Category: Opinion

Countries of the world have their varying most valuable assets. Among the league of countries with the highest Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the United States of America leads the pack with $19.485 trillion (about $60,000 per person in the US) – a share of world GDP of 24.08%. This is followed by China and Japan with $12.238 trillion (about $38,000 per person in the US) and $4.872 trillion (about $15,000 per person in the US) – a share of 15.12% and 6.02% respectively. In the rank, Nigeria – in the 30th position has a record of $376 billion (about $1,200 per person in the US) GDP – a 0.46% share of World GDP. From this, Nigeria’s GDP per capital potential should be $1880 (NGN 781,140.00). These countries share similar most valuable assets but are experiencing different realities

The Lancet Commissions report published in March describes Nigeria as ‘both a wealthy country and a very poor one’ with over 40% of her population in poverty and more – five to six people falling into poverty every minute at a current escape rate of minus 2.9 people per minute.

Available data shows that Nigeria is on the verge of becoming a global force. It has significant intellectual, cultural, and social capital, as well as substantial financial resources. It is the most populous country in West Africa, with more than half of the region’s population, and the continent’s largest gross domestic product. Now, you may ask – why are all these assets not working for Nigeria’s country’s overall development?

Indeed, like the United States of America, China, and Japan, which thrive on their most valuable asset – human capital – to prosper, Nigeria has the same. Yet, the country is facing development challenges that will encourage and keep the country’s natural abilities.

It is worth noting that Nigerian immigrants in the United States of America contribute significantly to the country’s GDP, allowing the country to thrive and its currency to gain international value. According to the Migration Policy Institute in Washington, about 54 percent of Nigerians are employed in high-skilled capacities in various sectors of the US economy, including science, business, management, and the arts, excluding 39 percent of Nigerians born in the United States. According to a report published in 2018 by the New American Economy Research Fund, Nigerian immigrants earn over $14 billion and pay over $4 billion in taxes. We can only imagine the impact that the same monetary value would have on Nigeria’s economy when such highly skilled Nigerians were employed and retained in the country.

Nigeria’s population of more than 200 million people is expected to quadruple by 2050, reaching 733 million by 2100, making it the world’s third most populated country after China and India. What this implies is that the country has the potential to have even more human capital that would compete favourably globally if managed right.

Owing to the absence of enabling environment, insecurity and/or hostile security service providers, Nigeria’s most valuable assets are gradually being eroded by international opportunities – brain drain.

What measures will the country take to safeguard its most valuable asset? The country’s leadership practices should be carefully analysed and evaluated to answer this question. The nation’s constitutional structure and system of governance, as well as its pragmatic structure and system of governance, should be evaluated to reflect the nation’s reality, particularly with sensitive regard to the nation’s multicultural orientation by region, states, and local communities.

After we have solved the leadership challenge, we may move on to establishing a national planned development framework. This framework is a well-thought-out road map that should guide all new development ideas and strategies. This is a path towed by developed countries like the United States and the United Kingdom. I would refer to and describe the policy document as a “constitution” for development, as it should be a very authoritative and encompassing strategy.

Although, Nigeria has found itself in a very difficultly complex situation; it is not a mission impossible to come out strongly. I have identified and recommended two things in this article: leadership and policy. These two are fundamental issues that need to be addressed before we can rightfully chart the way forward for our dear country, Nigeria. There are assurances that when these steps are taken, Nigerians can have better working environment -attracting top talents, developing, rewarding, and retaining talents for the economic and social benefits of the country. This would subsequently result to improved overall quality of life; hence, we would have enough convincing evidence to make our most valuable assets stay and function for a better Nigeria.

• Arowolo is a PhD student at the University of Kent, England and Assistant Lecturer at the School of Communication, Lagos State University, Lagos.

These are certainly troubling times in Nigeria. Almost all citizens are living on edge and in fear of attacks by the so-called bandits and gunmen. Travelling to and from different parts of the country has become a hazardous venture. In the North, especially between Abuja and Kaduna, commuting by whatever means has become more perilous than passing through the lake of fire and brimstone. Danger looms at every point. Gunmen have taken over the highways and the railway is no longer safe while air transportation is also within their range.

The  fear of being molested, abducted  or killed by rampaging gunmen and bandits has made the worry over the  parlous state of the economy, epileptic power supply and other self-inflicted acts of bad governance pale  into insignificance. Life is becoming nastier, more brutish and shorter as the spate of deadly attacks with mounting casualties across the country becomes almost a daily occurrence.

And let’s call a spade a spade. The issue is no longer about banditry and sporadic attacks by known and unknown gunmen. The country is now in the vice grip of terrorists. Those who attacked the Abuja- Kaduna train in the evening of Monday March 28 were neither gunmen nor bandits. They are terrorists. The operation had all the hallmarks of high level terrorists attack. They came well-armed, planted explosives on the rail track and detonated the bombs as the train approached to demobilize it. They then invaded the carriages, terrorists-style, shot as many as they could and captured others. The authorities put the number of those who fell to the terrorist bullets at eight with some 24 wounded. And of course several other passengers taken away by those who carried out the dastardly act are yet to be fully accounted for or rescued.

Nigeria is losing precious human capital to terrorists. One of those killed in the Kaduna attack is a young Nigerian, Doctor Chinelo Nwando, who worked at St. Gerald Hospital, Kaduna. She sent out a tweet during the attack saying she had been shot by the terrorists. She never made it out of the train alive. The Trade Union Congress has also confirmed that Comrade (Barr.) Musa Lawal Ozigi, mni, its Secretary General and Comrade Akin Akinsola, TUC chairman, Kwara State were murdered by the terrorists. Many families are also still mourning the sudden death of their loved ones who were murdered in cold blood by the terrorists. Other families are yet to know the fate of their loved ones who were abducted.

It is troubling that Kaduna, the headquarters of the country’s military might and location of elite military institutions, has become easy pick for terrorists, bandits and gunmen of different hues and dark agendas.

Even before the audacious attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train leading to the death of some passengers and abduction of many others, it was obvious to all that there was deepening insecurity in the land .The government also seemed to be playing catch-up and its response tentative and reactive. A troubling statistics making the rounds indicate that in the last 90 days 1,545 people have been murdered in cold blood in the epicentre of terrorists’ activities in Niger, Kaduna, Borno, Sokoto and Zamfara states. Swathes of territories are now under the full control of terrorists and various bandits who lord it over the people. They kill, maim and hold hostage and have become rulers of territories within the polity. They are challenging the government power of coercion and daily decimating the territorial integrity of the country.

Worse still is the internecine pogrom going on unabated in some parts of Southern Kaduna. It has been likened to a deliberate massacre with an underlying genocidal agenda. And this is more so when a particular ethnic group is being targeted for elimination and forced to flee from their ancestral land. This internecine war of sorts is yet to be decisively tackled by government.

The country is bleeding and scores are being killed by terrorists and bandits. The consequences of the unabated terrorism is very glaring .The economy is comatose. More companies and small businesses are folding up. The number of internally displaced people has become so huge that the government and other agencies seem overwhelmed. Some hapless citizens have become refugees in neighbouring countries as activities of terrorists and bandits make it impossible for them to dwell within the territory of Nigeria.

The government is taking too long to deliver on so many promises and the patience of the people is wearing thin. It is time for decisive action to reverse the ugly trend of insecurity. The government should halt the squandering of its goodwill by making positive change happen by securing the homeland from invaders. Nigerians are tired of platitudes of commiserations by government top functionaries and endless promises by government and security agencies anytime the terrorists strike. Promises of government to root out bandits and their sponsors now sound so hollow and unbelievable.

The concatenation of cacophonous responses to the myriads of security threats and brazen acts of terrorism shows a government in quandary. Excuses will not and cannot assuage the disappointment of the populace. According to Chinua Achebe in Things Fall Apart, “when handshakes extend to the elbow, it has become wrestling.” The multiple attacks by terrorists in Kaduna  is a clear declaration of war. The federal government should bare its fangs and should stop using kid gloves against those killing innocent citizens.

It is time to reassess strategy and come up with a new plan to tackle terrorism and banditry. And the government does not need to go to television and radio stations and pages of newspapers to announce strategies and its readiness to combat terrorism. The citizens are not blind and deaf. It will become apparent that the government through its military apparatus is winning the war when the spate of terrorists attack reduce and the terrorists are eventually decimated. The citizens are not demanding for too much. They want more action and less talk from government and the military. They want to live and work in a secure environment.

It is also time to leverage on digital technology and other security apparatus to fight the terrorists who now visit death, destruction, sorrow, tears and blood on innocent people with reckless abandon and almost relative ease. The country needs preventive security measures that stop terrorists before they strike not reactive strategy.

A government that fails in ensuring the security of lives and property and protecting the territorial integrity of the polity, its overarching responsibility, will be judged harshly by posterity. Muhammadu Buhari as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces can avoid this harsh judgement of history. He should roll out the full arsenal of war against the terrorists and their sponsors, ask for help from the international community and decapitate the evil monster of terrorism and insecurity bedeviling the country now. Time is however running out!

• Adebanjo sent this piece via obanijesu@yahoo.com

Democracy and Nigeria are like Siamese twins; though conjoined, they are uncomfortable and under intense pressure that could result in all forms of hurt, even death. Although, democracy may not be strange to an overwhelming percentage of Nigerians; what may be strange to them is the brand of democracy that invests, first and foremost, in human and material resources for the purposes of political stability, economic viability, scientific advancement, technological breakthrough, educational development and life-enhancing social services. Given the general optimism that Nigeria was going to be the bastion of democracy in Africa following her independence from Britain in 1960, one should normally expect that by now democracy should be deeply rooted and institutionalised in the country. Ironically and unfortunately, Nigeria, as far as the practice and delivery of dividends of liberal democracy is concerned, is yet a cripple that can barely stand let alone walk or run.

Nigerian democracy has three outstanding features. First, it is spendthrift. Nigerian democracy is a brand of democracy that spends so much to accomplish so little (where and when it achieves anything at all). Second, it invests in the comfort of officials rather than in human and material resources. In fact, the welfare of the common man occupies the bottom rung on the ladder of the priorities of the anchors of Nigerian democracy. Third, Nigerian democracy is plagued by hydra-headed and pathological corruption that ensures that the impact of any seeming good policy is either extremely negligible or almost exactly nil.

The long years of political misrule and bad governance exemplified by civilian administrations and military dictatorships since the country’s political independence has left the nation politically de-mobilized, humanly underdeveloped and economically sterile with an ample population ravaged by poverty. Thus, with the return to democratic rule in the country in 1999, Nigerians had expected that the new wave of political leadership and democratic governance would accelerate the tide of development in the nation. The political leadership was expected to grapple with the socio-economic and political problems of the country, which border on poverty, corruption, lack of good governance, corrupt electoral system, unemployment, and insecurity, among others.

Some of these problems are not only getting worse, but appear to defy solutions. Nigerians have become deeply frustrated and disappointed over unfulfilled hopes of solving persistent economic crises, social tensions and political instability. The emergent political corruption and deceit have created widespread national disaffection, which has been hijacked by some interest groups for their own parochial purposes. Thus, despite size and natural endowment in both human and material resources, Nigeria lingers in the doldrums, perpetually a country of the future. This is contrary to the dreams of Nigeria’s founding fathers that saw the country at independence as a beacon of hope and a bastion of democratic government in Africa.

The problem of leadership has continued to abort efforts at genuine democratization through exclusion of some segments of the political elite from effective participation in the politics of the country. Still the level of substances of democracy in the country is deceptively weak and characterized by pervasion, indiscretions, electoral malpractices, rigging, lack of stable and credible political party system, electoral violence, etc.

Most murders in Nigeria — official or otherwise — go unsolved. The recent spike in vigilante justice, which has seen a ramp up in incidents in which citizens have taken the law into their own hands owes in large part to distrust of the police and frustration with the justice system. In 2019, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) ranked Nigeria among the 13 worst countries in unsolved murders of journalists.

Nor has increased spending on security produced a commensurate decrease in insecurity. Between 2015 and 2020, Nigeria budgeted an average of about $4.2 billion on security, with the total budget for security rising to 2.5 per cent of the GDP in 2020. In 2019, Nigeria had the third largest military budget in Africa, behind only South Africa and Algeria.

While, on paper, security expenditure goes toward the training of soldiers, operations, and purchases of vital military equipment, the reality is much different. Corruption is a major problem, with much of the funds budgeted for security regularly diverted. In 2017, at least $2 billion out of monies set aside for the Boko Haram campaign were diverted to other uses, including the financing of political activities.

In 2016, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed that about $15 billion were stolen from the fight against Islamists under the previous Goodluck Jonathan administration. At the state and local government levels, governors and local government chairpersons regularly mismanage “security votes,” a monthly federal allocation towards security-related expenses within the states. An estimated $900 million is lost to their mismanagement annually.

Corruption in the security sector has been cited as a factor in some of the recent military takeovers in the region.

In the wake of Monday’s attack in Kaduna, President Buhari held an emergency meeting with service chiefs and heads of security agencies and promised to bring the bandits to justice. The Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya and Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi both visited the site of the attack and echoed the president’s assurance. The latter promised, improbably, that all passenger trains will now be escorted by Nigerian Air Force jets. In truth, most Nigerians feel like Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, who confessed to being “angry, frustrated, and feeling totally helpless.”

While horse-trading among the political class for next year’s all-important elections hums along in the background, it increasingly feels like a sideshow — an expensive one, to be sure — to the anarchy that daily life in the country has become. If, as some have plausibly contended, the Nigerian state failed a long time ago, what we seem to be witnessing is the unfolding reel of its agonising decomposition and dismemberment.

The place of elections in Nigeria democratic process needs not to be under-emphasised. However, the wide acceptance of any electoral process would mostly be determined by the quality of elections in that society. The near absence of democratic leadership and by extension good governance at the grassroots level in Nigeria could be linked to undue interference by state governments. Grassroots administration in Nigeria has been reduced to an area office as the various governments at the state level, irrespective of party politics ideology, have consistently abused the third tier of government. Indeed, were assessment of the administration of local communities be left to the people, many would aver that democratic leadership at local government administration fared better under the military than civilian governments.

orientation is philosophically prescribed.

• Oladeji, writes from Lagos.

Senate President, Dr. Ahmad Lawan, must have felt really good about himself on Wednesday when announcing the constitution of a seven-man ad-hoc committee to probe the recent tariff adjustments by MultiChoice Nigeria.

The announcement was accompanied, according to a statement signed by Lawan’s media aide, Dr. Ezrel Tabiowo, by directives to MultiChoice to revert to the old prices “in tandem with the prevailing reality of economic situation in Nigeria” as well as the adoption of pay-per-view billing model.

I, too, would have felt good about myself if presented, like the Senate President and his colleagues were, a cheap opportunity to posture as being madly in love with the masses. The trigger for the proposed probe and directives was a motion by Senator Patrick Abba Moro, who fed off the recent adjustments in the tariffs of the MultiChoice-owned DStv and GOtv platforms.

“MultiChoice Nigeria,” Moro said, “willfully and perpetually increases the cost of its bundles because there is no regulation whatsoever in the area of fixing rates. Without recourse to the economic situation of the country, MultiChoice has again raised the cost of its DStv and GOtv bundles.”

The tariff adjustments, he added, have provoked outrage among subscribers, who he said also complained that weather-induced signal degeneration and epileptic power supply inhibit full enjoyment of the services before their subscription expires. Moro further said what Nigerians want is the pay-per-view model, similar to the metering in electricity and mobile telephony, model rather than fixed monthly subscription model.

What the Senate wants in a nutshell, according to the statement from the Senate President’s office, is for the Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) to order pay television companies to “introduce a pay-per-view model of subscription as against the month-to-month prepaid model presently in place” and “immediately review their bouquet prices downwards in tandem with the prevailing reality of the economic situation in the country”.

Every Nigerian, I believe, should be interested in what the probe will unearth. But before then, I wish to state that I cannot pretend to be delighted that the prices of DStv and GOtv packages have gone up. I am actually worried about the development, as many like me will come under greater financial strain in these already straitened times. That said, what came from the Senate on Wednesday can be classified as insensitive, ignorant, lacking in self-awareness, unoriginal and possibly xenophobic.

That the Senate was sufficiently misguided to believe that its priority, 48 hours after train passengers were killed and abducted between Kaduna and Abuja, should be a probe into pay television operations, provides a bold hint of the direness of the minds in its leadership cadre. That it gave the country’s economic situation as the reason for demanding downward tariff review shows it is at loggerheads with reality. The most recent consumer price index released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) shows a 0.1% uptick in the country’s inflation rate of 15.7% in February from 15.6% in January, a development ascribed to the climb in prices of goods and services, following the nationwide fuel scarcity. Consumers as well as providers of goods and services are being suffocated by spiraling costs of purchase and operations. Diesel, used by many businesses to self-generate power, currently costs N650 per litre.

Two years ago, it cost N224 per litre, an indication of 190 per cent price jump. Electricity, which cost N46.93 per Band B KWH has climbed to N53.23, a 13.4 per cent rise. The price of a 50kg bag of rice has risen by 19.2 percent from N26,000 two years ago to N31,000. Air fare from Lagos to Abuja has risen by 122.2 per cent from N22,500 in 2020 to N50,000.

That the Senate has failed to make anything resembling an intervention in the prices of numerous essential commodities, but in pay television services does not show it truly cares, however hard it has tried. It is also not self-aware. Had it been, it would realize that the dire economic situation, the reason it is calling for a downward review by MultiChoice, is, in some way, occasioned by the extortionate remunerations of its members. The current Senate has simply torn a leaf from the manual of the immediate past one which, during the recession in 2016, thought it was inappropriate for MultiChoice to increase prices.

It held a public hearing into the prices of the television company, out of which nothing came out.

Like the current Senate, the 8th one called for the adoption of the pay-per-view model, something it has skimpy or no understanding of.  Pay-per-View, used for the broadcast of big-ticket events and more expensive, is falsely presented as cheaper and requires one keen on seeing such an event to pay separately for it. A little internet search would have prevented the misinformation the Senate is spreading about pay-per-view.

Also, the age-old argument that the metering in the electricity and mobile telephony is applicable to television has no leg to stand on. It ignores the fact that television content is not metered like airtime/data or electricity units. Pay television content is not consumed a la carte except on Video-on-Demand platforms like Netflix or DStv BoxOffice.

Pay television is a luxury service, not an essential one or an inalienable human right to life, movement or speech. The day I can no longer conveniently fund a lifestyle is the day the lifestyle will be ditched. I want goods and services to be cheaper, as I belong to the lower rung of the economic ladder. But I understand they cannot always be except we push for Nigeria to become a Soviet-style society of rigid price controls. The country’s high-cost operating environment makes it impossible for businesses to keep prices, including of agricultural commodities stable.

I have also observed faint hints of xenophobia and this dates back a long time. MultiChoice, which has South African origins, is, without fail, accused of inappropriateness any time it adjusts prices of its services. The naira, our national currency, continues to emaciate almost daily and affects the cost of living as well as of doing business. Other economic dynamics intervene. But for some logically obscure reasons, the Senate assumes that MultiChoice has taken multiple doses of booster jabs against the effects of the anorexic value of the naira and other factors. I do not remember the Senate directing Alhaji Aliko Dangote, the industrialist, to execute a downward review of his cement prices. It is also not interested in what ails our currency. But on pay television, it comes out snarling like a hyena.

If, as the Senate admitted, “there is no regulation whatsoever in the area of fixing rates”, what is it relying on to issue directives? Nothing beyond the desire to appear like it cares about the people. It does not and the people know.

• Maiyegun, a calligrapher and public commentator, writes from Ibadan

It is no longer news that Charles Soludo, erstwhile governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, and erstwhile member of President Buhari’s Economic Advisory Council, is now the governor of Anambra State. This is no longer news because becoming the governor of any state in Nigeria does not tell any democratic story in the political experience of Nigerians. Almost all Nigerians are familiar with the regular narratives of electioneering campaigns and the sordid practices that characterize winning or losing electoral offices. Once a person wins an election, like Soludo did with the Anambra gubernatorial position, Nigerians watch to see whether the person will succeed or fail. In most cases, the Nigerian public justifiably expect failure as success narratives belong more to the fictional imaginative genre in our clime. However, once the elected official begins to do the unusual, either in positive or negative terms, that is where the news resides. Governor Charles Soludo comes with a credential that is uncommon amongst the new generation politicians or the acclaimed in Nigeria of today, with the size of the pocket or the charisma of the godfather sponsoring as diviners of eligibility. His credentials place a burden of responsibility on his aspiration to govern and transform Anambra State.

Usually, politicians make series of campaign promises and pledges which they begin to flout on assumption of office. In his inaugural address, Governor Soludo made reference to what he calls “pan-African market progressivism,” an ideology that combines market competitiveness with social democratic values. This ideology would be the foundation of a “people-centered governance.” A fundamental tenet of that people-centered governance” is the patronage of local goods and products. According to him, “if you can produce it in Anambra, I will be your chief marketing officer, provided that your standard meets the “Anambra standard”—which is excellence. The Anambra State Government will only patronize Made in Anambra products and services unless such goods or services are not currently made in Anambra, then made in Nigeria, Africa, etc., in that sequence. When you see me in Innoson vehicles or in my Akwete dress with a pair of shoes made in Ogbunike/Nkwelle Ezunaka and Onitsha, we are making a statement.”

And so, apart from his akwete dress, Governor Soludo picked an Innoson vehicle that brought him into the Government House. The coming years will provide the proper framework within which to assess the performance of Governor Soludo and the “Soludo Solution” for Anambra State. But for now, we have the visible actions of a governor who is determined to make a critical statement that speaks to the ideological possibility of making governance works in ways that tangibly affects the people.

The “Made in Nigeria” narrative is a fundamental part of the good governance initiative in Nigeria. In a recent news, the Federal Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation reported a massive N5.03trn saved by Nigeria from import reduction. This was made possible by paying a significant amount of attention to local products, like technologies for local start-ups, indigenous medical remedies for local hospitals, and local agro-raw materials for the agricultural sector. However, this piece of good news does not derive from a firm policy base that would have made such a strategy the foundation of a bigger news concerning Nigeria’s productivity profile. The reason is that there is still a stark disconnect between Nigeria’s productive capacities and her dependence on foreign products through an extraverted consumptive pattern. One example suffices: while Governor Soludo opted to patronize a local manufacturer of vehicles, Nigeria’s lawmakers decided on a foreign manufacturer. This preference pervades almost every sector, from health to sports. Nigeria depends on others to produce what her citizens consume. Though Nigeria is the 11th largest oil-producing state in the world, its finished crude oil products are imported from other states. Thus, Nigeria’s global comparative advantages in agriculture, mineral production, automotive industry, oil and gas, textiles, petrochemicals, and so many others have not translated into any productivity advantage.

On the contrary, Nigeria’s monocultural economy is driven by what has been called a negative production dynamic. This implies that Nigeria’s productive capacity is so weak that the country imports what it has the capacity to produce in order to feed its growing consumptive patterns. This counterintuitive economic dynamic is further aggravated by several others. Nigeria’s mounting debt profile—now at N38trn as at the third quarter of 2021—is fast tracking the country’s economy to the edge of the precipice. This is more so when Nigeria’s oil revenue has been steadily dwindling due to the fate of crude oil in the global market. This fiscal gloom is not limited to the oil sector. The cost of doing business in Nigeria is alarming. And Nigeria’s excruciating cost of governance is fueled not only by our culture of waste and redundancies, but also by the underlying prebendal and clientele orientation that undermine meritocracy in jumpstarting the capacity readiness of the country to make things work for governance and development.

While Nigeria is celebrating the huge amount of revenue earned from import reduction, that advantage is almost stifled by several news about structural bottlenecks that inflates the cost of doing business, encourage import dynamics, and strangulate local enterprises and initiatives. Without any domestic value addition, and no governance ideology to guide policy initiatives, Nigeria essentially remains a consumerist economy that import everything from refined oil and generators to toothpicks and toothbrushes. The neoliberal capitalist ideology that underpins the Washington Consensus, the policy initiative which Nigeria subscribes to, ensures that Nigeria is left at the mercy of global economic flows and ebbs, exchange imbalance and price shocks. And more importantly, under this neoliberal ideology, Nigeria’s national development planning is stifled by the burdens of governance conditionalities.

This is dismal economic and governance context within which to situate Governor Soludo’s attempt at refocusing Nigeria’s economic diversification imperative. Is there something to learn from this strategy of a tested economist with a solid track record of banking consolidation reform, and a serious experience with national development planning? What sense of culture change is he communicating with his promotion of local content slogan of “Made in Anambra,” backed by an already significant action that patronizes local fabric, cuisine and vehicle?

Given the persona of Charles Soludo that he has cultivated since he began his career as an economist, till he became the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, it becomes a bit difficult to think his “Made in Anambra” strategic brand communication is a mere political ruse. With his current action, two significant issues coalesce into a direct message that speaks to the Nigerian project: it is only the considered action of a focused leader that can take Nigeria out of the grip of the death-grip fixation with a monocultural economy. Soludo’s branding of “Made in Anambra” resonates firmly with Nigeria’s need for economic diversification away from a pigheaded dependence on oil to the opening up of the economy so that local enterprises can flourish. To drive home the significance of this point, the theme of the Manufacturers’ Association of Nigeria’s 50th anniversary is “Building a Resilient and Competitive Manufacturing Economy.” Such competitiveness is founded on the imperative of supporting local content, as Soludo is determined to do.

The local content imperative has the significant function of restructuring the production and consumption frameworks and patterns of the Nigerian economy. This inevitably shift attention away from crude oil to viable and sustainable non-oil sectors, from oil and gas and agriculture, to manufacturing and Nollywood. This diversification of Nigeria’s economic base makes it possible for Nigeria not only to refocus on her comparative advantages, but also more importantly to turn these advantages into a competitive edge. For instance, with his “Made in Anambra” campaign, Governor Soludo has thrown the challenge that ought to stimulate a sub-national competition around innovative local content. A similar campaign from other state could facilitate a serious discourse around the Local Content Act in ways that will stimulate the federal government to reconfigure its policies on small and medium scale enterprises and businesses.

In the final analysis, developing local content and the instigation of economic diversification points attention at the capacity of a state to become developmental. A developmental state is one that is able to harness its critical human capital in fashioning national development planning that will transform the policy architecture in ways that positively affect the citizens. When a state adopts an ideological orientation of self-reliance, the way Governor Charles Soludo has done, it is a signal that such a state is intent on looking inward for the critical elements that will drive its productivity profile. In Anambra state, and if this campaign can be kept alive, one can only imagine the ripple effect of Soludo’s Solution on the manufacturing of, say akwete cloth, on youth unemployment, and on the development of small and medium scale enterprises. Further imagine that many governors attach themselves to this campaign. The “Made in Nigeria” project is not only thereby consolidated, the economic diversification project becomes a significant possibility.

Governor Charles Soludo is on to something fundamental for reassessing the Nigerian project, and the conditions for its possibility. All things being equal, we can only hope for success.

• Olaopa is a retired Federal Permanent Secretary & Professor, National Institute For Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos tolaopa2003@gmail.com

On Monday, March 29, 2022, one of the media personalities I respect and my former boss in Champion Newspapers, Emeka Omeihe, published a piece he tagged: ‘When Buhari summoned Uzodinma,’ in his column in The Nation.

As often as Omeihe writes, I read him for two main reasons. One, is his knack for deep analysis of issues. Secondly, there is always something to take away from older colleagues like him who still find time to ventilate their views on matters of national concern.

As usual, I had looked forward to reading Omeihe’s column on the evaluation of the recently held All Progressives Congress (APC) Convention in Abuja where Hope Uzodinma of Imo State, Omeihe’s governor, shone like a star going by the way he credibly performed as the Chairman of the Technical Committee supervising the convention to the admiration of party members, chieftains, including President Muhammadu Buhari.

But I was wrong.

If Omeihe were to be a younger reporter/columnist, I would have said someone was using him to do poisonous intervention against the governor with the intention of undermining his person and work.

For those who were not privy to Omeihe’s piece, the former editor and later Executive Director of Champion Newspapers Limited used his piece to pick holes in the invitation President Buhari had extended to Governor Uzodinma on the recent and festering security situation in Imo State.

In the wake of the attack and destruction of the country home of the President-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, Prof. George Obiozor, the continuing attack on policemen and burning of police stations, among other devilish activities of bandits in Imo, Mr. President sought to hear first- hand from the governor. That was not the first time such meetings between the duo were taking place.

Omeihe had a problem with the report Governor Uzodimma gave to State House reporters on the outcome of his meeting with Mr. President, particularly as regards the approval the governor got for additional security personnel, arms, and ammunition to deal with the Imo insecurity saga.

No doubt, Omeihe understands quite well that the security situation in Imo is critical, but he would prefer that the governor does not request for facilities – human and material – from Mr. President, that would help sustain the gains already being recorded by his government in curtailing what ordinarily would have been a daily uncontrollable sad situation.

What is even more worrisome is that Omeihe was more interested in playing up matters that the opposition has continually canvassed for their own political conveniences such as the alleged role of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Eastern Security Network (ESN) in the orgy of violence in Imo and southeast; the place of Ebubeagu in dealing with the insecurity in the region; the role of masterminds/politicians in the festering security challenge in Imo, as well as the role of security agencies in getting the perpetrators to face justice for their evil deeds.

It is also amazing that Omeihe could suggest that security agencies compel the governor to make known the names of those suspected to be behind the spate of killings of innocent citizens in Imo.

I do not know who told Omeihe that the security agencies may not be privy to intelligence or even in possession of the names of those suspected to be fueling the killings in Imo. By the way, was it not the security agencies that arrested some suspects who gave them the strong feeling of the persons likely to be behind the killings and wanton destruction of property in Imo?

It amounts to mischief on parade for anyone to imagine that Governor Uzodinma should be the one in custody of the suspects when the security operatives have not denied knowledge of them based on their investigations.

Then you wonder why Omeihe would use Governor Uzodinma as the target of his writing if it was not for a preconceived aim?

As far as (in)security is concerned in Imo, Uzodinma has not done this, Uzodimma has not done that, and has become a sing-song. The question some of us should be asking ourselves is what we have done as stakeholders in the project Imo to bring lasting peace to our dear State.

Or do we think there is nothing we can do to complement the efforts of our governor besides thoughtless fault finding, odd and odious interventions?

Most of us have even gone to the ridiculous extent of thinking they should be isolated from efforts to achieve peace in Imo.

I do not think Governor Uzodimma does not know that the security situation in Imo is peculiar. And that explains why he takes peculiar steps to deal with them.

Have we suddenly forgotten that he took an oath of office to protect the lives and property of the people? Are we then suggesting he should treat such oaths with levity because of what people may have to say about the tactics he deploys to achieve results?

At the last count since coming on board as governor, Uzodinma has called six stakeholders’ meetings. His is the only government that meets with stakeholders every quarter and he has remained religious about it.

Omeihe is still in a better position to answer the question he posed as to whether we are to believe the current security situation in Imo could be a result of the 2019 election.

Let me help you, sir. We are on the same page with you that those who lost power in 2019 are hell-bent on frustrating, derailing, and stalling whatever efforts the APC government in Imo State under the supervision of Governor Uzodinma is making.

Some of us are worried that informed people like Omeihe are cajoled to believe that Governor Uzodinma is the problem of insecurity in Imo. His (Omeihe’s) should rather be a strong voice preaching political inclusiveness, collective efforts on peace, unity, aimed at achieving good governance, progress, and development in Imo after electioneering and not to hide behind his fingers to ask questions he knows what the answers are.

Omeihe should ask himself how well he has helped to do so as an elder, elite, opinion moulder and stakeholder from his senatorial zone in Orlu where he suspects is the epicenter of the insecurity destabilizing Governor Uzodimma’s good intention for Ndi Imo.

To what extent has he helped to rap the people from his community to eschew violence in order to ensure that the government does not take steps to “mismanage” their peace?

Governor Uzodinma has proven that he has the capacity to deliver on the mandate the people gave to him. He has demonstrated that much in his intervention on Owerri/Orlu and Owerri/Okigwe roads, among others that are now wearing a completely new look.

The capacity Governor Uzodinma has demonstrated in road infrastructure, urban renewal, health sector, agriculture, education, water resources, et al as encapsulated in his 3R-mantra (Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Recovery) against the expectation of the naysayers played out again at the APC national Convention last Saturday where he was Chairman of the Technical Committee responsible for the smooth conduct of the event.

Governor Uzodimma was not only the rallying point for critical decisions and consultations by a cross-section of delegates, but Imo State Pavilion became a Mecca of sorts because of him.

There was no Imo delegate/observer as well as South East delegate/observer who was not proud of Governor Uzodimma because of the candour, efficiency, equanimity, zest and boldness he brought to bear in discharging the responsibility his Party thrust on his shoulder.

• Nwachuku, Chief Press Secretary/Media Adviser to Governor Uzodinma writes from Owerri, Imo State.

If the truth be told and I see no reason why it should not be told, until I sat down this morning to write, I had no intention of talking about football or any such frivolity.  There are however times when the writer’s hands are tied in the matter of deciding what to write about on any given day and many will agree that the events which unfolded in Abuja in the aftermath of a World cup qualifying match between Nigeria and Ghana forcefully demands that the subject of what I should write about must concern that match. This is of course to the exclusion of other matters which on the surface appear to be weightier than an event which all told, occupied no more than two hours.

At the turn of this year the Super Eagles turned up in Cameroon to compete for the African Cup of Nations cup which, as far as Nigerians were concerned, was to be won handsomely by the Super Eagles. After the scintillating performance of the Super Eagles in the qualifying round, expectations were high; so high that they could not be matched by the performance of the team and their coach in the first knockout round. This is partly because the brand new coach had not been given the time to settle into his job before he was exposed to the competition offered by the best teams in Africa. The spoilers as Nigerians were concerned were the Tunisians who had stumbled through the qualifying round only to stun the Super Eagles with a smash and grab performance which was as unexpected as it was painful. Thereafter, Nigerians hauled unprintable abuse and curses at the players, the coach as well as the multitudes of people who were only remotely related to the team in any way or fashion. The country’s first citizen, the President, was not protected from censure by his exalted office. The poor man made the mistake of sending a message of encouragement to the team in expectation of a victory with which to enhance his reputation as a talisman. Unfortunately, whatever plan he had fell flat, as the subsequent and wholly unexpected defeat was laid at his door and there was no way that any of his aides could come up with any spin that could extricate the President from the stickiness of his position on a matter which he did not have to involve himself and so there has been a heavy silence from his camp.

When Nigeria was so unceremoniously dumped out of AFCON, many of the disappointed fans found consolation in the fact that Nigeria was going to be involved in the playoff for the World cup and surely the Gods of soccer were not going to be so unkind as to look on unconcernedly as the Super Eagles were dumped out of the global football tournament that came around only once in four years. Nigeria had qualified for the World cup so often in the last seven or so editions that most Nigerians had come round to the assumption that Nigerian qualification was a done thing and the last hurdle to be crossed was, as we have come to say in Americanise, not a big deal. All we had to do was to beat Ghana over two legs and we could begin to pack our bags for Qatar. And why should we think that Ghana was not just going to lie down and play dead so that we could pick up the ticket which surely had our name inscribed on it?

I have been a football fan all my life and from bitter experience, my heart was full of trepidation at the thought of getting past our very noisy, not to say pestilential neighbours. A lifetime of serious heartache inflicted by various generations of the Black Stars of Ghana weighed very heavily on my mind and although Nigeria has managed to defeat the Black Stars on recent occasions, the default result against Ghana remains a loss as has been the case over several decades. Those of my generation cannot forget those early days of the Nigeria – Ghana rivalry for the emphatic nature of Ghanaian superiority. I have no personal recollection of the 7 – 0 thrashing we received in 1957 but there is no way that I can forget the 3- 0 drubbing we received in 1960 because I was at the National stadium on that day. I was the only member of my primary school class to have had the privilege of having a firsthand account of that match played on a Sunday, making me to look forward with great eagerness to Monday when I could regale my less fortunate classmates with an eye witness account of what had taken place at the stadium. But I had to sit through the match first.

That match was historic in many respects, not least because it was the very first international football match to be played at the National stadium which was not even completed at the time but was used for the match as part of the celebration of Nigeria’s independence. It was the first match that Nigeria played in her new national colours of green and white to celebrate the transition of the Nigerian team from the Red devils as they were known in their now discarded red shirts, to the Green Eagles as they were to be called after the eagle on the Nigerian crest.

That match was anything but a celebration as the Black Stars had not turned up with the intention of giving the new Nigerian nation any manner of satisfaction or even to take any prisoners. They had come to teach us a lesson in the acquisition of nationhood and remind us that they had been independent for more than three years and were on that score alone worthy of our respect, never mind that there were many more Nigerians than Ghanaians but perhaps because of that fact.

On a personal note, I could hardly breathe for the excitement which gripped my tiny frame as the teams filed into the field of play at the start of the game. And the Ghanaians drew first blood from the manner of their entrance. Accompanied by their flamboyant and highly visible Minister of Sports, the kente clad Ohene Djan, the Black Stars in their silky all white uniforms, adorned at the back with a black star within which their respective number were written, waving snowy white handkerchiefs to the spectators who had thronged the stadium in the hope of seeing them ground into the soft pitch of the National Stadium. They looked supremely confident and looked more like the home team than their hosts who appeared rather strange in their unfamiliar green shirts. This entrance set the tone for the entire match as the brand new eagles simply could not fly above those elusive Black Stars whose scintillating attack was orchestrated from the right by the twinkle toed Baba Yara and on the left flank by a man called Salisu whom I saw in my nightmares for quite some time after that match. Even with the passage of years or perhaps because of it, I still regard his left foot as the most efficient that I had the privilege of watching live on a football pitch. In the middle was the giant Charles Gyamfi, a no nonsense centre forward of the old school who knew that his only business on that pitch was to score goals, never mind how they were scored. I no longer remember those who were responsible for scoring the goals on that day on which no Nigerian had the joy of scoring any goal in response to the three goals scored by the immaculate Black Stars. That was my baptism of fire as far as Nigeria –Ghana football encounters are concerned and it was by no means the last. I was so traumatized by my experience that I could not find the mouth with which to narrate that ordeal to my classmates in school the following day as I had fully intended to.

My next live encounter with the Black Stars took place thirteen years later as the Ghanaians returned to the now fully functional National Stadium to contest a place with Nigeria for the World cup tournament that was to take place in West Germany the following year. I have no reason to give for why Nigerians were so confident of success in that particular match but they were, which is why there was only standing room in the stadium even after the authorities had jerked up the price of admission. Interestingly, I no longer have any reliable memory of that match maybe because the aftermath of our defeat and consequent elimination from the World cup was way more interesting than the match itself as rioting broke out as soon as it became clear that the match was lost. And, in spite of the efforts of the Military governor of Lagos State to intervene personally, the final word was delivered by the Police who bombarded the rioters with round after round of tear gas canisters which nevertheless could not prevent the crowd from torching the beautiful bus which had brought the Black Stars all the way from Ghana for the match.

Given my experience over the years with the Black Stars, I was not going to endanger my health by exposing myself to the events which took place  at the Moshood Abiola Stadium a couple of days ago by watching that match live. This is why I diverted my attention to other matters whilst the game was on, hoping desperately all the time that my worst fears would not come to pass. I hoped in vain as the default result of Ghana – Nigeria football matches was duly achieved and Ghana prevailed as a matter of course. Unfortunately, in the aftermath of the unpalatable result some animals masquerading as human beings trashed the stadium so that the lasting memory of that match is once again the stinging smell of tear gas as Police struggled to bring a modicum of order to the chaos they most probably did not anticipate. Nigeria will not be represented in Qatar when the finals of that competition take place in November/December. That is tragic enough but given the infantile response of those overgrown miscreants in Abuja the other day, would FIFA even allow us to be part of the next round of the World cup competition? That is a thought which is far too sophisticated to enter the minds, if they have a mind, of those sore losers who turned the Moshood Abiola stadium into a theatre of war as the world looked on in disbelief.

In Nigeria, being a charismatic politician doesn’t save you from aspersion, verbal, written or physical. And a contemporary figure in the realm who best demonstrates the truth of this declaration is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, ex-Lagos State Governor who is now aiming to be the country’s president in 2023. Since he spoke publicly of this ambition, to forsake his traditional role of a kingmaker and be the king himself, he has been pilloried from both expected and unexpected quarters.

There have arisen adversaries from within and from without. And the thrust of the naysayers is that the Jagaban of Borgu ought to remain forever as the one who prepares rulers for the royal court. While some question his moral credentials, others say his past as a governor should eminently fit him for a higher office. So it has been a roughshod ride of critical comments over the National Leader of the governing All Progressives Congress, APC.

But turning 70 on March 29, 2022, Tinubu has silenced his traducers as he put up a performance that appeared to signal what would be the guiding principle of his administration if he finds his way into the nation’s highest political office. When all things had been put in place for a heavily publicized colloquium to mark his septuagenarian milestone in Lagos, a national tragedy occurred involving a terrorist attack on a train heading to Kaduna from Abuja that took several lives, maimed many others and resulted in the kidnap of numerous citizens.

That was when Tinubu released the sensitive patriot and nationalist in him. Unmoved by the torrent of vituperations on him and the enormous financial and manpower expenses pumped into preparing for the colloquium, the former governor cancelled the program in order to honor the victims of the tragedy.

He said as he took the decision: ”Today is supposed to be a very joyful 70th birthday of mine…I give thanks to God Almighty for being able to survive to this age. I have just been informed of a very sad incident in our country…that…many were killed and bombed on a train between Kaduna and Abuja…That is a very serious incident about the security of lives in this country and it calls for a very serious sober reflection. For me to be here celebrating, dancing and enjoying myself doesn’t show enough concern for a statesman and a senior citizen of this country. This event should not be held. I have consulted with the people…and they’ve agreed with me and being a highly committed democrat, I have given (in) to their suggestion that…this event (colloquium) be cancelled.”

The narrative on Tinubu changed hours after this move by the politician. A columnist with a leading newspaper known for its implacable dissenting stand on the Buhari government and those sympathetic to it said:..”And here, one must commend Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who put off the celebration of his 70th birthday in respect of the victims of this sad event.”

Although Tinubu has faced a thousand and one travails in the long trajectory of his life as a politician, he has always triumphed. In 2004, following the seizure of nearly N33b Federal allocation fund belonging to Lagos State by the Obasanjo government over the creation of new local governments by Governor Tinubu, the world expected the state to collapse. However despite 14 months of travail the Tinubu administration underwent on account of the withheld fund, the government still recorded noticeable achievements.

Much earlier, we saw a Tinubu as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who would go into exile to join the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, to battle a savage military junta and save the soul of Nigeria. He threw his capital, experience and time into this patriotic enterprise. It was a hugely successful venture, because NADECO’s exploits, clandestine and overt, eventually saw off the martial rule, whose exit brought the civilian dispensation where Tinubu became the governor of Lagos in 1999.

I have always had high hopes in Nigeria’s academia and despite their numerous shortcomings, I have always insisted that the academia remains Nigeria’s best hope of salvaging the nation’s fortunes l, in it lies the numerous opportunities for national salvation and if only the Nigerian political class would only give it its due and not treat it as one former Governor contemptuously remarked that all they did was to sleep with young female students, today, the same Governor has pretentiously been all over the space for eight years asking Nigerians to take back their country!

But then, when the same academia begins to exhibit the same dysfunctional nature that has defined everything that is wrong with this nation and has thus led her far into the entangling quagmire and has reduced us from that Super Power status our founding fathers much aspired to perhaps the near sick man of Africa! Nigeria has much defied the numerous promises she is beholden to and has sought to break the hearts of most of those who have believed much in her.

So when the academia begin to squabble and fight like petty Lamidi Adedibu’s and the Bob Izua’s over who becomes a Vice Chancellor as is presently witnessed in Obafemi Awolowo University Ife, then it seems that even our hopes that the academia’s light may one day shine over the darkness that much envelopes Nigeria is dimmed forever and we may have to look to another course, the military? God forbid, perhaps a revolution then, but such an option could be gory too!

The issues surrounding the selection of Professor Adebayo Bamire  as the 13th substantive Vice Chancellor of one of the first generation universities the nation produced is mind boggling. The protests that have greeted such a process that is naturally as sacred as any of the other academic rituals is indeed an assault on the principles of ‘Academic Freedom’ from which the University System much owes its existence to.  When the University system became a socio- cultural club or a tribal union ,thus becoming the chattel of the tribe or people upon which the university is situated, one cannot really say, but the university system like Alexander’s parting words seeks the best and brightest, how the people of Ife, including members of the academia who hail from the Cradle of Yoruba Civilization can think to upturn such a process that should be as inviolable as the principle of academic freedom not by suggesting that Bamire’s selection did not meet the requirements or that he may have had some criminal records for which he had been indicted for in the past.

This it must be our son or daughter as Vice Chancellor much negates the essence of a university, will a Vice Chancellor of Ife stock attend to the challenges presently staring the university in the face? Will it improve the academic excellence in the university? Will it immediately translate to bridging the gaping infrastructural gap common with Nigerian universities?  Even at that Professor Bamire happens to be a Yoruba man from Oyan, imagine if he was from Abagana!

Carrying all sorts of charms, dressing funny  and chanting all sorts of mumbo jumbo all in order to reverse the emergence of Professor Bamire is an affront on today’s thinking and represents the departure the academia in Nigeria has taken away from the real ideals of the academic environment.

Has the academia lost it, is thus then any hope for the Nigerian nation if an Oyan man who has lived much of his adult life in Ife cannot be allowed to be a Vice Chancellor even when his credentials are outstanding! If every university in Nigeria were to be managed by sons of the soil, then every tribe will have to have its own university, and employ only sons of the soil, in order to exclude all outsiders from even dreaming to become Vice Chancellor, that would indeed be a sorry sight.

The concept of the university holds that it is a world distinct from the area in which it is domiciled, thus it is a hub on its own, away from the remote vagaries of the town, it is insulated from the thinking of the town, particularly when such thinking runs contrary to the universal spirit from which the word universitas which is Latin and from which the word University is culled from.

Lastly, the University of Ife is a Federal University which is open to any bonafide citizen of Nigeria, the last I checked Professor Bamire is not from Niger, Benin Republic or Djibouti, and it is a shame that 60 plus years into nationhood, we are still squabbling over ethnic issues, worse for it is the fact that it is the academic community that is engaged in such shamelessness when it should be the torch bearer to national integration and national unity.

Nigeria Will Triumph