The Nation Newspaper

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  • Down with telecoms taxes!

    It is like there is a fixation in government circles with perceived idle goldmine in the telecoms sector that must be desperately tapped. And so, all manners of gambits are being opened.

    With the gruelling recession that Nigeria currently passes through, government revenue from the oil-based mono economy is notoriously lean and there is apparently a driving impulse within to squeeze Nigerians some more for extra revenue. Not that such is unusual; since it follows in classical economy that government should prospect for higher taxation revenue to cushion the shortfalls in its oil takings. But the brutal fact also is that many Nigerians are stretched painfully thin by this same recession, and any taxation drive not carefully thought through could tip them over the recession cliffhanger into economic abyss. More important, initiatives to raise taxation revenue needn’t be all targeted at the telecoms sector – with the implied constraints for citizens’ constitutional right to free expression. In this severely trying times for the Nigerian economy, the least citizens should be left with is the space for free expression through the telecoms platforms.

    But for a rethink last week, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) would have subjected subscribers to higher data tariff by mobile network operators. The tariff hike was to take effect on December 1st if the regulator had not backed down on the heels of a last-minute intervention by the Senate, which ordered that the initiative be shelved. In its statement suspending the plan, NCC said it asked operators to “maintain the status quo until the conclusion of a study to determine retail prices for broadband and data services in Nigeria.”

    The commission smooth-talked the entire plan. It would have us understand that the whole idea wasn’t about increasing data tariff, but rather some regulatory routine by which it prescribed an interim price floor for data aimed at promoting level playing field for all operators, protecting small players and encouraging new entrants to the industry. “The decision on the price floor was taken in order to protect consumers who are at the receiving end, and save the smaller operators from predatory services that are likely to suffocate them and push them into extinction. The price floor is not an increase in price, but a regulatory safeguard put in place by the regulator to check anti-competitive practices by dominant operators,” the NCC statement explained.

    The actual effect of the policy, though, was that existing data tariff would have been doubled – at least by the major telecoms operators who jointly control nearly all of the Nigerian subscriber market. One operator had earlier last week confirmed such effect: “Dear customer, please be informed that from 1stDec., some data tariffs will be increased to reflect the new rates set by the NCC for operators,” it said in a short message service (SMS) to its subscribers.

    In practical application, it meant Nigerians would have to pay perhaps double the present rates to use Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram and other social network applications, plus everything else relating to Internet. The corollary is that if they can’t afford to pay higher, they must cut down on usage. And the catch is: with the sheer quantum of Nigerians plying their lives on the telecoms platforms, and with the prevailing hardships that do not dispose many to readily affording the proposed higher tariff, nothing works better to curtail free expression.

    The Senate apparently saw through the endgame. Senate President Bukola Saraki, in explain the chamber’s intervention, was reported saying: “At a time when the cost of living has gone up for all Nigerians due to inflation being at 18.3%, the NCC has implicitly mandated the service providers to increase their costs to maintain profits. This is unacceptable. I have seen the power of the Internet – how it serves to give a voice to the voiceless, and a platform for millions to air their views. This is why the Senate will continue to maintain that access to the Internet remains affordable to all Nigerians.”

    Well, it must be that the Senate is thankfully born again! Because that Red chamber and its Green counterpart, the House of Representatives, had only last February tabled the Communications Service Tax Bill that seeks to impose nine per cent tax on fees charged by service providers for voice calls, SMS, Multi-Media Services (MMS), data usage and pay-per-view television. That bill is currently in the legislative mill.

    Another seeming new convert is Communications Minister Adebayo Shittu, who last week disowned the NCC, saying the Federal Government never gave it the go-ahead to raise data tariff.

    Speaking on a radio programme, Wednesday, the minister rationalised the NCC initiative but nevertheless trashed it. “There are reasons for what they (NCC) have done. The reasons, I’m sure, are not political; it could be more of logistics and all of that… But I want to say that I was not privy to it. Government never gave any such instruction. The voice of Nigerians must not be muscled. This government came in through the democratic process and it has a duty to continue to protect the interest of Nigerians, and I can assure you we will do the needful in protecting the rights and privileges of Nigerians,” he told his interlocutor.

    Only that the minister was far less mindful of constraints to free speech when he mounted an advocacy much earlier on for the proposed communications tax bill. Against the outcry by industry stakeholders and the public over the proposed legislation, he argued for the expected revenue, which he only spiced with the promise of government upgrade of telecoms infrastructure. “I have been reliably informed that the projected earnings from this effort is over N20billion every month, which is N240 billion yearly, and this is an attraction to the government in funding our budget deficits,” he once said.

    Lately, Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele weighed in on the telecoms tax drive, proposing a levy on voice calls to help the government break stagflation in the economy. Speaking at the 2016 Annual Bankers’ Dinner of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), Emefiele canvassed “a negligible telecom surcharge to be entirely borne by the initiator of a call.”

    He had said: “In order to protect the poor and vulnerable amongst us, we could structure it to only take effect after the third minute of talk. Some analyses have indicated that the government could earn about N100billion per annum from this alone. Obviously this surcharge will mainly be borne by middle and upper class people, since I do not know many poor people who make calls for more than three minutes.”

    But the CBN boss was grossly wrong. For one, it is moot whether the present economic realities leave Nigeria with any middle class; and the reality on Main Street is that the poor engage the telecoms platforms for far longer because that is where they make up for the repressing effects of their personal economies. Besides, with the high cost of gasoline, voice calls have come in handy for many Nigerians, including the poor, to ply their trade where they can’t afford transportation charges.

    As for the upper class, many rarely pay out of their pockets for basic services like telecoms – I am almost certain Mr. Emefiele does not – because the services are funded from corporate treasuries as part of the perks of office. Where those treasuries are in the private sector, the expense is reckoned as part of overhead costs that are simply downloaded to end-users of the products or services on offer, largely constituted by the vulnerable poor. So, the poor invariably pays.

    Let’s get this clear: there are two direct effects of telecoms taxation, neither of which spares the ordinary Nigerian. Higher tariff will constrain his use of the telecoms platforms, thereby limiting his freedom of speech, or they will translate to higher inflationary trends. We really can do without both.

  • Nigeria and climate challenges

    Boko Haram, desertification and drought have combined to adversely decimate Nigeria’s North-east region.  Agricultural output has shrunken, falling below 25 percent of the regional capacity. Lake Chad is so desiccated that it can hardly support the eco-system around it. These latter challenges unlike Boko Haram are climate-related.  Addressing them requires a national buy-in, proactive policy options and international support.  Thus, the just concluded 22nd Session of the Conference of Parties (COP22) to the Kyoto Protocol in Marrakech, Morocco, was propitious.  The speed with which many nations acceded to the Paris Agreement proved that climate change concerns were real. COP22 provided an opportunity to develop an acceptable framework for implementing the Paris Agreement.

    Before COP22, discussions centered mainly on funding that would enable developing countries adapt to the effects of climate change. Contextually, the two weeks of negotiations in Marrakech was hardly fortuitous. One notable achievement of COP22 was the progress made on setting the timeliness and benchmarks for drafting a rules book for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The rules will guide the actions of parties to the Paris Agreement, with 2018 set as the target date.  Yet unchanged is the fact that since COP19 in Copenhagen, climate finance has remained contentious. The $100 billion Green Climate Fund (GCF) established in 2009 has received only $10 billion in contributions.  The fund targeted to last until 2020, is grossly underfunded and underestimated as experts forecast that climate change funding will run into trillion dollars for the Paris Agreement’s aims to be achieved. Developing countries confront a confounding paradox; the yet unrealized $100 billion will not suffice for addressing the ambitious Paris Agreement; yet the adaptation fund and streamlining the process from which developing nations can benefit, remains a challenge.

    The continued refusal of some developed countries to accept responsibility for their contributions to the climate crises is stalling progress on the Green Climate Fund. Global North countries are non-committal, preferring to contribute symbolic, if not derisory sums. Explicably, developed countries -the heavy polluters- confront the ire of developing countries -the lesser polluters- that consider verbalized commitments as platitudinous. The latter insist that the $100 billion Green Climate Fund is grossly insufficient for fulfilling global adaptation needs; thus compelling a few developed countries to point to the lack of enough bankable projects from the developing countries.  Core funding issues aside, the challenge of benchmarking requisite deadlines for most of the Paris Agreement targets subsists. Invariably, most countries worry that absence of delivery deadlines for most of the agreement targets; will translate to laxity, if not non-compliance.

    COP22 ended with nations hopeful of the delivery of the Paris Agreement. For the Global South nations, the present juncture is propitious for drawing on the now operational $3.1 billion South-South Cooperation Climate Fund launched by China in 2015 in Paris. China, remains constructively engaged, and underlined its commitment by hosting a South-South Cooperation Forum on margins of the COP22.  Possible concerns about accessing the GCF were removed with Liberia and Nepal receiving $2.2 million and $2.9 million dollars respectively from the fund.  Twenty other countries are in line to have their proposals approved with each getting up to $3 million.  For its part, the GCF will approve projects worth some $2.5 billion soon.

    Donald Trump’s rhetoric on climate change, prior to becoming the President-elect of the U.S. still elicits concerns. Fiji delegation’s emotional remarks at the closing plenary of COP22 encapsulated prevailing and shared fears of most countries over the fate of the Paris Agreement during the Trump presidency.  Such concerns were doused slightly by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who reassured the global community that the U.S. will not pull out of the Paris Agreement, and that Trump as President, will find it difficult to do so. Thankfully, Trump has admitted possible connectivity between human actions and climate change.

    Impact of climate on Nigeria is still being grossly underreported and underestimated; with Nigeria’s overall climate change response still marginal. Yet Nigeria had a fair outing at Marrakech. Minister for Environment, Mrs Amina Mohammed, brought along at least three members of the National Assembly and two colleagues, Minister of Mines and Power, Babatunde Fashola and Minister of Agriculture Chief Audu Ogbeh. Such composition of the country’s delegation and collaborative approach adds to policy synergy and complementarity. It guarantees that Nigerian policymakers will not just understand the issues, but augurs well for fast-tracking the domestication of agreed climate change policies in Nigeria. As the power and agricultural sectors are hugely affected by climate change, Nigeria’s multidisciplinary approach is commendable.

    Whereas Nigeria hosted two side events in Marrakech and the Akwa-Ibom State government hosted another, there were some inexplicable missed opportunities. Nigeria should have led the African intervention, but for most part of the closing plenary, Nigeria’s four seats were vacant, leaving Mali to spearhead African intervention. Given her needs, Nigeria should have proactively sought international support for the funds for recharging of Lake Chad – estimated at $16 billion. That didn’t happen.  Nigeria appeared not too keen on taking advantage of the South-South Cooperation on Climate Change, especially via funds made available by China. Finally, Nigeria missed out of being part of the V40 Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), a group of 40 countries considered to be most vulnerable to climate change.  That grouping, which at the close of COP21 in Paris, had just 20 countries have expanded to a 40-nation group, without Nigeria.

    Nigeria not to pursue remedial measures at its disposal in tackling climate change will amount to gross oversight.  There is need to adopt climate smart policies and engage much more assertively within the framework of the South-South Cooperation Forum.  Such approach should be a signature modality of the Buhari government, if it desires to attract international support for its work on climate change.  Nigeria’s power generation policy must shift towards promoting investments in renewable energy and reducing use of fossil energy. The federal government must continue to incentivize key players in this sector and spearhead investments in alternative energy.  Finally, Nigeria should organize a post-COP national conference on modalities and structures for domesticating international agreements immediately and communicate same to the 36 states to ensure broad compliance. Work should also start immediately to ensure that Nigeria is able to access the GCF within the next one year as she stands to receive close to $3 million. Nigeria must shift from her business-as-usual approach and show the urgency required in climate actions.

     

    • Obaze is MD/CEO, Selonnes Consult Ltd.; Udeh is a Research Associate at Selonnes Consult Ltd.

  • As Nigerian economy nosedives continously – Bloomberg

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic policy received hard knocks from Bloomberg, the U. S-based financial, software, data and Media Company but hardly had it stopped wickedly traducing what it called President Buhari’s rigid economic management style, prescribing that “one concrete step the president should take was to eliminate the country’s disastrous foreign exchange controls, that Ekitipanupo forumites tore into its self-centred recommendations.

     “These people are our greatest enemies,” I opened up. “They are fighting for themselves and won’t stop even if the naira exchanges 1000 to the dollar. Left to me, the government should priotise what manufacturing activities we can fund adequately and let marginal ones go to sleep. Agriculture and factories using local raw materials should be assisted to the hilt. The number of prohibited items should be increased and our textile industries that can employ tens of thousands of our unemployed youth should be revived especially in the North where joblessness is driving many into the waiting hands of Boko Haram recruiters. Agriculture should have all it needs to help guarantee food security as well as take in women and thousands of our jobless graduates. All these gratuitous allocation of very scarce forex to companies which end up round tripping it should stop.  Forex allocation should be rigidly controlled lest these do- gooders make a Venezuela of our country.  We should not, in the least, be scared of their scare mongering.”

    Intervened another member: “Bloomberg’s proposal is a sure recipe for another Venezuelan crisis that must be avoided at all costs! The panacea to Forex scarcity is the urgent return of looted funds. Let Western nations facilitate this to enable Nigeria open her market more for their trading activities which is their primary interest. But we will not borrow for non-essential consumption. We have been there before (1986 to 2006) with disastrous consequences!”  Continuing, he wrote: “A comedy of errors! This is how it starts. World Bank and other international financial hawks’ style of circling their prey before swooping in for it’s jugular!  If they had their way, by now naira would be exchanging for 1500/dollar. The only interest they stand for is their own. They know that Nigerians hate the slightest inconvenience, at which they throw contorting tantrums even while refusing to properly interrogate their local conditions. Bloomberg just flew a kite. Trust the Nigerian so-called economic eggheads who are nothing but bolekaja conductors for these imperialist goons. It should not be strange that the interest of the West is less than altruistic especially with our dalliance with China hurting them! Check the records of these guys and every economy that ever listened to, and adopted their recommendations.  And to Nigerians who continue to parrot the idea that Buhari has no economic roadmap having obviously chosen to believe a skewed narrative. This government has articulated its plans ad nauseam. Even I, who is not an economist, have heard the direction articulated several times. But because it does not fit the narrative of the naysayers, they say it doesn’t exist!!”

     

  • Ewi of Ado-Ekiti approved reduction in the price of locally produced food products

     The following were my views on the above topic which was also animatedly debated:

    I am often completely taken aback when people introduce  in- comparables into discussions. You grow pepper at Are-Ekiti, come to sell at Ado -Ekiti, barely 10- 15kms away; what transport costs are we talking about that should  warrant  more than a 100 per cent profit on the sale? Is pepper diesel, that is transported all the way down from the Niger-Delta area?  Chief Dele Falegan, former Director of Research, Central Bank of Nigeria, has an oil palm farm at Ado-Ekiti which any state government would be proud to call its own, making him an employer of labour in the state.

    I repeat again, Ado markets must be about  the most expensive in the region – come to Ibadan or  the Gbogan- Osogbo junction,  not to talk of the Ogbomosho axis, and see  market women appealing to you to  buy at cheaper rates. Ado-Ekiti market women know they are being deliberately wicked in a poor state as Chief Falegan’s testimony will confirm. According to him, he sold some of the oil from which these women are trying to make a kill.

    He sold the biggest of the kegs for N9000.00k. But even with only intra town transportation charges added, these women were selling at N23,000.00k.  And it is not yet Christmas!  Sunday mornings in Lagos, I sometimes take my wife to the Sunday Market at Ogba to buy fresh vegetables etc  which came direct from the farms,  at much cheaper prices. Three weekends ago, we ran into the same type of market at Ijebu Ode after attending an event on Saturday and returning to Lagos early Sunday morning.

    Bring such farm products from outside Ado-Ekiti and see how these women will descend on you and ensure you cannot sell to consumers direct. Without a doubt, this is just one additional way of we Ekitis being our own worst enemies or what percentage of those living in the state capital are non Ekiti? So, rather than  for some people trying to erect  esoteric reasons as to why prices cannot come down in Ado –Ekiti, let us encourage leaders with the moral  or institutional authority to wean Ekiti off our congenital wickedness to one another.

  • Towards an inclusive economy: Harnessing the power of youth

    Following the inauguration of the 8th Senate, it was clear that working to make a better Nigeria would mean shining the light on segments of the population that have yet to be carried along in our national development journey. It would also mean taking a closer look at how different groups of people have benefitted or not benefitted from the socio-economic dividends of Nigeria’s past economic growth.

    A glaring underserved population in our society are our youth. Over the years, the ripple effect of their lack of inclusion has prevented this otherwise powerful group from playing their rightful role in the evolution of Nigerian society. The onset of declining economic growth and this year’s recession has only amplified the hardship being felt by Nigerians across the board. In turn, the youth have been some of the hardest hit, in need of urgent attention.

    Overall, Nigeria’s unemployment rate was recorded at 13.3 percent in the second quarter of 2016 according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). That figure is up from 12.1 percent in the first quarter of the year, meaning that we have reached the highest recorded unemployment rate since 2009. NBS has also reported that the underemployment rate was recorded at 19.3 percent as of August 2016. In view of this, it was estimated that 26.06 million persons in the Nigerian labour force were either unemployed or underemployed as of the second quarter in this year.

    Youth between the ages of 15 to 34 especially have poor job prospects and low employment rates. The unemployment rate was highest for those within the ages of 15-24; 24.0 percent in Q2 2016. That is nearly 1 out of every 5 youth falling within that age bracket, capable of and actively seeking work but being unable, for one reason or another, to access decent employment. As a result, their life choices are significantly limited, and they are increasingly exposed to a number of vulnerabilities and threats. It is disheartening.

    We must ask ourselves why this is happening. Despite the personal and financial investment that goes into obtaining an education or vocational skills, it is shameful that such efforts are undervalued in the next stages of one’s life due to a socio-economic, political and cultural structure that fails to guarantee inclusion and participation. Nonetheless, understanding the problem is the first step to finding the right solution.

    What can we do to change it? If we look at the NBS projections for Nigeria over the next few months, without any drastic interventions, our economy is expected to contract by another 1.7 percent. This is further compounded by domestic inflation rising to 18.3 percent. This basically means that there is less money in circulation around the country, yet the cost of everyday goods and services has gone up.

    With the aforementioned in perspective, policy-makers in both the private and public sectors must both acknowledge and take advantage of the fact that due to their sheer numbers, our young people can serve as our human resource base for the reorientation of our economy. However, if they are neglected and not provided opportunities to be productive, these same young people can exacerbate social tensions in their communities.

    As we work to define a new and more sustainable economy, we must make a thorough multi-sectoral examination to take stock of how we are responding to the aspirations of young Nigerians. This analysis must be undertaken with the objective of weaving youth involvement into the national development framework.

    Hence, we must adopt a youth-inclusive approach that involves assessing the various implications for young people for policy actions. This approach would allow us to ensure that young people have access to opportunities and benefits from the interventions undertaken by the government to end the recession and build a more efficient economy.

    The good news is that we are on track. Over the past few months, the Senate has responded to Nigeria’s economic contraction with a 21-point plan that includes 11 priority bills that are aimed at restructuring different sectors of the economy. These bills have been drafted with the intention of redirecting the economy to promote greater private sector participation and job creation activities to benefit all Nigerians.

    Legislation such as the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) will make it easier for our youth to transition into the formal sector. Others like the Federal Competition Bill will help stimulate entrepreneurship amongst our youth — by putting in place parameters that guarantee a level-playing field for all participants in Nigeria’s various markets.

    In the same vein, with the Senate’s passage of an amendment to the Public Procurement Act, government ministries, departments and agencies will be made to give first-option priority to local businesses. When this Bill is finally signed into law, more young Nigerian business-owners will benefit from the government’s procurement – worth upwards of N2 trillion.

    One thing that is clear it that when we provide a platform for youth participation in public life, the positive possibilities are endless. This is due to the energy, innovativeness, and diversity in thoughts and approach that they bring to the table.

    Youth economic inclusion means bringing our youth back from the margins of society by incorporating their perspectives into policy designs; tapping into their command of new technologies to create new industry sector and jobs; and providing them with the training, skills acquisition and empowerment programs that they need to become self-sufficient and successful small business owners in the absence of government and private sector jobs.

    I believe Nigerian leaders at all levels should spearhead this effort. This past weekend, in Kwara State, the Senate President inaugurated a job creation program that is aimed at putting a massive dent in the state’s unemployment rate, with a focus on the youth. This programme aims to create 40,000 new jobs in the state by 2018. Aptly titled the Skills Acquisition, Training and Empowerment Programme, STEP adopts a pay-it-forward approach that helps to engender a self-sufficient, entrepreneurial generation that will go on to become employers of labour in the near future. “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man how to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime”.

    Moving forward, with limited jobs available in both the private and public sectors, Nigeria must recalibrate its perspective on how it wants its young people to participate in its development. As we work to turn the economy around, we cannot afford to continue with “business as usual” practices. Instead we need to adopt transformative and unorthodox approaches to the status quo. Doing this is not only necessary to get out of the recession, it is imperative.

    • Onemola and Sutherland are Senior Legislative Aides of the Senate President

  • 2017 Budget: Beginning of another huge joke?

    Nigeria is very notorious for coming up with fantastic and grandiose plans. We have had the era of Fixed Term Planning, Rolling Plan, Fixed Medium Term Plan, the National Economic Empowerment & Development Strategy (NEEDS), Vision 2020. They all fizzled out and have gathered dust in archives-  the money wasted and the beautiful ideas touted as our guaranteed part to greatness jettisoned. Always moving, but motion without movement.

    If officials of the Federal Ministry of Budget & Planning and the  Budget Office, have their way, the International Public Sector Accounting Standards(IPSAS ) project, would suffer same abrupt abortion, like the other policies before it. This is the only explanation for the refusal or failure of the Budget Office to present the 2016 budget in the six(6) Segments of the National Chart of Accounts and Templates of IPSAS Compliant Budget Format. And thank God, the Senate has woken up to its responsibility. And has severally given the government, not just the Minister of Budget and Planning a bloody nose.

    On 28th July,2010 the Federal Executive Council approved the adoption of the provisions of the International Financial Reporting Standards(IFRS) and International Public Sector Accounting Standards(IPSAS) for the Private and Public Sectors respectively. Consequently a Standardized National Chart of Account to be used by Federal, States and Local Governments designed in line with  the provisions of the Government Financial Statistics(GFS) of the International Monetary Fund(IMF),was adopted. The objectives of IPSAS include improving accountability and transparency, greater disclosures, that would provide information for better decision – making and value for money, especially in areas of capital expenditure- loans, asset purchase, nationalization and non exchange transactions. These after all are the purpose of government.

    The decision of the Goodluck Jonathan administration is backed by several laws, including the Finance(Control& Management) Act of 1958, and the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007. By that decision, IPSAS Compliant Budget Format became the approved basis for budget preparation and implementation in Nigeria. And the Buhari administration has signed off, by implementing Treasury Single Account (TSA),a key component of IPSAS.IPSAS is a package.

    The six(6) main segments of IPSAS are; Administrative Classifications- it depicts organizations receiving budgetary resources, Economic Classifications- detailed breakdown of budget revenues, borrowing and expenditures, Functional Classification- it shows the revenue and expenditure by functions of government, such as Pubic Order and Safety Matters. Programme Classification- planned budgetary allocation to specific programmes, such as poverty alleviation. And twenty- one (21) programmes were identified for implementation by the federal ,states and the local governments. Fund Classification- denotes funds under which public funds are authorized(Consolidated Revenue Fund, Capital Development Fund etc). Geo- Location Classification – location of projects or government institutions undertaking transactions. The National Chart of Accounts(NCOA), is key in ensuring that budget data is captured in greater detail, including source  and reason for every transaction, which is currently missing, because the Budget Office presented the 2016 Budget expenditure in  Administrative and Economic segment, as opposed to programmes. Programme is the preferred option, due to the inadequacies of the Administrative and Economic option in analyzing impact of government expenditure on health, education etc.

    The world today is a global village, so standardization of governments financial reporting has become imperative. IPSAS is an international framework for government financial reporting. It has set rules on how the accounting system measures, records and processes economic transactions, including presentation and disclosure requirements. IPSAS provides complete and accurate view of public sector financial statements. There is also greater credibility being the same accounting standards used by most governments of the World, and better planning and management, as a result of more precise estimates of income and expenditure. Emphasis- precise estimates of income and expenditure.

    Federal, State and Local Governments budgets must be prepared based on the Six Segments of the National Chart of Accounts and Templates of IPSAS Compliant Budget Format. The difference between IPSAS and the former budget system based on administrative and economic classification, is that it doesn’t offer much. It is not surprising that the 2016 budget suffered and has continued to suffer “internal bleeding”. For instance, the medium term projections of aggregate revenue, expenditure and financing by economic and programme and actual of the two preceding years was missing, so Nigerians were denied a comprehensive overview of the fiscal policies. It also lacked summary and detail revenue from the federation accounts, summary and detail independent revenue of the federal government by Sub- Organizations (MDA’s) summary and detail capital receipts – internal and external borrowings, Aid & Grants by Sub- Organizations ring fenced to capital projects. These are projections the sleeping Senate is now asking for.

    The consequence of preparing the budget based on economic and administrative is that 83% of the total capital expenditure of the 2016 budget would be spent in the Federal Capital Territory. And the balance 13% in the other 36states of the federation. It is a scandal of gigantic magnitude that a president that made reconstruction of the North East ,a cardinal programme would be spending only 2,145,411,867 billion naira In YOBE State and 7,439,000,272 billion nairain Borno state  devastated  by the Boko Haram insurgency .But if the 2016 budget was prepared based on the 6 segments – Geo-Location and economic etc, the president would have seen at a glance  the spread of capital expenditure projects and the nature of the assets that would be acquired to advance economic development, not just in the 36 states and Abuja, but in the 744 local government areas. This is the power of IPSAS.

    For instance the Medium Term Projections of Aggregate Revenue, Expenditure and Financing by Economic and Programme and Actual of the two preceding years was not included in the 2016 Budget. It’s inclusion would have provided a comprehensive overview of fiscal prospects to all stakeholders. Again, the Senate is right in asking for these projections.

    The media has consistently tagged the demands of the Senate as signs of brewing crisis between the Senate and the executive. There is definitely no crisis. The Senate only finally woke up to its responsibility. Why has the Minister of Finance who issued the Fiscal Sustainability Plan (FSP) that was approved at the  67th meeting of the National Economic Council(NEC) on the  19th May 2016, hasn’t by November provided the performance implementation to date of the 2016 budget, and they are busy preparing for 2017?And are still seeking to borrow to fund the 2016. God save Nigeria.

    The major problem with the 2016 budget was that the approved format was deliberately ignored by the executive. And the legislature, which due to high turnover of members “didn’t” know and never bothered to find out, approved the trash that was presented to it. The Fiscal Responsibility Act is the roadmap for the appropriation process, the Senate must insist on it. In accordance with the FRA, the  process should commence  with the Medium Term Expenditure Framework and its underlying Medium Term Sector Strategies. And they must be conservative. The Fiscal Responsibility Act is like lawyers would say is unequivocal that the MTEF is the basis for the preparation and implementation of budget. It is heartwarming that the senate is insisting on doing the right thing. Will presenting the budget in the appropriate format equal development? Yes. The National Assembly owe it as a duty to Nigeria and themselves to save the 2017 Budget.

  • El-Rufai v. Shiites: messianism, dictatorship writ large

    El-Rufai v. Shiites: messianism, dictatorship writ large

    The law exists to moderate and mediate relationships between the people and their governments, and between the law-abiding and the lawless. Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai, turned this elementary fact on its head when he spoke with journalists at the Government House in Kaduna early last week. He had addressed the unending and troubling Shiite crisis, and hoped to clarify a number of issues he believed the public failed to understand regarding the ban placed on the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) and, to a lesser extent, the detention of the Shiite leader, Ibrahim el-Zakzaky. Except the press failed to report all other things the governor said, Mallam el-Rufai did not throw light on the legality or propriety of the nearly one year detention of Sheikh el-Zakzaky, nor on the genocide in Zaria last year during which 347 people were killed and clandestinely buried in two unmarked mass graves. Amidst many snide and contemptuous remarks about those he claimed ignorantly sympathised with the Shiites, the governor otherwise left the public to draw their inferences.

    Fortunately for him, Nigerians are not too discriminating or questioning about delicate and seemingly complicated constitutional matters. Often they give the government the benefit of the doubt when it comes to law and order. The government itself recognises this great flaw and often exploits it to make wild and sweeping assertions about one malfeasant group or the other. Once condemned in the public, the target group can hardly place any foot right. Once the government discloses what it presumes to be the facts and figures of the malfeasance, no one, not even civil society groups nor the press, interrogates the claims. The government knows this, and continues to prey on the vulnerability of Nigeria’s long-suffering and often resentful people. This was the tactics exploited by Governor el-Rufai to convince the public that the Shiites were godless and irresponsible and deserved the harsh and peremptory treatment they were getting.

    Hear the governor: “The IMN does not recognise the constitution of Nigeria, they do not recognise Buhari as the President of Nigeria, they do not recognise me as Governor of Kaduna State because they had their governor in Tudun Wada. I think he was killed during the clash. They have their paramilitary wing, they call them Horras. They train them in violation of our laws. They do not accept that any law in Nigeria applies to them. They block public highways, they occupy schools when they are doing their processions and they feel that to practice their religion, they have to infringe on the right of others, that is completely wrong. I want to ask you, if you put all these facts together, what does IMN look like? IMN looks like an insurgency waiting to happen.”

    Even if you ignore the governor’s grating and constant grandstanding and haughtiness, not to talk of his insensitivity to the supposed killing of the Shiites’ ‘governor’ in Kaduna, you would still need to evaluate how the Kaduna State Government proceeded from the point of their uncertainties to taking drastic measures to obliterate the sect? He was not yet done mocking the sympathetic public, particularly what he presumed to be their ignorance. Said he: “The IMN is a political organisation. The objective of El-Zakzaky is to gather enough followers to effect an Iranian-type Islamic Revolution in Nigeria and you know what that can cause. Nigeria is not 100 per cent Muslim that you can do Islamic revolution. It is a recipe for serious crises. I laugh when some people who are not informed on this subject are sympathetic to him, talking about human rights. What he has in plan for you, you will not have any human rights. Anybody who tries to say Nigeria will be an Islamic country, do you know how much crisis he is trying to create? That is the agenda. So let us understand this clearly. This IMN is a very serious threat to Nigeria’s sovereignty and stability…We have taken certain measures that have curtailed some of their excesses and we remain open to talk to their members like any citizen.”

    Mallam el-Rufai is not an inspiring administrator, nor a restrained and measured politician. He expects the public to take his word for it that the IMN, aka Shiites, is a political organisation. If a poll were taken, however, the governor would probably receive huge support. The Shiites are not a popular people at all, not in Zaria, their headquarters, and not in Kaduna, the state capital, and many of their neighbours have been offended by their obtrusion, irreverence and provocative and defiant practices and utterances. But neither the law nor the constitution allows a governor or president to simply declare or stigmatise a group as lawless. There are processes and steps to be taken before a group is so labelled and castrated, not scaremongering. The processes have to be transparent in order to convince the public that a governor or leader is not simply juxtaposing his prejudices with those of the angry public. There is nothing in the public domain, other than statements presented as facts, to support the governor’s assertions or show that the state government had taken the requisite steps to come to a legal and constitutional conclusion about the nature and trajectory of the Shia movement in Nigeria. In the opinion of the governor, these steps do nothing but curb the efficiency of the powerful and unaccountable governor and government.

    Furthermore, said the governor, Sheikh el-Zakzaky planned to trigger an Iranian-type revolution in Nigeria. Perhaps. But in the same wild and sweeping manner, many analysts view Mallam el-Rufai’s intemperate language, boisterous politicking, inability to sustain loyalty to any leader or mentor for a considerable length of time, vitriolic abuse of his opponents, and incipient demagoguery as proof of his presidential ambition. Do these observations make those who come to that drastic conclusion about him right? Then, with sardonic glee and laughter, the governor dismissively characterised those who fail to see the danger posed by the el-Zakzaky Shiites as ignorant and inattentive to facts and auguries. Finally, exulting, and perhaps convinced that the law could never call him to account over the Shiites debacle now or in the future, Mallam el-Rufai sighed that his government had taken the needed measures to rein in the obstreperous sect, measures that included banning the sect in accordance with the Penal Code. After all, he added offhandedly, IMN did not personify the Shia movement, considering that two other Shia groups exist and still do business in the state.

    The media did not say what prompted the interview. Perhaps the governor gave direct or indirect hints; but these were not reported. This column can only guess that the governor was unsettled by criticisms over his and the army’s disproportionate use of force in ‘quelling’ what they considered to be a Shiite insurrection in Zaria last December. In all of the remarks and answers credited to the tempestuous Mallam el-Rufai, there was none about why 347 Shiite members were killed in the December 12-14 clash between the sect and soldiers. He also said nothing about why the victims were clandestinely buried in two unmarked mass graves. All he has offered are futile and indirect justifications for his brutal and insufferable stance.

    What is more, the governor said that the judicial panel of inquiry into the December clash suggested that the sect should be proscribed because it was in fact never registered. This he has done eagerly. But the panel also called for the identification and trial of those responsible for the mindless killings. On this, the governor has been evasive and sarcastic. By the interview, Mallam el-Rufai has in short given future investigative panels evidence suggesting his deep involvement in the genocide that took place in Zaria last December: either that he sanctioned it, or connived at it. He cannot exculpate himself when — not if — the matter will be exhumed sometime in the future. It is deeply saddening that President Muhammadu Buhari, who himself told worried Nigerians that he would wait for the Kaduna State Government to complete its inquiry before making his views known, has kept embarrassingly quiet months after the report was published. His aides suggest he is still studying it. But by ordering the detention of Sheikh el-Zakzaky for almost a year without trial, in flagrant breach of the constitution but supposedly in national security interest, the president cannot wash his hands off the case.

    For its many malfeasances, the IMN cannot absolve itself of responsibility for the many injurious actions visited on their neighbours since the sect’s founding. The judicial panel rightly made this observation. But much more baffling is the fact that the president and the Kaduna governor, both of whom claim to be democrats but have scornfully violated the constitution they swore to protect, bear a much larger and more telling part of the blame for the violence and destruction visited on the sect in the past one year or so. When a squaring of account begins sometime later, it would be interesting to hear what the two have to say: whether the president’s stiff upper lip and cold an unruffled detachment, or Mallam el-Rufai’s cynical buck-passing such as he deployed when he was cornered by legislators probing his unorthodox land allocations as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), would suffice to expiate their culpability and dictatorial propensities.

  • Obiechina vs Chime, a Supreme Court case: Matters arising

    THREE components of Nigerian laws are: The Constitution, Laws made by the legislature since the adoption of the constitution and Supreme Court’s decisions. The constitution expressly prohibits the legislature from making what is known in legal parlance as ex post facto laws. By implication, the Supreme Court (SC) is also barred from making the same ex post facto laws via its decisions.

    It is therefore pleasing that the SC has agreed to reopen the case of Obiechina Vs Chime (Enugu Gubernatorial Election) filed about five years ago as per Nigerian Vanguard report (http:// www.Vanguardngr.com/2016/10/enugu-guberprimaries- how-far-can-obiechina-go/). One of the panellists, Hon. Justice Dattijo Muhammad, asked the relevance of the suit considering that another general election has been conducted and somebody has been sworn into the office under contest. Justice Dattijo Muhammad’s question is the subject of this follow up to my earlier essay on Obiechina Vs Chime.

    If the Supreme Court wants an easy way out, it will answer the honourable Justice’s question by saying ”it is too late to reopen the suit.” If the SC adopts this easy way, apart from being a bad precedent, it will also be a miscarriage of justice. It will also make the defendant (INEC) in the case both the defendant and the judge – a condition the SC cannot allow in the court.

    The defendant, INEC, knew very well that it has a case pending in the court and proceeded to conduct another election, thereby creating the condition that prompted Justice Muhammad’s question. It ought to be the duty of the SC to make sure that such cleverness is never attempted by any person or body to take the laws into their hands. The Supreme Court ought to proceed with its current plan as ruled by the former Chief Justice Mahmud Mohammed, which is to serve all the parties a new set of hearing notices and hear the case.

    Supreme Court decisions (precedents) become part of the laws of our land for justice rendered on the present cases become the basis for similar future cases. If one were to accept this premise, that it is too late to adjudicate on Obiechina Vs Chime, it follows that INEC could in future ignore a pending case in court and conduct elections and such elections become legal.

    This will exactly be an ex post facto law. This is very worrisome particularly for executive-governors and President pre-election cases, which political reliefs are not constitutionally time barred. Ex Post Facto Laws are generally forbidden in both written constitutions and by international organisations. Since the Supreme Court decisions are considered laws until legislation is passed vacating the decisions, it follows that this provision should apply: ”Notwithstanding the foregoing provisions of this section, the National Assembly or House of Assembly shall not, in relation to any criminal offence whatsoever, have power to make any law, which shall have retrospective effect.” Nigeria Constitution section 4(9). This can be interpreted that ex post facto laws are not allowed by the Nigerian Constitution.

    If so, Obiechina Vs Chime must go on in accordance with existing laws when it was brought to the court. An ex post facto law, (in this case a Supreme Court decision not to review Obiechina VS Chime), is a law that retroactively changes the legal consequences (or status) of actions that were committed, or relationships that existed, before the enactment of the law. It would be miscarriage of justice, and the precedence will carry into future overrides of judicial status of election petitions by INEC or other institutions.

    This is perhaps the most important rationale for bringing up and adjudicating the suit on its merit. Nigeria’s Supreme Court should not allow its powers to be usurped by INEC or any other institution in Nigeria or Nigeria is lost. It is worthy of note that this is not the first time that INEC conducted election when a matter was before the court. INEC had received a serious reprimand when it conducted election when Governor Peter Obi’s term was before the court. That election was not known to the laws of Nigeria.

    The election conducted by INEC in 2015 for the gubernatorial seat in Enugu state, while Obiechina Vs Chime’s case was pending at the Supreme Court for the same seat is also not known to law. Many minds are agitated at the undue delay of Obiechina’s case through long adjournments at the Supreme Court and at the apparent lackadaisicalness of the Supreme Court in hearing the case.

    Is it because the undue delay of the case- if the case is found meritorious- has unfortunately, given it potential to spin a precedence, which the Apex court is reluctant to allow? In this sense, if Obiechina’s appeal has merit, the court being unwilling to grant his reliefs because of precedence, will recourse to mischief interpretation that all tenure mandates shall expire after four years from the commencement date of the tenure the mandate was derived for, both the Executives and Legislators despite the clear differences in their constitutional provisions.

    But then, unfortunately, this interpretation shall yield constitutional crises. Because if you interpret that tenure mandates shall end for governors and presidents, at the end of four years from the onset date of the tenure from which they derived their mandate, while section 180(2) of the Constitution provided that a Governor shall serve four years from the date he takes his Oaths of Office, then, there shall be two dates for the end of tenure for any Governor/President who took his oaths of office midstream the tenure he derived his mandate. This double mouthed interpretation for the end of tenure for a governor shall be ridiculous.

    The interpretation for the end of tenure for Legislators yields only one date, not two!! Both the governors who took their oaths midstream and are serving across Republics and the ones who took their oaths of office after four years from the commencement date of the tenure they derived their mandate, are protected by same law: Section(180(2)) of the Constitution. You cannot also say it shall terminate only for Governors who did not take their Oaths within four years as this is the clear provision for Legislators (section 64(1)) and not Executives.

    Luckily, the recently inaugurated Electoral Reform Committee, after reviewing Obiechina’s case, set up a Committee to recommend whether to give a time frame for completion of pre-election cases as obtains in Election Tribunal cases or leave the provisions as existing in tandem with our federalism, to make inviolate a core mandate of a federating unit (state). This is solution to Obiechina’s case.

    The Supreme Court should urgently hear Obiechina’s appeal, where it is meritorious, declare the gubernatorial election done by INEC in Enugu state in 2015 null and void and of no effect, as it was conducted during the pendency of a case to that office, which made it a gamble on the final decision of the Court in Obiechina’s case. INEC actions can never silence or jettison the powers and authority of the Supreme Court.

    Obiechina, as serving governor shall seriously underscore the need for the already sitting Electoral Reform Committee and the National Assembly to act on the law expeditiously. Where the lawmakers, representing all Nigerians, feel that the law is good as existing, then Obiechina’s case is not a bad precedence; where otherwise, they stop it by legislating on time framework for completing pre-election cases.

    In this latter alternative, Obiechina’s case sets no precedence as the new Electoral Act will come into effect before 2019 general elections. This is certainly better than applying Ex Post Facto law to the case, which our Constitution prohibited, more so, when the law is already being reviewed by the appropriate authority. •Aduba writes from Boston, Massachusetts.

  • E-commerce as critical tool for economic diversification

    E-commerce has been a strong catalyst for economic development in Nigeria. It has led to the creation of jobs, boosted productivity, hugely reduced the cost of doing business and provided access to new markets. For consumers, it has made more goods available at competitive prices, leading to significant gains in the general standard of living. Deposit Money Banks have played an essential supporting role in the country’s burgeoning e-commerce industry, which has indeed been the toast of both local and foreign investment.

    It has helped local tech companies thrive, as well as enabled global tech players from Silicon Valley to Europe looking to capitalize on Nigeria’s large population and its potential as a hub on the African continent, to successfully operate. The contribution of the banking sector to e-commerce has taken several forms. Firstly, as financial institutions, they have provided the technology infrastructure critical to the flow of payments to and from the agents participating in ecommerce. The backbone of ecommerce is payments, and as ecommerce continues to grow, and online transactions soar, users should rely more on the robustness, security and convenience that this financial infrastructure provides. Ecommerce is only able to grow when ease, convenience, and security is ensured.

    Due to the efforts of deposit money banks in ensuring safety and trust, the inhibitive fear customers have in conducting online transactions has been significantly allayed, leading to the inclusion of more users and the expansion of the ecommerce ecosystem.

    The role of deposit money banks in supporting organization in their efforts to promote e-commerce cannot be overemphasised. Additionally, deposit money banks have supported organisations in leveraging ecommerce technology to engage with their customers. Stemming from their industry experience, banks have assisted businesses in adopting e-commerce in their delivery of goods and services, especially in setting up the infrastructure and payment capabilities for them to successfully engage in e-commerce, thereby enabling such clients receive payments efficiently for the goods and services they offer.

    Due to this vital support, customers are conveniently able to pay for services such as electricity and water bills, Internet and cable subscriptions; airline and cinema tickets; even financial services like insurance and payment of taxes from the comfort of their homes. Some of the benefits that businesses have gained from implementation of ecommerce are increased revenue as they are better able to reach more customers, achieve higher customer satisfaction, cost reduction, and overall improvement in efficiency. Deposit money banks have contributed to the growth of ecommerce by gradually pulling customers away from offline branch banking onto online banking, which includes e-payments and mobile transfers.

    By encouraging the use of payment technologies, and offering more of their products digitally, banks are discouraging customers from standing in long queues, thereby ensuring their convenience. Apart from the infrastructural role that banks have had to play in the sector, they have also continued to provide their traditional services to players in the sector such as financing support to ecommerce enterprises in the form of working capital, financing for expansion, etc. Some of the higher profile funding support includes Access bank’s assistance to Uber’s expansion drive in Nigeria. Access bank established a financing scheme in conjunction with KIA motors and Hyundai to grow Uber’s footprint by increasing its drivers by as much as fivefold.

    First bank also pushed this drive forward by helping drivers acquire used cars at relatively low interest rates. Jumia Nigeria also partnered with First Bank of Nigeria to set up a consumer finance scheme, where customers can purchase items on credit from the online retailer through a First Bank Naira Credit Card. Konga likewise partnered with One Credit, a Nigerian micro-finance bank to launch the “Buy Now Pay Later” scheme, an affordable consumer credit facility that enables customers pay for online purchases in equal monthly installments. GT Bank also recently launched “The SME MarketHub”, an e-commerce portal for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs). The portal is designed to enable Nigerian entrepreneurs migrate their businesses online and take advantage of the vast international and local sales opportunities within this space.

    Fidelity Bank also recently launched The Fidelity GreenMall, an online marketplace with fully integrated ecommerce capabilities for online payments, delivery logistics, advertising, and business networking opportunities, amongst others. These efforts are also critical in enhancing financial inclusion in the economy.

    Besides, deposit money banks have been greatly instrumental in enhancing financial inclusion in the economy. With the use of internet enabled mobile phones and SMS (leveraging the telecoms sector), mobile devices are increasingly being used for financial services in Nigeria, thereby making it possible for customers to conduct financial transactions using these channels. As more bank customers become financially included and access banking products through digital and mobile platforms, they become more amenable to ecommerce, thereby expanding it further. •This article, written on behalf of Bankers Committee of Nigeria, is one of the series, focused on raising awareness around Nigerian banks’ efforts and most importantly, educating the public on opportunities available to them to foster their participation in the country’s diversification efforts.

  • Rivers rerun and do-or-die politics

    The treasure base of the nation, Rivers will on December 10 host the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in respect of rerun elections into the National Assembly which was earlier quashed by the court. Major contenders emanated from the two dominant political parties in the country; All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples’ Democratic Party (Party).  And as notoriously known of the metropolis, tensions, threats of brimstones, of bury alive, of slay and dry, of cultists’ annihilations and others have continued to gather momentum. Luckily, Ondo State governorship election held on Saturday November 26, has set a positive precedent that elections can actually be conducted in a civilized manner instead of opting up for bizarre. The electorates, candidates and the electoral officials proved to the world that Nigeria is no longer a nascent democracy. The upcoming election in Rivers must not witness further bloodshed or grotesquely odd remarks. Violence, forcefulness or belligerency is never a characteristic of democracy as peddled to some folks in some quarters. Succinctly, it is intellectual pursuit for power, and definably, the act of selecting the representatives of the people in free and fair manners purposely for good governance.

    Elections ought to not be a do or die affair as witnessed in previous elections in the state to an extent that a prominent indigene under the cloak of political bullying was beheaded and displayed as Olympic Cup’s trophy. Undeniably, this is symptomatic of psychosis. What an inhumanity to man; parading a fellow human’s head in pool of blood publicly on account of mere political affiliations – APC, PDP, APGA, AD, Labour or any other party? Imagine the trauma and fate of the family the beheaded-politician left behind, and numerous others that lost lives during political struggles between APC and PDP rivals.

    Today, the two arrowheads, Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi and the state governor, Nyesom Wike are believably akin to then Iraq and Iran; while the grassroots parochially fight for them, crossing boundaries and cutting down barriers, unknown to them, by the indisputable feature of our politics, they may be later witness the two leaders eventually in one party dining together in the nearest future. All it may take is just a closed-door meeting in a five star hotel in United Kingdom or United States of America with few other bigwigs. At that point, those that grossly bullied opponents, beheaded fellow indigenes, killed political opponents, kidnapped or committed other atrocities of intimidation will be left alone. The deeds by then had been already done and cannot be reversed. Or does anyone assume that Amaechi and Wike will remain in opposing political parties for life? Absolutely not. Rivers people should emulate the people of Ondo State and maintain amity and decorum. Whoever wins is a victory for democracy and for the state. Enough of political extremism, mediocrity, terrorization, hedonism and debauchery!

    At the moment, the state is administratively under Governor Wike’s control, and therefore, should as the political leader proactively douse all the political tensions in the state. Politics is not a do or die affair and political statements must reflect maturity, decency and administrative know-hows. What is vital is to conduct a free and fair election. No political party ever emerged both a winner and loser at the same time and any democracy must be characterized by victory and defeat. The finest priority any selfless leader could set on motion is to ensure that the will of the people take superiority in sync with Section 14 (2) (b) of the 1999 Nigeria’s Constitution which provides that “the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government”. Hence, any government that creates unwarranted scenes that are inconsistent is anti-people, anti-democracy and agent of destruction. Some roads particularly inner roads even in Port Harcourt are, for instance in horrible shapes and some deserted by owners of the properties within the area due to inaccessibility alongside other amenities in shambles. The resources for arming political thugs could be judiciously channeled to that direction. At this juncture, violence-free election mantra should be amplified by the leaders from both sides rather than incitingly making the people misappropriate values on anyhow victories just for peanuts. Any adventures that recklessly waste human lives are calamitous. Democracy itself is strictly centered on people’s wellbeing, improvement and empowerment, and never programmed for obliteration. Rivers residents must shun all aberrations knowing that all political parties in the country are identical including manifestoes. Hence, politicking must be conducted within the ambits of civility and laws.

    Regrettably, the same politicians that make things happen today in a particular party may defect and assume leadership positions in another without consultation or even intimating the grassroots aficionadas. If violence-free election could be witnessed in Ondo, it can be done in Rivers too. All the public funds earmarked to service and make thugs combatant-ready from both sides should be converted for their empowerment particularly as recession has dealt a big blow on low income earners. Above all, imperative to note that lethal weapons provided to thugs, mercenaries and feasible assassins during elections are rarely withdrawn same way ‘giving a cup of water to a monkey is no big deal but to retrieve it’. Without a doubt, political leaders could maximally protect themselves with security aides, drive in bullet-proofs, and sleep in-between combatant soldiers with latest sophisticated security gadgets. However, their helpless relatives, friends and colleagues might be the victims of attacks with these weapons after the election. Let all stakeholders keep to the rules of the game.  A fascinating attribute of democracy is time limit; whoever wins has a specified period in office, thus, needless of do or die.

     

    • Umegboro is a public affairs analyst and publisher.