The Nation Newspaper

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  • Hardened herdsmen

    These are people that need no introduction nationality. They are to be found in every state of the nation – defacing towns and cities all across the federation, where they “dump” their stuff everywhere. Clean, green cities, playing fields, major streets, highways and byways; they dump all over!

    Painfully, it costs many state governments a lot of money monthly to keep those states clean. But after everything would have been neatly done, these herdsmen would appear literally from nowhere and make nonsense of the greenery and the cleanup, as their cows trample it all underfoot, then they litter the place with their waste products.

    A lot of these grasses are imported, transplanted and tended. It means nothing to the herdsmen. For them, it is just: Grass Is Food for Our Cows. This bad picture gets uglier as the cattle rearers take their cows into farmlands and completely destroy economic crops which are the livelihood of farming communities.

    Many farmers are not even landowners, and so have to pay for farmlands from the sale of cash crops. But after laboring for many years, their crops are all either eaten up or trampled upon by herds of other people’s cows.

    Every attempt to resist this cattle invasion on private property attracts terror and murder. Yes the herdsmen will kill again and again for daring to prevent them from trespassing. The bloodthirstiness has escalated from sharp knives and daggers used for killing people in the bush, they now roam the land with AK 47 rifles and pistols. So, the herdsmen stick which was strictly for the cows is now replaced with AK 47 rifles – strictly for the people. They have gone further. Now, whole villages and communities are razed by these herdsmen leaving many more internally displaced persons, (IDPs) than we already have from insurgency.

    And by this deadly dimension, it is clear to see that the Herdsmen have morphed to Henchmen. All across Nigeria, their visits leave a trail of “Sorrow, Tears and Blood” which all but the security operatives can see. Strange! Just as strange to find that people who can afford a heavy armoury of sophisticated, imported weapons, stockpiling enough  to attack a nation of over 100 million defenseless people – still cannot afford  land for grazing their cows which they  breed for commercial purposes.

    The herdsmen have been a menace to the Nigerian society since ever. But now Nigerians are finding their voices, calling for an end to the murder rape, carnage and destruction by these cattle rearers and rustlers.

    Not done with Agatu village massacre in Benue, the Southern Kaduna killings to kick off this year and still ongoing up to this month has just been the last straw. Nigerians are crying out, asking that something be done urgently. Last year, the Federal Government proposed a Grazing Bill to the National assembly, where states will give large expanse of land to cattle herdsmen to come and GRAZE FOR FREE. The Sokoto State Government said that the bill would only be for the North and indeed, 14 Northern State Governors have indicated willingness to provide land, but it is still not smooth sailing in that region. However, having been cowed by the Agatu massacre which was one too many, Governor Ortom has now given out the Adapati Island, still in Agatu LGA to the rampaging herdsmen , as their grazing ground. Over in the Niger Delta, in Bayelsa, the State has already given out a huge portion of land for cattle grazing. But in actual terms, any land required for commercials purpose ought to be purchased through the relevant ministries in line with the laws of the land.

    Now, I have the simplest of solutions to this national problem, solutions that are not only easy but absolutely fool-proof.

    Solution Number 1:

    Boycott The Beef. If in Nigeria we buy and have it at the cost of our brothers’ and sisters’ blood – it is absolutely not worth it. In Vom, Plateau State and Akwa Ibom have heifers and bulls native to their land. The current clime is tilted towards agricultural development. And animal husbandry is just as much to do with agriculture and ensuring food sufficiency as rice and wheat production. I would suggest that those state governments that have native bulls create the enabling environment for the husbandry of their livestock  and encourage their local production.

    Why not be like me –  I don’t eat beef except when outside of our shores. When I think that a woman was raped and slaughtered in the bush by the herdsmen who sold that beef… nothing would make me touch it.

    Ironically, the beef from these herdsmen reflects the life of the cows on the palate-tough, dry, stringy and unpalatable. It scores a big  thumbsdown when compared with beef from cows that have been kept, grown and tended.

    And dairy products? We can continue to import all dairy products, to add to those that come from dairies  such as we have now in Plateau. That is only until such a time as local production might have been beefed up.

    So then, what will happen to all the scores of herds of cattle and their herdsmen we currently have in the country?

    Solution Number 2: 

    Create a Central Grazing Area for them in SAMBISA FOREST. Oh yes! Their cattle can feed to their fill and there they may embark unrestrained on their erstwhile National Killing Spree.  And it would only be fire-for-fire between two bloodthirsty camps, both heavily armed with sophisticated weapons apiece. On the one side would be the Unit of the Hardened Herdsmen and the Boko Haram Sambisa Unit would be  the other.

    ‘Shikena.’

  • The education Nigeria needs

    The first question is: “What type of society do we, as Nigerians, want? Secondly: “What type of education do we need to make this society a reality?”
    The importance of education in our race towards the Promised Land was captured by a beloved American President, John F. Kennedy, who said: “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.” He further noted that “The human mind is our fundamental resources.”
    An informed society, where justice is the norm, will engineer good governance, create political stability, and provide a basis for good socio-economic policies. All of these factors will provide the framework for sustainable wealth generation. Only a firm foundation in education will support the good management of national resources which will create a prosperous society.
    Having made the case that education is the foundation for a prosperous society, we must now move on to my second question: “What type of education is needed to create the society that we want?” We can borrow from the words of Plato, who said: “By education, I mean that training in excellence … which makes a man passionately desire to be a perfect citizen, and teaches him to rule, and to obey, with justice. This is the only education which deserves the name.” Otherwise, it is not education. It is merely passing on knowledge without preparing the mind to creatively utilise that knowledge. To produce Plato’s “perfect citizen,” the mind must be exercised like a muscle, not filled like a vessel.
    Much has been said about the decline of Nigeria’s educational system. It is true that many problems plague the system – corruption and cheating among students and teachers, a critical lack of books and materials, inadequate access to good-quality education by all individuals who desire it, gross underfunding and financial mismanagement, and unqualified teachers.
    However, addressing each of these problems individually would be much like a doctor treating the symptoms of a disease and not the disease itself. I would like to argue that the root of the problem is the basic system itself.
    Nigeria’s educational format is modelled after the British system of schooling. This system is not designed to provide equal education for the masses. It is designed to progressively funnel out the majority at each step into rudimentary vocational roles and usher a small, elite group into leadership positions.
    In the past, even someone from humble beginnings like me could work their way into this small cadre through hard work and perseverance. However, today, the system is even less likely to allow for that. Now, only a handful of rich parents can afford the private education that has any semblance of quality for their children.
    The current educational system is not capable of producing creative thinkers, visionaries, movers and shakers. It is a system that was originally designed for creating a docile public whose purpose was to serve the British Empire.
    Let me give you an example from my own life to illustrate my argument. As a young man making my way through the Nigerian educational system, my highest ambition was to work for a multinational corporation, especially during my undergraduate days at University of Ibadan. I envisioned myself as a productive and successful employee, serving an organisation greater than myself. It never once dawned on me that I was capable of anything more.
    It wasn’t until I moved to the United States to pursue my graduate studies that my mind opened to a sea of possibilities. Exposure to the American system of education awakened the dreamer in me. I was suddenly able to envision myself creating and managing a company of my own design – a goal that had been unthinkable to me just years before.
    Now, my aim is not to act like a salesman, professing the wonders of the American educational system. I simply wish to use it as an example of a type of education that is inherently set up to benefit the masses. It is structured in such a way that students are not only encouraged to dream, but to Dream Big. With enough hard work and effort, each citizen can achieve his or her goal. If at first a person fails, they can try and try again.
    The trouble with the Nigerian system of education is that it has built-in road blocks and dead ends. If a student fails to do well at a crucial point in their educational journey, they are basically sentenced to life imprisonment of educational deprivation. I wonder how many Albert Einsteins the system has destroyed.
    The Nigerian educational system often causes discouragement and forces students to downsize their dreams. In the United States, a failed entrance exam is not the end of a journey. It is merely a road sign along the way, informing the student that they have to double their efforts and work harder. This is the type of system that Nigeria needs.
    The name that I apply to such a system is “education with a purpose.” If our purpose is to encourage Nigeria’s population to utilise their talents to raise the country up, then it is not enough for students to be force-fed knowledge; they must be taught to think for themselves.
    Not being able to question what one is taught has the effect of grossly stunting a person’s imagination and creativity. And what are we without our ability to imagine a life beyond our current reality? The ability to retain knowledge can only get a person so far. Without the ability to creatively utilise knowledge, Nigeria as a nation will remain trapped in a state of economic dormancy and social retrogression.
    The type of education that Nigerian students need is one that is pragmatic (has a clear purpose) and that pushes students to think beyond themselves and their immediate dependents.  Many people think only as far as obtaining a job with the government or with a multinational corporation (just like me many years ago). They dream only about earning enough money to lead comfortable lives. This type of thinking serves a very narrow purpose. Nigerians need an education that has a larger societal goal – that prompts individuals to think: “How can I add value to the world around me?”
    Chief Obafemi Awolowo once asked: “What is education, and in what way can it contribute to the attainment of national freedom? According to him, “education is that process of physical and mental culture whereby a man’s personality is developed to the fullest.”
    It is said that “Vision without resources is hallucination.” We can dream about the economic and social prosperity that Nigeria will one day achieve. We can talk about Vision 2020. However, if we do not tap into the most natural resource, the minds of Nigerians, this dream will remain a hallucination.
    And above all, we should never stop asking the question at the root of all progress: “Why?”

    •Prof Adewunmi is the Vice Provost for International Programmes at the Pennsylvania State University, USA

  • Time to review Nigeria’s foreign policy

    Over the years, Nigeria has attached great importance not only to the promotion and defence of its neighbours’ socio-economic and security interests but also defending the dignity of the black race the world over. In this regard, and in its tireless effort to wipe out colonialism and white minority rule on the continent, Nigeria has been in agreement with the cardinal principles and objectives that the United Nations stands for.
    Nigeria has devoted its time, money and energy to political community building in Africa and towards mutually beneficial regional and continental integration. Nigeria was not only instrumental in the formation of the disbanded OAU in 1963 and the ECOWAS in 1975, but has also been in the driving seat of these organisations by playing a prominent role in their funding. Nigeria is a motor force behind the African Union (AU) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD). The country also funds ECOWAS.
    With the quest to maintain leadership and Big-brother role in Africa, Nigeria has made significant contributions to the attainment of independence of African countries such as Angola and Zimbabwe and also played dominant roles in the struggle against apartheid and white minority rule in South Africa. This action did not only lead to the achievement of independence of those countries but also led to the establishment of multi-racial government in South Africa which cost Nigeria billions of Naira.
    However, despite Nigeria’s consistent and unwavering commitment and support for the region, Nigeria has never received the amount of respect it deserves on the continent. Its citizens have either been treated as unwanted species or targets for other African countries. Despite the fact that Nigeria has shown so much love through its Afro-centric and Radical Foreign Policy, yet the rate of xenophobic attacks on Nigerians over the last decade is shocking and tragic.
    What have we done to deserve victimisation and continuous attack by South Africans? With great resources channelled to sustain Africa, why are we still treated like aliens? Is it lack knowledge or what?
    Well, a fellow foreign affairs analyst, Akeju Bosun, answered this question in his article”International Issue: Resurgence of xenophobic attacks in South Africa”  by saying : “….Perhaps History is in a state of oblivion In South African schools which they need include to give proper account of past events relating to the Apartheid Regime….. With history they can be intellectually inclined with PRE and POST APARTHEID REGIME and how they need to exercise the principle of GOOD NEIGHBOURLINESS in order to avoid conflict that can strain diplomatic relations with not just Nigeria but other African neighbours.”
    Nigeria spent billions on getting those bigots liberated from the Apartheid regime.  The country provided a safe place for the anti-apartheid actors. Even after their liberation, Nigeria didn’t set up a single industry or company there but however allowed South Africa to establish their industries and companies (MTN, DSTV etc) here. Yet Nigerians are lynched and victimised in South Africa.
    Nigeria never exploited or demanded a dime in return for its contributions yet since the 90s various South African companies and industries have exploited Nigerians without a violent or inhumane reaction from Nigerians. Nigeria’s contributions to South Africa’s liberation and democracy supersede every other country. Yet her efforts have been ignored and disregarded by South Africans’ continuous hatred towards Nigerians.
    Instead of demanding a change in the Foreign Policy that has turned us into an “International Father Christmas” with much disrespect, some foreign affairs’ analysts are encouraging a “Status Quo.” To the extent that one historian said:  ”With love we can still show them we are the most powerful black nation.”
    What kind of love should Nigeria show again? Why should Nigeria continue being a fool in the international system? This may not be a BREXIT or NEXIT issue but the similarities between the resources channeled by both countries in their respective regions and tragic experience afterwards cannot be ignored. This is about Nigeria and South Africa.
    Our foreign policy flaws and contradictions have put us in this situation. We have spent and given so much under this so called Afro-centric Policy that it’s rather unfair to be experiencing this tragic situation. It is time to readjust our foreign policy and become more dynamic and aggressive.
    The Nigerian Constitution expects Nigerians to be the first priority of any government or policy. Chapter 2 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution, Section 14 states that “…. It is hereby, accordingly, declared that:
    (a) Sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority;
    (b) The security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.
    It’s time for policy makers to put the country’s interest and responsibility to the people before its fellow African countries. We are tired of watching Nigerians die and becoming uncomfortable on a continent that’s supposed to be “United.” I am tired of living in fear, awaiting the next lynching.
    We have to start seeing South Africa as a regional competitor that is about to take everything that we deserve globally. If you think showing love puts a country ahead of its rivals, then why should Nigerians suffer so much in South Africa without emergent measures by its government? If so, Nigeria should have been unanimously granted unalloyed support by South Africa in its ambition at the UN Security Council. But South Africa did not only declare its interest in the seat, it also challenged Nigeria’s credentials to aspire for the seat, claiming that Nigeria do not possess the necessary regional spread or image to bid for the seat.
    Policy makers must remember that national interests and domestic obligation must be constant and permanent in the international arena. While “Friends” are changeable and changing, they must remember that in a continuous violent and inhumane situation like Xenophobia, “Nations must determine for themselves the modus operandi in its relations with the involved state.”
    The government must understand that there is no state that enters into a global arena to pursue the interest of another state. Neither should a Nation or State expect any State to defend its own interest. It is a selfish pursuit of interest and the maximisation of such interest at the expense of other countries if possible.
    In conclusion, the government and policy makers must respond to these ongoing xenophobic attacks by restoring “Nigerians” and “Nigeria first” in its foreign policy. It is only then that Nigeria can react and ensure necessary measures that will bring an end to the tragic situation. It is time to put Nigeria first and others second.

  • Police checkpoints: Security tax 

    Ubiquitous checkpoints manned by armed policemen in different shades of black, extracting bribes and demanding vehicle registration documents and who ‘sometimes accidentally’ shoot drivers who challenge their authority is symbolic of Nigeria as windmills are emblematic of the Netherlands. In spite of the constant and loud disavowal of these checkpoints by drivers as extortionary and the instructions of successive Inspectors General of Police for their dismantling, they have persisted. Nigerian road users lose billions of naira annually to extortions at these checkpoints.
    These unofficial tolls by the police have gone a long way in shaping public perception about the service in Nigeria. 92% of respondents in a survey by Transparency International consider the Nigeria Police as ‘extremely corrupt’. In another survey by CLEEN Foundation, respondents placed the Nigeria Police as the most corrupt public agency in Nigeria. Amnesty International in a report described the Nigeria Police as having “a long history of engaging in unprofessional, corrupt, and criminal conduct.”
    Understandably, the Nigeria Police is an offshoot of the colonial British imperial guard whose raison d’être was the subordination of the 400 plus Nigerian ethnic groups to the political and economic interest of the British Empire; protection of colonial officers and their families; and general enforcement of colonial law. Utilising armed patrols, raids and detention, the colonial police enforced direct taxation, suppressed strikes and ensured the constant supply of labor force needed for trade and administration. Nearly six decades after political independence, little has changed and the organisation and management of the Nigeria Police is still substantially governed today by colonial legislations and philosophy.
    However, beyond the heavy burden of colonial carry over is the problem of acute underfunding of the police. According to the former Inspector General of Police in Nigeria, budgetary allocation for the running and maintenance of the operational assets of the service in 2015 could only last for three months and the same pattern of insufficient fund allocation was repeated in2016. Invariably, policemen have to: personally fuel operational vehicles, pay for uniforms and other operational exigencies, print bail bonds, individually handle work-related trauma and yet bear the burden of providing security-a public good. Extortion at police checkpoints and stations is a form of crude security tax that the public pay for the indispensable services that the police render. The state by deliberately underfunding the police, while expecting and demanding it to perform its duties, has indirectly imposed on the citizenry a tax in the most ingenious way.
    Security is an expensive public good that must be paid for, presumably by the government through taxation and other means. And here we are, less than 12% of eligible citizens pay tax and oil that accounts for 80% of government revenue has seen a record slump in prices, thus reducing the government’s ability to finance its obligations. In fact, when you put in perspective the issue of Nigeria’s unwieldy population growth (estimated to reach 200 million by 2020) and the pressure this creates on public service, you ask the obvious question – can Nigeria run an efficient police service without funding it?
    Nigerians must accept the fact that there is a nexus between institutional accountability and public ownership and the financing of criminal justice institutions and actors, and that to expect internationally comparable services from the Nigeria Police it must be funded optimally like its peers are. The starting point is to demand from the legislature appropriate and functional allocation to the police; appropriating N9.2bn as the yearly overhead cost for a primary agency that is charged with the maintenance of order. It is upon the latter that rests the attainment of all developmental goals. And since governance is a collective undertaking, there is the need to formally and structurally include state governments, the private sector and other stakeholders in the financing of the police.
    Nigeria’s poor performance on almost all indicators benchmarking public safety and security presupposes that there is no way around adequate funding of Nigeria’s beggarly police services. The 2015 safety and security sub-index of the Global Prosperity Index ranked Nigeria 134 out of the 142 countries polled. UNDP’s National Human Development Report 2015 summarised the human security situation in Nigeria, stating that: “generally, the human security index for the country is low, this is an indication that Nigerians are not humanly secured.”  According to another survey, more than 70% of Nigerian businesses stated that crime and corruption constitute the most serious obstacles to conducting business in Nigeria.
    The economic and social consequences of Nigeria’s acute underfunding of the police is huge – More than 2,152,000 Nigerian citizens are displaced internally because of conflict and insecurity; Niger-delta militants who destroyed  more 1,447 pipelines in 2016 impaired the implementation of the 2016 budget and cost Nigeria N1.4 trillion; ongoing conflict between farmers and herdsmen across Nigeria is costing at least $14 billion in potential revenues annually; the North East Nigeria Recovery and Peace Building Assessment (RPBA) team has put the cost of rebuilding destroyed infrastructure in the region blighted by Boko Haram insurgency at $9 billion; and nothing summarises Nigeria’s security challenges than the fact that Boko Haram insurgency has claimed more civilian lives than ISIS has done.
    The police is the most visible symbol of state power and a primary institution of social control in the hands of the managers of public safety and consciousness in Nigeria; to deliberately or negligently underfund it is to threaten the security of the citizenry. We cannot talk away police checkpoints and police corruption-we must either fund the services or accept the fact that bail is only going to be free in theory.

    •Osasona is a Research Associate and Criminal Justice expert at the Centre for Public Policy Alternatives, Lagos

  • Lying on oath

    Nigeria’s democracy is aping that of the United States of America, which is considered an advanced democracy. However, it is yet to meet up with the upscale open theatre of the U.S. democracy, and some of the dramatic consequences, for the role players. Since inception, about three months ago, the presidency of Donald Trump, has been a virtual theatre. Whether it is Trump’s mannerisms, invective vocabularies, the war with the media, or the street demonstrations, we have seen many days of entertainment.
    But as role players, there is a red line a public officeholder dare not cross without huge consequences, if he is caught. The immediate past U.S. National Security Adviser, Michael Flynn, crossed such a line, and was sacrificed.  He was accused of lying to the public, particularly to the Vice President. He had lied that he did not meet the Russian Ambassador, and relying on that lie, the VP vigorously defended the man’s integrity before Americans.
    The U.S. Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, is also on the firing line, for allegedly lying to the U.S. Senate. The AG who until his appointment, was a serving senator, is accused of lying on oath, during his confirmation hearing. The hearing involves swearing on oath, to say the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. When asked, whether he recently meet the Russian Ambassador, he denied. But information later came out that he actually did, twice. While as a senator he is entitled to meet with foreign ambassadors, the sin is that he lied, about the meeting.
    While his accusers are asking the AG to resign for lying on oath, his supporters are saying he answered truthfully, because the issue was whether he met the Ambassador to discuss the election. In spite of the debate, the AG has already agreed to recuse himself from the investigation being conducted by the FBI (which he oversees), over the extent of Russia’s involvement in the last U.S. election.  There is also a threat across party line, but mainly by those sympathetic to the Democratic Party, which lost the election to the Republican Party, that the Russian roulette may consume Mr. Trump, if it can be proven that he orchestrated any unlawful relationship with Russia.
    In Nigeria, many public officials pay little or no price for lies, even when they are caught red-handed. The call for the sacking of the Secretary to the Federal Government Babachir Lawal, by the Senate, for conflict of interest in the award of a contract for the clearing of grass, to a company he owned previously, has remained an empty threat, even as the culprit puts up a brave face to his indictment. Also the alleged involvement of the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari, in the MTN bribery saga, has claimed no scalp, even when it is easy to trail the bribe money allegedly paid by the communication company.
    Of note, President Buhari’s claim that his right-hand men are not corrupt, contributed to save the day for the accused. This is unlike in the U.S. where Trumps’s effort to save his NSA failed. It is likely that Trump’s AG will also have to go once it is established that he lied on oath while appearing before his former colleagues – the senators. The closest to a high official paying a price for allegedly lying on oath is the case of the Senate President, Dr Olusola Saraki, and a few other politicians, having their day at the Code of Conduct Tribunal, over false asset declaration.
    In Nigeria, there is yet no general consensus that a public officer who is caught red-handed lying to the public should immediately resign. There is also no meticulous assessment of statements made by public officials to detect inconsistencies and outright lies. Indeed, a senate confirmation process sometimes appears unserious, with the nominees asked to take a bow and go, instead of drilling the nominees on oath to gain their position on important national issues, which will be used to benchmark the nominee.
    There is also the absence of general knowledge of what constitutes lying on oath, otherwise called Perjury, in Section 117 of the criminal code. Section 117 provides: “Any person who, in any judicial proceeding, or for the purpose of instituting any judicial proceeding, knowingly give false testimony touching any matter which is material to any question then depending in that proceeding, or intended to be raised in that proceeding, is guilty of an offence called perjury.” Perhaps, there is a misconception about what constitutes a judicial proceeding.
    The criminal code in Section 113 defined ‘judicial proceedings’ thus: “In this chapter the term “judicial proceeding” includes any proceeding had or taken in or before any court, tribunal, commission of inquiry, or person, in which evidence may be taken on oath, or in or before a native tribunal whether such tribunal takes evidence on oath or not.” That definition covers those who lie on oath, with reckless abandon, especially in the course of public service.
    If we have an efficient criminal justice system, any public official who appears before a legislature, or any other kind of tribunal, where evidence will be taken on oath, will be wary, to avoid the huge consequences of lying on oath. So, the legislators, instead of appearing helpless on how to extract facts about any public conduct, should invite the official concerned to a hearing, swear him on oath, and seek the facts.
    Any person who tells a lie in such circumstance, should be charged for perjury. But, of course, the legislators are accused of using hearings for ulterior motives, instead of the pursuit of public good. The same is applicable to the tribunals of enquiry, which states occasionally set up to unravel matters of public interest. Experience shows that most of the enquiries come to nought, despite the huge resources and the emotional investment by the hurting public. Where the efforts are geared towards public good, those who appear before the tribunals would take it seriously, knowing that any lie told on oath may have grave consequences.
    The punishment for perjury is severe. According to Section 118 of the criminal code, “Any person who commits perjury is liable to imprisonment for fourteen years.” Of note, Section 120 of the code also provides: “Any person who with intent to mislead any tribunal in any judicial proceeding – (1) fabricates evidence by any means other than perjury or counselling or procuring the omission of perjury; or (2) knowingly makes use of such fabricated evidence, is guilty of felony, and is liable to imprisonment for seven years”.
    As this piece was going to bed last Friday, it emerged that President Muhamadu Buhari who has been away to London to attend to his health, just returned after 49 days. I join other Nigerians to welcome and wish Mr. President well.

  • NIMASA: Getting out of the water

    NIMASA: Getting out of the water

    If a list of government agencies that have failed to realise their full potential over the years is drawn up, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) will easily top the list. No sector has been bogged down with corruption and incompetence as the maritime sector.
    In 2015 when the economy started showing some serious signs of depression and government officials shied away from calling it recession, Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), a long-time player in the maritime sector, alerted the authorities  to the potential of the sector as an alternative to oil. Agbakoba said, in an interview, that Nigeria could generate as high as N7 trillion annually from the maritime sector if the right things were done.
    He lamented that the sector was not managed as a revenue earner. He spoke with the conviction of an expert. It was as if government was more interested in political patronage than in good governance.
    But luckily enough, one man listened to him. The man was the former Governorship Candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and now the Director General of NIMASA, Dr Dakuku Peterside.
    Since assuming office, Peterside, a former lawmaker, has left no one in doubt as to his determination to ensure NIMASA achieves its full potential as a major revenue earner for the country.  When he led a delegation of NIMASA to the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Col. Hameed Ali (retd), he did not mince words about his vision for the agency.
    He told Ali that the Nigeria Customs and NIMASA were both revenue- earning agencies of government now working to accomplish the purpose of facilitating trade to Nigeria and ensuring that those doing business with the country did not take undue advantage of her. It speaks so much of the vision of this man that he is committing himself and the agency he heads to the service of the country.
    Although a politician, Peterside is not running NIMASA as his predecessors did. He appears to have placed a premium on professionalism, integrity, transparency and President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan to diversify the economy and get it quickly out of the current recession. Since coming on board, the present management of NIMASA adopted a Medium-Term Strategic Plan which has aided steps towards repositioning the agency for better service delivery.
    In the words of Peterside:  ”Our principal mandate is to restructure, reposition, reorganise and reform NIMASA and make it a foremost Maritime Administration in Africa because we have no reason not to be number one in Africa. Of every 100 cargo heading to Africa, 65 would come to Nigeria and in this regard we must ensure that our maritime sector remains vibrant.”
    Recently when Abdulwaheed Odusile, President of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) led a delegation to his office in Lagos, Peterside used the occasion to call on journalists to support the Buhari administration’s fight against corruption and its vision for the diversification of the economy.
    One of the memorable things he told the NUJ delegation was : “The ocean is a resource a country can leverage on to grow its economy and blessed with a coastline of about 853km and 250 nautical mile Exclusive Economic zone, we must begin to take advantage of the maritime opportunities available to us to grow our economy.”
    But to realise this objective, NIMASA must ensure adequate provision of basic infrastructure that could help unlock the vast potential of the Nigerian maritime industry. But government, whose revenue has been on the downturn, cannot be wholly depended upon to provide all the funds for infrastructural development. This is why Peterside’s NIMASA has embraced Public- Private -Partnership model (PPP) for the provision of infrastructure. NIMASA is partnering with the Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) to make this happen.
    Given Nigeria’s strategic location, population and volume of trade in the African region, all the country needs to become a major hub of maritime activities is strategic investment in infrastructure in the maritime industry, which should be championed through a PPP model. Peterside seems keenly aware of this. He said during a meeting with ICRC: “The PPP model will be able to address infrastructure deficit as well as optimise local-content development. Partnership with the private sector also has the potential to enhance human capital development and active government participation in a private sector driven economy.”
    Looking beyond budgetary resources for the delivery of infrastructure in the country, especially in the maritime sector, is not only imperative but cost-effective. This is the model that is being embraced the world over, and Nigeria cannot be an exception, especially if we desire rapid economic progress. In a country where the wheel of government grinds slowly, PPP is a sure bet for quick transformation.
    NIMASA under Peterside has focused on its core mandate through various collaborative efforts geared towards the development of the sector and, by extension, the Nigerian economy. These include delivering excellent service in the areas of maritime safety, making the maritime domain safe and navigable, providing adequate supervision for the marine environmental management, and averting and reducing pollution at sea.
    It has also focused on meeting relevant International Maritime Organization (IMO) mandate as well as helping to grow indigenous shipping, and carrying out port and flag state responsibilities.
    Such collaborative efforts include working with relevant professional groups to take advantage of their expertise and annex for a quick turnaround of the maritime sector. The new maritime administration is desirous of keeping pace with modern practice where skilled professionals are utilised to ensure efficient regulation of the sector.
    Nigerian youths in the maritime sector are now in line to earn foreign exchange as NIMASA has made provisions for the beneficiaries of the Nigerian Seafarers’ Development Programme (NSDP) to obtain their Certificate of Competence (CoC) by undergoing requisite sea-time training to qualify them for global shipping. This supports his assertion that a country could have ships and other assets, but its greatest asset in the maritime industry is manpower because it is the manpower that drives the industry.
    Peterside has also expressed support for the establishment of the Maritime University at Okerenkoko, in Warri South West Area of Delta State. He said the university would help as a citadel of knowledge and development of human capital. But it will also create job opportunities for the Nigerian people, particularly for people in the Niger Delta.
    He has also commenced the process to establish partnership with the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) to develop human capacity in the maritime sector.  Peterside has repeatedly expressed his determination to grow local capacity in the maritime sector, and that is why he has called on universities in the country to include maritime-related courses in their curriculum. This will not just help grow the economy but will expand the job potential of Nigerian youths since maritime is a global business with vast opportunities.
    If NIMASA under Peterside succeeds in getting out of the water to take its rightful place in the economy, Nigeria may well be on the path to El Dorado.

    •Suleiman wrote in from Abuja

  • Obumselu: An intellectual icon departs

    ith the death in the early hours of March 4, 2017, of Benedict Ebele Obumselu, Africa and indeed the world have been robbed of one of the most formidable minds in recent times.  Whether in oral pronouncements or in writing or even in the manner he walked and gesticulated, Obumselu exhibited delightful scholarship—graceful, elegant, calm and measured in all circumstances. He was one of the most learned men I have ever met anywhere.  Michael J. C. Echeruo, poet, critic and university administrator who was to retire as William Sapphire professor of Modern Letters at Syracuse University in New York, called Obumselu the greatest African literary scholar of his generation.

    Obumselu was the first president of the association of Nigerian university students and the first English graduate of the University College, Ibadan. He was studying for a Bachelor of Arts (General) degree at Ibadan, then affiliated to the University College, London, when the degree programme in English was introduced in the 1950s; he switched to the new course because the single honours programme was very prestigious in those days in Nigeria. He had yet to graduate when he was offered admission at Oxford to study for the Doctor of Philosophy degree without reading for a Master’s. The admission was based on the strong recommendations of his lecturers at Ibadan who had been at Oxford.

    He returned to Ibadan in the 1960s, teaching people like Stanley Macebuh, Dan Izavbeye, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Jim Nwobodo, Theo Vincent, Molara Ogundipe, etc. Saro-Wiwa, not a man generous with praise, told the audience at the presentation in 1989 of his Prisoners of Jebs at Sheraton Hotel in Lagos that he was privileged to “learn at the feet of eminent scholars like Obumselu at Ibadan.” Obumselu displayed scintillating scholarship in his review of the book, delighting the audience with his range of philosophical speculation as he spoke on human freedom. Agreeing and disagreeing with various authorities, Cyprian Ekwensi, Ray Ekpu, Theo Vincent and Odia Ofeimun, among others, were swept off their feet, all the more since he spoke without notes. Ken never ceased to thank me for bringing Obumselu to speak at the book launch.

    As Nigeria’s political crisis of the late 1960s deteriorated, Obumselu, like most Eastern Nigerians outside their homeland, fled back home. He became one of Biafran leader Emeka Ojukwu’s closest advisers. He played a vital role in producing Ojukwu’s famous Ahiara Declaration of 1968,one of the greatest speeches by any African leader ever. This role was to put him in danger when the war ended.

    Obumselu then travelled to Oxford which was pleased to offer one of its brightest alumni a job, thus making him one of the few Africans ever to be given an academic position at the most prestigious British university. But the post would not be available till the next academic session. This was quite tough for someone who had just emerged from a ruinous war with practically no money, and so he settled for the University of Birmingham, another prestigious institution. He then moved to the Sorbonne, Europe’s second oldest university and the most prestigious in France. Disenchanted with little global attention to African affairs, Obumselu returned to Africa where he became a peripatetic scholar. He taught at universities in Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), Zambia, Lesotho and Botswana. He was on his way to the American University in Egypt when Jim Nwobodo, then Anambra State governor, pleaded with him to join his government.

    I was watching the newly established Anambra Television Service in Enugu when Dan Ibekwe, a banker turned broadcaster who spoke with a BBC accent and endowed with an incredible forensic skill, introduced Obumselu in his current affairs programme. I was surprised that the programme’s guest was already a full professor because his exceedingly good looks made him look like someone in his early 30s. I was charmed by the guest’s great insights and eloquence and calmness. The next day I set out to meet Ibekwe so that he could link me to his guest whom I had never heard of till the previous night. Good a thing, Obumselu’s office was a stone’s throw away. Obumselu was so genial and humble when we met.  We struck a lifelong friendship from that very day in 1982, despite the considerable difference in age. Far from saying “You are wrong” or “I disagree with you,” he would rather state: “I understand your point, but some person may think that …” He was so cultured and sensitive.

    His influence on me is far-reaching, even in speech. I profited tremendously from his vast learning. In our several discussions and debates over sundry issues, he would say something like this: “C. Don, you have spoken well about the concept of change in society. Now, address me on change from the perspective of Hegel’s Phenomenology of the Mind.” He delighted inphilosophy. Obumselu was also at home with economic and development matters. I frequently picked his brain. The trio of Ukpabi Asika, Pius Okigbo and Obumselu were among my greatest sources of informal learning. I am proud Obumselu and his delectable wife Fidelia were the official witnesses at my private wedding at St Agnes Catholic Church in Lagos, even though he was Anglican.

    Obumselu was deeply worried at the political decline of the Igbo people and devoted the last two decades to the Igbo cause. He relocated from Lagos to Enugu and worked with Ohaneze Ndigbo. He provided intellectual leadership in the emergence of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). He had earlier worked hard at getting the Igbo and the Yoruba to work together in what was famously known as the handshake across the Niger. He was the Ohaneze candidate for the post of Secretary to the Government of the Federation in 2011, but President Goodluck Jonathan eventually settled for Pius Anyim.

    An indigene of Oba in Anambra State, Obumselu was born in 1930. Though he did not return to the university environment since he retired from the Imo (now Abia) State University as the dean of the arts school in 1988, he was still publishing in some of the world’s greatest academic journals up to the time he took ill recently. An illuminating essay for Johns Hopkins University’s journal on literary ideas revealed new sources of James Cary’s fiction. He disagreed with Chinua Achebe that Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness is a racist novel, arguing that Achebe read it “as a generalist rather than a researcher.”

    His article on African writing and the influence of Marxism has been published in books and journals, including World Literature where I read it over 20 years ago. Obumselu was an authority on Russian literature and South African social and literary history. Only a few days to his death I found myself re-reading his “Andre Brink: A Historian of the South African Liberation”, published in African Commentary in June, 1990. I did not know his spirit was hovering around close friends as his own way of telling us that it was time to go.

     

    • Adinuba is head of Discovery Public Affairs Consulting.

  • Insecurity vote

    Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu recently stoked the embers of a rankling national debate: he thumbed down ‘security vote’ that is widely known to be routinely drawn by officials in the Executive arm, and proposed its replacement with ‘contingency vote’ that would be duly appropriated and accounted for by beneficiaries. Security vote, as it presently operates, is neither appropriated nor accounted for; the cost line is opaquely funded from the public treasury and whimsically expended by officials concerned.

    Ekweremadu’s proposal, penultimate weekend, was part of a shopping list of reforms he canvassed when he delivered the 4th National Public Service Lecture of the University of Ibadan Alumni Association. Speaking on ‘Federalism and the Legal Framework for Combating Corruption in Nigeria,’ he reportedly decried the national minimum wage pegged at N18, 000, whereas state governors pocket as much as N2billion for security vote. Note: not much is known with exactitude by anyone but the beneficiaries as to the actual or average size of the security vote; but with Ekweremadu’s vantage office, it should be conceded that he is well positioned to make an educated guess.

    To boost the war against corruption, the Deputy Senate President advised a number measures, among them decentralisation of federal anti-graft agencies and establishment of counterpart agencies by states, state domestication of anti-graft and other auxiliary federal laws, enthronement of fiscal federalism, devolution of police and prison services, establishment of state social intervention / security schemes, and enlistment of active public participation in anti-graft efforts. A statement by Ekweremadu’s media aide quoted him saying: “When a man who earns N18, 000 cannot buy a bag of rice, how can such a person take care of his family? Does it make sense to him if you tell him not to find alternative means of catering to the needs of his family? Is it not also possible to abolish the security vote and replace it with contingency vote, so it can be appropriated and accounted for?”

    You could ask whether it was inadvertent or just self-interestedly convenient for the Senate principal to omit calling for abolition of so-called constituency projects by legislators, which though are appropriated in government’s financial plans, have been a cesspit of pork barreling and budget padding over time. But that shouldn’t take the edge from his observation that security vote is crass sleaze by another name.

    Ekweremadu is by no means on solo flight with his proposal about the security vote. Actually, there is perhaps no other feature of our public financials that an overwhelming majority of Nigerians would have discarded than this controversial cost line. Only last week, a Lagos-based lawyer, Adedokun Makinde, approached a Federal High Court, seeking an order stopping the disbursement of security vote as well as allowances for constituency projects from the public treasury to designated political office holders.

    According to reports, the lawyer wants the court to declare that payment and / or drawing of funds for security vote by the President, Vice President, Governors or Deputy Governors, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister and other officials from the Consolidated Revenue Fund is unconstitutional, illegal null and void. And he wants a declaration that payment of monies for constituency projects to legislators, either at the federal or state level, is illegal, unconstitutional, null and void. Besides the President and Vice President, Makinde joins the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF), Senate President, House of Representatives Speaker, all State Governors and Speakers of State Houses of Assembly, FCT Minister as well as the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) as other respondents in the suit that has ben slated for hearing on April 26 by the sitting judge.

    Again, because of the hood on the cost line’s operation, it is difficult to pinpoint with certainty officials in the Executive arm that are beneficiaries. A report in February 2016 by online site, SaharaReporters, cited unnamed sources in government as saying President Muhammadu Buhari had blocked out security vote from Federal expenditure. “Government sources confirmed that as soon as the Buhari administration took power, a clear indication was given of the new direction…Subsequently, the President directed that there would be no routine allocation of security vote to he or anyone else as had been the practice since 1983,” the site reported.

    But even if it is the case that the Presidency has scrapped security vote for its officials, there is little doubt that most state governors till date take from the public treasury for the vote.

    An insider clue into what goes down as security vote was given by Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha in 2011, when he announced that he was cutting back his yearly allocation from N6.5billion to N2.5billion to mobilise funds for the free education programme he promised at his first term inauguration on May 29. The catch here is: it simply fell beyond his contemplation to give a clear account of what the amount being retained would be used for. In January 2016, the Imo governor also told journalists in Owerri that he had sacrificed up to N16billion from his security vote since 2011 for the development of the state.

    Former Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso and his Ekiti State counterpart, Kayode Fayemi, were reported to have publicly renounced the cost line during their tenure. But not so – at least on public record – any other member of this power elite.

    A recent controversial application of the slush fund was by Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello, who reportedly approved the disbursement of N260million security vote in the first week of his assuming office in January 2016. An investigative account in May by online site, PREMIUM TIMES, showed that the governor approved serial memoranda on “Request for Security Fund” totalling the amount at short intervals upon his inauguration. And the report also cited the governor’s spokesperson, Kingsley Fanwo, as confirming the spending but saying it was warranted to urgently tackle security lapses inherited by his principal.

    Another report by The PUNCH in July 2016 relayed state governments’ rebuff against calls for security vote to be scrapped. Among other spokespersons, Delta State Information Commissioner Patrick Ukah told the newspaper that the fund enabled the government to act proactively during crisis and to assist security agencies. “The fact that the economy at the moment is in a bad shape doesn’t mean we should live in a state of chaos. Nobody should advocate cancellation of security vote,” he was reported saying.

    Well, the advocacy that Ukah forbids is exactly what Ekweremadu has done, and he has many like-minds among Nigerians. Truth is, security vote in their Excellency’s hands makes the rest of us insecure. For one, with the primitive tendency towards violence and other ill practices by our political actors, you really can’t vouch for the causes to which the unaccounted fund is being applied. Then, the bogus drawdown from the common treasury is simply unhealthy for the public economy. While we await a break in Nigerian laws to stop its disbursement, citizens should perhaps begin to demand account for the vote’s application with the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA).

  • Buhari/Osinbajo: A towering example

    SIR: A lot has been said and a lot has happened too to our democracy and the rule of law since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed the mantle of leadership on 29th May, 2015. In truth, some of his policies and tactics especially in the fight against corruption have alarmed staunch believers in democracy and the rule of law, and this writer has been alarmed on several occasions.

    However, in spite of the many shadows that stalked the President during his vacation overseas until his return on 10th March, 2017, the vacation provided an unlikely window into the President‘s avowed transmogrification from a military man to a democrat at heart. It had to do with the fact that for the second time he was going on vacation, he transmitted his powers to his Vice President, Professor   Yemi Osibanjo, to hold the fort for him while he was away.

    President Buhari’s staunchest critics would easily say that he did nothing more than complying with a constitutional prescription which would pale in comparison with the myriad times the rule of law has been shoved aside under his watch. Yet, that act of transmitting a letter to the National Assembly shines brilliantly given the unsavoury experiences of many Nigerians. It betrays the fact that the two men enjoy mutual respect for each other and maintain a healthy working relationship. Now that the President is back, he has allowed the Vice President to continue to act for him citing his need and desire for more rest.

    Ordinarily, this should pale into insignificance in the face of the multitude of challenges confronting the country and the mostly unbridled zeal of the executive to whip the country into line, but in a country where rancour at worst, and mutual suspicion at best, usually defines the relationship between Presidents and their vice presidents, and governors and their deputies, Buhari and Osibanjo stand out in this regard.

    Former President Goodluck Jonathan undoubtedly enjoyed a good working relationship with his vice president, Namadi Sambo, a man of profound humility. But between Obasanjo and Atiku and more subtly between the late Yar’Adua and Gooodluck Jonathan, there was no love lost and ambitions played greatly disconcerting roles. In many states too,  the relationship between governors and  their deputies usually falls apart.

    In the service of the people, there should be no petty struggles over power capable of straining relationships irreparably. The Buhari/Osibanjo model provides a towering example.

     

    • Kenechukwu Obiezu,

    Abuja

  • Welcome ma: Our food is cold and our drinks are warm (… and more)

    Unless you are a Senator or House of Rep member, when you are leaving your house in the morning, you turn off your generator and run it again when you or yours are in the house.

    If you are like me and like cooking your own food, then this is also your pain. Because after a long day, you would be faced with just 2 options – eat what is at home or go out for dinner. It’s always too tiring or too late to start cooking.

    So off you go to ‘Naija Restaurant’ and this is where you get to meet the following: Starting with your drink, even bottled water, will not be cold. Sure, it would have been in the fridge, but even yours at home with the generator off will be colder than the drinks you would be served.

    After a short wait, your dinner will be served.. Wait for it, barely warm!! Ah ah – this food is cold, you wonder. Remembering the one you were to cook – would you have been better off nibbling the cold uncooked vegetable, chewing the raw carrots you left at home, than this cold food.

    ‘Sorry Madam – There Was No Light…’ Yea right!…

    GHOSTS

    In Calabar where I live, the Civil Servants had to undergo a rigorous screening exercise on March 1st before having their salaries paid.

    There was a great deal of grumbling and complaining, but whose fault is it really? Their grouse was that a whole Deputy Governor had carried out the last verification exercise. But I say that even if the Governor himself had done the exercise, it still would not have been clean – no thanks to criminal elements in the midst.

    If a State Governor who came in from somewhere else in this new cycle knows that there are ghost workers in the civil service, then how much more those who are in the civil service itself ?

    Surely they know not only that, they must also know the department(s) responsible, I even guess they do know some of the individuals carrying out the nefarious acts.

    ‘Noo, it is not my business – oh,’ they say. ‘As far as I get my OWN SALARY,’ that is the mentality of the average civil servant.

    Well, that punishing verification exercise they go through frequently is simply the price they must pay for keeping silent in the face of criminal activities in the State and even the federal civil service. And as long as they continue to discover and save many millions as payment for ghost workers, then so long will the screening/verification exercise continue until hopefully the last loophole for the existence of ghost workers is finally plugged. And the same goes for any other state across the federation.

    PONZI

    Was there recession when the NOSPECO Oil scheme or what-was-it-called was on? Nigeria had what I call her SECOND OIL BOOM, but people would not invest in agriculture or any other form of production – it all went to buying and selling (of products from China) OR … any ponzi-like scheme.

    Ask the CEO of the Oil and Gas Free Trade Zone authority why he insists on the use of three (3) names EVERYTIME. It is because he has a terrible dread of being confused with the infamous Umana Umana of those wonderbank-like institutions.

    The same Nigerians poured in funds into the MMM, expecting high returns not tenable anywhere else.

    The lure of free money and the joy of getting money not worked for, like another source of National cake is what drive Nigerians to these Ponzi and wonder investments.

    The failure of these finance houses is alarming, but that has not stopped people!

    Imagine one who ought to be a responsible individual such that their parents give them their tuition fees for them to pay, rather than remit directly to the school.

    Today, they are lamenting in the papers how they “invested” their tuition fees, book fees and all fees pertaining to their education into the last ponzi scheme.

    It’s the manifestation of the greedy mindset they have. They do not see their education as an investment, and thus would not sow into it; they instead see the expected high cash returns on their ponzi schemes as the real investment.

    I am told of a man who got some reward for his first round of money placement.

    He was so “thrilled”, he went to the bank and withdrew all his money, all his wife’s money, and even obtained some money from his elder brother!

    Today he is still waiting. He is expecting them to come back.

    The ponzi schemers on the other hand say they are still uploading and Nigerians are waiting for it to index to probably ten thousand naira to get 1 million. But we are in March now and there is still no sign of Sir Ponzi. We continue waiting…

    The Yorubas say: “Olorun mu e!”

    HOWAD @ 122  – Cheers!

    HOWAD – The Hope Waddell Training institution turned One Hundred and Twenty-Two (122) this week! And no less a personality than the Duke of Kent  came in person from the U.K to mark the epoch-making anniversary.

    Hope Waddell at 122 is the second oldest secondary institution in the whole of the federation. Named after Rev. Hope Masterton Waddell, what is less publicized is the fact that it was the Scottish Missionary Mary Slessor who was the driving force behind the establishment of Howad.

    It has produced many illustrious sons who have made the school and the country proud. Back in the olden days, people from the western states in Nigeria and the coastal states in West Africa made it their first choice to send their children to school in Hope Waddell and when those ones grew and had their own families, they also sent their sons to their alma mater. The school can refer today to a man called Obo Effanga of Premium Times; he is a third generation Old Boy, after his grandfather and father-who also taught there as well. But long before, people like Bayo Rotimi and Adeniran Ogunsanya attended Hope Waddell. Torch Taire, the husband of a former Lagos Deputy Governor Mrs. Adefemi Taire attended Howad. From Cameroun the former Secretary-General of the OAU (now AU) Nzo Ekangaki went to Howad. Howad students then came from across Ghana, Sierra Leone today‘s Benin Republic and Liberia to attend the school. Nigeria‘s Premier President, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe was a product of Howad,

    My uncle Albert Attah, a pioneer member of the Punch team and one of those who made the newspaper then, went to Howad. I am walking in his shoes now, with this column! My cousin Bruce Attah who was formerly with Yahoo in London also went to Howad.

    As the distinguished Old Boys gather in Uyo this weekend for their special anniversary AGM under their national president and medical elder Dr Usen Uwa, this is wishing 122 cheers to the great institution. I also acknowledge the efforts of the high achieving Mr Donald Duke, former Cross River Governor in facilitating the visit of the Special Guest of Honour the Duke of Kent at the anniversary celebration.