The Nation Newspaper

Category: Commentaries

Our police must protect helpless Nigerians now!

SIR: Since the last general elections in the middle of last year, no day passes, it seems, without one story of bestial murder or the other. Only days back, some of our compatriots were wasted by some anarchists as they were praying to God in Kaduna. While the security agencies nauseatingly reassure us after each killing that they are winning the war against terror, evidence around us shows clearly that they have no idea on how to stem the routine indefensible mass murders of our defenceless people.

Political leaders from the presidency to the councilors move about with an armada of armoury as if Nigeria is truly at war. The politicians, without doubt, believe that they are more important than the people, otherwise they would not be protecting themselves with the weapons and security personnel who ought to make Nigeria safer for all Nigerians. The time has come for us to condemn in the strongest term possible the irresponsible shirking of the constitutional duty of the state to protect its citizens.

The state is useless if it cannot protect the people. Yet, in our country today, armed robbers, religious zealots, kidnappers and all sorts of criminals take and waste lives with an ease that is truly scary. All the government tells us is that it is on top of the situation and that the killings are unfortunate and unacceptable.

We know that they are unfortunate at least to the victims and their loved ones. But are they really unacceptable to the security agencies that now seem to have accepted them as a way of life in our country? All they do is to rush to the scenes of the brutal carnage and cordon it off. Is that all that security entails? The Federal Government should declare a state of emergency in the security sector.

I do not want to be misunderstood. I am not asking the government to declare curfews or harass citizens by merely deploying soldiers on our roads. No. I am not asking for a police state or postponement of elections when they fall due. The elements of the emergency must include immediate scaling down of the security detail of our public officials to no more than 1 personnel for chairpersons of the Local Government Councils, 10 for Governors and their deputies and no more than 50 for the President.

Ministers and Commissioners should arrange their own security at their own cost, just as we do. Our security officials should be deployed to do what they were commissioned or recruited to do, namely providing security for Nigerians and not just for the politicians. At another level, we must begin seriously to think of making it a constitutional right of all Nigerians to bear and own arms.

The present hypocritical situation where only the criminally minded and their patrons monopolise the use of arms is nothing but itself a crime of aiding and abetting the routine killing of defenceless Nigerians. That, I should say, is a crime against humanity. The government has already made people defenceless; the law must not make us be without defence. Of course there could be other elements. But these are our own immediate proposal.

The recent gruesome murder of four undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt and students at the Polytechnic in Mubi reveals how low we have sunk as a people. It shows that the lives of Nigerians now count for nothing. We would like join other people to demand that the culprits be brought to justice speedily to send a very strong signal that that type of animalism is not going to be tolerated henceforth.

The police must get their acts together. They should bring proper charges against the suspects before a court of competent jurisdiction. Bungling of the case will be regarded as aiding and abetting crime.

• Bamidele Aturu,

Legal practitioner, Surulere,

Lagos.

November 20, 2012
The needless debate on 2013 budget benchmark

President Goodluck Jonathan recently presented N4.92trillion Appropriation Bill to a Joint Session of the National Assembly (NASS), in Abuja, Nigeria’s Federal Capital Territory. Indeed, as the Executive arm of Government, which is constitutionally saddled with the ultimate responsibility of implementing the fundamental deliverables of a national budget and taking responsibility for same at the end of a fiscal year, the ensuing outburst over the proprietary or otherwise of the $75 oil benchmark in the budget is quite unnecessary.

Earlier in his presentation of the budget tagged: “Fiscal Consolidation with Inclusive Growth”, before the Federal legislators, President Jonathan had informed them that next year’s budget actually accords priority to “our concerns for security, infrastructure, food, security, and human development sectors” of Nigeria’s economy. Describing it as one with series of innovative features, the President and Commander-in-Chief stated that the budget is a “push in the right direction borne out of our well thought-out and articulated developmental policies.” The upcoming financial plan is said to be a deliberate attempt by the Government to continue with the medium-term theme and interventions that are consistent with the objectives of the Transformation Agenda of the Jonathan Administration.

He equally explained to the NASS members the basic principle behind the 2013 Appropriation Bill. The President related the core mandate of his Administration, saying “the task of transforming these opportunities into real, tangible outcomes which all our people can experience and call their own.”

While appreciating the meaningful contributions, cooperation and oversight functions of the National Assembly members in discharging the Government collective responsibility to build a virile and improved Nigerian economy of our dream, he took the opportunity to remind the lawmakers of the need for their continued collaboration on the assignment of growing the economy, creating jobs for the generality of Nigerians, delivering the much-expected dividends of democracy, and improving the people’s standard of living.

Conversely, just days after the presentation of the 2013 Appropriation Bill to NASS, the Presidency’s recommended crude oil price benchmark has sparked another disagreement between the Legislature and Executive. Of course, the Presidency previously, had broached to the Federal legislators, that though the $75 per barrel oil benchmark quoted in the budget is less than what currently obtains in the international oil market, the former certainly has provided a veritable background to and rationale for its proposal of $75 benchmark in next year’s budget.

According to Presidency, such background information that apparently informed the benchmark, as it is the oil-price based fiscal rule, especially as contained in the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007. It further argued that this instrument informed its choice of “a prudent oil benchmark price of $75/barrel for the 2013 period”. More so, since the beginning of 2008 when the global economic downturn started manifesting and dislocating many an economy across the globe, world oil prices have been largely unstable ever since then. Thus, based on moving averages of the global oil prices and government’s simulations allowing for possible uncertainty in world oil price movements, it really adopted the contentious benchmark as “a standard technique commonly used by commodity-dependent countries to protect them against the volatilities of oil.”Incidentally, the bulk of Nigeria’s wealth is derived from the same floundering oil earnings.

There were supposedly considerable, previous consultations with various stakeholders, including state governors and the National Assembly, where the $75 benchmark was purportedly agreed that “the benchmark price should be further rounded up to $75/barrel to meet pressing needs and prevent delays in the budget process.”

Despite the Presidency’ resolve that the $75/barrel price, of course, represents an upper limit from its model towards the country’s attainment and sustenance of a stable macroeconomic environment for next year, since the beginning of their considerations of the Appropriation Bill, the Senate is holding out for $78 per barrel. Whereas the House of Representatives, which is the Lower House of NASS, also has constantly maintained that the oil benchmark should be $80 per barrel.

Characteristically, it is by and large appreciated by all when the National Assembly critically examines and possibly makes meaningful and useful inputs into a budget before final approval in a fiscal year. However, it is now a matter of concern to well-meaning Nigerians that the debate on the $75 oil benchmark in the 2013 Budget has depreciated to a point of resorting to name-calling cum abusive language between the NASS leadership and some of President Jonathan’s aides. This needs not be so.

The NASS members should realise that if any unrealistic expectations are suggested and ratified in respect of the oil benchmark, the aggregate of which will fund the budget, an overly high benchmark price may lead to higher inflation, decline in the value of the Naira, lower savings, and reduced investment in the face of troubled worldwide economic outlook.

The Government, again, has informed Nigerians that based upon current economic realities of the time, either $78 or $80 benchmark would lead to an increase in liquidity, leading to an increase in money supply chasing few goods and services. In other words, any sudden snap in oil prices will be detrimental for many of the Government’s macroeconomic forecasts.

Besides, the current Administration has said the exchange rate would come under intense pressure, leading to a depreciation of the Naira. High inflation would result in higher interest rates. Certainly, a combination of high inflation, interest rate and an unstable exchange rate is not beneficial to proper economic planning, both for the government and private business managers.

It should equally be realised that the current world oil price is really not based on certifiable economic fundamentals. Rather, uncertainties, e.g. conflict in the Middle East are said to be responsible for the seemingly enticing high prices of crude oil in the world oil market. The question then is, can Nigeria truly base its economic plan on the expected misfortunes of such crisis-ridden regions and enclaves around the world and still achieve enduring transformation in key aspects of its national life?

In spite of its latest recommendation that the Excess Crude Account (ECA) be scrapped forthwith, while not minding its cushioning effects on the survival of the nation’s economy in recent years, the increased savings in ECA are yet consequential in mitigating adverse economic impact on Nigeria, in case of a sudden global economic shock, or an unanticipated slump in world’s oil prices.

Consequently, instead of insisting on varying oil benchmarks outside of the Presidency’s $75 benchmark recommendation in the 2013 Appropriation Bill before it, the NASS rather should reach a consensus with the Federal Government in coming up with realistic estimates that will enable it to focus on cutting recurrent expenditure to sustainable levels. This could be accomplished through reduction of waste, corruption and duplication in the functions of government agencies.

The Federal lawmakers ought to realise that even while discharging its constitutional mandate of examining the components of the budget, it is yet far better to allow the Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to come forward and freely defend their various budgets, as contained in the 2013 Appropriation Bill, based on the recommended $75 oil benchmark.

In fact, any undue, excessive inputs into the estimates from the NASS members may trigger yet another round of impractical budget leading to poor implementation. It is much better to allow the Executive to take responsibility for the estimates it believes can work for the well-desired turnaround in the economy. After all, Nigerians will not turn around to blame the National Assembly for poor budget execution if any unrealistic projections are included in the Appropriation Act emanating from the Legislature at the end of the day.

• Rotimi Smith is an Estate Surveyor in Ibadan.

November 19, 2012
Seeking public trust in civil service

In 1960s up to the mid-70s, civil service job was seen as a clarion call for any citizen to come and serve his or her father land.

It was an allegiance to dutiful service. Indeed, the earliest civil servants served the people and the nation with their heart and might.

Names like Alison Ayida, Jerome Udoji, Simeon Adebo, Fola Ighodalo and Adeyemo Bero, to mention but few, remind one of top-on-the-shelf civil servants, who have left indelible mark on the sand of civil service history. Even as we speak, these finest public servants have remained legends never to be forgotten for their loyal, sincere and diligent services to their nation.

Today, the story is largely different from that of the sublime and dignified 60s and 70s as the diligence and will to serve selflessly has greatly diminished if not totally disappeared.

Arguably, the diminishing return was traced to the 1975 forcible rough surgery performed by the late General Murtala Muhammed administration in the name of restructuring of the civil service.

Others however pointed to the sweeping restructuring by the General Ibrahim Babangida administration in the 80s, which corollary dislocated the joints of the civil service until today.

Since the said restructuring – be it the first or the second one – the scar from the surgical scalpel has remained un-healed till now.

A ray of hope may have appeared on the horizon for this hitherto revered white-collar job what is currently happening in the civil service of the State of Osun under Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola as governor.

A seed of innovation aimed at repositioning the service for optimum performance was sowed recently in the state and many have expressed strong conviction that it will germinate and bear edible fruits in the not-too-distant future.

Aregbesola’s intention to have a clean break with the past tradition of hand-picking the Head of Service (HOS) significantly goaded him to x-ray, diagnose and provide long-lasting treatment for the ailing service.

When he came to the saddle two years ago, he met a factionalised public service – one overtly split along political party divides-something that ordinarily should be alien to the civil service. A civil servant ought to be neutral and impartial on any subject matter pending government’s attention.

Having carefully studied the situation at hand, in February this year, the governor set up a committee – Public Service Repositioning Committee- to look critically at the whole system with a view to repositioning it.

Aregbesola tasked the 12-man committee headed by Dr. Goke Adegoroye, to help him achieve three things, namely – meritocracy, professionalism and capacity building.

The governor strongly believes that with these three key qualities, the civil service can begin ascent to its former enviable echelon.

The committee thus swung into action with the sole intention of creating a new order that will be a model for other public services – state or federal.

The Adegoroye Committee therefore conducted assessment exercise for all the directors in the civil service of the state. Those who performed very well among them were subsequently invited for open interview for further assessment.

At the end of the day, from over 70 prospective Permanent Secretaries that were assessed, this novel process threw up the best 29, who emerged as Permanent Secretaries across all the ministries. Before, the tradition is for the sitting governor to sit down in his office and hand-pick the permanent secretaries as well as the HOS.

For Ogbeni, that was an undemocratic way of selecting the best out of crowd. For him, this traditional ancient regime has to wither and pave way for democratic experimentations.

Hence, the new HOS would have to also be chosen by the workers themselves and not the governor. This was exactly what happened recently at the Bola Ige House, Government Secretariat, Abere, Osogbo.

The last process was the emergence of the HOS and they were to be selected by their fellow civil servants from Grade Level 14 and above.

All the 29 Permanent Secretaries were allowed to participate in Electoral College for so it appears. The civil servants, for the first time in the history of the state and perhaps that of the country, stood on the threshold of posterity to elect the man they want to lead them.

As usual, in any democratic setting, the election process was a high octane one for it was an open ballot process. The names of the 29 Permanent Secretaries were printed boldly and pinned to a table with ballot boxes in front. The senior civil servants all voted and at the end of the exercise, three candidates emerged with the highest votes.

They were – in descending order – Sunday Olayinka Owoeye (34); Adeyemi Adelowo (26) and Kolawole Adesina (19).

These three names were subsequently forwarded to the governor from which, using his executive discretion, he would select a candidate, who automatically becomes the HOS.

Aregbesola simply heeded the time-honoured Latin maxim – vox populi, vox dei. The people have spoken and so be it.

Mr. Sunday Olayinka Owoeye thus emerged as the State of Osun’s new Head of Service. All these – voting, counting, selection and announcement – took place in matter of hours and not a whole day.

To majority of the civil servant, this is a welcome development as they are now part of decision-making body in the determination of their own destiny.

They all hailed the novel system, describing it as a bottom-up system of appointment rather that the slipshod old top-to-bottom approach.

According to some of the civil servants, the impact of this novel process is that it has capacity for confidence-building and the workers tend to believe and will readily differ to a leader they elected themselves.

Again, this new system will also help a great deal in quick resolution of government-worker’s face-off whenever one arises.

Above all, the civil servants hail the governor as a real democrat and a great leader, who genuinely wants progress and development for the state.

During the swearing-in of the Permanent Secretaries and the HOS, an elated Aregbesola said that in appointing the Head of Service through the electoral college of the Permanent Secretaries, his administration has applied the best possible method that can be obtained from humans.

He openly declared that for the first time in the history of the service, government has introduced merit and professionalism as the basis of career advancement and the new system will remain so he enthused.

He continued: “The candidate not only became Permanent Secretary through merit but was selected by the merits as the best merit possible within the pool of merits.’’

“Of course, this is subject to human error of judgment beyond which we have little control if we have not yet attained divinity….Your appointment is not a call to sycophancy and supine conspiracy. I have no personal agenda and do not intend to cultivate personality cult.”

Indeed, this is a democratic civil service a la Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola that needs to be emulated across the states of the federation.

•Kunle Owolabi is of the Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Office of the Governor of the State of Osun.

November 19, 2012
Why reform is failing in Nigeria

SIR: The nation’s budget for year 2012 is largely dependent on oil to the tune of about N5 trillion despite the fact that India is expecting, for the same period, $70 billion (N10.5 trillion) from software exports alone.

Perhaps we need to remind ourselves of where both India and Nigeria are coming from. In the 1980s, when the Delta Steel Company (DSC) was being built by a consortium of foreign companies, Mecon of India was serving as consultants to DSC. Mecon seconded many of its experienced engineers to DSC, helping to groom their Nigerian counterparts.

While these highly experienced expatriate Indians were chauffeur-driven in brand new, air-conditioned, official Peugeot cars, people in DSC were usually surprised to hear of how some of them were receiving letters from their home office, informing them of the approval of their motorcycle loans!

This was at a time fresh Nigerian graduates looked forward to buying new cars after just a few years of working. This was before our present addiction to”tokunbo” products. But India has since transformed into one of the sensational economies including Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRIC) while Nigeria is retrogressing deeper into poverty, which according to figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), has worsened from 54.7 in 2004 to 61.9 in 2011.

Our state governors are busy bickering over statutory allocations, while their counterparts across the world are aggressively harvesting the infinite opportunities created by globalization. While we remain on revenue allocation, the world is moving in the direction of technological creativity.

The real tragedy is that even with the pitiable state of our nation, our entrenched interests are still fighting viciously to ensure that nothing changed. More tragic is the fact that they are using the rest of us, to bring down anybody that tries to change things! We are helping our entrenched interests to ensure that nothing changes, and to deal with each officeholder that refuses to toe their line.

The Goldman Sachs’ research report for 2007 listed Nigeria among its ‘Next 11’ group of countries expected to catch up to the fastest developing BRIC economies.

That reform might even have been most providential, considering what could have become of the Nigerian economy if the global meltdown that soon followed had met us with a financial sector driven by fragile, under-capitalised banks!

Similarly, the all-important Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), which had clearly forgotten the destination of the 12-year journey it started since 2000 with President Olusegun Obasanjo’s “Oil & Gas Reform Implementation Committee”(OGIC), is now suddenly contemplating reality!

This means that all those years of regulatory uncertainty, blocking billions of dollars of oil-sector investments, are coming to an end. Again, for the first time in our petroleum history, we now have a “Nigerian Content Development Act”, which has transformed the capacity for local participation in the sector.

•Gabriel Zowam,

Reform & Process Improvement expert, Abuja.

November 19, 2012
National carrier: Is the Fed Govt listening at all?

Sometime in early September, the Minister of Aviation was quoted as saying the federal government was about inspiring the establishment of a new national carrier to perform the role the defunct Nigeria Airways woefully failed to carry out. Enraged, Hardball on September 3 took the minister and the government to task, wondering whether they had learnt any lesson from the collapse of the former national carrier, or whether they were simply looking for ways, at our expense of course, to give jobs to the boys and line a few more pockets. Equally stunned, the minister and the government simply ignored all remonstrations and proceeded happily with their plans. In fact, soon after, the minister announced that the legal framework for a new national carrier was ready, and foreign airlines would be invited as technical partners.

Eventually, no foreign airline agreed to participate in any form, whether as technical or theoretical partners. Undeterred, the government began fishing for private investors, because, as it said, the new national carrier would be a private sector-led business. The federal government, the minister said, would put in very little so as not to involve taxpayers’ money. How very solicitous. What the minister and the conniving presidency did not tell us was what magic wand the assembled investors hoped to wave when all the existing investors in the airline business are teetering on the brink of a nightmare. Would it not end up like Transcorp?

Hardball had in September asked: “Oduah indicates the new national carrier will allow private equity and be jointly and professionally managed to make it a successful venture… It was also not too long ago, however, that the government welcomed Virgin Atlantic to invest in the airline business in Nigeria over the ashes of Nigeria Airways. It proved an impossible task after just a few years, as the new airline made huge losses estimated at more than $300m between 2005 and 2010. In 2007 alone, Virgin Nigeria Airways lost nearly N10 billion. Moreover, Virgin Atlantic Limited never took more than 49 percent equity in the Virgin Nigeria project. So, what has changed?”

But in spite of the protests, the Aviation minister is sticking to her guns. This is sheer national insult. The latest to come out from the Aviation brain trusts is that the new national carrier, which is now being incredulously sold as part of President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation agenda, would procure 30 brand new aircraft. Is the ministry and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) already running the new venture and determining policies for the so-called private investors? Is it not clear that there are too many devils in the detail the ministry has so far provided? For a government pointlessly and unconvincingly asking for giant foreign loans, do they not have better things to do with money and their time, especially at a time when even foreign airlines are having a tough time staying afloat?

As Hardball observed on September 3, “The Aviation ministry cannot claim to have an innovative business model which the world has not seen before or heard about, and which is capable of sustaining a successful carrier.” Hardball’s conclusion is still valid. Said he: “The idea of a new national carrier is…wishful thinking. There is absolutely no basis for it, either financially or managerially. Worse is the fact that the federal government’s own business model, in which virtually everything except the plum and very rewarding decision-making political process has either been privatised or is run on private-public partnership, negates the founding of a new carrier – a road the government travelled both alone and in partnership before. If Oduah and other government officials who think like her are not quickly dissuaded, soon another minister will begin to flirt with the heresy of reviving the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL), which was liquidated in 1995, and other moribund public agencies long since buried. If the Aviation ministry is idle, the government should look for less costly toys to keep it occupied.”

November 19, 2012
Bode Alalade: Mourning and celebrating!

When Bode Alalade died on October 9, 2012 at 75, there followed a mixed reaction that brought forth two schools. One grieved over the amiable broadcaster’s departure, saying it marked one more phase in the staggered extinction of excellence in electronic journalism. These mourners referred to the death of two other distinguished performers, the affable Ikenna Ndaguba and the matronly Stella Bassey, to push the view that finally the apocalypse had come for the profession.

The second school of thought has been in tears too. But they are tears of joy, very much like the one who would speak of a half full cup of water rather than one which is half empty! This class is celebrating Bode Alalade because by their reckoning he died not leaving behind an industry of orphans. He didn’t take his prime trade mark of mentorship, passion, thoroughness, professional discipline and news room conviviality to the grave.

Indeed Alalade had all these and most likely more. He exhibited them where he worked. However the broadcaster went the extra mile: he conducted “formal” and “informal” training for younger and serious journalists so they could be of use to themselves, the profession, the society and the generations to come.

You may refer to his post-Nigerian Television Authority Network News and Radio Nigerian days as the period of “informal” training. He was later at some private broadcast stations where through “formal “ training programs he tried to restore the dying virtues of passion, precision and perfection to a profession that had been taken over by uncommitted lucre-minded men and women. Bode Alalade was alleged to have been humiliated in some of these places. For, what he taught was gibberish to an age that worshipped wealth as an end and held selfless service in contempt.

Bode Alalade made little sense if he taught that the TV newscaster owed it a duty to his / her teeming viewers and the information seekers to report in the newsroom and take part in packaging the news of the day . it was anathema if he insisted that the newsreader should subject himself to the news editor and consult all the variants of the dictionary– Thesaurus, pronunciation, language etc – during production while rehearsing for the news and proofreading.

Now if today’s “professionals” and their nouveaux riches employers didn’t allow Alalade a fulfilling stay, it didn’t matter.

Because back then at Radio Nigeria and in the glorious days of NTA Network News (God be blessed for that era!) he had made an indelible mark through exquisite and humble service as a trainer, news manager, news reader and agreeable colleague.

We watched Bode Alalade at close quarters during our time with him at the then NTA headquarters on Victoria Island, Lagos in the late 70s and 80s. He had a carriage that reminded you of the equally unforgettable Alfred Hitchcock, the master of suspense in the cinema industry. But in oga Alalade, there lurked no element of suspense.

If it was possible to rehearse 24 hours ahead for the delivery on air, Bode Alalade would do it! There was no one, no matter how junior, he wouldn’t consult in order to give the viewer the best the situation demanded. If an Urhobo name cropped up you wouldn’t catch Alalade napping. He had an Emakpore to corner for an accurate pronunciation so “I don’t offend that corner of the viewing public and smear the reputation of NTA”. For a Ghanaian tongue, he had an Ojewale , his junior .

Once, the name of Helmut Schmidt, then West German Chancellor, was in the news. Trust Alalade! He went for Atobatele who had studied and stayed in Germany for years .Was it so he wouldn’t offend the diplomatic corps, who in those days never left the TV in order to watch NTA’s Network News?

Alalade matched his professional consummation with a spotless sartorial and facial outlook as if nature had decreed a rhyming policy for everything on earth. He was clean – shaven even as he went on air in flawless flowing agbada that seemed to be a celebration of his Ibadan culture. He had hesitant side boards that hardly threatened the hairless childlike face.

Alalade never gave gratuitous gesticulation or false drama in newscast as we see today. But you would observe natural smiles run over his rotund Hitchcock – visage. You’d also notice a near speck-free face that, as the years wore on, still refused to acquire warts. He appeared, on account of his avuncular nature, openness and good looks, to enjoy more than a fair share of the company of the fair sex .it was decent relationship forced upon him by the joviality of the news room .

We can mourn Chief Bode Alalade because he’s no longer with us physically. This is only human. In the long run however, our grief is lessened by his life of eminence in broadcasting and by what he offered in turn to society. He taught us to be humble, diligent and studious in our profession. He warned against sloppy approach as we process our findings to inform, educate and entertain the public. Bode Alalade has given his younger and junior colleagues the baton to continue the race, empowered by the rubric that sustained him.

May the legacy endure to build society!

• Emakpore, Atobatele , Adewusi and Ojewale were Alalade’s younger colleagues at NTA Network News.

November 19, 2012
Okada restriction must stay!

SIR: I see no reason for blaming the government of Lagos state for making a policy restricting the operation of Okada on some Expressway in the State. If not for political enmity against the ruling party, then the brouhaha is a display of mere ignorance by antagonists of the policy.

When a policy or law is made, it is the responsibility of good citizens that crave for a progressive and also decent society to abide by it at least in the first instance then work towards redress in the court of law. Why should we blame the policy maker and the law enforcement agents that apprehend violators of the law? Why can’t the Okada riders obey the law by restricting their operations from the restricted areas? Why can’t we blame the passengers who still patronize them on the highways instead of condemning the policy unfoundedly? Going by the havocs caused on our highways in Lagos, I think a right thinking person would have been long ago expecting such policy and embrace same when it eventually came to fore.

When the policy on the restriction of Okada on major highways in Lagos was announced with the punishment for culprits, I had expected a kind of punishment for the passengers that patronize them on the restricted roads as well. But unfortunately, there is no such and that is why some of the Okada riders still go against the law. If the Okadas are not patronized on the highways due to the policy restricting the passengers as well, the policy would have been strictly adhered to.

The Lagos citizens should know that even if the policy may be somehow hard on them, it is more advantageous in the long run and far from being stringent or cruel. The core unbiased dwellers in Lagos state would understand the policy better and would have felt its effects while acknowledging it.

While I imploy the Lagos state government to sanction passengers too, I would also imploy Lagosians to see the policy as a beneficial one and abide by it to the fullest. Let us not blame the policy maker but the Okada people who have no respect for the authority and the law. If anybody is not pleased with the policy, let them go to the court of law and see if they will win.

• Lawan Jibril

Surulere,Lagos.

November 19, 2012
Gov. Aregbesola must ignore religious propagandists

SIR: We want to draw people’s attention to the ember of religious intolerance being fanned by some enemies of a new order in Osun State and also urge the current administration in the state not to succumb to such diversionary antics.

In fact, the state was bewildered recently when some persons cried wolf over an imaginary plan of the state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to turn Osun into an Islamic State. What a paradox full of absurdity!

Against the backdrop of religious heterogeneity of Osun like any south-west state, the best way to describe that kind of propaganda is cheap blackmail. If the intention of the alarmists was to portray Governor Aregbesola as a religious fanatic, they have certainly missed the point.

If the governor is a fanatic at all, it is certainly not in the area of religion but the culture of the Yoruba which he is very proud of. Governor Aregbesola had just introduced a new logo for Osun State. We want to ask if there is a copy of the Qur-an, turban or any Islamic symbol there. On the contrary, the logo is an epitome of Yoruba culture and its artefacts. That, however, does not remove the fact of Aregbesola being a true and practising Muslim.

Our concern is that people should desist from using the platform of politics to cause religious disaffection not only in Osun but in any part of the country for that matter.

That kind of false propaganda is capable of causing unnecessary mutual suspicion between Muslims and Christians in the State. But the good thing about it is that because of the leadership quality of governor Aregbesola, he enjoys support of both Muslims and Christians in the state as a trusted leader of exemplary character.

Viewed against the infrastructural and human capital developments that are gradually transforming Osun State under Aregbesola’s leadership, it may not be unexpected of his opponents to use all kinds of diversionary tactics with a view to slowing down the development drive of the state. We seize this opportunity to implore Governor Aregbesola to remain undeterred by such antics. Rather, he should continue exploring means of generating employments for youths so as to consolidate the gains of his OYES operation in the state.

Finally, we acknowledge the noble role of the press in creating a good society. The press should look into more areas of religious harmony instead of division in the country that is urgently crying for genuine unity and development.

. Sheikh Mas’ud Olanrewaju Adepoju.

National Vice President, Federation of Ahlus-Sunnah Organisations in Nigeria (FASON)

. Sheikh Abdul-Rasheed Hadiyatullah, National Vice President of Sharia Council in Nigeria

. Sheikh Abdul-Fatahi Thann,founder of The Muslim Congress (TMC) .

Prof. D.O.S. Noibi, Secretary-General, Muslim Ummah of South West of Nigeria.

November 19, 2012
Okada riders and the Lagos traffic law

The Lagos Traffic Law, signed into law on August 2, 2012 by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, has generated lots of controversies. The aspect of the law that has particularly generated so much debate is the one that restricts the operations of commercial motorcycles operators, popularly called okada, in 495 designated strategic highways and routes out of a total number of 9,700 available routes within the metropolis.

In defiance of the law okada riders simply continued their business as usual. As expected, the law caught up with some of them, who argued that their ban on the designated roads would effectively put them out of business. Consequently, many of them flouted the law and continued to operate on the restricted routes. The state government subsequently had to resort to impounding the motorcycles of erring okada riders. This resulted into several acts of vandalism by okada riders who attacked commuters and vandalised 10 BRT buses. Security men were deployed to control the situation while some of the rioting okada riders were arrested. The Lagos State Assembly, in addition to other respected voices in the state, condemned the destructive protest and threatened and outright ban on okada if the riders were not ready to abide by the law of the land.

It is unfortunate that rather than obey the laws of the land or, indeed, follow more civilised ways of expressing their grievances, okada riders decided to take the laws into their hands by destroying public properties and threatening the peace of the land. Prior to its implementation of the law, the state government held several stakeholders’ meetings with the leadership of the various associations representing okada riders to intimate them of plans to enforce the new laws in the restricted areas as well as seek for their partnership in ensuring the sanctity of the law. Instead of resorting to the same channel to convey their objection, or possibly seek further clarifications, okada riders simply chose to tow a rather primitive line . This, of course, confirms the widely held notion that hoodlums had seriously infiltrated into the ranks and file of okada riders.

Indeed, the misery and grief that okada has brought into several homes in Lagos, and indeed across the country, is un-imaginable. Statistics from the Lagos State Management Authority (LASTMA) reveals that not less than 619 people were killed or seriously injured in okada accident in the last two years. The breakdown shows that 107 people died while 512 sustained serious injuries. Among the dead were 71 males and 36 females. In 2001 alone, 47 people were killed while 98 others sustained serious injuries from okada accidents. And, between January 2012 and October, the statistics shows that 63 people were killed while 59 sustained serious injuries.

A recent police report equally shows that out of the 30 armed robbery incidents recorded in Lagos between July and September this year, 22 involved commercial motorcycles. According to the records, it was obvious that out of eight robberies that occurred in July, seven involved the use of okada while it was also used in 10 out of 14 robberies in September and five out of eight robberies in August. Looking at these available facts and figures, there should be no controversy about the fact that the operations of okada in the state need to be regulated.

Besides the agony and grief it brings upon its victims, the lawlessness of Okada on the road is quite nauseating. Most of the riders are illiterates, mostly from neighbouring countries such as Niger, Chad, Sudan, Republic of Benin and Togo, who are ignorant of traffic regulations and signs. This is in addition to constituting a nuisance to other road-users through reckless driving. Undoubtedly, Okada is being abused in various ways and government’s intervention couldn’t have come at a better time. Okada cannot be the best means of transportation in 21st century Lagos when other states such as Rivers, Abia, Delta, Eboyin and even the Federal Capital Territory are rejecting it.

Unfortunately, it is a sad reflection of the state of our country that Okada riding has suddenly become a vocation for young Nigerians. This is one area where the poor state of the power sector is now haunting us. After spending trillions of naira on a rather phony agenda to stabilise power in the country, constant supply of power remains a mirage to many Nigerians. No wonder, many informal sector’s operators such as hairdressers, barbers, welders, mechanics, panel beaters, painters, tailors, electricians, electronics repairers among others have abandoned their vocations for the deadly and temporary option of riding okada.

In order to reverse this ugly trend, there is an urgent need for the federal government to expedite action on its power reform agenda. It is no longer news that some multi-national corporations have relocated from the country while some others are in the process of winding up. No thanks to the unstable power situation in the country. Indeed, the country’s manufacturing sector, which has the capacity to generate the much needed jobs, if all the variables work well, is perhaps, the most hit with respect to the power situation. Consequently, if we are to tackle unemployment head long, we must give serious attention to rejuvenating the power sector. It is only when this is done that our youth would be able to resist the allure of turning okada riding into a career.

Nevertheless, the competence of traffic personnel to enforce the law need to be improved upon continuously while appropriate use of technology should be incorporated into enforcing the law. It is cheering to note that LASTMA officials are currently tapping into technology while discharging their duties. An example is the use of Auto Inspector- hand-held devices which enable traffic officers to track information about any car registered in Lagos and its owner.

Equally, there is an urgent need for the state government to expand the operational routes of BRT to accommodate more commuters across the state. Also, the private sector should take advantage of the diverse opportunities that abound in the sector to partner with the state government in providing the necessary interventions that would enhance the effectiveness of public transportation in the state. Perhaps, more importantly, the federal government should speed up efforts on its power sector reform not only to safe guard the jobs on ground, but to pave ways for the emergence of new one.

Finally, since the primary goal of government’s massive investment in the sector is to ensure free flow of traffic, road safety and social – economic development, it is important that major stakeholders partner with the state government to give the new law a chance since it is mainly enacted to protect the people.

– Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

November 18, 2012
Between political myopia and analytic bigotry

Ordinarily one would not want to respond to the disjointed, shallow, often comical piece titled ‘Tinubu’s Political Megalomania’ credited to one Oladele Osunbote and published in The Guardian of Sunday, November 11, 2012. In his opening paragraphs, for instance, Osunbote pointlessly makes reference to some great African leaders – Kwame Nkrumah, Julius Nyerere, Sekou Toure, Nelson Mandela among others – and then makes this absolutely meaningless statement: “The history of Africa must parade the great names so that I can obtain my egoistic competence to counter the negrophobists”. This is sheer lunacy showcasing an unstable mind shrouded in darkness. Osunbote obviously lacked the intellect to effectively communicate his ideas (if he has any) or lucidly demonstrate his logic. Given the proven anarchical bent of his mind, one can, therefore, better understand some of the wild, unsubstantiated and absolutely reckless allegations this writer makes in a futile bid to denigrate the character and tarnish the political career of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu – former Governor of Lagos State and National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

As the title of his diatribe suggests, Osunbote’s objective is to prove that Tinubu suffers from political megalomania and is greedy to acquire power and dominate others at all costs and by all means. He admits that Tinubu successfully withstood Obasanjo’s assault on the South West in 2003 and remained the only Alliance for Democracy (AD) Governor left standing after the PDP hurricane that swept the traditionally progressive region on that occasion. Osunbote equally could not deny that Tinubu as Governor of Lagos State steered the ship of the state with dexterity and overcame the seizure of the state Local Government funds for over three years by General Olusegun Obasanjo. He even admits that Tinubu at the time was “morally and tactically higher than Obasanjo and his group”. Thereafter, Osunbote reasons, Tinubu “has become ensconced, so politically comfortable that he wants to control all political machineries of South West”.

And how does Osunbote prove this? He makes the following unbelievably wild and sweeping assertion that can be nothing but the product of a diseased mind: “…all consultants to all ACN states in the South West must come from Lagos. He must appoint two thirds of the number of judges and commissioners to be appointed in all the South West states except Ondo State which is firmly under the control of the Labour Party. Street cleaners, consultants, contractors etc must come from Lagos. So much is now going to Lagos to the extent that some of the commissioners in the South West cannot approve or pay twenty thousand Naira only”. Now, is it not obvious that only a truly demented and deranged mind can make such ridiculous claims without the slightest effort at substantiation?

It is quite convenient for Osunbote to forget that Asiwaju Tinubu had been playing key roles in Nigerian politics long before he became Governor of Lagos State. Tinubu was elected to the Senate from Lagos West constituency with the highest votes in the country in the Third Republic. In the Senate he was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Finance, Currency and Appropriations. In that capacity Tinubu initiated a far reaching probe of the finances of the National Assembly that set him at loggerheads with the legislative bureaucracy and the military regime at the helm of affairs at the time. It certainly does not occur to Osunbote that a megalomaniac simply wanting power for its own sake would have rather warmed up to the powers that be at that time rather than risk his position and possibly his life by challenging their financial misdeeds.

Again, Tinubu was at the forefront of Chief MKO Abiola’s campaign for presidency in 1993. When the June 12, 1993 election, described as the freest and fairest in the country’s history was annulled, Tinubu emerged as one of the fiercest opponents of the annulment. As the arrowhead of the struggle to actualise Abiola’s mandate, the military junta reached out to him severally to jump ship and come over to their side. He was offered juicy appointments and contracts to no avail. He refused to betray his principled commitment to the sanctity of a free and fair election. Is that how megalomaniacs behave? Does Osunbote know the meaning of the word? Exasperated by Tinubu’s intransigence, the military viciously went after him. He was detained. His house was fire bombed. He eventually had to flee the country for his dear life. In exile he remained steadfast in his commitment to the pro-democracy struggle making great personal and financial sacrifices towards this effort. Is that how megalomaniacs behave? Wouldn’t a megalomaniac rather enjoy the transient benefits of economic and political power rather than risk his life fighting for truth and justice?

After the 2003 election, Tinubu was the only AD governor remaining in office in the South West. His position was clearly vulnerable. PDP leaders were boasting that he would have no choice but to come over to their party. A megalomaniac intent on protecting his position at all costs would have opted for that easy way out. Power would have mattered to him more than principle or party loyalty. Tinubu demonstrated character. He exhibited integrity. He showed that there are values more important than wielding power for its own sake. Surely, that is not the trait of a megalomaniac. Beyond this, Tinubu did not try to diminish the influence and political authority of his fellow governors – Segun Osoba, Lam Adesina, Niyi Adebayo, Bisi Akande and Adebayo Adefarati – who were dislodged from power. He rallied them round, gave them moral and logistics support and ensured they continued to play their leadership roles in their states within the party. That is why they were all able to play their roles in the systematic return to political ascendancy of the progressive forces in the South West. Is that the trait of a megalomaniac intent on grabbing and dominating power? This Osunbote is clearly hallucinating.

What of Osunbote’s claim that consultants, commissioners, judges and even street cleaners appointed in ACN states are from Lagos? Of course such childish drivel is quite laughable. One challenges him to name even one of the functionaries in any of those states who is not an indigene of the state? He should cite any indigene of Lagos who is a political appointee in Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti or Osun states. If any indigene of these states has worked in Lagos or elsewhere acquiring valuable expertise in the process, is it a crime to put his knowledge and experience to the service of his state? If an indigene of any South West state has distinguished him or herself even outside the country – US, Britain, Canada, France etc – is it a crime to bring such a talent home to help develop his state? How myopic and bigoted can Osunbote be? He makes mischievous reference to the proposed appointment of Justice Oyewole of the Lagos High Court as Chief Judge of Osun State as if Oyewole is an indigene of Lagos. Justice Oyewole hails from Ila in Osun State. He has served with distinction as a most brilliant and fearless judge. He will be a great asset to any state where he serves. Indeed, Lagos would be making a big sacrifice to allow him go to Osun.

Osunbote made some vague and illiterate reference to Tinubu and the finances of Lagos State. The facts are clear. Lagos was earning an Internally Generated Revenue of N600 million monthly when Tinubu assumed office in 1999. Through deft financial engineering, Tinubu turned around the finances of state and by the time he left office in 2007, the IGR of Lagos was over N8 billion monthly. Governor Fashola has built on this strong foundation and the IGR of Lagos is today over N15 billion monthly. Osunbote and his sponsors can continue their lamentations. Tinubu, Lagos and the South- West will continue to march forward.

November 18, 2012