The Nation Newspaper

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  • Ogun: Between performance and politics

    I know a couple of people who hail from Abeokuta but have not visited the capital city in more than a decade. There are even indigenes of Ogun that have only read developments at home on the pages of newspapers but have been unable to see those monuments that have created new sights, sounds and taste across the state in the last six years. You probably need a tour guide if you are coming to Abeokuta after a long time; indeed all the city centres across the state!

    Prof. Is-aq Oloyede, former Vice Chancellor of University of Ilorin and currently the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), was one of the first citizens that appraised the current administration in 2013: “From what I have seen in our state, it is very clear that we have a politician with a difference at the helm of affairs. With the on-going infrastructural revolution, many of us who are indigenes even find it difficult to locate our houses and some prominent places each time we come visiting.”

    I must confess that I was jolted to the marrow when, upon the inauguration of the current government in 2011, I had the first-hand experience of criss-crossing Abeokuta. Why should a state capital look so ancient? The roads were so narrow that they could hardly accommodate pedestrians let alone automobiles, and the houses built so close to the roads such that people rising early morning in their bedrooms could through their windows exchange handshakes with passengers on so-called motorways!

    It was, therefore, not surprising when at the inauguration of the first flyover constructed by any state government since the creation of Ogun in 1976, Dr Adedotun Gbadebo, the Alake of Egbaland, declared:

    “Today can be likened to the day electricity, pipe borne water and railway first came to Abeokuta. Amosun has changed the city from the status of 19th century to the 21st century.”

    And just before the end of that same year 2013, the highly revered monarch, Dr Sikiru Kayode Adetona, the Awujale of Ijebu-Ode, observed:

    “Your performance has been beyond the imagination of each and every one of us. You have been able to go round the entire Ogun State (with your infrastructural development) without just concentrating on Abeokuta and leaving the rest of us in the wilderness. You have been able to go round Abeokuta,  Ijebu, Remo, Yewa. This is a great thing that has never happened in the state.”

    Abeokuta is the capital of Ogun State and the first port of call for investors and those who need to transact business with government.  Welcoming you to the metropolis on Saturday is the sprawling flyover under construction. It confirms that development is work-in-progress. So many bridges and roads have been completed by the Amosun administration, yet so many needs to be done. Some roads are currently receiving the final layer of asphalt. Ogun State is still a huge construction site.  On January 16, 2015, former Nigerian President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, commented on the sterling performance of Governor Amosun:

    “In 2011, we were not together. We were together before and I did campaign against him. See what he has been able to do in the last three and a half years in the state. I cannot sacrifice performance for party. I never dreamt of having a bridge on a dry land in Ogun State in my life time. Yes, we have Ogun River, where there is a bridge. Go to Ijebu, Sagamu, Ota, what am I seeing? Bridges, not even one, two, three. So, my people, I am not talking about other elections. I have come to tell you that in order to appreciate what this personality has been able to do in the last three and a half years, let us give him our votes. What happened in 2011 was politics, and we can all see the difference between politics and personality.”

    Eminent historian and elder statesman, Prof. Anthony Asiwaju, has equally not been silent: “The Yewa people and by extension, Ogun State have never had it so good since the creation of the state. So we are thanking Senator Ibikunle Amosun for coming to our aid through the construction of a road over 107 kilometres, which cuts across four Local Government Areas in the senatorial district.”

    At the grand reception in Abeokuta on February 2, 2016, President Muhammadu Buhari, summed up his impression:

    “I express my gratitude to the Governor of Ogun State for inviting me and identifying with me on his success. He managed to disorientate me. On my commissioning in January 1963 – I was posted to Abeokuta, where Second Inventory Battalion of the Nigerian Army used to be. I said he managed to disorientate me because if you drop me anywhere in Abeokuta and ask me to find where the barracks is, I assure you I will get missing. I am pleased and happy about your success because I think that whatever I knew about Abeokuta, I have lost it. Your programmes are certainly people-oriented.”

    Apart from constructing the first overhead bridges, first 10-lane roads, first world-class model schools, first gated housing estates, the Amosun government was the first to bring into Nigeria the very latest technology of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) and made the “maximum donation” of security equipment that the then Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, confessed he had never witnessed since he had been serving as a Police officer.

    The Amosun administration was also the first to distribute 500 brand new transformers at one fell swoop across the state, first to introduce modern luxury buses and brand new taxis on Ogun highways and first to purchase, in one iconic gesture, such quantum of multi-million naira farm machinery – bulldozers, tractors, ploughs, harrows, slashers and planters.

    The current government moved Ogun State from F9 to A1 in terms of Ease of Doing Business, as reported by the World Bank 2014 Doing Business Report. So far, about 120 multi-billion naira industries have been established in Ogun in the last six years, creating thousands of direct and indirect employment for the teeming youths of the state.

    In spite of the meagre amount Ogun gets from the federation account, the Amosun government has paid above the minimum wage, and implemented it across board, thus making it the only government to achieve such a milestone in Nigeria. It is also the first to introduce a social health insurance scheme in the state, where poor pregnant women and their Under-5 children go to any of the four designated Health Care Providers (private and public) in their respective local councils with their Araya Access Cards (like ATMs) and access free health services anytime, any day, 24/7!

    Saturday, this Governor of many firsts will give her first daughter in marriage. Although he has announced to everyone that the wedding is a private affair, it is certainly impossible to dissuade residents from celebrating with the first family that has accomplished so much in the state in the last six years.

     

    • Soyombo, a media practitioner, sent this piece via densityshow@yahoo.com

  • On the trail of Penkelemess

    Adegoke Adelabu, aka Penkelemess, is still venerated in folklores some six decades after the motor accident that claimed him at high noon. I recall that his coffin was an epithet for my classmate’s head back in the primary school. That fellow had an oddly-shaped skull that seemed to hang sideways as he walked. Back then at Bishop Phillips Primary School, Ondo, our class teacher, Mr. Arowolo, often drew a parallel between the head and the politician’s coffin. I couldn’t figure out how a head could shape like a coffin; thinking back now I guess the teacher must have meant the epithet as a metaphor. My classmate later became an architect. I learnt he graduated at the top of his class. I guess the architect would be more familiar with shapes and sizes than the nuances of epithets and metaphors.

    I was not familiar with the life and times of Adegoke Adelabu beyond the epithet and metaphor, because he did not play in our post-colonial politics. He was encrusted in the crevice of my mind like Bode Thomas, another player in the colonial milieu. For me, Adelabu belonged in a past detached from the present.

    I had a chance encounter with him some years ago on the pages of Wole Soyinka’s work, Ibadan, where the Nobel laureate chiselled the crust off the politician’s portrait in the crevice of my mind with his narration on the Penkelemess years. The man has since resurrected from the casket shaped like my classmate’s head.

    I recently journeyed to the Taj Mahal at Oke-Oluokun, where Pekelemess held court in Ibadan, in his heydays. Remember, it was from here he departed “with the Lebanese” on the journey that claimed him at age 43 in March 1958. The house now wears a new coat of paint in obvious efforts to keep pace with its past. It holds a spectre of past privilege and teaches lessons on life to discerning minds.

    The house reminds of a past when politicians dwelled in the accessible parts of town. These days, they live inside gilded fences; in unreachable the parts of town. How did this politician cope with life among common folks in the neighbourhood? How did he navigate the dusty roads in an era where cars did not come with tint-glass or air-conditioner? Did he also drive one of those finned American Chevrolets? How was life at Taj Mahal in the 1950s, when Adelabu lived here and rode on the crest of Ibadan politics?

    Robert Frost in The Abandoned House mused about “a house that lacks…mistress and master/ With doors that none but the wind ever closes/And floor all littered with glass…” The lines by the American poet raced in my mind as I thought about the current state of things at Oke-Oluokun Taj Mahal. Except for the two dutiful guards, the house was a virtual space with no din the day I visited. I made a mental note that the edifice needs a guide more than a guard; someone that could vividly draw a trajectory of its past for a visitor, someone to relate how the house pulsated while its Spartan owner was here in flesh. True, this Taj Mahal now speaks of power in past tense and tells about the flitting nature of man, it should serve more than housing Adegoke Adelabu Foundation by stepping out to tell the story of its past to visitors.

    The echoes of multiple love still resonate in the sprawling chalet that quartered the politician’s numerous wives; they were said to be 32 in number. The quarter is neatly tucked behind the main edifice away from prying eyes. Here, rooms are sliced in small, equal dimensions opening uniformly into a long corridor, as if to ease the commuting of the man that once hoed in the vast field. This is an edifice of plural love, in contrast to the Indian Taj Mahal said to have been built as memorial by a 17th Century Shah to the most-favourite wife in his harem.

    But Adelabu gladly writ bolder on politics. He gained reckoning not on the size of his harem but by standing on principles – his own principles; even when it meant backing the destination like a passenger in mammy-wagon. The man resolutely swam with his party NCNC and leader Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe in the aftermath of the carpet-crossing saga in the Western Region Assembly in 1952.

    Governor-General of Nigeria, John Macpherson, had introduced a new constitution a year earlier in 1951 allowing nationalists to contest elections into the three regional assemblies. That concession was meant as answer to the growing protests of the nationalists against the British colonial rule. Chief Obafemi Awolowo had been arguing that the Indirect Rule policy of the British was a conspiracy of colonialists with unlettered Emirs, Obas and Obis to govern Nigeria indefinitely and exclude the educated class. The sage in his book The Path to Nigerian Freedom, released in 1946 urged an end to the alliance of Britain and local thrones.

    The concession by the Governor General to pander to the nationalists also sowed a seed of discord for the future of Nigeria when NCNC and the Action Group (AG) simultaneously claimed majority seats at convocation of the Western Region Assembly in 1952. Awolowo emerged from the tango to become the Leader of Government Business in a story now largely subsumed in apocryphal narrations. But it was not in doubt that Adegoke Adelabu stood by his party through it all. He called the incident a “stab in the back” in his own treatise, Africa in Ebullition. He supported Nnamdi Azikiwe until death, in spite the opportunities to feather his own nest by defecting to the ruling party. Adelabu built a brilliant career as opposition to the Action Group government; a no mean feat, considering the cerebral arsenal of that government. The Hansards are replete with his deft debates from the opposition bench in the maelstroms of those years. The landlord of Taj Mahal earned the moniker, Penkelemess on his allegation that the government had made a peculiar mess of governance in Western Region. Did the Action Group make such a peculiar mess of the West?  It is doubtful anyone would credibly think so now.

    Adegoke Adelabu is in the casket shaped like my classmate’s head, far away from the cacophony of contemporary politics and must be wondering why politics now looks more like harlotry in our country. He must be pondering why APC is easily confused with PDP and why our parliaments are largely made of neophytes and money-changers. Lately, Penkelemess must be re-thinking the true meaning of peculiar mess.

  • Strange Occurrences, Curious Questions

    I have two important questions to ask on two events that happened concerning Taraba State during the week. One is on the visit to Taraba State by Lt. General Abdulrahman Dambazau and the other, on the controversial front page editorial comment of Daily Trust newspaper of Monday July 3. Both of them aroused a lot of curiosity during the week. But first, let’s honour the two illustrious sons of the state, Danbaba Suntai, former governor, and Sylvanus Yakubu Giwa, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Media and Publicity, who died.

    Giwa was buried on Saturday, July 1, in Takum, his home town. It was a befitting funeral ceremony attended by Governor Darius Dickson Ishaku, his wife, Anna and virtually all members of the State Executive Council and many political stalwarts from across the state.

    Giwa’s professional colleagues from various parts of the country were also there to honour him. In a speech at the burial church service in Takum, Governor Ishaku described Giwa as very hard working and somebody who was always eager to learn from his mistakes on the job when pointed out to him. He urged the family accept Giwa’s untimely passage with fortitude and asked Tarabans to pray for the repose of the souls of the two eminent personalities. Burial arrangements for Suntai has already commenced in earnest. A burial committee is working with his family to ensure a successful state burial promised by the government.

    In the midst of all these, Governor Ishaku found time to attend to other matters that are of paramount interest to the state. On Friday June 30, Governor Ishaku received in audience a Federal Government delegation led by General Abdulrahman Danbazau, minister of Interior, which came into the state in connection with the recent communal crisis in Mambilla, in Sardauna Local Government Area of the state.

    The minister’s visit was a big question mark on the sincerity and impartiality of the Dambazau’s Ministry of Interior. Why, for example, did similar crisis in the state and elsewhere in which the Fulani attackers had the upper hand against their targeted communities not attract such visitation from Dambazau? Why this one?

    Governor Ishaku, in his remarks said the events in Mambilla were unfortunate but noted with happiness that the crisis had been contained and that government’s efforts to sustain peace achieved there had been successful. “I’m happy that Mambilla is now calm. What remains is the healing process which has already started”, Ishaku said. He said there had been eight of similar communal crisis in two years but none attracted similar federal delegation and intervention

    on how similar crisis could be aaverted in future. He expressed happiness at the coming of the minister to the state in connection

    with the crisis and advised Nigerian leaders to endeavour to live up to the expectations of the people. He noted that the situation in

    which all money at the disposal of the state government is drained by the control of crises was unacceptable and urged the people to embrace peace.

    Ishaku called for extra effort on the part of leaders to achieve unity through national integration. He said the quest for national unity was part of the reason the National Youth Service Corps was introduced and suggested the extension of corps members’ service period from one to two years with the introduction of participants to military training.

    On Monday July 3, an important milestone was reached in the state with the flag-off of the Save One Million Lives Project. The project is in furtherance of the state government’s determination to extend healthcare services to a lot more people. The flag-off featured the distribution of medical equipment and consumables and drugs to primary healthcare institutions in the state. It is the first time in the history of the state that such items were procured on such a large scale and distributed. The items included assorted drugs, mosquito nets, delivery kits, cool boxes, generators, solar refrigerators, Android Phones, Hilux 4WD vehicles, motorcycles, tricycles and more.

    Speaking at the event, Governor Ishaku said the achievement recorded so far by his administration in two years have left nobody in doubt that the health sector occupies a prominent place on his rescue agenda and this will remain so. “I wish to reiterate here that so long as I remain the captain of the rescue mission in the state, health remains on the priority list and will continue to enjoy priority attention because without good health life becomes meaningless for the people.”

    The Governor later handed out the items to officers representing various health institutions in the state. Dr Innocent Vakkai, Commissioner for Health praised Governor Ishaku for his passion for the health sector in the state which has translated into regular and massive support for projects in the sector. “Our Governor is passionate about the health and well being of the people. This has manifested in the series of flag-offs including the renovation of hospitals, supply of drugs, recruitment of health officers and many of the  other requirements of the sector,” he said.

    During the week also, Government House reacted to the front page editorial comment of Daily Trust newspaper of Monday July 3, 2017 which sought to portray the recent communal crisis in Mambilla as a case of genocide and ethnic cleansing. In the editorial, titled “Genocide in Mambilla”, the paper took a biased position in favour of the Fulani side of the crisis by using inflated casualty figures provided by the Fulani leaders in the crisis as basis for its analysis and conclusions.  A Government House press statement issued on Tuesday rejected what it described as the” deliberate and callous attempt by unpatriotic elements to tag the Mambilla crisis as genocide” noting emphatically that “the recorded casualty figures of 18 human lives as announced by the police and other security agencies that brought the fighting to an end obviously do not support that evil name-tag.”

    The government urged Nigerians to ignore the biased and misleading position canvassed in the editorial and wondered why Daily Trust failed to label as genocide and ethnic cleansing the massacre by Fulani of the people in Southern Kaduna a few months ago. “The newspaper’s curious silence and failure to label the massacre a few months ago of indigenes of Southern Kaduna by the Fulani as a case of genocide and ethnic cleansing has apparently exposed the partisan direction of Daily Trust’s editorial standpoint on issues in which the interest of its pay masters are involved.” an obvious case of genocide perpetrated against the people of Southern Kaduna

  • Passage of three patriots

    The news of the serial deaths of the three great Nigerian patriots and pan-Africanists namely  Abubakar Momoh,(1965 – 2017), Funminiyi Adewunmi (1960 – 2017) and Yusuf Maitama Sule (1929 – 2017)  in quick successions further point to the inevitability (no less the unpredictability) of death! Both Abubakar Momoh, until his death Director General of the Electoral Institute of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja and Funmi Adewunmi of University of Ibadan were non-state good friends, comrades and teachers; Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule (the Dan masanin of Kano), the last founding father of Nigeria, elder-statesman, democrat-politician, and unarguably a colourful acclaimed orator diplomat.

    Certainly there would be no gathering of progressive and democratic forces in Nigeria and Africa and indeed in the world without mentioning these great Nigerians separated by both birth and death days but bonded by uncommon commitment to humanity, African liberation, justice and equity.  True to his earned, deserved progressive and radical reputation, Momoh easily came to my mind as hundreds of members of the National Union of Textile and Garment Workers, (NUTGWN) civil society ally members, women and youths gathered to observe the official Democracy Day at Textile Labour House, Nasarawa Expressway in Kaduna on Monday May 29. More than twice, as the pioneer DG of Electoral Institute, Abubakar  had enthusiastically supported our initiative on improving on the political/electoral literacy of thousands of our members. Naturally  I remembered Abubakar Momoh that singular destined day recalling my last conversation with him a month earlier  about the need to continue on our electoral literacy workshop series to which he was ever enthusiastically  ready. We had invited my good friend, radical activist lawyer, Barrister Festus Okoye to lead the discussion on the proposed amendments of the Electoral Act by both the Senate and the House of Representatives.  Barrister Festus Okoye, a member of Uwais Committee on Electoral reform and a delegate to 2014 National Conference true to his callings heeded our call at the shortest notice. Few minutes after we exchanged pleasantries, Festus’s mood hitherto up-beat changed for the low. He then showed me serial text messages indicating that Abubakar was dead early that morning.  It’s now an open knowledge that the late patriot was buried same day at Auchi as a Muslim. May Almighty Allah grant him the mercy the holy month of Ramadan in which died.

    Abubakar’s death is a loss to his wife, Tawa and his son, as well as his students and those privileged to have associated with this great African and global citizen.  Africa and Nigeria have indeed lost an intellectual democrat on an officially declared Democracy Day. Only the death of Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem, a pan African progressive intellectual, (also a friend  of Abubakar) who died in an auto accident on May 25 Africa Liberation Day in 2009 in Nairobi Kenya invoked similar spiritual paradoxes and coincidences.

    Similarly we received with great shock, the death of our friend and comrade, Professor Funminiyi Adewunmi of University of Ibadan after a brief illness.  A brilliant scholar, committed activist and socialist, Funminiyi lived a life dedicated to the upliftment of the working class and service to humanity. His academic sojourn took him across several universities in Nigeria and abroad including prestigious universities like the University of Ibadan, Osun State University, University of Lagos and University of Namibia. He deployed his intellect researching and publishing in critical areas of labour relations in relation to globalisation, trade union development, workers right and decent work. Even in deaths, they reminded us of their core principles; unity and liberation of Africa and equal rights and justice for all respectively! What core principles do we the living stand for? Blessed are the late comrades for they lived and stood for not just something but many positive things worthy of recalling today. The deaths of both were huge losses to the labour movement, academic community and the country in general which they diligently served in various capacities for many years.

    My union as well as the Nigeria Labour Congress, in particular have lost resource fellows and activists of the labour movement. General elections in Nigeria since 1999 have become periods for anxiety and tension about what the outcomes would be. Would the elections be free, fair, credible and devoid of violence? Undoubtedly there have been noticeable improvements in the conduct of elections since the emergence of leaderships of Professors Attahiru Jega and Mahmood Yakubu. But further improvement can be achieved through mass mobilization and sensitization of workers and the self-employed on basic voters’ rights and responsibilities. Given this background and the fact that majority of Nigerian workforce constitute the Nigerian voters, our union partnered with INEC on Voters Education Project for Workers and the self-employed in Lagos and Kaduna on 14th and 20th February 2015 respectively. The pioneer Director General of the Electoral Institute, the training arm of INEC, Professor Abubakr Momoh was the lead resource person. He explained the voting processes and time schedule for registration and voting and counselled workers to remain good citizens by coming out en masse to exercise their civic right. He urged them to resist the temptation to vote based on inducement or even sell their voters card. The workshops had in attendance key non-state actors like the distinguished former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, Comrade SOZ Ejiofor and representatives of INEC in the states. In Lagos, the Resident Electoral Commissioner Akin Orebiyi addressed the participants and assured of INEC’s preparedness to conduct the 2015 free fair and credible elections. Abubakar was a regular star resource fellow at our 30-year old Annual Education Conferences.

    Funmi Adewunmi as an accomplished academic, served in international and national development and labour market institutions like Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Michael Imoudu National Institute of Labour students (MINILS) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to further support the struggle of working people for decent work and humane society.

    Paradoxically it was at the tribute session for both Abubakar Mommoh and Funmi Adewunmi on Monday by Lagos State University and progressive forces that the death of Alhaji Yusuf Maitama Sule, acclaimed orator diplomat elder-statesman was announced. Alhaji Maitaima in his 30s was in the forefront of the struggle for liberation of Nigeria against century long British colonialism. In 1960, he led the Nigerian delegation to the Conference of Independent African States. In 1976, he became the Federal Commissioner of Public Complaints, a position that made him the nation’s pioneer ombudsman. He was appointed Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations during the Second Republic and commendably championed the campaign for the struggle against apartheid in both Namibia and South Africa. Again the death of Alhaji Maitaima Sule was a huge loss to my union, where during the pointed military dictatorships of Sani Abacha, he courageously identified with the working people to demand for decent work and life and independent and democratic trade union movement. He was a special guest of honour at the last 11 Delegates Conference of the Union in Kano in March 2015 who at his age came promptly with quotable quotes of wisdom and patriotism for the participants.

    At a time Nigeria seems to be under attack by misguided local and external centrifugal forces of various hues, Nigeria has indeed lost voices in the departed compatriots. The best tribute in honour of the dead is for the living 170 million compatriots to rise and heed the clarion call of our national anthem “To serve our fatherland, With love and strength and faith” such that the “The labour of our heroes past, shall never be in vain”.

    May their souls rest in peace.

     

    • Comrade Aremu, mni, is General Secretary, National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers, Kaduna.
  • How Nigeria fought her way back to ILO

    How Nigeria fought her way back to ILO

    Following a deft diplomatic engagement by the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige at the 106th session of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conference held between June 5th – 16th in Geneva, Switzerland, Nigeria made an impressive come-back to the apex leadership of the world labour body with the election of the nation’s tripartite of government, workers and employers into the titular and deputy positions in the ILO governing board, while clinching the membership of four strategic committees. The Governing Body (GB) is made up of 122 members comprising 56 titular members and 66 deputies. Of the 56 titular members, 28 are government representatives, while 14 apiece represent employers and workers respectively. Also, out of 66 deputies, 28 represent governments, 19 employers and the rest 19, workers. However, it is important to note that equal rights and privileges accrue to both titular and deputy members of the Governing Board. Hence, while the Nigerian government represented by the Minister of Labour and the Director General of Nigeria Employee Consultative Assembly (NECA) Segun Oshinowo representing the employers were elected deputies, the President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba was elected as titular member to represent the Nigerian workers, all for three years.   Nigeria last sat on the board over a decade ago.

    However, the journey to this victorious Geneva outing started way back in April at the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Specialized Technical Committee on Social Development, Labour and Employment, organized by the Africa Union in Algiers, Algeria . At that summit, three things happened in four successive days. One was Nigeria’s pivotal address at the opening session where Ngige brought to international consciousness, the commitment of the Buhari administration to growing the economy through strategic initiatives that utilize the nation’s huge population as a fulcrum. The other was at the closing session where the labour minister canvassed the urgent establishment of the Youth Fund for Employment by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) in the face of the Future of Work and challenges posed by it. He warned that the Future of Work in Africa would remain bleak without a corresponding new way to effectively tackle its challenges because innovations brought about by it have changed the manner work and productions are organized.

    But in between this, was high wire politics among African nations to fill the slots into the Governing Board of the ILO scheduled for June. Almost all the West African nations were interested to pick the slots allocated to West Africa. Nigeria’s closest ally in the sub-region, Ghana saw the position as a deserving gift to her President.  The country’s Labour Minister, Bright Brobbey had during the bilateral meeting between Nigeria and Ghana in Algiers said that much and tried unsuccessfully to exploit the usual Nigeria’s big brother disposition to realize her aspiration. Ghana had canvassed that an open contest between Nigeria and Ghana would provide a leeway for the French West African nations to take the day. But Nigeria’s minister of labour thought differently. When the meeting reconvened the next day therefore, Ngige told the gathering Nigeria was not ready for concession that could halt her march, noting it was time for Ghana to reciprocate her earlier support.  Ghana later conveyed her decision to drop from the race at another pre- Geneva Conference committee meeting.

    That done, Nigeria went ahead to consolidate the bridges it started building across Anglo West African countries the foundation of which Ngige laid at the African Regional Labour Centre (ARLAC) conference in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe in February.  Sierra Leone and Liberia have been on lukewarm membership due to economic reasons. In fact, at the Victoria Falls meeting, delisting Sierra Leone’s membership with years of defaulting financial obligation was mooted. But Nigeria argued against and suggested that more time be given to the West African nation to live up to its obligation. Nigeria followed it up with personal reach out to the two countries. It was not therefore surprising that both Liberia and Sierra Leone came with full delegation in Geneva and behind Nigeria’s quest into the ILO Governing Board. What does Nigeria gain from this election?  There will be inflow of technical assistance on varying specialised areas especially labour laws, finance, production, skill acquisition, job creation, general labour administration as well as wider vista for full participation in International Job Migration.  The Ministry of Labour zonal and state skills centres have been undergoing rehabilitation under the present administration; this upbeat can only blossom further with the elastic technical skills from the ILO experts.

    Better World of Work was the central theme of this year’s Geneva Conference and the Director General of the ILO Guy Ryder told the 187 member body that “nothing would more clearly distinguish the first hundred years of the ILO’s history from the second than the necessary greening of the world of work.” His address tagged the Green Initiatives, highlighted the potential for the greening of production as powerful engine for decent work creation and for balanced growth and development.

    Nigeria’s response to this address was dramatic and instructive. Speaking under the theme, “Work in a Changing Climate,” Senator Ngige pledged Nigeria’s commitment to the Green Initiative and attributed the recent outbreak of cerebrospinal meningitis in parts of northern Nigeria to the adverse effects of climate change.  The Paris Initiative on Climate Change is at the heart of Nigeria’s effort at combating the phenomenon, he said, adding that the federal government has taken major steps as illustrated by its huge investments in solar, wind and hydro energy, as well as ending gas flaring by 2020, “ways to reduce pollution and check climate change,” he enthused. He said Nigeria’s commitment to 2063 African Agenda for security, growth and sustainable development was irrevocable. He also referred to Nigeria’s current economic downturn, asking for technical support to buoy up national budget. The minister would not have omitted the new minimum wage for the Nigerian workers where the entire world gathered to discuss the world of work. He therefore assured that the 29-member committee on the issue would soon commence work. He also noted that though the employers association, one leg of the labour tripartite had raised objection to the proposed N56, 000 minimum wage, the entire tripartite was however agreed that N18, 000 was no longer tenable or meaningful. A light at the end of the tunnel for workers you would say. Similarly, the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba in his address to the conference harped on global peace and improved working conditions for workers all over the world, stressing that “decent work is a panacea to global peace.”

     

    • Nwachukwu is an Abuja based journalist.

  • Joining the band wagon

    There is always something animated in our polity to engage Nigerians; sometimes real, and sometimes distractions for political ends.  Restructuring is now at the front burner of the national discourse and the word in fashion.  It is so loud and strident across the political spectrum and demographic divide that we are all sitting at the edge.  It is beginning to send jitters into the spines of the unconscionable irredentist gladiators behind it as it is slipping out of their hands.

    But wait a minute, what is this restructuring argument all about?  Is it synonymous with self-determination or secession, ala the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)?  Is it about resource control like the drumbeat from the South-south and Niger Delta or a calibrated order and declaration of one ethnic group persona non grata by the other in the fashion of the Arewa youths?  Is it a demand for the operation of the constitution on the basis of true federalism?  Questions, questions and more questions!

    Methinks most people have joined the fray just to be politically correct without advancing any argument what they are canvassing for. Whatever the argument and postulations about restructuring, one thing is at least certain; it is the fact that it is a vote of no confidence on the ruling elite who have kept the country perpetually in tethers.  The visionless leaders never stopped blaming the military and the imperfect constitution it bequeathed to Nigerians as the cause of our woes after 18 years.  Blaming past governments over everything from corruption to poor management of the economy is the fashionable thing among government officials and this they have elevated to religion rather than face the serious business of governance.  Our leaders have continued to show lack of mental capacity and critical thinking to interrogate the real issues responsible for our under-development and growth, insecurity and mutual suspicion amongst the ethnic nationalities that make up Nigeria.

    It is puerile and mental indolence to continue to blame our constitution; our constitution is not our problem.  There is no perfect document anywhere in the world that serves as a constitution of any country.  Rather we have documents that are work in progress which the people must fine-tune to achieve their desire goals according to the reality of the time and circumstances.  This is the reason why we have the legislature everywhere in the world whose duty it is to make laws for the good of the country.  But here in Nigeria, we have the misfortune of having people with traders’ mentality presiding over the affairs of our nation who think with their stomach.  Politics to them is therefore about bread and butter and a do-or-die affair not for what they can offer but for what they can get.  They succeed in part because ours is a docile and uncritical electorate of cash and carry.

    All the noise about restructuring will go to no issue where there is inequality and lack of social justice.  Restructuring will not bring the ordinary man on the street to the level of the government officials who intentionally flout law and order in brazen manners.  It is not restructuring that has made it impossible to secure conviction in known and obvious cases of heist and corruption by government officials and their minions.  It is sheer indolence and un-seriousness of unimaginable proportion to continue to lament about what the military did or failed to do or the constitution for being responsible to our problems.

    If we have imaginative political leadership with patriotic fervour, we should have detached ourselves from our past and move our country to the right direction; 18 years is long time enough.  We have good parts in the 1999 Constitution; what have we done with those parts like Chapter two which is on ‘fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy’.  Restructuring for autonomy for the state or region may as well be asking for the replication of the tyranny at the centre in all the states.  The governors are behaving like emperors already and given the opportunity, they would become local tyrants and lions let loose on a sheep when you now endow them with absolute power to control state police etc.

    The counter argument is that we need to strengthen our institutions to engender the rule of law and social justice.  We perhaps need is true federalism that will promote productivity and development without losing national cohesion and unity.  We have become suddenly so loud about the Jonathan-led government National Conference of 2014 which to me was a mere political chicanery and distraction by a government that was out of steam in the face of daunting security challenges that saw the state losing territory to the Boko Haram insurgents in the North-east.

    The leading economies of the world like America, China, and India etc. do not have homogenous population and they are secular states where the rule of law is held above social status of individuals. These are societies where people are held accountable in accordance with the rule of law no matter the social status and political affiliations.  The former Prime Minister of Israel, Ehud Olmert has just finished serving a 16 month jail term for corruption.   But here in Nigeria, the laws come alive only when the oppressed masses are involved.

    At the end of the day, the masses remain the victim of the political greed of the deceitful ruling elite. Reverting back to geo-political regional arrangement would not make the ordinary man in Lagere in Ile Ife to be on the same platform with the counsellor or commissioner in the state just the same way the fish farmer in Duguri Island in Borno State will continue to live in deprivation of the basic things of life.  When the agitators and ethnic irredentists light the flame, the masses are the canon folders who would be at the receiving end.  They would be the ones to take the bullets from the unprofessional security forces who have scant regards to human life in their mistaken believe that they are the object of protest by the man on the street.  The masses are the ones who would die on the road in mass exodus from one region to the other while the mischievous elite behind it go for negotiation and get better deal not for the masses but for themselves. The so-called elders are not speaking with wisdom while the youths are too preoccupied by the survival question to be concerned how the government machine is run.  Patriots, this is a call not to join the band wagon but to take what is ours from the charlatans in political garb.

     

    • Kebonkwu, a legal practitioner writes from Abuja.

     

  • Surmounting Lagos’ environmental challenges

    The environment agency of the Lagos State government has in recent time been experiencing monumental reformation. From the passage of the Lagos Environmental Law 2017, to the recent employment of new environmental officers, the change in the nomenclature of the popular Kick Against Indiscipline, (KAI) to Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps Agency (LASESCORPS) among several other innovations is certainly commendable and worthy of note. With these reforms going on simultaneously, the state government is further demonstrating its renewed commitment to rid the state of all forms of environmental nuisances.

    Environmental sustainability, being the seventh of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), has several areas of focus, which include sustainable development, environmental protection from natural occurrences like greenhouse warming, ozone depletion, soil erosion, chemical management, acidic rain and water pollution, among other things. Generally, the ultimate purpose of this goal is to improve the lives of the citizenry, so much so that activities of urban settlers will not impact negatively on the life of the rural dwellers and vice versa.

    Before now, several commendable efforts have been made to combat environmental challenges and attain a cleaner and sustainable environmental standard by successive visionary administrations in the state. Parts of these initiatives informed the establishment of the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency, LASEPA, in addition to some already existing agencies under the Ministry for the Environment. Of note was the establishment of the Kick Against Indiscipline Brigade (KAI) in 2003 as a division of the Ministry of the Environment, to effectively police and maintain cleanliness in the Lagos environment as well as ensure that there are no illegal trading activities on major roads and highways within the metropolis.

    The establishment of KAI then and reformation of the brigade by the present administration to include some additional responsibilities show a more pragmatic approach to combat all environmental-related issues. KAI has as parts of its establishing mandate to curb street trading and hawking within the metropolis; prevent indiscriminate dumping of refuse in unauthorised places; prevent erection of illegal structure and shanties on drainages, roads, setbacks, lay-bys and medians.

    In addition to the above, KAI was also established to curb vegetal nuisance and overgrown weeds around the state; enforce the use of pedestrian bridges and curb illegal parking and vehicle abandonment for effective free flow of traffic. This is because the state government realised the long-term effects of these misdemeanours and their ripple effects on the collective good of its residents, as well as attendant threat to the environment.

    This effort by KAI Brigade is also being complimented by Central Business District, CBD officers, whose operations are restricted to the Central Business District of the Lagos Island.

    A remarkable feat by the state governor, Akinwunmi Ambode in the environment sector was the signing of the new environmental law, early this year. The law, which is the first of its kind in the history of the state, also consolidates and harmonises the various laws relating to the environment into a single law to allow for a more convenient administration and management of the environment.

    One of the provisions of the New Environment Management and Protection Law is the change in the nomenclature of the Kick Against Indiscipline Brigade (KAI) to Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps Agency (LASESCORPS) with assigned power to spearhead enforcement of the new law, thereby expanding the composition and scope of operation of LASESCORPS officials. Besides creating 27, 500 new jobs, the policy will fast track the process of transforming the Lagos metropolis into a cleaner megacity by tackling air and water pollution.

    The fact that Lagos is surrounded by water bodies, which makes it susceptible to some natural environmental challenges, makes the law even more imperative. So, from another perspective, the law will also insulate residents against preventable diseases and halt further deterioration of the environment, thus paving the way for thriving socio-economic activities.

    Just as the introduction of Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA changed the face of waste management in the state in years past, the new Lagos State Environment Management and Protection Law, which provides for a smarter waste collection method, will usher in a cleaner, healthier and smarter Lagos.

    As part of the provisions of the Lagos State Harmonised Environmental Law, 2017 also, and in furtherance of the state’s spirited effort to make Lagos State cleaner, healthier and more liveable, a special task force for the removal of abandoned and disused vehicles and tricycles littering the state has been set up by the state government.

    Similarly, the state government has appointed vehicular scrap collection agent, in line with Section 56 sub-section (1) of the Lagos State Harmonised Environmental Law, 2017, whose activity commences this month.

    The Environment Task Force will paste a sticker with a Removal Notice on identified abandoned vehicles with a seven-day period for self-removal by owners of the vehicle. Upon expiration of the grace period, identified abandoned vehicles will be removed by the task force to a designated depot within the state and where such vehicles are unclaimed within 30 days, the vehicles will be forfeited to the government and undergo proper disposal accordingly.

    With the new Lagos environmental law, the rigorous beautification and green Lagos projects and various regeneration efforts and the support and cooperation of every resident of the state, the state hopes to reverse the loss of environmental resources and sustain an even environmental development.

    Street trading and hawking indeed remains great environmental eyesore to the Lagos State government and does not fit into its Smart City vision. Citizens should therefore realise that, as a people, we cannot continue to sacrifice proper and environmental friendly possibilities on the altar of making ends meet. We must also be conscious at all time of the fact that having a sustainable environment free of all forms of nuisances is achievable in Lagos if all hands are on deck.

     

    • Alabi (Mrs) is of Ministry of Environment, Lagos State.

     

  • That there may be unity in APC

    The discharge and acquittal of Senate President, Bukola Saraki, of all cases of alleged corruption and false assets declaration charges for which he stood trial for two years by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), must have come as a huge relief to his followers. But more importantly to members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) party and the National Assembly (NASS) members, who, understandably, have been on the edge as the number three citizen and its public face, faced a trial with the potential of ruining his political career, as well as hugely casting doubts on the integrity of the NASS.

    Notwithstanding the doubt on who the plaintiff was; whether it was actually supposed to be the Code of Conduct Bureau, (CCB) as required by the law, or, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC), the trial worsened and deepened the obvious divide in the party such that it remained a sore point in selling the APC change mantra.

    Saraki, a two-time governor of Kwara State and a political god-head of the Saraki political dynasty, has over the years become one of Nigeria’s emerging political tacticians following in the footsteps of his late father, Olusola Saraki, who also then occupied a plum political position at the National Assembly in his days. Saraki’s two years’ track record as Senate President speaks volume of his enigmatic and uncanny leadership qualities. In two years, the 8th Senate under his leadership has broken a 17-year jinx by passing into law a record 95 Bills; 50% above two previous senates combined.

    Interestingly, Saraki seems to be one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented politicians in the APC power family. This probably explains why his trial affected nearly everything the APC represented. The trial almost pitched the National Assembly against the presidency, as well as against presumed power brokers in the party. But Saraki remained calm and focused.

    Perhaps, Saraki’s trial evoked so much emotions and passion following the believe that he was being punished for working his way into the Senate presidency as opposed to perceived party arrangements. Or, punished by some political hawks who see him as a potential threat to their political ambitions and so starting out with him in an intriguing kick-start of arm-twisting politics ahead of 2019 political permutations.

    In the wake of the trial, for instance, fingers were pointed in the direction of former governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who, many believed played an instrumental role in the electoral victory of the APC and therefore, sought to determine who becomes what regarding the party’s appointments.

    No matter what, it cannot denied that Asiwaju is a political colossus, generalissimo of the progressive forces and a man of great vision, who has continued, and still, pushes for the united Nigeria project. The eight years of his administration in Lagos marked a new beginning for the centre of excellence. This explains, perhaps, why, he could hold his own and continued developing Lagos State through the creation of Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) to meet the needs of its large population in the state at a time the-powers-that-be insisted he must not. He suffered for it, but today, it all counted for blessing as Lagos did well through that initiative. No doubt, Tinubu knows what Nigeria needs and he is never afraid to go for it.

    With Saraki’s discharge and acquittal, there could not have been a better opportunity for these men of astute political knowledge to come together in the larger interest of the APC and for Nigeria. Both men see beyond and across the present and possess huge understanding and knowledge of humanity. It is still fresh what happened when Saraki teamed up with Tinubu and other forces for the emergence of the then General. Muhammed Buhari, as the presidential candidate of the APC, for which some still hold against the Senate President. It cannot be cheaply waved aside fact that Saraki sacrificed his personal comfort for the success of the APC; rarely at home with his people during and after the campaigns despite the obvious threat of opposition at home. Today, it is clear to everyone that the desperation to “flush out” Saraki from Kwara State led to a mindless frittering of huge sums of money in what we know, today, as the Dasukigate by the PDP in the state.

    Saraki and Tinubu have worked together and can still work as a team, which would only point to one thing: a chance of a fresh start, especially as the party looks ahead to the 2019 general elections. This, perhaps, underscores the significance of the Saraki acquittal more than anything else and the need for Saraki and Tinubu to bury whatever real or perceived political differences they have in order to salvage the APC.

    There is no doubt that Tinubu and Saraki political ships have the potential of a laser speed sail and high deliverables not just for the party, but also for Nigerians and country at large. With Tinubu’s political clout and achievements as a former governor of Lagos State and Saraki, who, himself, delivered every single vote in Kwara State and massive votes in the north central and performed the miraculous as governor, including delivering the state from the opposition to the ruling party, APC would galvanize itself to retain power at the centre, as well as competing for space in some of the few states controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    This has become even more auspicious in the face of the growing unrest, disaffection and division amongst ethnic poles across the land, worsened by the growing hopelessness, poverty and unemployment in the land. Let Saraki and Tinubu showcase passion for the unity of party and country by working together in the interest of peace and general development, but more than anything else, so as to reassure Nigerians that there is still hope in the ability of the APC leadership to deliver on its promises to Nigerians.

    My submission, therefore, is that only a coalitional consciousness where everybody and every interest are brought together can revive the unity in the APC and sustain its electoral victory for the benefit of all and sundry. God bless Nigeria.

     

    • Oba is Chief Press Secretary to Kwara State governor.

  • Taraba’s defining two years

    Recently, the second anniversary of the election of the country’s present set of leaders at the federal and state levels was celebrated throughout the federation. The event, in most places where they were marked, didn’t come with as much funfair as expected. The reason is obvious. The economic mood of the nation is not in favour of excessive celebration. But that did not diminish the significance of the event for the country’s present democratic voyage. The event was a significant political statement to the effect that the nation and its component centres of political authority, the states in particular, are making steady progress despite obvious difficulties that confront them daily on the way.

    In Taraba State, a new leadership culture of commitment and honesty in the service to the people has turned many things around for the better. The first two years of the Darius Dickson Ishaku administration has appropriately and successfully placed the people of the state at the centre of its development agenda. During the period, the administration left no one in doubt that the welfare of the people of Taraba and the promotion of everything that is connected to it is the only reason the government is in power. Those who live in the state or are very conversant with developments in the state should be honest enough to admit that the Ishaku administration has, in its first two years, succeeded in pulling the state out of the abyss of rot and stagnation.

    The past two years have been the most defining moment in the provision of water. The administration embarked on an aggressive war, fully armed against every obstacle that had made the provision of water in Jalingo, the state capital, and in the local government areas impossible in the past. Today, it is clear that the administration is winning that war. One hundred boreholes in 100 communities have eased water scarcity in the local governments. The reactivation of old and abandoned water facilities in Jalingo has, to a large extent, solved the problem of water in the city. The Jalingo primary water project which is currently being executed by the administration is the ultimate solution to the problem and the government is daily and progressively heading for that ultimate destination. The unique addition to these efforts is the innovation of the water dispensing ATM – the first of its kind in Nigeria. Two of the machines have been installed in Jalingo. They come with the spectacular advantage of conserving water and making it all-time cheap at 15 kobo a litre.

    A lot more of the other good things of life have been provided for the comfort and welfare of the people. Peace which was for several years a mirage in the state has been reasonably achieved. Except in a few places where occasional herdsmen invasion and attacks on innocent people occurred recently, the state is at peace. Our people can now sleep in the comfort of their homes unlike in those days of mayhem when they abandoned their homes, their farms and their entire communities to take refuge in the bush and other safer places. Our highways, township and rural roads are today smoother and safer, courtesy of the safety measures and the repair and reconstruction efforts of the administration.

    Our markets are today overflowing with the harvests from farms in the state. Our farmers returned to the farms soon after they heard the victory song signalling the end of crises and have remained there. They are today smiling to the banks after every market day. Food items have generally become more pocket-friendly and most homes are feeling the positive impact of the repositioning of agriculture in the state by the government.

    The Ishaku administration has taken thousands of our youths and women off the long un-employment queues. The skill acquisition programme has provided self-employment windows from which thousands of people are today profiting. The scheme, one of the best packaged ever in the state, did not only teach skills but provided free start-up items the beneficiaries needed to start their own business. Soon the father of all employment opportunities will take off. And that is the Dangote Sugar Company which previous administrations in the state had almost killed. Recently, Governor Ishaku demonstrated rare political will that has now revived the project. He removed all the obstacles on the way of the project and the company is about to start in Lau, yes our own Lau. It promises to employ not less than 1000 of our people.

    The list of what has been achieved these two years is inexhaustible. But it is amazing, if not shocking, that despite the huge progress the state has made in such a short time, some sections of the political elite in the state are not impressed. They are blinded by a consuming ambition for power. Whatever Ishaku has achieved amounts to no achievement so long as they are not the ones calling the tunes. This has, unfortunately been the bane of politics in Taraba State and it is worrisome. Some politicians in the state are so desperate that they are even prepared to forego their birth-right or sell political and ethnic fraternities just to realise their ambition.

    I believe that it is not too late in the day to appeal to the conscience of politicians in this category to do a rethink. If good leadership is about promoting the overall welfare of the people, then Ishaku has, no doubt, given a good account of himself. Those who are honest enough to admit the truth are already saying that the administration has touched lives in the most humane, affectionate and patriotic ways. Ishaku has done so as if every Taraban is a member of his own immediate family. No leader, in the history of this state, has shown as much candour and courage in the service of a people as Ishaku has done in the past two years.

    The administration has just passed the first and the more difficult phase of its first four year mandate. It was two years of great distractions foisted on it by series of litigations over Ishaku’s electoral victory of 2015. And as Rev Jolly Nyame observed recently in Jalingo, it is surprising that the administration was able to achieve so much in many sectors during those two years. “As a man who was in the position of governor before, I know what it feels when you have a court case pending against you, especially when it has to do with your mandate.” He said the administration has done well in two years and urged the people of the state to rally round the governor to do more in the years ahead.

     

    • Ango writes from Jalingo, Taraba State.

  • The other side of Executive Orders

    The recent Executive Orders signed by the acting President on the Budget, Local Content and Ease of Doing Business are without doubt refreshing in the attempt to grow the country out of recession, stimulate economic activities and generally improve the business environment through promotion of transparency and efficiency.

    Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) have since gone into frenzied activities in the bid to put effect to the Executive Orders and exhibit compliance with a view to achieving the objectives of the orders.

    One of the fall outs of the orders is on port operations and this brings to mind the challenge of ensuring ease of doing business at the entry points vis-à-vis the subsisting issue of influx of substandard and harmful products of very low quality into Nigeria.

    Governments at all levels, the organized private sector, patriots and consumer advocates have always wondered if the efforts of the regulatory agencies charged with quality checks at the entry points are enough to tackle the menace of influx of substandard products and drugs (including hard drugs), dumping and the attendant dangers to the lives, properties and economic well-being of Nigerians.

    This brings under scrutiny, the highlights of the executive orders as relates to operations at the seaports in particular. No doubt that the greater percentage of imports into Nigeria comes through the seaports. Conversely, the greater percentage of substandard products into the country also comes in through these points of entry.

    We all can recall the attempt by the past Governments to achieve the same objective particularly the pronouncement in 2011 by Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the then Minister for Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy that agencies like NAFDAC, SON, Agricultural Quarantine Services etc. exit the seaports. Prior to the pronouncement, all of the regulatory and security agencies have offices located within the seaports complexes. The executive pronouncement then clearly directed that they all relocate their offices outside the ports and participate in cargo examinations on the invitation of the Nigerian Customs Service.

    The effect of that order on the flooding of the Nigerian markets with substandard and harmful products including drugs since 2011 left a lot to be desired. A syndicate of unpatriotic Nigerians with the connivance of foreign partners have since taken undue advantage of the policy to perpetrate illicit trade in low quality and substandard products including drugs. The country has since turned into a dumping ground for all types of low quality, substandard and cheap products posing grave danger to the lives of Nigerians and the economy of the nation. They have over the years stifled out genuine manufacturers and importers who have invested huge sums to promote commerce and industry in Nigeria. Their activities have also led to avoidable loss of lives and properties through building collapses, fire incidents etc. not to mention other economic losses from purchase of products that do not give value for money, loss of jobs occasioned by shutdowns and low capacity utilization, all of which contributed in no small measure to the economic recession which the nation has been experiencing.

    One discovered that some of the agencies established offices outside but close to the seaports and resorted to the use of ICT to monitor importation into Nigeria by integrating with the Nigerian Customs Integrated System (NICIS). Through these steps, agencies like NAFDAC and SON, I am aware have been struggling to cope with regulating the importation of substandard and life endangering products through the Nigerian seaports. This way, the agencies are able to view all imports and flag suspected substandard products for further scrutiny. If not allowed to participate in the examination of such suspected imports as was erroneously reported, whose interest is being protected?

    Are we encouraging them to hold the consignments once outside the ports? How would this impact on the objective of ease of doing business? Once suspected containers are examined by all concerned, arrangements can then be made to escort them out of the ports to designated places for further regulatory activity.

    How transparent can we be if agencies authorized by acts of parliament are prevented from carrying out their legitimate duties? SON operations for example is governed by an act of parliament dated 2015 which stipulates that “the agency shall have a right of access at reasonable times under Part VII, section 30 (b) to any premises, including all Nigerian seaports, airports and land borders where an industrial or commercial undertaking is being carried on, and may use reasonable force, if need be to gain entry”.

    NAFDAC, under Part II, Section 5 (d) of its enabling act Cap 1 of 2004 has as part of its functions “to undertake inspection of imported food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled water, and chemicals and establish relevant quality assurance systems including certification of the production sites and of the regulated products”. Where best can these agencies curtail the influx of substandard products including drugs if not at the largest point of entry?

    In view of the above, the recent pronouncement by the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority on the executive orders and its reportage by a section of the Nigerian Media “as purported expulsion of agencies of government from the seaports from carrying out their legitimate duties under the law” leaves much to be desired.

    While the Nigerian Ports Authority reserves the right of ownership of the seaports premises and who to allow permanent accommodation within the premises, I do not think that the agency has the powers to determine and make pronouncements on the functions of sister government agencies except clearly authorized  to do so. Methinks this was not the case with the signing of the executive orders. We cannot cut our nose to spite our face as a country. The objective of government in issuing the executive orders cannot be to promote the influx of unwholesome products into Nigeria. The results of collaboration between the Nigerian Customs Service, SON and the security agencies that led to the discovery and seizure of over N5billion worth of used tyres need to be commended by all. Imagine the effect of such collaboration at the seaports where the bulk of imports into the country enter from? Also imagine the negative impact those damaged tyres would have had on our roads if allowed into the markets. The subsequent prosecution of the suspects and the involvement of the Attorney General’s office are gains that should be sustained.

    These are achievements that the nation needs to sustain and improve upon. Any measure under the implementation of the executive order that would work against such achievements would not be in the nation’s interest. The Managing Director of the NPA therefore needs to clarify her pronouncement lest unpatriotic elements take undue advantage of it to the detriment of all of us.

    All agencies of government authorised by law should be involved in cargo examination under the ease of doing business directive, albeit using a harmonised procedure.

     

    • Bademosi, a public analyst, wrote from Lagos.