The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • FGN-ASUU imbroglio: Need for pragmatism

    On July 1, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the umbrella body of all academic staff in the 74 federal and state universities in Nigeria rose from its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State and resolved to embark on another fresh round of industrial action to compel the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) to honour the 2009 Agreement and 2012 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) it signed with its leadership.

    It is imperative to look at the background of issues which prompted ASUU to embark on this fresh round of action, after less than two years of relatively stable academic calendar after the 2011 industrial action which was suspended on February 2, 2012.

    In 2001, the FGN negotiation team entered into an agreement with ASUU aimed at resuscitating the university system in Nigeria and saving the system from total collapse. The agreement provides for re-negotiation every three years for impact assessment and implementation. The agreement was due for re-negotiation in 2004, but the FGN reneged and it didn’t take place until 2007, when the then Honourable Minister of Education Dr. (Mrs.) Obiageli Ezekwesili, on behalf of the FGN inaugurated the FGN-ASUU Re-Negotiation Committee led by the then Pro-Chancellor University of Ibadan, Deacon Gamaliel O. Onosode (OFR); the ASUU Re-Negotiation Team was led by the then President of ASUU, Dr. Abdullahi Sule-Kano.

    Out of the 10 issues agreed on in 2009, two have been implemented (extension of retirement age of academic staff in professorial cadre from 65 to 70 years and staff pension clause). Of the eight remaining, none has caused more ruckus than the revitalization of Nigerian universities as well as the payment of Earned Allowances of academic staff totaling N1.5 trillion spread over three years, 2009-2011.

    In the 2013 fiscal year, Nigeria’s budget stood at N4.9 trillion out of which N426.53 billion was allocated to the education sector representing 8.7% with the university sub-sector getting a paltry sum of N55.4 billion. The World Bank in its report of global education in 2012 stated that allocation to education sectors in some countries improved tremendously with Ghana 31%, Cote d’Ivoire, 30.0%, Uganda, 27.0% South Africa, 25.8%, Swaziland, 24.6%, Kenya, 23.0%. Our annual budget allocation relative to the education sector stood at 8.4%. It is also painful and disheartening that Nigeria could only spend 0.76% of its GDP on education, while other less endowed countries invest more of their GDP in education (Angola, 4.9%, Ghana, 4.4%, Kenya, 6.5% and South Africa, 7.9%.

    This amount does not only fall far below the UNESCO 26% minimum benchmark for allocation to the education sector, but has far-reaching negative implications and effects on the ability of university administrators to strategically position them to perform their traditional roles of making the university a place for teaching, learning, research and community engagement.

    It is a compelling paradox that Nigeria so richly endowed with human and natural resources with over 167 million people, with approximate land mass of one million square kilometers suitable for commercial agriculture and over 34 solid minerals, largely untapped and ranked among the top ten crude oil and natural gas exporters with daily crude oil output of 2.2 million barrels per day is still grappling with trivial issues of nation building, development and optimum harnessing of its potentials.

    For many years successive governments have not deemed it fit to prioritize education and give it its pride of place in the scheme of things.

    The importance of education towards the socio-economic, political and technological development of any society cannot be overemphasized. It is the catalyst needed to drive any nation towards greatness. The advanced nations of the world like United States of America (U.S.A), Japan and China, knowing the critical role education plays in national development annually commits the whopping sums of $282 billion, $104 billion, and $60 billion respectively towards funding Education, Science and Technology research and development (R&D) initiatives. The impact of this investment can be attested to their positions in global ranking of development competitiveness, standard and quality of life of their citizens, with over 60% of the Top 400 universities in the world coming from these countries, led by California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

    To resolve the lingering industrial dispute best characterized by A. Rapoport (1974) as asymmetric and structure-oriented conflict due to its longstanding antagonistic and fractious nature calls for constructive engagement on the side of both ASUU and FGN and deep reflection of ideological pragmatism rather than rigidity. The ASUU under the leadership of Dr. Nasir Fagge should as a matter of patriotism and strategic national interest call off the industrial action and return to lecture halls in the interest of long-suffering students who have been compelled to spend four months at home, while efforts are being intensified by well meaning Nigerians and stakeholders to compel FGN to honour its agreement and commitment to the university lecturers.

    ASUU should listen to the calls of well-meaning Nigerians and interest groups by strongly considering using alternative dispute resolution channels and mechanisms such as the Industrial Arbitration Panel (IAP), for their collective bargaining on remuneration and conditions of service. Moral suasion should also be deployed by ASUU leadership, by appealing to stakeholder on tertiary education through its board of trustees (BOT) led by eminent and highly influential professors Chukwuka Okonjo and Eskor Toyo as well as highly placed individuals and groups in corridors of power to favourably consider their proposal and demands. ASUU should understand that strike should be used as a last resort in industrial disputes as many channels of agitation are available to them to put forward their grievance and demands without causing disruption in the academic calendar, so that the option of strike is not made ineffective as its frequent use has become counter-productive in our circumstance.

    On the other hand, the FGN should as a matter of urgency figure out a more ingenious way of honouring their commitment and agreement with ASUU, through appropriation of extra budget for the education ministry through the National Assembly. The NEEDS assessment report of the Dr. Gabriel Suswam-led committee should be implemented without further delay. This will halt further decline in the quality and standard of Nigerian university graduates. The claim by government officials that meeting the demands of ASUU will lead to the collapse of the economy is ridiculous and self-serving; one wonders where government sourced over N3 trillion to bailout commercial banks in the wake of the financial crisis in 2007; the N500 billion to the aviation sector and billions of naira to the creative media industry (Nollywood).The claim by President Jonathan of politicisation of the strike in his last presidential medial chat is diversionary and unfounded. The ideological difference between ASUU as radical, progressive union and successive governments in Nigeria at the federal level is a historical phenomenon dating back to 1988 when ASUU first organized national strike for fair wages and university autonomy under General Ibrahim Babangida for which it was proscribed on August 7, 1988. It didn’t start with the present administration and has nothing to do fundamentally with anyone occupying the position of minister of education.

    • Arinze, is a Post Graduate student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

  • A World Cup winning formula

    An account of form, Nigeria’s qualification for the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil is a matter of course. Even the soccer gods will forgive the fan for ruling the November 16 reverse fixture in Calabar a conclusion foregone after Emmanuel Emenike’s individual efforts helped the Super Eagles skewer Ethiopia’s Walya Antelopes in the first leg of the final African Zone qualifiers on October 13. The African champions surmounted untoward reception, poor playing conditions, bastardised formation and a lethargic first half to prevail 2-1.

    Whether the men in green can surpass last February’s continental triumph with victory in the bigger tournament is another matter. Without undermining the squad’s commitment, Nigeria seemed favoured in both campaigns. The fact that traditional powers Cameroon and Egypt dropped qualification tickets to the 2013 Africa Nations Cup finals while Ghana and Ivory Coast attended with weakened sides is not lost on the analyst. In pairings for the final qualifiers, Nigeria drew the least dreaded of the other nine teams for play-offs to determine Africa’s five representatives in Brazil. More luck ensued with officiating incidents in Ethiopia (Ethiopia’s 23rd minute disallowed opener for one).

    To be fair, though, the Eagles deserve current rating after working their socks off to stay unbeaten and seal passage to the final rounds with a 2-0 drubbing of Malawi for an unassailable 5-point lead of second round qualifying Group F. But the chief coach, Stephen Keshi, needs something other than luck and desire to get within touching distance of the gold trophy in Brazil.

    First, he must resist the temptation to fiddle with team rhythm as his starting selection against Ethiopia evinced. He may have strung the speedy wing duo of Victor Moses and Ahmed Musa together in the previous qualifier, but Ethiopia was no Malawi. The Eagles struggled to master the East African smooth operators partly because Nigeria coach experimented. He struck the right chord in the second half, but lessons learnt throughout the qualifiers and especially in Addis Ababa resonate.

    The standard 4-4-2 formation suits Nigeria’s robust group. And at the top of the formation sits a fit and firing Emenike. The most credible pretender to Rashidi Yekini’s crown, he combines well with Brown Ideye’s brawn for goals. In midfield, Musa better substitutes Moses, but he must put away chances with the head rather than the heart. As for John Obi Mikel, his tackling skills appear lost in translation. We may celebrate his conversion from a static, clueless defensive midfielder to the visionary, responsible ‘captain’ of Keshi’s troops on the road to Brazil, but his weaknesses manifest.

    As evident in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil, he often waited for the pass when his failure to fight for the ball collapsed the structure in the first place. Especially reckless in the opener against lowly Tahiti, he gifted the raw islanders more than a peek at Nigeria’s goal, something Uruguay and Spain prevented with eyes closed. In addition to popping up with the rare but crucial goal, Mikel must constantly reenact the man-marking that shut out Ivory Coast stalwart, Yaya Toure in the South Africa 2013 quarter-final.

    Still, Nigeria’s failure to tap full benefits from the world’s most complete youth footballer in 1995 is a shame collectively shared as subsequent performances appear to validate FIFA’s seemingly biased certification of Argentina icon, Lionel Messi. While Messi made the most of a Barcelona education to point Argentina to prominence, Nigeria’s ‘Special One’ slipped a transfer wrangle between Manchester United and Chelsea to shed attacking instinct and turn ‘Indecisive One’ under Jose Mourinho’s tutelage at Stamford Bridge.

    To Keshi’s credit, however, the metamorphosis of the most gifted player of a generation nears completion. To hasten progress, the coach could appoint Mikel team skipper after the qualifiers to help the player grow into the role before the start of the Mundial. If we watched the once languid and tentative player turn leader and magician in South Africa, Brazil could yet yield an improved version: Mikel, commander and provider.

    Nigeria’s fortunes may again be tied to the player’s performance, but stand-in skipper, Vincent Enyeama, Efe Ambrose, Godfrey Oboabona, Kenneth Omeruo, Elderson Echiejile, Onazi Ogenyi, Moses, Ideye and Emenike are as critical to the set-up, barring long-term injuries, loss of form, or surge in form by emergent talents. Sufficiently spurred by personal brilliance but probably limited by tactical nous as supplied by the coaches, the stellar group may yet fetch the country eternal mention. I dare dream, but to see the Eagles play as a tight, mobile and purposeful unit reminiscent of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Spain and, lately, Brazil would warm the heart.

    Subject to tactical details and peculiarities of the opposition, the formation and starting eleven may be varied, of course, but the technical crew would do well to carve team shape and character early enough. As demonstrated by the great sides, it helps to identify the team’s ‘destroyer’, a tough-as-nails midfielder or defender capable of mechanical implementation of the coach’s game plan. It may matter in Brazil when, rocked by Nigeria’s trademark physicality, the best teams from Europe and the Americas abandon ‘tiki-taka’ for mind games and trickery. Think Argentina versus Nigeria or Nigeria versus Italy at the USA ’94 World Cup.

    Crucial encounters too often stretch Keshi’s imagination. And since upgrade in coaching acumen may be difficult to reach before Brazil, we could end up with a football federation-funded and Keshi-orchestrated quarter-final run similar to that attained by Cameroon (in 1990), Senegal (2002) and Ghana (2010). Nigeria’s best mark was the second round (in 1994) where the Eagles lost to Italy. But for technical issues, the Eagles of yore might have made the quarters and probably the final considering the trajectory suggested by a 3-0 pulverisation of Bulgaria in the group stage.

    Yet, Nigeria’s World Cup hurdle remains partly administrative. Former Super Eagles technical adviser Bonfrere Jo, whom Keshi assisted on a managerial spell in the past, believed football administrators lacked adequate grasp of football processes. He also thought Keshi, a distinguished member of the glorious 90s squad and its long-standing skipper, “was not clued up enough to know what to do exactly”.

    The scenario is eerily familiar. The coaching crew battles with judicious blend of talents and psychological tune-up for epic confrontations while the football federation contends with unpaid salaries and a recurrent bonus row. The latter snag singed national hopes at the France ‘98 World Cup and nearly derailed the current campaign.

    Instead of Mali and Burkina Faso – teams used to measure Nigeria’s might these days, but who hardly play in the same league – Brazil, Germany, Netherlands, Argentina, Italy and Spain offer stiffer challenge. Still, as the gutsy surrender to Spain at the Confederations Cup group stage emphasised, Nigeria can wear down any opponent, and if chances come to the right players, we too can win.

    Only, let the coaches select the best 22 in the land without recourse to reputation and player agency. Form and relevance make the better yardstick. The point against Spain where the team lacked sharp replacement for the crocked Omeruo and Emenike (hence home-based player Muhammad Gambo’s doe-eyed flop) should never be reached again. Gifted and tested players in the class of Shola Ameobi, Obafemi Martins and Osaze Odemwingie would elevate the bench. Keshi will just have to find a way to work with the most recalcitrant of them for the common good.

  • Corruption and federation account system

    I agree that corruption has done incalculable damage to both our national economy and psyche, but I differ from those that hold the idea that it represents all our challenges. Our corruption challenge to me is a legislative error that can be corrected through genuine law-making process in just one stroke.

    Like most commentators have argued, majority of Nigerians abhor corruption. Only a few are neck-deep in the unholy act. There is a consensus among public commentators that corruption in the First Republic was very insignificant until the military took control over.

    First, was the Unification Decree of Aguiyi Ironsi which brought all matters directly under the office of the Commander-in-Chief as against the delicately worked out federal system that our founding fathers had put in place. Even when Ironsi was removed from office, Unification Decree 34 was never repealed. The next move from the military was the Balkanization of the regions into states. These were to achieve two things; first, to weaken the regions from putting up any resistance and to exploit the greed of the individual opinion leaders in those areas just like the preceding colonialists.

    When General Yakubu Gowon took over, his tenure was not too different from Aguiyi Ironsi. The Gowon administration in “1968 established the Interim Revenue Allocation Review Committee (IRARC) headed by Chief I. O. Dina, then Permanent Secretary in the former Western Region. The main term of reference of the committee was to find out sources of new revenue and suggest any change in the existing revenue allocation system.”

    Among the recommendations of the Committee were:

    (i) That the Distributable Pool Account should be renamed “State Joint Account.”

    (ii) That there should be established (a) A Special Grants Account; and (b) A Permanent Planning and Fiscal Commission to administer the Special Grants Account, and also to study and review the Revenue Allocation Formula.

    (iii) That horizontally the allocation principles should be

    (a) Basic needs;

    (b) Minimum national standards;

    (c) Balanced development; and

    (d) Derivation.

    (iv) That the vertical sharing formula for royalties from on-shore mining should be:

    (a) States of origin- 10%

    (b) Federal Government-10%

    (c) States Joint Account-70%; and

    (d) Special Grants Account-5%

    (v) That rents from on-shore operations should be paid to the states on the basis of derivation-100%

    The Dina Committees’ Report was rejected on the grounds that its range went beyond the mood of the military government of that time. For example, it recommended that there should be uniform tax legislation for the nation and that the pricing of Marketing Board produce should be harmonized. In addition, it proposed that the federal government should finance all higher education. The government continued with the then existing formula.

    Under Obasanjo’s watch, the circle for unitary government was completed through the Land Use Decree and the unification of the local government system. Through the Land Use Decree, Obasanjo appropriated the fossil products and other mineral deposits from states to the federal government rather than as the exclusive preserve to the state or the old region where such mineral is deposited. Through its unified local government system, it destroyed the individual administrative initiatives of the regions in the running of their local governments, which had always been based on tested culture and tradition. He did not stop there; he brought them under the federal allocation system rather than allow them to remain as a creation of their respective regions or states as they were.

    This was the situation until the Second Republic.

    Since Nigeria’s potential in commercial exportation of oil was established, attention was diverted to oil to the neglect of other sources as the main revenue earner. Gradually, the system became compromised from the allocation of oil blocks to importation of refined products. At the end of every month, the federal government, states and local governments share whatever is claimed to have accrued to the account. The amount each tier of government got was determined by an agency of the federal government. Every month, the states, local governments and the federal government meet in Abuja to share out money irrespective of contribution. In the thinking of the military, all parts of the country must develop at the same pace and time not putting into consideration that it is even against the natural order.

    As a result, foreign bank accounts became swollen with slush funds from Nigeria. How can anyone expect the states to share funds that they did not work for and expect that there will be no corruption? It is the idea of maintaining a federation account, whether one makes contribution or not, but yet assured of monthly allocation that fuels corruption in Nigeria. The idea that the federal government can maintain larger portion of the funds with little or no responsibility is what allows corruption to thrive.

    A legislation that cancels the idea of a federation account and supplants it with a contributory account like we have in the First Republic will take out of the spiral of corruption and put us on a solid footing of economic buoyancy. No amount of a safety valve would stop this cycle of corruption unless the federal government is willing to give up some of the undeserved power the 1999 Constitution vested in it.

    Every state within the federation must get ready to work in competitive environment among its peers. The federal government must join the National Assembly in ensuring that this aspect of our life is corrected through the process of constitutional amendment. Have we ever wondered why it is only countries that develop its economy through taxation that thrives rather than those that rely on natural resources? When revenue is raised through taxation, the tendency that the people might rise up in revolt one day keeps the leaders from messing up with the treasury. In fact, a friend told me that one of the reasons we could not witness a replica of the Arab Spring is because we do not actually own the government. It is not only through election that we own government; our financial contributions to sustain the government go a long way.

    For a very long time, California, a state in the USA has remained the world’s sixth biggest economy. Its economic growth was buoyed by effective taxation not only on income tax but property. The 2010 GDP survey exercise carried out by the Lagos Bureau of Statistics (LBS), put the state’s GDP at N12.091 trillion i.e. ($80.61 billion) representing 35.6% of the national GDP and 62.3% of national non – oil GDP for the same year. Among African cities, the state ranked fourth after, Cairo- $145 billion, Johannesburg – $110 billion and Cape Town – $ 103 billion.

    In addition, Lagos GDP is higher than that of 42 individual African countries’ GDP, including Kenya – $66 billion, Ghana $61.97 billion, and Tanzania -$ 58.44 billion while only 10 African countries have GDP that surpassed that of Lagos State. The countries are: South Africa – $523.95billion, Egypt – $497.78billion, Algeria -$251.117billion, Morocco – $151.432billion, Angola- $107.31billion, Sudan – $99.99 billion, Tunisia – $99.995billion, Libya – $90.571 billion and Ethiopia – $86.123 billion. Lagos GDP is higher than 14 of the 51 states in the US, and, bigger than the GDP of 22 of the 27 states in Brazil.

    I deliberately brought Lagos into focus because it is a classical case of a functional government. I also know that a state like Osun and Ekiti are also setting template that is revolutionizing governance and free their people from dependence on allocation from Abuja. From the clinical attention that is paid to budget preparation and the workings of the budget, these governments have accepted responsibility that they are answerable to the electorate.

     

    •Raji writes from Lagos

  • The princess, Asuu and Abuja market women

    The princess, Asuu and Abuja market women

    For a lily- livered soul, that does not have the privilege of a regal background, the past few days could be strenuous and frustrating. But not for a princess with a royal blood. This princess is one with a difference. In a country where male chauvinism is still on prowl, her firm grip on the plum job of the General Overseer of the sky speaks volume. Mark you; she is not just a minister! She belongs to the inner caucus of trusted and ‘performing’ cabinet members that could be referred to as prime ministers.  The last time there was a shake- up in the federal cabinet, we were told that the man inside the solid rock at Abuja wanted to inject new blood into the federal cabinet in order to speedy- up the actualisation of the government’s transformation agenda.

    Recent developments in the polity, especially with the controversy rocking the aviation sector, have indeed, shown that more old bloods need to take a bow from the cabinet for us to breath the much needed ‘breath of fresh air’.    It is no longer news that the last two years have witnessed, perhaps,  some of the most gruesome kinds of air disasters in the country. The recent crash of an Associated Airline aircraft, with registration number 5N-BYT in Lagos, instantly killing 13 of the passengers on board, is just an agonising reflection of the sorry state of the aviation sector in the country. In more decent climes, the minister and other key figures in the sector would have offered to step aside. Shockingly, the Princess in charge of the beleaguered sector went to town berating critics of the sector. It was mind-blowing listening to the minister, in the thick of the ill-fated Associated Airline incident, calling critics of the aviation sector drunkards and drug addicts. This smacks of sheer arrogance and gross insensitivity. Since the princess enjoys all the pecks of her plum office, which, of course, include the controversial N225 billion two sleek BMW armoured cars, it is only logical that she should be willing to take criticisms from any quarters in their strides.

    Regrettably, the same indiscreet strategy the princess and her allies resorted to in the case of the unfortunate Associated Airlines crash is being utilised in the on-going N225 billion armoured cars scandal. For the princes and her people, she is a victim of the wicked games of the president’s political enemies. Quite laughable! Come to think of it, the president’s political opponents must be something else to have been able, first, to inflict the nation’s airspace with misery and, now, made the princess and her people to waste the nation’s hard- earned money on a rather ludicrous opulence.

    The most annoying aspect of the impunity that has, over the years, become the hallmark of governance in Nigeria, is the way serious issues are often trivialised. Sometime ago, Channels Television did a documentary, which raised lots of dusts across the land, on the sorry state of infrastructure at the Ikeja Police College. Unfortunately, rather than ride on the furor generated by the Channels Television’s expose, to deal with the obviously  disintegrating  police institutional system that was responsible for such decay, the president was reported to have asked  police top brass at the college how Channels Television’s crew gained access into the premise. Indeed, at the heat of the uproar generated by the issue, it was insinuated that the Channels’ documentary was the handiwork of the president’s political opponents who are bent on giving his presidency a bad image.

    In a similar fashion, it was widely reported that Aviation authorities have decided to go after its official(s) that allegedly leaked the information of the purchase of the controversial armoured vehicles. The Director-General, National Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Captain Fola Akinkuotu, recently disclosed at a press conference that the Federal Government was concerned about how the information got leaked to the public, noting that whoever leaked the information committed a criminal offence. He explained that the agency had begun moves to uncover and deal with the person[s] that leaked the information to the public.

    For Christ sake, what really do our leaders take us for? Fools? Idiots? For how long would our collective sensibility continue to be assaulted in such reckless fashions? The on-going ASUU strike, which has effectively paralysed academic activities in Public tertiary institutions across the country, further illustrates our un-seriousness as a people. The other day, in his media chat, the president told the nation that he was convinced the current ASUU strike is being politicised. How? Why? As usual, details were quite sketchy. However, it is obvious that the president’s political opponents are at it again! Is it not rather curious that the president could subject members of his own constituency to such level of contemplation bearing in mind that he was once a university lecturer? The implication of the president’s insinuation is that members of the academic community have no minds of their own. Hence, they could easily become pawns to some desperate politicians.

    For crying out loud, these are university lecturers! We are not talking of some informal sector’s operators-bricklayers, panel beaters and carpenters. No! These are men and women that shape the future of our nation. Resorting to cheap blackmail in addressing the current ASUU’s strike typifies governance in the country. It could not be strange to discerning minds that ASUU members are now being painted as unpatriotic and greedy bunch who would not appreciate the monumental efforts of government in transforming tertiary education. Tales of how what ASUU is demanding could cripple the economy reverberate across the land. Yet, we live in a country where public funds have always been spent (not just a problem of the current administration) on needless and frivolous concerns.

    Come to think of it, if we cannot  fix education, power, public infrastructure, refineries, water, security, public health (public officials spend billions of naira annually on medical tourism), sports (Stephen Keshi, the Super Eagles coach, is being owed seven months’ salary while the winning bonus of the Super Eagles players was recently slashed due to non-availability of funds) among others, the question is: what actually is the nation’s money being spent on?  Answers to this question should concern every well meaning Nigerian, especially the Abuja market women. Having successfully held a protest in Abuja, condemning the current ASUU strike, one would like to encourage the Abuja market women not to rest on their oars. In the coming days, one looks up to more protests coming from their stable. They need to gear up and guide their loins for the mother of all protests in respect of the current controversy rocking the aviation sector. If they are concerned about ASUU’s strike, and rightly so, they should be equally concern about what is going on in the Princess’ empire and, indeed, other sectors in the country. Unlike Honourable Dina Melaye and his Anti Corruption Network, ACN, co-travelers, the Abuja Market Women are assured of their security. No one dare stop their protest. After all, they are the mothers of the nation. Who knows, they could hold the magic wand to appeal to the minds of those who (mis)govern us.

    Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja

  • Letter to my friend, the Governor

    Letter to my friend, the Governor

    My dear Kay, Let me humour our civil servants by starting my letter with a parody of a trite phrase that introduces all their speeches including those delivered at funeral ceremonies; “It gives me great pleasure” (to write you this letter). It beats me hollow how an individual can derive “great pleasure” at the death of a fellow human being. What a wicked joke this is! Is the service that intolerant that it does not allow room for linguistic upgrading and lexical restructuring? Or is it the civil servants themselves that are prisoners of linguistic conservatism? Little wonder that most of their speeches contain lethargic influenza.

    I write in respect of the defection of Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (The MOB) from All Progressives Congress (APC) to another party of his choice. We both know that he has gone even though he is yet to make a formal declaration of his defection. The MOB visited Chief Bisi Akande and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu (at different times) with a 35-man-entourage, including an octogenarian Bishop from Ilawe, thus foreclosing the possibility of reconciliation. He had gone to inform them of his decision to leave the APC. What is happening to our culture and sense of dignity these days? Why should an 83-year-old man allow himself to be dragged from Ekiti to Lagos for a meeting that took place between 3.00a.m. and 5.30a.m.? What does a Bishop, whose less than ¦ 20,000 per month pension was raised by the Fayemi Administration to ¦ 100,000, want that he allowed himself to be parcelled into the betrayal train of a young man of his son’s age at such unholy hours?

    I can imagine how devastated ‘Oga’ (Tinubu) was when he was confronted with the reality of Bamidele’s exit from APC. Whatever relevance Bamidele had today in Nigeria’s politics was made feasible by Tinubu who ignored early warnings about Bamidele’s treacherous romance with the Judas of Ekimogunland. Sometimes I wonder how and where Tinubu finds the strength to absorb the perfidy of those he helped to power, because they are legion. Many pretenders and unctuous power seekers had exploited Tinubu’s unstinting readiness to help, to get to power only to stab him in the back by betraying his trust in them.

    When at the 3rd Anniversary Mega Rally at the Ado Ekiti Stadium, you and Rauf Aregbesola were hoping for a last minute miracle that will see MOB renouncing his prodigal adventurism by changing his mind and staying put in APC, your supporters, encouraged by KWAM 1’s songs of hostility, knew you were playing politics. I am sure you saw the ecstasy and hysteria that followed when KWAM 1 sang his famous lyrics: AÌgoÌ loì ma deì ¹di̹ gb¹ÌhiÌn… ¸ maì ce gbaìra leì wÍn ÍÌdaÌl¹Ì ni wÍìn… ¸ni maì lÍ koì miìa lÍ, ¹ni maì lÍ koì miìa lÍ… Nothing could be more declaratory than what Opeyemi said to Asiwaju during the meeting: “…Asiwaju, I can afford to offend you but I cannot afford to offend my supporters who want me as their next governor…” A progressive who moves from the mainstream party to a Labour Party of suspect identity had already committed political suicide. Though, the late Akin Omoboriowo who left the progressive Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) for the conservative National Party of Nigeria (NPN) was treated with contempt by the Ekiti people till he died, I plead for sympathy for our very good friend with whom we shared some good times in the past. A man who is troubled by complex and ambition deserves our compassion and nothing more.

    From what happened during the 3rd anniversary celebration, there is no doubt that the Ekiti people are in love with your administration because of the numerous projects and progammes that your government has done in the state. Mrs. Bosede Balogun, the second market woman that spoke in Ekiti dialect during the mega rally, did a good job for you when she highlighted all the achievements of your government using the 8-point agenda as her framework. It was a convincing presentation and that was why she received the loudest ovation at the rally. Hers was not a make-believe or stereotyped narrative of achievements. She spoke with passion for your government. She spoke with love for your government; she spoke with an affection for a government that had touched the lives of the people in the rural communities in particular and the state in general.

    Talking about the rural communities, what I witnessed in Annunciation School, Ikere -Ekiti during the second phase of the Grants in –Aid To Communities across the state; 32 (Ekiti North), 36 (Ekiti Central) and 27 (Ekiti North), showed that your government’s acceptability was not just because of what you are doing in Ado Ekiti, but also because of the massive development and transformative projects that has taken place in these rural communities. According to some of them, your interventions in the areas of infrastructure, provision of portable water, school renovations, primary health care, etc. have endeared your government to them. The Alawe of Ilawe, Oba Banji Alabi, was so elated that he was boasting that Ilawe-Ekiti is now like New York, London, Tokyo, Paris where youths can access the internet within a given distance courtesy of an ICT Centre the community was able to put together with the grant-in-aid it received from your government.

    I am aware that some people are accusing you of giving contracts to non-indigenes. Kindly handle this with some maturity. During the commissioning of some roads your government constructed, you mentioned the names of the local contractors that handled some of those roads and also challenged your accusers to name any local contractor with a good track record of performance in his fields of interest that had not benefitted from contract awards.

    You also needed to let them know that the reason you inherited many abandoned projects was because local contractors patronised by previous administrations failed to discharge their contractual obligations even when there was evidence that they had collected between 80 and 100 percent of the contract sum. While local contractors have the courage to abandon projects, non-indigenous contractors do not have such courage because of the implications. An indigenous contractor, for instance, can claim that because he is an indigene of the state, he should be forgiven for abandoning a project that he was adequately mobilised for. But a “foreign” contractor feels unsafe and unprotected should he dare abandon any project that he had been mobilised to do.

    Another complaint which seems to be very prevalent among a particular group of people in the state is that of “stomach infrastructure”. Some of them are complaining that you do not behave like a typical Nigerian politician who throws money from his open jeep as he goes on a campaign trail around town. I must confess that this is a knotty issue to crack because an intellectual-politician like you should not be seen throwing money to people on the road during campaign. But meanwhile, try and look for a good construction company to construct roads, dig boreholes, renovate schools inside such people’s stomachs since that is where they want their own ‘infrastructure’.

    If you must know, you are not the only one accused of not doing “stomach infrastructure”. They are also accusing Senator Femi Ojudu and Yemi Adaramodu, your Chief of Staff. The impression that was created about Femi Ojudu was that of an “absentee Senator” or in their own language “Senator moÌ nìbÍÌ”. When I told Femi what the people were saying about him in town, and he told me the numerous projects and programmes he had done for his Senatorial District in two years, I was amazed. All these activities, projects and welfare programmes were captured in a publication on his two-year stewardship – titled: Half Term Score Card. I am bringing this to your attention because they were saying that Femi was creating problem for you because of his non-performance in Ekiti Central. When Femi told me of how much he had spent in his one week stay in Ekiti for the Ileya festival, it was shocking. Seriously, I pity Femi when he was debunking all these snide comments by people who use stomach infrastructure to measure the performance of their elected representatives. If Femi’s case was deserving of commiseration, that of Yemi Adaramodu was nothing but a baloney. At every event, the same Yemi that they accuse of not ‘doing anything’, is always hailed and applauded by the same people accusing him of non-performance. May GOD deliver all the “Alajese” people in Ekiti land.

    If today, the Ekiti people are hailing and applauding your achievements, it is because you have performed far above the expected benchmark, and I can imagine how tough it has been. To satisfy an average Ekiti man who also believes he can perform similar feat given the same resources and opportunity could not have been an easy hurdle. It becomes a more herculean task when you have to impress all the “Professor Iguns” and “Professor Alukos” that hibernate in every Ekiti village.

    What I observed was that the people are happy with your government and what it has done in the state. But you can never tell with our people. I know you already know what to do: keep working hard as you have been doing, remain focused, be strategic, be prayerful, be watchful. Regaining the legacy is commendable but please don’t stop there. Move on until you have raised the legacy.

    Finally, I thank you for giving me a copy of your latest book, Regaining The Legacy. Nice book, I must say. It contains all the speeches, papers and tributes which you delivered at different fora both at the local and international levels. It is a professional delight both in contents and packaging.

    However, I am sure the book is not meant for those suffering from Stomach Infrastructure Deficiency Syndrome (SIDS) in the state. How do you expect somebody afflicted with this kind of disease to find the space in his brain, nay stomach, to digest the theme in the Part II of the book: The Sub-National: Structural Reconfiguration, Good Governance and The Imperative of Sub-Regional Strategies? If you have no cure for “stomach infrastructure”, why are you adding “stomach constipation and intellectual congestion” to their problem? Is it now a sin for the Ekiti people to have put an intellectual in power? Haba!

    Thank GOD, Ekiti is blessed with “Book people” who can read and understand the loaded contents of your book. I suggest you compile the names of all serving and retired professors, bishops, civil servants and traditional rulers in Ekitiland and send copies to them. This is the strategy of “occupy till I come”. They have a veritable companion to keep them busy till the end of the election, otherwise the restless ones among the retired professors will turn themselves to emergency auditors scrutinising all contracts awarded since you came to power including the total cost of the food and drinks you consumed in the Governor’s Lodge since the past three years. An idle hand is a sure tool for the devil. Extend my greetings to Bisi – your wife, girlfriend, sister and one and only Erelu Bambam.

  • National Conference… Jonathan’s talking shop

    National Conference… Jonathan’s talking shop

    Mine is a country of 175 million people, who speak more than 500 languages and are renowned for their inability to get along. Blame usually falls on colonial map makers, and it is well-deserved. But the reasons for our national discord are complex — certainly much too complicated for most of the international media to fathom — so news accounts of the multiple antipathies among our 250 ethnic groups are usually telescoped into what is known in the trade as boilerplate: the Muslim North battles the mostly Christian South for control of Nigeria’s oil wealth.

    As a journalist, I know the difficulties of summarising the world’s mad doings. Take the bewildering violence of Boko Haram. I’m as confused as anyone by the Islamic terrorist movement’s motivations, tactics and goals — perhaps because they themselves seem just as confused. In the beginning they were against southern Christians living in the north, and blew up churches to prove it. Now they’ve gone beyond attacking establishment figures to slaughtering their own people — even children — on the grounds that they are against Western education.

    Though he won’t exactly admit it, our president, Goodluck Jonathan, shares this confusion, but — given the dignity of his office and the reality that elections are little over a year away — he apparently feels he must make a show of shoring up national unity. Thus, earlier this month, Mr. Jonathan inaugurated the Advisory Committee on National Conference/Dialogue. The name is unwieldy, the goals uncertain, and the chances of success dubious.

    The fact is that our divisions are more nebulous than we Nigerians are sometimes inclined to admit. There are, for example, as many Muslims as Christians among the Yoruba people in the south. Still, it would be unfair to suggest that Nigerians, like people everywhere, don’t have stereotypes about our fellow countrymen.

    I happen to be a member of the “fun-loving” Yoruba (as the British characterized us back in the early days of colonialism). We have a reputation for being hotly argumentative, charmingly treacherous and highly pragmatic, as loose in our morals as we are in our religion — at least according to the Igbo, the other dominant ethnic group in the south. On the other hand, it is said by some Yoruba that the Igbo would be willing to sacrifice their own parents in the pursuit of money, which they get largely by trading, sometimes in drugs.

    As for all the “minorities” in between, there’s no telling what they get up to in their myriad languages, which few understand, even if we all speak English.

    So what, then, was the reasoning behind the president’s call for dialogue — a call that took everybody by surprise? For one thing, the timing was odd: Why, after 53 years of independence, after civil wars, military coups, rivalries over oil, Boko Haram’s murderous insanities and the brutal military response that may well tear the country apart, do we suddenly need such a conference?

    Actually the answer is simple. We don’t, but the president does. Elections are expected in early 2015, and Mr. Jonathan intends to run for a second, four-year term. But civil chaos and spreading corruption scandals do present certain difficulties. Still, Mr. Jonathan is a schooled politician, and it is clear that he has learned his lessons on how to navigate through seemingly unsolvable problems: When you need to divert popular attention and buy time, you can always call … a conference!

    The president has been careful not to spell out any specifics. He has merely constituted an advisory committee to deliberate on “the nomenclature, structure and modalities” of the eventual Commission for a Dialogue or Conference. Nigerians are taking this bureaucratic gobbledygook in stride: The conference is widely dismissed as just another “talking shop.”

    If national unity is so important, many people are asking, what stopped Mr. Jonathan from calling for one at the beginning of his tenure? Few of us are really fooled; we understand the realities of power in a country where the scramble for office is a do-or-die affair. Political power, after all, is the only game in town that ensures unfettered access to the nation’s oil riches.

    Yet it would be unfair to suggest that Mr. Jonathan has overseen the most corrupt government in Nigeria — not least because it would be difficult to be more corrupt than its predecessors. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, between independence in 1960 and the return of democracy in 1999, Nigeria’s leaders and their accomplices stole close to $400 billion.

    Nevertheless, recent scandals offer plenty of room for comparison. One concerns newspaper accounts alleging that Nigeria’s minister for petroleum resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke, routinely awards crude oil contracts to hastily registered companies fronted by people not previously known to be involved in the industry.

    Another involves accusations that the aviation minister, Stella Oduah, squandered $1.6 million on two bulletproof cars worth about a quarter of that amount. This comes just weeks after yet another fatal plane crash, the seventh under her watch. Repeated calls for the dismissal of these ministers have been ignored.

    Nigeria is convening a conference on national unity when we should be clamoring to end the corruption that lies so close to the heart of our ethnic, sectarian and civil discord. The decision to empanel a “talking shop” made of handpicked delegates who are uncertain about the exact nature of their assignment — beyond the fact that it will continue to provide them with their own slice of the national cake — fools no one.

    Given the ever-present danger of Nigeria’s implosion — brought about by militants in the oil-producing Niger Delta, Islamic fundamentalists in the northeast, ethnic cleansing in the north central region and kidnappers everywhere you turn — we fractious Nigerians are unified by one salient truth: We all know that we cannot continue like this.

    •Maja-Pearce is the author of Remembering Ken Saro-Wiwa and Other Essays

    •Culled from New York Times

  • Kwara: Tokenism gone bloody

    Kwara: Tokenism gone bloody

    An old adage insists that even in doing good, beware that you are not imperiled. This is a truism the Saraki dynasty of Kwara State must be ruing right now. In fact the situation they are currently faced with must be so dire that in a manner of speaking, the next time they reach for a garb of charity, they would have to first take it to the drycleaner, have it thoroughly treated, washed, dried-out and iron before donning it.

    Hardball of course ponders the Sallah day tragedy at the Ile Arugbo, Ilofa Road, Ilorin, Kwara residence of Senator Bukola Saraki in which about 20 people died and scores suffered degrees of injuries. Doling out handouts to the mass of the downtrodden people in their community has become something of a family tradition (if we shy from saying ritual) dating back to their late patriarch, Oloye Olusola Saraki. But it must be said that for all the decades that Oloye fed his people, we never heard of any tragedy not to talk of a casualty. And most of his lifetime, his people would line his route from the airport and then converge at his residence each time he was in town. He tended to them as a good shepherd would and they would in return, recite ceaseless prayers and make solemn supplication to God that He apportioned to them, the death that was destined for their Oloye.

    Such was the bond between the Turaki of Ilorin and his people. It can be stated that Oloye was the founder of modern Ilorin if not Kwara State and he held sway over the city and state from thereabouts 1979 up until his death. Though Oloye in designing his political empire, ensured that his scions were positioned to succeed him but as we all witnessed two years ago, the transition had a last minute twist to it leading to Oloye and his heir apparent Bukola (shall we call him small Oloye) slugging it out to a bitter end. It was a tricky little situation of Oloye’s daughter, a senator wanting to succeed son as governor; while the governor on the other hand coveted the senate seat after two terms in the government house. But son, in defiance of father forswore to handover governorship of the state to daughter and sister. Son already had his sight on a candidate he wished to conveniently install in government house not unlike a talking artwork.

    Father, daughter and son could not settle the matter in the family; they chose to test their strengths at the poll. The long and short of this quirky tale is that Oloye fought what was his most bitter political battle at an old, infirm stage of his life and he lost it most ignominiously to his son whom he raised in the finest art of Nigeria’s political warfare. He transited shortly after.

    In African mythology nothing happens for nothing especially matters of death and tragedy. Is it not uncanny that since after the retirement and eventual demise of Oloye, the Oloye Kekere has never been able to reenact the philanthropic tradition of the grand old man of Kwara politics without tragedy and blood-bath? Not once, but three times – 2010, 2011 and 2013 – deaths totaling no fewer than 40 persons have occurred with perhaps twice that number injured. It is not unlikely to hear such gossips in Ilorin today that Oloye remains inexpiable for how come that for about three decades that we have been at this not a drop of blood was spilled. Hardball has read even more sinister insinuations.

    Hardball commiserates with the victims and prays that this last deathly stampede would put paid to this tokenistic nonsense by the Saraki family and among all our leaders and elite. It is hoped this gears their minds towards empowerment instead of further impoverishing the people through worthless handouts. How about this: Last Monday, the Kwara State government initiated a N5 billion youth job creation scheme! Is it for real?

  • Anambra and the metaphor of Nov. 16

    By certain twist of fate, November 16 has assumed a good measure of significance in the individual and collective social diary of Anambra people. On November 16, 1904, the great Zik of Africa, without whom Nigeria’s independence from Britain would have taken a different turn, was born. And on November 16, 1930, Professor Chinua Achebe, the man whom at death earlier this year, was reckoned as the most popular African, next to Nelson Mandela was also born. Similarly, November 16, 2013 is regarded as a watershed in the historic determination of the people of the state to reclaim its lost glory through the exercise of democratic rights in an election scheduled for that day. Chequered best describes the history of the state since the return of democracy in 1999.

    However, it must be admitted that the very major reason why the November 16 governorship election in the state is being hotly contested is the inability of the incumbent governor to engage unimpeachable leadership as its most portent tool in neutralizing the capacity of the opposition in the state. Had the Peter Obi administration posted an enviable and unassailable record, it would have been easy for APGA to solidify its hold on Anambra as its impregnable forte, making its mantra of continuity an easy ride. The reverse is however the case. Obi appears to have squandered a golden opportunity to etch APGA in the minds and souls of the people of the state. Besides, the APGA choice of candidate for the election came with its own dose of controversies. The insistence of Obi to restrict the choice to Anambra North, and went further to force out all other aspirants from the same zone, only to settle for his former officer in Fidelity Bank, ruffled many fathers and brought suspicion as to whose interest is served. Verily, APGA committed a tactical error in retiring Professor Chukwuma Soludo from the contest. It has been written somewhere that all the noise about November 16 gubernatorial election in Anambra would have been rested were this brilliant professor of economics the candidate of APGA but those who hate the collective interest of the state, who know that the erudite economist would neither be dictated to nor cover anyone else’s dirty track, and would have none of “Fidelity business “ conspired to impose Governor Obi’s puppet.

    As it is, Obi is finding it difficult to convince Ndi Anambra that his party is their best choice and that Obiano whom he wants to succeed him will lift Anambra beyond the extant ordinariness that he and his supporters are unwilling to accept. To many discerning minds, it is difficult to imagine that while rural states like Jigawa has built an international airport to shift attention from Kano, Peter Obi conceded billions in revenue accruable to our posterity to Delta State whose Asaba Airport is enjoying unprecedented boom from Onitsha commercial city. It is hard to fathom the sense in a development paradigm where a rural state like Ebonyi whom Obi deported their indigenes from Anambra is building a power plant, the home of industry, technology and commerce in the whole of West Africa under Peter Obi’s APGA is engrossed in building business parks!

    It defies every economic sense that while a rural Gombe State under brilliant Ibrahim Dankwambo is driving a regime of industrialization to take over from the nearby Plateau; few surviving businesses in Anambra are closing down and migrating to Asaba. It is shocking that a governor who has spent close to eight years in power has waited till the eve of his departure to announce intention to recruit 10,000 workers, worst, the interview for the jobs scheduled three days to the election. It is unnerving considering the manner monies not appropriated by the state assembly is being thrown about to woo governmental and non governmental institutions in the state. Many shudder at the religious and clannish dimension the campaigns have taken in a contiguous and mono-cultural state, forcing others to imagine endlessly without an answer, the meaning and essence of the continuity drum beat.

    But the campaigns are on and different candidates doing their very best. The APGA candidate, Willy Obiano, no doubt a gentleman is doing his very best to break away from the cocoon and shadow of his godfather, Obi. But his manifesto and promises are premised on continuity of Obi’s programme and policies. His later day programmes just released last week which included free education and free medicare appears a poor imitation of that of the candidate of the APC, Dr. Chris Ngige who anchored his on free education, free medicare for mothers and the aged, overhaul of the health sectors, re-engineering of the civil service with particular emphasis on training and manpower for the schools, reduced tuition fees at the state owned higher institutions and an airport.

    Notwithstanding the barrage of damaging propaganda from the APGA well-oiled media machine, Ngige remains the man to beat in the election. It is very difficult in this clime to see a politician who after eight years out of power is still as popular and relevant. This is also not withstanding ceaseless cash donations to churches, to schools and individuals by the APGA regime, aimed at intimidating and narrowing the influence of the man, probably chase him into his native Idemili River, but he looms larger in influence. Ngige no doubt has benevolent spirits all around him. For the first time in the history of the state, poor market women are voluntarily contributing money to the success of a governorship candidate. At Oye Olise Ogbunike, a local government market, just recently, market women pulled their wrappers for Ngige to march on- the highest respect one can earn from women folk in our tradition. Youths and children are not left out. His message is unrelenting. “I have done it before. I can do better even better. It is not about me. It is about our children and the future of the state. We have the human and financial resources to make Anambra State a place everyone would like to go to. Statistics don’t lie. While I was there, Anambra was the richest state in the country, today we are the 20th in poverty ranking in the country. We must look at people based on who they are and their ability to deliver”. He added, “The Party they belong to is secondary”, referring to Gov. Obi’s labelling of APC as a Yoruba party.

    The battle will be fierce but all the determinant factors for victory are pointing at his direction. In a state where Obi has polarized politics along denominational lines, Ngige is Catholic just like the APGA candidate. His native Idemili North and South where he is a prince commands a voting capacity that neutralizes all votes from for the four core councils of Omanbala where Obiano comes from while the remaining Onitsha North and South as well as Ogbaru of the same North are Ngige’s forte. Ngige will clear the rest of his central senatorial zone while the South will be free for all, with Ngige having an edge.

    • Obidiwe writes from Awka.

     

  • Things fall apart

    GOODLUCK JONATHAN, Nigeria’s president, was visibly stunned when a former vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, and seven state governors recently walked out of a convention of the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in open rebellion against his leadership. The party has won every election since it took power after the end of military rule in 1998. But it is bitterly divided over whether Mr Jonathan (pictured above) should run for a second full term in 2015. As a result, there is a chance—most analysts are wary of putting it more firmly—that, whether or not Mr Jonathan stays at its head, the PDP’s mighty cash-laden machine may lose power. And that could turn Nigerian politics upside down.

    Mr Abubakar and the rebel governors have broken away to declare a “new PDP”. “We have taken it upon ourselves to rescue the party from its dictatorial leadership,” says Kawu Baraje, the new outfit’s chairman, who has accused Mr Jonathan and the rump party’s chairman, Bamanga Tukur, of allowing “political repression, restrictions of freedom of association and arbitrary suspension of members”.

    The breakaway faction has a distinctly northern flavour. Six of the seven rebel governors are from the north or the middle belt, exposing faultlines that have widened under Mr Jonathan, a southerner from the oil-rich Niger Delta. Only one rebel governor, Rotimi Amaechi, from Rivers state, is a southerner. Mr Amaechi, who is said to hanker after the vice-presidency in 2015, has been embroiled in an acrimonious row with Mr Jonathan and his wife.

    In May Mr Amaechi was voted in as chairman of the powerful Nigeria Governors’ Forum, beating the president’s favoured candidate, Jonah Jang of Plateau state—an embarrassing defeat for Mr Jonathan. The forum is divided, with 19 governors backing the rebel governor and the other 16 sticking with Mr Jang. “I am concerned for my safety,” says Mr Amaechi, who has apparently taken to driving alone, with non-government number plates.

    On September 1st 57 PDP members of the 360-seat House of Representatives, the federal National Assembly’s lower chamber, pledged their loyalty to the rebel PDP; 22 of the 50 sitting PDP members in the 109-strong Senate then followed suit. Several others are said to waver. The rebel caucus, known as the G7, may be able to swing the votes of delegates from their states at the PDP primary election next year, when the party is due to choose its presidential and vice-presidential candidates. The G7 includes the governors of Kano and Rivers states, two of the most populous. Unless Mr Jonathan squelches the party rebellion, he could lose the primary.

    In an effort to regain the initiative, the president has sacked nine of his ministers. It is no coincidence that four are from states whose governors have defected, while another two were originally nominated by Olusegun Obasanjo, a still powerful former president (1999-2007), who helped Mr Jonathan into the top job but has more recently been making trouble for him. A PDP insider says there is a growing mood of paranoia in the party as leading figures seek to dodge Mr Jonathan’s axe.

    Mr Jonathan may now put close allies in ministerial posts to limit the influence of governors, especially in states such as Kano and Rivers. On September 16th the rump PDP announced that Mohammed Abacha, son of the late General Sani Abacha, Nigeria’s notoriously greedy military dictator (1993-98), had been brought back into the party from the opposition. It is speculated that Mr Abacha, who is himself vastly rich, may run for governor of Kano under the auspices of the old PDP in 2015.

    It is also possible that Mr Jonathan will get the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), an agency that is supposed to snuff out corruption, to probe the PDP’s defectors, some of whom have already been targeted by it. A weighty northern senator, Bukola Saraki, had already been questioned by the EFCC before holding meetings for the rebel faction in his grand house in Abuja, the capital. “Jonathan will do anything to win,” says a senior PDP man. “But he will struggle in the north where the mood is very anti-Jonathan and anti-PDP.”

    One result of the in-fighting in the ruling party is that the momentum for economic reform, already flagging, has slowed even more. Few people now expect the long-stalled Petroleum Industry bill, which is meant to bring clarity to Nigeria’s oil industry, to pass. Nor will the PDP’s rows help the president to end violence and sabotage in the oil-rich south, where billions of dollars of oil money still fall into the hands of criminals and corrupt politicians, or to win the campaign against terrorists in the north. On September 28th militants from Boko Haram, a jihadist group, killed around 50 students at an agricultural college in the northern state of Yobe.

    The PDP’s feuding factions are to meet for talks on October 7th. Mr Jonathan and his PDP rump may have enough oil money to buy their way out of trouble. But for the moment the pendulum has swung in the PDP rebels’ favour. Moreover, the opposition in the shape of the All Progressive Congress, a recently formed coalition of three main parties, has also been getting its act together—and will surely try to lure some of the PDP rebels onto their side. The president, who often seems a hapless (but rarely hatless) figure on the national stage, has a real fight on his hands to keep his job.

    On October 1st he handed licence certificates to 14 private companies that have been allowed to buy chunks of Nigeria’s dismally incompetent state-owned electricity behemoth. If a lot more people had reliable electricity by 2015, that might win him some crucial votes

  • Register if you live in Lagos

    Forget Abuja, the place to be in Nigeria is Lagos, the centre of excellence. And it didn’t earn that epaulette recently. Since overthrowing Calabar as capital of the geographical area now known as Nigeria, it has grown from a simple coastal town to what it is today – a mega-city. And like New York is to US, so is Lagos to Nigeria. Hence, it’s great to be a part of this great state. I am definitely not alone in this as many residents of this state would agree there is nowhere like Lagos.

    And daily from the other 35 states, there is a steady exodus to Lagos, which like a mini Nigeria, comprises people from all the nooks and crannies of the country. As the nation’s commercial nerve-centre, it is the Mecca of success. And anyone who succeeds in Lagos, can succeed anywhere in the world. Despite this, Lagos still grapples to cater for Lagosians. Yet, over the years, all sorts; businessmen, artisans, traders, investors, stragglers, nomads, and herdsmen, from other states and abroad have trooped to Lagos. And they keep coming, attracted like iron to magnet. Such is the pull Lagos has.

    But to boast about Lagos is not the purpose of the piece, even though the state has earned bragging rights. Rather, it is to dwell on the recent drive of the state government to document every one that resides in Lagos. Organised by the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA), the scheme seeks to register all those who ‘reside’ in Lagos in a database. Though a sizeable population of people reside in neighbouring Ogun states in places such as Sango, Mowe, Matogun, Akute, Sagamu, but earn their living in Lagos, this scheme is targeted towards only people residing in Lagos. But why is the need for this?

    In development economics, high premium is placed on planning. And one essential ingredient which drives policy formulation is statistics. Without having the correct population figures, planning for that population is subject to trial and error. But real development is not achieved that way.

    I remember a conversation I overheard in a commercial bus about the period of the last population census organised by the National Population Commission (NPC). An Igbo chap speaking with his friend, said he was going to his village to ensure he was counted there. From what I gathered, this chap lived and traded in Lagos. He fitted the bill of the typical Igbo hustler that go ‘home’ to his village in the east during festive periods after a ‘good’ year. But, to him, being counted in his village obviously meant more. His likes don’t realise how they short-change themselves. I mean, Lagos is where he works, probably renting a shop or office, renting a house, going to hospital, sending his children to school, and enjoying other ‘public’ infrastructures. It is to Lagos that he most likely pay taxes, go to clubs, and entertain most of his friends and relatives. And most likely, it is with proceeds earned in Lagos that he prepares for retirement. Bottom-line: he lives ‘more’ in Lagos. He probably felt the issue of census was more for ethnic advantage than developmental purpose. To other people, the thinking is that the registration is for taxation purpose. But Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola has dispelled these fears. According to him, the registration of residents is “to enable us have a reliable database of all residents so that we can plan better and increase access to government services.”

    Section 10 of the state’s law agency charged to create a reliable data base of all residents of Lagos State with a view to providing useful information for social welfare, security, business, employment, financial activities, health, and housing. This data will no doubt ensure planning and aid development. Hence, government will know how many people it should provide water for, how densely their environments are, so as to be able to deploy adequate security, the number of children in the state that need to go to school. And even in the long stretch, to know how many people would need electricity, when and where they are needed more.

    Already, the pilot phase of the scheme has registered over 60,000 civil and public servants in the state. The next phase is to register Lagos’ residents into the database and issue them with Identification cards. There are many reasons why this data is needed. For instance I’ve always wondered why the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) does deploy a daily train on the Alagbado/Iddo axis like every hour on weekdays, knowing there is a huge population there to service. If strategists at the corporation had data of people likely to commute along that axis, surely it would have known that it was depriving potential train riders of its services. And also losing revenue too.

    However, with the forthcoming Lagos light rails, data collected from this scheme would allow the state to efficiently deploy its trains to serve Lagosians better. The other modes of public transportation also stand to benefit. This is because it would have not an ‘idea’ but a realistic figure to work with. That is just one of the symbiotic benefits of planning. Residents would be happy just as government efficiently meets its service. This database would also come in handy when drafting policies in other sectors.

    That Lagos is on the road towards achieving mega-city status is no longer news. But to realise tthatt dream, there is need to have a sensible count of ourselves. And this must be viewed not in term of voting figures or for taxation purposes. Rather, it should be viewed with achieving development. If we refuse to cooperate with the state by registering and availing the state government of necessary data it needs for planning, we might not be able to hold government accountable for inadequacies in deliverables. That is the truth. Government officials are not spirits that know everything. And without registering as a resident in Lagos, one is just ‘doing’ himself or herself.

     

    • Akinmosa wrote from Agege, Lagos.