The Nation Newspaper

Category: Comments

  • Pipeline vandalism: We are our own enemies

    The rising incidence of pipeline vandalism in the South-south by some Niger Delta militant groups should be a source of worry to not only the federal government but also all well-meaning Nigerians who are concerned about the economic survival of the nation.

    It is in a way, akin to self-immolation when people, take up arms against their nation and the environment and the well-being of their own people, for whatever reason, anticipated gain, or even provocation, especially as such acts often lead to collateral damages that offer no meaningful benefit, but inflict collective pain on all.

    It is on the basis of such unconscionable engagements that many draw the conclusion that Nigerians are their own worst enemies. Of course, there is no doubt that some of us hurt ourselves, hurt our environment and the economy more than any foreigner could have done.

    Records, for instance, indicate that since Nigeria’s independence in 1960, most conflicts and the horrendous human and economic devastations the nation had grappled with were all self-inflicted, as a result of internal crises. In the particular case of the Niger Delta, the weird ideology of these elements in going about their odious mission, has so far failed to convince many, whether in the region, or even in their immediate communities and elsewhere, on the propriety of their actions.

    Such collective disgust also trails their criminal activities, hence they have not been able to elicit any genuine sympathy or support from any part of the country. What has been their lot rather, has been an outpour of condemnation from the region and across the nation.

    Also of importance here is that while the government loses billions of dollars in revenue as a result of these vandalisms, the integrity of the already degraded region’s environment is further compromised due to the spillages from the damaged pipelines. The actual impact of this self-inflicted pollution and the overall damage to the health of the people is often hard to be quantified in tangible forms.

    These destructive tendencies also play out in every facet of our nation in variant degrees, with different shades of devastation. It is particularly disturbing that rise in the despicable exercise comes at a time the nation’s economy is at a precarious situation, as a result of global collapse of oil price, which has led to serious economic crunch, with the country’s current Gross Domestic Product (GDP) crashing to a 25-year low of -0.36 per cent from 3.96 per cent same period the previous year, according to a recent document released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics.

    It is thus, disheartening that it is this time that the country is suffocating that the deviants in the already environmentally degraded Niger Delta, are choosing to blow up oil pipelines in the region.

    Their nefarious actions have led to a further slide in the nation’s revenue, thus, adding to the collective hardship on Nigerians that have had to bear the brunt of the nation’s dependence on oil mono-economy.

    Apparently miffed by the sheer brigandage and the far-reaching negative impact of the actions of the vandals on both the economy and the already devastated Niger Delta environment, Brig-General Paul Boro (rtd), Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta and Coordinator, Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), rightly stated that “pipeline vandalism is an avoidable self-inflicted agony. It is unreasonable to engage in such criminal activity not only because of the resultant economic effect on the country but particularly as it also negatively affects the Niger Delta environment”, adding that those involved in the nefarious activities “are economic and environmental saboteurs”.

    Also, Governor Seriake Dickson of Beyelsa State, while addressing traditional rulers in the state over the vandalism issue, brought the message further home emphasising that “every pipeline that is blown up in the state is a direct attack on the revenue base of Bayelsa”. Who else would understand the adverse effect of dwindling revenue than the governor who has not been able to pay salaries of his state’s workers for several months?

    While the impact of long years of neglect by successive governments has reduced the region to grave environmental decay, abject poverty and psychological injury, some positive steps have also been taken by the federal government, since the return of democracy in 1999, to address the genuine agitation of the region.

    These included setting up the Niger Delta Development Agency (NNDC), Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs and the Presidential Amnesty Programme, by the administrations of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Umaru Yar’Adua, respectively. These agencies were designed to address the poor state of the region by fast-tracking development and ultimately bringing succour to the impoverished region.

    But have these interventionist agencies been able to meet their mandate of physical and human capital development of the region? Or has the oppressive system that services the interest of the few elite in the region eroded the overall interest of the people?

    Several indices indicate a systemic decay that bothers on the character and integrity of successive drivers of the interventionist agencies. In fact, the alleged poor work ethics and the lackadaisical attitude of the contractors handling projects for these agencies and apparent lack of willpower by the heads of these agencies and the organs of government that oversight their activities are in the public domain.

    For instance, there was a recent disclosure about the discovery of tons of expired drugs in an NDDC warehouse. These multimillion naira drugs, procured with government resources, which were supposed to be delivered to various health facilities in the region, never left the warehouse until they expired.

    That amounted to loss to the people and waste of government resources. The only persons that benefit from such wastes are the dubious indigenous contractors and their insider-friends that ensured they got the contract. When things like these happen, they reinforce the argument that we are our own enemies.

  • Fayose and the herdsmen

    Fayose and the herdsmen

    From Agatu in Benue State to Nimbo community in Enugu State, the actions of AK-47-wielding herdsmen continue to provoke outrage. Just when you think you have seen the worst, reports emerge of another attack on defenceless villagers.

    Last weekend reports came of an attack by the herdsmen on an Ekiti State community which left two persons dead and many others injured. Those who survived the violence simply fled their homes and it’s not certain if they have returned.

    After the angry reactions that followed the Nimbo killings, President Buhari ordered security agencies to go after the killers and bring them to book. But the seeming inability of the Federal Government and its agencies to stamp out the trend is complicating the fragile security situation in the country.

    Into the void all sorts of opportunists are jumping in with unhelpful and ill-digested interventions. Take the example of the excitable Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose.

    Reacting to the deaths in Ekiti he declared: “On no account should anybody come to sack our communities again, rise up against them. Before any herdsmen kill you, kill them, before they rape your wives, kill them, and before they rape your children kill them.

    “I am giving you this order before they kill you kill them. You have to defend yourselves. Before they get you, you must get them down and take them out. You should pursue them, go and search for them inside the forest. Anyone who comes to take your life, you must take them out.

    “We will not leave our lands for Fulani herdsmen and in a system where the leadership of the country looks the other way while our people are being killed, we will have no option than to defend ourselves,” he added.

    Some people have been quick to praise Fayose for these inflammatory comments arguing that he acted because Buhari failed to do so.

    It would be naïve to think that people who cannot get help from government to defend their lands and lives, would sit idly by and be killed like chicken by faceless, roaming bands of killers. At some point they are going to resort to self help and defend themselves.

    However, a person in Fayose’s position should not be seen to be inciting people to kill no matter the justification. Compare his reaction to that of Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

    Such gubernatorial outbursts and decrees are open to liberal interpretation by those who receive them.

    When people begin to implement the governor’s directive to the letter there would be repercussions far beyond the borders of Ekiti State. Obviously, he didn’t consider that because the sun rises in Ado-Ekiti and sets in Ikole-Ekiti.

    Rather than inciting our people to indiscriminate killings, we should raise our voices until we get an appropriate response from Buhari and the responsible agencies.

    Many political leaders have landed in the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague for trial when ethnic conflict consumed their countries. They went on trial not because they pulled the trigger, but because their inflammatory comments and speeches were considered the remote control that set off the killing sprees.

    Ask President Uhuru Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto of Kenya; ask Ratko Mladic, Slobodan Milosevic and Radovan Karadzic of the former Yugoslavia.

    But I doubt if Fayose would care because that would interfere with his juvenile need to be noticed as the noisiest kid on the block.

  • Re: Farewell to foreign policy

    I was attracted to the foreign policy article by Mr Ayobolu which appeared on the back of The Nation of April 23. I was curious to know what led Ayobolu to come to the conclusion that we have no foreign policy.

    After reading Ayobolu’s article, I came to the conclusion that he is deeply unhappy at the fact that President Buhari took on the portfolio of foreign affairs and decided to be the Nation’s Chief Diplomat.  In doing so, Mr Ayobolu believes that the brilliant, erudite, Geoffrey Onyeama, Buhari’s Foreign Minister, has been sidelined and has not been allowed to showcase his erudition on the International stage. I am not sure that Mr. Onyeama will be as unhappy as Ayobolu when he observes the manner in which other Heads of State receives his boss, President Buhari, as he presents his case to his counterpart all over the world. I suspect the Foreign Minister will be happy that some of the aura of an achiever will rub off on him. And in time when we have overcome most of the challenges facing us, the current Foreign Minister will travel alone all over basking in the achievement of his boss.

    Mr. Ayobolu spent the first part of his article comparing the foreign policy and achievement of Gen Murtala Mohammed and President Buhari. He was obviously proud of the activist policy of Mohammed’s era. He correctly narrated the views of the activists and conservative wing of the Organisation of African Unity. What Gen Mohammed did then was to articulate the position of majority of African states in their support of MPLA (Angola’s People’s Movement for the Liberation of Africa). His speech, “Africa has come of Age”, gave voice to African states who hitherto were afraid to voice their opposition to America’s position on the colonial issue.

    President Buhari on the other hand is operating in an era where some African Heads of State  are enmeshed in corruption, engaged in bad and cruel governance of their people and operate the right to govern  without any limitation. President Buhari is using his personal attributes, his integrity, his intolerance of corruption and those who practice it, in driving his foreign policy.   These attributes of his have endeared him to world leaders and gained him results. Fortunately, today’s international protocol makes it easy for him to interact with world leaders. No matter how educated or articulate a Foreign Minister may be, he cannot be accorded the same respect and audience as his substantial Head of State. There is to my mind a limit to the insistence that the Foreign Minister is the only one that could initiate or carry out a nation’s foreign policy. I think most Nigerians will agree that Buhari is achieving the objectives which he set for himself. Mr. Babatunde Fashola in his notes on some of the foreign trips of President Buhari said that much in his recent article  PMB’s Foreign Trips – My Takeaway.

    One may ask why I have bothered to write a rejoinder to Mr. Ayobolu’s article. I have done so because I was Gen Mohammed’s Ambassador to the United States. When he took over power, he made it clear that he was interested in 3 posts in the foreign service.  These were Washington, Nigerian Mission to the United Nations and the OAU/Ethiopia. He had a huge say in the appointment of those he chose to go to these posts. This was how Leslie Harriman became our Ambassador to the United Nations; B.A. Clark our ambassador to the OAU and I was chosen to go to Washington DC.  It did not take me a long time when I arrived in Washington that I came to realize the extent of America’s bitterness against General Mohammed. As far as America was concerned, he was the arch communist leading a communist nation. All the tirade against us was because of our support of MPLA. Those who lavish praises on Gen Mohammed were totally unaware of the backlash of his policies and the effect it had on his Ambassador at post. I bore the brunt of America’s massive propaganda machine on radio and television negatively directed at Nigeria. I was indeed a shock absorber for the Head of State.  Onyeama has to play a back role for the moment, and he and his ambassadors will have to be Buhari’s shock absorbers.

    As I reflected on my stay in Washington, I came to the conclusion that General Mohammed was the luckiest Head of State of Nigeria. He was head of state of Nigeria for only 6 months, and his utterance of one sentence “Africa has come of age” made him a hero in Nigeria and Africa.  He did not live long enough for this generation to have a full assessment of his achievement both within Nigeria and internationally. At home, he authorized a record massive dismissals of civil servants, the repercussion of which was felt for years. Internationally, his record rested on that phrase  “Africa has come of Age”. This phrase galvanized Africa particularly freedom fighters in South Africa, Namibia and South Africa. It also loosened the tongues of Africans and emboldened them particularly those who were afraid of openly criticizing the United States anti-MPLA policy. I understand Mr Ayobolu’s admiration for the foreign policy that operated under Gen Mohammed and by President Obasanjo.  My problem is the comparison being made with that of Buhari’s administration. I am unhappy that his comparison does not take into account the context of the time and issues on the ground.

    Can foreign policy be actualized and operated in vacuum? Can our foreign policy be operated without taken account of the state of the economy? Does a country operate the foreign policy of a chosen foreign Minister or that of the Head of State and the policy of his administration? A foreign Minister is to implement faithfully the policy of his Head of State and his administration. The Foreign Minister may have brilliant ideas but he still has the duty of getting his boss to accept his ideas if he finds those ideas conforming with the foreign policy objectives of his administration as set out in his manifesto. I disagree with Mr. Ayobolu’s assertion that the present Head of State is undermining the role of his foreign minister.  The Head of State sincerely believes that his personality contributes to  the achievement of his objectives in eradicating corruption, fighting religious extremists particularly  Boko Haram and soliciting support for Nigeria. His success in his effort in this direction is very obvious to those who are objective.  I disagree with the impression that we have no foreign policy because Hon Geoffrey Onyeama is not on the driving seat.

    On the whole, I think we should be proud that three Nigeria Presidents have contributed to the awakening of Africa.  Mohammed and Obasanjo in the fight against colonialism, apartheid and the heroic fight for their emancipation. Our generation is witnessing another heroic fight in the person of President Buhari against corruption, greed and avarice of the leaders.  Suddenly he has been a shining example for the world.

    I believe Buhari is entitled to be compared with Den Xiaoping, the great reformer of modern China.

    Mr. Ayobolu has every right to criticize Nigeria’s foreign policy and the way it is being carried out. But we must always bear in mind the objectives which a leader wants to achieve, and what he needs or has, to achieve them. I think President Buhari is clear In his mind what objectives he wants his foreign policy to achieve, and he is going about it in his own way.  He is the man of the moment.

    Ambassador Olusola Sanu is a veteran diplomat and the author of Audacity on the Bound: A Diplomatic Odyssey.

  • Omolayo Thomas: End of discussion

    What is the joy of birth that death will eventually turn into sorrow! One moment you hear that a child has been born. Some years later, you hear that the man is dead. Who is toying with human lives like this? Who is playing with human emotions and feelings as if they are machines? Why is man being forced into existence through birth and at the same time being forced out of existence through death? Why is humanity denied democracy in matters relating to its existence? Why is man denied the right of choice in crucial matters like life and death? Why is man ambushed into the drama of life that has no audition? This is the rhetoric of the life and death of my brother Omolayo Thomas.

    Mr. Omolayo Thomas was born in Lagos Island on February 22, 1945. He grew up in our family house, 8 and 10 Richards Lane owned by our great-grandfather, the famous 19th century Lagos merchant, Chief Richards Odeliyi Thomas. While living in the house with our Grandfather, the celebrated Chief Akinwande Thomas, a close associate of Sir Ladapo Ademola, the late Alake of Abeokuta and the father of Sir Adetokunbo Ademola former Chief Justice of Nigeria, Omolayo started his primary school education at the African Church Primary School, Broad Street in 1951. He could not complete his education on the Island as he had to move with his family in 1956 to the then “New Lagos” (now known as Surulere) when our family house in Lagos Island was demolished by the Lagos Estate Development Board (LEDB) giving the redevelopment of Lagos Island as the reason for the demolition.

    Having settled in Surulere, Omolayo continued his primary school education at Government Demonstration School, Onitolo Street, Surulere and finished in 1957. He proceeded to Lagos City College in 1957 for his secondary school education. While in City College, Molayo became a “popular jingo” as we used to say then. He was popular not for any notorious habits or behavior but because of his soccer artistry. He was an alternate captain for the school team. That was where he got his nickname “Cappy Oloye”. Cappy’s football skill was not only a delight to his school fans; in the neighbourhood where he lived in Surulere, the youths of areas like Paddington, Milo, Elelubo, Love Garden, Shitta, Hogan Bassey and the rest, were mesmerised by Cappy’s defensive mastery which made all the teams he played for impregnable fortresses even for local strikers and attacking midfielders like Kwame, Goddy, “Attacker” and the late Oloyede Thomas. In the 1960s and 1970s, football tournaments were a spectacle. Almost all notable areas in Lagos had football pitches or land spaces which they used for the tournaments. This was long before the children of vanity in power started building monstrous eyesores which they called mansions on every available space in the state.

    After his secondary school education, Omolayo was employed as a ticket Clerk by the Lagos Municipal Transport Service (LMTS) between 1963 and 1964 through the assistance of his uncle, Mr. Emmanuel Abiodun Thomas who was a Traffic Officer in the same Corporation. Those were the days when bus tickets were issued from a small machine strapped to the bellies of bus conductors (both male and female) no matter how big those bellies were.

    Most of his friends and brothers in the area were always having free ride from Barracks or Stadium bus stop to any bus stop of their choice. Cappy would not collect transport fare from them nor issued them any ticket. However, sometimes some of them were caught by eagle-eyed checkers or better still, ticket inspectors who moved from the front of the bus to the back inspecting or checking passengers tickets.  Needless to say that Omolayo got himself into trouble on so many occasions because of this “area brother” generosity. But for the intervention of his uncle Mr. Abiodun Thomas, Omolayo and some of his “free rider” friends and brothers would have been ex-convicts today. Instead, his big uncle would only scold him and warned him to go and sin no more.

    In the early 1970s, Omolayo resigned from LMTS to go into foreign exchange business popularly called “Arrangee” in those days. He was an instant success in this business. He flourished like the palm tree. He became a big man and a magnanimous friend to all his friends in the area. One thing with Omolayo was that he was incorrigibly beneficent. He was always excited to help anybody, somebody and everybody. He found it difficult to say No to those who came to him for help. It was therefore a paradox that when this generous man fell sick and needed money to do surgery, he was practically begging people for the help that he rendered to people unsolicited.

    When Omolayo hit the jackpot in the “arrangee” business, his houses in Western Avenue and Orile hosted series of bacchanalian parties with fun lovers streaming to his house endlessly. Every day was like Christmas in Omolayo’s house. But in his last days on earth, his house was deserted. He became a lonely man finding succor and solace only in the hands of his faithful wife Muyiwa who singlehandedly bore the burden of his unfortunate trajectory from sickness to death.

    Between 1977 and 1978, the Obasanjo administration came down heavily on arrangee operators accusing them of economic sabotage. Beginning the currency cleansing with the imprisonment of Harold Sodipo an Egba High Chief, Obasanjo sent other arrangee operators scampering into the forest of safety. When this happened, Omolayo and his friends who were just small operators, disengaged from the business and ventured into politics.

    He did so with his late cousin, Dr. Frederick Fasegun Machado with whom he promoted progressive politics in Lagos State. Their coming into politics and joining the progressives coincided with the founding of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) by Chief Obafemi Awolowo. The UPN became a natural and convenient political platform for all the progressives in the Southwest in particular and Nigeria in general. From the time he joined the UPN in 1978 till death came calling, Omolayo consistently and doggedly pitched his tent with the progressives even at a time when most of his friends in Lagos Island crossed over to the conservative camp.

    My brother’s spiritual life was strange and complex. It oscillated between two extremes; Celestialism and Pentecostalism. For so many years, he was a member of the Celestial Church of Christ. Suddenly, he started attending Foursquare Gospel Church. For about four years, he was attending the Holy Ghost Service of the Redeemed Christian Church of God with experimental regularity. He was my guest for all those years. Suddenly, he stopped coming again. But let me stress here that this spiritual tourism was not because Omolayo was looking for any miracle or that he had a problem that was shoving him here and there. My closeness to him made me realise his reason for doing this: he was inexplicably curious about the mystery of the Trinity. And he thought he could understand it by window-shopping in the sanctuaries and shrines of the orthodox and the unorthodox. That was a pertinacious ambition. How can a man who is in deficit of his own humanity pursue a project to unravel the mystery of the trinity? For instance, with all our triumphs and victories in life, we are still helpless and powerless in our battle with death. The final and greatest conquest of man and science would have been the defeat of death but since the beginning of human existence, nobody has ever subdued death, the end of discussion.

  • Stemming harbingers of climate change

    Al Gore, a former United States Vice-President, must be oscillating between glee and gloom. Glee that his prognostications about climate change have largely been vindicated, and gloom that his prognostications about climate change have largely been vindicated. When his book and documentary entitled, An Inconvenient Truth, came out in 2006, he was viewed as everything from a well-meaning but false alarmist to a destabilising quack propagating a conspiracy theory. He was one of the first public figures with international face-recognition to sound the warning on the impending doom we’ve come to know as global warming. Few believed him at the onset, but now 10 years later, history has proved him to be, most unfortunately, more right than wrong.

    Both 2014 and 2015 were declared the hottest years on record. 2016 may well be hotter still, judging by the unusually high temperatures we’ve been experiencing particularly since February.  In Nigeria, the undue temperatures and changes in weather patterns are causing year-by-year shrinkage of fertile acreage in the northern parts of the country. This warmer-weather phenomenon and its attendant consequences are being felt in other parts of the world too. In December 2015, the former second largest lake in Bolivia, Lake Poopo, irreversibly evaporated. In April this year, thousands of tons of dead sardines washed up on the banks of the Queule River in Chile. In May, a wildfire started near Fort McMurray in Canada and spread across more than 505,000 hectares, forcing the mandatory evacuation of an entire town.

    According to NASA, the global temperature in April was the warmest ever recorded in any April since 1880. This across-borders rise in temperature is caused by both naturally-occurring and man-made factors.  El Nino, the periodic movement of large chunks of warm water across the Pacific Ocean, is the primary naturally-occurring cause of climate change. Greenhouse gases, such as fossil fuel-induced carbon dioxide, are the predominant man-made instigants of global warming. Climate change has an impact on the availability of water, the food supply chain, and of course, the environment. Our production of fossil fuels (like oil) and our overdependence on its derived products (like diesel, kerosene or petrol) are not helping.  The quantum of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is said to have reached its highest recorded level in 2015. Mankind is producing more carbon dioxide than the earth can naturally process.

    Most of us would list better roads and constant power supply as absolute necessities for Nigeria’s economic growth. However, our quest for development must be conducted sustainably. For example, while it’s splendid that there are plans to build a multi-lane, superhighway in Cross River State, it should only be done after taking time to properly assess the long term, environmental impact of cutting through a national park, felling countless trees and irreparably altering certain ecosystems. When viewed through a climate change prism, such a trade-off may prove to be ultimately retrogressive and costly in ways that may only become apparent 30 years from hence.

    Having constant power supply is a boon to commercial competitiveness.  The country’s current power generating capacity is said to have fallen below 2,500MW. There is a possibility that capacity for an additional 2,000MW will be restored by the end of 2016. The Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing forecasts that our peak power demand in Nigeria is around 12,800MW and hopes to generate up to 40,000MW by 2020. However, there are those who believe that that goal is too modest because our needs could in actual fact be as high as 1,000MW per one million people. So, how do we balance this vital requirement for electricity with the pressing need to halt drastic climate change?  Right now, the power shortfall is made up principally by gas-turbined private power projects or the individual use of generators fuelled by diesel or petrol. Perhaps, it is time for us to be earnest about catching up with the rest of the world and shifting away from relying mainly on fossil fuel to generate our power. It is instructive that the construction of a 10MW wind farm in Katsina State has not been completed 10 years after inception. Meanwhile, the Gansu Wind Farm in China started in 2009 and seven years later it can generate more than 7,900MW. Their goal is to generate at least 20,000MW from this wind farm alone by the year 2020. We seriously need to up our game.

    Thankfully, there are indigenous social utility companies in Nigeria, which have figured out how to provide 24 hour electricity to rural communities at an affordable rate using solar energy. Incentives should be provided so that more entrepreneurs will be motivated to develop alternative energy solutions. Institutional investors with excess liquidity should consider ploughing their money into renewable energy projects (instead of building yet another block of unoccupied luxury apartments). Individuals with extra funds earning a pittance in savings accounts can also figure out how to invest in viable enterprises dedicated to providing clean energy. These are ways that we can replicate, for example, the community-owned wind farm system practised in the German region of North Frisia. The wind farms in North Frisia have the capacity to generate approximately 700MW, which is more electricity than the residents can use. Imagine that. Constant power supply without the noise or atmospheric pollution of generators.

    The sooner we can switch to using renewable energy like solar, wind or water, the better the chance we have for minimising the damaging effects of environmental anomalies within our borders. Though the chances of Nigeria becoming a zero-carbon economy are minuscule, those who insist that we can pursue development at a pace and in a manner that is “in harmony with nature”, are not necessarily tree-hugging lefties and should not be ignored.ý A healthy planet would undoubtedly be one of the greatest legacies that we can give to the next generation.

    At a personal level, we can do what little we can to slow down or even reverse global warming. We can reduce, reuse and recycle if at all possible.  Turning off lights and air conditioning when no one is in the room reduces emissions. Even just raising an air-conditioning system’s thermostat by two degrees in warmer climes (or two degrees lower in colder climes), creates less carbon dioxide. Using LED or CFL bulbs also helps. Opting for cars run by renewable energy or car pooling, or biking to your destination if you are able to, can make a difference. Planting trees or finding ways to incorporate existing trees into your building design is beneficial too because trees absorb carbon dioxide. This reminds me of a US-based NGO known as the Centre for Renewable Energy and Appropriate Technology for the Environment (CREATE!). CREATE! provides training to interested groups in rural communities on how to start and maintain year-round, sustainable vegetable gardens and tree nurseries without the use of any fossil fuel. The trees double as living fences, and reverse the trend of deforestation. The foliage provides shade, and the produce provides nutrition, as well as a source of income.

    One wonders if Gore sees 2015 as the year the world got serious about tackling the apocalypse of climate change. That year saw the signing of the Paris Agreement and a shift in investment priorities away from fossil energy, in favour of renewable energy. The Agreement has so far been signed by at least 175 countries. It commits the participants to reducing emissions or halting emissions growth. Signatories have also pledged to take actions to keep the temperature from rising 2C above “preindustrial levels”. They are actually aiming to cap it at 1.5C which seems like a lost battle already considering that in 2015 the global temperature reached as high as 1.11C hotter than the selected benchmark. Climate scientists believe that if global temperatures rise above 3.5C, small island developing states such as Sao Tome and Principe or Cape Verde will almost certainly be sunk under rising tidal waves.

    The sweltering heat wave of the last few months, the southward creeping desert and the drying up of Lake Chad are harbingers of climate change in Nigeria. The last two effects are in turn compounding the problem of urban migration, which as we have seen, has engendered conflicts between hosts and settlers. It behoves us to make adaptive correction, and it will be interesting to know if Nigeria will reconsider its decision not to be a signatory to the Paris Agreement. Even if we don’t sign, hopefully, we have our own plans to cause our emissions to reduce rapidly, so that we are not negligent contributors to an avoidable calamity that could render parts of the world unfit for any life form to dwell.

     

    • Ms. Aboderin, an economist, is a member of the Institute of Directors.

  • Badaru and Jigawa LG elections

    Jigawa State government had last year proposed to conduct the Local Government Council (LGC) elections this year but to our surprise, the Jigawa State Independent Electoral Commission (JSIEC) recently announced the postponement of the promised and well-publicized elections earlier scheduled to take place on February 13. The opposition party, PDP had spent millions of naira for the purchase of the forms and other issues related to the elections and preparations were in high gear. Aside the fact that no concrete or convincing reason(s) were given for the cancellation, nothing has been heard about when it will be conducted. Since many states like Kano, Zamfara, Sokoto, FCT and Niger etc have conducted theirs; we have not seen the reason(s) why Jigawa cannot conduct its own.  This postponement has generated ill-will in the minds of many Nigerians whether democracy has come to stay in this era of change most especially in Jigawa State.

    Is Governor Badaru afraid that his non-performance will lead him to electoral losses and relevance if he conducts the LGC elections now? Despite the propaganda that 37,000 people decamped from PDP to APC in December last year, including high calibre dignitaries such as the APC National Chairman, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, about 10 APC governors, serving Ministers, Senators and Reps etc; it is inexplicable that the state government will put the election on hold.

    Clearly, the decision taken by JSIEC has no basis either in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or any existing law in Jigawa State. The reasons given are groundless and illogical. If the APC is jittery about confronting PDP in an election organized by its electoral commission, they will go into coma come 2019 when the opposition party is ready to crush them in the national election. With the dismal performance of the APC-led government in Jigawa State, no political office holder including the governor has the capacity and courage to go on campaign tour in the rural areas. The masses are waiting for the delivery of the empty and spurious campaign promises of the 2015 elections.

    Since Governor Badaru has gone ahead to appoint Local Government Council caretakers committee, it is obvious he is not at all ready to conduct the elections. He should bear in mind the former INEC chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega’s statement that: “Democratic development in this country requires solid foundation at the local government level and therefore, we must ensure that official are elected at the local government level and the issue of sole administrator or caretaker committee should be a thing of the past”.

    As election allows members of an organization or community to choose representatives who will hold positions of authority, one important election is the one to select the leaders of local governments. Local Government is the arm of government which provides and supervises administrative, fiscal, and other services to the people who reside within its territorial boundaries. It is the level of government most directly accountable to the public.

    The chance to decide who will govern at this level serves as an opportunity for the public to make choices about the policies, programmes and future directions of government action. At the same time, elections promote accountability. The threat of defeat at the polls exerts pressure on those in power to conduct themselves in a responsible manner and take account of popular interests and wishes when they make their decisions.

    True, some State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs) held local government council elections in the country after the 2015 polls with some obstacles. In some states, no opposition party got even chairman or councillorship seats. Violence prevailed in some states like Niger, which even led to loss of lives and property. Truly, the election established doubts in the minds of many Nigerians on whether democracy has come to stay or not.

    Local government councils, the third tier of government has under the present democratic dispensation become the most abused institution of government by state governors. Although closer to the people, they are being monopolised by governors who even determine how and when the elections should be conducted and those that should be elected as chairmen and councillors in the state despite the constitutional directives to conduct the elections as soon as possible.  This was certainly not the case under the immediate past administration of Sule Lamido. Indeed, he ensured that Local Government Council elections were conducted in line with what the constitution requires and directed. Lamido’s style of leadership, his promotion of internal democracy, peaceful co-existence, mutual understanding and national development and well-being of his people has stood him out as an exemplary leader.

    A stalwart of the old PRP and one of the PDP’s founding fathers, he knows the true meaning of democracy and citizenship. The battle-tested political veteran knows Nigerian politics inside out. With perhaps the possible exception of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, there is no Nigerian politician who has political friends and associates from all parts of the country more than Lamido as he is easily the rallying point for PDP and the northern politics.

    My advice to Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Badaru Talamiz is to emulate the attributes of his predecessor,  Sule Lamido.  During Lamido’s tenure, the opposition enjoyed equal rights without sentiments or any attempts at segregation.

    As it stands, Jigawa PDP has set new a formula and strategy for its rebirth. Lamido’s day to day interactions with people, his ideologies, principles and achievements will surely make the party bounce back, better and stronger. I therefore appeal to Jigawa State governor, Alhaji Badaru Talamiz to allow democracy to be. He should please conduct the local government council elections as soon as possible and as the constitution provides. This will go a long way to test the popularity and achievement of APC as well whether they can stand the challenge.

     

    • Adamu wrote in from Kafin-Hausa, Jigawa State.

  • Akwa Ibom rides the ‘Resource Curse’

    A couple of years back, precisely in 2010, when he was Chairman of the Nigerian Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (NEITI), Professor Asisi Asobie gave some damning and damaging statistics on the state of the nation’s oil and gas sector. Damning because it indexed the wastefulness and lack of vision among managers of the nation’s resources in years past; and damaging because it speaks volume of the rot in the sector that has over the years remained the goose that lays the proverbial golden egg. The occasion was the All Nigeria Editors’ Conference hosted by the Rivers State government.

    Here are a few of the statistics. Between 1999 and 2005 (six years), the Nigerian federation realised $109 billion (N15.67 trillion) from the oil sector 42.2 percent ($46 billion) of which was from taxes, royalty etc while 57.8 percent or $63bn was from export and domestic crude sales. Out of this, $21 billion was invested by way of Joint Venture cash calls. Gross revenue realized for the federation was $140bn (N19.6 trillion). These amounts, said Asobie, were based on NEITI’s audit findings. They were strictly oil-sector specific flows plus non-oil sector specific flows from oil companies. They do not include income tax from other sources, customs revenues, VAT, etc; meaning receipts into the federation account for the period far exceeded the afore-stated figures when you compute earnings from other non-oil sources.

    To effectively get a handle on how the money was spent, let’s look at how the various tiers of government and in fact the different zones benefited from this huge volume. For the period under review (1999 – 2005), a total of N15.8 trillion was paid into the federation account if you add revenue from other sources including customs duties, VAT et al from the oil companies. Out of this, the federal government got N5.138 trillion representing 32.5 percent; states shared N10.671trillion or 67.5 percent. Let’s break it down further according to zones. During the period, the South-south zone got a hefty N1.259 trillion; North-west, N627.888bn; South-west, N550.526bn; North-east N458.195bn; North-central N425.398bn, and bringing up the rear was the South-east with N374.503bn.

    Again, reflect on this. Approximately 80 percent of the oil revenue is concentrated in the hands of one percent of the population; and 70 percent of Nigeria’s private wealth is held abroad. In fact, the guest lecturer at the conference and then Executive Secretary of the Local Content Development Commission, Ernest Nwapa, drove the nail deeper into the psyche of the editors when he said that out of every $100 made from oil and gas, only $5 is retained in Nigeria while $95 is stashed away overseas. This is beyond capital flight. This was sheer robbery by the oil ‘super-majors’ with of course connivance with corrupt public office holders in the country.

    Nigeria, truly, is a victim of the “Dutch Disease” as well as the “resource curse”. Both are symptomatic of monoculture economies where the nation relies heavily if not solely on crude cash. Whereas the ‘Disease’ leads to poverty in the midst of plenty, the ‘Curse’ tends to make a people lazy, uninventive and largely unresourceful.  “The ‘disease’ kills agriculture and the primary industry; the ‘curse’ makes the people docile”, Asobie postulated.

    So, why are Nigerians suffering when their country is rich? Why are her teeming youths wandering the streets in hopeless swagger as they endure the yoke of unemployment? The answer is corruption.  In addition to that is a clear lack of vision from the leadership.

    This is the context in which one is enthralled by the new push coming from Akwa Ibom State, one of the major oil-producing states of the nation. At a time receipts from crude oil sales are dipping, the governor is envisioning a new Akwa Ibom anchored not on the props of oil money but underpinned by industrialization, wealth creation, agriculture and hospitality.  The governor, Udom Emmanuel, never ceases to voice his admiration for nations which became successful through the application of knowledge to create an oasis of productive knowledge economy. He talks with passion about the exploits of China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, among others.  These are countries that pulled through the ruins of war, poverty and despoliation to become world industrial powers. They became industrial hubs because at a point in time, their leadership re-engineered the people’s psyche, making their citizens understand that sustainable development does not come from importing food, drinks and just about everything but from building a strong industrial base powered and propelled by knowledge as the chief resource.

    The governor launched the Dakkada (rise up) value creed, first to redefine the identity of the people and second, to rekindle a new thrust of hope and self-belief among his people. Then, he turned to the youths to make them believe that they are the change they want to see; not just with rhetorical stimulation but pragmatic empowerment with contemporary tools. Last year, he commissioned Oracle Database Administration training in the state. Today, Akwa Ibom is host of the globally recognized Pearson VUE e-Testing Centre, meaning Nigerians and indeed Akwa Ibom youths need not travel far to acquire relevant ICT certifications. Already, the first batch of Oracle Database Administration trainees has graduated from the centre and Governor Emmanuel has armed each one of them with a brand new laptop.

    This gesture may be lost on some of the youths; but what the governor is saying to them is ‘create your own future’. No man can create his future except he is empowered with the relevant skill set. The average Akwa Ibom youth, especially those Oracle graduates kitted with a laptop, has been set on the path to wealth creation. The likes of Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle Corporation in 1977, Michael Dell of Dell Computers and even Bill Gates of Microsoft did not have such opportunity yet they forged ahead, broke through the ceiling of convention to beget to humanity ICT monuments.  Today, they are the change we know. We all live in the tomorrow they created yesterday.

    This is why Governor Emmanuel’s style of governance that seeks to teach the people how to fish rather than feed them with fish crumbs is admirable and a template worthy of replication across the country. Besides, the governor has dispatched 200 youths to Israel for training in agriculture and another 200 for capacity-building in power engineering and management.

    All of this point to his overall vision for the state: industrialization. In just 12 months, scores of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) have been signed with strategic investors and partners. Not one to stop a vision at mere scribbling on paper, Governor Emmanuel has ensured that the investors have taken practical steps to set up shops in his state.  The automobile assembly plant, electric meter manufacturing plant and the fertilizer blending conglomerate to mention but a few are the emblems of a state on the path to industrialization.

    Yet, in spite of these accomplishments, the governor has remained shy of public attention and would not engage in self-adulation, either. Instead, he chooses to let his works speak for him. This is the stuff of good leadership. In the midst of scarce resources, Governor Emmanuel is building hope and a future for his people. Reed Markham, the cerebral author and writer once said: “Successful leaders see the opportunities in every difficulty rather than the difficulty in every opportunity.” This is what Governor Emmanuel epitomizes: turning the difficulties of the moment to oases of opportunities.

     

    • Olali writes from Uyo

  • Echoes of Enugu killings

    I have followed with keen interest the development in the country over the unfortunate attacks on communities by suspected Fulani herdsmen. The incessant attacks which are ravaging some communities in the country have posed a serious security threat to our unity and peaceful co-existence as an indivisible entity.

    Of all these callous incidents of herdsmen attacks, I had special interest in the recent carnage in Nimbo community in Uzo Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, which drew the attention of the world.

    I lived and studied at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) for five years in the late 80s, and I came to identify the people of the state as peaceful and accommodating.   During my academic pursuit in Nsukka, I undertook constant visits to Adada River in Uzo Uwani L.G.A, located not too far from Nimbo community where the killings took place.

    When the governor visited the Nimbo community, saw a dead body, wept and called for fasting and prayers, many people then misunderstood the wisdom behind his emotions, empathy and resort to God’s intervention. But, when I recalled that tears streamed down President Barack Obama’s cheeks in January this year, when he summoned the memory of the 20 elementary school children slaughtered in Newtown, Connecticut, I saw wisdom, leadership, humility and maturity in what the Enugu governor did at Nimbo.

    After his press conference, where he gave a narrative of what transpired and how the security agencies failed him despite all the assurances and painstaking efforts he made to forestall the attack on Nimbo, I was overwhelmed with emotion and convinced that the security agencies have questions to answer.

    The recent turn of events, has proved those who had criticized the state’s handling of the Nimbo attack wrong. The trend of events has portrayed the governor as a statesman and diplomatic leader with a deep rooted instinct in crisis management and passion for peace and unity of the country. It has proved that he displayed maturity in the face of provocation, by not allowing a reprisal attack that would have done the Igbos more harm than good.

    I am convinced that he considered the consequences of a possible counter-retaliation on his innocent brothers and sisters residing in other parts of the country, when he condemned the dastardly act and promised to do everything possible within his constitutional powers to bring the culprits to book and put an end to the incessant killings in the state.

    I have realized that the governor’s path to peace, dialogue and strategic engagement of all concerned, towards bringing the culprits to book and finding a sustainable solution to the menace of the herdsmen, was not a sign of weakness but a sign of reasoned maturity and commitment to the promotion of our national unity and integration.

    I sincerely commend the governor for this uncommon wisdom geared towards a peaceful, united and prosperous nation.

    The significant fact about the Enugu attack is not only that it drew the attention of the entire world to condemn the heinous act and call for justice, the President after the prompt visit of the Enugu Governor to him, also condemned the attack and directed the security agencies to immediately secure communities under the attacks of herdsmen and arrest the perpetrators of the dastardly acts and bring them to justice.

    I was delighted by the decisive action of the governor, shortly after the attack to reactivate and strengthen the vigilante groups in all the communities in the state with an initial seed fund of N100million to provide complimentary security services in their respective areas.  The governor equally constituted a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to unravel all the circumstances surrounding the attack.

    I was equally impressed by the avalanche of heartfelt condolences and   commendations the governor has received over the Nimbo attack and for the maturity he displayed in handling the matter.

    It is on record, that the governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were the first to pay a condolence visit to the state over the Nimbo attack. They condemned the attack and commended Governor Ugwuanyi for “the show of maturity in handling the provocative incident, which they described as a criminal act that cannot be associated with tribe, religion or political party.”

    I appreciate the inspirational words of the chairman of the APC Northern Governors, Governor Ibrahim Shettima of Borno State during his visit: “Times like this call for maturity, calmness, leadership role, which Governor Ugwuanyi has displayed. We are one nation with a common destiny. The killers should be treated like criminals and should be fished out and dealt with.”

    Worthy of note is that the Governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola also condemned the carnage as callous and commended Governor Ugwuanyi for the manner he has handled the matter by not allowing a reprisal attack.

    It is also on the condolence register, that the South-east governors and other leaders from the zone; the South-east PDP governors and other leaders of the party; South-east Council of Traditional Rulers; the state chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN); South-east Town Unions; some Catholic and Anglican Bishops in the state; the Fulani and Shuwa Arab Communities in the state;, the governor’s kinsmen under the aegis of Nsukka General Assembly and Nsukka Professional Group, among others,   all condemned the attack and commended the Enugu Governor for his maturity in handling the sad incident of Nimbo which did not lead to further violence or a reprisal attack.

    Just a few days ago, I watched the governor on television, accompanied by Fulani leaders to a community in the state (Akpakwume/Nze) to dispel the rumour of an impending attack on the people of the area and to reassure them of their safety. My heart thawed over the wisdom in his efforts to embark on a prompt visit to the community to promote peace and unity and guarantee the people of their safety. This is an attribute of a statesman and detribalized Nigerian.

    Two days after the visit, I also read in the media, that the governor met with the Fulani and Shuwa Arab communities in the state and Leaders of Apkakwume/Nze community on how to foster peace and unity and enhance the security of lives and property of the people of the state in the wake of the recent attack on Nimbo community.

    It was reported that after the meeting, all the parties involved unanimously resolved through a communiqué read by the secretary of the Fulani community in the state, Bala Ardo, that there will be no night grazing or rearing of cattle, no carrying of arms by the cattle rearers, and no night movement of cattle from one location to another in the state. The meeting also constituted a joint peace committee that will be meeting every month to promote peace and address any issue that might arise between the herdsmen and their host communities, etc.

    From the foregoing, there is no doubt that Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State has through the sequence of his actions since the incessant attack on Nimbo community, demonstrated quality leadership that provides answer to the fundamental problems of national disunity, tribalism and religious bigotry that have threatened our existence as an indivisible entity.

    Again, I commend him immensely for being in the vanguard of national discourse for peace, unity and integration, for in unity we stand and in disunity we fall. Enugu State is truly in the hands of God!

     

    • Idowu, a public affairs analyst wrote in from Ikeja, Lagos.

  • Okorocha: Uncommon methods, uncommon results

    It must be noted upfront that one had been one of the harshest critics of the man in Douglas House, Owerri, Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, especially in its early days. Now five years in the saddle, running out his second term in office, truth must be told that as far as governance and accomplishments go in today’s epoch, Okorocha will stand out among the high achievers in Nigeria.

    But because he has adopted a peculiar style all of his own but which rubs off badly on many people, he has not been quite popular among the critical elite and intelligentsia.

    But being a participant observer in the four years preceding his emergence, one is in a pole position to make informed judgment on what has transpired in this last five years.

    First let us consider some elements of the governor’s uncommon methods which his critics often latch upon to pummel him. Most notable is that Governor Okorocha seems to have adopted a no-method approach to governance. He seems to have obvious disdain for bureaucracy, red-tapeism and paperwork.

    Explaining this approach, he seems to believe that going by the level of development of the country today, only a “task force” system would engender rapid infrastructure development. He is convinced that there is need to deliberately whittle down the ‘debilitating’ influences of such groups as the bumbling bureaucrats, the grasping elite and the carpet-bagging political class so that resources could be harnessed for rapid development of the state. He thinks these centrifugal forces suck in much of the resources of a state leaving little for public works.

    This has been both his guiding principle and driving force. He works on the go, he said, and sometimes for many weeks, he does not see the four walls of his office. It is easier to see me at my project sites than in the Government House, he noted recently to a group of visiting senior journalists.

    Thus, while you are bound to quarrel with his methods which pay no heed to structured tendering and procurement processes which are the hallmarks of public administration, he has achieved immense results far more than his immediate predecessors. Again, people say the quality to his projects are below par but there are projects, huge, huge projects across the state only reminiscent of the Sam Mbakwe glorious era.

    One of the greatest things going for him is that he is a big man with big, big ideas seemingly swimming about in his head. He thinks big; indeed, adventurously big. Is it not said that it is better to aim for the sky so that should you fail, you would at least crash on an iroko tree. This seems to be Governor Okorocha’s abiding work ethic.

    No matter how much you may dislike a guy, you cannot discount self-evident facts that present in form of huge projects across the state. A few examples will suffice here. There was only one major road linking new Owerri to the chaotic old part of town. Today, over four virgin roads including three bridges across Nworie River have been accomplished in just four years. This feat could not be achieved in 12 years preceding his time.

    Owerri, Imo’s capital city is indeed a huge beneficiary of Okorocha’s infrastructure revolution. There are so many construction works going on in Owerri that the question would be, where does he get the funds to accomplish all these. Here is a checklist of some landmark edifices: an underground tunnel crossing the Owerri-Port-Harcourt Expressway by the Concorde gate; a set of six 21-story highrise buildings in new owerri; the outer ring road started by the Ikedi Ohakim administration with two flyovers and the Chukwuma Nwoha dual carriage stretch; the Relief market extension; Concorde Hotel makeover; Ochiedike Specialist Hospital to mention only a few projects.

    Another landmark feat is the dualisation of the nearly 100- kilometre Owerri-Orlu road which has a major bridge. One doubts if any other state governor in Nigeria has done this stretch of road which ordinarily is something in the realm of the federal government. In Ogboko, Ideato, Orlu zone, a massive tertiary institution – the Eastern Palm University, will resume academic session in October this year.

    Though it is a public-private project according to the governor, it is a showpiece citadel. Nothing like it has been accomplished by any state governor in the entire South-east in the last 30 years. Even the old Imo State University does not come anywhere close to it. It is indeed a most ambitious project which will make any Imolite proud upon completion.

    Though Okigwe has not fared as well as Orlu and Owerri zones, but at that, it can be said that Okigwe never had it so good since its inception. Roads are being dualised in Amaraku, Anara and Okigwe. An imposing Princess Hotel is rising in Okigwe and so is the Okigwe Township stadium among other urban improvement projects.

    Twenty seven modern general hospitals have been built in each of the local government areas of the state, a feat unprecedented in any single tenure. While some may worry about the state of old hospitals these new ones are vast upgrades which have taken health infrastructure in Imo State a notch up. What we have in these new structures is a template for a total revamp of Imo health sector.

    There is an on-going drive to plant at least one agro-based industry in each local government council of the state. This initiative would drive the government’s economic diversification programme. Some of the numerous abandoned factories across the state are already being brought back to life.

    It is impossible and even improper to seek to capture the achievements of Governor Okorocha in one short article, but suffice to say that as far as state governance go in Nigeria today, he stands out as a governor who has left a shinning legacy already. Yet he still has three years to go.

    There may well be something enduring about Okorocha’s uncommon approach to governance for if he continues at this current pace he is bound to surpass the legacies of Dee Mbakwe in the pantheons of Imo leadership.

  • After a successful fuel price hike

    Last week, on this column, I weighed in on the side of the government over the disputed fuel price hike. I still believe the painful hike was inevitable. But I was amused when I listened to the Attorney General of the Federation and the Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN, give the impression that obtaining an injunction against the disorganised labour strike from the National Industrial Court is a big issue. It is not, and never has been. The reason is simple. Under the Labour laws, going on a lawful strike is a near impossibility, as the lawmakers gave strenuous conditions for a lawful strike. So, what the labour unions do is to include immunity from prosecution as a clause for a ceasefire.

    Thankfully the strike has been called off, following a meeting between the labour leaders and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the national leader of the ruling party, the All Progressive Congress. But before the call off, the strike was wobbling and fumbling, so NLC should thank Asiwaju for the mercy killing of a failed strike. However, there should be no excitement that the strike failed, after all, the challenges ahead, is for all Nigerians. The Minister of Labour Senator Chris Ngige, and the federal government that he represents, instead of gloating, should rather appreciate the enormous expectations from Nigerians, who have shown an unprecedented willingness to make huge sacrifices.

    So, with a successful hike in fuel price, meaning more resources for the government and greater socio-economic disequilibrium for the common man, the federal government would now have no reason not to roll out its other economic policies, to stimulate our economy that is reeling in deep recession. Or is it just possible, as I have been inundated with, that like under the previous governments, the new hike in the price of Premium Motor Spirit, otherwise known as petrol, is an end in itself? That is, as we had experienced in the past, a mere opportunity for the government to increase its revenue base, while it continues on the same trajectory that will bet another increase in price, few months from now?

    I honestly hope that there are plans afoot by this government to get the Nigerian economy back on track, within a few months. Otherwise, the excitement on the faces of government officials that they have been able to divide the labour union and frustrate the strike action may not last. If the government is not aware, then they should better be informed that life in Nigerian, for many, is becoming unliveable. While I am not an economist, it is very strange that while there is a paucity of expendable income, inflation is at a galloping rate.

    The prices of basic food items have in many cases doubled, in the last few months, even as many are broke. The joke out there is that tomato has become costlier than apple, and Nigerians are making a huge fun of it on the social media. The same strange hike has happened to the price of garri, a basic staple for many Nigerian families. Now if these basic locally produced food items have become so expensive, one can imagine what is happening to a substantially imported staple, like rice. As one junior colleague said to me recently, it won’t be long before people walking on the streets will just drop dead because of unbearable hardship.

    The poverty in the land is seen everywhere. Whether you talk to artisans, traders, professionals or civil servants. The common language is the lack of income to pay for basic needs. Many homes have been unable to pay for their accommodation, and the government has no alternative for the homeless. Most artisans have no patronage, and where services are rendered, the patrons have no money to pay for services. Civil servants who have taken basic food items on credit, from retailers, and borrowed from relations to pay for school fees, have only tales to tell, as their salaries remain unpaid.

    Professionals, like lawyers, journalists, doctors, engineers, accountants and the like, who render services for fees, have all been groaning. With businesses comatose, it is either they render services on credit, or they remain idle. Their challenges are compounded by the lack of electricity to power their offices and basic equipment. Without resources to pay for services, many Nigerians resort to self-help, or patronize quacks. The challenge is more grievous in the health sector, where lack of money to pay for professional services lead many to resort to self-medication, with all its grave consequences for the individual and the larger society.

    Small and big businesses are also sacking their employees. Whether in the oil industry, banking or construction, the laying off of workers have become the standard, instead of exceptions. Every other week, the media is awash of the decision of big companies that should be expanding, rather announcing their decision to lay off thousands of workers. The small scale businesses are even worse off, with the factors of production, particularly electricity unavailable, and where available very epileptic. Those engaged in trading have never had it so challenging, as their daily pilgrimage to their shops have become an exercise in futility.

    With many fathers out of work, and several mothers’ small scale businesses extinguished by unfavourable business environment, the family arena in many homes has turned to a dangerous playground. Disposed fathers who are unable to adjust to the status of failed-men, seek out and possess boxing gloves to duel their disconsolate wives to death. Wives who have no patience for the admonition, until death do them part, resort to prostituting to fend for themselves and their desperate children. Children sent away for non-payment of school fees, and forced to stay at home and indoors, to fake wellness, are quietly growing into scoundrels, soon to be unleashed on the society.

    Perhaps the government of PMB still has its magic hidden somewhere. Perhaps the government would soon come up with an encompassing economic policy that would put many back to work and productivity. Perhaps PMB would raise an economic team that would rival the best, anywhere in the world. Perhaps very soon the release of the capital vote, from the much hoped-on budget, would get the economy booming again, as the capital projects, galvanises the comatose economy. Perhaps the banks, oil companies, construction companies and many others would soon start hiring the legion of unemployed graduates, who still rely on their parents, many years after their graduation from the universities and polytechnics.

    If for whatever reasons, the government fails to provide the much needed reinvigoration of our beleaguered economy in few more months, just as the Nigerian Labour Congress has been unable to successfully mobilize Nigerians to protest against the hike in fuel price, then the government leaders and the labour leaders must brace up for the consequences of a failed nation. Let nobody be deceived, the reason why many Nigerians are not in the streets, demonstrating against the fuel hike, is because while labour has comprehensively failed them, for many years, the present government has only been around for just one year. I guess, we must all pray for God to help PMB and his team to turn our fortunes for the better, before it is too late.