Category: Opinion

 Mary Beth Leonard  

 

I WAS proud to arrive in Nigeria and begin my third ambassadorial posting last November.  2020 will long be remembered as the year of the pandemic COVID-19, and we will look back and honor the lives of the more than 1.5 million people worldwide who lost their lives to this vicious pandemic.  2020 also marked 60 years of bilateral diplomatic relations between the United States and Nigeria, and much has been accomplished over the course of that time as democracy and a free and open business environment continue to grow.  Allow me to provide a bit more detail about accomplishments achieved with our Nigerian partners.

The international community came together in times of a health crisis.  Over 60 members of the U.S. Mission in Nigeria – from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), USAID, and the U.S. Department of Defense’s Walter Reed Army Institute of Research – stood side by side with Nigerian counterparts at the National Center for Disease Control, Presidential Task Force and Nigerian military to strategize, plan, and effectively implement treatment of Nigerian citizens over the past nine months.  In 2020, the United States provided more than $73 million in assistance for the COVID-19 response. This includes the delivery of 200 ventilators pledged during a conversation between Presidents Buhari and Trump in April, epidemiological COVID detection surveys, technical assistance, and service plans.

I whole-heartedly congratulated Nigeria in August for attaining a wild polio virus-free status and recognized that no country could have achieved this great feat without the support of its partners. This effort, buttressed by the Centers for Disease Control and USAID investments of approximately $220 million dollars combined over the last eight years, demonstrated the dynamism of state and local activities to strengthen surveillance, join in polio campaigns, create polio outbreak response plans, and encourage routine immunization.

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) enrolled its one millionth Nigerian patient this year.   Our team has been engaged in a year-long surge activity that is now enrolling 6,000 new patients per week across the country.  The National AIDS Indicator Survey (NAIIS) armed us with the data we needed to target the disease more effectively.  We are doing just that with our partners at the Nigerian AIDS Control Agency, state governors, health commissioners, and State AIDS Control Agencies, and the Ministry of Health.  Together, we are identifying patients, providing them life-saving treatment, and suppressing their viral loads to levels which can no longer transmit the disease.  We are within reach of an AIDS free generation after twenty years of sustained commitment.

Two-way trade between our great nations has expanded to a value of over $9 billion.  The United States is proud to be one of the largest foreign investors in Nigeria.  Programs offered through our Foreign Commercial and Agricultural Services, like Prosper Africa and the West African Trade Hub, will continue to facilitate business that benefits both our countries.  During a U.S. Chamber of Commerce December, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy shared that Nigeria’s digital economy contributed more than 17 percent to the national GDP in 2020.  Broadband penetration increased by 10 percent this year and as more Nigerians engage in secure and reliable online banking and retail, small and medium enterprises will be able to expand their online platforms and services.  The United States actively supports the expansion of internet infrastructure in Nigeria, with the U.S. Trade and Development Agency this year providing over $3.6 million in project preparation assistance aimed at expanding reliable broadband connectivity to thousands of Nigerians.  In 2021, we expect to see additional opportunities to reduce the digital divide.  President Buhari recently signed the U.S.-Nigeria Open Skies agreement that will permit increased aviation links, generating new two-way trade and commercial opportunities.  With the right policy environment, these trends will lead to even greater business and employment opportunities in 2021.

The United States is a steadfast supporter of Nigerian democracy.  Nigerian youth mobilized and brought international attention to police abuse and successfully called for police reforms.  We will seek opportunities in 2021 to contribute technical assistance in the national and state-level efforts to follow-through on #EndSARS commitments. In November, we welcomed Counselor Brechbühl’s delegation who came to raise U.S. government concerns about ongoing violence in Nigeria, human rights, and religious freedom, and to enhance U.S.-Nigerian cooperation in preventing atrocities./  This past year we encouraged all stakeholders, including INEC, political parties, and security services, to make significant improvements to electoral processes.  We congratulate INEC and the Nigerian people for the credible and largely peaceful Edo and Ondo State elections where voters felt their votes counted.  We support public monitoring groups, such as YIAGA, to build public confidence in election results.  Moving forward, the United States will continue to consider consequences – including visa restrictions – for individuals responsible for undermining the Nigerian democratic process or for organizing election-related violence.

Finally, no country can advance the well-being of its people without peace and security.  Our ongoing U.S. security cooperation programs with Nigeria include equipment sales, grants, education, and training programs.  Countering Boko Haram and ISIS-West Africa remain top priorities for both of our nations.  Maritime security cooperation, through joint exercises such as Obangame Express, demonstrate the strength of our partnership to end piracy and encourage economic activity in the Gulf of Guinea.

We look forward to Nigeria hosting the U.S.-Nigeria Binational Commission in 2021.  The Commission remains a premiere platform of engagement for our governments to expand cooperation and advance shared goals, particularly in the areas of trade and investment, development, good governance, and security cooperation.

With our 60 years young relationship, there is much to look forward to in 2021.  We wish the Nigerian people quality moments with loved ones over the holidays, and time to rejuvenate the spirit as we welcome a new year of engagement and partnership.

 

• Leonard is United States Ambassador to Nigeria

Mohammed Adamu

 

REST on Kyari, the quintessential loyal aide

“….few presidential Aides in the corridors of Aso Rock power have been the victims of fiercer denunciation than President Buhari’s one-of-a-kind Chief Of Staff, the late Abba Kyari of blessed memory. He was assailed by treacherous political insiders who were not content with holding the short end of the governance stick even as he was assailed also by opposition political outsiders who were nostalgic about their decadently corrupt golden past time. He was assailed by self-aggrandizing revisionists bent on an inordinate reordering of the subsisting geo-political and socio-economic order of things even as he was assailed also by dissolutely terrorizing irredentists who chanted secessionist tunes and beat the drums of war in the guise of diligent pursuit of geo-ethnic self-determination. Kyari was assailed for being loyal to his Principal, even as he was most bitterly assailed for availing himself as his Commander-In-Chief’s indefatigable body armor –taking the shots from both enemy and friendly fires. Needless to say that he died an honorable death in the line of duty”. – ‘Kyari’s Lincoln’s Height’ (II) (April/30/20)

 

 Democratic societies must not aid atheism to be secular

“Article 20 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights encourages nation states to adopt legislative measures against “any advocacy of national racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence”. And what can be more obvious than the fact that any advocacy of religious hatred will necessarily constitute incitement to violence? Until recently with the combative rise of atheism in opposition to blasphemy laws, most countries had in their penal systems laws expressly against blasphemy; reason being that there is a clear jurisprudential raison-d’être leading to the conviction that any advocacy, of a religious or anti-religious nature, “if it has the tendency to lead to breach of peace”, it should be legislated against…. Let’s face it, the easiest way to stop overzealous people of faith from taking laws into their hands is when the law itself is made their avenging angel whenever what they hold sacred is profaned. People of faith must not inadvertently advance the cause of atheism by a mutually-self destructing rivalry that helps neither Caesar nor God”. –‘Atheism And The Rise Of Irreligion’ (II) (May/13/20)

 

 Bill Gates’ ‘dream-vaccine’

“At the risk of lending credence to the genuine or unfounded fear by apocalypticists, of an end-time ‘mark of the beast’, Bill Gates -even as he has severally denied a depopulation agenda- at least he has admitted being concerned about controlling global population. Plus he has not denied the vision of a digitally certified members of the humans species by some kind of ‘global ID’, funded as the ‘Gates ID2020’. This is not only intended to digitally certify, but ultimately track and control the world’s population. Welcome to George Orwell’s prophetic novel ‘Nineteen Eighty Four’. Many worry that no matter the altruistic benevolence of Gates’ intention about population control it still should worry the world that a few largely irreligious so called defenders of the human race arrogate the power to remote-control humanity. Although they do not believe the ‘conspiracy theory’ that Gates’ dream-vaccine is the ultimate ‘mark of the beast itself’, they believe that it is the prelude to the eventual ‘chipping’ of individuals not only for the purpose of tracking but more worrisomely for what a concerned American Pastor referred to as ‘mood and mind altering’”.  –‘Bill Gates’ Poisoned Chalice’ (II) May 27/20

 

 On the Afro-American: To sing or to swing

“For the Afro-American it has never been about Floyd really; it has always been about the seizing of rare but opportune moments, at any point in time, to send a clear and unambiguous message to the racist white American, that ‘enough is enough’. That after four hundred years of ‘turning the other cheek’ the scripture by now must’ve been fulfilled, and it is time to let go on singing ‘we shall overcome’, and be prepared to do some ‘swinging’! Like the Jewish rallying call against the humiliation on the ‘Massada’, there is always a time to say ‘Never Again!’” – ‘Not About Floyd’ –June/25/20

 

 Much ado about nothing

“In a democracy people should dissent without dissension. They should be able to disagree without becoming disagreeable. Politicians getting agitated over democratic schisms is as primitive as the anxiety of unscientific man had once been over the natural phenomenon of lunar eclipse -it is to fret over nature sorting itself. It is to worry over what you cannot help… And this mentality –of fretting over nothing- also defines our attitude to democratic litigation. We worry over going to court to resolve even persistently system-harming issues. We would rather bicker and bicker –feeding the media with the logs and twigs to heat up the system by driving controversy. The existence of courts whereby democratic dissent and disagreements are to be resolved is a primordial provision of the democratic process. Democratic actors –rather than shy away from litigation- must maximally avail the judicial process if our democracy is to grow past it teething nascency into its wisdom tooth. Whenever it becomes necessary we must litigate to resolve dissent before it degenerates into dissension, or to reconcile disagreers before they become disagreeable. And if the courts are tardy or unjust, we must demand from them a return to the path of timeous justice”.    -‘A Knee On The Neck Of Democracy’ (July/02/20)

 

 Keyamo’s baptism of fire

“….it appears that since the exit of Aminu Wali and Ita-Giwa, this executive Department for Legislative Liaison has virtually lost all its groove, with virtually all three presidents after Obasanjo (Yaradua, Goodluck and now Buhari) no longer paying heed to it…. The secret of executive success at the legislative arena does not only lie in the creation of an Executive Department for Legislative Liaison, or the presence of a single channel of executive-legislature communication, or the appointment of a skilled political-cum-legislative expert, or maybe even his ability and readiness to deploy the most effective executive lobby initiative at the legislative arena; but rather success lies most importantly in the readiness of all executive foot soldiers (namely political appointees of the President heading MDAs) to submit to the superintendence of this office, the Department for Legislative Liaison, and to be rightly guided by it whenever they have issues of concern at the legislature”. -‘Keyamo And The State Of Executive-Legislature Rapport’ (23/07/20)

 

TY’s misprimed sakabulas

“….then came the story of Nigeria’s former Defense Minister, Lt. Gen. T Y Danjuma -on the offensive. Again. And although in fairness to those whose ethnic jugular the retired General has now grabbed (namely the late Aguyi-Ironsi’s wife), sometimes even I do get the feeling that this uniquely esprit-de-riche General called TY often amazes as much as he disgusts. He comes across as one whose mind occasionally gets sequestrated by the demons of our post-Civil war history; and given the regularity of these demonic attacks, it appears you can now hardly tell when this lord of the ‘Taraba manor’ is compos mentis or when he has gone completely kolomental. With a cavalierly self-righteous disposition typical of him, TY tends to forget, always, that the Civil War had long ended and that the geo-ethnic ‘bad belle’ that it has left with us is no longer fought with arms and ammunitions. Every time a whiff of imagined tea-cup storm blows across, a war-wary TY goes for the gun. A sense of still being in the trenches dodging ogbunigwes and preemptively striking at phantom objects of his wanton imagination, appears to have gotten the better of TY’s twilight days. His nostalgia for the opportunistic cavalry charges of the sixties when vulnerable hors de combats lay at the mercy of his jackboots, is becoming nauseatingly legendary, as the man now enjoys being the casus belli rather than the source for the much needed peace-time healing that the nation craves”.  – ‘Danjuma And Azunna: A Tale Of Two Insanities’ (Aug/06/20)

 

• To be concluded.

By Elijah Udofia

 

WHEN the Coronavirus hit the world early this year, nobody knew that the aftermath would be what Fela called, “sorrow tears and blood”. The pandemic did not only hold the world by the jugular, it dislocated the socio-economic and governance of so many countries.

In Nigeria, though the pandemic did not really cause so much havoc in terms of number of deaths, as against predictions, the social life and the economic activities of the people were adversely affected as the result of the numerous lockdowns and restriction of movements.

This health crisis led to the government at the national and state levels losing billions of Naira that would have been gotten through taxes, rates and other government revenue sources. The dislocation came with tonnes of problems and the outcome is still plaguing the country.

It should be noted that the first case of the pandemic in Nigeria was recorded in Ogun State, when a Liberian consulting for a multinational company located in the state tested positive to the Virus. From then on, the state government in its efforts to contain the disease from spreading among its people, devised various methods including setting up isolation centres in different parts of the state and acquiring medical equipment like molecular and other laboratories, training and retraining of health personnel to handle the crisis and most importantly, giving palliatives to thousands of vulnerable and the extremely poor households that were adversely affected by the pandemic.

Of course, the pandemic also affected the 2020 Budget of N449. 974bn, as all the assumptions underlying the budget became unrealistic and unattainable. This necessitated the need to review the budget downward to N281B, which is a 38 percent decrease. After the review, it was expected that N114B would come from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) and N38B expected inflows from the Statutory Allocation and Value Added Tax.  However, as at 31st of October 2020, actual total revenue was N92B, which represented 42 percent of the prorated revenue target.

For a government that prides itself as existing due to the benevolence of the people and whose sole responsibility is the welfare and well-being of the people, it was time to put the nasty experience of year 2020 behind it and come with strategies that would lead to the recovery of what has been lost. One of the ways of doing this is to think and come up with a budget that would boost the economy and allow people to achieve their aspirations.

Setting the ball rolling, the state Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, let no one in doubt of what to expect next year when on Wednesday, December 2, he presented a proposed Budget of N339bn to the State House of Assembly for consideration.

Tagged “Budget of Recovery and Sustainability, Abiodun told the state lawmakers that the purpose of the budget was to address the problems that arose as the result of the Covid-19 Pandemic, the #EndSARS protests, the general disenchantment in the polity, the socio-economic yearnings of the people for good governance as well as the stringent calls in all societal sphere for a more representative democracy that speaks to the issues of economic growth, consistent progress and equitable quality of life.

Taking a quick look at the budget, it could be seen that it is N110.974 less than that of 2020. Government must have realized that it is very important to adhere to the advice of the former United States President, George Washington, who said “we must consult our means, rather than our wishes”, and realized that it is better to have a realistic budget than have one that would be difficult to implement.

One important aspect of next year’s budget is that emphasis is placed on capital expenditure which gulps N117bn or 52 percent of the total budget, while N162bn or 48 percent would be used for recurrent expenditure. The import of this is that money would be made available for the execution of capital projects, which inevitably would have a positive impact on the lives of the people.

Going through the sectoral allocation, which the Governor often refers to as ISEYA, government set aside N61bn for Infrastructure, social welfare and well-being which includes health, housing, environment, physical planning, women affairs, among others, get N93bn, Education has N58bn, Youth Empowerment N6bn, Agriculture got N15bn, while the sum of N106bn is allocated to the Enablers.

Furthermore, Governor Abiodun informed that the sum of N12bn is being set aside for Stabilization Fund and N10bn for public Debt charges. The Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF), according to the state helmsman, was adopted for the second year running (2021-2023) to achieve good practice in financial management, while for the first time in the history of the state, Medium Term Revenue Strategy (MTRS), a major shift in budget preparation process from focus on the expenditure to a greater emphasis on revenue driven model, was adopted.

Looking at how fund would be generated to finance the budget, Abiodun said N119bn would come from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), N59bn from statutory allocation, while the larger part of N142bn would be sourced from internal and external loans including grants and aids.

One would not be surprised if those who put together this year’s budget had stumbled on the words of James Lew who said, “Budget is not just a collection of numbers, but an expression of our values and aspirations”. The insistence on completion of existing projects, projects with revenue potential, which is consistent with priorities articulated in the State Economic Development Strategy as well as projects that could enhance employment generation, was well thought out and this would ensure that the people get value for their money.

For a government whose commitment to a legacy of hope, financial stability and fiscal prudence is not in doubt, the administration’s commitment to a drastic reduction in the indiscriminate impact of poverty by strengthening all regulatory and institutional framework that are crucial to the preservation of the state’s rich cultural, financial and historical heritage is a welcome development.

Kevin McCarthy is of the opinion that “budgets are blueprints and priorities”, while James Connelly said “budget affects everything”. No doubt the blueprints and priorities have been set and knowing fully well that the budget has a way of affecting everything, it is hoped that 2021 would help in the recovery efforts of the government, while sustaining the progress made so far.

 

• Udofia is head of Ogun State Governor’s Press Crew, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta, Ogun State

 

By Abare Kallah; Isa Buba and Shanta Premawardhana

 

OUR common understanding of the stakes of religious and ethnic conflict is inadequate, especially in complicated, populous areas like the north and northeast zones of Nigeria. Put simply, many of the stakeholders who should be investing in solutions do not fully recognise themselves in the problem. Others see how their interests are impacted by religious violence but don’t see any hope of addressing it.

Businesses in particular have a great deal to gain or lose and need to, individually or collectively, stop the slide and reverse it. To act, however, businesses must be convinced that they are investing in proven solutions, not platitudes.

By accounting in detail all that is lost to religious violence, we hope to reveal how diverse and powerful these relevant stakeholders are. And to prove to these stakeholders that there’s a viable avenue for change, we share firsthand success stories from deeply riven areas where a strategic interfaith peacemaking model has helped people with different religious commitments make the changes they need to thrive as a community.

In writing about religious and ethnic violence in Nigeria, we always caution readers not to oversimplify the issue at hand. It is not just Christians vs. Muslims or farmers vs. herders; Boko Haram does not limit its terrorizing to one ethnicity, religion, or community. For an exceedingly complex country like Nigeria, where each regional zone has a specific history in terms of conflict as well as specific resources and strengths, this reminder is apt.

Yet the same specificity and thought must be applied as well to the impacts of that violence.

Take food security. Nigeria’s farmer-herder conflicts center on a struggle for land and water resources and have resulted in an estimated 10,000 deaths over a two-year period. In halting the harvesting of farmers’ crops and their transport to market, these conflicts have created an acute and immediate problem: community hunger. Food is not getting from where it’s produced to where it’s needed. What’s less obvious is how this violence contributes to food price inflation, which makes the food that is available out of reach for poor Nigerians. Food price inflation leads to an overreliance on imports, which harms the nation’s economy and self-sustainability. Even this last resort to imported food products may be closed off when violence threatens the food supply chain. Without reliable supply chain infrastructure, outside food producers—whose prices might be more accessible—will not enter the market. Finally, with farmers afraid to work the land, farmland is left fallow. With harsh climate conditions stripping off invaluable topsoil, leaving the land unworked can imperil its productivity for years to come.

The issue of food security links the agricultural sector to the health sector to the business sector; violence poses a financial and humanitarian threat to each of these. But what about a sector like tourism? Tourism may seem a second-order issue in comparison with food security, but it has the potential to provide critical employment opportunities and both the funds (including significant tax receipts) and the impetus to overhaul a country’s transportation infrastructure. In the European Union, for example, tourism drives 20 per cent of all service sector jobs and one in ten non-financial businesses are part of the tourism industry. Ghana and Kenya are two examples where—before the COVID-19 pandemic—relative political and social stability yielded immense benefits in terms of employment and infrastructure investments. Security risks have made tourists steer clear of Nigeria, however, even though its natural beauty and cultural resources are on a par with those other countries’.

In hobbling the tourism sector, religious and ethnic violence may also be robbing Nigeria of its environmental future: it is often only when natural resources are understood to be a financial asset that stakeholders come together to protect them—witness the diverse conservation efforts being made in Kenya, for example.

Health, food security, and tourism are three examples of interlinked sectors being brought to their knees by violence. Indeed, such violence produces downstream damage everywhere it touches: by threatening federalism and governance, it opens the door to corruption and closes the door on outside investment. By causing the abduction and rape of children, it devastates souls but also dismantles educational standards and guts the nation’s workforce.

Because all of this destruction is connected, our response must be, too. Stakeholders have to start seeing themselves as part of a network of partners who can, in fact, stem this tide.

In over 70 villages in northeastern Nigeria, an interfaith peacemaking approach has demonstrated effective gains in both conflict prevention and community-led development. Instead of pursuing a secular solution to religious violence and sidestepping Nigerians’ profound religious commitments, this approach capitalizes on them. Interfaith Peacemaker Teams (IP Teams) enlist local religious leaders to work together across ethnic and faith-based lines to secure, support, and sustain their communities. In northern Nigeria, we believe, the way forward is not away from religion but through interfaith collective action.

This action is neither outside-in nor top-down; what sets interfaith peacemaking apart from traditional development initiatives is that it starts within the community, and targets the urgent, relevant, and winnable issues that community members identify.

Two examples convey the concrete results of this model as well as the empowerment it engenders. In the village of Talasse, a Boko Haram attack led the local bank to warn of impending closure—a loss that would have meant over 75 km of travel if villagers had to do any banking. The village head pleaded with people who had left the community to deposit enough of their money in the bank to keep it afloat, but he was unsuccessful. The village’s IP Team mobilised its Muslim and Christian stakeholders to do similar outreach themselves—and their efforts were successful. Now solvent, the bank is a vital symbol of effective interfaith action in the face of ineffective government.

Over 500 kilometers from Talasse, the village of Bagadaza faced a major infrastructure problem in the form of a broken culvert. In the dry season, this was less of a problem; in the rainy season, however, the villagers knew it could spell disaster. Apparently successfully, they lobbied the government to come fix the culvert—but the government changed before any repairs were made. Deciding they couldn’t wait any longer, the IP Team organised the people to raise the money for raw materials and build the culvert themselves. This project does not just meet the immediate needs of the community but also encourages them to tackle other needs that are “urgent, relevant, and winnable” (the IP Team mantra).

So many more examples can be drawn from the IP Team approach in Nigeria and elsewhere, but each one reinforces the lasting effectiveness of interfaith action.

Moral generalisations and mournful sentiments are valuable to a point, but the only proven solution to religious violence is the interfaith peacemaking approach. To unlock the massive, interconnected web of human capacity and talent, infrastructure, and natural resources of northern Nigeria, stakeholders need only to scale up the model that’s already working.

 

• Rev. Kallah is OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership’s National Coordinator for Nigeria and Chairman, Northeast Zone, Christian Association of Nigeria; Sheik Buba, an imam, is Chairman, Fitiyanu Islam of Talasse Mosque in Gombe State and Dr. Premawardhan is President, OMNIA Institute for Contextual Leadership based in Chicago, United States.