The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Killing internal democracy in Labour Party

    Following the cancellation of Labor Party Ward Congress in the FCT recently tongues started wagging as regarding the rationale for such act of betrayal of peoples trust in democratic process. The ward congress which held on 22nd March 2014 had comrade Baba Aye the Deputy National Secretary of labor party as retuning officer.

    Investigation revealed that the reason given for the cancellation was that the congress did not hold in many wards. Therefore the exercise was termed inconclusive. Further investigation revealed that three members of labor party in Kubwa ward of Bwari Area Council, Karu ward of Abuja Municipal Area Council and Quarters ward of Gwagwalada Area Council respectively had petitioned the National Chairman of labor party. They petitioned against the activities of Mr. Peter Adejobi which was termed worrisome, a threat to the growth of the party and internal social democratic norm.

    They further alleged that Mr. Peter Adejobi is defrauding the party by refusing to allow aspirants purchase nomination forms for the FCT congresses. They equally had it on good authority and called on the National Chairman to investigate Mr. Peter Adejoji for giving out nomination forms free of charge to the following Comrade members of the party; Baba Yakini FCT Treasurer, Ben Anyanwu FCT Auditor, Isa Likita FCT secretary, Honest Emetola Admin staff of labour party and all incumbent six Area Councils Labor Party’s Chairmen. They concluded that this act has robbed the party of thousands of naira that could have been used to build the party. That,

    this flagrant abuse of the guideline for ward, local government and state congresses 2014 is calculated by Mr. Peter Adejobi to curry favor from these men to enable him manipulate the election process ahead of the state congress; an act that runs against the avowed provision of labor party’s constitution and the cardinal philosophy of equal opportunity and social Justice.

    One of the FCT labor party chairmanship aspirants, Comrade Ashimole Felix said that, the cancellation is painfully regrettable, but a welcome development as it shows that the national leadership of the party is instilling internal democracy in labor party. It is better late and well done than a hurriedly half baked preparation that ends up inconclusive, he concluded.

    Comrade Ogbu A. Ameh;

    onwaters2011@gmail com

  • Disband Police, Customs

    The candid and plausible advice given by ex-Georgian President, Mr. Mikhail Saakashvil, to Nigeria on the way forward in surmounting the myriad of problems being faced by the country such as corruption, poor power supply, terrorism, just to mention a few is for Nigeria to be prepared to toe the example of the Republic of Georgia which had to disband its police and customs before gaining economic and political stability. The advice coming at a time when the National Conference is ongoing in Nigeria is indeed timely.

    According to him, for three months that Georgia did not have police force following the sacking of all police personnel, crime rate came down drastically and that this was an evidence that the police were part of the security problems which faced Georgia. In addition to disbanding of the police force personnel who were replaced through new recruitment of patriotic Georgians, he also said the entire customs service was sacked owing to corruption coupled with the scrapping of many agencies and that many agencies owing to idleness. In conclusion, the ex-Georgian president attributed the step taken to make the percentage of people below the poverty line to less than 18 percent and that “Today, Georgia is almost without corruption.”

    The million dollar question is: Will Nigerians be prepared to take the plausible advice as given by the ex-president at the backdrop of resistance that the powerful bourgeoisie class, power recyclers, the corrupt elite, beneficiaries of the spoils of office and corrupt public officials (both past and present) will put up against the seeing the light of the day of this advice which can aptly be described as long overdue? Your guess is as good as mine!

    It would be recalled that when the plausible idea of denomination of our Naira currency was mooted by ex-Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Prof. Charles Soludo in 2007, the idea, laudable as it was, was never allowed to come to fruition for selfish reasons.

    There is no doubt that the oldest problem in Nigeria is corruption. Going down memory lane, I did mention in my write up titled “Bravo to Niki Tobi and Abubakar Tanko on their views on corruption” published on page 4 in the P.M. News edition of Monday, April 5, 2005 and in other major Nigerian dailies that “If I have my way as a Nigerian and should I be saddled with the responsibility of drawing up an agenda for the National Political Reform Conference, I will list corruption as the only topic for discussion during the 3-month duration of the conference.” It would be recalled that during the NPRC that was midwived by the Olusegun Obasanjo administration in 2005, the conference chairman, Justice Niki Tobi (rtd.) in agreeing with the view of Alhaji Abubakar Tanko said “I support you. Most people who spoke said the problem with the country has to do with its structure but you are saying it has to do with corruption. You are right. The problem is that there are too many rogues in this country.”

    One thing is certain, with God, nothing is impossible. If the steps taken to check corruption and societal ills worked for the Republic of Georgia nobody can stop it from working in Nigeria if that will pave the way for the emergence of an egalitarian society where life will be made more meaningful for helpless teeming impoverished masses. Long Live Nigeria.

    Odunayo Joseph

    Mopa

    Kogi State

  • Abia’s war against illegal taxation

    Recently, two commissioners in Abia State government were suspended indefinitely for allegedly flouting the state government’s directive against illegal taxation and extortion of money from people of the state.

    The affected commissioners are Chisom Nwamuo, Commerce and Industry, and Ikechukwu Emesiombum, Transport. Their suspension by Governor Theodore Orji was made public via a statement issued in the state capital, Umuahia by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Eze Chikamnayo.

    Before now, the state government had expressed worries at the negative image created for it by multiple revenue agents, blocking traffic and harassing innocent citizens all in the name of collection of taxes and levies. To arrest that ugly development, the state government decided to streamline taxes and levies in the state.

    As part of the implementation process, the government set up a State Internally Generated Revenue Committee, which is expected, among other things, to organise annually, the State Revenue Economic Summit (SRES) to interface with the tax-paying community and chart a roadmap towards acceptable tax procedure. The committee will also organise advocacy programmes to sensitise the people and corporate organisations to draw their support as well as review the existing state laws and compare same with the recommendations of Joint Tax Board/Ministerial Implementation Committee (JTB/MIC).

    It is expected that with the operation of the committee, there would be enhanced revenue and less acrimony between the state and its citizens on the one hand, and private investors and their associations on the other hand on collection of levies and taxes.

    Besides all revenue generating Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) were compulsorily integrated into the IGR committee to ensure uniformity in the execution of the new policy. As the government moves in that direction, it also evolved the policy of conducting all its businesses through the electronic payment system. Taxes and levies are now paid into banks to check fraud.

    However, instead of operating in line with the government directives for the final harmonization processes, those who have been benefitting from the illicit act and those hell-bent on continuing with it without minding the consequences on the people and image of the government went ahead to collect the illegal levies with impunity.

    Unfortunately for them, their cup filled recently following reports by concerned stakeholders that some officials were imposing unauthorised taxes and charges on traders and other people in the commercial city of Aba and environs, coupled with the protest by some aggrieved Aba market women who took to the streets in protest of what they described as heavy imposition of taxes by government officials.

    The development is not peculiar to Abia State. It is and has been a common problem and practice in the states across the country which has been partly responsible for the dwindling IGRs. The case of Abia is somehow unique because the people are not fond of, or disposed to paying taxes and levies. They had always wanted government to do everything for them free. They had argued that they did not see the outcome of the ones they have paid to the past governments in the state.

    It took the developmental strides of the present government in all spheres in the state to convince the people to start paying levies and taxes again.  But instead of the agents to be collecting the little ones that are being paid, some of them in their desperate quest for personal enrichment started engaging in illegal collection of taxes from citizens. It is obvious that people and agencies saddled with the responsibility of collecting revenues for governments at all have devised all sorts of illegal means of extorting money from them, while diverting them into private pockets without government’s knowledge. The practice has become part of the problems bedeviling governance in the country and has proved hard nut to crack for successive governments at all levels.

    The most annoying aspect of the ugly trend is that those who are not in the know-how of how government revenue is being derived or collected would always heap blames on the doorstep of the man at the helm of affairs of government in the state. This is even when such man may or may not be aware of what his commissioners and other tax collectors are doing in the field with the citizens.

    While it is true that the buck stops on the table of the governor in the state, the governors cannot be everywhere at a time or do everything by himself. He must assign responsibility to people and that is why he appoints commissioners, special assistants and other aides. Those appointed into positions in government at various levels should always see it as a call to service, and not avenue for personal enrichment to the detriment of the people they are serving, and the government that appointed them.

    Although, the suspended commissioners in Abia have not been found guilty of complicity in the alleged harassment and extortion of citizens over tax payment, Governor Orji’s decision to suspend them will not only pave way for proper investigation into the matter, it will serve as a deterent to other appointees that may be nursing such ambitions. It has also shown that the state government was not directly or indirectly involved in the whole mess as many were made to believe in the past. If after the probe, the affected commissioners are found wanting, they should be made to refund the money they have collected illegally to government coffers. Such should not be seen by anybody as government’s witch-hunt of the affected commissioners, but rather as a move to sanitise the system of wrong persons.

    Governor Orji’s action is commendable and exemplary and should be emulated. For the stakeholders and market women who summoned the courage to resist it and actually brought it to the attention of the government, their action is no less commmendable. Sometimes some people in government believe that the governor or president will not be easily accessible to the ordinary citizens hence they take advantage of that to engage in all sorts of impunities. Such attitude is not only bad but needs to be discouraged. Governor Orji, a renowned public servant has chosen to operate an open door policy in governance since he came into office. Citizens have the repsonsibility to make their voices heard.

    • Ukonu, a businesswoman wrote from Aba, Abia State

  • Mimiko, save us from perpetual darkness in Igbodigbo

    SIR: I wish to appeal to the Governor of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, to urgently intervene to ameliorate the power supply problems confronting the people of Igbodigbo, in Okitipupa Local Government Area.

    If I many use the word perpetual to describe the protracted darkness being experienced by the people of Igbodigbo; suffice it to say, it is a heart-rending experience which has lingered for too long. The last time the people had a feel of power supply was in December 2013, and that was after some months of darkness as usual. It is definitely not an understatement that power-electricity is a luxury in this part of the state. If power supply were erratic in Igbodigbo, it probably would have been a thing to be thankful for; but on the contrary, it is nothing close to it; it virtually does not exist.

    The irony of the matter is that, just a few metres away from Igbodigbo, power supply is seen around the metropolis; areas stretching from Okitipupa market to Broad Street, through to Estate and its environs what people at Igbodigbo scarcely see. Day in, day out, household and other institutional operations run on generators for those who are able to afford its cost. This is certainly not good enough for the state’s economy and well-being of her indigenes at this location. The situation without mincing words, has further eroded the economic power of the people, as they have to depend on alternative sources of power for daily operations; and this of course, has impacted negatively on economic activities along this axis.

    At some point, one could not stop to wonder how the state’s High Court and the magnificent Mega School Complex located in this area cope with the situation; when power-electricity is needed for court operations and academic activities during school hours.

    Unfortunately, from enquiries made so far, no one seems to have an answer to the question of that could be wrong with the power supply at Igbodigbo! No one can tell point blank why those in charge have not come up with a solution to this depressing situation.

    Sir, it would be heart-warming to the people at Igbodigbo, if a detailed enquiry is carried out on this matter and solution proffered, so we could also enjoy the relative (not yet stable) power supply being enjoyed by other people within and around Okitipupa Local Government of the state.

    I may not know like some other persons out there, what is responsible for the perpetual darkness which has engulfed Igbodigbo up until now, however, I do know for certain that your timely response and intervention will put smiles on the faces of the people, and economic activities will boom better for the prosperity of the people in particular and the state in general.

     

    • Adm. Irinyemi T. Stephen

    Okitipupa, Ondo State

  • Orhii’s ‘NAFDAC’ donation

    SIR: It now seems a decade since the suspended Governor of Nigeria’s apex bank, the buzzing Sanusi Lamido Sanusi was mauled black and blue for taking the funds of the central bank to procure donations for the victims of January 20 attack in his home state of Kano. It was prominently concluded by pundits then, that Sanusi’s gesture was a marginal failure in fairness, in that a similar charity was never replicated during the aftermath of prior incidents in other parts of the country. However, one thing was eventually conceded by the same pundits: it was licit for CBN as a moneyed public institution to partake in corporate social responsibility.

    Then there came the news recently, that Dr Paul Orhii, Director General of NAFDAC was in Makurdi to donate relief materials worth N20 million, to the internally-displaced victims of the Fulani-Tiv crisis in the state. What readily comes to mind reading this is ‘when did NAFDAC become a disaster management agency?’ Or besides, ‘when last did we witness the grieving face of Orhii extending similar gesture to crisis victims in Konduga, Borno State or flood victims in Lagos State?

    In the law of compassion, victims everywhere deserve the common care of all and sundry, regardless of positions and capacities. But charity is not done with a flagrantly borrowed hand. Most appropriately, we would expect to soon see the good Samaritan NAFDAC DG in Lafia, Nassarawa State delivering more donations to another sets of displaced persons from the same crisis. Recall that the compass of NAFDAC’s constituency captures the wide country of Nigeria, not only the boundary of its Food Basket.

    Perhaps this may not have been the first time ‘NAFDAC’ would be found to be overreaching its professional duty of ‘safeguarding the health of the nation’, through preventive vigilance against health-related disasters (as against the passive offer of relief items that was the official preserve of the likes of NEMA). Yet we have every reason to doubt if any stakeholder could categorize the sad crisis in dear Benue as a purely health crisis, for which an agency like NAFDAC may be required to render assistance.

    Two years ago, Thisday had reported another N20million worth of relief materials were donated by the same NAFDAC DG to the same constituency of Makurdi. To quote the newspaper, “The NAFDAC Director General’s estimable donation to the flood victims in Makurdi was said to be the single largest by any organisation, individual or group apart from the state and federal government donations.”

    If all had promptly contested the legality and probity of NAFDAC DG’s donation to Makurdi flood victims alone back in 2012, another N20million in ‘NAFDAC’ relief materials would have been spared from the brunt of unsavory executive diversion.

    Our able NAFDAC DG might have been in Makurdi for his perceivable long-started personality promotion and publicity stunt that seems to be geared toward a possible political ambition in the near future. But is the DG wrong to flaunt political ambitions according to any law and convention in the land? Not at all and never in any way, except that Orhii is currently not a political office holder at least with strict regard to his technical line of duties. If Orhii must be found ‘guilty’ of any shrouded political campaign, let him be in his personal capacity as Benue indigene not in the professional name of NAFDAC and its regulatory activities.

    Until we stop seeing corruption through the screened Google Glass of financial thievery alone, rampant administrative misconducts will continue to wreck havoc upon leadership standards in our country, where there is already a general consensus in the over-existence of its deficits.

     

    • Mazhun Idris

    mazhun.idris@facebook.com

  • Between Abeokuta and Abuja

    In a day the All Progressives Congress (APC) held a hugely successful congress in the 236 wards in Ogun State, I returned to Abeokuta at about 8pm to the warm embrace of the illumination provided by the new highways. From Breweries Bus-stop, cruising towards the city-centre, I was fascinated by the illuminated skies around Akin Olugbade road, provided by the lights adorning the beautiful roads constructed by the Amosun administration. Momentarily, I thought I was somewhere in Europe.

    Who could have imagined this is possible in Abeokuta?

    I recall that Pastor Tunde Bakare came to Abeokuta not long ago and echoed the same words: no one would have thought these things are doable. But Senator Ibikunle Amosun has surprised everyone. A couple of our friends in the media who are from Abeokuta have equally expressed pleasant amazement. One said he found it difficult to locate his house by virtue of the transformation of the state capital.

    If Amosun could accomplish all these in less than three years, one can imagine what the state will look like by the time he completes eight years.

    Hear the United States’ Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr James Entwistle, as reported in the Vanguard, Nation, Daily Independent (28/02/14). “What I see is fantastic, rapid development in Abeokuta. The roads, the bridges, the flyovers are very, very impressive.”

    Imagine if the Ambassador had had the opportunity to visit Ota, Aiyetoro, Ilishan/Ago-Iwoye, Ijebu-Ode, Sagamu and out-of-the-way areas like Ilara/Ijoun, etc. where the “very very impressive roads, the bridges, the flyovers” he saw in Abeokuta are being replicated!

    Interestingly, I passed through Ota on that fateful day of the APC Ward Congress on April 5, and gasped for breath! This is an area I frequented between 2005 and 2011. Is this Ota? Who could have imagined the possibility of all these three years ago? The beautiful Ota township roads, the pedestrian walkways – under construction; that axis used to be hell in terms of appalling state of the roads and attendant human sufferings.

    So, it is actually possible to jump-start development… But my mood has now changed.

    To think that Amosun accomplished all these – to speak in local parlance – by managing money, cutting this, cutting that, reducing that cost, cancelling that other one altogether – sometimes making enemies in the process, since some people are already used to getting free money from political office holders at the expense of development – has the tendency to make one feel downcast. Here are the reasons.

    The Federal Government sits on 52 per cent of the revenue allocation from the federation account while the 36 states share 26 per cent. It has been like that before President Jonathan came to power, so it has nothing to do with him per se. Among those 36 states is Ogun. When you divide the 26 per cent by 36, you have 0.7 per cent – but that is assuming the allocation is shared equally. But it is not, so Ogun State ends up with about 0.3 per cent out of the 26 per cent every month.

    Despite the gargantuan 52 per cent being collected by the federal government, virtually all the federal roads in Ogun State are in tatters: Atan-Agbara road (Agbara is an industrial hub in Nigeria), Owode-Ilaro road, Ikorodu-Sagamu highway, etc. I’m sure the Minister of Works has never heard the names of some of these roads let alone their locations. You see the futility of having federal roads in Nigeria. You see the grave injustice in the federal government getting as much as 52 per cent while the states are starving.

    Wait a minute; the Nigeria Police Force is an agency of the federal government. But it is from the paltry sums being collected by the states that the police are equipped. So, from the meagre 0.3 per cent Ogun receives from the federation account, the police are also being funded! Until the federal authorities started their problem of don’t touch this federal road, don’t touch that one, Ogun had been taking from the 0.3 per cent to repair the completely failed portions of the so-called federal roads. Imagine the amount the state government spent to repair parts of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and several other federal roads! This is because the masses don’t like to differentiate between federal and state roads. Once any road is in Ogun territory, then Amosun must be responsible for its maintenance and reconstruction!

    Again, despite the pretensions in the concurrent list, power is still in the exclusive list of the 1999 Constitution. By the time the modernization going on in Abeokuta, nay Ogun is completed, there is no guarantee that the entire state capital can be illuminated like London, Paris or Berlin because Abeokuta currently gets 20 megawatts whereas it needs at least 80 megawatts, according to Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company! This much I experienced last Saturday, after I exited the illumination of Akin Olugbade, Ibara-Totoro and The First Bridge, and moved to Abiola Way, facing Ijaiye/Sapon from Iyana-Mortuary – all modern highways constructed by the current government.

    Is it then proper for electricity to still be in the exclusive list (notwithstanding the so-called deregulation, backed by a subordinate legislation) when each state, local council, community, household, etc. ought to have the freedom to generate its own electricity and use it for its own purpose – in the 21st century?

    For the umpteenth time, I ask that these federal roads should revert to the states. The Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) and National Assembly (NASS) should ensure that in the new revenue allocation template, Abuja (FG) gets 25 per cent from the Federation Account, while Abeokuta (Ogun) receives 1.5 per cent. Each of the 36 states should receive at least 1.5 per cent from the federation account. We are all from the states, there are no federal people. Concentration of powers and money at the centre has ruined Nigeria, drained it of vitality and made its development elusive for many lamentable years.The federal government should now concentrate on core federal matters such as foreign affairs, currency, and defence while powers are devolved to the states. With more revenue to the federating states and a truly federal constitution, the states will be in a position to maintain the highways (at cheaper costs), open up the bowels of their lands, revive agriculture, provide potable water, construct railway, generate and distribute electricity, provide security for their own people, and indeed, develop at their own pace – re-enacting and promoting healthy rivalries of the glorious days of the 50s and 60s… and building a strong and enduring United States of Nigeria.

    • Soyombo, a public affairs analyst, writes from Abeokuta.

  • Is Obanikoro a true Lagosian?

    Is Obanikoro a true Lagosian?

    What has the job of a junior minister in the department of defence got to do with lands and housing? We ask, what is he doing defending the indefensible when he should be working with his superior minister on how to stop the menace of Boko Haram, arrest the kidnap of his mentors’ family members or how he should work with the national security adviser to broker peace with a disquieted corps of service chiefs?

    Rather Musiliu Obanikoro, a failed governorship candidate in Lagos State, has morphed from electoral disaster of his own to fighting to bring misfortune to the lives of people he contested to save in his previous incarnation. How can we say he means well when a land that has already been set aside to give shelter to over a thousand souls is giving him sleepless nights in his elite mansion?

    Was that why he contested for the same position in 2007? So he wanted to deprive the homeless of their deserved roofs over their heads. Babatunde Fashola, SAN, the Lagos State governor, who bested him in that election and walloped his party’s candidate the second time, said he has documents to show that the federal government handed to Lagos State the Ilubirin property where the housing complex will be erected. But rather than follow decency by first consulting with the government, he deployed military men to occupy the place. He had the option of going to court first. He did not. Is he minister of invasion of lands and housing?

    Is it a case of Obanikoro bringing his office as a minister of defence to tackle lands that belong to the people? Is that the way he defines his position as junior minister of defence? To attack, they say, is a form of defence. That is Obanikoro’s way of showing that he is the defender of the mandate.

    That is the act of the coward who would not fight until he thinks he has seen a perceived lazy man. Lagos State does not have control of the armed forces. The federal government does. Lagos State does not control the police. The federal government does in our skewed federalism.

    Is it not the proper thing to do for a Jonathan administration that believes in due process to take the matter to court? Rather “Koro,” as he is called, has taken arms before the law. Yet he will claim he is a true Lagosian. Maybe he is a Lagosian by birth. He is certainly not a Lagosian by heart or in spirit. His style to Lagos is perfidy, and Lagos loves those who love them. “Koro” is made of a different stripe.

  • LASU: Open letter to Fashola

    SIR: The Lagos State University (LASU) fee hike is the greatest challenge we have been faced with in the last decade. Calling for superior arguments and proposals for the reduction is a testament to the fact that the government of Lagos State is not inflexible to change.

    Following the seemingly endless crisis in LASU in 2011, the Lagos State House of Assembly had passed a resolution subsequent to which Governor Babatunde Fashola set-up a visitation panel to look into all the issues that nearly tore LASU apart. In the report of the visitation panel, recommendations were made to the government on the way forward. Unfortunately, government was selective on those that favoured her alone. A classical example is in Section 4.0, Term of Reference (iii), particularly at Section 4.0.2 paragraph (g) where the panel recommended “increase in the budgetary allocation to the university using the UNESCO benchmark of a minimum of 25% of annual budget on education”.

    In the law establishing LASU, Section 3 sets out the objectives thus: (f) “To provide ready access for citizens of the state in particular to higher education regardless of social origin or income”.  In other words, LASU is meant for the people of the state without prejudice to their socio-economic status.

    Thirty years ago, the Lagos State government under Chief Lateef Jakande established LASU. The party in government then was the Unity Party Nigeria (UPN). This was a party whose linear ideological ancestor was Action Group led by late Obafemi Awolowo. By the time of the Second Republic, the idea of the free education was no longer restricted to primary education, but also to secondary and tertiary education.

    In a state where the per capita income of an average Lagosian is around $100 per month (approximately N16,700), how do we expect the wards of poor people to access tertiary education, when in reality, a degree is not nearly enough to earn good livelihood?

    I will want to quickly digress a little to consider some of the items that were summed up in the fee of N193,750, N223,750, N248,750 and N348,750 for Arts/Education, Social and Management sciences, Law and College of Medicine respectively to show why the fees, going by the breakdown, cannot be justified. For instance in Faculty of Education, Teaching Practice is N15,000. You may wish to know that teaching practice is a service rendered by students to public secondary schools in Lagos. Like Housemanship by medical students, we are meant to be paid for rendering these services and not pay for rendering it.

    We make bold to aver that there is no correlation between price and quality of education. The University of Helsinki, Finland is first in Finland and 76th in the world and it is tuition free. In any case, if a private university can charge N 450,000 to include feeding and accommodation for a year, then LASU is costly compared to private schools for charging N350, 000 without accommodation and feeding.

    We must constantly bear at the back of our minds that LASU is not a private university. It is a public entity meant to serve the people and not for profit making. Therefore, the fee hike is unjust for the reason that LASU was created to bridge the gaps between all classes in society.

    Harvard is a private institution; let us stop comparing LASU with Harvard.

    •Nurudeen, Yusuf Temilola President-Elect, LASU Students’ Union.

  • Omatseye and “uncommon” Asiwaju

    IR: You always make an interesting and exciting read.

    Your piece on B.A.T is the most convincing advocacy yet that I have come across on a man many choose to hate and misunderstand.

    He is in truth a gift to these times and the generations to come will be glad that at this time,  a man  who could at once “descend from the sky  and erupt from the earth”  trudged these land and made bold to be different; for which the nation and themselves  are the better.

    If they read your piece they may in fact ascribe him a deity status  of some sort.

    I  hope to meet with him someday.

    •Austin Edoja-Peters

    Communications Adviser

    Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, Abuja.

  • Big country, big economy, big cynics

    SIR: “How does this affect the price of fish?”, was the cynical rider to a newspaper report early in the week that Nigeria has overtaken South Africa as Africa’s leading economy. This followed the cheery news coming from the National Bureau of Statistics, which confirmed, of course, what many had long believed- that the Nigerian economy has been understated.

    From the rebased Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures, our country’s GDP has catapulted from $262 billion to $510 billion representing an increase of 94.6%. The new figures firmly put Nigeria ahead of South Africa with a GDP of $370.3, as the king of African economy.

    Not only that, the newly rebased figures confirm Nigeria as the 26th largest economy in the world.  By rebasing the country’s GDP figures, what NBS has just done is to recalculate our GDP to more accurately reflect the nation’s changing economic configuration over the last 24 years.  To be sure, the last time this rebasing took place was in 1990.

    What the newly rebased GDP figures simply do is to present the truest picture of the size of the Nigerian economy by including sectors like the film and video industries, telecoms, as well as information technology, hitherto not considered in the last rebasing exercise.

    Given some of the knee-jerk and overly jaundiced criticism of the rebasing coming from some quarters, one is tempted to ask: Was rebasing the GDP figures necessary? Is the outcome correct and dependable?  Are there benefits derivable from the rebasing?

    From different accounts of experts and economy watchers the world over, there is nothing controversial about the rebasing of the GDP figures, which the government has just done.  If anything, the exercise ought to have been carried out many years ago and even on a more regular basis.  Rebasing the GDP figures is a global best practice that affords countries the opportunity to update their templates for measuring growth in the economy more accurately.

    It is interesting to note that cynics are not quarrelling with the newly rebased GDP figures for Nigeria.  Instead, they are raising the issue of its utility.  Yet, there are many who still believe that the size of Nigerian economy is larger than the picture painted by the new figures.  And this group points to the fact that the value of the volume of trade and transactions that goes on daily in the effervescent informal sector is never tracked and consequently not captured by the rebased GDP figures. The daily activities of that seemingly poor food vendor at every motor park, street corners and even beside public buildings are never taken into considerations.  The value of goods in the spare parts markets at Ladipo and other markets in Lagos did not contribute to the rebased figures.  What about the roadside mechanics, carpenters and other artisans?

    There is no doubt that if an accurate tab is kept on the value of the volume of goods and services in the informal sector, the newly rebased Nigerian GDP will outstrip that of South Africa by miles.

    Yes, the rebasing does not automatically translate to increased purchasing power for citizens yet it carries the potential of attracting more investments into the country, which will eventually improve living standards.  And this is the challenge that rebasing poses to the government.

    •Hamisu Abubakar,

    Abuja.