The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Time to industrialise Benue State

    SIR: Benue State as one of the economically backward states of the Nigerian federation deserves a holistic revamping of its moribund and ruined industries. Although described as the food basket of the nation, that claim does not extend beyond peasant farming characterised by poor harvest storage.

    In the 80’s when the state’s owned industries where a common sight among the new states created in 1976, Benue State was leading the pack with Benue Cement and its ancillaries in the production and packaging sector. There were many others too like the Taraku Mills, Burnt Bricks, Agro -Millers and other lesser ones.

    All these, like many even at the national level never survived due to rabid culture of mismanagement, nepotism, patronage, and outright embezzlement. All the management theories studied in Europe, USA and Asia could not be brought to bear on these earlier efforts at industrialization as a precedent for emulation by successive generations. Today, the younger generations who saw no evil, did no evil or said nothing evil are the unlucky victims of the recklessness done by their visionless forebearers.

    The irony of it all is that those who squander the fortune of the nation are yet alive and unrelenting; unrepentant in their greed to amass more for their yet unborn children. They have forgotten that those children will live in the same country with those they dispossessed of their rights to economic empowerment and self actualization. These people like nemesis are now fighting back to reclaim their inheritance. Today, the demand is on the increase as we see the manifestation in different guise which we have to contend with at a very high cost.

    • Ogbu Alexander Ameh

    Owukpa Akatewe Ogwu Kingdom

    Benue State

  • Labour Party’s abracadabra in Ekiti

    SIR: Labour party, by today, should earn a reputation for itself as a stop-gap party in Ekiti State, if not a fringe party nationwide.

    When former PDP governor, Ayodele Fayose, was toppled via declaration of State of Emergency in 2006, it was the Labour Party that he fell back upon as a ready substitute to the PDP that had apparently let him down.

    Under the Labour Party, he lost thegovernorship election in 2007 and had to back Dr. John Kayode Fayemi of the Action Congress during the 2009 re-run election against the then governor of Ekiti State, Engr. Segun Oni, who was PDP candidate.

    With the House of Representatives member, Hon. Michael Opeyemi Bamidele (MOB), currently falling back on the Labour Party as a ready substitute to his desired APC, the Labour Party should be noted for its flaming ambition and, particularly, for its adventurer’s inclinations.

    The current adventure would have been founded virtually on nothing but for the new twist in the politics of President Goodluck Jonathan ; there would have been no Labour Party members to take off with since the former LP members had either decamped to AC (now APC) after working for Fayemi during the 2009 re-run election or returned to PDP with Ayo Fayose thereafter.

    Until former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, alleged in his recent open letter that President Goodluck Jonathan now sponsors opposition parties against his own PDP in political bargains for an anticipated 2015 victory, the grand pretense in the re-emergence of Labour Party in Ekiti State had been puzzling.

    You can call it abracadabra, the magical word which translates to the more you look, the less you see!

    Familiar PDP faces were the ones seen at Labour Party gatherings; they were the ones operating as organizers, who rented offices and recruited new members, all of which culminated in the emergence of a former PDP assemblyman, Hon. Akin Omole , as the state chairman of Labour Party without a history of his defection, at all, from his ‘former’ PDP to the Labour Party!

    We were being left to wonder and guess if there was soon to be a merger of the Labour Party with the PDP; whether an understanding already existed in secrecy that could be inimical to free and fair election in 2014.

    However the picture was later becoming clearer why Hon. Michael Opeyemi Bamidele had to abandon his highly-performing and fast-growing party to take an apparent big risk!

    MOB must have presumed his risk as being so well-calculated with the president himself behind it all. Well, we shall see how his magic works. The waiting game is worth it.

     

    • JideOguntoye

    Oye-Ekiti)

  • Christmas gift for Ogun homeowners

    In 2003, I joined a group of fellow young professionals to purchase one plot of land in what was then an undeveloped village called Orunmerunmu along the Lagos Ibadan Expressway. For several years, I had to frequently call the local land owner called Omo onile to keep an eye on my plot of land. On at least three occasions, two of my friends and I had to make emergency trips to the village on being tipped off that some Omo oniles were reselling undeveloped plots. Of course, this vigil service was neither free nor cheap.  Every Christmas, my wife and I never failed to send gifts to the Omo oniles as an insurance policy against their reselling our single plot of land.

    As our income improved, we set about the building process, using our savings, loans and wages. In a spartan manner, we bore sacrifices over a two-year period until, finally, our three-bedroom bungalow was ready for occupation. It was a very simple structure; it remained unpainted for two years. However, humble as the building was, we saw it as the fulfillment of a dream – escape from landlords, security in our old age and a future inheritance for our children. I had never slept as soundly as the first night in our own home. You can ever understand the relief, the peace that becoming a homeowner gives until you actually become one.

    Later on, the euphoria waned and another reality confronted us. Yes, we had a home. Yes, we were free of struggling to pay rent that climbed up faster than our incomes or being harassed by landlords. But we could not secure the almighty Certificate-of-Occupancy-the only formally recognized proof of ownership of landed property. It is true we had carefully kept the land receipt issued by the local ruling family and all the receipts for the tippers of sand and bags of cement used in construction but there was no Certificate-of-Occupancy and, indeed, no building approval for the property.  Like many in these areas, we relied on the grapevine for our information about how cumbersome and expensive the process of obtaining those documents would be. We also thought we were saving money and time by not obtaining required documents more so because many neighbours who had commenced trying to regularize their documentation later abandoned the effort in frustration.

    Another widely held belief in our area was that C-of-O would never be issued as Ogun State government was planning to demolish the buildings in areas like ours and resell the land for development of luxury housing complexes. The lack of public schools and other facilities in the area was cited as evidence that government had other plans. Stories of the demolition exercises to create right of way for new roads under construction in other areas of the state were used as examples of what would befall us. The sadness and uncertainty that the situation created is not easily described. The collective knowledge that we legally had no leg to stand on, having built without approval and having no evidence of ownership presented a stark reality that when government decides to act, we will be helpless.  Where would we go if the bulldozers eventually came? How would we start again? Would we lose our new status as landlords? Knowing that despite being a homeowner you had no real legal standing is a truly frightening position for one to be.

    So you can imagine the joy when on December 16, Governor Ibikunle Amosun unveiled the Homeowners’ Charter, an opportunity to regularise our documentation so as to obtain a C-of-O without any penalty and at a large discount. Even those who had built on land owned by government rather than private land are being allowed to formalize their ownership, again at considerable discount. The surprise is that majority of people in our position would have readily paid the full amount if they can be assured of getting the building plan approval or the C-of-O. In fact, I would readily pay double the full amount, simply to be secure in our house.  I found the discount almost unbelievable until after seeing it repeated several times in media reports about the launch of the programme.

    The fact that we are finally free from the threat of a return to being tenants, that we will be issued documents that prove we own our home, documents that can be used to secure a loan at any bank or to sell our property with ease, is enough for me. Many homeowners are relieved that the government of Ogun State has decided to take a practical approach. Investment in houses running into millions of naira would be lost if the government decides to demolish our homes, or use our situation to extort money from us. Rather, the government has streamlined and simplified the process of applying for documentation for housing. The regularization of housing documents will assist the government in understanding the population in the newly developed area of the state and planning for social and infrastructure needs.

    For majority of homeowners in Ogun State, Christmas was not just memorable for the usual festivities, parties and merriments.  It will be remembered because for the first time in many years, there is the prospect of certainty about the ownership of the property we occupy. This is a lifelong Christmas gift.

     

    • Odedere writes from Orunmerunmu, Ogun State.

  • Obasanjo, Alao-Akala and nonsensical pugilism

    Boxing Day is an appropriate time to learn from the incivility of certain public figures, specifically in their relations with journalists. Starting with ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo is symbolic of his stature as a former head of a democratically elected government for eight years, 1999 to 2007, during which he ought to have imbibed a modicum of good manners. Alas, the 76-year-old retired Nigerian Army general recently demonstrated that such flattering expectation was erroneous.

    Following the publication of his daughter’s disparaging letter to him, it was understandable that Obasanjo’s deflated ego yielded to bad temper. Nevertheless, his advanced age and leadership background should have tempered his reaction, especially in public, and in the context of interaction with reporters. The media definitely cannot be faulted for publishing Iyabo Obasanjo’s open letter to her father; there was neither a breach of secrecy nor a violation of confidentiality on their part.

    If the Chief was hurt, and he should be, because the negative missive was apparently written in response to his own 18-page fault-finding letter to President Goodluck Jonathan and significantly represented a massive put-down by his own daughter, the balm could not have been the transferred aggression against Vanguard, the purveyor of the bombshell. His rude reaction to the paper’s reporters involved in a follow-up not only left a sour taste in the mouth; more importantly, it further discredited him.

    Here is the December 19 report of the revealing phone exchange between Vanguard and Obasanjo:

    Vanguard: Sir, we tried reaching you all through yesterday, to no avail, over the letter written by your daughter, Iyabo, to you.

    Chief Obasanjo: You are a bloody idiot, you have published the paper and you are now looking for me, you are an idiot, don’t call me again.

    His abusive language, which was disappointing enough, was compounded by the reflex response. A huge minus it was, without any doubt.

    It is interesting that another well-known political player and a former governor of Oyo State, Adebayo Alao-Akala, also recently displayed discourtesy to two journalists who interviewed him for Punch, Adeola Balogun and Tunde Odesola.

    In this particular case, the ex-police officer became irritable, following a question concerning his alleged romance with bleaching. The interviewers asked: “Is it your fashion to bleach?” Alao-Akala replied with a blast: “Bleach? That is stupidity; you are asking a very stupid question, how can I bleach? You are very stupid to ask that question. What do you mean by that? What gave you that impression…So if you want to write that, put it there that I said you are very stupid to ask me that kind of question. Don’t ask that kind of question again.”

    According to the publication, “(He pulled up his clothes and singlet to show his fair complexion)”, saying, “Is this bleaching? Have you seen the cream that I use that makes me bleach or did you know me when I was black?” With a sense of decorum, his reaction need not have been so insulting, did it? Even if it was prompted by the rather frontal question, his furious defensiveness could have been without abuse- couldn’t it? It would appear that his unseemly conduct was, at bottom, a function of ungentlemanliness.

    Furthermore, speaking of the word “stupid”, Alao-Akala’s handling of a particular question arising from his self- acknowledged love of jewelry suggested that perhaps he was more deserving of the adjective. The interviewers probed: “Is it not illegal for you to wear necklace with your uniform? Alao-Akala unthinkingly answered: “It was not legal but my uniform would cover it.” Wow! This was a former police officer unwittingly condemning himself.

  • My sweet encounter with LASTMA, Police

    This article is not intended to launder the image of anybody but a conscientious exercise to purge myself of some guilt. Since I had carpeted an entire corps because of an ‘isolated’ case that I experienced, I feel obliged to commend the entire corps for another ‘isolated’ case that I also experienced that I found gratifying. I believe that in so doing I would have been fair to all.

    I have heard many stories about the excesses and unethical behavior of some law enforcement agents in Lagos. From the story of the Police extorting bribes from motorists, to that of how Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) officers are involved in stealing, extortion, assault and other unscrupulous activities. These stories sounded like the usual stories we hear daily of the police and my response had always been ‘it takes two to tango’ suggesting that these atrocities happen because the so-called victims compromised with the officers.

    I came down from that moral high horse on November 20, 2012 when I had a direct contact with two police officers on my way home from a confectionary store where I went to pick my daughter’s birthday cake. This encounter happened on the Gbagada General Hospital Road. The road was in a very bad state at the time and motorists had to meander through the road as they dodged the potholes and bumps road. This was exactly what my driver was doing when I was startled with some banging at the back of my car.

    I asked the driver to pull over to ascertain what the issue was. As the driver stopped, the cyclist came in front of the car and stopped. He demanded to see my driver’s driving licence and ordered his colleague to enter my car. “I charge you with dangerous driving, I have witnesses,” he barked. Up till now the cyclist and his passenger had not even identified themselves. I was so amused that I asked him to go ahead and sentence since he has already delivered his judgment.

    They took us to the police station and once we got in, they took my driver and pushed him behind the counter. Unknown to us, some officers went and deflated my tyres. I stepped out and called my lawyer and asked him to join us at the station. Before he came, the police brought out a foolscap sheet and asked my driver to write a statement. On the paper, they claimed that they were chasing an armed robber suspect when my driver used his car to block them and the suspect ran away. Nothing could be more hilarious – from dangerous driving to aiding and abetting. In the end, it took a court injunction for my driver to be released. He spent two weeks at the station for no just cause. I felt terrible that he went through the ordeal just because I refused to ‘play ball’.

    For this incident, I resolved never to trust any man in uniform, talk less of the police again.

    I was to have a change of attitude again a fortnight ago. I was coming back from work one night and my car suddenly had a flat tyre at the Ijora Olopa area of Lagos. I even shivered at the memory of the incident. I was alone in this eerie place. I abandoned the car and was fleeing to safety, when I saw a police patrol van. I flagged it down, hoping they would stop. They did and I narrated my ordeal to them. They took me and went and made a U-turn and came to where the broken down vehicle parked.

    By then, LASTMA officials had come to tow the vehicle away. I explained my ordeal to them and begged them not to tow the vehicle away. All they asked for was my Caution sign, and once I showed it to them, they assisted and changed the tyre. All the while, the policemen stood by us. When they were done, they turned to leave. I felt shocked and offered them N5,000 as a show of gratitude. I was surprised they turned down the offer, saying all they needed was to know that I had the Caution sign. It felt like a dream or a movie from Nollywood but it was real. I then asked for their names and office. I had to go to their office to report my experience to their boss and to commend them for the work they are doing.

    I know many Lagosians, like me, have one story or another to tell of their untold experiences in the hands of various law enforcement agencies in Lagos from the Nigerian Police, the military, customs, Kick Against Indiscipline, LASTMA, VIO, FRSC etc. which has created a bad impression about these law enforcement agencies. Often times we share the same feelings about civil servants. We have been presented with situations that portray the civil servants as unruly and people with questionable integrity.

    One lesson I have learnt from the two encounters I have shared earlier in the article was to approach each person with an open mind and not create pigeonholes where I plug every government official. As I was told by the LASTMA official, the establishment was set up to regulate traffic in Lagos State; it was a necessary solution to a growing problem in the state. The responsibility of managing traffic and everything associated with vehicular movement in Lagos State is not a child’s play and in the overall, residents and visitors to Lagos have greatly benefited from their work.

    He informed me that LASTMA has helped reduce the number of bad drivers from the roads and managed the security risks posed by tramps on the Lagos highway.

    He asked me to contemplate a day without LAWMA officials, the several traffic choke points without anyone to ensure free flow of traffic; the accidents as a result of unruly motorists breaking traffic laws; the several obstructions on the highways as a result of broken down vehicles. He further informed that LASTMA has set up rules to help it discharge its mandate. “It is the people who don’t want to follow laid down rules; people who always like short cuts that think that we are out to stress their lives,” he said.

    No doubt, all law enforcement agencies, like every other institution, have some bad eggs among their rank and file. We can only hope that they will weed these bad ones out but in the meantime, it will not do us any good to regard all members law enforcement agents as bad simply because of some not-too-good encounters.

    • Maduka, a sociologist writes from Apapa, Lagos.

     

  • Open letter to ordinary Nigerians

    SIR: Several letters have already been written and addressed to those at the corridors of power, their cronies and establishments. I have lost count of the number of well-written, thought-provoking and soul-piercing articles I personally authored and addressed to those in power; high-profile personalities and government establishments. As usual, such articles were basically targeted at ensuring that our leaders don’t veer off the lane of commonsense, resist the temptation to promote personal interests and constantly remind them of the sacredness of the tasks in their hands.

    Whether such letters have produced desired outcomes is a different thing altogether.

    Fellow countrymen and women, I’m very sad and worried. I’m alarmed by the way we allow our appointed or elected representatives to choke us with practices considered very harmful and detrimental to our lives and that of our dear nation. No nation grows in an environment where laws are breached with impunity. No nation attains greatness in an environment where a negligible percentage of its population bury themselves in affluence, while a large chunk of its population still live from hand to mouth. This is a country where social and economic rights of its citizens are serially abused by those in authority.

    We, the citizenry allow so many ills to go unchecked. Through our unified silence, we have indirectly endorsed some ill practices. In extreme cases, we even offer support to these leaders to further impoverish, insult and shortchange us with impunity. Like sheep without shepherds, our leaders have led us astray into dangerous lands. We have groped in the dark for too long. Our leaders have since realized that we are too fearful, too naïve and not daring enough to question their profligate disposition, ostentatious lifestyles, greed, avarice and primitive accumulation of our commonwealth.

    We have become so used to the mess that our country has become. Nothing seems to bother us anymore. Many have lost interest in the project called Nigeria. This is very sad. Ideally, as citizens, we should all be benefiting from the nation’s wealth. As citizens, irrespective of tribe, creed and political persuasion, we have equal stake in the sharing and allocation of Nigeria’s vast resources. Unfortunately, the sad reality is that our leaders have cornered the resources to serve their interests and those of their cronies. This gross injustice is so obvious to be left unchallenged.

    Challenging them doesn’t imply taking up arms or inciting others to attack our leaders. It’s about reminding them of the need to redistribute the resources among Nigerians. It is about telling them of the consequences of their actions.

    Strangely, we, those often called ordinary Nigerians tend to defend and hold brief for leaders accused of graft. Instead of naming and shaming those cornering our collective patrimony through contract splitting, kickbacks, contract inflation, misappropriation, we often rise to defend their action for very stupid reasons. It is sickening to see ordinary Nigerians rise in defence of leaders found to have abused public office simply because such a leader shares blood or certain affinities with them. I recall with pain how some young men in Imo State took to the street to defend Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah who was alleged to have directed heads of parastatals under her supervision to get her two bullet-proof cars with funds not captured in the budget.

    This is not how to build a country. We have stayed too long on the wrong path. No matter how far we have gone on the wrong lane, we can still retrace our steps back to the drawing board to start again. Let us begin the year 2014 on a promising note. Fellow ordinary Nigerians, I wish that we could all take our pride of place in how this nation is governed. We were once blind, but we can now see. Do have a hitch-free festive season and a prosperous new year in advance.

    • Abdullahi Yunusa

    Imane, Kogi State.

  • Osun schools’ reclassification here to stay

    SIR: My attention has been drawn to a comment by Mr. Iyiola Omisore calling on the Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to reverse the schools reclassification exercise recently implemented by the administration.

    Omisore has yet again displayed a crass ignorance of the kind of surgical operation needed in the education sector to reverse the years of rot and decadence under the erstwhile PDP administration in the state. Seven and a half years of PDP governance left the education sector comatose, with heavily dilapidated infrastructure, highly demoralized teachers and a quality of teaching so poor that only three percent of the pupils could earn enough credits in their final examination to proceed to tertiary education.

    Omisore was part and parcel of a discredited administration that neglected education in the state and is now unashamedly criticizing a revival process that was transparently planned and implemented and is already very well imbibed by parents, students and teachers as well as well-meaning citizens with a genuine desire to uplift education in the state. A planning committee personally supervised by Governor Aregbesola worked flat-out for six months, making consultations at the state and local government levels, and preparing the logistics necessary for a successful implementation.  Omisore’s allegation that the implementation of the reclassification exercise was not thought through is laughable to say the least.

    There were post-implementation challenges which have been largely resolved excepting the shallow concerns of self-serving politicians. We deliberately chose not to be distracted by those who think education is game for cheap politicking.  I have gone round schools and happy to see teachers and students well settled into the new system. Reclassification has begun to yield very positive results and it is here to stay. The likes of Omisore should look for something else to politicise.

    •Isiaka Ayodele Owoade (PhD)

    Osun Schools Reclassification Committee, Osogbo

  • To salvage Nigeria’s a task that must be done

    To salvage Nigeria’s a task that must be done

    SIR: In 1982, the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo wrote a letter to President Shehu Shagari to warn him about the precarious state of the Nigerian economy unless the President as the anchor man rose up to save the situation. However, those who never liked the face of the sage called him different names. The rest is now history. The letter from former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo to President Goodluck Jonathan could be likened to Awo’s letter mentioned above.

    One thing that is certain is that the nation is at a crossroad, and just like Awo pointed out then, there is need for our sailors to wake up to save the situation. Therefore, the rescue mission embarked upon by the leadership of the All Progressive Congress is a right step in a right direction. It is obvious that Nigeria is not at war at present; however, she is at the crossroad.

    Fifty three years after flag independence, 14 years after the dawn of a democratic dispensation, it is not yet Uhuru for this nation. With the enormous human and material resources this nation is endowed with, she is supposed to be the power house of Africa and indeed the developing nations of the world.

    The story of this nation is a story of lost opportunities. Economically, our economic experts are telling us that our economy is growing at six percent or more annually, which may seem encouraging by international standards but in reality the impact is not felt by the common man on the street.

    Local industries have been crippled due to competition from inferior but cheap foreign goods. Agriculture which was the mainstay of the Nigerian economy before the discovery of oil in commercial quantity has been neglected.

    There is endemic corruption at all tiers of government. Political power is sought by leaders for the sake of power and not to better the lots of the nation and its people. Governments at all tiers of government have alienated government from the governed. The effect is that the needs of the people are not always considered in the execution of government programmes but the parochial interest of the ruling class. That is why poverty is so endemic and living has become a hell for most people.

    Politics, being the major means of production has become a zero sum game. Elections as witnessed recently in Delta and Anambra states have become bloody battle with INEC which supposed to be impartial umpire becoming accomplice in the brazen rigging that characterized those elections. As a matter of fact, if morning determines the day, the abracadabra that the gubernatorial election held recently in Anambra State was, portends grave danger for this nation in 2015. This is because people are fed up with inept and wicked leadership who feed fat on people’s ignorance and cowardice and ready to do away with them.

    In view of the above, it is glaring that the country needs to be saved from the stranglehold of the cabal bent on keeping her perpetually under developed. This is why the rescue mission embarked upon by the All Progressive Congress leaders in Nigeria and the rainbow coalition in readiness for epic 2015 elections are welcome development. It is heart warming that not all elders in Nigeria are blindfolded to the reality of the abyss the country is at present. Therefore, it is time for other stakeholders to join hands in rescuing this nation from its present predicament.

     

    • Adewuyi Adegbite

    Apake, Ogbomoso.

  • Festival of fabulous figures

    The ritual of budget reading is in season and Nigerians are again being entertained with figures that hardly yield results. It may be an indication of the Federal Government’s unserious intentions that the central individual traditionally expected to make the presentation to the National Assembly was missing, that is, President Goodluck Jonathan. Whatever interfered with his faithfulness to the responsibility deserves to be probed, for his absence sent an unsettling signal about his order of priorities.

    Intriguingly, Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who also goes by the grandiose title, Coordinating Minister for the Economy, was the face and voice of the administration at the event, a fact that perhaps betrayed the identity of who is actually in control in a government that has often been accused of ceding power to a small circle of dominant, if not domineering, women.

    The immediate puzzle arising from the show is the projected spending of N4.6 trillion for 2014 inadequately backed by anticipated revenue of N3.73 trillion. Next is the mystery that N1.1 trillion, about 27 per cent of the budget, is for capital expenditure, while N3.5 trillion, which represents about 72 per cent of the financial plan, is for recurrent expenditure. It is deplorable that, as the breakdown shows, a disproportionately greater slice of the funds is not meant for development purposes, but to oil the system, so to speak. With such uncreative approach to planning, is it any wonder, therefore, that the country continues to move at snail speed, to put it charitably?

    It is interesting that the budget also mirrored backwardness in a highly symbolic way. Or, what is to be made of the fact that the 2014 budget is lower than this year’s? Okonjo-Iweala’s explanation was food for thought. She said: “You can understand that we have some revenue challenges, which we had been very clear on all along because of the losses we suffered in terms of oil revenue. And also the losses from non-oil revenue due to the lower customs duties.”

    Tragically, illegal bunkering, vandalism and production shut-ins, which have been long identified as drawbacks to the country’s development, given the centrality of oil to its economy, are finally taking an intolerably destabilising toll on its budget estimates. Specifically, when Okonjo-Iweala in July appeared before the House of Representatives Joint Committee on Appropriation/Finance, she lamented that the country was losing 400,000 barrels of crude oil daily to theft, which represents 20 per cent of the daily production capacity of two million barrels. Against this revealing background, it is time to recall the government’s politically motivated and counter-productive award of unjustifiably costly oil-pipeline surveillance contracts to some prominent ex-Niger Delta militia leaders. It looks like money down the drain, after all. Common sense suggests that it would have been more sensible, institutionally correct and perhaps more effective if the administration had instead reinforced the navy’s capabilities to arrest maritime crime, especially offences related to oil-theft. But it would appear that the administration is cerebrally challenged.

    Not surprisingly, against the background of widespread criticisms of alleged over-travelling by Jonathan, it is reflective of the self-focus of government to the detriment of the very people it is supposed to serve that a fascinating sum of N2.3 billion will be available for his junketing in 2014, according to the estimates. More importantly, to go by the figures, the presidency would spend over N8 billion as total expenditure next year. Significantly, in the outgoing year over N400 million was earmarked for the purchase of foodstuffs at the State House, which translates into over N1 million daily.

    It is difficult to resist the feeling that this episode is another mere celebration of figures, which is exactly what the people do not need. What truly counts are people-consciousness and reasonableness in the planning of government spending, which are clearly not guiding principles for this administration.

     

  • Of high , discrepancies in varsities’ fees

    SIR: The federal government owned tertiary institutions, despite their irregularities and shortcomings remain the hope of many Nigerians in acquiring tertiary education. This is as a result of their low fee charges. These institutions are comparatively cheaper than their state and private counterparts, in terms of fees charged.

    The Federal Government has always subsidized these fees to the benefit of the average masses, which many of our today’s leaders and public officials benefited from. However, this practice of low fee charges is ebbing away, giving room to such practices one can hardly imagine.

    How can one understand or explain the situation where the federal universities have wide differences amongst them in the fees charged? How can one understand or explain the case where the rates of these differences are as high as 50%, 100% and above? In the 2012/2013 session, a fresh student was required to pay N45, 000 in Obafemi Awolowo University; N70, 000 in University of Lagos; N91, 000 in University of Benin; N70, 000 in University of Port Harcourt; N86,000 in Nnamdi Azikiwe University during registration.

    The mind boggling questions are: what are the causes for the non-harmonized charges in these institutions? What are really the bases for the great margin of differences in fees amongst federal schools?

    It is not only the disparities in fees charged that have to be called to question, but also the high amount; caused by the incessant increments by some of these schools. Many of the federal universities have become places where fees are hiked indiscriminately without considering the plight of the students some of who barely survive on campus.

    In the University of Port Harcourt, school fees have been on regular increase. In 2010/2011 session, the fee in the faculty of Management Sciences was N53, 300 for fresh students. In 2012/2013 session, it was increased to N69, 850. In the 2013/2014 session yet to commence, the system was totally changed with another increment. The school usually has all fees (except the accommodation fee) captured in the school fees payment receipt, including the acceptance fee. Now, in this new session, the acceptance fee of N30, 000 has to be paid, first, before access to the online registration. It was really alarming to discover that the acceptance fee was not captured in the school fees nalysis; which, now, amount to N77,000. Going by the information on the webpage of the institution, it is clear that anyone given admission by the school this 2013/2014 session would have to pay whooping amount of N107, 000, aside accommodation fee (N19,500). Isn’t this outrageous?It is

    high time the federal government, through its relevant agencies, looked into these excesses. Government, through its agencies, must be all out in monitoring the management processes of our institutions to rid them of corruption at all levels. Also a platform that would enable students make necessary complaints of the unjust practices by school authorities without fear should be provided by the government as this will promote accountability.

    It will amount to defeating the objectives of revamping our tertiary education if many people are denied access to them through unscrupulously high and increasing fees.

    • Simon Tochi

    University of PortHarcourt

    Rivers State