The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

  • Golden Eaglets’ victory: What next?

    SIR: Give it to them; the Nigeria U-17 team are the champions of the world. What a sight to behold inUnited Arab Emirates. They took the world to the cleaners in spectacular and enviable manner. This is what makes a champion.

    The revelation of the 2013 U-17 World Cup is the Nigerian team. They are now the most successful team in the age grade competition (winning four times-1985, 1993, 2007 and 2013), one more than Brazil.

    This is a tournament Nigerians would not want to forget in a hurry. Talk of the defence splitting passes of Musa Yahaya. What of the power packed crosses from the boots of the captain-Musa Mohammed? Or his curling free kick which only Messi , Ronaldo, Okocha and Ronaldinho display on the field of play.

    How about the player of the tournament? Good passer and goal poacher; the revelation of the tournament-Kelechi Iheanacho. Not forgetting Isaac Success. If not for injuries, we all know what he can do. Not to forget the lanky striker, Taiwo Awoniyi and his good positioning. The safe hands Dele, the son of Alampasu. What of the promising lad, Chidera Ezeh or the rock of Gibraltar Zaharadden Bello? What of the individual brilliance of Akinjide Idowu in the midfield and the hardworking Chidebere Nwakili?

    They all in unity took down their opponents to the cleaners. They spanked the Mexicans 6-1 in the opening game. They equalised late in the match to share points with the Swedes in the second fixture. The team cruised to the Round of 16 after spanking Iran 5-0 in the last group match and emerging winners of the group. They didn’t spare their Iranian counterparts in the Round of 16 winning 4-1. Then the quarterfinal match with the Uruguayans. The final score was 2-0. Once more, a rematch it was for the Nigerians against the hard fighting Swedes in the semis. Coolly and calmly, the Nigerians slotted three goals in their net to set a date with the Mexicans. With three goals, Nigerians emerged victors of the competition.

    What’s next for these eaglets? I remember the 2007 invincible team of the late Coach Yemi Tella. Six years gone by and we are yet to see them play for Nigeria. I remember the cerebral Toni Kroos who featured in 2007 for Germany and how he commands a regular shirt in Bayern Munich-reigning UEFA Champions league winner. But our Nigerian folks do not play top flight football. Iker Casillas and Xavi-two revered footballers in the world today were but discovered at this same competition in 1999.

    Four times we have won this competition but yet waited for 19 years to win the Nations Cup, wobbled and fumbled in South Africa 2010 World Cup, and missed Germany 2006 World Cup. This ought not to be, lest we become the laughing stock of the world. The only reward that will favour both these eaglets and the nation is to see them graduate through the ranks-U20, U23, and the Super Eagles.

     

    • Kelechi Amakoh

    University of Lagos

  • Why now, Zenith Bank?

    SIR: I am too pained in my heart, to do a proper introduction of myself, so everyone reading this would have to forgive me for that. I am a young male employed by Zenith Bank in 2012, when the bank decided to opt for contract staffing of fresh university graduates.

    I had to take it believing that the exposure and the need to equip myself with a certain level of experience were far more important than being idle. My remuneration was pegged at 69,999 Naira a month. The responsibilities assigned to me were the same with other professional non-contract staff in the operations unit of my branch. There is absolutely no disparity in my work load and to make matters worse, my branch could be classified as a non-performing branch in terms of income generation, so my branch head equally subjects me to marketing duties by making sure I introduce accounts to the branch if I want to be appraised very well in the bi-annual appraisal system of the bank.

    I go to work each day, concealing my disdain for the conditions I have to work with. What provoked this write-up is the issue of 13th month salary, also called December bonus. Zenith Bank has a policy of paying 13th month to all cadres of staff, professional and non-professional (contract). By that I mean the security staff and bulk note counters also enjoy of this largesse.

    I expected that those in my category would equally be paid this bonus, having put in more than a fair shift of workload during the year, but to my utmost bewilderment and those of my professional (contract) colleagues, we were denied of the benefit.

    I have tried to rationalize why the bank would decide to treat us with such disdain and contempt for our efforts and I am yet to come up with an answer.

    I want the bank to understand that as frontline officers of our various branches, they’re treading on our emotions and the level of bottled up rage in most of my colleagues would definitely spill over soon; and that the bank as an institution would be setting itself up for the worst public relations disaster of any financial institution in the country.

    To the general public, if you walk into any of the Zenith Bank branch and the attending teller doesn’t reciprocate your friendliness or warmth, please don’t take offence; understand that his animosity is not to you but the employer he/she has to contend with.

     

    • Chris Xander

    Lagos

  • What shall we do with this oil ministry?

    Call it the house of sleaze and you will not be mistaken. Call it the Hammer House of Horrific Corruption and it fits even more perfectly. Such is the state of Nigeria’s petroleum industry as represented by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). In the over three decades of its existence, corruption has become so much its second nature that it probably does not know the difference anymore. And being the honey pot of the nation is always in cahoots with any government in power that it has also become the sluiceway of official graft at the highest levels. NNPC plus Federal Government equals an evil template, an ominous Siamese twin that is medically inseparable.

    The Ministry of Petroleum Resources, NNPC and all the other little horrors down the line have become a long chain of legitimised fraud; it is a carefully developed and nurtured subculture of criminality that the nation seems to have come to accept and live with. In all the frequent exposures by the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) reports, National Assembly reports and international expose, it is never heard that anyone gets sanctioned or prosecuted. Worse still, this thriving cult has extirpated efficiency and vanquished any iota of corporate governance and work ethics.

    The result of this is that NNPC has shrunken from being the biggest national oil corporation in Africa to a worthless, ossified stealing field with no meaningful development going on in its hollow labyrinth in the last two decades. On the other hand, almost all its infrastructure are in their end stage, dysfunctional and derelict. For instance, all its four refineries are near comatose; its pipelines laid many decades ago are in dire need of replacement and repair; its storage facilities are 20 years behind time and the hollow, shambling giant is ravage by insider-induced scavenging and oil theft. It is a dire situation that has reached its nadir in the last two years of the current minister, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke. If there was a modicum of commonsense before her time, what we have now under Alison-Madueke is akin to a free-for-all. She seems so utterly bereft of any ideas and all systems seem to have gone loose: if it is not unmanageable revenue losses, it is turnaround maintenance scam at the refineries; if it is not blatant oil theft, it is subsidy fraud, oil bloc gerrymandering, shady oil-for-loan deals, on and on.

    Hardball has been triggered into this long sad treatise by the untrammeled mess that what used to be Nigeria’s oil glory has become. The local media have shouted themselves hoarse but it has been like water thrown on pumpkins. The story today is another sad report from abroad; a Swiss-based non-governmental advocacy group, Berne Declaration, in its current report, accused the NNPC of conniving with some foreign oil trading companies based in Europe to defraud Nigeria of subsidy payments amounting to about $6.8 billion. The bottom-line of the report is that the “The all-powerful national oil firm, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, categorised as the most opaque national oil company on the planet, itself, is evidence of Nigeria’s ‘resource curse’ at work.”

    The report states that two Swiss ‘letter-box’ companies by the names, Vitol and Trafigura had exclusive and un-transparent partnerships with the NNPC, which had given them over 26 per cent of the market share. “Vitol and Trafigura alone took respectively 13.44 per cent and 13.49 per cent of Nigeria’s crude oil exports in 2011 for a cumulative value of $6.8 billion.” It further states that more than 56 per cent of the oil output up for sale by the NNPC in 2011 valued at $14 billion was sold to Swiss companies or Nigerian companies with ‘letterbox’ subsidiaries in Switzerland. It notes that Nigeria is the only major oil producing company that sells 100 per cent of its crude to private traders rather than market it itself in the open market and benefit from the resulting market value.

    Who will save Nigeria from this mess?

  • PHCN privatisation and its aftermath

    SIR: There is light at the end of the tunnel as the long and tortuous journey to privatisation of Power Holding Company of Nigeria came to its expected logical conclusion on October 31. The handover which made major headlines in national dailies and beamed on broadcast media stations across Nigeria has left many wondering whether this new development will bring a one-in-all cure to the ills in the power sector. It is expected in this private sector driven era that the new investors will provide qualitative services, while carefully counting on their return on investment.

    Every business comes with its peculiar challenges and the challenges in the power sector do not begin or end with this privatisation. The available megawatts of energy presently powering our homes and industries are a far cry from the expectation of Nigerians. The transmission network is dilapidated, weak and cannot comfortably wheel already generated energy to distribution companies.

    Endemic corruption which has eaten deep into the fabric of our society should be addressed under the new regime. Metering of customers is an enormous challenge that needs to be surmounted immediately. It ensures accurate billing and removes prevalent loss of energy. Nigerians of every stratum are not good at paying for utility services. Customer education on why they should not be reminded of their responsibilities which is lacking should be the priority of the new owners.

    Power sector is highly technically driven. The new owners should endeavour to tap from the wealth of experience of the ex-staff of PHCN before hastily jumping into indiscriminate disengagement of staff as is currently obtainable. The new owners should put machinery in place aimed at separating the wheat from the chaff, the competent from the incompetent, and the productive from the non productive.

    The new owners should hit the ground running because before now they are neither formidable players in the power sector or even known stakeholders.

    The new companies should take a critical look at the work places of PHCN and review it quickly. It is not easy to work in a company where the monthly operational expenses do not reflect at least 10% of the revenue collected; or where training of staff is not accorded top priority. The above mentioned challenges are avoidable pits the incoming companies should be wary of to be able to excel.

     

    •Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

    Samaru, Zaria

     

  • Nigerian rulers’ five cardinal sins

    SIR: Nigeria is bedeviled by five cardinal sins perpetrated by the rulers. The Original Sin from which the others emanate is Indiscipline. The five cardinal sins identified here are corruption, politicization of religion, election rigging, neutralization of executive members of workers’ unions, and mass media gagging. I don’t want to mention ethnicism, because favouring “one’s own” seems all too natural, which is the reason Nigeria has the federal character policy in place, unfortunately more in the breach than in compliance; worse of all ignoring rotational presidency. Indiscipline of course means that you allow your emotion and feeling to get rid of your right-thinking faculty and so do wrong things, such as truncation of rotational presidency.

    Corruption is the number one cardinal sin built into the Nigerian system. Some parastatals are allowed to keep a percentage of their income for running cost. Meanwhile, the state or headquarter pays the workers’ salaries and allowances. The percentage kept by the parastatal for running cost grows into millions and the Director helps to clear the excess one way or another. Or, take another example; the Central Bank is allowed to keep “Social responsibility fund” and so donating buses, classrooms and halls, as deemed fit! Is that part of the purpose of a Central Bank in developed countries, or is part and parcel of the Nigerian factor? You also have explicit corruption in clear cases of misappropriation. I don’t know where to place Oduahgate, etc.

    Politicisation of religion is second on the cardinal sin list. It is explicit in Muslim leaders who claim that Islam is inextricably bound-up with politics. Meanwhile, some or many Christians keep saying Jesus is the answer to all problems, while some other Christians join in using religion to perpetrate corruption and political destabilization of Nigeria.

    Not less virulent is the third cardinal sin, election rigging. The Peoples Democratic Party banks heavily on it, and so has staunchly resisted electoral reform toward a truly independent electoral commission.

    The fourth cardinal sin, neutralization of executive members of workers’ unions, is grave because it means that checks and balance are eclipsed. That is one clear area where Ghana is doing far better than Nigeria. What is democracy without checks and balance? Ditto those who gag the mass media. All this is written to elicit repentance, positive reaction, or revolution.

     

    •Pius Oyeniran Abioje, Ph. D,

    University of Ilorin.

  • Time to update voters register

    SIR: The saying that we should make hay while the sun shines may perhaps be more applicable than ever to the task of updating voters register now that 2015 is still far off. The duty of updating the voters register rests squarely on the electoral umpire and needs to be done from time to time. This updating is necessary at this auspicious time.

    Firstly, during the last voter’s registration some eligible voters were not captured at most polling centres due to technical hitches. Some centres were overcrowded and so were beyond the carrying capacity of the ad-hoc staff and equipment made available at those places. So inadvertently, a good number of eligible voters were disenfranchised through no fault of theirs and this made it impossible for them to cast the 2011 ballot and others.

    I disenfranchised at the polling centre in front of Queen’s Hall, University of Ibadan. Queues were usually long with several lists of booking for registration or the equipment was simply not functional on most days leading to a few prospective voters being captured eventually. There is therefore need for a fresh updating of the voter’s register nationwide to capture more people to perform their civic responsibility in the 2015 and beyond.

    Secondly, some youths who were not up to 18 years at the time have come of age since the exercise was carried out in 2010. This means that youths who were 15 at that time will now be at the mandatory age of 18.If the exercise is being planned for 2014, then more youths would be eligible for the exercise. Our population indices and statistics show that the bulk of our population is made up of youths; therefore they form a decisive proportion of the electorate that must not be left out of deciding who their leaders should be. It is therefore very important and necessary for a voters update to be carried out nationwide before 2015 and any other crucial elections for that matter in order not to disenfranchise the youths that have reached the mandatory 18 years of age since the last exercise. Thirdly, an update of voter’s register would capture those who must have returned from overseas sojourn or education after the last exercise. Although socio-economic factors show that most Nigerians have the tendency to emigrate to other countries for greener pastures, conditions in those foreign lands especially the global economic meltdown and unemployment rates have made many to return home. No matter how insignificant the statistical figure of these returnees are, so long as they are of voting age (18 and above),there must be an update of the voters register to capture them to perform their civic responsibility when it is time for voting during elections.

     

    •Emmanuel Tyokumbur.

    University of Ibadan

     

  • Anambra stampede: CAN and politics

    SIR: Last week’s avoidable tragedy at the Uke Adoration ground in Anambra State, that claimed over 28 persons, once again brings to the front burner the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) ‘s frequent meddling into the country’s murky political waters, and the consequences of such action on its members in particular and the country at large.

    It is not in dispute that the remote cause of this sad incidence was the visit to the venue of the weekly adoration crusade, organised by the Holy Ghost Adoration Ministry, Uke, by some politicians in the state, who reportedly turned the religious gathering to a political fan-fare of sorts seeking for the votes of the congregation towards the November 16 governorship election. Accusations have continued to fly across the different political camps in the state.

    However, as the politicians continue to “dance on the graves” of these innocent victims, this piece will concern itself with the quirky directive issued, few days after the ugly incident, by the Southeast CAN urging its members to desist, henceforth, from allowing politicians to use their altars as campaign grounds.

    Without sounding blasphemous, the body, as it were, was merely playing to the gallery by such directive. Truth is: CAN has derailed from its primaary objective which saddles it with the duty of promoting the spiritual growth and stability of her members. It is befuddling that the body has over the years, continued to fraternise with all manner of politically inclined persons whose main motive is to use it and her members as a ladder to their political heights. This is abundantly evident in the recent threat by some of her members to pull out from the body. The altar has been sold! It is a common sight today to see some of these politicians receiving “laying of hands” before the congregations during major elections.

    Curiously too, the region’s body has also warned its members (churches) “to steer clear of partisan politics”. The practicability of this directive remains to be seen, at least not when the body’s national leadership keeps hobnobbing with the government in power.

    The body at the national level most times had reduced itself to an image maker of the government in power (especially at the federal); thus the region’s move to “ban all politicians from attending our churches with their political teams for campaigns” is like crying over spilt milk.

    The association must return to its spiritual duties and leave politicking to the politicians. A situation where the leaders of the body endorse (either by commission or by omission) candidates for election should be discouraged, as such action indirectly impede their members’ freedom of choice and endangers healthy competition in our body of politicking.

    While Nigerians sympathise with the families and loved ones of the victims of the tragedy, the best way to immortalise them is for electoral body and the politicians to ensure that the November 16 election is free and fair. And whoever emerges the winner must deliver dividend of good governance to the living in the state.

     

    • Barrister Okoro Gabriel,

    Lagos.

     

  • When Cholera came to town

    SIR: It came on me suddenly. I found I was holding my stomach, feeling nauseous. The strength drained out of me. I had developed the runs!

    My mind went through all I had taken up to that point, particularly the bottled water I took only an hour before. Even as a medical doctor, I had cause to be worried. Only a few days ago, in Lagos where I live, there had been three cholera related deaths out of 134 confirmed cases.

    It did not start in Lagos.

    It first broke out in a refugee camp in Namu village, Qua’pan Local Government Area of Plateau State where at the last count 11 lives had been lost out of 130 that were hospitalised.

    After this, the Federal Ministry of Health said it would investigate it and that “the investigation would determine the kind of intervention to be deployed in the community.”

    While it “investigated”, cholera took its time to visit other states, and more lives were lost. They are: Zamfara State with 1,110 cases and 51 deaths; Nasarawa State with 105 cases and five deaths. Ogun State had 115 cases, five deaths and Oyo State, 29 cases, six deaths, and of course, the earlier mentioned Lagos.

    Luckily for me, I only had mild enteritis which responded to treatment.

    Cholera is acute watery diarrhoea, caused by Vibrio cholera, which leads to severe dehydration. Cholera is a global threat, especially in areas with poor sanitary conditions and where clean water and proper sewage disposal are not available.

    Eleven per cent of the world population or 783 million people are still without access to drinking water. Some try to get round it. In Nigeria, sachet water popularly called “pure water” is sold commonly. The business is an all-comers affair, a typical startup for any down on their luck wannabe. The source of the “water’ for “processing” is questionable. Many of the “factories” are found in slums and very unhygienic places, when you can trace them.

    According to a UN study, it is estimated that out of the seven billion people in the world, six billion have access to mobile phones. Incidentally, only 4.5 billion have access to functional toilets. And of the 2.5 billion who do not have proper sanitation, 1.1 billion defecate in the open. With an estimated 30 million people, Nigeria is among the top five countries where people defecate in the open.

    Once a month, environmental sanitation is observed, especially in Lagos. But it is just a day to add to the heap of refuse. And all the rubbish brought out from the filthy gutters is left on the side of the roads to be washed back in when it rains.

    Strategies at tackling epidemics like cholera dwell more on treatment of the victims. That’s fine. But all clinical efforts will be wasted if the victim is sent back to the “offending zone”. There must be renewed efforts at limiting re-exposure to pathogens and even more efforts at removing those factors that will make the pathogens thrive. Critical infrastructure are needed, reduction in illiteracy and improvement in standard of living, that is if corruption will let money go to work where it should work.

     

    • Dr Cosmas Odoemena,

    Lagos

     

  • Democracy, the police and 2015

    emocracy has been defined variously by many scholars; Thowever, certain features describe its essence and, thus, make it important as the right system of choosing representatives of the people. One of such is accountability. Democracy assumes that every elected representative of the people is, and should be accountable to those people who gave them mandate ab initio. In the same way, every government, constituted in a democracy, is accountable to the people from whom it derives its existence. Another feature is the credibility of the process of elections through which the representatives emerge. This must be guaranteed for democracy to be meaningful.

    In Nigeria, despite the several hitches in our present democratic journey, it is heart-warming that we have had 13 years of continuous democratic experience. This, in itself, is quite significant in view of the fact that our previous efforts at entrenching democracy in the polity were either aborted midway or simply brought to us dead on arrival. However, now that democracy is steadily being nurtured in our system, it is pertinent to note that this is the time to encourage certain tendencies that would further help in consolidating its basic principles and values in the country.

    One of such is the need to emphasize the central role of the police in achieving success of democracy. Indeed, one key element that defines a democratic society is the availability of an impartial police- a police that is subject to the rule of law, a police that will protect rather than bully the people to carry out the wishes of some powerful people, a police force that will intervene in the life of citizens only under limited and carefully controlled circumstances and a police that is publicly accountable. Such is the police force that will command respect from the public in a democracy.

    Over the years, we have had ugly experiences of police acting partially in support of a ruling party. One worrying aspect of such open display of bias in favour of the party in power is evil connivance with anti- democratic elements to thwart the electoral process. From the First Republic till date, the police have always been involved in shameful scheming that tends towards partisan tendencies which scuttle the right of the people to freely elect their representatives.

    It is disheartening remembering how, in the Second Republic, the police were openly aiding electoral malpractices, such as ballot box snatching, unlawful arrest and intimidation of voters and other shameful acts. Indeed, the police, that time, did not hide its partisanship as an appendage of the then ruling National Party of Nigeria, (NPN). Similarly, the police, during the Obasanjo administration, played ignominious role in conniving with the then Maurice Iwu-led INEC to make a mockery of the democratic aspirations of many Nigerians. That time, Iwu and his partners, rather than give Nigerians the result of their elections at the polling booths, only allocated votes to parties from the corner of INEC office. Thanks to the judicial process that overturned some of the fraudulent outcomes of such connivance.

    Unfortunately, we have started witnessing another needless police harassment of people who express their rights to freedom of expression and association as guaranteed by our constitution. The recent clampdown on the G7 PDP governors gives an impression that the country is yet to get out of the problem of police involvement in politics. The same goes for the drama playing out in Rivers State where the state Commissioner of Police is unnecessarily getting himself involved politicking. The sad thing about what is currently going on in Rivers State is that the leadership of the state’s police command has become so enmeshed in the politics of the moment that it is difficult to see how it could become impartial in the event of an election in the state.

    In a democracy, the ideal thing is for police powers to be used according to the rule of law and not for the flagrant abuse of the ruler or other perceived powers-that-be. This is because the police force is so important that it can be a major pillar or a major threat to a democratic society. Police are such moral and legal actors that may protect democracy by their example of reverence for the law and by suppressing crime. The police must, therefore, not be a law unto themselves.

    In spite of strong pressures and temptations, the police should resist the tendency to act in an overtly political manner and should not serve the partisan interests of the party in power. Their purpose must not be to enforce political conformity. The police force should have no colour, whether political, religious or social. Also, holding unpopular beliefs or behaving in unconventional, yet legal, ways are not adequate grounds for interfering with citizen’s liberty as the police have an obligation to protect the rights of every citizen.

    It is important to emphasise that in a democracy, the police should act as the protector of the rights of everyone.  Democratic societies strive for equal law enforcement. Hence, citizens are to be treated in equivalent ways. Police are trained to behave in a generally suitable manner such that even if their personal attitude departs from the demands of the role they are playing, this must not affect their behaviour. Police should always show neutrality when they enforce the rules regardless of the characteristics of the persons or group involved.

    As we build up for another critical electioneering period, the police need to become more professional and dispassionate in the way they carry out their constitutional duties. It is sheer ignorance that makes the police to act as a stooge of the ruling party in a multi-party democracy. The reality is that the police are more answerable to the people, who voted the government into power, rather than the ruling party or government which derives legitimacy from the people. A situation where the police see opposition parties and their leaders as enemies of the state (who must be crushed) is, to say the least, crude and unprofessional.

    Very soon, we are going to have elections in Anambra, Ekiti and Osun states. In order to ensure that the democratic wishes of people in these states are not trampled upon, the leadership of the Nigerian Police Force needs to re-orientate its people about their constitutional role in a democracy. Members of the civil society, NGOs and other stakeholders equally have a huge role to play in re-orientating the police to embrace democratic tendencies. The Nigerian military have, to a large extent, demonstrated sufficient understanding of its role as a neutral force in a democracy. In the last 13 years, the military has been able to professionally uphold democratic values and principles. Unfortunately, same cannot be said of the police, perhaps because they are more civilian in nature and thus tend not to see why they should not have positions or preferences for political groupings.

    This is the right time for the police to embrace noble democratic ideals that would enhance the stability of the polity. We already have enough problems to contend with as a nation. We cannot, therefore, afford to add an unprofessional and partisan police to the list of our already gargantuan challenges. The police, no matter the pressure and intimidation, should remain non-partisan. This is the only way to ensure that the democratic right of the people, to freely elect their representatives, is protected. Our hope and prayer is for a Nigeria where justice, peace and the rule of law reign supreme and this is the time to entrench that.

    •Ibirogba is Hon. Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Lagos State

  • Nigeria’s rice crisis

    Crisis, crisis everywhere, not a sector is spared. They have become so pervasive that even an aspect of our life that is as innocuous as our major staple food, rice has been afflicted. Have you ever stopped to ponder what would become of Nigeria without rice? Do you know that rice is eaten daily in nearly every home in every corner of Nigeria? Do you know that rice is almost as crucial to the Nigerian household today as petrol and like petrol, it is something that we have the capacity to produce in abundance and export to other countries but instead, we import it?

    To extend the comparison with petrol further, in the 70s to mid-80s, Nigeria was producing enough petrol for her use. It was the same with rice; Nigeria’s production actually peaked at about one million tons per annum when there was a ban on importation. This was up from about 450,000 tons of local production in the 70s. But with oil boom, by the mid 80s local production dwindled giving way to massive importation. Then, Nigeria had large rice belts sprawling from Sokoto, Benue, Abakaliki and Ogun axis. It was a major industry that comprised production, milling and distribution; providing food, jobs, livelihood and wealth to millions in the rice zones. It was an industry that over time, created well-knit enterprising communities, organic, prideful in their self-sufficiency and tradition of productivity.

    Now why is Hardball lapsing into a reverie of a long-lost utopia, you might be wondering? What is the point of all this if we all are well aware that in the past three decades or so, Nigeria’s rice economy has become almost a tragic situation with a quantum of importation that is not surpassed by any other country today. In fact our importation ramifies nearly all major staple foods like maize, beans and even palm oil. But rice is the one that has reached crisis level now.

    First, the Federal Government at the beginning of this year, arbitrarily jerked up duty and tariff on rice importation bringing them to a total of 110 percent in Nigeria while in neighbouring countries like Benin Republic and Togo, import duties on rice remain at about 30 percent. Why would any sane businessman ship through our ports if there is a slight chance that he can smuggle it through the borders. The profit is so tempting that those who are ordinarily law-abiding would think twice or risk extinction. Here lies the rice crisis: about 80 percent of rice consumed in Nigeria today is smuggled into the country by a cabal.

    The negative imports of government’s thoughtlessness are numerous and far-reaching. First, Nigeria loses revenues in hundreds of million dollars to her neighbours. Two, genuine importers are put out of business and some may be forced into the illegality of smuggling. Three, the Customs is put under immense pressure; compromised and overwhelmed. Four, the backward integration investments of genuine importers in local rice production and processing plants will go to waste in another year if this frenzy of smuggling is not checked immediately. The reason is that the price of a bag of the local rice is twice the price of the imported one. The modest efforts being made by some stakeholders to grow rice at home will soon be rubbished.

    Federal Government had increased the levy paid on imported rice ostensibly to curb importations with a view to outright ban in a few years. But no effort is being made to encourage or develop local production. The rice development fund is not being deployed anywhere. All these going on and government seems so inured to it all. This will never happen in any other country; orchestrated crises like this in every sector of our national life cannot be any way to run a country.