The Nation Newspaper

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  • Why APC should rally round the president

    Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the sage and uncrowned President of Nigeria once said that only the deep can communicate to the deep. This is a truism. Clearly, only those who can think will appreciate the need to see good things in other people, and unless we consciously cultivate the habit of appreciating others, we may not take off.

    Since President Muhammadu Buhari took over the mantle of leadership in May 2015, he has been working to re-position Nigeria. He has, in the process, attracted a sizeable crop of enemy to himself. More than that, he has stepped on many sore toes and he has vowed to rid the country of corruption.

    While President Buhari and his deputy – Prof Yemi Osinbajo have been toiling day and night to ensure that Nigeria takes her rightful place in the comity of nations, detractors are busy fanning the embers of disunity. While the government is leaving no stone unturned to ensure that Nigerians enjoy the bountiful dividends of democracy, the never do wells are busy doing what they are very good at – pull him down. While the government is busy trying to fix Nigeria by making sure that we have constant and uninterrupted electricity supply, the enemies of the country are at work vandalizing the electricity equipment. While the government is busy and working day and night to turn around the fortunes of the country by diversifying the economy, the detractors are busy sabotaging it. While the government is busy finding solutions to the myriad of problems plaguing the country, some Nigerians are busy scuttling the efforts of the government.

    Yet, these Nigerians are the very first to talk ill of the government. One thing remains clear, if Nigeria works, it is for the good of all Nigerians and if the country does not work, all Nigerians will suffer the consequence. Let us make no mistake about it; Nigeria is the only country we have. We must remember that North or South, home is the best.

    Without any iota of doubt, there is the hand of God in the affairs of Nigeria. And Nigeria is work in progress. If not that God Almighty is working through Nigeria, how would one fathom the tumbling and falling out of power of those who had boasted that they would rule the country for 60 years? How many Nigerians realized the depth of the rot in the system until President Muhammadu Buhari took over. How would Nigerians have known that the People’s Democratic Party – the party that was in power for sixteen years was a share the money party?

    God has changed the narrative. President Buhari has changed the course of history. He has brought sanity into governance. President Buhari is investing in the future of the youths. He is passionate about Nigeria and Nigerians. He is more interested in putting Nigeria back to work. He is more interested in the welfare and wellbeing of all Nigerians.

    However, the All Progressives Congress, APC, the party in power needs to do a rethink.  The party does not need to be reminded that there is strength in unity. It is in unity that Nigeria can make progress.

    As it is, if truth is to be told, the Senators who are elected on the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are not united.  The party chieftains too are divided and the disunity in the party is, no doubt, the harbinger of all the governance crises we witness in Nigeria today.

    To the discerning mind, the problem of the Senate started right from the day of inauguration. The crisis in the Senate has its tap root in the way and manner the principal officers of the hallowed chamber of the Senate emerged. Since that very day, the Senate has known no peace.  Despite the fact that the All Progressives Congress has the majority in the Senate, the party has not enjoyed the kind of support it ought to enjoy in the Senate.  The government has not found it easy getting its bills passed.  It has not also found it easy getting its nominees confirmed by the Senate.  The government has not gotten the type of co-operation and support it ought to get from the National Assembly.  For example, why is it that government’s requests and policies that ought to get concurrence and support from the National Assembly are turned down with glee?  And the party in power controls the majority of the members of the National Assembly.

    Truth be told, the non-confirmation of Ibrahim Magu as chairman of the dreaded Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) is as a result of the disunity in the fold of the All Progressives Congress. The disunity is also responsible for the recent and unfortunate call on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack David Lawal Babachir, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.  It is also the reason for the brouhaha between the Senate and Hamid Ali, the czar and incorruptible man in Customs.  The same disunity is the main reason for the unnecessary brouhaha over Lt. Gen. Buratai. Nothing but the same disunity is behind the cold relationship between the Senators and the Chief of Staff to the President. The disunity in the party is the root cause of the incessant rift and unhealthy exchange of hot words between the executive and legislative arms of government.

    Eighteen months in the saddle, President Buhari should be allowed to face the challenging problems of governance.  He should be assisted to deliver the bountiful dividends of democracy to the people.  He should be encouraged by all and sundry to deliver on his change mantra. More than anything else, all hands must be on deck to ensure the unity, survival and rebirth of Nigeria.

    The only way to do this is for the All Progressives Congress, to resolve to work together as a party to salvage Nigeria. The Senate should hold the bull by the horn by working harmoniously with the executive arm of government to deliver on the electoral promises made to the people during the electioneering campaign.

    Firstly, the APC and its members in the National Assembly should ensure that Malam Ibrahim Magu, the President’s nominee for the chairman of the Economic and Financial Commission (EFCC) is confirmed.  Secondly, the Senate should allow the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) Engineer Babachir David Lawal to continue in office especially now that a presidential committee on North-East has been inaugurated.  He should not be sacrificed for the Executive – Legislative feud that should stop immediately for the growth and overall development of Nigeria.

    Thirdly, the seeming differences between the Directorate of State Security (DSS) and the Nigeria Customs Services must be resolved speedily.  In 2017, the gains of anti-corruption war of the government must be deepened through solid co-operation between the two agencies given the vital role they play in the machinery of government.

    On cabinet reshuffle, we call for caution. This is because social change is a gradual process that takes time to manifest.  No doubt, there are party members who are interested in cabinet appointments, including some members of the National Assembly and this is partly responsible for the calls for a change in the cabinet.  If this must happen, it should be at the discretion of the President.

    On the 2017 budget and foreign loan, APC senators in particular and the Senate in general should be patriotic and mindful of the verdict of history. The party must work with the National Assembly to ensure that the budget is passed speedily.  All corrections must be effected without delay.  Also the loan request by the President   should be granted so that the economy can be revived fully.

    The Senate has the right to scrutinize but not deny or delay as delay itself has a damaging effect on the economy and its recovery

  • The British were once here

    I was born in Idanre, a hilly ancient town in Ondo State but I have spent more years in Lagos than in any other city in the world.

    Since the early sixties when I used to spend holidays with my cousin, Professor Ayo Akinbobola, Lagos along with another cousin of mine Chief Babu Akinbobola, Lagos has always been my focus.

    No matter my sojourn in the country be it in Eket, Calabar, Ogoja, Katsina, Bendi, Akure, Owerri, Maiduguri, Sokoto and many other cities in the country including of course Abuja—that artificial city—I always love to come back to Lagos—a city that never sleeps.

    In the past, Ikoyi was the best place to be in Lagos, hence my disappointment that the names of places we cherished in the past have been changed. A fact that can’t be erased is that we were once colonized by the British and Lagos was also once the capital of Nigeria. Another fact was that some streets in Lagos especially in Ikoyi were named by the British to remind us that they were once here.

    Cameron road was named after Sir Donald Charles Cameron (1872-1948). He was a British Colonial governor. In April 1925, Cameron became the second governor of the British mandate of Tanganyika, taking over from John Scott, who was acting governor for Sir Horace Byatt. From 1931 to 1935 he was governor and commander-in-chief of Nigeria.

    Glover road was named after Sir James Hawley Glover (1829-1885). He was a Captain in the British Royal Navy and later a colonial governor. On April 21, 1863 he was appointed administrator of the government of Lagos Colony.

    Victoria Island in Lagos was named after Queen Victoria (1819-1901) who was the Queen of the United Kingdom and Ireland from June 20, 1837 until her death. From May 1, 1876, she adopted the adopted the additional title of Empress of India.

    Milverton Road in Ikoyi was named after Baron Milverton. Baron Milverton, of Lagos and of Clifton in the City of Bristol, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1947 for the colonial administrator Sir Arthur Richards. He had previously served as Governor of Nigeria. As of 2010, the title is held by his eldest son, the second Baron, who succeeded in 1978.

    Moloney Street in Lagos was named after Sir Cornelius Alfred Moloney KCMG (1848-13 August 1913) who was a British colonial administrator. He served as British administrator of The Gambia from 1884 to 1886, Governor of Lagos Colony from 1886 to 1890, Governor of British Honduras from 1891 to 1897, Governor of the Federal Colony of the Windward Islands from 1897 to 1900, and Governor of Trinidad and Tobago from November 1900 to 1904.

    Clifford Street in Lagos was named after Sir Hugh Charles Clifford (1866-1941) who was a British Colonial administrator. In 1903, he left Malaysia to take the post of Colonial Secretary of Trinidad. Later he was appointed Governor of the Gold Coast, 1912-1919, Nigeria, 1919-1925, and Ceylon, 1925-1927.

    Eric Moore Street in Surulere, Lagos was named after Eric Olawolu Moore, a member of the colonial legislative council and the first Lagos member of the united committee of experts and adviser on Labour conventions and regulations. He was the father of Kofo Moore, the wife of Sir Adetokunbo Ademola, first Chief Justice of the Federation, who also established New Era Secondary School in Surulere, Lagos.

    Denton Street in Ikoyi was named after George Chadin Denton (1851-1928) who was the Colonial Secretary of Lagos in 1900.

    Freeman Street was named after Sir Henry Stanhorp Freeman (1831-1865) who was the first Governor of Lagos (1862-1865). He took over from acting Governor William Mccorskty.

    Alexander Avenue was named in honour of Cyril Wilson Alexander (1879-1947) who was Governor of the Southern provinces of Nigeria between 1929-1930.

    Egerton Street was named in honour of Sir Walter Egerton(1858-1947) who was the first Governor of the colony of Southern Nigeria between 1906-1912.

    Osborne in Ikoyi was named after Jack Osborne who died on August 15, 2012 at the age of 103. He served with Chindits behind enemy lines in Barma, commanding Nigeria troops during World War Two. Lugard Street in Ikoyi was named after Sir Frederick John Dealtry Lugard (1858-1945), former Governor General of Nigeria. Sir Lugard also named Port-Harcourt in honour of Sir Lewis Vernon Harcourt (1863-1922) who was the British Secretary for the Colonies between 1910-1915. Lord Harcourt’s nickname was “Loulou”.

    Macgregor Street in Ikoyi was named after Sir William Macgregor (1846-1919) who served as Governor of Lagos Colony Niger from 1899-1904 where he instituted a campaign against the prevalent malaria. Thompson Street in Ikoyi was named after Sir Graeme Thomson(1875-1933). He was appointed as Secretary for Ceylon in 1919, then Governor of British Guiana in 1922 and of Nigeria in 1925. Adeniyi Jones Street in Ikeja was named after Dr. Curtis Crispin Adeniyi-Jones (1876-1957), a Nigerian doctor and politician. His son Femi is at present a member of guild of Stewards at the Cathedral Church of Christ, Marina, Lagos. Macpherson Street in Lagos was named after John Stewart Macpherson (1898-1971). He was a British Colonial administrator who served as Governor General of Nigeria from 1948-1955. He was responsible for the introduction of the 1951 constitution, Macpherson constitution which provided for “semi-responsible government”. His ADC during his tenure was General Johnson Thomas Umanakwe Aguiyi Ironsi(1924-1966) who later became the Head of State of Nigeria from January 1966 to July 1966.

    Carter Bridge in Lagos was named after Sir Gilbert Thomas Carter (1848-1927). Carter was appointed Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the Colony of Lagos on February 3, 1891. Carter ordered an attack on the Ijebus in 1892. Carter travelled to various parts of Yorubaland, accompanied by soldiers, in an attempt to demonstrate the might of the British. Initially, Carter was not well received at Oyo, and the Egba chiefs advised him not to interfere with slavery, while the Ibadan chiefs said they were afraid that their slaves would “assert their freedom by running to the Resident” – and they refused to sign a treaty with Carter. However, in January 1893 the Egba chiefs signed a Treaty of Independence with the British Government. It was agreed that freedom of trade between the Egba Nation and Lagos was to be guaranteed by the British Government, in return for which no road would be closed without the approval of the governor. They further agreed that complete protection and “every assistance and encouragement” would be afforded to all Christian ministers”. The British agreed that “no annexation on any portion of Egba Nation shall be made by her Majesty’s Government without the consent of the lawful authorities of the nation, no aggressive action shall be taken against the said nation and its independence shall be fully recognized.” He was promoted Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) on June 3, 1893, “in recognition of his services in conducting a mission to the Yoruba country which resulted in the negotiation of important treaties and brought to an end a long-standing war”.

    The British did it their way when they were here and what they did is part of our history which we are still coping with today. In his book titled, “CHARACTER AND OPINION”, George Santayana (1862-1952) wrote that “things have their days and beauties in that day. It would be preposterous to expect any civilization to last forever”.

    • Teniola, a director at the presidency, resides in Lagos.
  • The Jammeh challenge

    The Jammeh challenge

    For what seems a zillionth time, the international community prepares anxiously to take on a monster that has stalked and preyed on Africa particularly, for years. As a continent that has historically been in the backwaters of human development and advancement painfully demonstrated in a number of all-too-visible signs and symptoms, the hydra-headed monster of systematic government and institutional failures, engendered by derelict and greedy political players most often than not nursing ulterior motives, has been an all-too-common nightmare. Long suffering Africans who have sometimes shed their blood in confronting this monster are resigned to some form of political miracle as they hope for better days for themselves and unborn generations.
    This monster manifests and thrives in the absence of democracy and the rule of law or in the presence of a brittle democracy and an all-too-malleable rule of law, stretched and bent to pander to the capricious whims of greedily unpatriotic African politicians who in their orgy of power drunkenness and systemic destruction of their peoples and societies bend the law to cultivate and perpetuate themselves in office. In the most extremes of their messianic delusions, they even argue that were they to vacate office when their bloated and highly pedestrian terms are over, the very society and peoples they had supposedly united and kept under a single entity would disintegrate into chaos.
    Thus it came to pass that in the tiny West African nation of Gambia, the people deathly tired of the blood-thirsty and blood-curdling antics and tactics of eccentric President Yahya Jammeh marched together in lockstep to the ballot box on December 1, 2016 to shove the red card into the face of one of Africa‘s most ruthless rulers and choose his main challenger, Adama Barrow as the one sufficiently trusted to hold in his untried and untested hands the very destiny of the Gambian nation. Jammeh‘s defeat was a potent blow, well-timed and well-delivered to begin the disgraceful denouement of a 22-year old asphyxiating stranglehold on the soul of a people that have sparingly known democratic governance since independence in 1965.
    In what many had hailed as a tremendous triumph for democracy, the President concealed his stomach-churning shock to concede electoral defeat to his main challenger and pledged to hand over power on January 19. The whole world cheered this improbable decision and even surmised that one of Africa‘s strongest men had found a democratic soul 22 years after he barged into power in the Gambia trampling political opponents under his boot heels.
    This universal delirium, informed by the delusion that a leopard could change its spots was however brutally wiped away on December 9, 2016 when Jammeh having embarked on the warped introspection which had informed his 22-year old stranglehold on his people and having held consultation sessions with his ‘council of hyenas’ , whose advice had decidedly helped form his unique brand of brutal rule stunned the world, especially those who had loudly albeit prematurely touted the Gambian gambit as a new dawn for democracy, with the news that he had determined that the elections which had floored him in defeat were flawed and his consequent rejection of the result polls must precipitate fresh elections lest he clings on to power.
    An alarmed international community has recovered from its shock to unanimously ask the Gambian strongman to concede defeat conclusively and cede power totally. Firstly, the quartet of the presidents of Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana and Sierra-Leone hastily and anxiously travelled to Banjul to talk some common sense into Jammeh. If he gave them the impression that he considered their words of more worth than empty chatter ,it was only fleeting and deceitful, for no sooner had they departed for their various countries than he launched a tirade against all those who ‘seek to remove him from power by unlawful means’. He also promised a fight. The international community is quickly switching from cheers to confrontation as the possibility that a show of force might be needed to rescue Gambia from its tormentor sticks out like a sore thumb.
    In a continent iniquitously plundered and plunged into doldrums by western allies and occupiers under partition agreements that were unjust at best, and repeatedly failed by those on whose shoulders it was destined to rest and recover from its wounds, the jamboree gradually gaining steam in Gambia prods the knife even deeper into the many old and festering wounds of democracy and the rule of law on the African continent.
    It is increasingly looking like this is a continent cursed by a very prolific tribe of dictators and their many scions and students. In Burundi, President Nkurunziza, having determined that he alone holds the balm to the country‘s many wounds has perpetuated himself in power, swimming in the blood of many of his own people to reach the shores and retain the treasures of power, while indulging in one farce after the other. In response to withering international criticism by an alarmed world, he has defiantly set in motion machineries to withdraw Burundi from some international institutions and clamp down on Non-Governmental Organizations thus isolating his country and precluding accountability, for his impunity, and international intervention. History however teaches that such isolationist gimmicks are destined to fail with grave consequences for the perpetrators of grievous crimes. Nkurunziza can confer with Habre Hissene and Charles Taylor on this.
    In DR Congo, President Joseph Kabila, having run out of lies and lame excuses with which to foster his painfully bankrupt rule in the long-suffering country has launched a brutal war on his own people and the country‘s institutions in his sordid determination to cling to the aprons of power.
    This current gaggle of dictators seems an addition to some of those dictators Africa was already cursed with who have held their countries to ransom for years. If such dictators like Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, Teodoro Obiang of Equatorial Guinea, Isaias Afwerki of Eritrea had feared for the future of their lineage of dictators, their fears have been put to flight by the younger generation which has not only learnt the dark arts of dictatorship but have shown a ruthless willingness to refine and unleash it on their own people. Hapless countries such as Burundi and DR Congo have become birthing and breeding grounds for young dictators who bring the freshness and presumptuousness of youth to their dictatorial affectations and atrocities.
    That this group of hyenas are flourishing and gleefully watching their impunity gain more grounds must immediately call into question the viability, validity and utility of international laws and institutions and of a continent‘s avowed rejection of dictatorship and all its very dark appendages in preference for democracy and the breathtakingly fresh reign of the rule of law.
    Ours is a continent suffocating under the stranglehold of some of its own elites schooled in the darkest arts of autocracy, sired by dictators, determined to remain dictators and even more determined to raise a next generation shorn of all democratic affiliations, credentials, inclinations, human development and more malleable to savagery and the dark methods reminiscent of prehistoric times.
    Political players like Jammeh must go and spare the corridors of power their desecration, for it is increasingly looking like their most pernicious effect yet is the mental, educational and psychological impoverishment and stultification of young people who should one day succeed them, but might just find themselves ill-equipped to handle the mantle of power and build and bequeath strong institutions and a bright future to unborn generations.
    While Jammeh justifies his jamboree and other sympathetic African despots making up his skulk of power-drunk jackals rally round their own with glee and solidarity, the tiny streets of Gambia must not be flooded with the blood of a people who on December 1,2016 univocally gave their voice to the one who they determined could speak to them and for them in Gambia and on the world stage.
    •Obiezu writes from Abuja.

  • Trump presidency signalling a new world order?

    Trump presidency signalling a new world order?

    As Donald Trump gets sworn in Friday, January 20 as the 45th U.S. President, Americans and the rest of the world wait with bated breath for the arrival on the global scene of a phenomenon. Trump has been able to marry two differing personas – being an enigma and an open book. An enigma, given his unorthodox, unpredictable political campaign strategy that shattered the myth of political correctness while his verbal canons in freely expressing his mind makes him an open book. What opponents and critics fail to acknowledge, to their utter shock given the electoral outcome, was that aspirant and candidate Trump brought humanism into the political process rather than the synthetic impersonality of the professional politicians he routed at primary and election stages. Trump’s election truncated the emergent political dynasty of the Bush family, which produced President George H.W. Bush (1989-1993), President George W. Bush, the son (2001 -2009) with a second son, Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida state, primed for the Republican ticket and eventual White House occupancy but who was humiliatingly forced out early in the primary race by Trump’s triumphs. The other stymied, emerging dynasty is that of husband, President Bill Clinton (1993 -2001) seeking to have his wife, Hillary Clinton, installed as U.S. President. A fallout of Hillary’s shock defeat was that some reputations in other countries suffered collateral damage, notably, in Nigeria, that of Noble Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, whose indiscrete brag of tearing his Green card should Trump win turned him into a subject of taunting in the social media. There is the other one called Prophet T.B. Joshua, who had emphatically predicted a Hillary Clinton victory but had to kiss dust. Lucky guy, though – he did not suffer much social media vilification like Prof. Soyinka and his Synagogue remains a religious Mecca.
    Back to Trump. He also brought into the election campaign the pragmatic realism of the businessman man that he is, as against the manipulative coning and double speak of the professional political class. For instance, he says America will no longer play Father Xmas in trade relations with other countries. His campaign’s breath of fresh air was rewarded by voters.
    Now, as Trump assumes the most powerful political office in the world, what are the expectations? Will he be able to walk the talk of his campaign pledges? Can he affirm: “Yes, we can”, to borrow Barack Obama’s 2008 riveting, rhetorical slogan? An American president contends with many thorny issues – national, regional and global. The challenges for Trump cover these three levels. At the domestic level, bringing back manufacturing jobs which have migrated to cheaper labour regions of the world will pose a serious challenge, given that capitalists are devotees of maximization of profit. Mending frayed race relations among America’s rainbow population and particularly with its seemingly targeted Black community that has borne the burden of police brutality is another dicey issue. His perception as a racist may aggravate the problem, with dire consequences for domestic law and order, where he fails to reassure restive sections of the population. The Black Lives Matter movement, in reaction to indiscriminate police killings of unarmed Black suspects, may assume a militant dimension if President Trump is seen to stoke the embers of hate.
    Immigration, a very controversial issue during the election campaign, has national, regional and
    global dimensions given the fact that America is the most cosmopolitan country in the world. To stand at the junction of Lexington Avenue and 32nd Street in Manhattan, New York City, at lunch time is to see, literally, a parade of the world’s ethnic nationalities pass by – all colours from all over! So, immigration is a most contentious issue, fuelled by Trump’s inflammatory denigration of some particular immigrant communities – Mexicans and Muslims – as rapists, criminals and terrorists. He sees Blacks as hooked on sex and drugs while other immigrants are dubbed economic refugees fleeing from the impoverishing looting by political leaders of their respective countries. Of course, there is some truth to Trump’s charge of mind-boggling public treasury looting in many countries, including Nigeria, so his being pilloried on this charge is unjustifiable. However, reality has compelled him to forgo mass deportation of illegal immigrants, estimated at 11 million, to ejecting only the criminal elements among them. America needs illegal immigrants as they provide cheap labour. Unlike professional politicians, Trump seems determined to particularly stem the tidal wave of Mexican immigrants with his promise to build a wall along its border with Mexico. Mexicans, estimated at over 30 million, constitute the largest immigrant group in the U.S. and, with other Latinos, are changing the population demographics in many states like Texas, New Mexico, Florida and California. The Mexican leaders say they won’t pay for the wall as demanded by Trump. That is a mere bluff. Although Trump has stated that appropriation would be sought from Congress as early as April to fund the wall, Mexico’s economy is so dependent on access to the American market that it cannot afford a trade war with the U.S. which Trump can declare as a bargaining chip in seeking payment, even if contributory, to the cost of the wall. Canada, which does not have an immigration issue with U.S., has entered into dialogue with Trump to plead against his pledge to dismantle the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) signed under President Bill Clinton which puts America at disadvantage.
    While much of the foregoing relates more with American domestic and regional matters, it is Trump’s foreign policy positions, especially his inclination for rapprochement with Russia, which have potentials for a New World Order of healthy rivalry among the super powers that may usher in an era of global peace. President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton see Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, as enemies while Trump sees them as potential partners towards achieving world peace. There is logic in Trump’s reasoning – Obama and Hillary Clinton’s engagement of Putin as an enemy to be confronted anywhere, as currently playing out in the battle for Syria, has not brought peace to that country while worsening the security situation in the region and for American interests worldwide. In tweets on Saturday, January 7, Trump had maintained his stance on building a “good relationship” with Russia. “ Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, only ‘stupid’ people or fools would think that it is bad”, he tweeted adding that his approach would allow the adversaries to work together to solve “some of the many great and pressing problems and issues of the WORLD !”. The on-going heart-rending, devastating war in Aleppo, Syria’s second largest city, the anarchy in Libya, the terror attacks in Iraq and Turkey, the refugee crisis in Europe and other sundry violent militancy across many nations dictate a coming together of the super powers for an enduring world peace. Rapprochement between America and Russia would prevent terrorists and other dissident groups from playing off one power against the other. So, hopefully, U.S. – Russia rapprochement’s prospects for global peace, in tandem with candidate Trump’s pledge not to play the police man of the world, may be a President Donald Trump’s gift to the world.

    •Dr. Olawunmi writes from Bowen University, Iwo. Osun State.

  • Re: President Buhari’s strides in the year 2016’

    Re: President Buhari’s strides in the year 2016’

    In a piece entitled ‘President Buhari’s strides in the year 2016’, published a few days ago in a number of print and electronic media, Garba Shehu, who is the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media, flagrantly stood the truth on its head and in that connection coldly insulted the sensibility of many Nigerians. Like many government spokespersons, Shehu served truth in that hyperbolic chronicle of “uncommon achievements” recorded in the better-forgotten year 2016. Indeed, Buhari’s spokesman’s celebratory narrative further aptly supports the claim that no one will hear the truth from those who are paid to distort it.
    What Shehu described as the ‘strides’ recorded by his principal in the last 12 months are faltering steps that could at best be styled as numbing drama of tokenistic performances. The performances of the Buhari administration in the outgone year do not qualify as great moves that resulted significantly in the improvement of the human condition in Nigeria. The space of good, meaningful governance covered by the federal government in the year in question, as the lives and businesses of Nigerians persuasively reveal, cannot be spoken of as positively wide in the manner that that governmental piper cheeped.
    Let’s consider the issue of security in the country which Shehu ululated about as one that has ‘improved significantly’. Anyone who has not been bitten by the pitiless bug of untruth knows that the success the army recorded against the nihilistic Boko Haram insurgent in the North-east is not an appropriate means of speaking of improved security across the federation. Dislodging Boko Haram from its operational base and freeing some swathes of land in its possession does not and cannot by any means translate to improvement in security across the country. Even the trumpeted enhancement of security in the North-east is so incipient that it constitutes poor judgement on the part of government to begin to wax lyrical on total victory.
    A proper review of the security situation across the country in the year 2016 will reveal a picture of a country assailed by manifold security challenges. We are talking of a year in which Fulani herdsmen from within and outside the country went on a killing binge. The herdsmen violently passed through Enugu, Plateau, Zamfara, Nasarawa, and Kaduna states. Many were the lives they cut short in their ruinous journeys across those states. What shall we say of the episodic melodrama of kidnappings and armed robbery? All of these increased disturbingly in that year to heighten the feeling of insecurity around the country. The prohibitive, yet avoidable, killings of many Nigerians in the past year within their own country further exposed the incapacity of those whose responsibility it is to protect the peoples of the land. The creepy silence and inaction of President Buhari in times of carnage and his insalubrious insensitivity to the pains of the grieving cannot be considered as security-enhancing measures. Therefore, it is unjustifiably insulting for Shehu, under the pretext of justifying his pay, to invent a narrative of substantial improvement in security in the country.
    Additionally, the deathly blows the Operation Lafiya Dole dealt the insurgent group in the ongoing campaign against the throttlehold of terrorism in the North-east do not translate into total defeat of the sect and their destructive ideology. Their fighting ability might have been degraded, but the truth is that the group has not been extirpated. In my view, no pronouncement of total defeat of that evil band can be genuine until the displaced people of that region are resettled successfully in their land. The improvement of security in that enclave cannot be celebrated until the people can resume normal living – trading, observing their various rituals of celebrations, worshipping in their mosques and churches, and schoolchildren attending schools without the slightest trepidation that some unstable minds will make mincemeat of their flesh with Improvised Explosive Devices.
    On the economy, Mr Shehu lanced our flaky flesh with the bayonet of half-truth. We harvested, he orated hyperbolically, in 2016 ‘the success of the important economic policy decisions of the government’. Contrary to his claim, the year was one in which many Nigerians appreciated the fact that the government does not have a practicable economic blueprint. Even its response to the recession which equally began in that year did more to compound the economic aches that weaken the purchasing powers of many families. It was the year of massive cuts in salaries across varied companies and the loss of about 1.7 million jobs within nine months (January to September) according to the National Bureau of Statistics. The agency also revealed that the number of those employed rose marginally from 69 million at the beginning of the year to 69.47 million by September ending while the labour force population rose by 2.18 million from 78.48 million to 80.66 million. Yet, the administration’s spokesman wants Nigerians to believe that the ineffectual stirrings of the government in the economic sphere are some of the fetching flowers in the bouquet of the ‘strides’ achieved in 2016.
    Another embroidered fact from that narrative concerns the Social Investment Programme of the government, of which the Conditional Cash Transfer to the most vulnerable Nigerians and the N-Power scheme for unemployed youths stand out. How programmes that have not been properly thought through and that have yet to yield any valuable result qualify for celebration is perplexing. A careful observation of the way the government is going about the implementation of the programmes shows that the government does not yet understand how to properly implement them. The delay in their take-off and the loose thinking that characterises their operations are glaring evidence of lack of brilliant organisation. Many of the states are not even well informed about the programmes. The government unwittingly gives the impression that it is just out to throw some bones to the people as a means of eliciting applause. The Shehu write-up does no less.
    It is important to point out that the increasing proclivity of the Buhari administration to always praise its unformed and inchoate efforts is seriously hamstringing it from being able to understand that it is punching below its weight. Since it thinks it is recording significant ‘strides’ in all critical sectors, it cannot appreciate the fact that the thinking that undergirds its governance philosophy is weak. That urge to tell itself that its ideas are the best and celebrate tokenism hinders it from gaining a good understanding of its limitations.
    The bald truth is that the strides of the government in the last 19 months are more uninspiring. They are strides that birth transition without lasting transformation. Nigeria is in urgent need of transformational strides in all areas. The depressing reality is that the strides recorded in 2016 did far very little to move the country near notable transformation. If the president, whose spokesman reminded us is a taciturn, will speak through his works, let them be invaluably substantial transformational performances.
    •Ademola is a public affairs analyst and researcher. He writes from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

    Sanya Oni’s Policy column returns next week

  • Tambuwal’s indelible marks on Seat of Caliphate

    Tambuwal’s indelible marks on Seat of Caliphate

    If he were to be asked his birthday wish this day in 2015, the then Sokoto State gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Rt. Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, would have probably prayed for success in the elections he was facing few weeks away. He wouldn’t have stopped at that; the Tambuwal I know would have definitely prayed for God’s hand in not only winning the election but discharging the responsibilities that come with the victory creditably.
    I don’t know whether somewhere in his mind, in his usual meditation to mark his birthday, Tambuwal indeed supplicate to God on these two fundamental issues. But one thing that is clear is God almighty has been gracious. Less than 90 days after his 49th birthday, Tambuwal emerged as the Sokoto governor-elect and today, at 51, he has performed so wonderfully that he is celebrated home and away.
    This is enough reason for Tambuwal to be grateful to God, and it is a good reason for all of us his lieutenants and indeed the entire people of Sokoto state to join him in appreciating the blessings of the almighty at this important juncture.
    In steering the state-ship, Tambuwal’s major account for success is his recognition, ab initio, of the weight of expectations that come with leadership, especially executive power entrusted on a governor in a state like Sokoto. But most importantly is his realisation, like all great leaders in history that leadership essentially means taking people where they should be, not necessary where they want to be.
    There is no gainsaying that the developmental challenges bugging developing countries like Nigeria is long diagnosed to be the result of poor leadership. Years of self-serving, short-sighted leadership has contributed in no mean way in stagnating development around here and making us wander in the same cycle of problems and challenges.
    With this clear vision on the expectations and where he wants to see the state under his stewardship, Tambuwal set out to prioritise and articulate this vision into areas of focus.
    Refreshingly, he set out to differ by coming up with genuine, insightful and visionary ideas to turn around, not only the day to day course of life, but initiatives that would also alter the face of the society. For Tambuwal, whatever is done is not just another project, it is part of the bold revolutionary interventions that have set his government apart from the pack.
    Sokoto, like many a northern state, is often listed among what is termed ELDS – educationally least developed states. This negative ranking is tabulated based on enrolment ratio, the out of school children, school dropouts and other parameters.
    A state that is the nucleus of the knowledge-driven Sokoto Caliphate was unfortunately lagging in the area of education, especially for the girl child. It was therefore revolutionizing for Governor Tambuwal to marshal out sweeping policies aimed at turning around the statistics. To this end, the state government announced state of emergency on the education sector. This impressive pronouncement has since been backed by action.
    The first of those bold steps was the announcement, early in the day, of enforcement of school enrolment for all eligible children. The government, in attempt to tackle the lethargic attitude of some parents to modern schooling promulgated punishment against parents who refuse to enrol their school-aged children in schools.
    The government then went a step further by introducing incentives for parents who enrol their daughters in school, through a conditional cash transfer scheme to enable the parents support their wards through school. Through this carrot and stick approach the state government targets enrolment of 1.2 million pupils that are hitherto out of school.
    As a surest path to development, the emphasis by the Tambuwal administration on education is not only commendable but exemplary especially for educationally-challenged states of northern Nigeria.
    Education, in this information age, is the key to the future. The wisest decision, for any leader in this age is to have a holistic and wide-ranging investment in human capital development through education. Here is the Tambuwal model, a model of societal upliftment through the viable investment in its human capital.
    By making education the mainstay of his administration, Governor Tambuwal has put Sokoto, once again, on the pathway to greatness. If this noble agenda is pursued diligently, beyond the rhetoric as in many government programmes, then it is safe for one to expect Sokoto to shine among peers in near the future.
    This trend will continue through the year as we have seen with the budget submitted last month to the state House of Assembly by Governor Tambuwal, where education is given the lion share of 27.3 percent of the N204 billion budget estimate. This is a first from Tambuwal as the allocation exceeds even the utopian target of 26 percent set by UNESCO.
    The huge attention being received by education in Sokoto under Tambuwal, justified as it is, does not mean that other critical and important sectors are neglected.
    Agriculture and healthcare delivery have equally benefitted from the Tambuwal’s methodical and strategic interventions. Under healthcare, for example, the state government, like in all sectors, set out with a strategy by having 33 professionals brainstorm to come up with the Sokoto State Strategic Health Plan 2016-2020. One of the fall outs of this is the identification of six general hospitals that are currently being upgraded into premier reference. Also, just as 2016 was coming to a close, Tambwal flagged off the Sokoto contributory health scheme where the government put down the seed fund of N100 million.
    Contrary to the usual practice in Nigeria, Governor Tambuwal went all out since his coming to ensure that all works he inherited have been completed by budgeting huge sums of money for that. The result today is the commissioning of the 500-units Kalambaina Housing Estate by President Muhammadu Buhari in November last year. Another big one in this regard is the coming on board of the 38MW Sokoto State Independent Power Project.
    Even by this pigeon-holed look into the stewardship of Sokoto state by Governor Tambuwal it is evident that this true leader of his people is indeed serving the people diligently towards creating a new vista for Sokoto State. The Matawallen Sokoto is poised to making his Sokoto a pride of all Sakkwatawa.
    At 51, Tambuwal is unarguably one of Nigeria’s most enterprising politicians. His ever-smiling disposition brings forward a happy mien that is intricately infectious. Like his forebears in Sokoto always say, the future tends to be brighter for he who smiles often.
    •Imam (imamdimam) is the spokesman to Governor Tambuwal

  • Nigeria – No shadow of turning

    It often seems imaginative to be pessimistic about Nigeria. And those who are hardly go wrong. But reality check, also informs that the prevailing pessimism derives not from nifty analysis, but from Nigeria’s consistency in being an outlier. This reality is further underpinned by political muddling and growing fragmentation in governance. The year 2016 is passé, along with its good and bad. As a year of promised change; of supposedly tangible and progressive shift, it flat lined from start to finish.
    In hindsight, 2016 as a change year was deplorable on all counts, except to those engaged in political varnishing. Though all through Nigerians remained hopeful, activities of the past year did not in any way offer a modicum of hope for better governance in Nigeria. The disjointed year derived its impetus from a fledgling executive branch dogged by legislative branch hubris and the resultant executive-legislative run-in from the outset. The residual impact lingers and will either foster further challenges and or retard envisaged progress, if any.
    Factually, but without a clear divide, year 2016 presages year 2017, a new year, in which Nigerians have taken to the social media early to “appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari of the ruling All Progressives Congress for good governance.” Contextually, though not tottering on the brink, and far from collapse, a hopeful Nigeria is presently consigned to the grouping of states that are “highly dysfunctional and unable to control all its territory.” Hence, Nigeria remains the paradox that it has been all along.
    Accordingly, prognosticating on year 2017 and what lies ahead for Nigerians, only conjures greater concerns. Worries about Nigeria’s inability to overcome prevailing governance challenges are indeed germane. Truly, there is no shadow of turning, if prevailing assessments are to be countenanced. Still, while recognizing that such challenges will not translate to governance stopping completely or the country imploding instantly, the prospects of the political and economic challenges lingering, must give any observer pause as the prevailing national malaise may be debilitating in the long run.
    What Nigeria needs is to reform its governance toolkit – thought process, vision and operators. Elected legislators can’t run that gauntlet since it’s inimical to their wellbeing; which places the onus on the Executive Branch, which retains the prerogative to hire and fire. Routine, normality and business as usual won’t cut or foster change. You can’t change ways of doing business with the very template you want to change; nor for that matter, with the same insidious mind-set.
    As a matter of reduction and deduction, the successive budgets presented by the Buhari administration for 2016 and 2017, are stark metaphors for how not to engender change. Both mirror the other for lacklustre policy and bureaucratic foggy thinking and for not grasping how to streamline policies, so that they can be implemented “within available resources”. Granted that deficit budgeting is almost always involuntary, but a nation committed to turning around its wellbeing can’t wilfully continue to wallow in deficit. Whatever happened to the maxim “It will get worse before it gets better?”
    Some analysts point to discernible fiscal and economic progress made in 2016. At best, such progress represents a mixed bag with hardly any redeeming value. Cut anyway, such halting progress is not good enough, even as projections are indicative of a possible 2.5 % growth in 2017. What matters, is attaining the catalytic kick start required for an irreversible turnaround of the economy and bringing the stagflation to an end. To celebrate a 2.5% prospective growth as opposed to the desirable minimum benchmark figure of 7.2%, which is in tandem with national GDP and GNP potentialities, is to be uninspired. To rehash what I’ve said elsewhere, the 2017 budget, if passed as is, may turn the nation around, but only, if fully funded and implemented. Otherwise, 2017 will be more punishing and agonizing for Nigerians.
    Though oil prices are inching up towards $65 per barrel, the $100 per barrel days is no longer attainable, outside a major conflagration in the Middle East, bigger than the Syrian imbroglio. Moreover, greater uncertainties lie ahead as no one knows what a Donald Trump presidency will mean for Africa and Nigeria as well. Perhaps, an international crisis triggered by Donald Trump will also do the magic. But in that vein, Nigeria stands to suffer vicariously, if the U.S. chokes off funding for the Bretton Wood Institutions.
    As such, Nigeria must bite the bullet and kill off the dual-tracked foreign currency regime; her Achilles Heels for the past several years. Though it may seem unlikely, if Nigeria courageously revert to a single foreign exchange regime, the existing foreign exchange gap will be readily filled by investors’ and diaspora remittances; and indeed, the voluntary repatriation of some of money – both legal and illegal – held overseas by Nigerians. It is only commonsensical that a further devalued Naira will make Nigeria attractive to investors. It will also make Nigerians more introspective; and more disposed to consuming domestically produced and certainly more affordable products.
    Nigeria’s challenge is analogous to a coin with two similar sides. Hence, the flip-side of holding on to the dual-tracked foreign exchange regime is the bare-faced and myopic reluctance by the government at the federal and state levels to cut the cost of governance. Foreign exchange finances government perks, largess and patronage. As rightly observed, “there has not been enough tangible action to show that Nigeria is serious making itself a great place where the private sector can flourish.” Thus surmounting the turnaround challenge, which is basically a factor of rhetoric-cum-inertia, requires transcending the prevailing timidity that translates into awkwardness in policy coherence. It bears repeating again, that there’s no shadow of turning the country around in 2017, if we continue on the present trajectory. But then, how else can one tell the present leadership so, without being snooty or impudent?
    •Obaze is MD/CEO of Selonnes Consult Ltd.

  • Senate, SGF and the real “grass cutters”

    Senate, SGF and the real “grass cutters”

    There have been wild reactions, public outcry, social media memes and even protest, following the Senate’s subtle indictment of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir David Lawan, for corruption and misapplication of Presidential Initiative for North East (PINE) funds.
    I initially also joined the frenzy, fumed, issued ultimatum and vowed to join a street protest to force the Federal Government to take decisive action against those involved in the diversion of funds meant for the IDPs.
    Having spent several years in both public service and civil society, and participated in almost all protests and peaceful demonstrations to champion the cause of a common man, my conscience is always the guiding light of my actions. Being an active member of Citizens Action to Take Back Nigeria (CATBAN), I decided to join other NGOs for a fact-finding mission in the North East.
    Documents at our disposal indicate that the contract was clearly stated as: “Award of Contract for the Removal of Inversive (invasive) plants along River Channels & 115 Hectares of Simplified Village Irrigation Operation In Yobe State”.
    The documents show that the contract was not awarded to Rholavision, the company linked to the SGF but to Josmon Technologies Limited with address at 9, Moputo Street, 3RD Floor, Fames-Jal Plaza, Wuse Zone 3, Abuja. The letter of award of the contract with the title stated above, which was signed by Aminu Ahmed, (Head of Procurement PINE) states: “I wish to refer to your quotation on the above subject and convey approval for the award of contract for the Removal of Inversive (sic) Plant Species along River channels and 115 Hectares of Simplified village Irrigation Operation in Yobe State to your company at the total cost of Two Hundred and Seventy-Two Million, Five Hundred and Twenty –Four Thousand ,Three Hundred and Fifty-Six Naira, Two Kobo (N272,524,356.02) only, inclusive of 5% VAT with a completion Period of Three (3) weeks”.
    Again, we found out from the document from PINE that Rholavision was not the main contractor that got the job. It was engaged only as a consultant even though the Senate Committee created the impression that the company of the SGF executed the contract.
    The letter from PINE was titled: “Award of Contract For The Engagement of MSSRS Rholavision Engineering Limited As A Consultant” and reads: “ I wish to convey to you the approval for award of contract to you as a Consultant on Removal of Invasive Plant Specie along River Channels and 115 Hectares of Simplified Village Irrigation Operation in Yobe State at the cost of Seven Million, Nine Thousand, Five Hundred and Sixteen Naira, Ninety-Six kobo (7,009,516.96) only, inclusive of all taxes, for the period of six (6) Weeks…”
    The letter was also signed by Aminu Ahmed, (Head of Procurement, PINE).
    From the foregoing we were able to verify even from the documents that the contract in question has nothing to do with grass cutting at any IDP camp, but of course it was to clear invasive plants in river channels which will aid the rehabilitation of IDPs by enabling easy flow of water through the channels to help fishing activities, enable proper irrigation for farming activities, and eliminate flooding for the communities during rainy season, when they return home from the camps after being displaced by Boko Haram insurgency.
    During the course of our investigations with PINE, we were made to understand that Rholavision Engineering Nigeria Limited were co-opted into the project as consultants based on their past successful work in the North East. The provided verifiable evidence showing that the company had been engaged in the clearing of the thypa grass from the Hadejia/Jamaare River Basin in 2013, a contract they executed for the African Development Bank (ADB).
    Our findings revealed that corruption which usually trails federal contracts channelled to states is at the heart of this crisis. We found out that some officials of one of the states in the region do not want PINE contracts awarded to independent companies, but rather that the funds from PINE should be allocated to their state through them directly. We understand this is why one of the state government officials specifically told the Senate Committee that PINE had not done anything in their state despite clear evidence of clearing/evacuation of invasive plant species & irrigation operation on 115 Hectares of land.
    Our goal was to find out if indeed any work has been done at all. Remember that the work in question is the intervention by PINE within the Hadeja-Nguru wetlands, spanning an area of 3,500sqkm, made up of 12 Local Governments from three states (Yobe, Jigawa, & Bauchi).
    The intervention work involves manual channel removal of aquatic weeds (typha & other), simplified irrigation scheme, provision of motorized & manual boats, & construction of water control gates.
    CATBAN alongside the local NGOs went to the Likori Bridge in Marma Channel on the Hadejia River. We found the first project sign post which consists of the contractors’ & consultants’ details. In order to see for ourselves the level of improvement as a result of the invention work, we took a boat down into the water canals that were previously overgrown with thypa grass. We paddled towards Burwa Fadama under Kabak community which subsequently led down Nguru Lake. It was at that point we gathered that at that part of Marma channel some communities were wiped out. Examples of such communities are Kakayau village, Matara Gari Gana, Duwa Kaku. Also down the Marma Channel within Yobe State, communities like, Sabon Gari, Araro, Maja Kakori, etc were also wiped out.
    The Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip was said to have visited Yobe and Jigawa States in 1988 in trail of birds from the Palace in England and spoke about the thypa grass.
    The claims that it was meant to clear grass in IDP camp or that nothing has been done are nothing but unfortunate. That the company which executed the project gave kickback to the SGF to the tune of N195million is also false, because in the first instance, the contract was executed and the scope of their job entailed not only the clearing of the invasive plans but also sinking of 115 boreholes, laying of pipes across 155 hectares for irrigation, provision of aquatic pumps and supply of boats. If they then give N195 million as kickback from a contract of N240m, what then did they execute the project with? It simply would mean the project was given them as a free source to make money, which contradicts the fact that the projects were genuinely executed.
    We will like to advice government not to allow the people suffer more hardship due to elite politics, as there is the need for regular monitoring of the thypa grass on water to avoid further blockage after the recent opening up of the channels facilitated by PINE.
    •Hanga is Director of Mobilisation at CATBAN.

  • Ambode, One Lagos Fiesta and T.H.E.S.E

    In contrast to Napoleon Bonaparte, who once said that “the best way to keep one’s word is not to give it”, an uncompromising penchant for keeping his word has become the trademark of Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode.

    One of his most consistent campaign promises was to ensure that Lagos becomes the tourism and entertainment hub of Africa. The vehicle through which he hopes to achieve this is T.H.E.S.E – an acronym for Tourism, Hospitality, Entertainment and Sporting Excellence. With the global drop in oil prices and the resultant economic downturns which our country currently experiences, the pursuit of T.H.E.S.E. is, indeed, a strategic platform for the much needed economic diversification. Since his assumption in office, Governor Ambode has left no one in doubt about his resolve to grow the Lagos economy and empower the youth through several alternative means which include the tactical promotion of tourism, entertainment and sports.

    Towards this end, Lagos has played host to quite a number of global and continental entertainment events. One of such is an evening of Jazz which the governor hosted in commemoration of 2016 International Jazz Day. Equally, the City of Lagos beat other major African cities to the hosting right of 2016 AFRIMA. Similarly, a one of its kind Lagos Street Party was held in 2016 while Lagos equally posted a remarkable showing at the 2016 edition of Nottingham and Toronto Carnivals. At the Toronto Carnival in particular, eight films by Lagos State-based filmmakers were selected for red-carpet premieres and screenings. Think of the mileage that this gives to Lagos and all the filmmakers not only in terms of publicity but business opportunities and exposure on such massive global platform.

    Governor Ambode’s tenacity in the advancement of T.H.SE.S.E is a reflection of his massive passion for the arts.  It will be recollected that during the campaign, music in particular, played a major role in the campaign train that brought the Governor into office. There were quite a number of artistes who were referred to as ‘Ambode ambassadors’, who supported his aspirations and dreams, which assisted him in giving the best communication campaign ever that would see a governor winning an election in Nigeria. Till date, the governor remains a major rally point for both established and budding national entertainers.

    In a bid to further concretize the plan to transform Lagos into an entertainment nucleus, in 2015 the Ambode administration expanded the scope of the annual Lagos Countdown, an event with which the state government ushers in the New Year. Now renamed One Lagos Fiesta, OLF, the 2016 edition which was on course for seven days clearly lived up to expectations as the euphoria it created is yet to wane, and excusably so.

    As it was the case in 2015, the event held concurrently across the five major divisions of the state viz- a -viz at Agege, Epe, Badagry, Ikorodu and Lagos Island. The plan is to guarantee that every part of the state was given the opportunity to have a taste of the stimulating experience. It is in further accomplishment of Ambode’s pledge to run an all-inclusive government in which every segment of the society is not left out in the scheme of things. Indeed, one of the core objectives of the OLF was to foster unity among all classes and groups of people in Lagos. This is quite imperative in view of the multi-ethnic and mixed religion character of Lagos which has made the metropolis to be termed a ‘mini Nigeria’. Certainly, the inevitability for unity in such a multi-ethnic metropolis as Lagos cannot be overstressed.

    A major unique trait of the 2016 edition of OLF was the profound participation of the private sector. In order to mirror the philosophy of the Ambode administration, the seven–day long event had sufficient private sector interest. This is a deliberate strategy by the state government to fully involve the private sector in the grand scheme to make Lagos the destination of choice for diverse people across the world. In doing this, the state government is just toeing a well-established and rewarding universal path. In adopting this strategy, government is not abdicating its responsibilities but essentially releasing scarce resources for other equally important projects thus creating a win-win situation for the government and the private enterprise as well. The participation of corporate sponsors such as GLO, NBL, MIKANO and others helped turn the fiesta into a massive entertainment project, whose memory will be cherished by many Lagosians for a long time.

    One other key highlight of the fiesta was its perfect security arrangement. That such a massive event was held across five different locations in the state without any security breach is a reflection of the impact of the state government’s massive investment in public security. From the outset, the vision of the Ambode administration is to make Lagos Africa’s Model Megacity and Global Economic and Financial Hub. This can only become a reality if every minute of the 24 hours in a day could be properly harnessed in a secured and safer environment. This explains why most cities that operate 24/7 economy place immense emphasis on getting the security right. A major defining act of the state government since June 2015 is the strengthening of security mechanism in the state through the purchase and deployment of surveillance helicopters, utility and operational vehicles, power bikes, armoured tanks and others worth billions of naira to the state Police Command.   Till date, the governor and his team are not looking back in the onerous task of ensuring a safe and secured Lagos where investors get adequate returns on their investments.

    The 2016 OLF further provided a boost for the attainment of T.H.E.S.E. in the state as the entertainment and tourism sectors received extensive momentum for growth courtesy high demand for related services and products during and after the event. Entertainment spots that were close to the locations of the event actually cashed in on its economic impact. In terms of empowerment, the event created over 10,000 direct and indirect jobs for diverse professionals who were engaged in sundry aspects such as publicity, lightning, engineering, decoration, carpentry, welding, painting, catering etc.

    Similarly, with over 50 local artistes on hand to perform at the event, both budding and established artistes were availed the platform to up their act and directly connect with their fans. This has helped a lot of them to pep up their fan base. Indeed, some new artistes that were discovered prior to the main event were given the opportunity to share the stage with renowned stars such as King Sunny Ade, Ebenezer Obey, Queen Salawa Abeni, Dr. Adewale Ayuba, Sir. Sina Peters, Haruna Ishola Jnr, Tiwa Savage, Phyno, Falz, Olamide, Dr. Sid, Olu Maintain, Big Sheff and a host of others.

    Now, what does 2017 holds for T.H.E.S.E? 2017, no doubt, would further provide a huge boost for the promotion of Ambode administration’s T.H.E.S.E. policy thrust.  With all hands on deck for the state’s Golden Jubilee anniversary later this year, the art, entertainment, tourism and other such related sectors are, once again, in for a great deal.

     

    • Adeyemi is Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos.

  • ‘Ghosts’ everywhere

    Every pore of the Nigerian public sector labour force is creeping with ‘ghost workers.’ The spooks have come to seem invincible and can’t, for once and all, be eliminated; they just keep seeping back into the system on the back of repeated and trumpeted measures – over time, by different administrations and at different levels of government – to weed them out. The numbers that you often hear cited on the payrolls of the Federal Government as well as other governments at lower levels in this country are so mind boggling that one can’t but wonder at the level of duplicity that facilitates the phenomenon.

    How the numbers perennially accumulate on payrolls defies reason and should be a fitting subject for psychic interrogation. Because it isn’t as if the public service recruitment procedure in Nigeria has no screening and validation checks built into it, not to mention that ghost workers could only get on payrolls after they had managed to open salary accounts with banks that ought to have put them through the financial system’s validation checks, like acquisition of a Bank Verification Number (BVN). These phantom entities somehow beat all the audit checks and get on the payrolls anyhow. But the surprise, at least for me, is that official narrative has always centred on purging payrolls of the spooks, and only tangentially about accountability for the brazen sleaze.

    Whereas different institutions of government have in recent memory claimed to unearth and eliminate sizeable numbers of ghost workers on their payrolls, the parasites seem to always stay embedded and hobble public sector finances. Now we officially know, for instance, that the reason the Imo State Government is finding it daunting to pay its pensioners is precisely because of the huge monthly bill, which the government already suspects is largely being drawn by ghost pensioners.

    A reported statement last week by the spokesman for Governor Rochas Okorocha, Sam Onwuemeodo, cited him as lauding Imo pensioners for “appreciating the glaring fact that a monthly pension bill of N1.4billion was quite unimaginable and too hard for the state or any other state in the country to bear, no matter the resources of such a state.” The statement said the Governor “allowed every pensioner, whether real or otherwise, to be paid so that by January 2017, the issue of ghost pensioners can be properly handled.” It added: “It is difficult to believe that Imo with 27 local governments will be paying N1.4billion monthly as pension, while another state with 44 local governments will be paying half of that amount on the same subject matter.”

    While the Imo government, in the statement, made the point that it had redeemed its promise to pay pensioners their arrears up to December 2016, evidence from the state suggested otherwise, as pensioners only recently took to the streets of Owerri in protest against outstanding payments. Reports had indicated that the state government grossly rebated the arrears, and compelled pensioners to accept the deal or nothing else.

    Just before the New Year, the Imo State Government was in the news for issuing pensioners a letter committing them to forfeiting 60 percent of their outstanding emoluments. A foul odour to the deal was that the pensioners were required to sign an undertaking to “release and discharge the Imo State Government and its agents from all past, present and future liability and from all actions, claims and demands in respect of the said accumulated pension arrears” before they would be paid the 40 percent being made available.

    Economic imperative and age-long wisdom in the axiom about a bird in hand being worth ten in the bush perhaps advised some Imo pensioners to sign up to the undertaking. But there were many others in the state chapter of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) who rejected the government’s offer. “What we are saying is that if he (the Governor) has one or two months of our pensions and gratuities, he should pay us 100 percent and not partial payment,” the state chairman of NUP, Gideon Ezeji, was reported saying.

    It is curious though that the Imo government, by its own narrative, yet has the issue of ghost pensioners (perhaps workers too) so completely off-handle, considering it announced only in May, last year, that it was henceforth adopting strict use of Bank Verification Numbers for payment of salaries and pensions; and that specifically was for the purpose of sifting out the spooks. It is either the touted measure has been poorly implemented, if not altogether sabotaged within, or that the ghosts somehow managed to remain in situ.

    But then, Imo isn’t alone with the blight of ghost workers. The Presidency in December, last year, announced that 50,000 ghost workers were flushed off the payrolls in 2016, preventing N200billion being corruptly fleeced from the public treasury. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, said the Efficiency Unit of the Federal Finance Ministry had been scrutinizing the salaries and wages of government departments and was able to lower the N151billion monthly overhead to N138billion from February, and the pension bill from N15.5billion monthly to N14.4billion.

    As for accountability, Mallam Shehu said 11 persons suspected of championing the syndicate of ghost workers had been handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), with some of them already undergoing trial. But other than his word, very little has been heard or seen by the public about the suspects’ date with the law.

    In February, last year, the Finance Ministry said 23,846 ghost workers were being removed from the government’s payroll monthly. Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun explained that the spooks were unearthed on the payrolls of various ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) through BVN-based staff audit and enrolment to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). According to her, N2.293billion was consequently saved on the total wage bill of the MDAs that February, compared to the level in December 2015 when the BVN audit process kicked in.

    The EFCC itself, last April, said it had uncovered 37,395 ghost workers in the Federal Civil Service, with investigations still underway. Speaking during a sensitisation event organised by the anti-graft agency, Acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu said: “Our investigations have so far revealed that the Federal Government has lost close to N1 billion to these ghost workers. The figure will definitely increase as we unravel more ghost workers buried deep in Federal Civil Service payrolls.’’

    And the purge of ghost workers from government payrolls didn’t just begin with the present administration. Under former President Goodluck Jonathan, Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said the government flushed out some 45,000 names of ghost workers and saved about N118billion following the implementation of the IPPIS. “The Federal Ministry of Finance has taken the additional step of referring the issue to the ICPC for further investigation, so that any identified culprits can face the full wrath of the law,” her communication adviser, Paul Nwabuikwu, said in a statement.

    The statistics are endless and they become dizzying at some point. And one could well ask: what is the actual size of the workforce from which so many spooks are being unearthed? The Director-General of the Bureau of Public Civil Service, Dr. Joe Abah, provided some hint in December 2015 when he specified the nominal roll of the Federal Civil Service as at November 2015 at 89,511. Well, perhaps the current actual is only slightly in excess of that; but it is, of course, bloated with almost an equal quantum of spooks.

    It should be obvious that the persisting challenge of ghost workers is a function of insider corruption in government as well as relevant financial systems. And to effectively deal with the challenge, government would need to go beyond cleaning out public service payrolls and vigorously interrogate how these spooks beat all the audit checks. Insiders who facilitate them must be actively prosecuted.