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  • Leadership development for public servants

    In a piece of advice directed at the management of organisations, Fionnuala Courtney stated that, “the success of leadership training always depends on how it is done. Think back to the best manager you have ever had. I’m sure you can remember the person because good leaders are memorable… and excellent leaders are unforgettable. What was it about their leadership that motivated and encouraged you? For that same reason, I bet you can also remember your worst leader. Great leaders move us and inspire us to do our best work. That said, itis important that you have effective leaders in your workplace to empower and influence your people to achieve business and team goals.”

    Courtney further stated the good news that “leaders can be created through effective leadership training” while articulating six of the big benefits that leadership training can offer any organisation. According to her submissions, any organisation, including the Lagos State Public Service, can benefit from leadership trainings as follows. First, the right, consistent leadership can increase the productivity of the people in an organisation. At its primal level, leadership is about understanding people emotionally. She stated that, in a book titled, The New Leaders, Daniel Goleman states that emotional intelligence is critical to the success of a leader. Emotional intelligence involves being smart about emotions and using empathy effectively to empower and engage employees. Leadership training that encompasses emotional intelligence can hone these emotional skills in people managers and leaders.

    Secondly, leadership training can help retain people.( Ms. Courtney stated that 75% of people voluntarily leaving jobs don’t quit their jobs but in fact ‘quit their bosses’! This means that employees leave because of ineffective managers and managers with poor leadership skills. By investing in leadership trainings, an organisation can retain its people and reduce costly recruitment expenses.

    Third, leadership trainings help nurture future leaders.( Organisations need to be strategic about developing and nurturing future leaders. Without strategy, leadership roles are often given to the most forward candidates with dominant personalities. Quality leadership is a combination of the right qualities and the right training. Identify those who have what it takes and provide them with targeted leadership training. Nurturing future leaders supports succession planning and offers career pathways to employees, further increasing retention.

    Fourth, it increases employee engagement.( We all like to know how we are progressing in our roles, receiving praise when it is well-earned and constructive feedback as necessary. In fact, 43% of highly engaged employees receive feedback at least once a week compared to only 18% of those with low engagement. Giving feedback is a skill of successful leaders. Through leadership trainings, organisations can teach effective ways to give feedback to motivate and increase the skill level of their people.

    Leadership trainings can assist in implementing the most appropriate leadership style for organisations and the work they do. There are several leadership styles, all with their own advantages and disadvantages. Leadership trainings can also help individual leaders develop their own personal leadership style that their team members will best respond to. Leadership

    Last, but absolutely not the least, leadership trainings can result in better decision-making. How? Because leaders functioning at a high level of emotional intelligence have the perspective to make informed, intelligent business decisions. For that reason alone, organisations can consider their leadership training investments returned.

    Indeed, the need for ensuring and assuring the efficiency and effectiveness of public institutions has never been greater than now. In a dynamic age of constant changes, it is widely agreed that institutions must have clearly-defined missions that are relevant to the needs and aspirations of its stakeholders. Following this, the human capital at the helm of leadership in these institutions must have the courage to envision a future that realizes the attainment of the defined mission of the institutions. In order to actualize the vision, however, leaders must be trained to possess both the hard and soft skills that are fundamental for success.

    It is indisputable that organisations will make rapid progress and experience exponential growth when its units and teams and departments are headed by persons who understand what leadership means and who have developed their leadership potentials and have enhanced their performance skills. To such an organisation, no problem will be too complicated, no task too herculean, no challenge too huge, and no task too complicated for it to confront head-on.

    I therefore challenge you all to join in envisioning our dear Lagos State Civil Service as an organisation where no problem will be too complicated, no task too herculean, no challenge too huge, and no task too complicated for it to confront head-on. You should therefore regard this training as yet another effort at kick-starting the monumental task of helping every officer of the public service become impactful, influential and productive to such degrees that the output of the Lagos State Civil Service will inspire our dear citizens.

    One of the leadership competencies that have proved especially indispensable is that of problem-solving skills. One of the modern writers on skills development in the workplace, Alison Doyle noted that, “In nearly every sector, problem solving is one of the key skills that employers seek…Itis hard to find a blue collar, administrative, managerial, or professional position that doesn’t require problem solving skills of some kind.” Indeed, as part of engagement and promotional interviews, it is now common place for officers to be required to describe situations they encountered in previous roles, the processes they followed to address the problems, the skills they applied, and the results of their actions. Now, behavioural scientists have been able to study and codify the ‘best-practice’ stages to solving problems. While this workshop is not directly focused on the development of this skill, I am sure that the general leadership essentials to be taught in this workshop will provide insights into how the competencies can be applied to solve problems.

     

    • Excerpts of paper presented by Akintola FCArb, Honourable Commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pensions at the Opening Session of the 2-Day Workshop tagged: ‘Leadership Development & Performance Enhancement for Public Servants in Lagos State’.
  • Ize-Iyamu and PDP’s morbid quest

    Ize-Iyamu and PDP’s morbid quest

    Earthquakes are never delightful to their victims, and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) may soon be the latest witness to this tragic truth. I do not refer here to that natural phenomenon caused by tectonic plates’ interactions with one another. I refer to major events that have the potential to spell doom and cause certain unhappiness to those involved in them.
    For getting its hopes too high and wheedling itself into believing it actually won the Edo election of September 26, 2016, PDP will soon enough have to survive or expire in an earthquake. The disaster will affect its foundations, not exempting its somewhat doubtful candidate in the election, Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu or if you like, Pastor Andrew Ize-Iyamu.
    After losing without much chivalry, the party filed a petition challenging the declaration of Governor Godwin Obaseki at the Election Petition Tribunal. Onyebuchi Ikpeazu, Wole Olanipekun and Lateef Fagbemi, all Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) and Counsels to the INEC, Obaseki, and All Progressives Congress – the first, second and third respondents respectively, detonated the nuclear weapons that vivified this earthquake.
    While arguments had been flying back and forth with legal severity, Fagbemi lit the fuse when he told the three-man tribunal led by Justice Ahmed Badamasi that assuming the prayers of the petitioners were considered, the odds still favoured Godwin Obaseki, the APC candidate. He whipped, and soundly so, the petitioners’ arguments that they had conducted a mysterious ballot recount and had drawn implausible tables illustrating their findings, to wit, that they won the election and should accordingly be declared winners.
    A baffled Fagbemi wondered in what sense this recount occurred for it was not in the full glare and ken of the general public that it happened.
    He said: “They did not tell us which one belongs to which, but they have now come out to tell us that they have given us the figures. Assuming your Lordships are even prepared to take their figures, we still have won by as much as 58,696 votes, and you can find that in paragraph 7.1 (2) of our reply”.
    He continued that even if the tribunal humoured their orphic figures, the 58,696 practical and proven votes by which the APC led the election results would still have heartily put PDP’s arguments to the sword.
    To prove PDP’s petition as a stillborn idea further, he cited the case of Oyewole and Akande submitting that unless a document was tendered as exhibit, the tribunal could not make use of it.
    Another case he cited was that of Wasa and Kara where the Supreme Court took the position that the document must be an exhibit tendered in the case, rounding off that the petitioners had not even disputed the spread, which was an important factor in the proceedings.
    Meanwhile, the petitioners, perhaps overwhelmed by the analysis, sensing the failure of their petition and its attendant arguments, resorted to fallacious tactics and eschewing their petition in favour of an argument that the 1st respondent did not call evidence.
    Ikpeazu, a learned fellow ready to battle on all fronts, explicitly argued that the electoral body was not obliged to call evidence. He accompanied the argument with a citation of the case of Alhaji Adamu Maina Waziri versus Alhaji Ibrahim Gaidam and four others. The deployed citation was fresh from the oven, being a judgement delivered on February 16, 2016.
    Meanwhile, after Fagbemi had further decimated the petitioners’ tactics, Olanipekun referred the tribunal to paragraph 4.6, page 9 of the respondents’ reply where they cited the case of Ucha and Elechi, and explained that they could not draw charts of their own volition and impose them on the court.
    The petitioners, not happy at the barrage of counter-arguments, weakly protested that the allegations were directed against INEC, so only INEC could reply.
    Olanipekun displayed no tolerance for this argument and asked why the petitioners joined all three respondents. He cited the case of Omisore and Aregbesola where the court called it trite law, noting that non-calling of evidence by INEC did not affect the case adversely in any way.
    By cross-examining the witnesses of the petitioner, he argued, the 1st respondent had given evidence and the witnesses of the respondents and appellants were evidence for the court.
    The petitioners, in their petition, said the PDP candidate was Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu. The PDP candidate that appeared before the court and who co-wrote the petition was a man named Pastor Andrew Ize-Iyamu. Naturally, the respondents did not recognise him and voiced this.
    In defence, the petitioners’ counsel asked Chief Dan Orbih, chairman of a faction of Edo State PDP, to stand up to identify the 1st petitioner – the man named Andrew.
    Olanipekun cited a Supreme Court ruling that ‘Wild Gold Jewellery Limited’ is different from ‘Wild Gold Jewellery’ and that ‘Incorporated Gospel Holy Apostolic Church’ is different from Incorporated Holy Gospel Church’.
    These severe arguments against the petition of PDP and one of the two Ize-Iyamu(s) not only killed the spirit of the PDP supporters, it meted incalculable damage on the psyche of the man, Andrew.
    His countenance was that of a weary, browbeaten man and not even the comical “10 commandments” of Mallam Yusuf Alli (SAN) could instil life and hope to PDP after the adoption of their addresses.
    Analysts predict: a Godwin Obaseki victory would further crash the already haemorrhaging party and put its remains to rest.
    In any case, and according to Olanipekun, “All is well that ends well. We leave the rest for your Lordships to compute. We want to appreciate the maturity of the tribunal.”

    •Mayaki is interim Chief Press Secretary to Edo governor.

  • NASS and its legislative comedians!

    NASS and its legislative comedians!

    Yes, it is indisputable that the legislature is a major pillar of democratic governance in all liberal democracies. Nigeria cannot be an exception. It is, at least in the technical sense, made up of the individuals that have been elected by the majority of the electorate to represent, speak for, defend and advance the interests of the mass of the people of a country. At least that is what we think our own bicameral National Assembly in this Fourth Republic is, although we may not be entirely correct to think so. That’s a poser for another occasion.
    To be honest, what has the National Assembly really done since the advent of this Fourth Republic to promote democracy, good governance, advance human rights, and the welfare and wellbeing of Nigerians? When they are not busy allocating fat salaries and humongous unearned allowances and other juicy perks to themselves, or engaging in other mindless sybaritic excesses, they are preoccupied brazenly and shamelessly padding the annual budget to enable them cream off fat chunks of the national appropriations through the backdoor of contract inflation and plunder. Rather than face the arduous task of legislating for order, peace and good governance as the constitution prescribes, they engage in needless legislative oversight visits for the sheer purpose of shaking down government officials and collecting Egunje from MDAs, and threatening those that won’t play ball with zero-allocation in the next budget! And when that is not their preoccupation, they proceed to organize pointless, unproductive and wasteful public hearings over non-issues.
    But that is not all! What about the daily and endless summoning of ministers, heads of MDAs and sundry others, with such magisterial hubris, for the sole purpose of embarrassing them, rather than for getting to the bottom of issues? Thank goodness for the no-nonsense Ms. Aruma Oteh, former Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), who refused to be intimidated or subjected to unwarranted assaults upon her well-earned reputation or held to public opprobrium by shameless legislators whose sole objective was not how to make her SEC perform better, but merely public grandstanding and flexing puny legislative muscles. Mercifully, she so eloquently and competently gave it back to them in good measure, taking no prisoners neither conceding any inch, and Honourable Herman Hembe, the chairman of that inquisitorial committee, must certainly rue the day he chose to exercise such reckless effrontery. To borrow from US General Omar Bradley’s famous take on the Korean War, Herman Hembe on that occasion had picked the wrong fight, with the wrong enemy, in the wrong place, and at the wrong time in the full glare of live television cameras!
    Could the Senate have now found more than its match in the Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Hameed Ali, a retired military officer with a huge ego who has bluntly refused the imperious directive from the Senators to wear the Customs Service uniform? To compound the matter, the Senators have also demanded that President Muhammadu Buhari sack both CGC Ali and the Acting EFCC Chair, Ibrahim Magu, before they will screen and confirm the nominees for INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners. Hubris meets hubris! Would this be the end of legislative over-reach if the President refuses to sack both Ali and Magu? We wait and see.
    I am not here to defend officials and operatives of the executive branch of government, nor encourage their snubbing of legislative oversight. Far from it. I think both the law of the land and proper procedures should always be observed by all the branches of the government in inter-governmental relations in a liberal democracy such as ours. The 1999 Constitution is specific in its definition of the powers of each branch of government, and this must not be trifled with. My grouse however is only with the conduct of the National Assembly as a pivotal institution, and the comical behaviour of its members who have trivialized the legislative business and turned it into a mere circus show, treating the whole world to their absurdities and holding Nigeria up to global ridicule. It is bad enough that Nigeria is globally regarded as a “fantastically corrupt” country, an epithet which our legislators also did so much to earn for us, but that we are being held up to international public ridicule by the comical, shameful, scandalous and infantile behaviour of occupants of the supposedly hallowed chambers of the Nigerian Senate who are addressed, wrongly I might add, as distinguished senators. Pray, whatever happened to the notion of noblesse oblige in the Nigerian Senate? Or shouldn’t the mere appellation, “Distinguished Senators” to refer to members of the upper legislative chamber at least confer some responsibility of nobility or aristocracy and good behaviour on them, even if only remotely?
    Why then do they still behave as if they are merely a hideous assortment of political scoundrels, vagabonds, carpetbaggers, fortune-hunters, looters, common thieves and certifiable felons, political roughnecks, area boys, and sundry crooks and criminal elements? Are these what they really are? I sincerely want to hope not. But then, if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck…. Well, you know the rest of the story. The point here is that the perception they deliberately encourage is a bigger part of the reality itself.
    Without any intention to be uncharitable to these legislators, I am emphatic that the conduct of the current 8th Senate is not only absurd but verging on the comical and the despicable! Why is such trivia as the wearing or not wearing of a uniform a big issue for a supposedly ‘distinguished’ chamber that should ordinarily be more concerned and preoccupied with passing the national budget, making laws that would ensure good governance, enhance the security, safety, and wellbeing of Nigerians, and guarantee overall national development? Are these guys so idle and so under-employed that all they can do is engage is shadow-boxing with the executive branch and its operatives? And what is the business of the Senate, whose own presiding officers and leaders are mired in sundry corruption trials before several courts, to cheekily demand that the President must sack his own appointees as a precondition for senators to do the job they are elected and paid to do? If that is not legislative overreach, I don’t know what else it is!
    The way I see it, the National Assembly, the Senate in particular, is taking this legislative rascality too far. I am all for the protection of the principle of separation of powers and defence of legislative independence, but certainly not the undue belligerence currently on display. It is sad and absolutely regrettable that our legislators are yet to rise to the stature and responsibility of national leadership, but are instead engaged in plainly ludicrous and utterly detestable conduct that trivializes the fragile democratic dispensation that Nigerians had made near-superhuman sacrifices to enthrone. And if this democracy is to survive and thrive for the ultimate benefit of Nigerians, the National Assembly definitely has a pivotal role to play. But it cannot play this serious role until its members overcome their infantile clownishness. The behaviour of some of them is, to say the least, absolutely disgraceful. Let us pray that our legislators do not, in the exhibition of their intellectual and moral vacuities, allow their ignominious conduct to endanger and derail our fragile democracy, for the alternative to democracy, as most of us adults who had lived through military dictatorships can testify, is rather too gruesome and unpleasant to contemplate. I seriously think the National Assembly is in dire need of a retreat and re-training to equip its members in the fundamentals of liberal democracy, inter-governmental relations in a democracy, proper legislative practice and conduct, ethics and etiquettes, so that sanity can be restored to protect our hard-earned democracy.

    •Prof Fawole writes from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State.

  • An elixir for Nigeria’s aviation

    Some qualities of leadership which President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) has brought to governance in the last two years are resoluteness, determination and sense of urgency. Acutely aware that Nigeria, as a leading African country, has not done well in many areas, PMB has introduced a sense of urgency laced with meticulous service delivery, which if maintained by future administrations would radically alter the development accomplishments of the nation.
    In the next couple of days, the government of PMB would deliver a brand new airport runway to the nation’s aviation sector at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport in Abuja. This runway was constructed 30 years ago and had been in poor service condition for more than 20 years! In his no-nonsense way of doing things, PMB, convinced that the runway needed upgrade and modernisation, gave the order that it be done no matter the cost, put at N5.8 billion. That is the hallmark of good leadership, the stuff that PMB is made of and the quality that stood him out making Nigerians to go for him in 2015.
    It should be noted that aside from President Buhari, the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi, and his Minister of State, Hadi Sirika, deserve commendation for their single-minded conviction and resolve to get the nation’s strategic international airport in Abuj, a befitting and brand-new runway, up from the initial desire to carry out maintenance work. Hadi Sirika, particularly, deserves accolade for his commitment to the project and his willingness to stake his office on the completion of the project on time against the disabling criticism of the doubting Thomases!
    Hadi Sirika, as the man directly in charge of Aviation in the Ministry of Transport, was forced to pledge to resign from office after the Senate Committee on Aviation expressed doubt about the contractors and the Ministry meeting the delivery date. This is the magic that the administration of President Buhari has done to public service in Nigeria; a serving Minister publicly vowing to quit a much-coveted office if a public infrastructure project was not delivered on schedule, not minding the likelihood of sabotage! Anyhow, on April 19, 2017, when this all-important runway is delivered and opened for the resumption of flights, Hadi Sirika would have consolidated his reputation as one of the shining stars of the Buhari administration.
    The brand-new runway to be unveiled on April 19, 2017, would indeed be a shot in the arm for the nation’s aviation industry which has been ailing for a long time. The runway is an investment for the future and never again would the nation be subjected to the humiliation and embarrassment that attended the issue of its reconstruction.
    First, the realisation that the runway ought to have undergone maintenance work for the past 15 years or more was cheeky enough and showed the careless manner public policy is handled in Nigeria.
    Second, during the debate on whether or not to commence the work of reconstruction and rehabilitation in view of the disruption it would have on aviation traffic, in and out of the Federal Capital Territory, for political reasons and to avoid giving credit in the event that the work was successfully carried out, there were many Nigerians who wanted the work not to take off. These people were not prepared to give the Transport Ministry any chance as they bandied the issue of passenger discomfort from Kaduna, the lack of willingness of foreign airlines, the issue of security along Kaduna-Abuja expressway as well as the long distance between Kaduna and Abuja as their reason.
    It should be noted that it was political considerations and unbridled partisan interest that prevented a second runway from being constructed as originally planned by the administration of late President Yar’Adua. During Yar’Adua’s time, the non-cooperation of the then Aviation Committee of the House of Representatives caused the money already earmarked for a much-needed second runway to be diverted to other aviation infrastructure. The result is that the Abuja airport was left with only a single runway for many years which the administration of PMB is now compelled to reconstruct to restore confidence and safety to the airport.
    Three, when we said above that the project is a future gift to Nigeria’s aviation by PMB and his aviation sector chiefs, we have in mind the multiplier effect and the exposures which debate and work on this project has laid bare. One is the need for all airports in the country to be in top shape, provided with the latest aviation gadgets so that in the event of an emergency, the country would not be found wanting. Uncertainty about the capacity and readiness of the Kaduna International Airport to be used as an alternative airport nearly stalled the runway project. Second, is for the airports around Abuja, including Minna in Niger State, to be in top shape and the connecting roads from Minna to Abuja to be serviceable at all times. Heartily, the Niger State government has realised the importance of this and the benefits that can accrue to the State, and pledged to put the Abuja-Minna road in good shape. Third, future plans for aviation expansion should consider the possibility of another airport closer to Abuja along the Abuja-Lokoja road. Such a project, if considered now, and given a 20-year delivery date, would bring the needed flexibility and international confidence into the aviation sector in view of the importance of the sector in the movement of goods and people, investment inflow and tourism with its revenue and employment generating potential.
    Five, the construction firm Julius Berger deserves commendation for being in tune with the Federal Government to make the job a priority. There is no doubt that Minister Hadi Sirika would not have exuded confidence on the certainty of the work completion without assurance of the construction giant.
    Six, the security personnel have not disappointed. Most people would not believe that the notorious Abuja-Kaduna expressway would be incident-free to the delight of air passengers and other Nigerians who ply the route daily. This means that our security personnel can do a good job when they are motivated and appreciated.
    Thus as international airlines return to the Nnamdi Azikiwe International airport on the 19th of April, 2017, a new chapter would have opened for the nation’s aviation sector. The new runway and other improved landing facilities provided by the government should create a new regime of confidence in the sector that should rub off positively on the nation’s development.

    •Okoroma wrote in from Abuja

  • Obiano, Soludo and Anambra State

    Chukwuma Charles Soludo was the guest lecturer in Awka during the 3rd Anniversary of the inception of the Willie Obiano Administration. The renowned economist’s magisterial presentation was laced with numerous economic, political and social nuggets, all of which boiled down to his unequivocal endorsement of Governor Willie Obiano for a second term of office. His views make sustained interrogation imperative. But, some background information is apposite.
    Professor Soludo is far from the first Anambra personage to endorse Governor Obiano’s bid for a second tenure as Governor of Anambra State. The impressive list contains such names as Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, the first civilian governor of the new Anambra State; Dame Virgy Etiaba, a former Governor of Anambra State, and Chief Emeka Sibeudu, who was Deputy Governor to Mr. Peter Obi. Others include Senators Ben Ndi Obi, Annie Okonkwo and Emma Anosike, none of whom is of Governor Obiano’s ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), as well as Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, the former Nigerian Education Minister. Elder statesmen like Chief Alex Ekwueme, a former Vice-President of Nigeria, and Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the former Commonwealth Secretary-General, have equally thrown their lot with Governor Obiano. Non-politicians like Dr. Cosmas Maduka, the versatile industrialist, and Chief Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson Car manufacturers have equally given Governor Obiano the thumbs up.
    Indeed, the support for an Obiano second term is gradually becoming a movement. It has gone beyond personalities and attracted the remarkable attention of groups that cut across socio-political, religious, and professional divides. In this category are to be found the Anambra North Peoples Assembly (ANPA); the Old Aguata Union (OAU); the Federation of Old Nnewi Division (FOND); the Anambra State Association of Town Unions (ASATU) and the Anambra State Markets Amalgamated Traders Association, (ASMATA).Yet, that is not all because the Anambra State branches of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC); the Anambra State Traditional Rulers Council; the Traditional Prime Ministers Council, the Anambra State branch of Southeast Women of Substance and the United Anambra Youths Assembly have equally endorsed Governor Obiano to continue with his exemplary leadership.
    All the endorsements are held by one powerful bond – the fact that Governor Willie Obiano has acquitted himself creditably in the onerous responsibility of directing the affairs of Anambra State. In unison they sing the joyous song of his achievements: Obiano has made Anambra the safest state in the country. He has transformed the Awka capital territory from a provincial enclave to a worthy state capital. He has revolutionised agriculture, making Anambra a rice-producing state of note and a leader in dairy farming. He has sustained the prompt and regular payment of salaries, gratuities and pensions. He has displayed an uncommon sense of empathy for the sensibilities and sensitivities of Ndi Anambra. For these and many other reasons, they have taken the attitude that a second term is the appropriate reward for Obiano’s services to his people.
    Professor Soludo was even more pertinent in his Anniversary Lecture. Said he: “For Governor Obiano…this third anniversary must be time to thank God for His mercies – for survival and progress! Let the truth be told: in the context of Nigeria’s situation over the last three years, and in comparison with other states, or even in comparison with past governors in their first three years, Governor Obiano has without question done very well.” A logical question should follow the above assertion. How do you treat someone who has “done very well”? Of course, you ask them to continue with their good work.
    This was how Soludo put it: “So, why mend it if it is not broken? This is a time of crisis and you don’t change the General in the middle of a war, especially the General that has led you through successes in battles. We have learnt useful lessons from the past and must now forge new elite cohesion and consensus. Let Anambra export a rare form of statesmanship politics. Can we then implore most of the contestants to rather deploy the billions of Naira they would soon waste on the campaign trail into building medium scale industries in the state? That way, even the politicians would be adding to the burgeoning start-up companies, and creating high value-adding jobs! There will be vacancy at Government House after the next four years, and anyone can contest. In the meantime, the Working Willie as our chief servant can continue to serve and lead Anambra as a truly emerging start-up state, while we, the people, collectively support and drive the investment boom!”
    In joining patriotic Ndi Anambra to endorse Governor Obiano for a second term, Professor Soludo did not discount the hurdles along the way. Foremost among them is the contingency of unscrupulous politicians using the “Federal might” to negate the people’s choice: “Obviously, we expect candidates from other political parties to contest the election. That is their prerogative under a democracy. Of course, there are many reasons why people run for office. But the argument that Ndigbo or Ndi Anambra need to belong to PDP or APC in order to be “connected to the national grid” is a false argument. I once thought the same way. But evidence since 1999 has shown that there is no special advantage to any state government simply because the governor belongs to the same party as the President (except perhaps 10-30 persons that might be appointed to some federal positions). That is an elite talk, an elite game for the elite interest! Or perhaps some might join a political party so that the federal authorities might deploy the armed forces and INEC to write election results for them. It has nothing to do with the people and their welfare, period!”
    Without question, the greatest challenge facing Ndi Anambra today is how to thwart political charlatans who, in a bid to grab power, will seek to sow death and destruction where Governor Obiano has instituted peace and stability. How do the people ensure that the INEC, the Armed Forces, the Police and other security agencies are not deployed, against their oaths of office, to manipulate the November governorship ballot? If Ndi Anambra are allowed the free choice of who governs them; if external forces who give no damn whether Anambra is swallowed by hell fire or high waters, do not impose bloodshed and injustice on a peaceful people because of hunger for naked power, the thrust of Professor Soludo’s anniversary lecture will gain traction and Anambra State will be all the better for it.
    Soludo’s lecture was entitled Anambra: An Emerging Start-up State And Our Collective Challenge. Its central message is that Anambra’s affairs are currently in the hands of a dedicated and visionary Governor. The way Governor Obiano articulates his vision is this: APGA has been in power in Anambra State for 11 years. The party requires a new electoral mandate to consolidate on its legacy, and to replicate the economic miracles of the Asian Tigers and “Israel, Anglo-Americans, Indians and Chinese” of Soludo’s citation, who built virile economies over decades.

    •Iloegbunam is Governor Obiano’s Director of Media Relations

  • Make in Nigeria

    It is good news that the thematic content of the 9th Bola Tinubu colloquium in celebration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s 65th birthday, the penultimate week, and the recently launched Economic Recovery Growth Plan (ERGP) of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari, have a similar message. The core message from the president’s address was: ‘grow what we eat and consume what we produce’; while the theme of the Tinubu colloquium was: ‘make it in Nigeria, use what we make and make what we use.’
    While the President and his officials were professing the determination of the ERGP to return the economy to life and growth by looking inwards; the Tinubu colloquium was showcasing local entrepreneurs who regaled their audience with successes and challenges in producing locally. From the gravamen of the colloquium and the ERGP, we can surmise that the dominant faction of the ruling party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), may be viewing the national economic revival plan with similar periscope.
    What is however not in sync with the enthusiastic optimism expressed at the ERGP and the colloquium is the necessary cohesion within the relevant power apparatchik to walk the talk. So, while the national assembly leadership, represented by the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, were smiling into the camera with their own copies of the ERGP, the meeting the previous day between the Senate’s APC caucus and the party leadership belies turmoil within the government.
    Indeed, the stalemate between the Senate and the Presidency, currently mutating as abuse qua abuse between the officials of the two institutions, and the apparent cover-up of the last year’s budget ‘padding’ fiasco in the House of Representatives, may yet prove a malignant tumour that could make nonsense of the ‘Make in Nigeria’ project jointly promoted by ERGP and the Tinubu colloquium. With an uncooperative National Assembly, or at best one determined to wrestle political favours, in order to cooperate, who will provide the legal bricks that will berth the ‘Made in Nigeria’ project?
    Even for an optimist, the challenges are huge. With the best efforts of the previous governments in the power sector, the Nigerian electricity project is still very inadequate. So, is it the less than 4,000 megawatts of electricity that the country currently produces that the present government will use to power ‘Made in Nigeria’ project? Perhaps, a ‘Made in Nigeria’ project should be preceded by a robust reappraisal of the power sector reform, which will include reworking the laws and the ownership of the power plants and distribution companies.
    Again, with the National Assembly adamantly sitting on the borrowing plans of the Buhari presidency, with a rebuke that the proposals submitted are chaotic and obtuse, how on earth will the needed infrastructure be put in place to ignite ‘Made in Nigeria’ project? Indeed, with nearly two years of the Buhari presidency spent, the best the government has been able to deliver in the railway transport sector has been to commission the Abuja–Kaduna rail project, which it inherited from the past regime. This is despite the huge enthusiasm shown by the present government to build modern railway lines to power ‘Make in Nigeria’ projects.
    Of course, the ERGP should have plans and proposals to accomplish so much before 2020, just like previous national development plans, but it must ensure that it will not end up like its predecessors that had little or nothing to show for the billions of naira wasted. An appraisal of the sectoral reforms and the billions spent by the previous regimes, with little to show, should help the government appreciate the fundamental challenges countervailing the previous plans.
    Perhaps the challenge is corruption, and fighting corruption is one of the three cardinal plans of the Buhari presidency. Of course, the regime is strenuously fighting some corruption cases in court, but is the prosecution beating those cases silly? I doubt. And if the government spends so much energy and resources fighting corruption cases, has it shown enough energy to engage other fundamental national challenges? Again, I doubt. Perhaps the underlining challenge that makes corruption thrive in our country with impunity, is structural defects, which the Buhari presidency has not addressed.
    So, if corruption is feeding fat on the structural challenges, and it has not been addressed, is there the likelihood that the ERGP will make a dent on the national development plan? Not likely. Take for instance, President Buhari’s genuine worries about our criminal justice system that has proved so inefficient, to bring those who may have infringed our laws to their just deserts. With those who may have embezzled the huge funds budgeted for previous development plans in the past successfully starring down the legal system in many of our courts, what will discourage the present dramatis personae from making mincemeat of the funds meant for the ERGP?
    Again, with the National Assembly unconstitutionally feeding fat from the national resources through unlawful salaries and emoluments, can such a duplicitous body summon the necessary consensus to undertake the needed fundamental changes necessary to gift Nigeria a workable criminal justice system needed to power the ‘Make in Nigeria’ project? I doubt. The manifest frustration from a failed criminal justice system and the inability of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption (PACAC), or indeed other administrative bodies, to make a significant difference, is clear.
    Recently, Prof. Itse Sagay, the chair of PACAC, out of such frustration, sought to bring the Senate to further disrepute by calling them names. The Senate, in turn, used expletives and tantalising tales to give back to the Prof. the measure he gave to them. As the learned Prof. will soon find out, government business is different from academic business. Without realising it, the Prof. has been effectively distracted, and instead of helping the regime find solution to the challenges hampering an efficient criminal justice system, the APC is now seeking ways to solve the emerging Sagay debacle.
    Such is the conundrum that doing business in Nigeria is. While ‘Make in Nigeria’ project is inevitably the way to go, the harsh business environment, sooner than later, turns the solution giver into the problem. Apart from the infrastructure challenges, there are also the fiscal debilitations. Whether it is the cut-throat interest rate, or the macro economic challenges, like the recent crash in the naira, most manufacturers in Nigeria are usually hypertensive patients. Until recently, they could borrow even when the business won’t be able to pay, but with the EFCC and AMCON now breathing down their necks, manufacturers are endangered species.
    While wishing BAT a happy birthday, it is edifying that the annual celebration has become an opportunity to proffer solutions to our common challenges. Perhaps with his help, the recently launched ERGP will make ‘Make in Nigeria’ project a reality.

  • Media and development

    Development refers to an improvement in the economic situation of the people where the basic necessities of life such as food, housing, education, good income and health care are met at affordable cost and where the society is safe, peaceful, secure, attractive and worth living.

    The media have big roles to play in helping our people come up in the Human Development Index as popularised by the UNDP and its Sustainable Human Development (SHI). The media can pursue reportages that promote people-centred development through people’s empowerment; encourage popular participation that put the people first, a bottom- up development model from the grassroots that also promotes shared environmental responsibilities.

    In most parts of Africa and indeed Nigeria, mass media activities have remained urban enterprises to the neglect of people living in the rural areas where 70% of the population lives. When the story of the agricultural breakthrough deal brokered by the Anambra State government broke in 2016, rather than explore further by climbing boats and using other means to get to the locations where the Ugu and Onugbu farms are located, many of our colleagues chose rather to report ‘convenient falsehood’ which were regurgitated and fallacious stories bordering on scandalous falsehood copied from bogus and fake internet websites and off the face book pages of sworn enemies of the Anambra State government.

    The attitude of many point to a growing culture of cynicism bordering on hate, if not dislike, of the activities of the present administration in the state. Such narrow- mindedness tends to preclude purveyors of such vile and hate-filled narratives from seeing anything good in what the government is doing. Since when did journalism become anti-progress and anti-development to the point that a journalist who probably is sitting in this auditorium did not find any single thing good to write about the Willie Obiano administration after going round the state for 2 days.

    John and Olusola (2015) opine that Development-oriented messages are largely elusive in the rural areas of Africa. According to him, Media, as custodians of development, have done little or nothing in the dissemination of development messages in the rural areas. The fate of the rural African people in the face of urban- centric media practice and elusive development-oriented messages still hang in the balance with regard to information, mobilisation and education.

    What could be the reason for this? Don’t we find reporting rural communities of Anambra State attractive? Is it dangerous to report from the rural communities? Are there no stories to be told from the rural communities of Anambra State? Is it difficult to access rural communities? Why is journalism practice in Anambra State majorly an urban phenomenon? I am aware that the Anambra State Ministry of Information and Communication Strategy has Information Officers at all the LGAs and communities in Anambra State but the question is, to what extent do their reportage make it to mainstream media? Also to what extent are the information officers effective in taking back developmental news and information from the city centres to the rural communities?

    One may conclude that modern means of mass communication have not lived up to expectation in terms of adequate coverage of newsworthy events in the rural areas where Wilson (1999) notes “seventy percent of the people live without access to modern media of communication.”

    It is my view that if media practitioners in the state are guided by the theory and principles of development communication, it would serve us better. Development media theory which is recommended for countries at lower levels of economic development and with limited resources takes various forms but essentially proposes that media freedom, while desirable, should be subordinated (of necessity) to the requirements of economic, social and political development.

    To empower rural dwellers, there has been a push in the advocacy for the establishment of community radio. Individuals, as a matter of right, should have access to media and the right to be served according to their own needs. Therefore, the siting of rural community radio stations and even viewing centres in most rural areas for education, enlightenment, and information becomes imperative. The same goes for the establishment and shared ownership of local community newspapers in native languages and the continued use of other traditional media forms.

    Media organisations operating in Anambra State should increase the Igbo language content of their offerings. This is to help promote the dying language, promote Igbo language, culture and identity and also carry the rural dwellers along by giving priority to news and information links with rural areas for balanced and unbiased news reportage and analyses.

    We expect that journalists operating in Anambra State take further interest in helping to sensitise Ndi Anambra on ecological and other issues facing us. As men of conscience, we need to review how we reported the aftermath of the rainfall in some parts of the state last week, the rains washed up debris on the roads from blocked drainages but some of us chose to blame the government for this. In encouraging the efforts of the state Ministry of Environment and the state waste management agency (ASWAMA), the media can help in campaigning and informing our people on good waste disposal manners.

    We appear to be much fixated on reportage of government activities to the neglect of other issues. Why is this so? Is it much more ‘lucrative’ to praise or criticise government? There are too many stories we are not yet telling which are begging to be told, for example, the plight of widows in our society and other such stories.

    Other areas that media practitioners can help in the socio-economic development of Anambra State are: (1) Promoting government’s developmental strides (2) Sensitisation of the people in health and related matters (3) Voter sensitisation, registration and voting to discourage apathy in the coming gubernatorial elections (4) Promoting Anambra State’s shared values, anthem etc. (5) Promoting the investment opportunities that abound in Anambra State, the works of Anambra State Investment Promotion and Protection Agency (ANSIPPA) and Anambra Small Business Agency (ASBA) (6) Promoting the language and culture of Ndi Anambra (7) Promoting peace and inter-community relationships (8) Highlighting the ills in the society with a view to suggesting accepted norms and sharing best practices etc.

    As media practitioners, when we partner with the government and Ndi Anambra in these areas, we are helping to promote socio-economic development in Anambra State.

     

    • Excerpt of a paper presented by Uche Nworah, MD/CEO, Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS), at the Anambra Media Summit organised by the Anambra State Chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists, March 28 – 29, 2017

  • From farmer to table

    Daily images of drought are a stark reminder of the importance of food for human health and prosperity. And while we know that agriculture is the economic backbone of most nations across Africa, food insecurity remains a significant problem. There is an incongruous disconnect between the economic value we place on agriculture compared to food – yet they are different parts of the same whole.

    Take the inefficiency in the food system that is rarely part of the national conversation but responsible for up to half of all crops never making it to market, let alone our plates: post-harvest loss. This is harvested produce lost between farm and table, never to be recovered. It happens when food rots in markets, when it is poorly stored and can no longer be consumed, and when there is insufficient uptake from buyers.

    Looking more closely, we see that almost 30% of the inputs of time, energy, and finances spent to grow, transport, and process foods are ultimately lost – tremendous market inefficiency. In fact, research estimates that post-harvest loss between farm and table totals about 30% of all grains and 50% of all fruits that are harvested. Just imagine how much more food could be on the market if we solved this problem. At a global scale, reduction of post-harvest loss could result in as many as 1.2 billion undernourished people becoming food secure.

    Africa’s population is projected to double in the next 30 years, lending urgency to the need for solutions. The economic imperative to reduce post-harvest loss is clear. Farmers could unlock the full value of their investments, food distributors and processors would gain invaluable produce inputs that could boost their businesses. Consumers too would save money, from not having to pay more due to price inflation that mitigates the cost of food loss that is experienced early on in the food chain.

    Several actors are beginning to recognise the opportunity presented by a focused reduction on post-harvest loss, and that the investments needed to reverse this reality are attainable. Multilateral action through the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 12.3) and the Malabo Declaration by the African Union to halve post-harvest losses by the year 2030 and 2025 respectively, has provided global and regional benchmarks to which others are already responding.

    Researchers are developing low-cost innovative solutions for faster food processing, solar drying, active and intelligent packaging, and cold storage units, all to enable small farmers to not only manage their reliance on the market, but also sell their produce at the best price.

    The Rockefeller Foundation is at the forefront of promoting integrated solutions to address post-harvest losses in Africa. Through the YieldWise Initiative, a 7-year $130 million investment targeted at reducing food loss, the Foundation is helping farmers to link up with finance and markets, access technologies, aggregate and receive training, with the overall goal of increasing the quantity and quality of food in Africa.

    In northern Nigeria, for instance, YieldWise has fostered partnerships between local tomato farmers and the Dangote Farms Tomato Processing Plant, enabling the plant to start production for the first time in three years. In Kenya, over 4,000 small-scale mango farmers were linked with new buyers, such as dried fruit processors and traders, resulting in approximately $1.2 million in sales in 2016.

    The security of these buyer agreements allows farmers to invest with confidence, knowing that the market will absorb their harvest. Along with technological innovations that track the food value chain, and the widespread use of mobile money platforms, buyers and farmers can harvest the full financial value of their investments in ways that were impossible in the past.

    Collaboration across these myriad actors and innovations is key for systemic change. After all, many post-harvest loss interventions are already in use for export market producers, but change has been slow to come to domestic food markets. Small holder farmers have not had the type of access to the financing and partners they often need to afford new technology. It is clear that focusing on only one part of the system is an insufficient approach and will remain ineffective in providing long-term and lasting solutions to closing the food value chain gap.

    Systemic change was the focus of the first All-Africa Post-Harvest Loss Congress recently held in Nairobi, with the aim of accelerating connection and collaboration points among a multitude of stakeholders in the value chain. Convened by the University of Nairobi and the World Food Preservation Center and supported by The Rockefeller Foundation, the Congress brought together over 600 innovators, researchers, policy makers and government officials to take on the challenge of post-harvest loss. This unprecedented continental effort in the area of reducing post-harvest loss provided an important foundation for how the agricultural sector can transform into a food security sector.

    The gains from closing the post-harvest loss gap are life-changing for thousands of people – those facing food uncertainty as well as the farmers whose livelihoods depend on selling their harvest. Rarely have moral and economic imperatives been so equally aligned – practically everyone has an incentive to act.

    Africa as a continent cannot afford to waste food. With the opportunity before us, and the recipe in our hands, the final ingredient is the will to put collaboration and partnership first, so that we may unlock outsize gains not only for farmers, but for all of us – consumers of food.

     

    • Mamadou Biteye, OBE, is the MD for the Rockefeller Foundation Africa Regional Office

  • LASTMA and the limits of civility

    The administration of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode deserves the commendation of Lagos residents, particularly the motorists for injecting order and decorum in the style of enforcement currently adopted by the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA). There is no gainsaying the fact that there is now strong emphasis on civil approach and voluntary compliance in the administration of Road Traffic Management. This is a departure and paradigm shift from the military-style enforcement of the past, which must have been a throwback to our past experience under military rule.

    Any keen observer must have noticed a conspicuous change in the present conduct of LASTMA operatives, particularly the concentration of efforts on traffic control and removal of broken down vehicles from the road without impoundment and imposition of fines, which was more often the practice in the past.

    The position of the present administration is that enforcement of the traffic rules and laws must be carried out with human face, without discountenance of the imperativeness of enforcement when some individuals choose to be recalcitrant.

    Law and order are features of a civilised society, as upheld in Hobbesian theory on state of nature when he posited that man’s life will be solitary, short, nasty and brutish without law and its enforcement. It is the compelling need to prevent man from trampling on the rights of others that makes it imperative for law enforcement agents to intervene and ensure compliance with the law. One of the areas that always demand for the attention of road traffic or law enforcement agents is indiscriminate parking on the right of way of other law-abiding motorists.

    The Lagos State Government, in a bold attempt to ensure free flow of traffic and safety on Lagos Roads, promote disciplined driving culture and reduce traffic congestion and gridlock, as well as to enthrone road users behavioural modification, enacted the Lagos Road Traffic Law 2012. LASTMA happens to be one of the agencies of government saddled with the responsibility of ensuring compliance to standard.

    We cannot but agree that the Agency has been doing a yeoman’s job in traffic management and swift intervention whenever there is any incident that could create congestion and gridlock before it escalates.

    The new marching order by Governor Ambode to LASTMA men and officers to observe civility while discharging their statutory duties is being internalised and appreciated by the operatives, to remodel the operational style to reposition the Agency as machinery of government to ameliorable problems and render humanitarian service.

    However, some recent happenings seem to suggest that the doctrine of civility espoused by the present administration is being abused by some Lagos motorists, most of whom cannot but flout the law.

    The persistent violent attacks on LASTMA officials across the length and breadth of the state are making a mockery of the Governor Ambode administration’s appeal for civility by LASTMA officials. The gruesome murder of the Zonal Head of LASTMA Zone 13, Apapa, on December 15, 2016, is one of such sad incidents. Also, on February 9, 2017, a commercial bus driver knocked down a LASTMA official, Mr. Nwangi Peter, dragged him on the road from MRS Filling Station/R.Jolad Hospital to Tantalizers junction at Gbagada. Thereafter, other bus drivers and conductors pounced on and ruthlessly dealt with him

    Similarly, a tricycle operator, Mr Godfrey Fekoma, violently attacked a LASTMA official, Mr. Rasak Oyekan at Acme Road. The result was a deep cut on the head of the LASTMA official. We recall the recent experience of the General Manager of LASTMA, Mr. Olawale Musa, when he escaped death by a whisker in the process of making an errant driver,   Mr. David Agiribehave, behave like a sane person. Unknown to him that the man sitting behind the steering wheel was mentally-deranged, he tried to apply civility to discourage the flagrant violation of Road Traffic Law. But it seems the Nigerian society is not ripe for civil approach to correcting recklessness and deviant dispositions on the highways.

    Perhaps the most disturbing and worrisome setback to the State Government’s Policy on enforcement with civility happened on Monday, March 6, 2017, on ASSBIFI Road, Alausa Central Business District (CBD). Indiscriminate parking of vehicles on the road by workers who have their offices in the area and other individuals was the prevailing situation before LASTMA officials decided to go and dislodge the vehicles that had made life so unbearable for others. While trying to carry out their statutory duties, which were as a result of complaints by members of the public, some owners of the illegally parked vehicles came to the scene with different types of lethal weapons to attack LASTMA officials.

    In the ensuing melee two LASTMA officials were beaten, while others had their uniforms torn to shreds. Is civility not at a crossroads? Incidentally, a newspaper report presented a biased, jaundiced and skewed account of what actually transpired at the scene. A subjective report like this is a sad commentary on our craving for a civilised and egalitarian society.

    While we are not advocating indecent approach to the enforcement of the law, it is expected that if law enforcement agents are applying civility in the discharge of their statutory duties, the people they are paid to serve should appreciate same by demonstrating decorum when they have an encounter with law enforcement agents, rather than resort to self-help that could lead to anarchy.

    Considering the spate of these unwarranted violent attacks on law enforcement officials of the State Government, it behoves  the government itself to evaluate and rejig the new policy on enforcement of traffic law and regulations by embarking on mass enlightenment campaign to re-orientate the motoring public before the great achievements and improvements in the traffic management system become eroded by uncivil mentality of some disgruntled motorists, especially the pathologically lawless commercial bus drivers.

     

    • Bili Apena sent this piece from Onigbongbo Maryland, Lagos

  • Lady Minika – a beautiful one

    This piece is about a certain Nigerian beauty.  She is one lady who took Nigeria to the heights of recognition on the British social scene in her day.

    Minika Archibong as she was then was the daughter of a Pharmacist father and a teacher for a mother. Her parents lived in Lagos where they came to from Calabar and Minika grew up in Lagos before she left for London arena the nineteen – fifties.

    Back in those days there were basically 2 professions only that were open to women: teaching and nursing.  Minika chose a novel path for herself as a young woman, and trained as a professional secretary in London.  Upon completing her course she was snapped up as the private secretary to the High Commissioner to Nigeria in London!

    This lofty height is one that even the average British woman could never have dreamt of aspiring to.  Minika now, by virtue of her position became a sure name on the guest-list of all thegreat London parties and events.

    Added to her profile, lady was beautiful and classy!  The London paparazzi could not get enough of her.  Every weekend she and her bosom friend Mercy Inyang were photographed in the popular British weekly magazines of the time.  Their hot miniskirts, long filtered ladies cigarettes and black beauty made them a fixation for the British press.

    MinikaArchibong put a Nigeria face on the British and European High Society which was stamped firmly for many years before her return to Nigeria. I think it is safe to say that Minika opened Britain’s eyes to the variety of beauty the world has to offer.

    After that came an inexplicable blackout on anything Nigerian no matter how high achievement.  And this lacuna continued for long years until the great Chief Dele Momodu stepped up to the plate and unveiled his Ovation Magazine launched, published and produced in London, no less.  It had one them only – showcasing the best of Nigerian people to the British people, and to all of Europe (Ovation later extended its lenses across the African continent as well).  I am an undying fan of Chief Dele Momodu.

    Back to Lady Minika – on her return to Lagos, MinikaArchibong struck out as a pacesetter and pioneer in the practically unknown territory of Fashion Modelling. And she was an instant success at it.  Fashion houses were just springing up back then, notable among them being Shade Thomas’ fashion house.  She also had come back from abroad as a fully trained fashion designer, an avantgarde in the business, and MinikaArchibong was her top model.

    Minika was the cover girl of the Daily Times sister publications and other Nigerian journals, sometimes for consecutive weeks.  She was a designers’ muse, absolutely the belle of the ball.

    Minika’s charming beauty later caught the eyes of one dashing officer who traced her out and promised her his undying love.

    And so in great pomp, and with glorious crossing of swords, MinikaArchibong got married to the ADC to the President of Nigerian then.  The man later went on to play a very active part in party politics.  Chief Etim James became the first State Chairman of the NPN (National Party of Nigeria) in Cross River State.

    Chief Mrs Minika James and her husband had two sons and a daughter, and after many years of happy married upon her husband’s death, Minika herself dived into political activities with all the zeal that she applied to every one of her past endeavours.

    Minika become a community leader, woman leader and community mobilizer.  Governor Ben Ayade even gave her an appointment on a universal governing council.  An eternal beauty, she was a lively person and ever ready to share a beer of an evening with anyone who dropped by.  Vivacious, full of life, lovely and sweet Ma Minika was never sick for one day in her life until the one time last year.  And the ailment was to claim her wonderful life.

    It is no wonder that last month when at 77 Ma Minika tool her final bow from earth’s stage, her exit was trumpeted by no less a personality then the one called The Don, Mr. Donald Duke, a multi-instrumentalist as well as great administrator.

    Nigeria’s social society practically relocated to Calabar to bid farewell to a great woman.

    From royal fathers across the different regions to top government functionaries, her funeral was a great carnival.

    Just like she would have wanted it to be.