The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

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  • Tragedies and public relations imperative

    SIR: On Saturday, March 15, 19 Nigerians died in a stampede during an ill-fated recruitment exercise for the Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS). The exercise, which was carried out across different recruitment centres across the nation, allegedly had over 500, 000 applicants in attendance – a mammoth figure by any standard. The fallout from this was swift and criticisms from different quarters trailed the exercise; the Federal Interior Minister and the Comptroller General of the NIS were also officially queried by the presidency.

    The tragic incident exposed the NIS and the federal government to public scrutiny and ridicule, with many calling for reparations. In an attempt at damage control, the government announced the cancellation of further screening of candidates and also directed that employment slots be reserved for the families of those who died during the stampede. Not only that, President Goodluck Jonathan, also ordered that employment automatic be given to others who sustained injuries during the exercise and were subsequently hospitalised.

    The incident was a Public Relations disaster, as evidenced by the first, crucial mis-steps: at the initial stage, the Minister of Internal Affairs, Abba Moro, blamed the dead youths by saying that “the applicants lost their lives due to impatience and for not following the laid-down procedures spelt out to them before the exercise.” This reaction was widely condemned and tagged as showing insensitivity and a lack of remorse on the part of the government. It also showed a lack of skill, tact and preparation in dealing with sensitive issues; for example, a government that wishes to be seen as caring and responsible in times of crisis must show empathy to the affected parties, particularly when there is a loss of life and property.

    There is undoubtedly a need for governments around the world, Nigeria included, to incorporate Public Relations (PR) into every area of policy formulation, execution and management. Besides offering adequate publicity to every policy thrust or drive, it helps deal with crises when they occur – and they do occur. The NIS incident is a good example of a crisis that would have been better handled given proper PR management and ill-advised utterances such as Moro’s would never have found their way into the press.

    The government must learn from this incident and incorporate PR into all areas of administration. Proper crisis management plans must be put in place to mitigate damage and key government officials or spokespersons must be educated on just how to respond to sensitive issues to avoid instigating public ire. The art and practice of Public Relations by the government must to a large extent reflect honesty, openness, advocacy, fairness and most importantly; constant communication. If these tenets had been followed in handling the NIS crisis, the public backlash might have been potentially substantially reduced.

    • Adeolu Isadiran

    Lagos

  • Nigerians rise against forces of division

    SIR: Nigeria is at a defining moment of her history. To my brothers and sisters who believe Nigeria should break-up, I want us to please consider some realities. The amalgamation of the Northern and Southern Protectorates is now 100 years old. The crises at hand are self-created. We should rather think of finding solutions to our problems. I repeat with convictions that none of the regions in Nigeria can really go alone. We have gone too far, inter-married and have business concerns all over the country.

    I have traveled through all regions in Nigeria. I have seen Igbos, Yorubas, Hausa-Fulanis who are products of inter-tribal marriages. Just too many of them. Where then do they belong if not Nigeria? I have met several Yorubas, Igbos and southerners in the North who have never travelled to their home states and even with the state of origin problems. I have seen several products of inter-tribal marriages in the West, East and South-south. These are Nigerians who have no better homes than the states where they were raised up!

    Our problem is not the union, but the overt and covert establishments of poverty and infrastructural deficiencies by the political elites as well as the conformist nature of us the followers via primordial attachments to ethnicity or religion.

    Let this be clear: those who brought us to this mess cut across all regions, tribes, creeds or faiths. Not one can be exempted! Then what we need to do is to stop blaming the union, come out of our self-imposed socio-political delusions by refusing completely to dance to the music of ethnicity or religion. When we keep talking of ethnicity or religion, we are simply doing exactly what the political class wants us to do. They want us to be distracted with the amalgamation, ethnicity or religion while they keep denying us of dividends of democracy. They continue to amass wealth and say they are fighting for us.

    Which region is not afflicted with poverty or infrastructural deficiency? If we were to break-up today who else will provide political leadership if not the same political class? Take a look at any of the North-west, North-east, North-central, South-west, South-east and South-south regions; which region is free of intrinsic internal differences? Which of the regions is free of ethnic-related crises? Which of the regions is free of complaints of marginalization by ethnic minorities? Why are there continuous demands for the creation of more states across all regions if not because of cries of domination by larger ethnic groups? Which region is free of poverty, infrastructural deficiencies, poor standard of education, irregular or no power supply? The way forward is to demand for a new Nigeria where things work and where leaders are chosen based on their visionary capabilities and not ethnic or religious affiliations.

    Remember: We have done it before; we can still do it better. Sir Herbert Macaulay (from Western Nigeria) handed over the leadership of the National Youth Movement to Sir Azikwe (from Eastern Nigeria). In the First Republic, Umoru Altine from Sokoto (Northern Nigeria) and Dr Bashorun Balogun from Ogun (Western Nigeria) were mayors of Port Harcourt and Enugu respectively while Ebube Dike, an Igbo from Okigwe (Eastern Nigeria) represented Ajeromi-Ajegunle Constituency as an Honourable member of the Western House of Assembly.

    Stop primordial attachments to ethnicity or religion; recognize that our problems are the same across all regions and vote for visionary leaderships in 2015 across all levels or tiers of governments irrespective of ethnic or religious affiliations.

    • Akinlolu, Abdulazeez Adelaja

    University of Ilorin

  • Diezani’s unending book of scandals

    It is so difficult to associate beauty with so much ugliness; especially beauty of the feminine kind. But Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria’s oil minister and a woman of exquisite beauty has, in just a few years as head of this all-important sector, earned the dubious distinction of being the most scandal-prone person to head that office. She has notched up enough ugly tales about her office that her feminine good looks would compare to the mask of gorgon. There are enough hoary stories about this oil queen to write a fat, steamy book.

    Running now is the Diezani private jets scandal. A few months ago, an NGO petitioned the National Assembly (NASS), detailing how our dainty queen had notched up a bill of over N10 billion flying the world in such luxury only associated with Arab sheikhs. It is a tale of unrestrained extravagance and flamboyance many thought was a cruel joke on Nigerians. But as the House Committee on Public Accounts began its probe on the allegations, it has been revealed that not only one jet, the Challenger 850, but there is another XRS plane which she flies for overseas trips at the cost of 600,000 euros per return trip. It has been revealed that she chartered this jet twice last year on trips to London. And hold your heart: there is yet a third jet!

    Investigations are still on-going though, but that seems to be the catch about this fair lady; probing her has always ended in a cul de sac. Her inquisitors seem to always hit a stone wall or is it a golden wall as a cynic once conjectured? Just before this jet affair rebounded, we had been fed the kerosene subsidy, which was an N850 billion ear-tingling caper. She allegedly defied a presidential order to vacate the dubious regime and for years supervised a most duplicitous transaction of importing kerosene under the subsidy template and selling it to the public at market rate. What this would amount to is that while the cycle lasted, only the minister and her team were being subsidised. And this matter just fizzled out.

    There was the Malabu miasma: though this multi-billion oil block (OPL 245) dated back about 15 years, it is under her watch that it was resolved – but not in favour of Nigeria’s government as it ought to be, but in favour of various fronts and shell companies. Thus a lucrative oil block dubiously acquired by some renegades was eventually disbursed to their benefit. The payout by Shell last year for this oil block was a hefty $1.3 billion and instead of this swelling Nigeria’s treasury, it was a huge payday for economic saboteurs and their collaborators in government. Our oil queen remained conveniently silent and aloof over this shenanigan that brewed right under her nose. We are to assume that it was no business of hers but we know better.

    There is the January 2012 subsidy upheaval, which ended up showing how subsidy had become a huge multi-trillion naira racket. All the panel reports from this epic drama is now an easy chair upon which our oil lady sits coolly, unperturbed. What about the $20 billion missing oil money that recently consumed Mr. Lamido Sanusi, the Central Bank governor? What about Transfigura, Vitol, crude swap, etc? It is indeed a fat, sordid book.

  • Vision for a peaceful Nigeria

    In 2001, my cousin Sadie Ette was among victims of the September 11 tragedy. It is now more than 13 years since that tragic incident changed our world, and even though there is still pain and anguish for me and other members of her family, I find the ideals of Peaceful Tomorrow (an organization established by family members of 9/11) as one that could be replicated in Nigeria to tackle the incessant strife, tribal conflicts, and terrorist attacks that have led to unnecessary bloodshed and property destruction in Nigeria in the past few years.

    The Peaceful Tomorrow’s organization (of which I am a member) was launched as a project of the Fellowship of Reconciliation – USA in February 2002. The name of the organization comes from a statement made by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that “Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.”

    What founding members of this organization share is “a belief that the violence that took their loved ones’ lives could spin out of control, and fear could be manipulated by politicians and the media to justify foreign and domestic policies that would increase violence while decreasing U.S. citizens’ rights and liberties over the years to come.”

    I believe these ideals can also be used as a peace-initiative template (either collaboratively or independently) in Nigeria, especially with a world that is now so interconnected in many ways.

    For instance, Sadie was born in the USA but her parents, who attended school in Georgia are from Eket, Akwa Ibom State. I am a first cousin of Sadie, and to emphasize how interconnected we are: My mom (who Sadie lived with while attending school in Ekpoma) is from Eket , my dad from Benin, I did my youth service at the Nigerian Military School in Zaria, worked in Lagos, travelled extensively across the country as a journalist before emigrating to the USA in 1989.

    And from these varied experiences the simple truth is we are all one; what every family desires is peace, stability, sustenance and a roof over their heads.

    One of the biggest challenges in this century will be how much attention our leaders pay to international integration as well as events in other parts (like the terrorist incidents in Nigeria) that could have a cascading effect on other parts of the world.

    In fact, President Barack Obama harped on this fact in 2009 during a visit to Ghana, when he said: “The 21st century will be shaped by what happens not just in Rome or Moscow or Washington, but by what happens in Accra as well…This is the simple truth of a time when the boundaries between people are overwhelmed by our connections. Your prosperity can expand America’s prosperity. Your health and security can contribute to the world’s health and security. And the strength of your democracy can help advance human rights for people everywhere.” While this speech was intended for Ghanaians, I believe the message resonates for countries like Nigeria as well, which has in the last few years, been struggling with issues that threaten the countries security and stability.

    World leaders and organizations need to put more emphasis on introducing lasting peace initiatives on the African continent not just because of its importance, but also because it is the right thing to do.

    Africa is increasingly becoming important in this era of globalization, so it is crucial that the western World begins to invest in sustainable development initiatives here, and not just on only what can be derived from the continent. The fact that World Bank statistics identifies seven of the 10 fastest growing economies as being on the African continent places more importance on peace and stability.

    This point was also emphasized by former UN Ambassador and civil rights leader Andrew Young at a lecture I attended October 2012 in Oakland, California organized by the Martin Luther King Jr. Freedom Center. In his speech titled “I Dream a World that Works” presented at the Barbara Lee (U.S. Congresswoman) and Elihu Harris (former Oakland Mayor) Lecture Series, Young projected that America’s leadership role will have to be intertwined with what it does to ensure success and stability in the African continent.

    I was in Nigeria a few weeks after that conference, and one of the items that dominated the news while I was there was an attack on a Catholic church in the northern Nigeria city of Kaduna that left scores dead and many others wounded.

    In fact these kamikaze-style attacks have become a recurring trend continuing into 2014, especially in the north-eastern part of Nigeria and have the potential of triggering a deeper ethnic conflict if not stemmed. In addition to this the Niger Delta region has been restive for some time now, too. In fact these attacks have now become so bloody, frequent and daring that Nigerians are now beginning to ask themselves: What is really going on?

    With an economy that the Economist magazine has predicted will soon outpace South Africa’s economy to become Africa’s largest economy, it is important that the world begins to pay more attention to this scourge in Nigeria.

    It is encouraging to see recent partnerships between Nigeria and the United States in tackling this scourge’ solidified by a Nigeria-U.S. Bi-National Commission meeting in Abuja in February.

    Following the meeting the U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, assured that with the backing of the U.S. the Nigerian government and its military will defeat Boko Haram.

    But the Nigerian government still needs to step up the pace and utilize every resource at its disposal in stemming this tide especially as we approach an election year.

    • Edokpayi is Nigerian-American journalist and strategic communications expert.

  • Attention: Fashola

    Thank you for the giant strides achieved in development and governance of Lagos State and for the accolades you’ve gained far and wide. My father was particularly proud of you except for some reservations that he had which will I mention later.

    My father and mother served the Lagos State government meritoriously for very many years at the local government level and upon retirement they complained for very many years as they felt short changed.

    I attended the last verification exercise in December of 2013 on the behalf of my father, whilst my mother attended in person despite her failing health, and with gratitude to God it was to be their last as my father died a few weeks after even as my mother was to follow two months after.

    They were paid N7,400 and N10,400 in December and neither one of them was able to make it to the bank and I doubt that such funds would ever be accessible to anyone and they died poor .

    I remember my mum always saying that she was rich and a millionaire, only if the state government would pay her all of her arrears, inclusive of the 142% which I grew up hearing about that had been either promised or allocated to them and my father on the 16th of December, 2013 still made mention of, he infact said he was expecting three years salary.

    Pray your Excellency tells us what the benefit of these yearly verification exercises are for.

    I will seek to have their accounts closed and go through the normal process for the government of Lagos to stop paying these pitiable amounts,it was never enough to do anything and it never came in on time anyway.

    Who knows, if the 142% or whatever was paid, they might have been able to afford a better life and treatment, they might have also gone to their deaths feeling so appreciative of your government.

    Your Excellency, my parents lived well devoid of their entitlements even though they expected more from the government of Lagos State, and it is on this note that I’ve written this.

    I have always believed in you and your government much as they did for you and the AD,AC,ACN and APC which they never ceased to support and vote for. They are dead, buried and will be buried, as the other sick and expectant ones whom I met at the last exercise.

    Please do that which you believe is right and is true and achievable. Sentimentally, you grew up in my dads neighbourhood and an uncle of yours who is also a pensioner stood as the best man my dad when he got married to my mum.

    All I ask in memory of my mum and all of those who died without their entitlements is that you see these other people off to their graves happy and fulfilled that their services were well recognised and their entitlements paid to them.

    I speak in favour of the likes of Akinnawo, Ogunrombi, Shorunke, Alexander and a whole lot of others.

    I am expectant of a worthy response from Your Excellency and I will pursue all means possible to hear from you, Your Excellency.

    May God bless and keep you.

     

    Gabriel Adeyemi Onafowokan writes from Lagos

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  • To conquer Boko Haram

    o conquer Boko Haram, the military and the federal government should adopt new tactics. My suggestion to the federal government is to evacuate all the villagers to the cities in the three affected states, since Boko Haram have shifted their dastardly activities from the cities to the villages because of the concentration of security men in the cities.

    This will enable the military to engage the insurgents fully militarily without fear of civilian casualties. This can be carried out one state after the other and this will bring effective coordination between the Army/Airforce and other security agencies.

    As it is now, the military has been careful in their operations not to destroy the civilians they are trying to protect. If the civilians are evacuated from all the black spots in the three states, the military will be free to bombard all the Boko Haram’s hideouts or bunkers without fear of civilian casualties. By so doing, they will be routed out either by killing them or by capturing them. If this is done, I am sure within two months Boko Haram will be a forgotten issue; although this exercise will cost a lot of money, there will be instant result. For instance, if it is flood that occupies these three states, will the govt leave the people to die? Therefore, it is possible to evacuate the villagers to enable the military face Boko Haram squarely and professionally.

    The military are doing their best. It is easier said than done – some arm chair critics sit in the comfort of their offices to write whatever comes to their heads against the military not minding that the military we are talking about are human beings with their own families. They are not fighting a conventional warfare; what they are engaged in is a shadow war, where you hardly come face to face with the enemy before he strikes. Recently, some so-called elders from the north threatened to drag the former Chief of Army Staff to the International Criminal Court in the Hague, claiming that the military probably mistakenly killed about 20 civilians. How do we want the military to prosecute this war against Boko Haram successfully when we continue to demoralise them by our actions?

    Boko Haram mixed with civilians when they want to commit harvoc. Are Boko Haram not civilians too? They only wear military camouflage when they want to release communiqué. The military is in a dilemma regarding separating the chaff from the wheat because Boko Haram members live amongst the people and they have no symbol or mark to identify them.

    Now that school children have become endangered species, what do we do to put an end to Boko Haram’s dastardly acts against school children? Fifty-nine school children were killed in Buni Yadi, Yobe State, 37 children in Adamawa State, which were just the recent incidents. Sooner or later, parents will start the withdrawal of their children from schools which will surely make the north to be more educationally disadvantaged than before.

    My message to Mr. President is that it is high time to look for the sponsors of Boko Haram; it is not enough to pursue Boko Haram members, pursue the sponsors as well. When the police arrest an armed robber, he will recount his experiences from the first day he joined the robbery gang. Why don’t we apply the same method to captured Boko Haram members to spill the beans concerning their sponsors? Boko Haram mostly live in the jungle, how do they come about the Hilux buses in their convoys and the large caches of sophisticated weapons they are using. Where does the money come from? Let us be serious for once.

     

    Israel Oyegbile

    Sabo Tasha

    Kaduna.

     

  • Evil of kerosene and firewood

    Kerosene and firewood are the two most conventional sources of fuel for domestic cooking stoves in Nigeria. These two sources of domestic cooking fuel have been seen to have high level of carbon emission which in majority of cases have been found to be unhealthy to our human body let alone children. Over the past four decades, Nigerians living in townships and rural areas are used to either kerosene cook-stoves or firewood as the popular fuel for domestic cooking. This killer trend has a long history in our society; possibly due to the available resources, i.e. forest reserves and crude oil. But then as the world is drifting more into cleaner sources of energy, there is need for the Nigerian authorities to adopt these measures with adequate sensitisation programme, especially at the grassroots level and with the private sector’s support. Green energy is becoming popular in America, Asia and Europe due to their huge carbon footprint over the years with little or no penetration into most African countries.

    Liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is not becoming a conventional source of fuel for cook-stoves in Nigeria. The use of LPG as source of fuel is common in the urban, particularly in places where its supply is readily accessible and not in the rural areas of Nigeria. The main reasons why LPG is widely adopted for household use are: it is convenient to operate, easy to control, and clean to use because of the blue flame emitted during cooking. However, because of the continued increase in the price of oil in the world market, the price of LPG fuel has gone up tremendously and is continuously increasing at a fast rate. At present, a 12.5-kg LPG, that is commonly used by common households for cooking, costs as high as 3,000 naira – 3,500 naira per cylinder in urban areas. For a typical household, having four children, one LPG tank can be consumed within 20 to 30 days only depending on the number and amount of food being cooked. Use of LPG is proving rather expensive for the government, consumer and the environment as well.

    For the past years, gasifier stoves using biomass as fuel have been developed in countries like the US, China, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and other developing countries in Asia. These gasifier stoves produce a flammable gas by burning the fuel with limited amount of air. These stoves can easily replace the conventional LPG stove. This stove has no problem of pollution and using the abundant rice husk and other biomass fuel, it can drastically reduce the cost of cooking fuel. Rice farmers in Nigeria can easily access the waste of rice husks from their individual farms or from rice processors as fuel needed for rice husk biomass gas stoves.

    Benefits of the Biomass Gas Stove:

    The rice husk gas stove technology is found to have the following advantages, not only to users but to the general public as well:

    1. It is a good replacement for LPG stove, particularly in terms of fuel savings and quality of flame (i.e., luminous blue flame) produced during cooking. By direct energy conversion, about 50 kg of rice husk can replace a cylinder.

    2. It will significantly reduce the cost of household spending on conventional fuel sources such as electricity, kerosene, wood, and wood charcoal.

    3. It will help reduce the carbon dioxide emission in the air brought about by the burning of LPG, wood and other biomass fuel in the traditional cook-stoves, which contributes to the ozone layer depletion and consequently in the “greenhouse effect” into the atmosphere.

    By Egun Sunday

    egunsunday@hotmail.com.

  • Now that the conference has begun

    SIR: Though some Nigerians have expressed scepticism that a National Conference at this time would be tantamount to a waste of time and financial resources, others have described it as a “Greek gift”, a ploy by the PDP-led government to pull diverse people together and enrich their pockets in order to ensure support in 2015 general elections.

    Now that the conference has finally started and members are at last settling for serious business, they should be mindful of the fact that beyond the scepticism and reservations about the viability of the conference to really address and redress some of our problems, most Nigerians who believes in this confab and indeed the common people look forward to them to arrive at recommendations that would turn their lives around for good.

    Nigerians expect recommendations and reports that would address issues of indigene-ship, we have a situation on our hands whereby an indigene of Kogi State for example, who was born and bred in Kwara State still cannot claim to be from Kwara despite spending about 40 years in that state. We have also heard of cases where women from a particular state get married to men from a different state yet they are not allowed the privileges of an indigene in their husband’s state of origin. All these should be looked into and addressed if this country is to move forward.

    Delegates need to look at issues like rotational presidency among the six geopolitical zones that make up this country and not the North-South arrangement that some politicians prefer. Even in the states, a situation whereby all the governors that had ruled a state since 1999 came from a particular senatorial district does not augur well and it is unacceptable; local government autonomy should not even be a matter for debate in this 21st Century if not that some people are hell bent at drawing back the wheels of progress of this county. Financial and economic autonomy should be returned to the local governments to give a sense of belonging to common Nigerians at the grass root.

    Creation of an anti-corruption tribunal to serve as a special court to speedily hear corruption cases should be on the cards of the delegates; declaring a state of emergency on unemployment as a means of checking youth restiveness and insurgency is not negotiable; the issue of BSc/HND differentiation should be made a criminal offence; NYSC reforms should be extensively looked into; agricultural revolution and an amicable resolution to issues of Fulani herdsmen/ farmers clashes should be on the card.

    The recommendation and outcome of this august conference should not fail to ensure that the rights of women and children are protected, wife battery and all forms of violence against women should be made a criminal offence as well as child hawking and other forms of abuse against children; a critical look should be made into the issue of public smoking and the proliferation of open-bars in the nook and crannies of this country. Common Nigerians look up to you the delegates to make things right again.

     

    • Hussain Obaro,

    Ilorin