The Nation Newspaper

Category: Comments

  • A gathering storm

    There is a palpable tension in the land as never before witnessed; not even during the build up to the Nigerian civil war.  The country is in dire straits as we are adrift and lost in the high sea, tossed by virulent current of ethnic agitations to a breaking point.    There is a gradual erosion of civil and political authority in the face of leadership failure across the country.  It is true as held in a statement created to the leadership of the National Assembly that ‘Democracy is threatened or endangered’.  It is even truer to say that the actions and inactions of the National Assembly have played a huge role in undermining democracy in our country.  There have been claims and agitations of marginalization from left, right and centre and the Federal Executive Council as well as the National Assembly have failed to take dispassionate look at the issues with the aim of resolving them amicably.  Rather than engage the people who are aggrieved, the government and its officials resort to blackmails and use of force to coerce people into submission.  It is highly unlikely that social political problems of a nation can be achieved through military solution; that would be a delusion especially, given the perception of the military as politicized.

    We attribute the festering insecurity in the North-east to neglect of that region of the country over a long period of time just the same way we find it convenient to say that the agitation in the South-east is due to marginalization of that part of the country.  The emanating cacophonies of voices from the political leadership across the ethnic divide on the current problems of agitations for restructuring and secession facing the nation is coloured and  have no soothing and unifying tenor.     Our inability to live in peace and harmony with one another is a product of the rivalry and competition between the intellectual and political elites who relentlessly pursue divisive ethnic agenda as their only credential in order to remain relevant.

    Every people have a right to self-determination but I am not sure any person or group has a right to levy war on the state or kill other citizens from other parts of the country to claim or exercise such rights.  We are where we are because successive governments and political leaders have not consciously promoted the strengthening of institutions and the rule of law in governance to guarantee a healthy polity and equality amongst citizens.  Our leaders have not demonstrated that they could rise above sectarian interest to invest on a political capital of nationalistic agenda.  We have ethnic irredentists and bigots who pay scant regards to our diversity and national character.

    The Nigerian political and intellectual elites have no tribe and religion; they are one and the same, from the North, South, East or West.  They form a cult of leadership with the sole aim of remaining in power by perpetually fanning the embers of ethnic and religious hatred.   Nnamdi Kanu and his IPOB in pursuit of their secessionist agenda are full of bile and venom of ethnic resentment and hatred towards other tribes in Nigeria as if the Biafra State when achieved would live as an Island.  We all need each other but when we feel that we can no longer live together as in marriage we should seek peaceful divorce rather than pull down the bricks that form the building blocks of this country by violence.

    President Buhari has been demystified and has become very vulnerable.  He has run out of steam and lost the bite as age is no longer on his side.  This is in addition to his health challenge as the political capital of his body language has since evaporated.   Even members of his cabinet do not share in his dream and vision and have made him sufficiently in-electable should he indicate interest come 2019 through their conspiracies and even open declaration of true allegiance to their political godfathers.   They are only waiting for the curtain to be drawn and the President would discover that he is on his own. The President has found himself in this situation because he is not able to appreciate Nigeria in the currency of today but prefer to view it through the prism of his stint as the Head of Military government in 1983.  Unfortunately, he has surrounded himself with ethnicists and bigots who do not appreciate the diversity of the country and the need to accommodate everybody.  In a situation like this, buffoons like Shekau and Nnamdi Kanu would get headlines and even push the country to the brink.  Indeed there is insecurity in the South-east just as there is insecurity in other parts of the country.  It would be beyond mere python dance for the military should they engage in full blown confrontation with Kanu-led IPOB militants as they have their hands full already from the intractable battle with the Boko Haram insurgents in the North-east.

    It was rather hasty for the military to declare IPOB a terrorist organization rightly or wrongly.  Whatever the canon of assessment, we are not in a military regime and it would amount to usurpation of civil authority for the Defence Headquarters through its spokesperson to declare IPOB a terrorist organization.  Even in the event that the military is called out in aid of civil authority as provided in the constitution, it is incumbent on the military to stick strictly to its professional duties rather rush to the microphone and television cameras to make statement without clarification and authority.  Silence is golden especially in military operations.  Our military are duty bound to help keep the peace when it is beyond the Police but it should be within the bounds of their rules of engagement and respect for the rule of law and the rights of citizens.  However, every citizen who is exercising his right to protest should also understand that they should keep within the bounds of the law because even when on Internal Security (IS) operations, the rifles of soldiers are charged with live ammunition and not chocolate.

    All said, the government should urgently wake up to the need to have dialogue with Nigerians on the burning issues creating unrest across the country before we wake up to see Nigeria vaporised.  Our ship of state is sinking!

     

    • Kebonkwu Esq is an attorney based in Abuja.

  • Climate change and health impacts

    In recent times, human activities such as the burning of fossil fuels have released sufficient quantities of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases to trap additional heat in the lower atmosphere thereby affecting the climate. This inevitably results in rise in sea levels, change in rainfall pattern and melting of glaciers. Although, global warming has some positives such as fewer winter deaths in temperate climates and increased food production in certain areas, the overall health effects of a changing climate are likely to be overwhelmingly negative.

    Climate change affects almost every area of life especially the social and environmental determinants of health; clean air, safe drinking water, sufficient food and secure shelter. High atmospheric temperatures contribute directly to deaths resulting from cardio-vascular and respiratory diseases particularly among elderly people. Extreme temperatures also raise the levels of ozone and other pollutants in the air that exacerbate these diseases. Aeroallergen levels are also higher in extreme heat giving rise to asthma, which affects around 300 million people globally. These on-going temperature increases are expected to increase this burden, hence, the need for check and balances of the global climate.

    Globally, the number of reported weather-related natural disasters has more than tripled since the 1970s. Every year, these disasters result in over 60,000 deaths, with majority occurring in developing countries such as Nigeria. With more than half of the world’s population living within 70 km of the sea, people may be forced to move, when the sea level increases. Incidence such as these heightens the risk of a range of health effects, from mental disorders to communicable diseases. Increasingly variable rainfall patterns are also likely to affect the supply of fresh water. A lack of safe water can compromise hygiene and increase the risk of diarrhoea and cholera, which kills over 500,000 children aged under five years, annually. In extreme cases, water scarcity leads to drought and famine. A World Health Organization report states that by the late 21st century, climate change is likely to increase the frequency and intensity of drought at regional and global scale.

    The rate of recurrence of floods is also on the increase, and the frequency and intensity of extreme precipitation is also not left out. This has been visible in the Nigeria suburb with the latest in Makurdi, Benue State and others occurrences in Lagos and Ogun states among others. Floods contaminate freshwater supplies, increase the risk of water-borne diseases, and create breeding grounds for disease-carrying insects such as mosquitoes. They also cause drowning and physical injuries, damage homes and disrupt the supply of medical and health services. Rising temperatures and variable precipitation are also likely to decrease the production of staple foods in many of the poorest regions. This will increase the prevalence of malnutrition and starvation, which leads to reduced productivity and inevitably death.

    Climatic conditions strongly affect water-borne diseases and diseases transmitted through insects, snails or other cold blooded animals. Changes in climate are likely to lengthen the transmission seasons of important vector-borne diseases and also alter their geographic range. For example, malaria is strongly influenced by climate; transmitted by Anopheles mosquitoes, malaria kills over 400,000 people every year mainly African children under five years old. The aedes mosquito vector of dengue is also highly sensitive to climate conditions, and studies suggest that climate change is likely to continue to increase exposure to dengue.

    Measuring the health effects from climate change can only be very approximate. Nonetheless, an assessment by WHO, taking into account only a subset of the possible health impacts, and assuming continued economic growth and health progress, climate change is expected to cause approximately 250,000 additional deaths per year between 2030 and 2050; 38,000 due to heat exposure in elderly people, 48,000 due to diarrhoea, 60,000 due to malaria, and 95,000 due to childhood starvation.

    All populations will be affected by climate change, but some are more vulnerable than others. People living in small island developing states and other coastal regions such as Lagos, mega-cities, and mountainous and polar regions are particularly vulnerable. Children in particular, are among the most vulnerable to the resulting health risks and will be exposed longer to the health consequences. The health effects are also expected to be more severe for elderly people and people with infirmities or pre-existing medical conditions.

    Regions with poor health infrastructure will be the least able to cope without assistance to prepare and respond. Many policies and individual choices have the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and produce major health co-benefits. For example, cleaner energy systems, and promoting the safe use of public transportation and active movement  such as cycling or walking as alternatives to using private vehicles could reduce carbon emissions, and cut the burden of household air pollution, which causes some 4.3 million deaths per year, and ambient air pollution, which causes about 3 million deaths every year.

    Nigeria has a wide range of variety in energy production. The sunshine in the northern region is one that can kick out the use of fossil fuels if put into use. Hydro power is an indispensable tool that can also aid in bringing a halt to this ‘wolf in sheep clothing’ (crude oil). The Kainji Dam at New Bussa has proved beyond doubts that Nigeria has what it takes to foster on renewable energy and discard fossil fuels. Sadly, health challenges have also been on the increase in some parts of Nigeria due to oil pollution and gas flaring. For example, Ogoni has been regarded as a write-off as oil spilling has rendered farmlands, water, aquatic habitat, infrastructures and other viable resources useless. This fossil fuel has shown to be a nail-in-the-tooth and unreliable, which is an indicator for the urgent need to embrace renewable energy.

    There is a vivid uprising in the need for energy as the population is on a geometric increase, which is a loud call for policy makers to take a close look at the need to embrace renewable energy. Life and properties are being lost every day due to the constant depletion of the ozone; this and more would continually be a daily bread if our climate is not well protected.

     

    • Joshua, an environment activist, writes from Lagos.

  • NGE, media and democracy

    It is often said that everyone is a leader until tried. Either correct or incorrect, events over the years have proved that the ability to lead, perhaps, a group, corporation or country, is not actually what matters, but the ability to act decisively and take the right steps in moments of challenges, whether  such decision hurts or not.

    Unfortunately, this is the most critical part, and not many have acquainted themselves creditably in this regard. This apparently explains why fingers are steadily pointed at leaders for failures in groups, professions and country, as the case may be.

    While nearly all professions – banking, journalism, medical or legal – and, society or country – whether developed or underdeveloped, have their low moments, what, however, distinguishes a profession or  a country on the right path, perhaps, is consistent self- rediscovery.

    The Nigerian media industry is currently in a bad shape; inability to pay staff salaries, low copy sales, crippling sycophancy, massive shutdown, poor welfare packages, among others have become the new normal. Yet challenging, as that might be, the input of the media in effective performance of any government or society is crucial. Put simply, the media plays strategic roles towards initiating, as well as, ensuring that there are some levels of sanity in the way the political class conduct itself.

    From ages past, the media, though incapable of throwing physical punches or making deadly and bloody impacts in governments, military or civil, in peace or trial times has, in many innumerable ways, toppled governments or changed the way government businesses are conducted by agenda-setting and critical analysis of government policies. More often than not, where the people feel helpless and failed in monitoring the government of the day, the media has always stepped up and helped in looking over its shoulder to ensure it is constantly on its toes and working in the interest of the larger majority and good of nation. That is how powerful the media is, and has been, and reason its place is sacred and enshrined in country’s statutes as the fourth estate of the realm.

    Interestingly, however, while a whole lot is changing in the world today, the media roles have remained constant, though methodologies have widened to include the steadily evolving social media force in addition to the traditional print media electronics. Today, away from being glued  to television screens or flipping through the pages of newspaper, internet based social communication networks such as Facebook, Instagram, twitter, Imo, WhatsApp and others, have since caught the fire, extracting information from a whole gamut of sources around the world and placing same on the world village table.

    No doubt, the advent of the social media has brought with it so much to chew in terms of way and manner information is sourced, and the measure of the value placed on media practitioners. In the last few years, so much has happened in the Nigerian media and, still, almost at the same time that it becomes a huge challenge trying to understand these developments without touching on their negative effects on society. From issues bothering on professionalism to unpaid salaries often running into several months and years; from poor working conditions to lack of training and re-training opportunities; from the near absence of visionary leadership in the newsroom to poor remuneration; from unlawful dismissal of members of staff to compromise of standards, the list goes on and on. But the  worst of all, is the increasing cases of media houses fuelling mediocrity in an attempt to reduce costs, and ultimately reducing the journalists to mere errand boys  and this has seemingly condemned them to survivalist sycophancies, like it or not.

    These, though largely economic, sum up journalism practice in Nigeria. But as always, rather than simply raining as they say, it once more poured hopelessly when recently, a major newspaper, a flagship media organisation, added salt to injury to an already beleaguered industry. The newspaper, seemingly following in the footsteps of other media houses whose relationship with members of staff had gone unchecked by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the umbrella body of all journalists, unilaterally disengaged its chunk of correspondents across the states.

    Typical of giving a hopeless situation a quick makeover, the newspaper offered those willing to continue reporting without serious obligations and commitment to it, the chance of freelancing. Interestingly, only a few years ago, journalists, most of whom had been with the company for years, were laid off in a similar shock. A circumstance that was followed by a lockdown with staff over what they considered the company’s warped labour policy.

    But it is not only the newspaper state correspondents that are going through the terrible state; many journalists today are in court over unpaid salaries and unfair dismissal – two recurring issues that have been consistent with the Nigerian media recently. This explains why it has become expedient to set an agenda, especially for Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) members peopled by editors as they look forward to a seminar focusing on balancing professionalism, advocacy and business, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State this week.

    One recalls that the birth of the NGE was lavishly celebrated in the belief that though it is an exclusive club of editors, the group would fill the apparent void left by NUJ as news room leaders, who, more than anything else, are primarily journalists. Today, years on, it remains to be seen how well the NGE has been able to give leadership direction in the Nigerian media beyond high profile meetings with politicians and government officials. But this seminar will potentially provide a moment for sober reflection on the crisis rocking the industry with a view to advancing effective ways through which its glory will be restored, particularly in areas such as minimum capital investment timeline, operational guidelines and enforcement procedures, minimum standard remuneration for journalists, monitoring, among others, so as to arrest the increasing cases of journalists being at the receiving end of the stick, perpetually.

    While it is understandable that a combination of the current economic crunch and the wild-fire influence of the new media have impacted heavily on the traditional media, it has become paramount as it is critical, for the purpose of rescuing the industry from imminent extinction, to dissect, as well as, review the causes of and solutions to the growing slave camps most media companies are fast becoming. But more than anything else, to salvage the speedily fading influence and dignity of the Nigerian journalist.

  • Opacity plus impunity

    The Senate is way out of line for claiming it cannot tell Nigerians what its members earn

    Aliyu Abdullahi, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, was all empty paternalism, when he declared, on public television, that the Senate could not release its members’ earnings to the public.

    Perhaps it was a bit of senatorial hubris too! Here was Senator Abdullahi, an elected public servant. Here was Senator Abdullahi, Chair of the Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, whose committee, by the Senate’s own rule, is charged with telling the public whatever it wants to know, so long as it is legal and legitimate. But here is the same Senator Abdullahi, shirking his duty, on both accounts, and acting smug about it all! What monumental irony!

    That the irony escaped the senator, in his provocative paternalism, proves a condemnable institutional hubris which the public, the ultimate democratic masters, must not take lying low. To do otherwise is accept opacity has a place in the public space, particularly when the issue is public money. Of course, opacity is the handmaiden of impunity; and the ultimate result is egregious sleaze, which has been the bane of this polity.

    Speaking on “Politics Today” on Channels TV, the senator declared it infra dig to be asked what senators earned.

    “You don’t expect me to come out on national television to say this is what I earn. It is not done. I cannot ask you as a journalist how much you earn. It is not done,” he fired back at his interviewer.

    He then added a bit of procedural sophistry: “If anybody is interested in how much we are getting paid, you know where to get the information. The documents are available. If Nigerians won’t believe that, is it what I will say that they will believe?”

    In fairness to the senator, he named the legal protocol, which he located in a law passed on Top Salary Scale (TOPSA), which he claimed typified what salary scale, categories in the political bureaucracy belonged.  He even said Prof. Itse Sagay, whose intervention on the alleged criminal payout to National Assembly members provoked this latest controversy, should have located his own salary grade on TOPSA.

    “The institutions that are responsible for providing this information are there,” he declared. “A law was promulgated on Top Salary Scale also known as TOPSA and it is based on this scale that everyone who holds one political office or the other gets paid.”

    Despite this claim, however, the polity has always been rife with obscene figures our lawmakers allegedly cart away, in the midst of paralysing poverty. If these allegations are true, the lawmakers provocatively cut the image of the proverbial cleric, fattening on the sweat of gaunt congregants.

    Indeed, former President Olusegun Obasanjo dismissed the lawmakers as “unarmed robbers”, a hyperbole to capture their alleged humongous appetite for unearned public funds.  From Obasanjo’s testimony, that sickening convention had built up from 1999 — and it appears to be worsening by the day.

    Indications have it that each senator pockets N14 million every month, while their House of Representatives counterparts gross N8 million — and this in a country that struggles to pay the minimum wage of N18, 000 a month.

    But Prof. Sagay, SAN, no flippant person and Chairman, Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC) raised the ante, by tabling a set of insane salaries and allowances the legislators allegedly gross.

    “From the information I have gathered,” he disclosed, “a Nigerian senator earns about N29 million a month, and over N3 billion a year.”

    Breakdown, of Prof. Sagay’s claim?  “Basic salary N2,484,245.50; hardship allowance, N1,242, 122.70; constituency allowance N4, 968, 509.00; furniture allowance N7, 452, 736.50; newspaper allowance N1, 242, 122.70.

    “Wardrobe allowance N621,061.37; recess allowance N248, 424.55; accommodation N4,968,509.00; utilities N828,081.83; domestic staff N1,863,184.12; entertainment N828,081.83; personal assistant N621,061.37; vehicle maintenance allowance N1,863,184.12; leave allowance N248,424.55; severance gratuity N7, 425,736.50; and motor vehicle allowance N9, 936,982.00.”

    These are damning figures, indeed, if true. Yet, the Senate, nay the whole of the National Assembly, have not been shocked or shamed into divulging the details of their earnings. All they have done is grandstand, with empty conceit founded on scandalous opacity. Do they truly have some smelly and rotten skeletons to hide?

    This is a battle the Senate cannot win. If anything, they would create collateral damage for a chain of future legislators. Though a future set of legislators could somewhat be more patriotic, less greedy and more sober, their predecessors could well, by this shameless behaviour, have totally roasted them in the public pyre, so much so the public would not give them the benefit of the doubt. That would further undermine the legislative arm of government, the most fundamental arm — the first estate of the realm — in a democracy.

    That is why Senator Abdullahi and his ilk would do well to get smart and come clean. The time of bluff and bluster is gone. Now is the time to spill it. We can’t have senators and other legislators glorying as parasites on the common purse and crowing about it. Legislators’ obscene pay must stop.

  • Ambode and town hall “democracy”

    Ambode and town hall “democracy”

    IN most countries in Africa, democracy ends with elections. This is either a deliberate misreading of democracy or a convenient misapplication of the concept by our leaders. Either way, our leaders must be told that democracy transcends elections. What is democracy? For the purpose of elucidation, I will like to repeat one of the definitions I “neologised in one of my previous articles.

    Democracy is a government for all. The rich, the poor, the weak and the strong, all make the system tick. The system gives the people the freedom to participate and choose those that will govern them. It also gives them the liberty to associate freely and talk freely against and about their leaders. In a democracy, there should be justice for all citizens regardless of social status, economic power or political leverage. These are the theoretical foundations of democracy. They are the sacrosanct elements of democracy and the bedrock of participatory governance.

    It stands to reason therefore that if democracy is synonymous with participatory governance, the people and their leaders must evolve mechanisms for interactive cordiality. When leaders initiate such mechanisms, it is an opportunity for the people to speak to power in a manner that will give strength to their expectations. While it is true that citizens read about their leaders and their activities in the media, there is nothing that is more exciting and fulfilling to the citizens than the physical romance they have with their leaders at public functions.

    However, because of the overzealousness of security aides, who in the name of protection, form a circumference of angels around their masters, the people’s leaders, it becomes somehow difficult to interact with such leaders satisfactorily. The best the people get from their leaders at public functions is a wave of the hands which comes with political smiles, infected with cobweb ambivalence.

    To overcome this inhibition, some political leaders have designed a town hall model after America’s Town Hall Series. The town hall interactive sessions enable the leaders to present their performance reports to their constituents for them to know how well their representatives have been able to address all the issues raised during campaigns. The town hall interactions allow both the leaders and the citizens to compare notes on the campaign promises and find a way to accommodate new challenges. The town hall series makes it possible for both sides (leaders and citizens) to reach a consensus on areas of disagreement and to discuss national issues which cropped up after elections. When a leader makes himself available to the people, the people develop some kind of affection for him and see him as a responsible and responsive humble leader who carries his people along in everything that affects them. This kind of interaction is very important in any democratic society that desires peaceful co-existence between leaders and followers. Town Hall series affords the citizens the opportunity to see, feel and touch their leaders. But more importantly, for the citizens to know that their leaders are not derailing from the development agenda outlined in the party manifesto.

    Town Hall “democracy” therefore means exchange of ideas, banters, performance reports, handouts, and pleasantries between elected officials and their constituents in an atmosphere of cordial sodality.  It is the forum through which both the leaders and the followers discuss issues of mutual benefit and the medium through which democracy dividends are crystallized. It is an institutional platform through which citizens debrief their leaders as a way of knowing their position on some sensitive national issues that may ultimately affect their lives and their communities.

    Sometime last month, I was watching Paul Ryan, the Speaker of US House of Representatives, during the Town Hall Series anchored by Jake Tapper, and I marveled at the beauty of democracy because both the leader and his constituents had an exciting and stimulating session. The intelligent and articulate Ryan, known for his extreme partisanship especially on issues bothering on the GOP, was at his best defending some of President Trump’s policies and actions and condemning the obvious and irrational ones like the Charlotsville comments.

    In Nigeria, this is not common. I have only observed one elected official who has been doing this consistently since he came to office. It is the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode. As recent as August 2, this year, the Governor, despite the toll of Lagos @ 50 on him and his officials and the resources of the state, still considered it imperative to hold the Town Hall Meeting at the Badore Ferry Terminal, Lagos. The one before this was held in May. This particular one was the 8th in the series. The hallmark of the Ambode administration is its steadfastness in prosecuting and executing its policies and programmes; a unique quality which gives him the strategic direction in articulating and implementing the programs of his administration without any form of distraction and derailment. The Governor takes governance as a mantra or a covenant between him and the people who voted him into office and behaves as if any breach of the covenant is a mortal betrayal of the people. This explains why he is not afraid to face the people in the Town Hall Meeting knowing that he has not fallen short of the expectations of the people. Leadership is about confidence. Confidence is about performance. Performance is about diligence. Diligence is about hardwork. Hardwork is about commitment. Commitment is about passion. Passion is about zeal. Zeal is about service. Service is about progress. Progress is about development. Development is about people. People is about the collective. The collective is about democracy. Democracy is about good governance. Good governance is about participation. Participation is about inclusion. Inclusion is about idea. Idea is about government. Government is about everything.

    When a leader, in this case, Governor Ambode, encapsulates all these qualitative characteristics, it shows that the government he leads is politically and conceptually structured to withstand the intrigues and complexities of political competitions and social dystopia.

    The Governor has adopted the Town Hall Meeting series as the framework through which his government articulates its programmes, policies, projects and then goes ahead to evaluate its performance from policy conception to project execution. It is interesting to note that right from the first Town Hall Meeting in August 2015 to the one of August 2017, government has measurement indices to capture the progress of every policy and project that it has embarked upon. In the health sector for instance, the government on assumption of office employed 32 Resident Doctors, 21 House Officers, 30 Interns and 105 Staff of various categories. It was also in this first quarter 2015 that LASUTH produced the first female Oncologist in Nigeria. In the second quarter, the Governor also granted approval for the recruitment of 120 staff (15 Doctors, 46 Nurses, 59 Clinical Staff). There was no recruitment of medical personnel in the 3rd Quarter. There was also no medical recruitment in the fourth Quarter of last year, April to June. Apart from the fact that the Department of Paediatrics, LASUTH was awarded full accreditation, there was nothing on medical recruitment. But in the 6th Quarter of the administration, undeclared numbers of health workers – Medical Consultants, Medical Officers, Pharmacists, Nurses and Non-Clinical Staff were employed by the government.

    In the 1st Quarter of this year which was the 7th of the Town hall Meeting series, there was no recruitment but the Governor was happy to inform the people of Lagos State that the Dental School, LASU and the Orthopedic Department were both given full accreditation by the approving authorities. Though, there was no recruitment in the second quarter of this year, the Governor informed the people who thronged the Town Hall Meeting, the 8th in the series, that the state government conducted successful investigation of a corpse with suspected Ebola Virus disease and also conducted an open heart surgery on a 22-year old female patient by a team of indigenous surgeons.

    It is incontrovertible that when a government designs mechanisms for self assessment and general evaluation of its performance, it is simply defining a methodology for scientific governance. And when a government is scientifically and conceptually enabled, it becomes difficult to lose focus and direction because such a government is immune to cynical acerbity and political artifice.

    In a society like ours where there is penchant and tendency for intense acrimonies among political parties, a government only becomes solid, so to say, if it can surmount and survive the arrows and hurricanes of rational and irrational rivalries and competitions. It is therefore astonishing that in Lagos State, there is a collective attestation by all and sundry: the kind of attestation that tells the government to ride on and continue with its good works because there is nothing substantial to criticize or to condemn. As an indigene of the state, as a journalist who has covered Lagos politics for many years, from Jakande to Akinwunmi Ambode, as a public analyst who has dissected Lagos politics with dispassionate clinicality, I am amazed that there is an alien bonding between the ruling party and the opposition to the effect that everybody seems to applaud the Ambode government for its superlative performance so far. This positive cooperation and dialectical fraternity is nothing but a testament to good governance in Lagos State, good governance that has its roots in participatory democracy as manifested in the establishment of what I have termed “Town Hall Democracy”.

  • The Rivers run golden: Rivers State@50 (Part 2)

    The descent on that U-shaped twine bridge felt as though one would plunge straight to one’s doom!

    A writer, Simeon Nwakaudu calls Rivers State Nigeria’s emerging economic success story.

    We know the state was created in 1967, But before, in 1900, the British colonialists had already established the Rivers Province (same as where the state is, that was ‘created’ 67 years later!). The headquarters was Port Harcourt (PH.), and was governed by the foreign office.

    Even before then in 1882 Abonnema was established as a major sea port with booming trade going on with the British and other mercantile Europeans. Oil palm and kernel, timber and such like were brought from the hinterland to the seaport and exported. The British moved quickly to hold sovereignty over the lucrative land; they established the Oil Rivers Protectorate in 1884, dealing a fatal blow to local kingdoms and kings.

    So in 1900 PH had a hospital, native court, high court and post office. Then Nigeria, amalgamated 1914, starting exerting herself for greater freedom from the British – but instituted policies that brought retrogression to Rivers Province. Booming Abonnema port was shut down even till today. People were made to suffer through the creeks to get to PH port since there were no link roads. Still, at independence, more policies were instituted in the country to favour Lagos port, rendering PH an idle port.

    Infrastructural development ceased with the dismantling of local kingdoms and the departure of the British. Rivers people were subsumed in the created Eastern Region where the only boatyard was at Opobo – but with headquarters at Aba, and run by the Ibos! The shutting of the vibrant port ended meaningful commercial activities and dried up employment and job openings. As a matter of fact, only PH metropolis was connected to the national grid, so as at 1969 -70 others in Rivers had never seen electricity in their lives!!

    Shockingly, almost 15 years earlier oil had been discovered in Rivers in 1956! It had no positive impact on Rivers or its people.

    A military governor was appointed, and this started the pullback from the brink.

    As at the time Commander Alfred Diette – Spiff resumed duty as the first Governor, the State Capital PH and white man’s Garden City was so infrastructural deficient that the governor had to govern from 24 Queens Drive Ikoji for 11/2 years! Prominent sons and daughters of Rivers were already people of note in Nigeria and they rallied their personal resources to start putting some things in place.

    Notable was Chief Godfrey Amachree. He was the first Black under Secretary-General of the UN, the first Solicitor – General of the Federation in the British colonial administration and one of the first few Nigerians called to the Inner Bar – a Queens Counsel. He formed the Pan-African Bank purely to empower his people. He volunteered his office for the military governor to utilize and coordinate activities temporarily. PH was being ravaged then by civil war.

    Fondly called GKJ, Godfrey Amachree was the first Nigerian to own a private jet. Chief G.K.J Amachree was the wealthiest man in Rivers, and he used his wealth to make other make others wealthy. The environmentalist and school football captain died on August 9, 1999.

    Governance in Rivers State.

    (Navy) Lt. Commander Alfred Diete–Spiff Until 1st September, 1968 when he moved to PH, Diete-Spiff had a system of four administrators running the state (famous the late Ken Saro Wiwa was the Bonny administrator)

    Diete Spiff embarked on massive housing projects in the difficult, land-locked and water-logged terrain. He built the tallest, biggest government secretariat in Nigeria, (apart from the Federal Secretariat, Abuja).

    He built a sports complex, not an ordinary football stadium for the youths. Diete Spiff also established the state broadcasting corporation. That was a timely thing too; on the day the state was created, Riverians got to hear news of state creation on Radio Kaduna- or on Radio Biafra then! He revitalized the few comatose industries. In 1996 Bayelsa was carved out of Rivers and that is actually where Diete-Spiff comes from.

    A former Navy commander, he sits as a traditional King now. I can say that he is the only Nigerian dead or living to preside over a modern state and also rule over an established ancient throne.

    King Alfred Diete Spiff is the Amanyanabo of Twon Brass, Nembe in Bayelsa State.

    Rivers is one state with an outstanding factor of commitment on the part of successive governors-they complete their predecessors’ projects, making government a continuum.

    In many other states and even at the federal level the helmsmen regularly display what Olusegun Adeniyi, former SSA to President Yar’Adua calls “small minds in government”.

    A cursory look round the nation will reveal a landscape dotted with white -elephant projects, abandoned by successive governments, not for lack of viability but because the praise for a project would go to the initiator AS WELL AS  the one to complete it. No, he wants ALL the praises so he will only initiate and complete his OWN projects!

    Chief Melford Okilo was in the parliament when Nigeria practiced the parliamentary system. He, with Chief Warmate, Dappa Biriye and Amachree and many others were unflinching in the struggle for state creation. Okilo wept openly in parliament when the state creation request was thrown out on the floor, in the 50’s. It is poetic justice that he became the first elected governor.

    Now Rivers people were some Nigerians that were early exposed to westerners and western education. They were highly educated, until the country stagnated the area. There were only 25 secondary schools and no single tertiary institution there when the state was created. Okilo started the first state owned University of Science and Technology. He was the first person to start an IPP-a really ambitious project indeed, in those days! And in the Rivers terrain, it was doubly so.

    I have seen Okilo’s Kolo Creek Gas Turbine in Ogbia (now in Bayelsa) and I am struck by it. It is in Imiringi, about 3 hours drive from PH. To get there, you have to drive down a narrow road through thick mangrove forest until you get to a twine cord bridge!! Men direct cars to cross one car at a time. This nerve- wracking passage is on a bridge that is U-shaped and low-lying; the descent is heart-stopping, giving the distressing feeling of one plunging swiftly to one’s doom! Worse, it is: one ‘road’ in, one-road out-you’ve got to REPEAT the experience if you are to go back. Terrifying!!

    … Kudos here to the Bayelsa Governor Seriake Dickson who has recently   built a road to Imiringi. I drove on it late 2015 and got out of the vehicle and knelt down on the road in thanksgiving!

    Under Okilo, local people were empowered to govern their communities. In just one terms in office (1979-83) he brought about much rural development. He died in 2008 at 74.

    Governor Rufus Ada George. He didn’t last because of military incursion in government. However he started the Okrika Ring Road. It was completed by the Rotimi Amaechi government.

    Sir Peter Odili A medical doctor, he presided over what I believe is the greatest human amnesty programme except maybe the one in Colombia this year. Odili concentrated greatly on human development. During his 2 term tenure, Odili built, commissioned and handed over the ultra modern Government thank Creek House – Knowing he would never occupy it.

    He dredged creeks and commissioned a gas turbine. A lover of sports, he bitted Nigeria cut several times when cash crunch hit, during major international sporting events.

    In Part 3 – the concluding part on men and women in governance in Rivers State.

    • 07055547031 whatsapp or sms

     

  • The magic of gratitude

    Don’t let anyone fool you, gratitude is enchanting. Gratitude is bewitching, once you engage it, you can be changed for good. ‘Gratitude is the best attitude’ and ‘Attitude determines your altitude’ are clichés that ring a bell to both young and old. However, many are yet to understand the symmetry between them. Think about it for a moment, if gratitude is the best attitude, then pretty much, gratitude determines your altitude. Indeed, gratitude is a lifestyle that keeps you scaling higher altitude. Please don’t take my words for it, try it!

    I make bold to say that I am a recipient of the rewards of gratitude, in my family, career, finances, relationships etc. I consider my rewards as ‘Awards’ which explicitly are experiences that showcase the magical power of gratitude. Tuesday, January 5, 2016 will always leave sweet memories lingering on my mind. I woke up with mixed feelings, a part of me feeling grateful to God for life, not minding the fact that I was flat broke and the other part, anxious for a tasty breakfast. I had no choice but to set the table for the available meal which was Pap a.k.a Akamu. I sent my son to buy a small pack of sugar to be added to the meal. In less than five minutes, he returned with the sugar and a loaf of sliced bread. I was puzzled so I asked him, where did you get this bread??? Confidently, he replied, ‘Iya ibeji (owner of the store) gave it to me. She said it’s a new year gift to appreciate our family for being a loyal customer’. I was astonished, with great excitement I ran to the store immediately to say thank you to her. She embraced me and just as I turned to leave, she suddenly called me back and said ‘Oh! I forgot to add the big pack of butter, please have it.’

    Wow! I was in Elysium. Gratitude ‘buttered my bread’. Instead of pap and sugar, I had a tasty breakfast; Bread and Butter, on the platter of gratitude! How good it is to give thanks. It’s exciting to know that gratitude is an investment that generates dividend, you can always bank on it. It has a sweet smelling savour that attracts favour to you, doors of opportunities swing open at the voice of this virtue. You may ask, what is gratitude? Gratitude is the quality of being thankful,readiness to show appreciation for and to return kindness (Oxford dictionary). Robert Emmons, perhaps the world’s leading scientific expert on gratitude in his essay – Gratitude is Good, writes ‘’ Gratitude is  an affirmation of goodness.”We affirm that there are good things in the world, gifts and benefits we’ve received. We acknowledge that other people or even higher powers, if you’re of a spiritual mindset, gave us many gifts to help us achieve the goodness in our lives.’’

    Definitely, one of the best gifts we have in life is our bodies and taking good care of our bodies is showing gratitude to the creator. Moreso, an average 21st century woman craves to have a curvy body at all cost, but guess what? Gratitude is the magic! I like the words of the famous American actress, Sharon Stone, ‘What really is sexy? It’s not just the elevation of boobs, it’s being present and having fun and liking yourself enough to like the person that’s with you’’. Need I say here that gratitude starts within you. It is accepting YOU! Your uniqueness, temperament, body, scars (physical and/or emotional), life experiences and gifts (talents). Self acceptance actually fuels the impetus to improve your being. Thereafter you grow in capacity to willingly help others.

    I find it amazing to know that over the years, studies have documented the social, physical and psychological benefits of gratitude; it is a relationship strengthening emotion. People who are grateful are more empathetic. They see the good in people and their needs. They have a greater appreciation for what they have and use it to help pull others up rather than tear them down. These are the people that will positively impact others and change the world thereby making it a better place. Gratitude builds families, businesses, relationships, dreams and destinies. So it goes without saying that we should all aspire to make gratitude a lifestyle.

    Gratitude also brings happiness; have you heard the song by Hank Williams JR. ‘Money can’t buy you happiness? Just because you have money doesn’t mean you’re not going to have a bad day. If you want to be happy in life, you need to realise that it all starts within you. Be thankful for everything, even if you’re currently in a bad situation; be thankful that there are others who overcame their challenges. Let them inspire you to do the same.

    Gratitude also helps to reduce anxiety and depression. The grateful will be joyful and joy is a booster of strength. Studies by Emmons reveal that gratitude strengthens the immune system and lowers blood pressure, It helps sick people recover quickly. The benefits of gratitude are inexhaustible, however I need to state here that being grateful doesn’t imply you are complacent. It means striving for what you want, a worthy course, without letting your weakness, failures or inadequacies define you. It also indicates appreciating the little drops of water and working diligently towards making it an ocean. This way, you will have a better attitude and achieve more success because you’re not as likely to bypass worthwhile opportunities just because they do not provide immediate pay out. Above all, gratitude inspires creativity, and you may agree with me that creativity is the father of invention. You don’t need wine or strong drink to turn you on! Use the magic of gratitude, it’s an attitude that wins always. Please send your comments to segilola2012@gmail.com, follow on twitter @segilola2012. You can also listen in to Mindscope with Segilola every Monday on Eko89.7Fm at 1:10pm.

  • Showcase our best, not our worst

    The most inspiring speech to come out of any of our leaders in government for a while now was the one made by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the NTA last week.

    Let’s define and project our nation by our best and not by our worst, the spiritual politician/ statesman urged us all. I see it not just inspiring but also a wake-up call and a message of hope.

    Truth is much as we love life in this country, most of us reason and sound so pessimistic as if we are a race of ”no do-gooders”

    To this class of citizens, nothing good could ever come out of our land.

    It is this mindset that make us diminish, not just in our thought-process but even in our past accomplishments and in the preservation of same.

    The last time I checked, very few of our people in the Ijebu, Ibadan and Lagos axis of our country, for example, know that Ejinrin in Epe Division was a bubbling port of commerce from where farm produce like cocoa, palm kernel and timber used to be ferried abroad by Europeans before the advent of Apapa and Tincan Island ports. I hope our working Governor Ambode will lap into this revelation and look into how the Ejinrin idea can be resuscitated, dredged and restored to be a sea port for Lagos!

    Neither do they know that Ibadan was the headquarters of spare parts business from where traders in the products from Lagos used to buy; the reason why those who have experience in such area, insist some of the best automobile mechanics in this country today are to be found in Ibadan and its then nearest commercial soulmate, Ijebu Ode. Today, because of the diminution of values and cultures, ask anyone in Ibadan, Ijebu Ode, Epe and Lagos, they will tell you, innocently but naively, that Idumota had, from the beginning of time, been the headquarters of spare parts trade, and later Ladipo in Mushin. It wasn’t so.

    Talking of our traditions and culture, most of us, as parents, had failed in our duties and responsibilities to society and our offsprings. Before I’m accused of unfair generalisation, let me say the Igbos and Northerners are good exemptions. They don’t joke with their language and culture and in teaching their children the values they hold dear. That’s why these sets of Nigerians ensure that their children, from early ages, are brought up to learn their language, understand and speak them.

    Unlike their Yoruba compatriots, who are so disdainful of their own language that they prefer to raise their children in speaking English and less of the local language. Here the worst culprits are the barely literate Yoruba mothers who murder the English language they impart on their children the way they do violence to grammar, thinking they are helping these impressionable children to fit into the larger society.

    A society’s values are reflected in its traditions. While culture is the tastes in art and manners that are favoured by a social group, and should therefore be transmitted by the older ones to the next generation, we must as a people realise that many of our local traditions have fallen into decay.

    Some traditions no longer make sense and such, wherever they still exist, should be moderated or outrightly discarded.

    For example, walking the streets almost naked, with some women baring their breasts and cladding their lower private with leaves palm fonds, or some men in certain areas of the country where their torso will be made bare with only a hide skin covering their bum and genitals; or in certain communities where men offer their beds and wives to their male guests to sleep with, are traditions that belong in the Stone Age and should be consigned to the garbage heap.

    In the past, people raise concerns when anyone without visible means of livelihood suddenly show up in their communities with a burst of wealth which would be made to attract public or police scrutiny; but not anymore. What matters these days, is to celebrate such wealth with obscenity that bogs the mind; the basis for the Ozubulu shooting in the church and elsewhere!

    When we as a people address these failings most earnestly, we should buy into the thought-process of the VP and play up the best in us and downplay the worst in us as a race. We have some of the brightest and best in the world – in almost every sphere of human endeavour – and more enlightened nations less endowed, flaunt theirs on the global stage and maliciously help to play up the areas we are lagging behind, in their unrelenting bid to further subjugate us as inferior to them.

    As they say, if you don’t say you are, nobody will say thou art, so henceforth, let’s showcase our best endeavours and when we encourage ourselves that way, it is quite capable of dissuading the worst among us and challenging them to join and strive to be the best. That is the secret of incurable optimists and successful ones who don’t believe there’s an alternative to winning and being in the best company.

    Compol  Edgal, welcome on board

    Policing a cosmopolitan city and state like Lagos is not a tea party and all those who have had some tour of duty in the state of excellence will attest to that fact.

    And I, for one, don’t envy the new CP, Edgal Imohimi, who by his command visibility, immediately comes under the klieglights. No CP of Lagos has the luxury of a honeymoon and for good or otherwise, he will sooner than later become the most talked about top cop  in our lovable Lagos.

    Edgal I do not claim to know well. But those in the know say he knows his onions in the business. That waits to be seen  and it’s in our collective interest to wish him well as he takes on the land grabbers, the kidnappers, the cultists, the 419ers and the trigger-happy murderers in police  uniforms, fake and real.

    Can I loyally ask the new CP to commence immediate cleanup of all police stations and area commands,  of all commission agents and crime brokers who pound the corridors of our police formations on a daily basis and give the impression that the police cultivate them more than decent members of society, for only God knows why.  True, this class of people often possess useful information for cops to work on, but put on scale, they do more harm to the image of the Police than good. He should endeavour to see their backs.

    Compol Edgal will brighten his career if he can do something about the terrible trademark by which the Police is identified all over Lagos State. The most distinguishing feature of identifying a police station here is the heap of “accident vehicles” around it, that make them look like a “cemetery of dead automobiles”. They cut an ugly sight and he can go down in history as the CP that cleaned up our police stations, aesthetically, as well. A visit to Ilupeju Police Station will be useful, although while the immediate vicinity of that station is spick and span, the neighbourhood around Alhaji Lateef Jakande’s house on Bishop Street, Ilupeju has been defaced with mangled scraps all over the place that may make nonsense of Ambode’s clean-up Lagos idea.

    While this columnist wishes him welcome, he can rest assured that we will engage him from time to time on this page – and, yes, most certainly on other pages; for knocks where he’s adjudged lacking in some respects, and kudos where he’s excelling.

    From snippets from his town hall meetings with the people so far, it’s evident he has a good grasp of the situation on ground, and with a well worked-out plan of action, the world of crime is out there for him to conquer !

  • Lagos, Ogun as industrial hubs

    It is clear some commentators are living in the past. Indeed, the Ogun State governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, was prescient enough to warn against creation of mind boundaries as South-west marches towards economic integration: “Instead of building bridges, some of our people are digging trenches for protection against their own brothers and sisters. And to further worsen the situation, some of our people are also making themselves available as instruments of division because of their selfish political gains. The consequence is that our people begin to see themselves as a people of one state or the other rather than as a sub-unit of the Yoruba entity.”

    Our founding fathers built Lagos State. They built Ogun State. Not many may even remember that the old Ogun stretched into many parts of today’s Lagos State. Those writers trying to create a wedge between the two brother states had better watch it. We are one people, one culture. Despite the excision of the Lagos Municipality from the Western Region in 1954 following the inauguration of the Lyttleton Constitution, the bulk of the territory of today’s Lagos State, consisting of Ikorodu, Epe, Somolu, Ikeja, Mushin, Ajegunle, Yaba and Badagry remained part of the Western Region. Lagos State is today a member of the Odu’a Group and the march towards economic integration of the old Western Region is on course.

    Ogun! Lagos! What’s the difference between the two? Millions of workers in Lagos reside in Ogun. Many companies in Ogun have their headquarters in Lagos. Many firms in Lagos have equally expanded to Ogun. Many indigenes of Ogun have their houses in Lagos and vice versa. So there is so little to choose between the two states.

    What is more, Lagos and Ogun are headed by progressive governors of the All Progressive Congress (APC). It is true that the Ogun State counterpart had to do twice as much to get the state on the present progressive lane of development because of the depredations of the past, which is known to the progressive governors. If Ogun State has now become an industrial hub just like Lagos is, should that not be celebrated? Isn’t that to the good of the neighbouring states? Are the masses of the two states not the ultimate beneficiaries? Will these leaders remain the governors of their respective states forever? Can we ever separate Lagos from Ogun or Ogun from Lagos?

    We must be wary of fifth columnists, political opportunists, profiteers and racketeers who wish to clog the wheel of progress and the march of the two friendly states to economic prosperity.  Having lost on the electoral field, they try to create a non-existent friction, provoke unwarranted malice in order to oil their dubious political machinery. We will not fall for their antics.

    To quote Senator Amosun once more, “We cannot allow artificial boundaries such as geography, religion, politics, etc. to hinder our joint development. We should explore the common heritage in culture and tradition as a spring-board for the development of our different states and the entire region as a whole.”

    Just last week, a leading financial newspaper, Business Day, had this report on its front page: “Lagos and Ogun states are fast moving away from other states in the country in financial capacity, following their ability to generate over 60 per cent of their revenue internally. The two states generated 73 per cent and 63 per cent of their revenue internally in 2016. This means that in the event of a failure or shortfall in allocation from the Federation Account, the two states can internally generate at least N63 out of every N100 needed monthly. Lagos and Ogun are closely followed by Rivers, Kano and Edo States, which generated 43 percent, 38 percent and 35 percent respectively of their total internal revenue…”

    It is this kind of cheery news we should celebrate rather than create a non-existent rivalry between brother states. How meaningless will the agitation for full (fiscal) federalism become if states cannot fend for themselves, if they cannot look inward and provide enabling environment for business growth with an eye on backward integration!

    In 2013, the governor of Ogun State invested in heavy land-clearing equipment on a scale never witnessed in the annals of the state. Just recently, another massive investment was made on farm machinery. Hundreds of acres of land have been cultivated. More hectares are being cleared for rice production. Many private investors are making their presence felt in the sector with thousands of direct and indirect employment generated. With the encouragement from government, many rural farms have been established and hundreds of agriculture cooperative societies have benefited from the commercial agricultural loan of the state government. In one year alone, the Ogun State government produced and sold one million cocoa seedlings to farmers at highly subsidized rate in order to reinvigorate the industry. Seventy hectares of cassava multiplication plantation were cultivated for the generation of cassava cuttings that meet industrial and nutritional needs of the populace. The state government equally built model farm estates with modern houses in order to encourage graduates of agriculture and allied disciplines to practice and make the sector attractive to youths, among other achievements in the sector.

    Just as Lagos partners Kebbi State, it has agriculture land leased to it in Ogun State in a win-win partnership between states of the same parents and common heritage. The six South-west governors have begun moves to harness the “competitive advantage of all the states in the region for sustainable regional development.”

    Finally, we should have expected arm-chair critics – politicians in the robes of writers – to learn from history. The late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, was criticised for being ahead of his time. When he mooted the idea of free education, he was criticised. When he built the first industrial and housing estates in Nigeria, what was the socio-economic situation at the time? When he established the first television service in Africa, how many Nigerians at the time had television sets? When he constructed the Liberty Stadium, the first in Nigeria, what was Western Region’s position in the world in relation to sports or how many children of the region were in school?

    The simple fact is, you do not wait for tomorrow before you plan for it. Those writers trying to ingratiate themselves with either of the top-notch governors of Lagos and Ogun are simply wasting their time. “Ambode and Amosun no get their time.” They should invest their time (pens) in more productive ventures.

     

    • Soyombo, a journalist, sent in this piece from Abeokuta via densityshow@yahoo.com

  • INEC and Continuous Voters Registration

    In April 27, in what can be described as voluntary strict adherence to the provisions of the law, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) embarked on Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise across the 774 local government areas in Nigeria. It was the first time in the history of the nation’s electoral system. INEC said the exercise was aimed at giving ample opportunity to Nigerians that attain the constitutional age of 18 and other eligible persons to have their names on voters’ register.

    There is no doubt that there can’t be a credible election without a credible voters register. It is thus inexplicable why previous INEC leadership failed to conduct continuous voters’ registration, as prescribed by the Electoral Act, which would have produced near perfect register. Even the immediate past chairman of the commission, Prof Attahiru Jega, was no exception, despite his pristine overall performance. Before the 2015 general election, INEC under him registered voters for a maximum of 11 days in any given state of the federation. Some state had only four days for voters’ registration! That was why, partly I think, most voters said they couldn’t receive their permanent cards before the general election.

    Thus, the decision by the Prof Mahmood Yakubu-led INEC to commence a registration process that would run continuously for almost two years into the next general election is indeed commendable. There would be enough time to ensure all eligible, and desiring, voters get registered. More importantly, there would be sufficient time to guarantee a clean and credible voters register. At least names of Mike Tyson and Bill Clinton would not possibly creep into our voters register as they did during the tenures of Jega and Yakubu’s predecessors.

    However, some electorates have complained that the registration centres were far from their places of residence. These are mostly people who live outside their local government headquarters, which are the designated areas for the exercise. I really felt concerned when I first saw the report about this (and by the way, I still do).

    It is a naked truth that most communities in the country are several miles away from their local government headquarters, which may ultimately result in discouraging some eligible persons from expending their hard-earned resources on such a gruelling adventure. But in a country that has been battling with the ugly pangs of a crippling recession, the decision to limit the exercise to the local government headquarters is a well-thought out decision that balances the demands of the law, the eligible voters and that of the nation’s struggling economy.

    The electoral umpire, Yakubu has said, is currently spending zero kobo on personnel to register voters at local government headquarters, since its staffers in those areas are doing the work. However, INEC doesn’t have workers at the polling units. So it will need to spend about N1.379 billion every day to pay hoc staff in the 119,973 polling units. Imagine! More than one billion naira every day, in this hash economy where other important sectors are competing for attention.

    Furthermore, I found out that INEC’s approved budget for the whole of this year can’t even pay for the workers needed at the polling units. “The provision for CVR (Continuous Voters Registration) in the commission’s 2017 budget is N1, 216, 346,068 for all Voter Registry Department’s activities, including off-season elections that have become regular since the 2015 General Election,” Yakubu said. That falls below the N1.379 billion needed for the daily wages of ad hoc staff.

    While access to register by all eligible persons is crucial to election credibility, expanding the continuous voters registration exercise to the 119,973 polling units in the country would have also cost INEC the sum of N137.4 billion, in a country whose 10 months financial releases for all capital projects of federal government was N635.7 billion in 2016.

    Besides proximity, some have also complained about the failure of some of the Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machines. While it is not something new for mechanical devices to sometime malfunction or fail to work as in the some reported cases, it was however assuring that INEC said it was thoroughly proactive by making sure such machines were replaced with immediate alacrity.

    My major concern on the exercise, which was a great fulfilment of the law as it also met the yearning millions of Nigerians who craved to be part of the electoral process, was the question raised on the location of the registration centres at the local government headquarters. In the past, voters’ registration was only tied to elections. It was only conducted intermittently rather than continuously as enshrined in the Electoral Act despite the fact that the credibility of a democratic election largely depends on a credible and regular updated voters’ register. That is why many stakeholders have commended INEC in bringing about such cutting-edge changes aimed at ensuring credibility and transparency in all elections.

    Extending the registration to the 8,809 registration areas (ward level) nationwide, as some have suggested, would have meant INEC coughing out not less than N21 billion to carry out the exercise, while at the local government headquarters level, the entire cost is not more than N463 million per quarter. In the past when registration held at the ward level, complaints of inadequate Direct Data Capturing machine, poor power supply and faulty machines, among others, had characterized the exercise. Moreover, the exercise only lasted for few days.

    However, INEC should pay attention to the complaints in some states that the exercise is at a snail-speed, in comparison with other states. Media reports had it that Akwa Ibom, Anambra and Osun states have an average of only 30 voters registering daily. That figures, if true, sure pan into insignificance when compared to the ones from other states.

    Nevertheless, INEC has done well for starting this process two years ahead of general election and making it continuous. It is therefore the duty of the rest of us to ensure we register, collect our cards, and wisely use it to select those we want manage our collective wealth.

     

    • Ossai is a former newspaper editor.