The Nation Newspaper

Category: Opinion

  • Nigeria universities and third-stream income

    Nigeria universities and third-stream income

    In our universities, student riots cripple the campus, professors form unions and strike, administrators defend their traditional positions, and external interest groups and irate governments try to force their will upon universities. All of these activities can be understood as political acts. They emerge from the complex, fragmented social structure of the university, drawing on the divergent concerns and life styles of hundreds of subcultures. Members of these groups articulate their interests in many different ways, bringing pressure to bear on the decision-making process from any number of angles, using whatever power they have. Power and influence, once articulated; go through a complex process until policies are forged out of the competing claims of multiple groups. This is a dynamic process, a process which clearly indicates that the university is a politicized institution. This place is more like a political jungle, alive and screaming, than a rigid, quiet bureaucracy.

    There is one thing: When ASUU members withdraw services at Public Universities, they continue their Private practices at Private Universities as part-time lecturers. So, they are not losing much, and could afford to prolong the strike action, even when government wields the hammer, “no work, no pay.” In fact the flexibility of academic environment with job security and huge severance packages influence lecturers to retain their offices in public universities while providing part-time lecturing to the private universities in the name of private practice (PP). The greatest losers are the students. These incessant strikes continue to paralyse academic activities, prolong duration of courses and consequently disorientate students.

    The deregulation of education in Nigeria is a deliberate effort to break government’s monopoly on education, thereby giving freedom to private participation in the provision and management of education in order to check the incessant strikes by lecturers in public universities; improve the quality of education and return the lost glory in the nation’s university system. There are clear justifications for the establishment of private universities; these include increase access to education due to acute shortage of places in the existing institutions, overcrowded and deplorable physical facilities.

    Regrettably, the emergence of private universities has not made the desired impact on access to higher education. There is already a wide disparity in placement of candidates between public and private universities, attributable not to the size of the universities but mainly to high fees payable in those private universities. Access to such private universities would be skewed in favour of children from richer homes. Requirements for admission into private universities are not stringent as under-aged applicants and failed candidates in Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) could easily get admissions once they could afford to pay the exorbitant fees into private universities. Furthermore, well-qualified tutors would rather take offer in public universities because of the flexibility of academic environment with job security, the less qualified and jobless candidates are mostly in private universities. In terms of infrastructure, some of the private universities are glorified secondary schools.

    The politicisation of university came to a head as UTAS opposes IPPIS.  ASUU launched its model of payroll, UTAS, University Transparency and Accountability Solution; opposed to IPPIS, Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System introduced by the government. ASUU premised its opposition to IPPIS on University Autonomy law, which grants university administration power over university finances. I agree with ASUU, but I expected them to be proactive, and not wait for their employer to introduce a payment system before coming on board with theirs. Furthermore, every right comes with responsibility. University Autonomy should not be limited to spending government subsidies to the university; it should include sourcing THIRD-STREAM INCOME outside government subsidies and student fees.

    If ASUU members are honest and sincere in their quest to salvage the university education and make our universities competitive at global level, they should come up with innovative ways of raising Third-Stream Income for the running of the universities.

    In the face of limited state funding for higher education, the growth of a research-intensive portfolio should be a way to generate ‘third-stream’ income in order to supplement the institutions’ income from student fees and government subsidies. Some of these universities should explore online education as a means to grow third-stream income, either working independently or in partnership with private companies.

    Universities should do more to run ‘income-generating courses’, possibly in online modes, and recruit more international students who could pay higher fees. However, attracting international students depend on the universities visibility and ranking at global level. It therefore means that our universities should promote their brands, enhance their visibility and competitiveness at global level.

    Raising additional income is not a choice but a necessity if the universities are to continue to function and be competitive at global level. They should use what resources they have to generate as much money as they can to do the main business, as long as it’s going to promote the main mission of the universities.

    In some ways, the arrangement presents a paradox: in order for teaching, research, and community engagement to survive, more income needs to be generated; yet, in order to generate more income, the university needs to shift its focus-at least partially-from teaching, research, and community engagement towards income generation.

    On this premise, some people might argue that the income-generating activities could subvert the teaching and research goals and cast much burden on the universities. But the need to generate third-stream income is particularly pressing, so, the lecturers as professionals and experts should find ways of not increasing the burden or how to increase the burden in a measured way.

    The world is changing. Technology is developing beyond our wildest dreams, and complex issues in business, environment, and politics continue to challenge our society. Higher education prepares students to meet these challenges with grit and determination. A university education is more than classroom instruction. It is a holistic journey that explores facets of individuality, perseverance, and skill. A degree is about learning how to think, communicate, and deliver. More realistically, it can be considered as a transformation – from potential to realization.

     

  • Putin isn’t just an autocrat. He’s something worse

    Putin isn’t just an autocrat. He’s something worse

    Would Mikhail Gorbachev have invaded Ukraine if he, and not Vladimir Putin, were president of Russia? Most Kremlin-watchers would probably say no. It’s hard to imagine that the architect of perestroika would have embarked on the wholesale destruction of a country of 40 million.

    It’s equally hard to imagine independent Russia’s first president, Boris Yeltsin, attempting genocide. Russian forces committed numerous atrocities on Yeltsin’s watch in two Chechen Wars, but they stopped short of exterminating the population and claiming it had no right to exist. Indeed, even Soviet Party boss Leonid Brezhnev, who launched invasions into Afghanistan and Czechoslovakia, did not pursue the kind of scorched-earth strategy Putin has unleashed on Ukraine.

    Historians call these kinds of “what if” questions counterfactuals, and they are useful because they help identify the factor or factors that best explain some phenomenon. Because neither Gorbachev nor Yeltsin nor Brezhnev can be imagined attacking Ukraine’s civilian population as indiscriminately as Putin, it follows that the driver behind the genocidal war is Putin.

    Some analysts argue that geopolitics is more important than individuals, that any Russian leader would have felt impelled to protect the country against NATO enlargement and possible Ukrainian membership.

    That may very well be true, but the counterfactual demonstrates that not every Russian leader would have tried to counter NATO by invading and destroying Ukraine and its people. Gorbachev would probably have engaged the West in negotiations. Yeltsin might have blustered at first, but he too would have ultimately sat down at the table with Western interlocutors. Brezhnev would have delivered a lengthy speech about Western imperialism and he might have even invaded, but he would have done his best to keep the destruction to a minimum, if only because Ukrainians, like the Czechs and Slovaks he “liberated” in 1968, were fellow Slavs in need of their own liberation from capitalist imperialists.

    In a word, no Putin, no war of destruction, what the Nazis called a Vernichtungskrieg.

    But the centrality of Putin’s role in the war goes beyond his personality and psyche, which may or may not have been warped by two years of Covid-induced isolation in a bunker and malformed by his many years in the KGB. Putin has also constructed a type of regime with himself as its indispensable core. A closer look at this regime helps clarify the nature of the threat Putin poses not just to Ukraine but to the rest of the world.

    Putin is the undisputed leader of an authoritarian political system he built over the last 20 years. Unlike Yeltsin or Gorbachev or Brezhnev, he is a charismatic leader who courts praise from the masses and elites and has constructed a personality cult that features him as a hypermasculine man who bares his chest and carries long rifles. As Putin’s deputy chief of staff, Vyacheslav Volodin, noted in 2014, “If there is Putin, there is Russia. If there is no Putin, there is no Russia!” Which is to say that Putin is Russia and Russia is Putin.

    Analysts have usually shied away from asking just what type of regime has these specific characteristics, preferring to say that Putin’s Russia is Putinist or merely authoritarian. But there is a word that many historians and political scientists use for an authoritarian state with a charismatic leader who promotes a personality cult. That word is fascism. Mussolini’s Italy and Hitler’s Germany fit the bill, but so does Stalin’s Soviet Union and Kim’s North Korea. Fascism, in other words, can be found on the political right or the political left. And, as most Ukrainians and many Russians agree, it’s now the best word to describe Putin’s Russia.

    Fascist systems often have several other characteristics. They routinely employ coercion and violence in their everyday dealings. They promote chauvinist and racist ideologies. They usually have expansionist ambitions.

    We can see these same elements in Putin’s regime. Putin destroyed Chechnya and is hellbent on destroying Ukraine. He’s ordered the assassinations of a score of political opponents and is snuffing out any wisps of protest against the war. He promotes a supremacist Russian ideology. And he’s demonstrated his imperial ambitions in Georgia, Belarus and Ukraine.

    Indeed, Putin’s trajectory increasingly resembles that of Hitler. Both men came to power after their countries experienced imperial dismemberment and economic collapse. Both promised to revive their nation’s glory and enjoyed enormous popularity. Both militarized and pursued state capitalism. Both relied on the army and secret police. Both identified their nations with themselves. Both promoted reactionary ideologies that identified one nation – Jews for Hitler, Ukrainians for Putin – as the enemy. And both used their national minorities living in neighboring states as pretexts for expansion. Both were also consummate liars and had deranged personalities. In this scheme of things, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine is equivalent to Hitler’s attack on Austria, Czechoslovakia or Poland. And we all know what happened afterward – a Vernichtungskrieg.

    Naturally, the past never repeats itself exactly. The horrors of the Holocaust are unique, and a world war is anything but inevitable – especially if Ukraine survives or even wins.

    But whatever the outcome, the history of other fascist regimes suggests that Putin’s Russia will follow in their footsteps. Russia will be either aggressive and victorious or aggressive and humiliated. Either way, the war in Ukraine is not the end of the West’s troubles with Putin.

    It’s the beginning.

     

    • This article was first published in www.politico.com

     

  • Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo: Missing the maskless masquerade five years after 

    Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo: Missing the maskless masquerade five years after 

    It was four days to his 57th birthday. Exactly five years ago on Sunday March 5, 2017, however, Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, one of Nigeria’s finest, most innovative and most resourceful journalists of all time, died in continually befuddling circumstances. He had attended the 80th birthday celebration of his erstwhile benefactor and boss, Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s pioneer president in the current democratic milieu in Abeokuta, earlier that day. He was being chauffeured back to his base in Abuja, by a kinsman and friend, Adas Sadiq, a chartered accountant. The evening was speedily creeping in, dusk decisively outwitting the day in the horizon. He had attuned his mind to night stop in Akure or Okene, his hometown, a situation which diminished every thought of a long haul to the country’s capital city on Nigeria’s capricious roads, where he set out from, two days earlier.

    According to accounts, Onukaba and his friend, ran into a roadblock mounted by armed robbers, around Ilara Mokin community, on the Ilesha-Akure road, about 10 minutes away from the Ondo State capital, that evening. Seeing that commuters were fleeing their vehicles and seeking refuge in the vegetation on either side of the road, he followed suit with Sadiq. They took cover in various sections of the bush in the melee.

    A vehicle which reportedly escaped from the immediate jurisdiction of the daredevil criminals, lost control and skidded into Onukaba’s haven, killing him instantly. Probably oblivious he had killed someone, or still jittery that he was still within the span of the robbers he had just outwitted, the driver dragged his car from the scene and fled. It was a police team which, typically, arrived after the fact, that discovered his body in the *agbada* he wore on that day.

    Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo’s reputation went far ahead of him, before our eventual meeting, in the buildup to Obasanjo’s ascension to the presidency, late 1998. He had built the reputation of a fearless, fiery, dogged and prolific journalist, an inspiration to would-be professionals. His reports, mostly from the aviation beat, domiciled primarily at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, (MMIA), Lagos, bore a novel vibrancy. They got featured prominently in the newspaper he worked for, *The Guardian.* It was on this beat he first met Obasanjo back in 1984, and they subsequently struck a *father-son* kind of relationship. Onukaba, who departed Nigeria for further education in 1989, had obtained a masters degree in journalism and a doctorate in performance studies in New York University, (NYU). He had kept in touch with Obasanjo over the years.

    In furtherance of this preexisting relationship with Obasanjo, Onukaba returned to Nigeria late 1998 to lend a helping hand, in the publicity directorate of the campaign infrastructure. The division was very ably led by Onyema Ugochukwu, one of Nigeria’s iconic media professionals. I was already the campaign press secretary to Obasanjo, accompanying him everywhere he went on the political trail and coordinating my small media team to ensure comprehensive and timely reportage of events. Onukaba was seamlessly integrated into the publicity directorate and that was our first encounter. We hit it off straightaway.

    I was curious about Onukaba’s doctoral thesis, which he explained to me, focused on masked masquerade performances in Ebiraland. Having watched some masquerade engagements, notably the *echane* and *ekuechi* festivals in Okene the heartland of the Ebira, I spontaneously coined a nickname for him, “masquerade!” This was my trademark for addressing him till the very end. A number of our mutual friends adopted my coinage. Whenever I told my wife I needed to see masquerade, she knew who it was.

    Onukaba equally had a subsisting relationship with Atiku Abubakar, who was selected as Obasanjo’s running mate ahead of  the presidential election of February 1999. The same year he first engaged Obasanjo in 1984 at the Lagos airport, he equally met Atiku who was the area administrator of the Nigerian Customs, with his office at the Lagos airport. They got on well in the line of duty and became good friends. Fortuitously therefore, Onukaba had two “foster fathers” in the emerging political structure.

    Following the inauguration of the Obasanjo/Atiku presidency, May 29, 1999, Onukaba was appointed Special Assistant on Media to the Vice President. The administrative template established by the new administration was somewhat convoluted. It provided that appointees were first and foremost, personnel of the President, before deployment variously, to offices, agencies and departments. A curious component of this arrangement was that the President could reassign or fire officials across the board in his government. After a few months in office therefore, Obasanjo redeployed Onukaba to Lagos as Managing Director of the Daily Times of Nigeria, (DTN).

    He returned to Abuja in May 2003, upon the inauguration of Obasanjo and Atiku for a second term. This time, he was designated Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the Vice President on Media. Barely two years on the job, Onukaba was sacked by Obasanjo, for an innocuous press statement. Onukaba had attempted to absolve Atiku from complicity in a purported bid for the erstwhile residence of the vice president in Lagos, under the monetization and sale of government properties’ programme of the administration, in the line of duty, an undertaking Obasanjo construed as insubordination.

    On the heels of this development, Onukaba’s mother-in-law, Anna Ebikere Ogirri, who heard the news of his exit from office in Benin City where she lived, got into a commuter vehicle, destined for Abuja to support her son-in-law and her daughter, Rachael his wife, who was pregnant. The date was April 5, 2005. She never make it. She died in an accident. A concerned Atiku, encouraged Onukaba to take a break with his young family which had earlier produced Asuku his little son, and proceed to the United States for a while.

    Atiku placed Onukaba on a generous monthly stipend within that span. And the restless writer he was, Onukaba used the opportunity to firm up the manuscripts of a biography he was writing on Atiku. It was later published as: *Atiku: The Story of Atiku Abubakar.* Ebikere, named after her late grandmother, was born in Baltimore, Maryland, within the period. While he was away, the government-owned property Onukaba lived in, was reallocated and his properties almost thrown to the streets. I speedily rallied friends around to salvage his belongings, which we transferred to a property I had just developed at the time.

    August 29, 2009, Rachael Akiomuado Ogirri Onukaba his wife, tragically died of cerebral malaria at 32. A thoroughly flustered, despondent, bewildered and despairing Onukaba, soldiered on bravely for six years before marrying Memunat Aliyu-Onukaba, at a quiet ceremony attended by just a handful of we his close friends, in Kaduna. The union produced Onyeche, the baby of the family.

    Amidst the general lachrymose and pervading gloom which attended Onukaba’s demise, Atiku established an “Adinoyi-Ojo Onukaba Endowment Fund,” to support the young family. At the fundraiser in Abuja, May 2, 2017, about N13 million was aggregated in cash and promissory notes. Atiku made the single largest contribution of N10 million. A Board of Trustees, chaired by this writer, which includes select family members and intimate friends of Onukaba, was emplaced. Side by side with this effort, Taiwo Obe, a longstanding friend of Onukaba, rallied friends and colleagues on the Lagos stretch, to poll resources for the family.

    Happily, Onukaba’s family is wearing a brave face and trying to cope without their father. In the absence of both biological parents for Asuku and Ebikere, Memunat their stepmother is filling the gap, as well as she can. Onukaba’s siblings, notably Audu, have also been supportive. Frugal management of the Endowment Fund, ensured that Asuku and Ebikere continued their educational progression in one of the topmost private secondary schools in Abuja. They completed their Senior Secondary School Education, (SSCE), in flying colours in that institution without being dislocated from an environment they had aclimatised in over time.

    August 24, 2019, Atiku from his abode in Dubai, fulfilled his pledge, two years earlier, to grant fully-funded scholarships to any of Onukaba’s children desirous of studying at the American University of Nigeria, (AUN), in Yola, owned by him. Asuku Onukaba who turned 19 recently, is in his third year studying Software Engineering, in the institution. Ebikere has been taken up by her maternal uncles, Festus and Kenneth Ogirri, who both live in Houston. Because she’s just 16, she’s been enrolled in a community college, pending her transfer to the university, when she is of age. Ebikere’s aunt, Ethel Ogirri-Omeye, lives next door in Canada, with her family. Last year, the proprietor of the “Cradle To Harvard” schools in Abuja, Phrank Shaibu, awarded a full scholarship to Onyeche, now five years old.

    Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, a kinsman of the late Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, visited Onukaba’s family house in Ihima, Okene, during the muslim three-day prayer for the departed, in March 2017. He promised to buy a property in Abuja for his family, when he learnt Onukaba lived in rented accommodation at the time of his demise. He noted that this contrasted with his looming public profile.

    Bello directed his chief of staff at the time, Edward Onoja, who is now his deputy, to set up a meeting to this effect, between him and officials of the Endowment Fund, on the subject. Five years after, the meeting has not happened. Bello’s finance commissioner, Ashiru Idris, recently committed to reopening the matter with the Kogi State governor, to push it to a successful denouement, when I brought the issue to his attention.

    Onukaba Adinoyi-Ojo, the masquerade who never donned a mask, continues to be missed by many. He was a gentleman par excellence, cerebral, imaginative, forthright, unsuited for Nigeria’s political madness and rapacious rat race. I reminded him in our several debates, that he was not cut out for a country like ours, which continues to confound the world with its self-inflicted ordered disorder, and disorderly order. I would tell him that a certain measure of *agbero* DNA, is needed to navigate the Nigerian conundrum, which I equated with Daniel Fagunwa’s 1938 novel in Yoruba, translated to English as *The Forest of a Thousand Daemons,* by Wole Soyinka.

    I always insisted he was better a professor and knowledge producer in a Western country, where he would thrive as the journalist, playwright, biographer, scholar and arts connoisseur he was. To be sure, his authorial production which includes eight published and performed plays and four biographies, among others, would be the envy of many professors today. At the time of his departure, he was collaborating with Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, a former chairman of the Federal Internal Revenue Service, (FIRS), on a landmark publication on Nigeria’s multifarious ethnicities, which had many respected intellectuals and professionals as contributors. The first volume was all but ready before he left.

    It’s been five years on and we miss Onukaba, every day.

    • Olusunle, is a member of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, (NGE).
  • Emelumba’s pathetic diatribe against Wike

    Emelumba’s pathetic diatribe against Wike

    Our attention has been drawn to  stories published in some National Dailies which Declan Emelumba, the Imo Commissioner for Information and Strategy, embarked on a silly, raving rant of bitter, acrimonious and apopleptic garbage against Governor Nyesom Wike, like a recalcitrant school boy, confronted with his iredeemably dubious antecedents.

    The reason for this furious, hysterical frothing by the discomfitted Mr. Emelumba, is anchored on the charismatic, exciting presence of the Rivers Governor and indeed, the simple truth which Governor Wike delivered to Imolites on Wednesday February 23, 2022, during the reception organised by the PDP, in Owerri, to welcome home the National Secretary of the party, Senator Sam Anyanwu, along with the National leadership of the PDP, led by the National Chairman, Senator Iyorchia Ayu.

    What has irked  Emelumba to the  point of irreverent obduracy is contained in the telling and instructive excerpts of Governor Wike’s comments, during that earthshaking reception viz: “Ordinary convention, a party in power cannot hold one. Look at how we did our own convention. That is to tell you that PDP is the party that should rule Nigeria. This is the party that will rule Imo State too.

    “The only mistake that we will make to allow the man to come back is for

    us not to work together, and we will not make that mistake. Let nobody fear, nobody can intimidate us. Can you be intimidated? All that time has passed when somebody that carried fourth will come first. It will never happen again.”

    This simple home truth, already domiciled for posterity in the public domain was what triggered the often ambivalent Emelumba into a raging fit of verbal apoplexy, spewing all manner of incongruous and malodrous assumptions, allegations with infantile authority.

    Suffice it to say that the Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, has often been described as a man, who seems to take pleasure and delight in controversies, one who seems to have a penchant for speaking from both sides of his mouth and the most damning of all is that many in Imo State now see and regard him as a shameless purvey of falsehood.

    Indeed, feelers within Imo State suggest that many discerning Imolites may have since concluded that Emelumba’s profile and mindset may not be too diverse from that of the infamous Joseph Goebells, who himself was a German Nazi politician and the Gauleiter (district leader) of Berlin, just like Declan was his constituency representative in the Imo Assembly.

    Today Emelumba is the Imo State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, just as his doppelganger was chief propagandist for the Nazi Party, and then Reich Minister of Propaganda and also one of the Furherer’s closest and most devoted acolytes, just as Declan has been with his own boss from as way back as the late 90’s, all through the period his master was in the Senate and until he became Governor.

    By virtue of his antecedents, one is not quite surprised that such garbage like Wike squandering the goodwill of the people while chasing shadows and meddling in the affairs of other states in the last seven years, would drop from his uncouth tongue.

    Emelumba who also uttered complete tripe claiming that the Rivers governor is synonymous with unmitigated failure and crass recklessness and even went further to state that he is a complete failure in governance and leadership and therefore such a man is unfit to assess Uzodimma, has inadvertently made himself a laughing stock by even attempting such improbable comparison between a champion thoroughbred like Governor Wike and a lame gift horse.

    Let us even concede, in recognition of the dubious political propaganda which the likes of Emelumba thrives on, that he has the right to his warped and skewed opinions, one actually wonders whether as Commissioner for Information and Strategy, he even reads newspapers or listens to the news on television and radio, otherwise how did he even conjure the hallucination that “In many states of Nigeria including Cross River, the man has been declared a personal non grata. Let him not test our will”.

    Did  Emelumba not see or hear or read of Governor Wike’s monumental feat, triumphant entry and superlative performance in the same Cross Rivers State he has cited as example, just recently? Has Emelumba not read or heard how Governor Wike’s visits to states in Nigeria are heralded with pomp and celebration often reserved for royalty and other outstanding citizens?

    Or perhaps Declan Emelumba has not seen or heard how respected and highly distinguished political leaders from across party divides have showered encomiums and unprecedented accolades on Wike for his outstanding performance not only in providing leadership excellence to both Rivers State and the PDP, but indeed his outstanding achievements and accomplisments in the delivery of quality projects for which he has won multiple awards and has been appropriately christened “Mr. Quality Projects”?

    Indeed, as the parlance in local slang puts it, “Wike and Uzodimma no be mate” and both Declan and his master who even had to display the kindergarten pettiness to sue both the National Judicial Council, NJC and the Attorney General, to stop people from calling him “Supreme Court Governor” know that Uzodimma will not and can never be a match for Governor Nyesom Wike anyway, any time.

    Finally, we advise him to try as much as possible, in his capacity as Commissioner of Information and Strategy, to be careful over who he listens to and to also ensure that he reads newspapers and listens to the News to be updated, especially in matters that concern and involve Wike, so that  he will not let himself down so badly and embarass himself with avoidable ignorance, next time he chooses to comment about “Mr Projects”.

    In the final analysis, Imo people will be the ones to  vote and like Governor Wike has rightly declared, the “affliction of fourth becoming first” will never  happen a second time to Imolites again. Amen.

    • Nsirim is the Commissioner for Information and Communications, Rivers State

  • Wanted! A Nigerian president (2)

    Wanted! A Nigerian president (2)

    Thirdly, Nigeria in 2023 will be needing a democrat and a thoroughbred one, this must be one of the strong standpoints of whosoever will appeal to the nation’s votes. This is because the nation’s democracy for it to grow and flourish will require that we build strong institutions and not strong men. Nigeria will need a leader that will allow for a true separation of powers, devolve power to the federation units and strive to uphold the rule of law. Of a truth, Nigeria needs to ramp its democratic credentials as it is only a democracy in name only, it was a missed opportunity for President Muhammadu Buhari as it was for President Goodluck Jonathan and President Olusegun Obasanjo, and though these persons may have a plethora of excuses for why they supported the killings of citizens in Odu and Zaki Biam, sponsored phony impeachments or conducted the worst kind of elections that would readily make the election riggers in the First and Second Republics grin with envy, there is no room for such excuses, not with the coup loving spree recently exhibited in West Africa and those who think a coup is no longer possible in Nigerian should have a rethink as all is the military need is a sort of excuse! The military wrecked severe damage on the Nigerian psyche and somewhat stunted our democratic culture haven been in power for a whooping 29 out of its first 40 years of independence.

    Fighting terrorism and tackling insecurity ought to be the drive of any presidential aspirant for 2023, terrorism, banditry and insecurity have continued to spread its collective terrors all over the country while the nation’s security infrastructure has largely been reactive in its response. While the Buhari administration has done its bit and surely it deserves our commendation, the incoming president must rise to meet the challenges of securing the nation, which all put together will demand a brand new understanding of what national security translates to- the safety of the ordinary Nigerian and those who live within her borders.

    Read Also: Wanted! A Nigerian president

    The next president of Nigeria must be a university graduate as this will also enhance his leadership credentials. He must be a lover of education and must come with a mind to fixing the Nigerian educational system which is in coma. Such a leader must be abreast with the present ongoing in the educational sector as well as the present trends governing education in this age. He should come prepared to deal once and for all the issue of continuous industrial action in the Nigerian tertiary education system.

    it is no longer news that the Nigerian University education system owing to a certain number of factors has surrendered its lead in Africa to smaller countries like South Africa, Ghana, Benin, Togo and Senegal with our universities holding distant rankings among the top universities in the world. The next Nigerian President must be willing to fix this

    The is also the issue of poor remuneration and poor infrastructure. This in turn affects the quality of work and research capacity of such lecturers. The lecturers in turn have demanded for better working conditions and have resorted to the option of strikes to press home such demands. These strikes disrupt the academic sessions and ensure that a student who is naturally supposed to spend a maximum of four years may enjoy a ‘tenure elongation of two or three years. ’ Government’s poor funding of education largely means that most of our government universities (Federal and State owned) engage more and more students without receiving the funds to properly do so, small wonder our computer science students go through their four year study programme possibly without seeing a computer and while the world now feats on new software packages to create and deliver super applications, the Nigerian student who has the misfortune of studying computer science is fixated on outdated languages like Cobol, Fortran and Q basic. In such a situation the inevitable isn’t farfetched as the quality of the Nigerian graduate is largely eroded.

    The next president must should see university education as a right and not a privilege, education under the 1999 constitution is one of the justiciable rights guaranteed under it. It cannot shirk its responsibility and yet expect socio-economic and development miracles to occur.

    The next president of Nigeria must also look to the country’s foreign affairs which is indeed in a very poor shape. Of some truth, the Muhammadu Buhari administration has done its bit but then the challenges faced by Nigerians all over the world remains a blight on whatever efforts this administration has surely made. Nigeria’s standing globally and even within Africa, which it ought to make its sphere of influence is somewhat deteriorating. Whoever must lead Nigeria must be committed to what I call a Pax Nigeria with the lofty vision of not only restoring the nation’s lost glory but also the dignity of the black man.

  • JJ at 70: Tribute to a life of sacrifice

    Life is a riddle. And nobody seems to have got a hang of the mystery. Life runs in binary, a kind of an undulating wave of sweet and sorrow. It is full of battles; for a life without battles is a life without victory. To have spent 70 years in this voyage of vicissitudes with outstanding achievements and accomplishments may be in similitude with a life of a General in the Army whose best epaulets are his scars!

    Seventy is indeed a momentous year in the life of an individual, whose eyes are truly elderly, made sunken by the troves of variegated sights. This is probably the reason an American editor and essayist, Stacy Schiff rhetorically asked, “Who can adequately express his astonishment at the changes of fortune and the mysterious vicissitudes in human affairs?”

    If there is nobody, then, Mr. Johnson Adesanya Adenaike popularly known as J.J. whose experience vividly illustrates the mysteries of life really deserves to celebrate his 70th birthday with pomp and ceremony. He has therefore invited the popular Juju maestro, King Sunny Ade to come and sing for him. It is worth it.

    JJ is a Fellow, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants and Fellow, Chartered Accountants, born on 23 February, 1952 to the families of Marcus Adesanya Adenaike of Odolameso quarters- Ijebu Musin and Princess Aiyedunro Adenaike- nee Adekoya of Idokunusi quarters, Ijebu Musin in Ogun state. He has risen from a humble background, under quite limited circumstances to become a mighty man of means and achiever extraordinaire. Today, he is a beacon and blistering light in usually impossible tunnels.

    Yet, this is the same man who lost his mother when he was only seven months old. This is the same man who became a truant in his formative years due to lack of parental care. Indeed, the young Johnson who had been hitherto leading his class had to repeat in primary Three as he started living alone at the age of nine, taking decisions by himself in all aspects of life and subsequently growing wings!. His life became threatened. Indeed, little suggested that he would ever amount to anything in life!

    But as luck would have it, in 1965, his sisters: Mrs. Adedoyin Aina of blessed memory and Mrs. Omodunke Eribake facilitated his coming to Lagos from Ijebu Imusin. With the assistance of his in-law, the late Mr. Oyebanji Eribake, the then little Mr. Johnson was admitted to Saint Andrew’s Primary School, Okepopo Lagos, where he started all over in Standard 3. Happily enough, his poor academic performance in St. Mary’s Primary School got revved up as he began to lead in his class.

    In January 1968, J.J was offered admission to Ijebu Ode Grammar School where payment of school fees became problematic on account of poverty. But his two sisters rose to the occasion to ensure that his education did not suffer. Luckily, Mr. Johnson was awarded a Western State Government Scholarship in 1970 based purely on merit for the best overall student in Form 2 going to Form 3. With the scholarship, he completed his secondary school certificate examination in Division one as a pure science student. He wanted to become a Petroleum Engineer so as to work with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)

    In Social Anthropology, we are told that we become who and what we are by imitation and emulation. This assertion clearly manifested in the life of Mr. Adenaike as upon his joining the Federal Inland Revenue Service at Tinubu Square Lagos for a short job before proceeding to the university, began to see chartered Accountants driving exotic cars and looking dapper.

    These successful accountants, including the late Akarigbo of Ijebu Remo, Oba Micheal Adeniyi Sonariwo motivated JJ into wanting to study accountancy. Consequently, he proceeded to The Polytechnic, Ibadan in 1973 for an ordinary National Diploma certificate. By the time he finished in June 1975, he had completed part 3 of the Institute of Chartered Certified Accountant of London examination.

    Adesanya Adenaike later joined the Federal Audit Department, before proceeding to Yaba College of Technology for a Higher National Diploma certificate in 1976. He later joined Polygram Records Ltd as an Accountant and was immediately sent to its Africa Regional office in Nairobi for a year’s training. On his return from Kenya, Johnson was promoted to the post of Assistant chief Accountant and Chief Accountant in 1983. He eventually became chief Accountant/company secretary and General Manager much later.

    Mr. Adenaike resigned in December 1992 to establish his own companies: Yomdass ventures Limited and Yomdass investments Ltd where he made a lot of money with which he regularly assists the poor, widow, wretched and less-privileged. Today, this silent millionaire has put smiles on the faces of thousands of people who come his way with one problem or the other.

    Mr. Adenaike who has rejected so many chieftaincy titles following his principle of modesty and low-key lifestyle has offered employment to all manner of people without prejudice to their social status, tribe, religion, creed or color. He is gregarious, expansive and solicitous. He is ever cheerful as if he had not a care in the world. You could always take his goodwill for granted. And, he never lets you down.

    This writer got married to his niece, Oyeyinka Ibironke Saanu, nee Eribake. I must confess that since our marriage, Mr. Adenaike has not failed to intervene with his financial assistance at each special occasion including child christening ceremonies. A meek man of stellar character, Baba JJ acts in a fashion of a gentleman as his humility is both amazing and edifying.

    To pen a paean for this great man of honour on occasion of his 70th birthday is indeed a rare privilege that one does not take lightly. Those who hold the belief that Ijebu are notoriously thrifty and marked by obsessive frugality may not have come across the likes of this Ijebu Septuagenarian. He has spent millions of Naira financing church projects, taking care of the poor, orphans, physically challenged and the elderly. There are many lives he has touched with his money.

    However, it must be pointed out that life has not been so straight without bends for Mr. Adenaike! His marriage in 1980 collapsed and the marriage was finally dissolved by a Lagos High Court in 2013. Baba however got married to his current damsel, Mrs. Tolulope Adenaike in December 1992 and the marriage is blessed with four highly resourceful children who are practicing their various professions in the United States of America.

    Surely, a truly heroic way of life lies in squarely confronting and courageously overcoming the pounding vicissitudes that life always throws in our paths. Mr. Adenaike is an illustration of the unrelenting voyage of courage integrity, truthfulness and principles. I like Baba’s courage and admire his carriage.

    Let me round off this tribute by reminding Baba that God’s favor to him are immeasurable. Therefore, seventy is a time for reflection, reconciliation, forgiveness and amendment. God has heard his prayers, helped him, and honored him. This is the time therefore for Baba to be more forgiving. This admonition connects so perfectly and usefully with the native wit and wisdom of the Yoruba who posit that “bi a ba n dagba, a maa n ye ogun ja ni” meaning, we become mellow with age. I pray for greater grace for greater glory. A happy birthday sir.

    Saanu (08034073427) is with the University of Ibadan

    Email: sundaysaanu@gmail.com

     

  • Wanted! A Nigerian president

    Wanted! A Nigerian president

    As Nigerians anticipate the 2023 presidential elections which would obviously not be featuring the incumbent president, the second time such will be occurring in our near 24 years of uninterrupted democracy, the first having occurred when former President Olusegun Obasanjo imposed a Yar Adua on Nigerians following the capsizing of his insidious “Third Term” agenda which was to grant Obasanjo an extra term in office. Thankfully, President Muhammadu Buhari from his body language seems to be interested only in finishing his term and retiring to his farm in Daura.

    However, 2023 will serve as a referendum on President Buhari’s performance in office, and while I will agree that some of the goodwill enjoyed by President Buhari seems to have diminished, the President is still not ordinary and will largely be able to determine who becomes president, aspirants and parties who undermine him may do so at their own peril, Buhari’s cult status in the North is as healthy as ever and all things being equal any candidate he backs may be half way to the presidency.

    Like my readers have always known, I have always advocated for a president of Igbo extraction, and I am not shirking from such advocacy anytime soon, however as a rational human being I also know that there is more to the presidency than the ethnic game of chairs, and so while I will be rooting for a SouthEasterner to be president,’since it is fair and just, given the fact that it is the only zone in the South that is yet to have produced a president, Nigerians should not just settle for  “it is our turn, it is our turn” President , no we should, settle for a president with the qualities  that can help provide leadership that will take Nigeria from where it presently is to where it naturally ought to be, a leading nation and vanguard for the black people and all humanity.

    The  president we need must first of all be a unifier, this is indeed essential given the fractious state the nation appears to be in, with certain elements clamoring for the dismembering of the Nigerian nation, while I tend to much disagree with these elements who advocate that secession is the panacea to the challenges faced in nation building, I cannot but acquiesce to the school of thought which fingers the structure of the Nigerian nation and certain actions as the fertile ground upon which the seeds for separatism have been accidentally sown.  Nigeria will this need a president that will see Nigeria as a sum total of all the ethnic interests that make up Nigeria and not of one or two ethnic groups.

    The next president must possess immense experience and should not be new on the job, I mean in terms of the business of governance and obviously, I am not ruling out the Ohabunwas who by their levels in the business world have been exposed to some aspects of governance, but whosoever Nigerians choose, experience must be key in our checklists. Whether it is in fighting terrorism, corruption or ensuring that the Nigerian economy is on a sure footing, whoever seeks to succeed Buhari must have that wealth of experience and not someone who will learn at the job.

    Second, our dream president should combine a strong commitment to fighting corruption and building a strong and virile economy. This obviously should be the standpoint of any serious presidential candidate. The president Nigeria needs must hinge his campaign on the thrust of anti corruption, he must campaign in prose and not in poetry his will to if not stamp out corruption at least reduce it remarkably. He must come with a charge that will not only give the anti- corruption agencies more teeth in the fight against corruption but progressively reengineer measures that will make corruption and its acts possible. Anti-corruption must be his standpoint, likewise his anti-corruption credentials should impeccable and unassailable, for corruption has bled Nigerians of trillions of Dollars, monies that would have helped build Nigeria into a global power if it had been channeled properly to meeting her development needs.

    On the economy proper, the president Nigeria needs must understand the basics of modern economy such as unemployment , jobs , the infrastructure and  the GDP. The president we need must build on the achievements of President Buhari on infrastructure and agriculture. He should be prepared to focus on the issue of power and help move the nation’s power target to 20,000 megawatts.

  • Why democracy in Africa needs a rethink

    Why democracy in Africa needs a rethink

    In light of a fresh wave of coups, Abu-Bakarr Jalloh writes that Africa needs to reexamine its relationship with democracy — and the West should reexamine its relationship with democratic-turned-autocratic leaders.

    The year 2021 went down in history as the year when military coups returned to Africa.

    In just a few months, the African continent witnessed dozens of coups and attempted coups in Mali, Guinea, Sudan and Chad. So far, 2022 has been no different. Last week, a military junta took power in Burkina Faso.

    For people who were around in the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s — the heyday of coups across the continent — it feels a bit like deja vu.

    The reason for the coups? People’s patience has run out.

    Western double standards

    Many in Africa are questioning the tenets of democracy and are asking whether it’s still relevant in the continent today.

    Across different social media platforms, I’ve come across many anti-democracy and anti-Western sentiments. Much of the frustration seems to be directed at democratically elected leaders who were hiding an autocratic streak, living extravagant lifestyles despite their poorer populaces. It’s not uncommon for these leaders to change their constitutions for political gain and shutter civic space to block dissenting views.

    This is all happening under the watchful eyes of the pioneers of democratic governance — Western Europe and North America. But, instead of taking action, these Western nations legitimize the dirty habits of these democratic-turned-autocratic rulers by prioritizing their own economic interests over rights abuses and corruption.

    On the one hand, Europe and North America pour billions into the continent to promote good governance and support the fight against poverty and corruption. But, on the other hand, they also offer financial backing to Africa’s dictatorial leaders in exchange for unfettered access to natural resources.

    The United States, France, Germany and Norway openly criticize the arbitrary arrests of opposition politicians in Uganda and police brutality in Cameroon, Kenya and Nigeria. But they continue to import their raw materials from those countries. The Democratic Republic of Congo is embroiled in a protracted war in which the biggest victims are civilians. But that’s no problem for the West — as long as the supply of cobalt and coltan continues to flow and power their smartphones, smart cars and smart homes.

    These double standards have consequences. After 60 years of development aid, Africa remains the poorest continent in the world and still suffers the highest number of protracted civil wars.

    I know: It’s better to work with the devil you know than the angel you don’t, right?

    But many Africans are growing sick and tired of this line. They’ve finally lost their patience. So they’re making their voices heard with the biggest and most influential tool at their disposal: the internet. Politically ambitious military colonels have heard their cries, and they’re responding.

    The search for benevolent dictators

    African scholars such as former International Monetary Fund executive Dambisa Moyo and the continentally renowned Kenyan political professor Patrick Loch Otieno (PLO) Lumumba have lauded the benefits of strongman leadership unbound by terms or age limits.

    A benevolent dictator, if you like.

    Against the backdrop of failed multiparty democracies across the continent, this idea has fallen on attentive ears.

    Some of the world’s most famous strongman leaders — from Russia’s Vladimir Putin to Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan — have become political rock stars among African millennials, despite their utter disregard for human rights and their routine silencing of journalists and opposition politicians.

    Amid this resurgence of coups, I believe that democratic governance is more needed than ever in Africa. Not benevolent dictators. People should be able to make fun of a president’s funny hat without getting thrown in jail. As someone who grew up in Sierra Leone in the 1980s, I knew all too well what would happen if you even mentioned dictator Joseph Saidu Momoh’s name in simple conversation.

    From communism to monarchy, the very fabric of modern-day nations hinge on the nuance of politics. With all its flaws, democracy has emerged as a strong global system.

    Nearly all African states have tried this form of governance after their independence from colonial Europe. But generation after generation has achieved little since.

    Untie the stalemate

    The existing regional economic bodies have failed to deliver to or meet the interest of Africans. The African Union is not held in high regard either. In fact, many now view these institutions as support clubs for dictatorial regimes.

    Western nations also lost their moral high ground when they chose to “hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil.”

    But all is not lost. I believe that the coup trend can be bucked and democratic governance can return to Mali, Guinea, Chad, Sudan and Burkina Faso.

    But African elites need to rethink what multiparty democracy means for them and what form it should take in order for it to prevail on the continent.

    Western nations must also be ready to form new partnerships with African leaders that are visibly helping their people. They must also be prepared and willing to cut ties with leaders who fail their nations. Even if that hurts their political and economic interests.

    • This article was first published in www.dw.com

     

  • Douye Diri: Two years of shining testimony

    Douye Diri: Two years of shining testimony

    On the 14th of February 2022 Bayelsa State will be agog as Ijaw traditional, local and national drum beats will be rolled out to celebrate the second anniversary of the prosperity administration symbolized by Governor Douye Diri. The occasion will provide another opportunity for stock taking on the journey so far.

    To a vast majority of Bayelsans, this administration has been eventful, life-touching and a shining testimony of an impactful leadership amidst dwindling resources, political intrigues and a pandemic that ravaged and almost crumbled the entire global economy.

    One can imagine the joy that heralded the inauguration of Senator Douye Diri and his running mate Senator Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo on 14th February, 2020.  In a country bedeviled by impunity and absolute disregard for the rule of law, this can only be celestial.

    Little wonder SDD designated himself the “Miracle Governor.” Indeed, at a time when Bayelsa was drifting towards unbridled political imbroglio God truly unleashed this rare asset to reconstruct a narrative that would have ridiculed Bayelsa in the comity of states.

    Ordinarily, his inaugural speech would have been laden with venom considering what he went through during and after the elections and his eventual Supreme Court victory but the message encompassed all that Diri represents. A man of peace, humility and empathy who believes in exuding love to those who ferociously preach hate.

    Given his antecedents of selfless services over the years for the Ijaw, his state and nation, those who knew the governor unequivocally expressed confidence in his ability to pull together a politically-fragmented state. And so, the first thing he did was extend a hand of fellowship to all who contested the PDP gubernatorial primaries with him not only for reconciliation, but he appointed them to key positions in the ‘prosperity administration.’ It is this unifying attribute that recommended him for the position of Deputy National Chairman, Organizing Committee, of the recently conducted rancor-free PDP national convention.

    His mien and meek nature were put to test and made manifest when he pronounced as topmost priority the putting of food on the tables of retirees. This is by extension in fulfillment of one of my most cherished lyric of the first stanza of the Nigerian National Anthem: “The labour of our heroes past shall never been in vain”.

    Diri further earned the adoration of public and civil servants in the state by paying their salaries and emoluments promptly.

    The governor’s embrace of the policy of continuity is being widely applauded as he ensures all projects of value initiated by previous administrations are completed for the benefit of the people.

    This is borne out of the conviction that abandoning projects inherited from past governments is disservice to the state, waste of scarce resources and marginalization of communities where such projects are sited.

    The Glory Land Road that traverses various communities from Igbogene to Onopa terminating at Government House and the Igbogene-Opolo- Elebele Road are very significant road that will not only decongest the Mbiama-Yenagoa trunk road, but add aesthetic and socio-economic values to the state capital and its environs.

    Besides, he’s mobilized contractors to complete the age long bridge linking the ancient towns of Bassambiri-Nembe and Ogbolomabiri-Nembe, popularly called “Unity Bridge” which construction stopped years ago.

    Work has started on the construction of the Elebele bridge which collapsed over a year ago. This bridge is the major link to communities in the Ogbia Local Government Area and a gateway to the entire Bayelsa East Senatorial district.

    The Ayama and Angiama people of Southern Ijaw could not hold back their joy when they came out in numbers dancing and eulogizing the governor and his entourage during an unscheduled inspection tour of the Ayama-Oporoma Road.

    In the same vein, work on the West Senatorial District Road is ongoing with the construction of major bridges like the Aguobiri bridge which if completed would be a link to various riverine communities. Igbedi, that was hitherto accessible by only water can now be accessed through the newly-completed Amassoma-Igbedi tee-off road that is among the projects being commissioned and opened to commuters soon.

    Majority of these projects were either abandoned or inherited but are being continued to underscore their significance to the socio-economic wellbeing of the people of the state.

    It is only blind, deaf and insensitive persons that will not appreciate that befitting Broadcasting House as an edifice that has completely changed the skyline and landscape of Yenagoa as a signature project.

    And so all those taking swipes at the governor, saying he’s done nothing other than completing projects initiated by predecessors are either doing the bidding of their paymasters or spewing the usual verbal political diarrhea to score cheap points.

    In a recent discussion with the President of the Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN), Engr. Ali A. Rabiu, during a courtesy call on him, the governor reiterated the lamentation by Barack Obama, 44th president of the United of States America in his book “Audacity of Hope, on how America would have been a better place if there were more technical skills (Science, Technology Engineering and Mathematics) than lawyers.

    According to him, this motivated him to enact the policy of establishing well-equipped technical colleges in all eight local government areas of Bayelsa State, to address the dearth in technical skills and competences in the state and beyond.

    He said: “Placing emphasis on the acquisition of skills and competences against grammar, grammar and grammar is the only way to promote self-reliance and entrepreneurial driven economy that ultimately will address unemployment among youths.”

    “If we had skills Dangote wouldn’t have engaged 3,000 welders from India. If we had the relevant skills the Chinese constructing the railway projects would have been compelled to limit their numbers in terms of technical personnel. If we develop right technical skills then we can position ourselves to dictate and limit the influx of all manner of artisans and craftsmen and indeed export the expertise.”

    It is for this singular policy that the 33rd President and Chairman in Council of the Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), Engr. Tasiu Sa’ad Gidari Wudil, considered worthy to bestow Diri with one of the highest honours of the body.

    That the Yenagoa Airport is operational with daily scheduled commercial flights to and from Abuja and Lagos is yet another development worthy of commendation.

    In an attempt to ensure that projects are executed according to standards and specification for sustainability and equally to derive maximum value for costs, Diri charged the state chapter of the NSE to either accompany him always on project monitoring and inspection or go on independent assessment and report accordingly. He gladly rolls up his sleeves to lead the team in all inspection and monitoring activities.

    In the area of education, the Diri administration has endeared itself to the people by its huge investment in the sector.

    Apart from the massive rehabilitation, construction of new schools across the state; the huge investment in the infrastructure concerns of higher institutions have yielded positive result with the accreditation of 71 courses at a stretch at the premier state-owned Niger Delta University, while the State College of Education, School of Nursing and Midwifery are not left out in this regard.

    Teachers are being trained and retrained for the first time in the history of Bayelsa to update their knowledge to meet modern professional standard through the engagement of the services of Microsoft. So far 12,000 teachers are being trained to update and equip them fully with contemporary skills in the emerging world of information technology.

    In same vein, the government also approved its own share of counterpart funding for all Primary Health Care workers across the eight LGA’s to boost morale of workers. Today, they have all smiled home with various welfare packages and allowances due them, while the N30,000.00 minimum wage has been fully implemented.

    Retirees who had suffered nonpayment of gratuities for several years now feel important as senior citizens, as the governor provides a monthly sum of between N250,000,000.00 and N300,000,000.00 to settle their legitimate entitlements.

    Apart from providing wide range of drugs and procurement of medical equipment to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, the Diri administration spared nothing at distributing palliatives to all nook and crannies of the state.

    Riding on the back of the Niger Delta University Teaching Hospital as the main COVID-19 isolation centre, the governor directed government to intervene, complete and energize the Niger Delta Power Holding Company 33kV dedicated line to provide uninterrupted power supply to the hospital which at peak of the pandemic were rejecting patients due to lack of power supply.

    This intervention project by extension placed the entire Gbarain communities on a 24/7 supply which they are supposed to enjoy provided they are committed to payment of their energy bills.

    Power transmission under Diri has equally been made flexible through the resuscitation of a 60MVA, 132/33kV transmission substation in the Gbarain generating station that has been redundant since it was purportedly completed in 2014 by the Niger Delta Power Hodding Company and the bifurcation of the various feeders that radiate from the Yenagoa Transmission Station.

    It is pertinent at this juncture to enlighten the public on the dynamics of the power system post privatization. Distribution companies are responsible for purchase and sales of electricity from the market operator and they in turn are required to remit 100% of energy wheeled to them otherwise they are denied further patronage.

    The bitter reality is that government responsibility stops at proactively responding to untoward incidents, creating access to electricity to communities, strengthening of power delivery infrastructure through either requested intervention by the asset owner or on the need-to-do basis.

    This is exactly what is being done currently on the vandalized towers feeding about 65% of electricity consumers in Yenagoa at the dump site along the Tombia-Amassoma road.

    The responsibility to operate, maintain, buy and sell electricity and remit proceeds of sales to service the entire electricity value chain is vested in the Distribution Service Operators (DISCO).  In this regard government is and should be exonerated from poor or lack of supply of electricity.

    That is to say the onus of reliable power supply can only be guaranteed if the energy that flows through the infrastructure provided by government is not fully accounted for by the Distribution System Operators. It is therefore a consumer-operators responsibility.

    The internal security architecture has been enhanced with capabilities for intelligence gathering real-time as well as effective logistics support with the procurement of vehicles equipped with communication gadgets.

    Bayelsans have reasons to celebrate the emergence of Diri and his two years in the saddle, characterized by purposeful leadership, all-inclusive culture of governance with a very deep sense of human face and milk of kindness.

    No doubt, today, there is a paradigm shift in the entire gamut of governance, driven by a new spirit of redefining development in practical terms for the sustainable development of the state. While one should advise the governor not to let up the fine spirit he has cultivated in his determination to develop the state, he should not be distracted by praise-singers and arm-twisting critics, but should rather remain focused in driving the ship of state to a safe anchor.

    Therefore, those who are still in doubt should be guided by the fact that there comes a time when God takes full control in the affairs of men. In the midst of a perverse and crooked nation there can be no better definition of February 13th than to ascribe it to heavenly intervention and so there is much to celebrate.

    Finally, in the words of Plato “never discourage anyone who continually makes progress, no matter how slow.” Let us encourage the Diri administration to continue in this same spirit.

     

    • Engr. Kemenanabo, a public affairs commentator wrote from Yenagoa, Bayalsa State.

     

  • The COVID emergency is ending. Here’s what we should do next

    The COVID emergency is ending. Here’s what we should do next

    Seven years ago, a group of U.S. government officials and I were sitting in the White House Situation Room, debating how health emergencies end.
    For months, we had worked in West Africa and the West Wing, as Ebola took thousands of lives abroad and spurred deep fears and nasty politics at home.
    All along, our team – led by President Barack Obama alongside local partners, international experts and 3,000 American troops on the ground – was driven by science and data: who was infected and how many were dying.
    By January 2015, the data had shifted. While Ebola still persisted, case and mortality counts had dropped. The question before us was whether it was a lull or something more permanent. Many scientists, including well-respected government epidemiologists, voiced caution and warned that viruses change often. Though I and many others shared that concern, we believed Africans could ward off another surge with reasonable sanitary practices and other precautions that had become commonplace. By mid-February, Obama announced a withdrawal of U.S. forces and a transition to an “ongoing” response.
    It’s time for a similar shift on Covid-19.
    With Omicron’s astonishing surge and so many still dying tragically each day, Americans may feel like such a transition is a long way off. But with a less lethal and now receding variant and a better vaccinated and protected population, it’s clear the pandemic’s emergency stage is ending in the United States. As with Ebola, we must use the coming lull to transition from an emergency response to the management of an ongoing, persistent public health challenge.
    That will require breaking the crisis politics and governing that have become ingrained habits over the last two years. At a polarized time, that move may cause worry, but it is the only way to manage an era with regular health crises. It also offers a path toward some semblance of the return to normalcy that so many crave, while giving us the opportunity to prepare for and prevent the next emergency.
    This transition will begin not with a bang but with a whimper. In the coming weeks, Omicron will likely present far fewer deaths due to a lower mortality rate and far fewer infections because the variant has vastly increased the number of unvaccinated people now protected from Covid-19. Soon enough, people will stop seeing maps turn crimson with cases, their phone’s exposure alerts will grow quieter, and children and their parents will face fewer school interruptions. This lull will be bolstered by President Joe Biden’s recent decisions and other initiatives, which will ensure Americans have access to all the vaccines, masks, tests and treatments they need.
    Yet America’s ability to pivot away from an emergency response is constrained by politics, which proved a bigger driver of how we tackled Covid-19 than the virus itself in the pandemic’s first two years. In many red communities, people sought to live their lives, minimizing social and economic costs while accepting higher case and death counts. Although this approach, endorsed by Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis and others, was irresponsible during earlier, deadlier variants, it has proven a more reasonable fit with the less lethal Omicron. Meanwhile, in many blue areas, low risk tolerance saved lives earlier. But those who pushed for reflexive closures – such as the leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union – appeared to over-estimate Omicron’s health risks and under-emphasize the social and economic costs of more drastic measures.
    In recent days, it’s become clear that many of our elected officials are ready to change course. A number of governors around the country, including in New York and New Jersey, are seizing on the changing Covid-19 data to drop mask mandates. Although these decisions reflect an admirable inclination to respond based on evolving risks, officials in red and blue states alike should decide mask policies as part of comprehensive strategies that seek to make this lull permanent and prevent another emergency.
    Such an ongoing strategy must start with the science. The goal must be to make and keep Covid-19 endemic, akin to the flu, with no dramatic swings in severity. Our worry must shift from the number of cases to the potential for fatalities, as measured by any new variant’s predicted mortality compared to a population’s existing immunity. But that strategy should also consider the social, economic and educational needs of Americans. This is doable. After all, political leaders make complicated decisions every day related to similarly multidimensional threats like violent storms, salmonella outbreaks, and more.
    There are three main pieces to consider.
    First, help people protect themselves. Every American, save the immunocompromised, disabled and young children, can now make choices that all but eradicate the possibility of serious illness and death. We must continue providing people – especially the most vulnerable – with the necessary tests, vaccines, masks and treatments. Providing every tool needed for Covid-19 will empower people to make their own risk calculations.
    Relatedly, governments should also use regulations and investments to improve physical infrastructure. Personal protection and masks should only be required where sufficient improvements are impossible – for example, on subways, buses, airport terminals, arenas and other places where ventilation cannot be improved, and people cannot distance from one another. With better ventilation and spacing and other measures, masking in schools does not have to be, and should not be, an ongoing practice.
    Second, prevent the next variant from going global. Yes, another variant is likely to break out – a rho, pi, and so on are all but certain. But tools and initiatives can make these outbreaks less likely and less deadly. By doing far more to provide vaccines, treatments and tests to the world, the United States could limit the likelihood of new mutations. And by helping improve global surveillance and warning systems to find new outbreaks, we stand a better chance of containing them before they cross borders.
    Third, prepare for the next emergency. Federal, state and local government officials should also support genomic surveillance at home, including monitoring of wastewater and air, and develop ways to signal acute severity, like storm warnings, of a new Covid-19 variant. If an emergency develops, we must be ready to respond with overwhelming force to significant changes in predicted mortality – surging financial, logistical and other resources to the hospitals, schools and infrastructure in vulnerable communities and hotspots.
    In a pandemic, a lull is a terrible thing to waste. Seven years ago, we knew there were risks to moving away from the emergency response on Ebola, just as there are risks today. That we have had this debate twice in less than a decade is emblematic of the new era we live in. Covid-19 will still take some unexpected turns. It and other health threats will be a part of life for years to come. We can only survive them, and thrive despite them, by avoiding partisan bickering, seeing the risks for what they are, and developing sustainable ways to manage them.
    •Shah is president of The Rockefeller Foundation
    •This article was first published in www.politico.com