is Group CEO, Human Capital Asset Management Group

  • Stand up, Bolaji Abdullahi

    Stand up, Bolaji Abdullahi. Take a bow and have your seat among the greats of our land. You have distinguished your pedigree. You have exhibited the character of an Omoluabi. You have shown Nigerians, nay, the global community; the stuff great minds are made of. It does not have to be by age; otherwise you will not have shone so brightly where the aged slanted. The Sheikh Alimi community, Ilorin, is proud of you. Kwara celebrates your uncommon audacity to stick to honour and integrity. The Nigerian youth is proud of your respect for friendship and leadership. Welcome back home. Here we appreciate you. Here we know your worth. Here, following the steps of your mentor, you made every child count. Here you transformed our education system to excellence. Come home, Bolaji, we appreciate you.

    Nigerians are singing that you once ministered well in your ministry of sports. Nigerians celebrate removal of public office holders, but not so in your case. The torrent of comments condemning your removal as sports minister is testimonial to your accomplishment and the love Nigerians have for you. Please read them and thank Allah who made it possible for you to lay your hands on such outstanding accomplishments. Bask in the love of the people, whose cause you swore to serve and whose cause you served till you were asked to go because you will not serve anything less than the cause of the people.

    We are glad that you were made to leave when the ovation in your national assignment was loudest. You may not be the one to lead Nigeria to the World Cup in Brazil, but you were in the saddle when we qualified. No one can take that from you, not even your traducers. Your sterling performance that assisted in our qualification will be in the hearts of the coaches, in the hearts of the players and in the hearts of every sport- loving Nigerian each time our boys file out to play, because you served them with your heart. You may not be the one to bring back a trophy for Nigeria from any international competition again, but no one can replace your name as the minister during whose tenure Nigeria won most of the laurels she had long forgotten were still available.

    They may doubt your loyalty, yet you were not disloyal. You are a thorough-bred professional; a consummate administrator.  None can question that your tenure saw the creation of the first High Performance Centre in West Africa, a science-based support system for elite athletes in Nigeria. You started Rhythm and Play, a flagship programme for grassroots sports development in Nigeria which was launched by the President in June 2013. They may say what they like, no one will forget that in 2013, the first ever National Youth Games for athletes between ages 13-17 took place in Nigeria. That event alone led to the discovery of over 300 special talents that will make Nigeria proud in the nearest future.

    What of international competition? Maybe they forgot and so decided to let you go. Nigerians cannot forget that our under-17 boys won the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in the UAE under your watch, that our home-based Super Eagles qualified for the African Nations Championship, CHAN, for the first time and won bronze, under your watch. Okagbare won two medals for our nation at the IAAF Championship, under your watch. The last time we had that fortune was in 1999.

    Again in 2012, we won the African Cup of Nations for the first time in 19 years. Under your watch, Nigeria won both the senior and youth championships at the same time. It has never happened in Africa. They might have forgotten but we cannot forget that under your watch we did it.

    In athletics, just as in football, we have become the leading light of Africa. We were third at the 2012 senior African wrestling championship in Morocco and we were overall winner at the 2012 senior Africa Weightlifting Championship that held in Kenya. We won six gold, five silver and one bronze at the London 2012 Paralympics Games, under your watch, Abdullahi.

    Under your supervision, the local league has seen its credibility being restored with transparency and players welfare being paramount and made manifest.

    We are proud of you at home, Kwara state, and particularly in the emirate; your origin. Have you heard what leaders of the emirate are saying? They are singing praises of you. No one credible leader of our people have come out to say you have not done well, no , no one. Even those who don’t like you have become silent. They have seen the error of their ways in pushing for your removal on the altar of politics. Suddenly your name has become a household commodity, even more popular than when you were in the saddle. See how Allah can transform misfortune into fortune?

    Bolaji, you exhibited character. We have not heard of scandals involving you while on that seat, one of the most reported seats in Nigeria and one of the most subjected to serious scrutiny by reporters and thousands of stakeholders. They said you were asked to go because they could not trust you to destroy an age-long heritage, the Saraki political dynasty. Now that they will have their yes men, or are they women, who can do that, let us wait and see how Allah shall recompense them, for certainly, what they quest after is certainly not in the interest of the people and the Almighty. Their plot will fail and the house of Alimi shall triumph.

    And as they fail, you will be promoted. They might be celebrating that they have taken away from you something significant, but Abdullah you retain your honour, integrity and credibility. You are unscathed.  Almighty Allah alone determines what we get, where we get such and how we get it. If it has pleased Allah to allow them at this time, then it is to say that we came to this world with nothing and we shall not take anything to the hereafter. Nothing is our permanent possession, not even the highest position in the land and not even our lives. But wherever you go, we shall celebrate you. You have queued behind Governors Babatunde Raji Fashola and Abdulfatah Ahmed who proved to the world that we still have in our nation people who celebrate excellence above mediocrity; men who still hold to the value of personal honour and integrity; people who can be trusted and relied on. These are men of honour; men of integrity.

    Bolaji, wherever they are today, they are hero and heroine. They brought you up in the way of Allah to serve humanity with honour and dignity. Your forebears have not laboured in vein. Your children are happy with you. You have taught them resonate lessons in honor, integrity, dignity, faith and loyalty.

    We are proud of you, Abdullahi. Stand up, let us celebrate.

    • Oba is the Chief Press Secretary to the Kwara State Governor.

  • The overseer, accountant and us!

    The present controversy surrounding the alleged missing money has been made more controversial with the removal by suspension of the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (SLS). An otherwise straightforward situation has been so deliberately dramatized, that the citizenry is now confused and polarized. The following is my own dramatization of the situation.

    Afe Udia is a religious organization, whose membership is made up of only salaried employees. It is headed by the Overseer. The organization has different administrative departments for various roles. Part of the tenets of the organization is that each member must contribute 20% of his or her take-home salary to the organization. The accounts department is responsible for collecting the mandatory contributions. There is a governing committee which decides how monies should be spent and an expenditure committee that does actual disbursements. As is typical in organizations and even religious ones like Afe Udia, members in typical fashion start grumbling that the huge financial chest is not being properly managed and several projects including funding for the organizations charities are unsatisfactory.

    The governing council of Afe Udia decides to take steps to ensure accountability and boost confidence in the financial integrity of the organization. An independent accountant is appointed by the overseer after approval from the governing council. In his contract of appointment, the accountant is to use his best professional skills to further the interests of Afe Udia under the headship of the overseer. As standard policy and to maintain his independence, the contract stipulates that should the accountant be found wanting, the contact can be terminated and his services dispensed with by the overseer only with the approval of the governing council.

    The accountant commences his work in earnest and puts different structures in place to ensure success. Part of the new initiatives is that every member should make their contributions via a standing order to the employers, for the money to be deducted directly from the salary and paid to the finance committee. Thereafter the finance committee renders an account to the accountant who will then collect all the money and hand over to the governing committee. In the process of doing his work, the accountant discovers that some unit treasurers have been taking liberties with funds entrusted to them. After scrutinizing available records he informs the overseer that in accordance with his powers under the contract of appointment, he will replace some of them and recover stolen Afe Udia funds from them. He duly carries out his threat but of course with serious protestations from the affected unit treasurers and their supporters.

    From his observations and interactions within the Afe Udia, the accountant notices that whereas some officials are evidently living beyond their means, projects were suffering because of shortage of funds. He discusses this with the overseer who suggests that maybe the members should be levied a higher percentage. Still troubled by the anomaly and sensing that he was missing something, the accountant decides to seek help from the general tax office. He scrutinizes the returns made by the different employers of Afe Udia members under the employee tax scheme. He does his calculations and is alarmed at what he discovers.

    He makes a report to the overseer stating that from his records there was a huge disparity between what was being declared by the accounts committee and what should have been actually received based on the records of the tax office. The overseer does nothing and after some months the members get wind of the essence of the report to the overseer. The resultant outcry by members creates anxiety in the organization and has the overseer and his inner circle worried.

    The governing committee invites the accountant and finance committee members to iron out the discrepancies. The meeting is deadlocked as the accountant maintains his position that huge amounts are missing. The accounts committee explains that because of the poor power situation, it had to spend a huge sum replacing old generators in the branches and that reference to the expenditure committee would have occasioned delay thereby causing disruptions.

    The explanations fail to close the matter or the grumbling among members. The overseer’s intervention for the accountant to tell members that the explanations were acceptable and the accounts in order, fail to change the accountant’s stance.

    The overseer queries the loyalty of the accountant to him and the governing committee. He asks the accountant to resign because by his attitude he will cause disaffection in Afe Udia which could jeopardise his position in the organization. The accountant refuses to resign on the basis of his letter of appointment. He says that if the governing council approves that the overseer should remove him, then he will have no choice but to go. The overseer is not sure of some members of the governing council and in fact some of them had become close to the accountant. Some of the overseer’s staunch supporters sense his predicament and map out a plan to rescue the situation. A general meeting is called for the accountant issue to be discussed. The overseer’s supporters are very vocal and one after the other they lambaste the accountant. The meeting is told how the accountant although not a member of Afe Udia, has been going around criticizing the lifestyle of members of the governing committee. That he wants to cause disaffection in the organization hence he published the make and number of cars owned by the officials of the organization. That he was in the habit of flirting with female members of Afe Udia. That from the organization’s money at his disposal to carry out his work effectively as he deems necessary, he commissioned a restaurant to give free lunch to the indigent people who could make their way to the organizations premises every Monday and Wednesday. They angrily denounced this as reckless spending of the organizations money. That no similar organization had an accountant who behaved like Afe Udia’s accountant! When a dissenting member asked whether all contracts of appointment of accountants were uniform or whether this accountant had gone outside his contract of appointment, he was shouted down and told that the contract was stupidly drafted and when they queried and tried to change it, it was foolish members like him that scuttled the process. Another member reminded the meeting how the accountant even had the effrontery to ridicule the contents of the overseer’s last end of year message. So many accusations but the accountant when called upon to defend himself maintained his position that he had acted within his contract and that money was missing.

    The overseer in a surprising announcement to members following the meeting says the accountant will be denied access to his office and the organizations records and that the governing committee will soon appoint a new more competent accountant. The accountant’s assistant would replace him until a new appointment.

    Some members are however confused and are asking only a very few questions. In the midst of all the noise, what is the true position with the alleged missing money? How tenable is the answer by the finance committee that it diverted some of the money to buy generators for the branches without clearance from the governing committee? Why does the overseer’s body language give the impression that he thinks that no money is missing? How can the accountant know exactly how much is missing when he is not privy to how much exactly was diverted by the accounts department and for what purposes? And lastly, if the overseer locks out the accountant and prevents him from doing the work for which he was contracted, has he not effectively removed the accountant without the approval of the management committee?

    For me as a member of Afe Udia, there is only one question each for the overseer and the accountant: ‘Where is our money’? And ‘Why do you talk so much’?

    Only a fool does not know which should come first!

    • Ukpong, a legal practitioner writes from Lagos

  • Nigerian women arise

    “O, ye daughters of Africa, awake! Awake! Arise! No longer slumber, but distinguish yourselves. Show forth to the world that ye are endowed with noble and exalted faculties.” Maria W. Stewart 

    As we celebrated the International Women’s Day on Saturday March 8, we Nigerians (especially our women) have major issues we need to focus on, discuss and find lasting solutions to.

    In less than one month, 20 of our daughters were abducted by Boko Haram and about 59 more of our children weremurdered in their sleep in cold blood by the same Boko Harm sect! Our children in Federal Government College in Yobe State were killed by Boko Haram! And several more of our children in that school were injured from the attacks!

    Our children are being maimed! Our children are being murdered! Our children are being killed by terrorists! Our children are being killed in plane crashes! Our children are being killed in car crashes! Our children are being killed by preventable sicknesses and diseases! Our children are being killed – PERIOD! And where have we been? What have we done? And where are our VOICES?

    Where are the voices of the daughters of Nigeria? Where are the voices of Nigerian ladies? Where are the voices of Nigerian mothers? Where are the voices of Nigerian grandmothers? Where are the voices of Nigerian women? Where are our voices? How come our nation cannot hear our voices? Is Boko Haram drowning out our voices? Why can’t our voices be heard? Why?

    This is not the first or second secondary school to be attacked. Twice last year in Yobe State, gunmen believed to be Boko Haram attacked our children. On July 6, 2013, a secondary school was attacked and 42 people died many of whom were children. About another 40 students were killed on September 29, 2013 when gunmen opened fire on them while they were sleeping in their hostels. About two weeks ago 20 school girls were kidnapped by Boko Haram. We still haven’t heard what happened to them. How many schools must be attacked before our voices are heard? How many of our children must die in these violent attacks before our voices are heard? How many body bags of our youth must we count before our voices are heard? How many pictures of our dead children must we see before our voices are heard? How much more blood must flow from the veins of our children before we make our voices heard? How much more…?

    Nigerian women were is our outrage? Where is our anger? Where is our fury? Where are our collective outrage, anger and fury? Where?

    The blood of our daughters has spilled to the ground! The blood of our children has poured to mother earth once again (and this has become one too many times). Their blood is crying out! Their blood is crying out for justice! Their blood is crying out saying “avenge our death” and make sure we did not die in vain! Their blood is crying and screaming out “avenge our death” and make sure it doesn’t happen again to any other Nigerian child! Can’t we hear the cry? Can’t we hear their petition? Can’t we take off time from our busy schedule to hear the cry?

    Is it so hard for us to hear the cry? Are we hard of hearing? Can’t we hear the cry of the parents of these young ones? Is their cry seemingly so far away up North that we feel it is none of our business? Is it that we are so far removed emotionally, financially, socially etc. that we can’t hear their cry? We definitely cannot go on like this! When are we going to say ENOUGH IS ENOUGH? When are we going to say NO MORE KILLINGS? When are we going to say NEVER AGAIN?

    When our children are being killed, it is time for us to awaken from our slumber! When the lives of our children are cut short, it is time for us to step up to the plate of RESPONSIBILITY! When our children are attacked in their sleep, it is time for us to arise and stop the killings! When the life of the future generation of Nigerians is being threaten it is time for us to STAND UP AND SAY NO MORE!

    There is so much madness flying around in our country. There is the madness of killings by Boko Haram, the madness of corruption – billions of dollars unaccounted for, the madness of politics etc. We must show our own madness! We must show a woman’s madness and undying love for her children! We need to display a mother’s madness of protecting her children just like the madness of a hen when she is protecting her chicks from harm! We need to exhibit a mother’s madness of defending her brood so that they can mature into adulthood as responsible citizens of Nigeria! And we must have a method to our own madness of preserving the next generation of Nigerian children.

    O ye daughters of Nigeria, now is the time to show our madness for our children, family and our nation! Arise Nigerian women! Arise QUICKLY! Arise with a SENSE of URGENCY! Arise NOW!

    SPEAK UP! STAND UP! SPEAK OUT! CHANGE THE STATUS QUO FOR THE GOOD OF NIGERIA AND OUR CHILDREN!!!

    Desmond Tutu once said “Women, we need you to give us back our faith in humanity.” And NOW Nigerians are saying “We need you our women to give us back our faith in NIGERIA and HUMANITY!”

    • Ms Simoyan writes from Lagos

  • CBN: We are all losers

    Given that the suspension of Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria has become a subject of litigation, this intervention is purely academic. With mixed reactions in torrent and scores of hate/love arguments for and against the sudden removal of the governor of the CBN, we are undoubtedly all losers as Nigerians. For an increasingly divisive nation, Sanusi’s removal has proved another polarising factor too frequent. Coming on the heel of partisan posturing for 2015, it is not surprising that the suspension has also become a handy partisan issue with objectivity in deficit and subjectivity in huge surplus. Predictably the ruling party (PDP)’s national publicity secretary, Olisa Metuh backed the suspension, claiming  “the issues leading to the suspension bordered strictly on the management of the nation’s economy”. Expectedly, the All Progressives Congress (APC) accused the presidency of “seeking to use the suspension of ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Lamido Sanusi Lamido, to divert attention from the allegation of the missing 20 billion dollars oil funds”.  With these serial partisan diatribe, discussing Sanusi’s suspension tasks objectivity and even imagination. It is obviously academic and even a luxury at this interesting times to be concerned about the bigger picture of the far-reaching implications of the suspension for the banking industry in particular and the economy as a whole.  Historic facts might however prove useful in the search for objectivity.

    President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua nominated Sanusi as the Governor of the bank on June 1, 2009. His appointment was confirmed by the Senate on June 3, 2009 in  a record time. President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan on Thursday, February 20, suspended him from office few months to the end of an eventful, albeit controversial single five-year term he had preferred. Of course the point cannot be overstated that the first and notable loser is Sanusi himself. As a labour market student, it’s of profound academic interest of how a process driven easy entry (with appointment and senate confirmation) of a chief central banker was inversely related to his suspension/ exit without recourse to the same process that brought him to office. So much for the provision of the CBN Act! Sanusi’s ordeal brings to memory the predicament of Bernard Longe, former Managing Director of the First Bank of Nigeria Plc (FBN) who was summarily terminated by the board of directors  for allegedly negligently granting an unauthorized facility to Investors International (London) Limited for the acquisition of shares in NITEL, which resulted in losses for FBN in  April 22, 2002. In March 2010, the Supreme Court of Nigeria issued a landmark judgment in favour of Longe upturning his suspension. Is history repeating itself? Certainly Longe got a judgment but it is debatable that he got the justice since he did not return to his job. Will Sanusi get justice or judgment in the court of law is one question begging for an answer. One thing is however clear; we are in the final analysis workers who are deserving of decent work, well paid for, secured with easy entry and exit. International Labour Organization (ILO) has shown over the years that millions of workers worldwide live on precarious works that are poorly remunerated. They get fired and hired at the behest of employers. The recent casualization of the CBN’s governor has certainly made another case for decent protected work for the driver, a messenger no less for a CBN governor or even a President. An injury to one is an injury to all.

    President Goodluck Jonathan may very not be a visible loser in this avoidable labour market crisis, but certainly he is not a celebrated winner either. The President legitimately claimed absolute power to hire and fire. That in itself begs the question.  Absolutism needs no interrogation, no less an explanation. In a democracy, everything is relative, the President’s enormous powers inclusive. Watching the President almost agonizing on Sanusi during the sixth edition of the presidential media chat  shows the suspension was far from being an easy presidential option. Indeed it was refreshing that the President left a window of reconciliation when the he said Sanusi still remained governor pending investigation of the alleged abuse of office. If we must all be winners we must return to the big picture of institution building, the economy and nation building.

    Countries preoccupied with the issues in development use their central banks to keep the economy on course through activist macro economics with respect to pricing, (inflation), exchange rates, interest rates, capacity utilization, employment, debt management, development financing etc.

    Whatever the hidden issues against Sanusi are, his tenure witnessed open activist central banking. Indeed with respect to the core mandate of the CBN, both the suspended governor and President Jonathan are winners. CBN bailed out “ Afribank, Intercontinental Bank, Union Bank, Oceanic Bank and Finbank averting  their collapse.  Much credit obviously go to the Yar’Adua/ Jonathan presidency for maintaining institutional autonomy of the CBN which made Sanusi to deliver on his primary mandate as a central banker. Both President Jonathan and Sanusi must be credited with stable inflation and exchange rate figures in recent years. Of course double digit interest rate remains unacceptably high, (no value adding manufacturer can borrow at the scandalous interest rate of 23 per cent!).  The relative autonomy of the central bank has made the stability of the monetary policies possible. The major loss to Nigeria in this crisis is therefore institution building.

    The emerging picture is that of two strong men, namely President Jonathan and suspended Governor Sanusi. But what happens to institution and nation building?

    Central banking worldwide has been likened to a good (economic) driver, which must keep an eye on the road and maintain steady hands on the wheel for a good (economic) ride. Towards the end of his tenure, Sanusi was eager to read more balance sheets with all the controversies trailing the missing billions from NNPC’s unremitted sums. Devil is in the details. But it is instructive that, Sanusi has come to agree that the better is to read less of balance sheet. In a pre-suspension  interview with Metropole magazine, he accepts as much that; ‘…in a sense, in terms of managing communications that’s what our problem was and the way to have done that would have been maybe use channels other than public lectures, public statements, and public interviews to make some of the points that I have made.  If there is anything I think I could have done better, it is really in the area of communication.  Also, I think not being politically sensitive was a problem.  I am not saying the CBN governor should be a politician.  But just understanding the politics of communication in Abuja was something maybe I could have done better.”

     

    •Aremu mni is vice president, Nigeria Labour Congress

  • Whistle blowing: A lesson to learn

    It is a common saying in America that “A man gotta do what a man gotta do”; in other words, a man does what he must, in spite of personal difficulties, dangers or obstacles. This is what I believe is the basis of all human moralities.

    In his column in The Nation of Monday, February 24, Sam Omatseye commenced his article by quoting a former U.S. Congresswoman – Barbara Jordan as having said that “If the society today allows wrongs to go unchallenged, the impression is created that those wrongs have the approval of the majority.

    This article, however, is not an advocate for any partisan cause, for the issues between President Goodluck Jonathan and the just suspended CBN Governor – Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi are fundamental and reach quite beyond the realm of partisan considerations. They must be resolved on the highest plane of national interest if our cause is to prove sound and our future protected. I trust, therefore, that the National Assembly and the judiciary in whose domain the issues have been placed will do the justice of receiving that which I have to say here as solely expressing the considered viewpoint of a fellow Nigerian.

    The issue at stake in this country which we all claimed to be political disorderliness/insecurity, corruption and abject poverty pervading the society, are becoming more of national embarrassment and so interlocked that to consider the problems of one sector oblivious to those of another is but to court disaster for the whole.

    While NNPC is commonly referred to as the economic lifeline to the Central Bank of Nigeria, it is no less true that the CBN is the financial gateway to economy, and the broad influence of the one cannot fail to have its impact upon the other.

    Reconciling a nationalist’s right to dissent with his employer’s demand for loyalty is not easy. Sanusi is a genuine and patriotic Nigeria nationalist who was the governor of an autonomous Nigerian institution– the Central Bank of Nigeria which is a non-democratic institution, is under no compulsion to tolerate what they may consider to be recalcitrant behaviour of federal government officials elected or appointed in the matter of assets/financial management. The erstwhile CBN governor disagreed with illegal, dangerous and corrupt practices going unabated at the NNPC. Many otherwise faithful servants may decide that the price for keeping silent is too high. Keeping silent versus speaking out is usually a no win situation. Certainly, by speaking out on the corrupt practices in the NNPC, Sanusi himself knows he risks reprisal. As a nationalist, if he keeps silent, he may be judged later by himself or others as irresponsible. Of course, he always has the option to quit his job. But interrupting a satisfying career in the hope that he will find another equally beneficial job opportunity is not easy.

    No doubt, Sanusi’s whistle-blowing seemed to have courted the anger of the PDP controlled government in Abuja which it saw as being very disruptive. It puts the spotlights on information that other members of the institution have disregarded, suppressed or falsified. Calling attention to this information invariably causes tension and embarrassment and triggers a defensive reaction from the Presidency. This, the federal government’s reaction was exceedingly harsh because the whistle-blower singles out suspected offenders and let the general public second-guess their motives.

    A typical whistle-blower is often quick to personalize the issue. Thus, his personality becomes part of the problem because in executive management view, only an eccentric or maverick would risk alienating his colleagues or compatriots in other government institutions. Even if a whistle-blower does not actually fit this category, the power that be might still portray him as such to divert attention from the disclosure.

    Employees possess several characteristics that can hamper their causes in potential whistle-blowing situations. They tend to regard disputes as being either technical or personal in nature. An employee engaged in a conflict with his immediate boss or with upper management in trying to turn the issue into a personal matter. In reality, both technical and personal elements are usually combined in such an organization or institutional conflict, and both must be dealt with in the appropriate manner.

    Another potential failing of employees arise when they must deal with information concerning environmental quality or educational institution corruption. Most of these issues require an assessment of risk-which often involves political considerations as well as scientific ones.

    Thus, such issues call for subjective judgments as well as objective analyses. Employees often have difficulty distinguishing between the two approaches and tend to shy away from political considerations when they are faced with them. The whistle-blower eventually has to prove his case by accumulating documentary evidence and lining up witnesses. The problem here is that the whistle-blower rarely has the legal training to understand problems of legal evidence. An engineer or accountant may understandably confuse proof in the technical sense with proof in the legal sense. While the detailed problems of proof should be entrusted to someone trained in law, the would-be whistle-blower must become somewhat versed in the necessary legalism if he hopes to produce a solid case.

    Perhaps, the ultimate surprise to an employee comes when a particular litigation is decided on a procedure – how the whistle was blown – rather than on his merits of his claims. To guide against this, logic must prevail over emotion in following the prescribed procedures for whistle –blowing. Most experts advise that an employee seeks legal advice before going too far with his protest.

    Another subtle distinction that escapes the typical employee is the difference between proving that he was fired in reprisal. In a legal challenge to retaliatory action, the issue is not whether the original disclosure was correct, but whether the challenged action was motivated in whole or substantial part by the disclosure. More so, evidence of the correctness, propriety, or truth of the disclosure may be excluded altogether on grounds of irrelevancy.

    It is very unfortunate that Sanusi is currently going through persecution for daring President Jonathan to remove him from office in the consequence of his blowing the whistle on the alleged fraud in the petroleum industry. If the civil rights community and the Nigerian labour organisation failed in this course of rallying round Sanusi at this moment of his travesty of justice, we might as well forget about any rule of law adherence by this federal government whose administration thrives on corruption and impunity of the highest order.

    National ideologies play little part in Nigeria’s masses thinking and are little understood. What the people strive for is the opportunity for a little more food in their stomachs, a little better clothing on their backs, roof over their heads, and the realization of a normal nationalist urge for political freedom. These political-social conditions have but an indirect bearing upon our own national security, but they form a backdrop to contemporary planning which must be thoughtfully considered if we are to avoid the pitfalls of unrealism.

     

    • Engr. Shoyebo, an author/publisher writes from Mushin, Lagos.

  • Sir Manuwa deserves centenary honour

    I feel I would be failing the entire community of physicians of Nigerian and indeed African origin world wide if I fail to speak up on the omission of Sir Samuel Manuwa from the list of persons honoured for their contributions to various fields of endeavor in Nigeria’s first 100 years. I don’t know what the criteria were that were used to select people for the list. But looking at the category headlined Pioneering Professionals, and which included Fredrick Rotimi Williams, Akintola Williams Esq; as well as a few other pioneering professionals, I was surprised I did not see Sir Samuel Manuwa’s name on the final list. As to why I believe his inclusion is very appropriate for this Centenary Celebration, I will proceed to explain the reason.

    He was the first surgeon in Africa of Native African Origin. He rose from humble roots as  the son of a clergyman from Itebu Waterside in present day Ondo State. Born in 1903, after a brilliant scholastic career through the Church Missionary School and Kings College Lagos, he proceeded to the University of Edinburgh Medical School where he qualified as a Doctor in 1926. At the time, the fashion was to get a basic professional qualification in whatever field you studied and return home. Later he trained in the Art of Surgery at the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. Postgraduate training in Medicine overseas is no easy task, even to his day, especially for a man of colour. It involves keeping your focus amidst racial bias, as a trainee apprentice, keeping your ability to smile in the face of unpleasant racial jokes and oftentimes insults.

    In 1934 he sat, passed and was called to join the Royal College of Surgeons as a Certified Surgeon and Fellow. With the full authority to carry the letters FRCS (Ed) after his name. He returned to Nigeria and re- joined the Government Health Department of West Africa as a Surgeon in the proper sense of the word. Being African, it was a feat that was unprecedented in the history of colonial Africa. He was sent to work all over Nigeria – East, West and North saving lives and inspiring many young high school students into the medical profession. He even designed a special surgical knife to improve and advance the frontiers of his profession for treating dreaded tropical ulcers. Indeed his professional excellence set a standard for medical care that made it possible for Africans in Nigeria and indeed West Africa to enjoy medical care at the frontiers of medicine as practiced internationally. He operated on tens of thousands of people in the span of his 18-year career as a pioneering surgeon. After 18 years practicing surgery, he could no longer resist administrative responsibilities. He was appointed Deputy Director of Medical Services. Later, he rose to become the first Nigerian Director of Medical Services for West Africa and later became the first Chief Medical Adviser to the Government of Nigeria.

    Among other things, in 1952 he saw to it that the entire African Hospital (General Hospital) floors in Lagos, were properly redone in Italian terrazzo just as the colonialists had done in their European Hospital (later named Creek Hospital now Military Hospital Onikan). Prior to that you were lucky if you didn’t catch hook worms from the floor if you didn’t wear shoes as an in-patient, especially in the patient bathrooms. He saw to it that all resources were made available to fight Tuberculosis which was then an African epidemic  neglected by the colonialists. Films were made that showed how to prevent and identify tuberculosis in Africans that cinema goers were shown in all cinema theatres in Nigeria before the feature films. Sir Samuel’s support and leadership won Nigeria the fight against tuberculosis in the 50’s and early 60’s. As the leader in the medical community of West Africa, he ensured that meritocracy and excellence became the yardstick for every thing that had to do with the medical practice and profession. It is safe to say that people respected him and held him in very high esteem so much so that her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II honored him with a knighthood in 1956 for his professional excellence and services to West Africa in the field of medicine. Among his accomplishments were the closing down of the Old Yaba Medical College and the setting up of the Ibadan University College Medical School and the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan. UCH was his brainchild and its  realization was his handwork.

    After a distinguished tenure as a medical administrator, he handed the baton of leadership to capable associates. Seeing that the nation still needed his wealth of unique experience, he was appointed as the first Nigerian Commissioner on the Federal Civil Service by the colonial government. He later humbly served as the deputy chief under Alhaji Sule Katagum after Nigeria became independent, despite being the first Nigerian Commissioner on the commission.

    He served as the Pro-chancellor and chairman of the university council of the University of Ibadan for very many years and was a guiding hand in developing UCH to  the centre of excellence it became from its inception to what I will refer to as the “Golden era of Nigerian Medicine” in the 60’s and 70’s when members of the Saudi Royal Family came to seek regular specialist care at the University College Hospital on Queen Elizabeth Road.

    In July 1975, Nigeria went through a sudden transition. General Yakubu Gowon was removed and Murtala Mohammed became Nigeria’s third head of state. At the time, Sir Manuwa was living in his official residence on Alexander Avenue in Old Ikoyi, a place he had lived since the 1950’s at least, with his devoted wife Lady Bella Manuwa. As the government announced sweeping reforms in the Federal Civil service, “he was retired with immediate effect”. This signaled the beginning of a massive retirement excercise. To worsen the humiliation, he was ordered to vacate his government residence “with immediate effect”. All pleas not to treat this distinguished Nigerian this way fell on deaf ears. For such a distinguished man, the shocking ill-treatment was unprecedented and undeserved, but he complied and moved to a place in Surulere. He fell sick soon after and died of coronary artery disease not unrelated to his humiliating treatment. This was a pioneering professional who was never involved in any financial malfeasance or impropriety of any kind what so ever.

    His death instilled a sense of insecurity among the medical community working in the government and university hospitals which exists to this day.

    It is just befitting that Sir Manuwa be honoured at this time of Nigeria’s centenary celebration. We saw lists that had his name online, only to find his name was not on the official list to the utter surprise of many people in the medical community. If a special award is given to him, it will be most welcome and it will be on record that a grave injustice done in 1975/76 is being corrected. It will not be the first time for such an occasion, after all, Akintola Williams Esq;  the doyen of the accounting profession was knighted for his services as pioneering accountant and philanthrophist responsible for the establishment of the MUSON Centre Onikan Lagos by Queen Elizabeth II. It was only after his international honour as the only Nigerian knighted by the Queen since 1963 that the federal government bestowed on him the appropriate national honour after he had refused to accept a lesser honour from the same federal government. Prof Wole Soyinka was on the “security watch list” of the military authorities when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature. The military quickly bestowed a national honour on “Kongi” at a special ceremony. Sir Samuel Manuwa deserves no less. He needs to be honoured as part of he centenary celebrations. If his family refuses like Felas family, that is for them to decide. For us physicians in the Nigerian medical community worldwide, he remains the “primus inter pares of Nigerian Medical Doctors”. His accomplishments will never be approached let alone equaled. He brought us to something we need back “the Golden era of Nigerian Medicine”.

     

    •Mabayoje jr M.D, writes from United States