The Nation Newspaper

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  • George Weah and the future of Liberia

    It is now official. 1995 World Footballer of the Year, George Weah has been declared winner of the just concluded Liberia’s presidential election. It will be recalled that Weah topped the first round of voting earlier in October but did not secure the 50 percent needed to win outright majority, thus necessitating a runoff.

    According to the chairperson of Liberia’s National Electoral Commission, Jerome Kokoya, Weah won 61.5 percent of the total vote as well as 14 out of the country’s 15 counties. After processing 98.1% of results from polling units, Weah got 720,033 votes (61.5%).

    With this development, Weah, a serving senator from the Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) whose main opponent in the election was  73 years old Vice President Joseph Boakai of the ruling Unity Party, is set to replace President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who is stepping down after the constitutionally mandated two terms of twelve years. This is the nation’s first democratic transition since 1944 and Weah is poised to be the 25th President of the country.

    Weah’s victory was a product of multifaceted intrigues. His running mate was Senator Jewel Howard-Taylor who is the ex-wife of former President Charles Taylor, who sparked Liberia’s civil war in 1989 and is currently serving a 50-year prison sentence in Britain for his role in war crimes in Sierra Leone. Despite his incarceration in far away Britain,  Taylor is reportedly still having huge supporters in Liberia and this is partly responsible for Weah’s winning of key counties in the first round of voting.

    Aside the Taylor’s connection, Weah’s popularity with the youth was also a strong factor in his electoral victory. 70 percent of Liberian population is under 35 and they formed the army of his fanatic supporters. Weah, 51, has a lot of support among the youth who strongly believe in him and his change agenda. Being a former international footballer who has committed a vast proportion of his personal fortune to the development of his nation and her extremely impoverished citizenry, Weah’s acceptance among the youth is simply electrifying. The spontaneous euphoria that greeted his announcement as President elect is a true demonstration of his widespread acceptance by his countrymen.

    The country’s battered economy equally made Weah’s change campaign an exciting proposition. Liberia is one of the world’s poorest countries and Weah had vigorously run his campaign on the premise of engendering accelerated economic growth. And since he is widely seen as an anti establishment candidate, many believe that he is the right man to turn things around for the poor West African country that had been variously raped by greedy and corrupt leadership.

    Equally, Weah had become more mature politically since he was beaten by Sirleaf Johnson in the 2006 presidential runoff. 12 years after, Weah had learnt the rope and this is quite evident in the various alliances he was able to garner in the latest election. He has become more politically educated to make calculated decisions that have significant electoral consequences.  It is clearly a reflection of Weah’ political development over the years that he was able to beat the vastly experienced Joseph Boakai and the ruling party.

    Now that Weah has been declared victorious, the fear of many analysts is whether his main opponent, Joseph Boakai, and the ruling Unity Party will actually accept the electoral verdict and give peace a chance. Outgoing President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf’s tenure as Liberia’s president ended decades of bitter conflict and civil war in the country and it is hoped that the relative peace that has been achieved during her reign would not be carelessly filtered away through selfish ambition and unpatriotic tendencies.

    If there is anything that Liberia can really do without now, it is another round of needless acrimonious actions that could draw the nation back into avoidable crisis. It is hoped that major stakeholders in the country as well as the international community will mutually work together to ensure that the nation’s interest is well safe guarded far above personal concerns. This is why the United Nations’ recent deployment of former President Olusegun Obasanjo to help in the county’s transition process is a welcome development.

    Now, what should be considered paramount is what the future holds for Liberia in the immediate post Sirleaf Johnson era. Liberia had passed through so much trouble and crisis that it cannot afford to slide into anarchy once again. It will be recalled that the outbreak of Ebola virus in the West African country between 2014 and 2016 left her in a rather devastating state as it accounted for the death of thousands of both young and old people.

    Apart from the Ebola desolation, the country’s economy is almost in ruin, no thanks to years of highly destructive civil war. Being a profoundly bi- product economy, the drop in commodity prices for rubber and iron ore which are her main export commodities, has sharply affected the country’s economy. Despite attaining much peace in her twelve years in the saddle, the country’s economy hasn’t really fared better under incumbent Sirleaf Johnson. The county has actually made slow progress on jobs, unemployment, education, rural development, healthcare and attracting foreign direct investment. Equally, infrastructure across the country remains quite in a deplorable state.

    Therefore, whenever he is eventually sworn in as the country’s next President, George Weah and his team must be prepared to tackle an economy that is already tattered by lower commodity prices for its main exports of rubber and iron ore and a rapidly depreciating currency as well as living standards that remain among the worst in the world. They must be ready to come up with creative strategies through which the fortune of the country’s economy could be positively transformed.

    The task of rebuilding the nation’s battered economy and critical infrastructure would no doubt be a gigantic one, but with the cooperation of all relevant stakeholders in the country as well as the goodwill of the international community, in the not too distant future, Liberians should be able to smile again.

    As for George Weah, he had truly been a king on the soccer pitch.

  • Matters of the hearts (3)

    Deputy Governor Ekpenyong’s Daughter and the Oniru’s Son – Engr. Chris Stephen Ekpenyong PhD, FNSE, CEO of Gestric Engineering Ikeja Lagos is an Engineer, businessman and Politician. He is said to have discovered the Ibom Deep Seaport. Popularly called Ukarakpa 1, Chris Ekpenyong was the first elected deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State in this 4th republic. (‘99 – 2005). His wife, Dr. Grace is a visionary Entrepreneur whose products are of export standard. It is no wonder they were choosy about who they give their precious daughter’s hand to in marriage.

    The lucky young man was no less a gentleman than Yemi Oniru of the Oniru Royal Family of Lagos Island. Yemi, son of the Oniru of Iruland, HRM Oba Idowu Oniru was the perfect match for the precious daughter.

    Oba Oniru, also an Engineer is the father and architect of the modern Oniru estate. The Oniru family presides over Oniru Land which is a sprawling upmarket Island property.

    Engr. Ekpenyong sits over a business conglomerate spanning manufacturing, hospitality business, ICT and Engineering services. As a politician, many know him to be a former deputy Governor. But unknown to many, Ukarakpa’s legacy is in his grooming and raising of several neophytes in politics and governance, as potential office holders. This ever cheerful man is indeed a rare breed.

    As a governorship candidate in 2007, he was one strong contender who gave Chief Godswill Akpabio a tough chase. And so it was the wedding of the year when Dr Chris Ekpenyong’s only daughter got married to Yemi Oniru in Uyo; Gov. Akpabio was also in attendance. The families shifted Lagos society to Akwa Ibom on the day elegant Emem married young Yemi. Yemi’s mother, a former airline hostess was well supported by her friends who travelled to Akwa Ibom to witness the memorable cross-cultural nuptials.

    The OONI OF IFE-Oba Enitan Ogunwusi

    My brother Roy was at Ile-is also true, great women get hooked up with mean, vicious men. It is sad.

    REJOINDERS

    Darego and Ishaya, I wish them conjugal bliss; for the Imo Deputy Governor, I commend him for his courage to keep trying, if it’s not working in this third attempt, what stops him from moving to the next level?

    Busari Alade, Ilorin.

    The story on Bianca /Ikemba and on OUK made my Xmas truly entertaining. 080…409

    Stop Press 1: This matters of the heart series is truly prophetic!

    The very same day the second part went to press last week, Dr. Orji Kalu gave out his first daughter Neya, named in part 2, in marriage. The wedding of the year as dubbed saw Neya declare her love and be joined to her Buckingham University sweetheart, Lawrence Iyere, a businessman with interest in oil and gas. The wedding was attended by the who is who beginning with Nigeria’s Number 3 Citizen, Senator Bukola Saraki.

    Now OUK is one man the Americans would define as a hands-on father. When the Kalus lived in Ikoyi, OUK personally took his kids everywhere: school, shopping, birthday parties, weekend outing and everywhere kids like to go. When he became governor he used to travel from Abia to Lagos to the British International School Lekki for his children’s visiting days.

    Neya is one of those I call precious daughters (see the previous P.F: Big Man, carry a big padlock and lock up your precious daughters). OUK was both mother and father to his children and I trust that Mr. Iyere will take very good care of Neya just like her Daddy always did. And I’m wishing Neya and Lawrence happy married life!

    Stop Press 2: Its 3rd time lucky for GEORGE OPONG WEAH! Congratulations from me to the President of Liberia.

    SENATOR AND SENATOR MISSUS

    Yes, sure this refers to the Power Couple of Bola Ahmed Adekunle Tinubu and Oluremi Tinubu; I call them Asiwaju Jagaban and Madam New Era!

    Back in the day, Bola was a very promising suitor:- nice kind, worked in an oil company and was serious minded. Even that far back, he was interested in the welfare of others.

    Remi, fresh out of OAU, Ife once said that he was very serious about his job and was someone that was future-minded. She did not take too long to say I Do. And from a Mobil top shot, Senator Bola went on to become Lagos State Governor before his current party position. Senator Remi served as an exemplary First Lady before going to the Senate. Then this year on the 22nd of August it was a day of celebration as that couple marked 30 years in marriage! They gathered friends and family members to a quiet celebration in London, thanking God for the 30th happy years.

    Here’s Tinubu on his wife: she’s a good mother, loving wife and excellent listener. Here’s Oluremi on Tinubu: he is a lion in politics but a lamb in marriage!

    So on that note of Senatorial Style loving, I, Princess wish them more than 30 more happy years together; also I wish You dear reader a GREAT NEW YEAR’s DAY tomorrow, with all my Love!

     

    • 07055547031 – whatsapp/sms

     

  • LNG Act vs NNDC Act: How National Assembly saved the day

    LNG Act vs NNDC Act: How National Assembly saved the day

    Last month, between the Senate and the House of Representatives, though many Nigerians are not aware, a development occurred which created scare among the international oil and gas companies, particularly subscribers to the LNG project.

    Sometimes last June, Senators from the oil producing South-south geo-political zone protested during plenary that gas producing companies operating in their region are not contributing to the funds that Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) require for development efforts in the oil producing areas. They noted that, unlike oil companies, the gas producing companies are hiding under the pretense that they were not specifically mentioned in Section 14 of the NDDC Act which mandated oil producing companies to contribute three percent of their total annual budget into the coffers of the commission to evade making any contribution.

    While the Senate leadership promised to engage the gas producing companies and ensure that the grouse of their counterparts are redressed, the representatives of the oil producing communities in the House of Representatives decided to take a radical measure. They sponsored a bill to amend the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Act.

    In the amendment, they inserted a clause that the LNG company and other gas producing companies must pay not less than three percent of their annual total budget into the coffers of NNDC as their contributions to the fund. They also included that the percentage should be fixed by the Minister of Petroleum Resources as he may deem fit.

    The implication of the amendment into the LNG Act is that, unlike the situation of the oil companies as contained in the NDDC Act, the percentage of the budget of the gas companies to be contributed into the NDDC may be as high as 10 percent depending on the rate fixed in a particular year by the Minister.

    This realization rang a bell in the ears  of the gas companies. They quickly sent a delegation to the Senate President, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki  and Speaker Yakubu Dogara seeking their intervention. They explain that the amendment to the LNG Act has grievous operation for the smooth operation of the LNG project and other gas companies and their ability to fulfill the contractual agreement which they have with international buyers of their products as well as the targets already set on the production, sale and development of the products.

    They also added that the uncertainty created by the flexibility of the funds to be contributed into the NDDC makes budgeting and planning difficult for them, a situation not good for their business. Saraki and Dogara, at a meeting with their colleagues during a joint leadership parley of both chambers in Saraki’s house considered the plea of the gas producers. It was then agreed that the House should step down the amendment bill on the LNG Act.

    Rather, it was agreed that both chambers should adopt the NDDC amendment bill which is already before the Senate seeking the inclusion of the gas producing companies in section 14 of the original Act. The section fix the percentage of the budget due to be paid by the oil companies. Thus, the Senate bill passed on Wednesday, November 29, 2017, amends the sub-section 2 (b) of the NDDC principal Act by substituting the existing words. The new provision reads that what will be contributed is 3 percent of – (i) “the total annual budget of any oil producing company operating onshore and offshore, in the Niger Delta area” and (ii) “the total annual budget of any gas processing company operating in the Niger Delta area, excluding the cost of feed gas”.

    With the passage of the NDDC (Establishment) Act 2000 (amendment) Bill 2017, the House has therefore dropped its amendment to the LNG Act. This is a credit to the good relationship between the two chambers of the 8th National Assembly. It also underscores the pro-business and pro-people stance of the present National Assembly, as they seek to balance between national interest and the need for key players in the economy to remain afloat and happy that their investments are not jeopardized by legislations and government policies.

    More important, the leadership of both chambers of the National Assembly have demonstrated their ability for prompt response to issue that affects their constituents and to always ensure that the nation and her people are not short-changed by multi-national companies operating in Nigeria.

    One therefore commend Senator Saraki, Rt. Hon. Dogara and their colleagues for rising to the occasion when necessary and for being able to carry along the people in ensuring that things go on seamlessly in the process of making necessary changes to the law, albeit in overall national interest.

     

    • Quassim is an Abuja based Legislative/Public Policy analyst

  • What did you cook in 2017?

    “Oh God!…my problems are countless, financial..health challenges, heartbreak..chai! I suffered in 2017…”These are the lamentations of some people as the year comes to an end. They specialise in advertising and magnifying their personal problems to the end that others are pissed off. If you ask me, people are not really interested in knowing how big your problems are, rather they want to know how you crest your storms. Think about it, who on earth does not have a problem or challenge? Ask a ninety year old man and you will be surprised he’s got his own pain, even babies are not left out in the share of pain. In essence, no one is spared from the rod of pain. However, comfort and pleasure comes when the student humbly learns the vital lessons of character building. The virtue of a good character is priceless and it forms the foundation for an enduring vision. Needless to say that your character will provide the impetus for your vision to be completed.

    Do not be engrossed in your personal problems, be conscious of the fact that others also have problems. That way, your consideration for others will be a soothing ointment and this also comes back to ease your own pain. As long as the earth exist human beings will always have problems..Have you considered that the earth is founded upon the waters? Check the world map, research shows that water makes up about 71% of the Earth’s surface. Water is usually not calm…waves in the oceans can travel thousands of miles before reaching land. Sounds of ocean waves crashing on the beach are a natural source of noise. My point is, If the earth itself is founded upon water so why do we expect life to be always calm?..this is food for thought!

    No doubt, understanding will make you outstanding. Despite the overwhelming painful experiences I had this year I am consoled by this understanding that all my painful experiences can be likened to different ingredients necessary for making a delicious soup( Pain comes in different forms, how you see it matters). Some are like yellow, black or red pepper, others are stockfish, vegetables, onions, ginger, goat meat, dry fish, etc. So I have learned through knowledge and experience to blend and cook them to make a delicious soup. It would interest you to know that the soup I cooked from my pains in 2017 is…Ofe Owerri (a delicious traditional soup from Owerri, Imo state. This soup is popular for its rich taste and nutritional value. It is basically made with assorted fish and mixed green vegetables). I had humiliating experiences which I saw as vegetables and the fearsome, terrifying ones which I also saw as assorted meat and stock fish. So as a good cook(good student of life), I blended the ingredients, cooked them and today you are eating my soup. I trust you like the taste! This is a call to action, analyse all your painful experiences, see them through the eyes of a good cook and make a soup out of them..please let me know the soup you cooked..I need to taste it! Share the vital lessons you learned from your pain with others, that way, they can have a taste.

    I must emphasize at this point that what you cook is a reflection of what you are! No doubt two people can be given the same ingredients to make a particular soup yet their soups will taste differently. Why? The difference will be based on individual’s knowledge and experience. I love the famous quote of John C. Maxwell “Circumstances do not make you what you are..they reveal what you are!” I can never forget this day, Saturday 26th of August 2017, the available cash I had that morning could barely buy the food items to prepare a decent meal, so my knowledge of Arithmetic taught me to subtract the transport fare from the budget. I summoned courage and embarked on an endurance trek to the nearest market, about thirty minutes away from home. I got to the market and bought what I could afford. On my way home I decided to take a less busy route, as I crossed to the right side of the road I saw pieces of N500 on the ground..7pieces..N3,500!hmmm… that was quite a lot considering my financial status that morning, I wiped my face with my hands to be sure of the sight. Initially I was afraid, but I did not notice anyone around so I picked the money. 

     However, as I picked the cash and lifted my head I saw a newspaper vendor emerged from a corner, a few distance away and he was obviously looking for something. I stood and watched him as he was searching the gutter and talking to himself. Aside from passing motorists, it was just the two of us on that road at that time. On the spot, my conscience pricked me and echoed “That’s the owner..give him his money”. Another voice opposed it loudly “You need this money, take it and ignore the man, after all he has not told you anything..” the war of thoughts raging through my mind were weighty on me and I started sweating profusely. Haa! my moment of truth.. I  moved towards the vendor, as I got to his side I saw his perplexed face so I drew closer to him and asked what he was looking for. He hummed “mo-o-n-e-y” without further interrogation I handed the money to him. The vendor, a middle aged man, looked at me and opened his mouth amazed. I left immediately to avoid another drama but I felt a great sense of peace within. I was elated when I saw this vendor last week, on the same road, he ran to me and showered me with prayers..”Aunty I know you wen you dey pass this road before..but when you saw my money on the ground and gave me..I now know you well well..God bless you..” Need I say more, the real you is who you are when you think no one is watching! Have a prosperous 2018!

  • President Buhari, c’mon, take charge of your government

    Christmas has come and gone and we are five days into the New Year 2018. But this is one particular Christmas when Nigerians went through excruciating pain to get fuel to run their vehicles and be in church for thanksgiving.

    The reason or reasons for fuel-less Christmas may not be easy to fathom but something tells me sabotage may not be an unreasonable guess to make on this matter. Why should it happen at that time of the year?

    When some people some time ago pointed at the fact that some members of the PDP were still being kept in some vital segments of government and were subtly wreaking havoc within, to make this government look ugly in the public eye, I thought that was an unkind cut and an easy way to explain off the glaring ineptitude in government.

    It was why some of us initially didn’t really buy the refrain from some functionaries of government that for every failing of this government, Jonathan’s regime was to blame. But I’m beginning to have a rethink that after all, there could be some point in there.

    Why do I say so? The foundation for the inexplicable and utterly annoying fuel shortages at Christmas time must have been laid long before harmattan set in but I doubt if Buhari, at the helm of affairs, was alerted about it. And his letter of apology to Nigerians, subtly pointed at that, that he was caught by surprise. Who should have alerted him: his own appointees or those he inherited from the previous administration and who he retained in the spirit of being fair and humane?

    The Christmas period fuel nonsense must never be allowed to happen again and I have an idea how President Buhari can prevent a recurrence. If the blunder is from his own appointees, such should have no place any more in his Government and if it came from Jonathan sympathisers within, I suggest they should be disengaged from this Administration without any further delay.

    I recall that Jakande in his time as Governor of Lagos State, made it a deliberate policy not to sweep away those working for the opposition who chose to stay on in the Service while those who felt they had overreached themselves and feared reprisal for their indiscretion during the electioneering period of 1978/79, quickly switched from the state service and went with their NPN acolytes into the Federal Civil Service.

    His reasoning was that civil servants were like chameleon who could switch colour and allegiance to any government in power and that once the government of the day offered policy direction it wanted, the civil servant would follow suit. He identified those he could invest his trust on and put them in the commanding heights of his Administration and he left the tainted ones to follow suit and live up to the civil service code or be left to vegetate and be frustrated out of the Service.

    Not a bad idea; as many of those wooed by the opposition to sabotage Jakande’s regime quickly adjusted and blended well with the new regime in the prosecution of its four cardinal programs of free education, free health scheme, cheap and affordable housing; and full and gainful employment. Jakande was a huge success as a result!

    I suspect Buhari too went into his current term with the same mindset of not removing federal civil servants just because a new regime was in place.

    But I doubt if the civil service of nowadays have the same orientation as the ones inherited by the Second Republic politicians in power at the state and federal levels. The difference is that many of those in place now are strangers brought in from credible and dubious sources locally and abroad, to the civil service code put in place by the British and behave or even compete with professional politicians under a bogus modern fad.

    Many of them invest heavily, in financial resources, even more than politicians, the reason why they moan and cry more than the bereaved when the governments they put most of their ill-gotten wealth on, are displaced from power. The consequence of that is to sabotage the new government from within and wreak it to pave way for the return of their preferred party.

    If he didn’t put incompetent or layback people in vital places then, it must be that the saboteurs are within, trying to put spanners in the works. But Buhari must realise we have entered a crucial year in which political activities will heighten.

    If, like Jimmy Dean postulated, that if “one can’t change the direction of the wind, then he can adjust his sails to always reach his destination”. Put another way, if Buhari cannot dissuade the opposition inside his Government from working against his interest, he has the power to remove them from where they are wreaking this havoc.

    He should realise that in the final analysis, the buck stops on his table.

  • Technical University as a game changer – (II)

    I now come to one of the seemingly knotty areas about Tech-U. Since the publication of our fee structure on our website, a few members of the public have expressed deep reservation. For these people, our tuition and charges are outrageous. In fact, some want to simply send their wards here without any financial responsibility on their part. Sincerely, we appreciate the varied sentiments expressed in response to our fees.

    However, some essential facts must be made known here.

    First, let it be clear that the disclosure of our fees upfront must be seen as a sign of our commitment to running an open system. We think it is sensible to carry the general public along in our operations. It helps us more to stay true to our course. We do not intend to provoke any ill-feeling in the general public with the publication of our fees.

    Second, Tech-U tuition at N400, 000 per session is not outrageous or prohibitive. Yes, the university is established by the Oyo State government. The truth is that it is not managed by the state government. The undergirding principle behind our operation is that we are a public university with a private sector orientation. We are set up to be self-sustaining in the long run. Government support and funding for us have an exit plan.

    To be sure, the great universities of our world that many desire are not run singularly by or with big government funds. They charge fees and depend on funding from their alumni bodies, wealthy individuals, and corporations. If we want Tech-U to survive, operate efficiently, deliver on the kind of training we promise, avoid strikes (one of the banes of higher institutions in our clime), and maintain a high degree of academic standard, it is inevitable that we charge differently from what obtains in public universities. I guarantee the Nigerian public that Tech-U is a university where parents and investors will get value for the money spent there.

    Conversely, those who bid us to charge like public universities do not pay attention to the ironic contradiction that subsists in those institutions. A high number of the materials used by students in those institutions of learning are provided by parents. Those institutions are not as free as people think. Charges for all kinds of things that should be available free exist. The irony is that it is where you think your charges have been subsidised or you are absolved of them that you even pay more. That is the ironic reality of public institutions in our country today!

    At Tech-U, we did our research across public and private universities before we arrived at the tuition and other charges we have prepared. There are many private universities whose tuitions and charges are much higher than ours. Besides, STEM programmes are cost-intensive. It is either you commit the right funds into them and get good results or you commit below what is required and manage the less than commendable outcomes.

    We wish to assure all parents and organisations which have elected to send their wards and children here that they will be glad at the end that they made this choice. And for those who are still thinking of sending their children abroad, we wish to ask them to reconsider that plan. At Tech-U, we guarantee the very quality they seek abroad.

    Third, we should like to clearly emphasise the point that Tech-U is not an institution for a select segment of the Nigerian society. In other words, an apartheid system has no place here. Everybody and anybody who has the requirements to be admitted is free to come. More importantly, among those already offered admission to study at Tech-U are children of those who have long been bothered about whether they would even have the money to send their children to the supposedly free public universities.

    Special note must be made of how we have, ab initio, put a lie to the claim of Tech-U being a learning space for the few stupendously wealthy citizens of our country. We have in place a scholarship arrangement known as Tech-U Scholarship Scheme. Three students from each of the 33 Local Government Areas in Oyo State were admitted to this university through this scheme.

    We just did not ask the LGAs to provide these students. We asked each of them to nominate 10 qualified students who meet our requirements. We specifically requested as a condition that all of the 10 students must have graduated from public secondary schools; are indigenes of the LGAs; wrote the last UTME and scored at least 160; and have at least credit in English Language, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, and either Biology or Agricultural Science. This is how we can really reach the underprivileged segment in the state. We subjected all of them to a competitive process (Computer-Based Test) which aligns with the culture of excellence and quality that Tech-U uncompromisingly favours. From this competitive process, we picked the best three candidates from each LGA and recommended them to the state government for scholarship. Those successful ones constitute a consequential number of the students we are taking off with in January 2018. As such, we have a university that provides a level-playing field for the privileged and the less privileged in and outside Nigeria, as well as a state government which privileges education for development.  Tech-U does not subsidize the rich and continues to make effort to empower the underprivileged.

    The fourth concluding point under this segment is that some of the items on our fee outlay will only be paid for once. Items like student handbook, tie and scarf, cufflinks, school pin, etc., will be provided for our students till they graduate. When you consider that some of the charges are one-off, it will be clear that bills for subsequent academic sessions will be lighter.

    In conclusion, it is pertinent to aver that Tech-U is set to be a game changer in the education sector of Nigeria. We are set to train youths whose trainings will aid significantly to contribute richly to the socio-economic advancement of Nigeria and other climes. The graduates we will produce will have the confidence of their trainings; will be innovators, creators of jobs, employers, and ultimately builders of society.

    As a society, the economic advancement we are in dire need of cannot be guaranteed by weak, theory-suffused higher education. To industrialise and to compete with the rest of the world, a sound, skill-oriented higher education is inescapably critical.

    To this end, as we welcome our first set of students in January, 2018, we call on companies, industries, wealthy individuals, and committed stakeholders in the higher education emporium for support in every possible way. We have no iota of doubt that the existence of Tech-U is for the wellbeing of humankind. Come on board and let us make this a reality every single passing day!

     

    • Professor Salami is the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of The Technical University, Ibadan.

  • Country of sadists and of sad men

    In almost all climes, the approach of festive seasons elicits excitement. We all look forward to Christmas, Eids, and other religious, cultural, or social festivals with joy. Parents plan towards them. Children are expectant. Souls are upbeat. The excitement is infectious.

    There was a time Nigerians were said to have been adjudged the happiest people in the world. If in ordinary and trying circumstances, we are adjudged the happiest, we can fathom what the situation would be with the approach of festivals. Nigerians would certainly be in a world of their own. In the last four days, however, happiness yielded ground to sadness, excitement to apathy, hope to hopelessness, euphoria to disillusionment.

    Christmas came and like the other festivities before it, it was heralded by unimaginable bone marrow pain – a pain that can only be inflicted by sadists. I cannot remember in recent times, or in the past five years, when every festival has not been heralded by fuel shortage.

    Few days to Christmas, what appeared to be an orchestrated fuel shortage occurred and the Federal Executive Council directed the NNPC – so we were told – to ensure, before the end of the week, the free flow of the essential commodity. It is either the federal government over-estimated its capacity to deal with the situation or was being insincere, knowing the trajectory of other simulated fuel shortages in the country in the past. The truth, as is now known, is that pain must be inflicted on Nigerians at every festive season and Christmas 2017 was not going to be different.

    It had always been known that fuel shortages are orchestrated for economic gains. The Department of Petroleum Resources acknowledged only few days ago that in Abuja alone over 129,000 litres of fuel had been diverted, a figure that may not even be representative of the day’s loss. Is it just being conceded that the problem of fuel mal-administration, year in year out, is a systemic one? It is convenient for the DPR to accuse the marketers now that the problem has come to a head, but is it not known that diversions of fuel had always been a major problem aside the operational shortages, a result of petroleum agencies’ lack of capacity, and syndicated fraud?

    In alluding to the whole chain of distribution as being culpable in inflicting this festive pain, I find difficulty even in excluding the harmless or is it deceivingly powerless fuel attendant from the chain of pain inflictors. They are all active participants, active inflictors of pain during this season. They are likely to be there to do so at the next festival.

    But let me leave fuel and its availability for the moment. After all, some are won’t to argue that fuel and its distribution should be subject of economic indices rather than social consideration. Fuel should be allowed, they contend, to find its market value if we really want to and this seasonal sadism.

    Have you travelled across cities in recent times to see how the approach of festivities draws policemen and other security agencies onto the roads like honey does to bees? The other day, I counted 15 security checkpoints between the Ijebu Itele Junction and the Ore intersection of the Ijebu-Ode Benin expressway. In all you are likely to be stopped at more than half of the checkpoints and for quite mundane reasons. If this is not punishment, I wonder what it is. Nigerians are used to such ordeals, such needless distractions and time wasting.

    The story changes dramatically once the sun sets, and as the Yoruba say okunkun o mo eni owo (the night knows not a respectable person). So, the sharper the pain infliction you expect to be put through. Of course the security checkpoints shrink in number, may be to three or maximum of four for the same distance, not because of civil delivery of their services but because the security themselves are possibly wary of the tough boys on the prowl. But the few security checkpoints are now of a different nature. The express way is reduced to a third of its motorable size at each checkpoint, with bonfire, thereby generating a long queue of harrowing traffic snarl as each vehicle waits to be ‘cleared’ by the officers.

    The rationale of course, is that it is for your protection and it is in your interest. But a victim would attest to its sadistic intents. First it provides an assured full revenue generation to those manning the checkpoints with the approach of the targeted commercial vehicles. The trailers and commercial buses behind blew their horns repeatedly but this sound fails to break the eeriness the victim is subjected to and dispel the fear that until the checkpoint appears in sight, you could still be attacked by a marauder appearing from and disappearing into the bush. And the traffic snarl can be long, running into kilometres.

    It may be necessary for Nigerians to start reflecting on the change in value that has now taken place in all spheres of life in our country. In all interactions now, be it on the road with one another, with policemen and women whether on the roads and or within their stations, in the hospitals with caregivers and attendants, in any endeavour really, sadism is really taking over. People are beginning to enjoy inflicting pains on others. The power to inflict is determined by your power to give or provide service. Sadistic Personality Disorder, SPD, which is described as an “obsolete term proposed for individuals who derive pleasure from the sufferings of others” is almost the vogue. Think of what the overarching response would be, if a survey is taken from everyone that takes a service from any of our institutions – whether public or private – to simply state whether they are happy with the service or not.  Even Nigerian agencies in other countries, particularly Nigerian embassies, are not exempted from this sadistic psychology of service.

    Can we begin to analyse the annual fuel shortages in celebration of Christmas, Easter, the two Eids and the PENGASSAN cult strikes as a celebration of sadism? If the argument is extended to other spheres of our life where we discern purposeful acts to inconvenient or make life painful to others, would we be right in contending that Nigeria is becoming an abode of sadists, and by extension of sad men and women?

    I have in the last few days watched the scramble at the fuel stations from a distance. I have also read about it in the print media and watched it on television. You almost go away with the impression that the people themselves enjoy the pain being inflicted on them. No doubt, they occasionally quarrel with one another or with the fuel attendants, but you still see them enjoying one another’s company, patronising the food hawkers who spring up around, and look as helpless as they could be. Would this be the attitude of someone in pain?

    Don’t they know the addresses of those they elected, their assemblymen, their honourable representatives, their senators, their governors and president who still go about in their convoys that consume the fuel that 10 ordinary citizens can use to run their cars? Instead of queuing up at the petrol stations, can’t they picket the homes of these big men who derive pleasure in inflicting pain on the populace?

    If we can conclude that those taking decisions at all levels of our public sphere enjoy inflicting pain on the public they ‘serve’, it must equally be that Nigerians also enjoy going through those pains if they cannot rise up against these men and public institutions funded with taxpayers’ money to provide services.

     

  • Song for Governor Ahmed @ 54

    How does one start to celebrate a boss, a faithful and loyal governor as he celebrates his 54th birthday? A man who lives a simple life devoid of extravagance? I know this man of integrity would ordinarily not give in to any outlandish celebration, but I thought it is worth the while to let the world into a little of my discoveries about Dr Ahmed, the governor of Kwara State.  After all, a birthday is an opportunity from the Almighty God for every man to examine himself and find practical solutions to observed challenges in his journey of life.

    And, even more, communication specialists, using the framework of the Johari Window, tells us that every man has four sides to his existence: the first side represents what everyone knows about us and which we also know; the second represents those sides of our lives that are known to only the outsiders; we don’t know such things, while the third side contains those things about ourselves that are ‘trade secrets’, known only to us and not known to anyone else. The last part stands for those aspects of our lives that are not known either by us or even outsiders. Today, having worked at close quarters with Dr Ahmed,  having shared some strategic session with pragmatic him, there are those sides of his life  that are obvious to his associates which are worth sharing; the second portion of the Johari Window.

    Ahmed is loyal, resourceful, humble, cerebral, detribalised, tolerant and God-fearing. In these times, which according to Eric Felten, do seem to be a particularly inhospitable for loyalty, where we come and go so relentlessly such that our friendships can’t but come and go, he stuck so amazingly to a relationship, a friendship that spans over two decades.

    I recall how at the height of the internal crisis that eventually consumed the PDP in the last general elections; the governor became the beautiful bride sought after, especially by wooers from the former President Jonathan’s villa. Though he received many high-heeled emissaries and calls with tempting offers, Ahmed glued to friendship and remained loyal. He remained resolute and unwavering in his conscientious commitment to humanity, knowing full well that “loyalty is essential to the most basic things that make life liveable. And, indeed, without loyalty, there can be no love. Without loyalty, there can be no family; and, without loyalty, there can be no friendship. Without loyalty there can be no commitment to community or country. And, without those things, there can be no society”.

    I remember the lesson the governor took me through in Saudi Arabia, 2012, when I expressed concerns about his perceived relationship with the current Senate President, Bukola Saraki. “Look, CPS, what’s your worry? If I was to contest primary election in Kwara South without the support of the then Governor Saraki, I wouldn’t have won the third position among the nine aspirants. Kwara Central with its overwhelming majority delegates and just three aspirants would have defeated any other aspirant. But Dr Saraki stood against all odds, sacrificed his all for me. Apart from this, he’s my boss both as a commissioner and a banker. So, where should my struggle with him come from?  CPS, more important, he’s never burdened me”, the governor had told me. Only a God-fearing person thinks this way in this “Facebook age when friendship is a costless transaction; a business of flip reciprocity”. Ahmed was emphatic that his relationship with Saraki was assured and insured from intrigues and backbiting. It was good to go.

    As I recall these great moments of exemplary commitment to shared values, I come face to face with the fact that the governor has been resourceful in the financial engineering of the state.  Yes, the first two to three years of this administration were seemingly economically rosy and easy as federal allocation was relatively enough, or so it seemed; and, even when the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) was low, we didn’t feel the pinch and the pain.

    But these last two years of national economic depression when federal allocation is barely enough to meet basic challenges of governance have brought out the best in Ahmed as a financial and human resources guru. Those on his economic think tank know how deeply passionate he is when it comes to discourses on financial and human management.

    Today, Kwara without doubt, is enjoying the benefits of this skill; starting from the review of the internal revenue generating system that has moved the state’s IGR from a meagre N600 million monthly to a minimum of N1.3 billion. The creation of infrastructure financing system for the state ensured that every three months, contractors can access funds for the various capital projects on-going across the state. It is this process that has also enabled and given life to capital projects such as the multi-billion naira Diamond Split Underpass, the new phase of the state secretariat, KWASU Campus at Osi, rural roads construction and rehabilitation, among others. These have continued despite a drop in federal allocation and, as Ahmed assured, very possible to be completed on due date.

    Many become wealthy and politically successful and lose their characters. They become alienated from the people, especially their old and long-time friends. Not Ahmed. His humility transcends the precinct of human imagination.  Countless times, the press crew has had to archive some pictures because the governor stooped to greet elders. As a governor, Ahmed has never felt too big to the point of looking down on any one, not even his subordinates, among whom I add up.  Really, I often marvel each time I see him listening to us at strategic sessions with rapt attention as if the success of government depended on such discussions and rested solely on our shoulders. This comes on the heels of his proven experience and exposure, which are able to provide him with necessary compass and direction on any matter. Really, decency and modesty couldn’t be any better.

    While being intelligent is a gift from the Almighty, who graciously has given it to him in abundance, he carries himself with infectious humility being at home with any subject under the sun. Interestingly, like the smoothness of knife on butter, he is able to switch from financial and political management to science, history, religion and globalisation like one with Wiktionary on his palm. Governor Ahmed is a public speaker par excellence and interviewers delight fielding questions on any matter and issue, no-holds-barred. He requires no script to host gentlemen of the fourth estate of the realm.

    Born to Yoruba parents, but raised in the northern part of Nigeria, Governor Ahmed represents a perfect example of what an average Nigerian should be; distanced from tribal affiliations, which today, impact negatively on people’s perceptions of things and choices. Even, in private life, Ahmed has shown to us that he is not bound by any boundary other than love for fellow humans. And, as a committed Muslim, married to a virtuous Christian, he exemplifies novel openness as the crop of his “first and best” friends are mostly Christians, and by so doing, spiked use of religion as basis for needless segregation.

    Perhaps, more than anything else, the governor has calmly taken criticisms revolving round governance and welcomes alternative opinions in the interest of good governance and delivering the dividends of democracy. We are glad that this mind-set has activated positive critical inputs into governance, which translated to some of the outstanding landmarks in the state.

    As I look back to how and when it all started, I am happy that he has matched actions with words. Indeed, as he rightly said, he has “worked for all” though “does not know it all.”

    I, therefore, join the host of Kwarans, family and friends, far and near who acknowledge his resourcefulness, to celebrate this rare milestone in your eventful sojourn on earth by wishing the governor a fruitful new year of his life. May his star continue to shine.

    Happy birthday, boss!

     

    • Oba is Chief Press Secretary to Kwara State governor.
  • Al-Mu’minaat praises Lagos for prompt salary payment

    Al-Mu’minaat praises Lagos for prompt salary payment

    The National Amirah of Al-Mu’minaat (The Believing Women) Organisation, has hailed the Lagos State Government for the prompt payment of salary and pension.

    Hajia Abdullateef, at the 22nd National Convention spoke at Vanguards Academy at Odosengolu in Ogun State. She said Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led government had done well on workers’ welfare.

    The Amirah urged other states to emulate the laudable act.

    She said: “The Federal government should also intensify its effort in the area of welfarism for the citizens. If our economy is buoyant and there is regular power supply, Nigerians would have no cause to travel abroad in search of greener pastures. The case of human trafficking in Libya is still fresh in our memories. It is indeed a disgrace to humanity in the 21st century to still engage in slavery for economic gains.”

    Hajia Abdullateef advised the Council for Legal Education in Nigeria and other legal bodies to respect Muslim women’s right to religious beliefs and expression and henceforth stop any harassment of Muslim sisters in hijab at the Law School, during graduation and Call to Bar.

    All over the world, she said, the hijab has been recognised as the code of dressing for a Muslim woman.

    Hajia Abdullateef said: “Why should the bodies hitherto responsible for defending the law be flouting it?” she wondered, adding: “The disdain with which Muslim sisters are treated in this country got northwards at the most recent Call to Bar, when our sister, Firdaus Amasa, was refused entry into the venue. The reason for this refusal was the hijab covering her head. Al-Mu’minaat, like other peace-loving Nigerians, sees this as an affront on the Muslims and their rights as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.

    “We thus condemn this action and demand that Firdaus Amasa be immediately called to bar. Amasa Firdaus, the heroine, has sacrificed for all Muslim sisters to be given their constitutional rights, especially as regards Call to Bar in their hijab.

    “Such ceremonies, in other climes, give recognition to hijab.  The hijab is a sacred and core part of the religion of Islam, and it is a sacrosanct part of the life of a Muslim woman. It has been ordained upon a Muslim woman by Allah as a symbol of dignity, honour, respect, prestige as well as a right form of worship and obedience to the almighty Allah.

    “Nigeria is recognised as a multi-religious, multi-cultural nation. Why must a particular religion, Islam, be treated with disdain every time?

    “We are proud to be associated with Firdaus Amasa as she has stood for what Islam stands for – peace, truth, justice and fairness.

    “We use this medium to call on the Nigerian government to make a proclamation against the harassment of Muslim sisters in various agencies, including the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC), foreign embassies, British and American passport offices, or at any form of data capturing.

    “We implore all Muslims to remain calm and not resort to violence, for violence breeds no good.”

  • Technical university as a game changer – 1

    The responses of the general public to the affairs of The Technical University (Tech-U), Ibadan, as published and broadcast by different media establishments, have been tremendously encouraging and revealing. Key stakeholders in the education sectors in and out of Nigeria are keenly paying attention to the unique blueprint of transformation we aim to bring about in the education industry of this country. This makes us confident that with willing and supportive partners, all the difficulties on our path will constitute the strength we need to achieve enduring success.

    This piece, an excerpt of the address I gave at the University’s Press Conference held recently, is put together against the backdrop of the arrival of Tech-U’s pioneer students on Sunday January 7, 2018, and the take-off of academic activities. Both developments – students’ arrival and beginning of academic undertakings – signpost for us, a historic watershed in our organised efforts towards making Tech-U fully operational.

    As a matter of fact, between December 2012 when the university was formally recognised by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and August 2017 when the same body accredited its (University’s) courses, a considerable number of issues have been raised by the (non)critical segments of the public.

    Questions and issues of funding and partnerships, tuition, infrastructure, staffing, ownership, and more importantly, the sustainability of the vision of the university have been (and are still being) raised. Some of these questions have been addressed in our courtesy visits to select media houses in Oyo and Lagos states.

    Accordingly, it becomes imperative that a momentous occasion that our commencement of academic affairs represents, with the assumption of the university by students, should be heralded by a piece which provides another good opportunity for the reinforcement of the narrative of uniqueness in training of students and the overall values the university seeks to birth in the higher education sector of Nigeria.

    As it has been noted time and again, Tech-U is an initiative of the current administration in Oyo State under the purposeful leadership of Governor Abiola Ajimobi. The university is neither meant to merely balloon the number of universities as the 38th state university, nor is it one that satisfies the yearning for our very own university that indigenes of Oyo State can don as a badge of pride. Tech-U is established to expand access to university education. Its strategic emergence on the higher education port of our country is meant to, through the painstaking cultivation of a cadre of technical professionals with fitting entrepreneurial skills, frontally combat the mounting plague of youth unemployment in Nigeria. We see a problem whose resolution will improve the human condition in Nigeria and beyond. This aptly summarises our relevance.

    At Tech-U, we privilege an admixture of theory and practical. We are different from a university of technology because of our rich emphasis on employment-preparation skills. Our focus on the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines is informed by the need to provide our young people with the knowledge and skills that are applicable to actual world problems.

    Available statistics lend credence to the fact that ‘the job growth rate for STEM careers is more than 38 per cent and it is growing rapidly’. STEM careers are also known to yield juicy pays. If Nigeria is to have a fighting chance in the world of socioeconomic development, it cannot afford to disregard the kind of human capacity that the STEM disciplines make possible. I dare say that Tech-U is on a mission to use STEM education to secure a better future for our youths and to midwife Nigeria’s economic development.

    Similarly, the lamentation subsists that many of Nigerian graduates are unemployable owing to inadequacies of their trainings. At the point of graduation, a majority of these graduates are considered as not being market-ready. This gap is attributable in part to the apparent lack of entrepreneurial orientation of several academic programmes in the Nigerian University System. Tech-U has a vision to address the employability gaps through entrepreneurial orientation of the average Nigerian youth.

    We are set to provide such quality training that will enable our graduates to be job creators, innovators, and employers of labour. It is for this reason that all students admitted to study here will compulsorily undergo trainings in two vocations selected by them at our Centre for Entrepreneurial and Vocational Studies. In conflating theory with practical, we expect to produce graduates that are demonstrably rounded in knowledge and sound in skills.

    This explains why our motto – developing brains, training hands – is not a seductive catchphrase.  Our vision is that no graduate of Tech-U will go about roaming the street in search of jobs. It is either they are so good that the industries hire them straightaway, or they simply establish their own start-ups.

    Tech-U is taking off with 15 fully NUC-accredited academic programmes. The accreditation of these programmes means that the regulatory body (NUC) is satisfied that we have both the human capacities and the facilities necessary for the admission and training of students.

    Certainly, we are expected to improve more significantly on these amenities and capacitize the institution as it grows. We assure the general public that we are not going to renege on this. And I call on the public and all stakeholder to check on us periodically to monitor our pace.

    I wish to underscore the point that among the 15 courses are some that are relatively new in Nigerian universities. Take cybersecurity for example. We want to be foremost in providing solution to the aches of cybercrimes in all its variegated colourations. You may already be familiar with the extant report that reveals Nigeria as the third country in the world, after the US and the UK, where cybercrime is prevalent. And sometime this year, President Muhammadu Buhari was reported as plaintively noting that Nigeria loses hefty billions of Naira to this notable crime annually.

    Similarly, our Biomedical Engineering seeks to fill the yawning gap evident in the lack of technical-know-how for the repair of high-tech hospital equipment. In our hospitals, it so often happens that when a machine breaks down, it becomes abandoned and a new one is bought. We intend to train the requisite manpower to help stem the tide of abandoned broken hospital apparatuses.

    There are other programmes like Software Engineering and Mechatronics Engineering. With these and other courses, we want to make the idea of university as the bedrock of societal continual development much more realistic.

    • To be Continued

     

    • Professor Salami is the pioneer Vice-Chancellor of The Technical University, Ibadan.