The Nation Newspaper

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  • That CNN’s video of Chibok girls

    INTERNATIONAL broadcaster, CNN, certainly wowed its global audience with the video it exclusively obtained of Nigeria’s schoolgirls that were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists on April 14, 2014 to the consternation of the entire world.

    As would be expected in any situation where one has expended resources to acquire such valuable media, the news organisation milked it for all it was worth and had the foresight to have arranged a screening for grieving parents of the abducted girls. If the footage of the distraught mothers grovelling as they pleaded for the release of the children didn’t force the hands of the government to go in search of the girls then maybe nothing will. Perhaps, that CNN’s exclusive will finally force the Nigerian authorities to seek closure in this case.

    As heart breaking as those images are, they raise questions that all those involved should provide answers to if the misery of these little girls is not to be released to mere movie prop that matters only to the point of boosting viewership and growing ratings.

    For a start, how come, as usual, none of the indigenous media houses were smart or daring enough to obtain the video? Of course the argument would be made later that they are lazy and without initiative and the enterprise needed to nail such an exclusive.

    The video was shot sometime around last Christmas from the analysis provided by CNN. How long has the network held unto the video? Why did it opt for now, the second anniversary of the abduction, before airing it? Would it have been better if the video had gone public as soon as it was obtained with relative to that timeframe? There is the fact that there are editorial processes that must be followed before the video is used but was the delay part of a deal struck with the terrorists as a condition for this ‘exclusive’ scoop?

    Protection of sources is a non-negotiable requirement of journalism. This requirement is serious enough that many journalists across the world have rather served prison terms than expose their sources while media organisations would rather bear the cost of expensive litigations than divulge sources. But what is the ethics about withholding  information that mean that 219 girls will continue to remain sex slaves with potential that some of them could get  killed in these days of final onslaught on Boko Haram? Is CNN willing to assist the Nigerian authorities by providing information that could lead to the rescue of the girls?

    A natural argument is that the CNN should not compromise ethical standards to assist Nigeria’s law enforcement.

    Does anyone recall how jail-breaking Mexican drug kingpin, Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, was recaptured? Guzman’s recapture was “thanks to a secret meeting with U.S. actor Sean Penn,” according to an article on Al-Jazeera America’s website. The incentive to capture El Chapo was high considering that he was at the root of the epidemic of heroin addiction in the US, so ethics or any other consideration would be out the window naturally.

    Even the ethics of healthcare workers was waived when polio vaccinators were exploited to gather information in Abbottabad, Pakistan, which eventually led to the killing of the then world most wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden. What then makes the fate of the Chibok Girls different that CNN won’t without prompting furnish information to assist their freedom?

    Could there be a conspiracy to allow Nigeria stew in the mess that the Chibok Girls abduction has been since it first occurred? Does anyone remember who Dr Andrew Pocock is? Dr Andrew Pocock is the former British High Commissioner to Nigeria. Yes, the one who told us when it was well past the time that the United States and the United Kingdom knew the whereabouts of about 80 of abducted Chibok girls but would not intervene. To prevent a scenario where the CNN will claim some months down the line that Nigerian authorities did not approach it for information about this video, the Army should immediately make that request now and hopefully the network would not interpret the request as harassment.

    • Agbese is a civil rights activist based in the United Kingdom.

  • How not to engange with China

    This week, President Muhammed Buhari jetted out again.  The latest visit to China undoubtedly raises the noise level of the President’s frequent global tours against the background of socio-economic challenges at home the most damning and unacceptable being the recent petrol supply. His Excellency, Gu Xiaojie, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria in some 1000 plus word counts published in some national dailies laid bare some thoughts about China-Nigeria relations in general and this trip in particular. I searched in vain for a similar articulated perspective from Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. True to character, an alarmist Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has added the predictable opposition hysteria; the visit according to him was for 2016 Budget defict financing of some $2 billion loan!

    The Chinese Ambassdor proudly discloses for those who care that the current visit “is at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping”.  Being China’s initiative, it is logical that Nigeria’s engangement is within the broad context of Chinese agenda. I bet that in fullest of time, there will be invitations from India, Brazil or Turkey. Pray how many bilateral invitations will our Presdident honour in a four-year term? The late Claude Ake, (a great African political economist of blessed memory) long warned African leaders about the pitfalls of crowded Development Agendas. What does Nigeria take to China? Or better put, true to our ever entrenched culture of depedency on handouts, what would Nigeria bring from Beijing this time around?

    0)          It is open knowledge that Chinese President Xi Jinping had met with President Buhari twice last year inclusive of the  celeberated Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) in Johannesburg during which  ”issues of common concern” were discussed and “wide-ranging agreements” reached. What then is so urgent that the President resumes a week-long working duty in far away China not at home in Abuja? Nigeria parades policy studies centres such as the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru Jos and National Defence College, Abuja. Hundreds of participants of these think tanks made up of executives of public and private institutions annually “study tour” China with sundry reports on how to engange with China. Must the president, ministers and governors cover so many additional kilometers when China indeed has been so much studied and known?

    The departure of the president with a large delegation of governors and ministers on Sunday raises the nolstalgia of familiar serial safari trips of Presidents Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan. Why do African Presidents on assumption of office turned into instant global tourists with little to show for the time and scores of MOUs they uncritically signed on their continent?

    A belated statement by the Presidency says President Buhari “is traveling with a long list of needs in the Nigeria’s infrastructure sectors which included power, roads, railways, aviation, water supply and housing”. Sounds pretty farmiliar.  Why on earth do we believe that any country including China would meet our “..long list of needs”?

    In 2010, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua made a week long state visit to China with the optimism that the Chinese investors would “…explore all possible sources for additional power generation” to make electricity outages a thing of the past by the year 2011″. Yar Adua’s successor, Jonathan made similar trips with outlandish expectations from the rooftops of the Chinese Wall. Almost a decade after, Nigeria is still hunted by spectre of power outages. Please don’t get me wrong. Nigeria must engange with the world to fill its knowledge/resources gaps as much as it must also be willing to give support and solidarity for world peace and prosperity. And with China our relations should be more than a passing diplomatic fad. Development observers agree today that there are three global development challenges namely; China, China and China. It is therefore understandable if Nigeria comes to terms with China. No country has recorded remarkable rapid economic ascendancy in the past 25 years like China. With 1.5 billion population and consistent 12% growth rate in the past three decades, China has shown that huge quality human resource is indeed an asset and not a liability. China shows that development process is NOT a zero-sum game in which growth is traded off for jobs and in which few are well-having and many lack basic well being.

    Not endowed as such with oil and gas, extractive resources, China has gone far in beneficiations, value additions, diversification and manufacturing (China without oil has more functioning oil refineries than Nigeria!). It is perhaps the only country since the great Industrial Revolution that has combined consistent aggressive industrialisation drive with high growth rate side by side with full employment lifting as many as 250 million people (twice the population of Nigeria!) out of poverty. Is Buhari’s visit and indeed previous visits of his predecessors about learning from China’s dramatic transformation in the last few decades?

    I have repeatedly argued that we should not beg China for handouts but copy China for development! Nigeria has a lot in common with China and indeed we could be another China, just as China dared to be like developmentalist Nigeria of the 60s and 70s. We are the most populated country in Africa just as China is most populous country in Asia as well as in the world. In development parlance, we are talking of two largest markets in the world. But while China is one huge working and productive house, Nigeria is a container dumping economy. The Chinese ambassador enthusiastically declared that “Nigeria remains China’s No.1 engineering contract market, No.2 export market, No.3 trading partner, and major investment destination in Africa”.

    1)          The issue is not to be romantic with China with endless presidential visits, but to, be “strategic” with China just as China has been strategic in its dealings with Africa. Instead of China buying our crude oil, let’s partner to refine at home. By the way, what happened to the signed MOU with China on three refineries under  President Jonathan? President Buhari and his delegation are expected to “tour the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone to gain more useful insights and understanding of the policies that underpinned China’s astronomical economic growth in recent years”. They should also visit Bompai Industrial Estate in Kano, Kakuri/Nassarawa industrial estates in Kaduna, Ikeja/ Ilupeju industrial estates in Lagos on their return. Indeed Nigeria’s Free Trade Zone in Calabar was long envisioned well before Shanghai Free Trade Zone. Nigeria’s investment  charity should therefore start at home. The President, his men and women should visit the refineries and see if the TAMs are real, witness collapsed industries in all the abandoned industrial estates, visit power plants and generation/distribution companies,  travel on the moribund roads and rails with the aims of reviving them. They should visit the universities and see the conditions of learning first hand and see the sick in the hospitals. Nigeria like China should be a functioning economy not a debating society. It is when the presidency engages Nigerians that its engagement with China enhances its governance beyond presidential tourism.

     

    • Aremu mni, is Secretary General, Almuni Association of the National Institute, Kuru, Jos. 

  • A shining light flickers out

    •(Ahmed Rufa’i Ibrahim, April 2, 1950 – April 2, 2016)

    I was going to post my birthday wishes to Rufa’i Ibrahim on his Facebook page earlier in the day on April 2, then procrastinated for no particular or apparent reason. Dr Kabiru Chafe, the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) historian, then phoned from Kaduna, and we got absorbed in our usually deep exploration of Nigeria’s current dilemmas, something that I also usually engage in with Rufa’i on almost nightly basis until penultimate Thursday, March 24.

    Then his niece Faridah Mohammed interjected with a call, whose tidings I was not prepared for. In her typically diplomatic manner, she calmly announced that Uncle Rufa’i died a moment ago — exactly on his 66th birthday. I was instantly devastated and speechless, and still cannot recall how we ended the call.

    I had known the previous night that he would go into hospital for therapy the next day, and although I had noticed he had become a bit withdrawn in the days since we last spoke on March 24, nothing had indicated that this shining light was about to flicker out for good.

    Tearfully, I also announced to our mutual friend Dr Chafe the tragic news, and we briefly prayed for Rufa’i Ibrahim’s departed soul. Dr Chafe soon left me to privately grieve the sudden and sad passing of a brother who in decades past would come to be a mentor, friend and among my closest confidants. In between bursts of tears, I managed to alert relatives and friends.

    He had been diagnosed with a very rare form of skin cancer (Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma/ Leukemia Mycoma Fungerids/ Sezary) in October 2014; and after careful research, I arranged for him to receive treatment in one of only half-a-dozen dedicated global specialist centres at the University of Frankfurt Teaching Hospital in Germany. The ailment appeared to have been contained, but he then relapsed and made a second visit in December 2015.

    We all felt he was on the mend, only to relapse again soon after, and died of resulting complications at the Gwagwalada Hospital on Saturday, April 2, following brief therapeutic interventions, where he had taken himself. Up until that moment, he had carried on bravely; he was never really bed-ridden. If you phoned him and he didn’t say it, one couldn’t tell he was in any discomfort.

    An alumnus of the University of Ibadan (1971–74), where he graduated among the top in his set, and latterly Jos (1987–90), Rufa’i was a bright political scientist and lawyer, but better known as a leading radical journalist on the Nigerian Left — easily among the best of his generation. He went into journalism, first briefly at the NTA Jos and then the New Nigerian, after his one-year NYSC in Oron in the then South–East State in July 1975.

    Politically, he belonged to the leftist community that was centred and active around the now deceased historian Dr Bala Usman of ABU, Zaria, where Rufa’i was a Graduate Assistant from October 1975 to May 1976.

    Many came to refer to Rufa’i simply as Malam, following his passionate involvement as an ideologue and activist in the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP)-era politics of the now late Malam Aminu Kano and its splinter grouping around Governors Abubakar Rimi (now also deceased) and Balarabe Musa of Kano and Kaduna States respectively during the Second Republic (1979-83).

    In 1984, he was jailed for nine months without trial, or even the courtesy of a single interrogation, by the Buhari military junta for merely daring to pen a satirical column about the regime. For his sin, the Nigerian Gestapo once hurled him down into a pitch-dark dungeon where he instantly fainted, but mercifully recovered hours later.

    In the period before and after General Ibrahim Babangida’s political transition that ended in fiasco in 1992, Rufa’i joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and sought vainly to be its national spokesman. Ethno-religious politics trumped competence and principles.

    Having returned to the Daily Times from 1990-92 as Editorial Consultant, and qualified as a barrister during that time, he turned his energies to private legal practice and media consultancy to governments and non-state entities, notably, the Nasarawa State Government, the National Population Commission, and the Human Rights Violations Investigation Commission (Oputa Commission) until June 2007.

    After President Olusegun Obasanjo was succeeded by Umaru ‘Yar Adua in 2007, the latter earmarked Rufa’i to initiate and chair a proposed innovation in policy-making in the form of a policy and strategic think-tank for the President. Alas, this was not to be, thanks to the machinations of a youthful insider who very probably saw all this as threatening his planned power grab and ambitions.

    In 2010-11, Rufa’i led a small band of Nasarawa State citizens in a “Think-Tank”, including yours truly, to provide ideas, coherence and inspiration to what many initially saw as a joke gubernatorial pursuit by Umaru Tanko Al-Makura.

    Working largely quietly behind the scenes every weekday, and armed only with bubbling ideas and passion for change, they helped achieve what many felt was well-nigh impossible then — the defeat of an incumbent State Governor by someone on a 10-months old party platform barely known in the State — Buhari’s Congress for Progressive Change (CPC).

    In the event, this was the only governorship contest the CPC won in the 2011 General Elections. It was testament to the thesis by the famed American anthropologist, Margaret Mead (1901-1978), about the dynamic of change when she famously wrote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

    This was Rufa’i Ibrahim’s credo, too. Wherever he went before or thereafter, whether at the New Nigerian (Kaduna), Daily Times (Lagos), The Triumph (Kano), The Guardian on Sunday (Lagos), the Nigerian Standard (Jos), The Analyst magazine (Jos), the Nasarawa Publishing Company Limited, or the Nasarawa Broadcasting Service, he left behind him indelible footprints of professionalism, integrity, personal honour, service and passionate commitment to the best Nigerian ideals.

    His boldest journalistic exploits were when he was at the Daily Times, first as Political Correspondent, then Political Analyst, and finally Chief Leader Writer & Editorial Board Chairman; and as successive founder Editor of Sunday Triumph, The Triumph, The Guardian on Sunday, and The Analyst, where he immersed himself in utterly fearless investigative journalism and commentary.

    Rufa’i Ibrahim was born into power and privilege in both the traditional and modern spheres, yet no one who ever had any dealings with him could fail to be disarmed by his humility, simplicity, integrity, patriotism, and unwavering empathy for, and commitment to, the poor and voiceless. His weekly column on Peoples Daily, the national newspaper he co-founded in 2008 and of which he was until his demise its Director and Editor-in-Chief, was aptly titled “For the Masses”.

    Originally a Kanuri from Lafia but born in Bauchi, where he spent his formative years before going several places with his high-flyer civil servant father, Rufa’i was a formidably good man, who I’ve never ever known to raise his voice against anyone and yet was fiercely committed to his high principles and convictions — personal and political.

    It’s trite to say Rufa’i Ibrahim took his final bow at a time our country so desperately needs people of his intellectual, moral and political calibre, and that his void would be hard to fill. Which was all the more sad that President Muhammadu Buhari never got round to finding him a fitting role in his presidency.

    For here was a uniquely talented and selfless individual whose love of common folks and fidelity to the ethics of community and country as well as internationalism never wavered however the temptation. He lived and died a worthy and pious life, never asking for what the people and country can do for him, but what he could do for them.

    Rufa’i was also utterly loyal to his friends, with deep and enduring bonds across ethnicity, culture and religion — as with his Abuja classmate and Nupe friend, Dr Yahaya Ndanusa; Mohammed Haruna, also Nupe from their New Nigerian days; and Professor Mvendaga Jibo, his Tiv friend from their university days.

    Up until his demise, Rufa’i and Mvendaga spoke almost daily (with the standard opening chat-line from one or the other asking, ‘What are we going to argue about today, Malam Jibo/ Rufa’i?’).

    Their families, living in different towns, also unfailingly spent Christmas and annual Muslim Sallah festivities together. So it was very touching and not at all surprising that Mvendaga, a Christian, witnessed the Muslim funeral rites of his friend Rufa’i every inch of the way to the grave.

    Rufa’i Ibrahim was buried amid tears on Sunday, April 3, in his native Lafia after funeral prayers at the Emir’s Palace square, an honour reserved only for the most deserving by the avuncular Emir of Lafia, Alhaji Isa Mustapha Agwai I. It speaks volumes about the two men that a custodian of traditionalism should so thoughtfully honour a patrician radical in this way.

     

    • Othman, a political economist, writes from Oxford, England.

  • Revenue collections and Disco’s performance

    Two years after the privatization, the country is still battling with same power supply problem . This calls for serious concern on why the situation has not changed even after privatization. Many are quick to question the integrity of the private operators and blame the Distribution Companies (Discos) for not improving power supply, some blame the generation companies while others blame it on the transmission which is still a government-owned entity.

    Before one can go deep into the problem, a brief overview of the privatization will give a useful insight to where the country is now in addressing the power supply issue.

    First the unbundling of the sector and subsequent privatization as provided in the EPSR Act 2005 was to improve performance and ensure transparency in the activities of the unbundled entities, the generation, transmission and distribution, and to attract  participation of the private sector in the provision of power in the country.

    The unbundled entities, comprising of six generation companies, and 11 distribution companies were privatized while Federal Government retained the Transmission Company as state owned. Government also retained 40% interest in  the distribution companies,  while the private sector is holding 60%. Also in the privatization of generation companies,   government retained 20%, leaving 80% to the private sector.

    This shareholding structure shows that the private sector is not the sole owners of the power sector as the public assumed.  This shareholding structure imposed limitations on the operators of the sector. This is because the private operators who are the core investors are restricted in the utilization of the assets of the companies in raising  the needed finances to invest in improving the inherited dilapidated assets.

    The EPSR Act also empowered the regulator, the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to regulate the activities of the operators including fixing of cost recovery tariff for the utilities. The regulator  by the Act is supposed to be independent, protecting the interest of both the public and the private operators. The independence of the regulators is also important such that any sign of compromise can affect the effective operations of the private operator as the electricity market is very sensitive to the regulations.

    Privatization normally has two major objectives, it is either output focus that is improving the quality of supply or additional investment in the sector.

    In Nigeria, the focus was more on additional investment instead of quality of service; the Request for Proposal emphasized the financial worth of the bidders which resulted in selection of the highest bidders based on how much naira they bidded. Hundreds of billions of naira were realized from the deal. Unfortunately in the whole transaction , the participants were local companies who through the local commercial banks were able to acquire the utilities, no foreign investor with proven technical experience participated due to lack of confidence in privatization  process.

    They could not risk their long terms funds in uncertain environment, despite the road shows all over the world. The local companies were left to mobilize short term funds from local banks to finance the acquisition of these assets, overstretching the capacity of the local banks who are now putting pressure on the core investors to service their obligations. This has actually put the investors in a financial trouble between servicing the loans and providing the funds to effectively operate the facilities they acquire to provide quality supply of electricity to the public not to talk of any hope of getting returns yet for its investment.

    The problem is particularly worse with the Discos who are most exposed to the public in the chain of electric sector. The Discos are the ones to be blamed anytime there is power cut, anytime there is low voltage, anytime there is tariff increase, anytime there is problem with power supply like the recent national blackout on March 31, between the hours of 12:35 and 15:00, the country’s power system crashed to zero MW due to system collapse that was linked to the tripping of a transmission line and poor gas supply.  It is important to note that the  transmission which is  government owned  is the weakest link in the chain of power supply that need serious investment to enable it evacuate power generated by the Gencos to the Discos effectively.

    In the course of the privatization, there were series of agreements that were signed between BPE (Bureau of Public Enterprises ) representing government and the operators with specific obligations to the parties involved to guide effective performance of the agreements as Public-private partnership. These obligations  include the following:

    *Proper gas supply policy at the time of privatization.  *Cost reflective tariff to operate optimally. The new tariff issued last February is still being contested by the public as Labour and the National Assembly has issued statement threatening court case.

    Of course, the general perception that power is a public commodity, hence it should be given free or subsidized as was the practice before privatization. This  makes revenue collection a huge problem as the public don’t normally want to pay; some practically steal the power making it difficult for Discos to collect up to 25% of energy consumed by the public leaving more than 75% as commercial and collection losses in the country.

    All these problems require the collaboration of  government and the private investor as partners to address, not singling only one to be blamed.

    Reducing technical and non technical losses in the power sectors is a major issue that many countries in the developing world are still battling with. Briefly, losses in electricity supply refers to the amount of electricity injected into the transmission and distribution grids that are not paid for by users. The losses have two components, technical and non technical. Technical losses occur naturally and consist mainly of power dissipation in electricity system components such as transmission and distribution lines, transformers and measurement systems which should not be more than 10%. Non – technical losses are caused by actions  external to the power system and consist primarily of electricity theft, non-payment by customers, and errors in accounting and records keeping. Technical losses represent an economic loss for the country.

    Non-Technical losses represent an avoidable financial loss for the utility in the sense that it should be paid for by the consumers. Non-technical losses have several perverse effects in the society. Customers being billed for accurately measured consumption and regularly paying their bills are subsidizing those users who do not pay for electricity consumption; this include case of electricity theft through illegal connection to the grid or tampering with consumption meters; it also include unmetered consumption by utility customers who are not accurately metered for a variety of reasons, which in most cases is due to inefficiency of the operators to manage operations.

    Distribution companies since takeover have been struggling with these problems without government support despite the fact of its shareholding in the utilities. Even the regulator has not favourably supported the Discos in its regulations. Frequent statements of the past leadership of the commission urging consumers  not to pay for fixed charge if power outages is recorded for more than 15 days in a month, removal of collection losses from tariff though subsequently restored did not show consistency on the part of the regulator. The recent uproar over the new tariff is another issue of concern for the market, and government’s continued silence on the matter does  not give confidence to the investors on the sustainability of the new tariff.

    As it was the case in other countries especially  India  where Nigeria copied its privatization,  government should be actively involved in  supporting the utilities in improving collections. Here government can introduce such measures to address revenue collection problems faced by the Discos , particularly the huge accumulated bills  owed by the MDAs which is over N60 billion.  Some of these MDAs and  security formations that  cannot easily be disconnected from services  are owing huge bills. The  recognition of  these debts  and electricity theft by government  and enacting a Law to try offenders through a tribunal will ensure speedy trial of defaulters including utility staff who collude with the public to perfect this criminal act. This  will help the Discos in reducing collection losses.

    The Discos have so many cases of meter bypass, vandalization of electric cables in regular courts which usually takes time to prosecute. A  special tribunal will speedly prosecute and punish offenders to deter others from perpetrating in the act. This will result in increased revenue for the Discos who will invest in metering to stop estimated billing and equipment to improve power supply even at reduced rate.

     

    • Tsavsar, a consultant on Public-Private Partnerships, writes from Abuja

  • Okada ban and Lagos’ safety

    Total ban on okada will not kill anyone but will provide safer roads while the public will be made to patronise other means of transportation that are safer. People always think it will bring about hardship on general public but the disadvantages outweigh the advantages”.  – Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Abuja (2014)

    Leadership, of men and materials entails having the clear capacity to understand the contending issues at stake and mustering the political will to take hard decisions and implementing them promptly. The salutary aim of course, is to find lasting solutions to persisting, socio-economic or political challenges, all for the common good. In so doing, the leader, acting in concert with the relevant team of technocrats, critically analyze all the factors at play. These should also include the likely implications on the stakeholders before arriving at the conclusion. But when it has to do with the protection of  lives and property, which he solemnly swore to before the public, his action could be more drastic.  Indeed, he would likely be driven by seeking enduring good than pandering to the wishes of the critics, or being swayed by the temporary pains of those who may have benefitted from the anomalies being corrected.

    It is within this context that one must take a dispassionate look at the recent threat by the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, to enforce a total ban on commercial motorcycles (aka okada) operations in the Lagos metropolis. In fact, not a few public affairs analysts feel this has become necessary, given the recent bloody, inter-ethnic clash in the Ketu-Mile 12 area of the state, ignited by a dispute between an okada operator and a passerby. It led to the loss of lives and property worth millions of naira. That was the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Now, tough choices have to be made on the part of the governor as the chief security officer of the state. Elsewhere, such hard or harsh policy decisions have been taken that have paid off, eventually.

    For instance, Lee Kuan Yew, the pragmatic economist who engineered Singapore’s economic miracle, as its Prime Minister between 1959 and 1990 took such hard stance. Without it, he could not have transformed the once unrecognized  island, devoid of natural resources to rival the likes of Hong Kong and Manhattan, with solid infrastructures, skyscrapers and alluring tourist attractions. In a similar vein, when in 1974, Sheikh Rashid tasked the young Mohammed with overseeing the growth of  Dubai International Airport, hard choices had to be taken to carve out the dream that it has become this day. Some people had to bear the brunt at the beginning of the implementation of the structural changes. Similarly, compelling traffic-related situations as we face in Lagos may inform tougher and more stringent measures, in order to save more lives from being wasted.

    It would be recalled, that the immediate past administration of  Babatunde Fashola, irked by the menace posed by the okada riders had signed the Lagos Road Traffic Law 2012, on August 2, 2012 which restricts okada operations in at least 492 of the 9,200 roads across the metropolis. It was with the intention of ensuring safety and orderly flow of traffic within the metropolis. But sad to note that some four years after, the problems posed by the okada operators have worsened rather than abate in spite of the restrictions. It is a common sight to find them plying against traffic flow along Pen Cinema-Fagba, Agege-Abule-Egba and the Ketu routes. Some of the operators have been accomplices in series of armed robbery attacks and fatal accidents, with ample evidence when one visits Igbo Orthopedic Hospital, Yaba.

    Governor Ambode has convincing reasons therefore, to approach the Lagos State House of Assembly to amend the law from the restriction of okada operations within some routes to total ban of their operations in the state. Indeed, as a stickler for the rule of law, he cannot be comfortable with the flagrant abuse of the law by okada riders, added to reports of some robbery incidents perpetrated with the motorcycles.

    Interestingly, similar reasons were adduced by the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) while placing a total ban on commercial motorcycles in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in 2014. According to Mrs. Susan Ajenge, the then FCT Sector Commander of FCT, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the ban of okada within the city centre drastically reduced the rate of accidents in the area. In her words: “Before the ban of okada in the city centre, hospitals and emergency wards were always filled with okada accidents’ victims, same with mortuaries, but this has drastically reduced as result of the ban”.

    Though some hard-line critics would vociferously argue that a total ban would be insensitive, given the fact Lagos is the commercial nerve centre of the country, with the seaports and high density population, the long-term advantages should be taken into consideration. A smoother flow of traffic, less accidents and robberies traceable to the operators would be guaranteed. So also would be the reports of police harassment and extortion of okada riders.

    In fact, one of the reasons Abuja presents a beautiful vista and instantly attracts a visitor, even at first sight is the easy traffic flow, devoid of okada operators and clustered buildings. Lagos can achieve a similar scenic scenario if laws are amended and enforced. There are other seaport cities or capitals in both the African continent, nay the world that have population issues to that of Lagos but not solved by motorcycle operators. Name them; Cairo, Tunis, Johannesburg, Hong Kong, Seoul, Bangkok, Jakarta, Istanbul and Casablanca are some of them which have adopted creative strategies to combat traffic gridlock in the absence of motorcycles.

    The position of Governor Ambode that the city could well do without their menacing presence is in tandem with the 21st Century Lagos City Master Plan, currently evolving under his people-friendly administration. With the light-rail project in progress, inner roads receiving the desired attention and increasing emphasis on water-based transport system, what is needed is massive public enlightenment on the immense benefits of Lagos without okada.

    There is little doubt that many of the operators would be thrown out of job and suffer some temporary economic setback. But they could seek alternative means of livelihood by keying into the N25 billion Youth Empowerment Scheme of the pragmatic Ambode-led administration. With it, they will be empowered with requisite skills acquisition that would be more enduring than riding motorcycles for commercial purpose.

    Those who however, think that taking to crime would be an option should have a rethink. This administration has zero tolerance for all shades of crime and criminality, as violators of laws would only have themselves to blame.

    On its part, the government will do well to engage the relevant transport unions of the commercial okada operators in sustained sensitization programmes. All the members could be re-organized into skills cooperative societies. They should have their mindset reoriented towards finding suitable alternatives, with the aim of putting food on their families’ table. The time for the total ban on okada in Lagos is now.

     

    • Baje, a journalist writes from Lagos.

  • Nonsense at NNPC Mega stations

    The NNPC Mega Station was conceived under former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the wake of incessant fuel shortage to serve as storage for fuel. Filling Stations then would probably have 60,000 litre capacity for fuel which will last for two or maximum three day. An NNPC mega station was to have storage capacity of up to one million litres as part of the national strategic reserve to have fuel supply for 90 days.

    Secondly, it was to be a government guaranteed point of fuel supply, just in case the major and independent marketers decide to hold the nation to ransom.

    Thirdly, it was designed for reason of its being a mega station to be able to dispense fuel quickly and swiftly to at least 10 vehicles at a time, such that no matter how long the queue, it will get to one’s turn in a short while, if and only if, there is one queue.

    However, corruption killed these lofty ideas. I live in Osogbo, the Osun State capital but I travel across Nigeria and sadly observed that the mega stations have uniformly failed and failed spectacularly. Whoever is in charge should be ashamed of the farce that a noble concept has become under his or her watch.

    In the past week of the current fuel shortage, I saw the hell and bedlam that NNPC mega stations have become in Osogbo, Ibadan, Akure, Abuja and Lagos. Instead of one single line of motorists, there will be at least 15 other parallel lines, spilling to and totally covering the road, making vehicular movements impossible.

    The reason for this is corruption. In Osogbo, one of the officials of the station, pretending to be directing traffic would be extorting money from those forming parallel lines. So the more the parallel lines, the more the money he makes. With lines running into 15 and as much as five lines being formed even on the exit mouth of the station, he has employed assistants who now collect the toll on his behalf. Law enforcement agencies are not left out as they all help the parallel lines to expand in order to get their cut.

    This is not limited to Osogbo alone, it is standard practice at all NNPC mega stations. In Lagos and Abuja, operators of fuel black market in front of NNPC mega Stations always have fuel, while a motorist can be on the queue for a whole day and still return home empty.

    The corruption at the mega stations rewards bad behaviour of shunting and offering bribes while law abiding citizens are punished.

    I am therefore calling on Minister of State, Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu and those in charge of mega stations to sit up and get their acts together. They should enforce the policy of a SINGLE LANE QUEUE at all their mega and franchise stations. It is bad enough that they are incapable of providing fuel for Nigerians, but that they cannot manage this crisis is shameful.

     

    • Mike Ogundele,

    Osogbo, Osun State

  • Trial of Ibe Kachikwu

    Trial of Ibe Kachikwu

    The excruciating economic and physical pains suffered by Nigerians in the past three weeks or more, arising from the scarcity of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) otherwise commonly called fuel, has given out the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Ibe Kachikwu, as an incompetent face of President Muhammadu Buhari’s change agenda. Luckily for the substantive minister, President Buhari, many of his ardent supporters are not yet linking him directly with the corporal punishment that the scarcity has forced the average Nigerian to endure. Minister Kachikwu, who came into the cabinet highly recommended for his academic prowess and managerial competence would likely dodge any performance test like the present University of Lagos students if he is invited to one now.

    Some of his colleagues like Babatunde Fashola, Minister for Power, Works and Housing would also gladly dodge such a test now and also join him to carry placards demonstrating and shouting: weno gree o o, we no gree, just to force the postponement of any performance test were Nigerians in a position to call for that now. Such is the level of challenge that has befallen some of the best brains in public office that Nigeria has to offer, if we are to consider their stellar performances in their previous appointments. So, it is fair to ask, what has turned Ibe Kachikwu and some of his colleagues to a caricature of their celebrated old selves?

    For instance, what could have made Kachikwu not to realise that the regime of fuel importation which he put in place since the beginning of the year, or whenever, would lead to the unprecedented scarcity that we are now trying to come out of? Ordinarily, if the minister has the statistics of the millions of litres of fuel that Nigeria uses every day, which he should, could he or his staff at the PPMC not have realised that the nation was running out of stock few weeks ago and realize that unless something urgent or drastic was done, that we were headed to a national misery?

    Such minor mathematical or statistical calculation over the demand and supply of PMS, to meet the nation’s requirement cannot be equated to the work of a genius, not to talk of a magician, as the minister infamously quipped recently, when confronted with his failings. Yet, the minister was at least an academic genius, even if not a magician, during his university days! So, what was responsible for the failure of a genius to ordinarily calculate or get a competent person to calculate or plot a basic graph of the demand and supply of PMS to Nigerians?

    As I write this, nobody has intelligently told the nation what went wrong or whose poor judgment or what failure of equipment may have caused the enormous pains that majority of Nigerians were forced into. Even as Kachikwu has profusely apologised for saying that he is not a magician, I am not able to glean what suddenly caused us to spend valuable man-hours and scarce resources in the past three weeks chasing a product that is not scarce in the neighbouring countries around us. I am not talking about the failure of planning over years, to build new refineries; rather, why despite the absence of a natural and unforeseen emergency, such monumental suffering was served on Nigerians.

    Not long ago, Nigerians were told that fuel subsidy has been eliminated and we were all excited because of the regime of fraud and racket that the past administration turned fuel importation into, in our dear country. With the recent development, it looks like we are back to that era. Just like other previous regimes, PMB’S government has hinted of plans to increase the pump price of fuel as the answer to the inevitable subsidy racket that is sure to follow. So in essence, we are applying the same old tactics, while hoping to achieve a different result.

    Kachikwu has also told us of plans to build new refineries near the existing old ones. The argument is that the new ones would use the existing network infrastructure already in place. Yet, even as non-geniuses, we know that the pipeline which is the major infrastructure referred to, is already badly dilapidated and exposed to vandalism. Again, one does not need magical powers to know that no business man would put down the enormous resources needed to build a new refinery and allow it to be under the whims and caprices of state officials who control the PPMC and the NNPC, which is what that model will entail.

    Or could it be Kachikwu’s hope to rely on our national budget, despite the scarcity in that sector, to build the new refineries? Even as a non-expert in public finance, is it not obvious that our country cannot afford such investment now, or if we are to borrow funds, which financial institution would gladly provide funds for an investment that would be undermined by state actors and dilapidated infrastructure? My thinking is that the new deal is another bogus proposal like the so-called green refineries promised by the regime of Diezani Alison-Madueke to distract Nigerians until that miserable regime came to an end.

    I recall that when he assumed responsibility, Kachikwu told us that if he has his way, he would gladly sell the refineries as they cannot be turned round anymore to our common advantage. Now, if he is hoping to build new refineries within the precinct of the old ones, would the latter be allowed to waste or get turned to national monuments? Even when I concede to the distinguish minister superiority of intellect and management in the oil business, his proposals so far looks so disoriented, and incapable of solving the national emergency that the supply of PMS has turned into, just like the supply of electricity.

    Talking of electricity, poor Fashola, has become the butt of jokes. Yet, he too came highly recommended for his competence. With the so-called discos in the hands of cabals, and with the national grid in poor state and incapable of transmitting what the nation can already generate, Babatunde Fashola SAN, is giving the impression of being in charge by touting PMB’S promise of 10,000 megawatts by end of the four year term. With the vice president, Professor Osinbajo, SAN, informing us that we already have the capacity for 12,000 megawatts, could it be that the only plan of PMB’s government is to complete a new national grid during the four year tenure?

    Despite the glaring and daunting challenges now faced by the petroleum and power sectors, under Kachikwu and Fashola, I am inclined to believe that the duo have the capacity to turn the sectors around for good. Unfortunately, but strangely, there are no tell-tale signs of any revolutionary measure being crafted to turn things around. Sometimes, I wonder whether President Buhari is the one holding the leash too tight, to allow Kachikwu unleash his competence and energy on the national embarrassment that ordinary refining and distribution of fuel has become in Nigeria. Should that be the case, may I remind our much recommended President that failure in the two sectors amount to grand failure of his change agenda with all the consequences.

  • Matters arising from the fuel crisis

    Matters arising from the fuel crisis

    Ibe Kachikwu, Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum, continues to remain in the eye of the storm as government tackles the fuel crisis.  Although the agonizingly long queues, chaotic scenes, violent outbursts and endless frustration at filling stations are beginning to abate, it will be erroneous to conclude that we are out of troubled waters.

    If anything, forthright as ever, the minister has unequivocally stated that measures put in place to tackle the current crisis are indeed just short term solutions. I call them palliatives.

    In the nature of things, there are those who choose to remind us that fuel queues are still with us, that Kachikwu is yet to deliver on his promise to eradicate the queues on a particular day. That is, ignoring the fact that what he actually said was that the queues would begin to abate on a particular day. Nonetheless, if the queues are yet to abate, in spite of the demonstrable effort of the minister, it behoves us all, especially the media, to identify the cogs in the wheel of progress. But what I see is the persistent effort to paint the dark side of things, to always see the glass as half empty and not have full!

    Part of the problem is that, we often dwell on the effect of poor policy or lack of it and ignore the root causes of our problems. By the same token, responsibilities that ought to be shared by the various arms of government are shoved to only the executive branch with other arms of government posturing as if they can extricate themselves from responsibility. We shall return to this shortly.

    One salutary effect of adversity is that it throws up opportunities that, explored, can lead to very beneficial outcomes. I think we stand a good chance of altering the balance in our favour if matters arising from the fuel scarcity are subjected to objective scrutiny.

    The first matter arising is that there exists, at all times, those whose stock-in-trade is to sabotage every government policy for personal benefits. They did it to Olusegun Obasanjo, they did it to Goodluck Jonathan; they are now doing it to Muhammadu Buhari. These unscrupulous petroleum marketers continue to sabotage the effort of the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to stabilize the fuel supply situation. To them, it does not matter if Kachikwu, like other ministers before him, decides to shout himself hoarse, adopt the most novel strategies or even preach to them from the pulpit. Ask any motorist in Lagos and you will be told how some petroleum marketers divert truck loads of premium motor spirit, PMS, or petrol from the city centre to the outskirts after escorts from the DPR would have left the gas stations. These unscrupulous dealers deploy every strategy to beat NNPC surveillance.

    Out of the prying eyes of the DPR, the diverted fuel is sold at much higher prices and the rest recycled to the city centre to be sold in the open ‘black market’ at cut throat prices. Certainly the fuel being hawked by vendors, Nigeria’s army of jobless youth, did not rain down from heaven. Somebody gave it to them. And it is not Ibe Kachikwu, who has been doing a yeoman’s job, trying to clean up the Augean stable created in the decades when the locust ravaged our common patrimony with reckless disdain and unconscionable rapacity.

    Now, we must return to the realistic choices that need to be made, no matter how unpopular they may seem in the short run. Here is the scenario. Over time, when PMS is scarce, vehicle owners are ready to pay any price to obtain it. Not only that, for far too long, PMS has never really sold at a uniform price all over the country. Thus there have always been spatial and temporal disparities in the price structure. Paradoxically, for largely political reasons, government has always retained a uniform pump head price of PMS that defies practical logic or economic sense, rates that are unattractive to suppliers either from local refiners or importers. This explains the crippling subsidy that has been exploited by the oil cabal to the detriment of Nigerians. Either way, the people suffer double jeopardy: prices go up even as scarcity persists.

    To understand the situation, we need to listen to former treasurer of the western zone of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Shina Amoo. Quoting Amoo in its story, Scarcity: Queues grow longer despite Kachikwu’s promise, the Saturday Punch of April 9, reported thus: “The former IPMAN chief said oil marketers could not buy above the recommended price and sell below the price…” The paper quoted Amoo further: “The April date given by the minister (Ibe Kachikwu) is not feasible. The man first said the scarcity would end by May and he came under heavy attacks so he apologized and gave another date. I don’t think the scarcity will end earlier than end of May.

    “The last time I bought fuel, I paid N182 per litre and how much do you expect me to sell that”, he queried, adding: “It has to be higher and that is why filling stations now sell as high as N200 a litre”.

    Some home truth, you will say. So where do we go from here? Blaming Ibe Kachikwu or any other person for that matter is begging the question. We cannot eat our cake and have it too. Something has to give. We either restore subsidy, with all its adverse effects on public finance or we allow market forces to stabilize the system. Ask any cab operator or any vehicle owner and the response will be that they don’t mind paying more for fuel so long as supply of the product is guaranteed. I think that should be the strategic index in tackling the fuel crisis. If that is what the price modulation principle is all about, let’s muster the political will to get cracking!

    But the most important matter arising from the fuel crisis is the need to enact a policy framework deregulating the downstream sector in such a way that gives investors the confidence to prefer Nigeria to other investment destinations. Until we create an environment that allows local refineries to provide the bulk of the country’s PMS requirements, we will continue to experience periodic disruptive fuel shortages.

    We are back to the issue of shared responsibilities. What is the role of the legislature in all these? Why is the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, still circulating in the National Assembly? What prospect does it hold for a more robust and efficient oil industry? Why are those interested in killing the bill gaining the upper hand? Can the Eighth Legislature depart from the past and place itself as an icon of patriotism by passing the PIB without further delay?

    Rather than the thinly veiled campaign to discredit Kachikwu, as in the distraction of using a private jet on which NNPC did not expend a kobo, we should preoccupy ourselves with addressing the fundamental structural challenges that have discouraged investors in the downstream sector of the industry and which, unattended to, will continue to retard not just the development of the industry but the overall economic well being of the country.

     

    • Agu, is fellow of Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) and Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ).

  • Mr. President, time for state of the nation address

    I am writing this to you for two reasons. One, as a very passionate Nigerian who wants you to succeed, because in your success is ours. Two, as a professional who believes you definitely need help at this point. And I am not playing any blame game; you are probably already under immense pressure, and blaming you can only aggravate the situation.

    I am writing about the situation in the land. I don’t know how much time you have for news; whether you read the papers or your aides simply extract details for you. I don’t know if you watch TV, or you are like OBJ who curiously boasted that he didn’t read local newspapers or watch local stations. Sir, either you have been doing this or not, the news out there is not very good.

    Nigerians are suffering in more ways than you would believe. And I am not talking about the endless queues for fuel that never arrives. There is no electricity either. As I write this, we have several homes and business facilities that have all manner of generators using fuel that is hard to get. Worse, the power companies have increased tariffs even when we are not getting value, with the promise that the additional income would help them operate better. So we are funding their investments when we are not stake or shareholders.

    Things are very expensive in the markets. Companies are labouring to keep their plants open because they cannot get enough forex for packaging and raw materials. People are complaining about too many things. I don’t even want to talk about parents who are finding it hard to get forex to fund their wards’ education outside Nigeria; we have been repeatedly told it’s indulgent to send children out for quality education. No one is talking about the reason why this is happening; that the overall quality of public education is down and private schools cost as much as sending children out.

    Sir, I believe it’s time to speak to Nigerians as a father and President in a State of the Nation Address. Usually we are told that silence is golden; this is one time when it is not. You missed the opportunity to say some critical things during your inauguration. Many had hoped instead of the 11 minutes speech, it would be an opportunity to form the basis for bonding with your people. At that time, it would have been appropriate to let Nigerians into the mess you inherited, far worse than what you feared. It would have helped if you told us that as a result of this, some election promises might be slow in coming or might not even come. (IBB was a master in this communication style). You were so hugely popular then that Nigerians would have understood and would have empathised, and would have accepted your words.

    Now the things you did not say are happening and everyone understandably is upset with you because, let’s be honest, you and the APC over promised during the campaign. It was understandable that after three unsuccessful attempts, you were throwing in all to clinch the ultimate prize. Still, some of the promises were way above reality. The chicken has come home to roost. People are asking for the CHANGE you promised us. And sir, don’t be upset, for as long as you promised, Nigerians have a right to demand a performance. It probably has not helped that the government communication machinery has not rallied to cover these areas and your flanks.

    Mr. President, the effect is that we have this gap between you and your people. They are wondering if you are aware of their suffering. They are asking for the CHANGE they voted for. They are not getting answers; instead they are getting plenty of excuses and spin and propaganda, but not the genuine truth they crave. And mind you sir, they know things are tough. They are literate enough to know that our oil is not selling. But they are not hearing it from YOU in a way that suggests you care about them and what they are going through. And don’t let the spin-doctors deceive you, this is not about PDP and APC; I have lately heard die-hard APC stalwarts totally condemn your administration and the party.

     

    What to do?

    It’s time to speak to Nigerians. I am not talking about one of those interviews where the questions might have been agreed before the interview session. I am talking of a direct, one-to-all communication, where you will address every Nigerian. It’s time to let us know how we got to this pass, the efforts you are making, the huge challenges you inherited and have to manage, the plans and work-in-progress, the good times that are ahead, the hard and painful fact that Nigerians once more must be prepared to sacrifice again at this point. Fortunately for you, Nigerians are not like our North African brethren who will riot over a few cents increase in the price of bread; Nigerians are patient and stoic and don’t really demand too much. Some of your ministers may not have helped. Ibe Kachikwu has forgotten he is no longer in MOBIL; he spoke with impatience to a people suffering from the lapses of our oil management policies. Lai Muhammed? I do not want to say anything that may upset or offend.

    So sir, please choose a date, let the best of your wordsmiths prepare a speech after discussing with you. Open up to Nigerians. Give the necessary assurances. Many smart leaders, especially the Americans do this during periods of crisis; and trust me we are in a period of crisis at this point. I assure you sir that your speech will calm many frayed nerves and give hope to many who are so despondent now.

    We are praying for this government and your good self; we want you to be very successful. But we also owe it a responsibility as part of our civic commitment to tell you things like this; it is not unlikely that within the hallowed chambers of the Villa, words like these are a taboo. Nigerians want to hear you. Nigerians want to hear from you NOW.

    Mr. President, PLEASE DO IT!

     

    • Akinwunmi, frpa is Immediate past chairman, APCON.

  • Should states be created?

    The Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode recently constituted a 12-man 50th Anniversary Committee for the celebration of the creation of Lagos State on the 27th May, 2017. This committee has its chairman, the Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka, and Chief Rasheed Gbadamosi, former Minister for National Planning, as the co-chairman. Other members of the committee are: Hon Habeeb Fasinro, Chief Olawale Cole, Mrs. Sarah Boulos, Mrs. Abimbola Obafunwa, Prof. Mrs. Senapon Bakare, Mrs. Chika Balogun, Mr. Folarin Coker, Professor Ademola Abass, Bolanle Austen Peters and Mrs. Olufunmilayo Balogun, who is the secretary of the committee.

    I am sure the governors of Kano, Kwara and Rivers states will set up similar committees before next year.

    In creating the 12 states on May 27th, 1967, General Yakubu Cinwa Dan Yuma Gowon (81) made the following announcement, “the twelve new states, subject to marginal boundary adjustments, will therefore be as follows: North-Western State comprising Sokoto and Niger Provinces. North-Central State comprising Katsina and Zaria. Kano State comprising the present Kano Province. North-Eastern State comprising Bornu, Adamawa, Sardauna and Bauchi Provinces. Benue/Plateau State comprising Benue and Plateau Provinces. Lagos State comprising the Colony Province and the Federal Territory of Lagos. Western State comprising the present Western Region but excluding the Colony Province. Mid-Western State comprising the present Mid-Western State. East-Central State comprising the present Eastern Region excluding Calabar, Ogoja and Rivers Provinces. South-Eastern State comprising Calabar and Ogoja Provinces. Rivers State comprising Ahoada, Brass,Degema, Ogoni and Port Harcourt Divisions”.

    There was a major error in General Gowon’s announcement on that day.

    West Central State made up of River Niger and Ilorin provinces, which came to be known as Kwara State, was omitted in the broadcast of General Yakubu Gowon. The state was eventually created when the decree on state creation was later promulgated by General Yakubu Gowon. He then named the following as the governors of the new states: Benue-Plateau State, Chief Superintendent of Police, Joseph Decchi Gomwalk (1935-1976), East-Central, Anthony Ukpabi Asika(1936-2004), Kwara, Brigadier David Femi Lasisi Bamigboye (75), Lagos—Brigadier Mobolaji Olufunso Johnson (80), North Central—Brigadier Abba Kyari (78), North- East—Brigadier Musa Usman (Air Force), North-West—Police Superintendent Usman Faruk (81), Rivers—Lieutenant Alfred Papapreye Diete-Spiff (Navy), South-East—Brigadier Jacob Udoakaha Jacob Esuene (1936-2004) – Air Force, Police Commissioner, Audu Bako (1924-1980)—Kano and  West—Brigadier Robert Adeyinka Adebayo (88).

    As for Mid-Western State there was initial delay in the appointment of a governor. Major Albert Okonkwo of the Biafran Army was administrator of that state by then. The state was later liberated by Lt. Col. Murtala Ramat Mohammed (1938-76) and he eventually named his friend, Lt. Col. Samuel Osaigbovo Ogbemudia (83) as Administrator. After 57 days, General Gowon under pressure and appeals later confirmed the appointment of Lt. Col. Samuel Ogbemudia as governor.

    The very day General Gowon created the 12 states was the day he declared state of emergency throughout the country.

    It was also the very day that he assumed full powers as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and Head of the Military Government.

    To me the creation of states in Nigeria on that day was the first major coup by the minorities. For the man who created the states, General Gowon, an Angus, is from Pankshin, in the present day Plateau State. The man who wrote the memo on the creation of states was a Kanuri, Alhaji Ibrahim Maina Damcida (1933-2012), who was as that time a Federal Permanent Secretary. And the chairman of the Committee of Federal Permanent Secretaries that submitted the list criteria to be used for the creation of states at that time, was Chief Allison Akene Ayida (85) is from the present Delta State, who later became Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

    It was the creation of states in May 1967 that liberated the minorities in this country and gave them a platform and a voice.

    In his book titled” Rise and Fall of Nigeria, Chief Allison Ayida, wrote that,” the minorities form about 45% of the total population in the country. The political arithmetic is that in any democratic process, one of the major groups needs the support of the minorities to gain power. Besides, any group temporarily out of power feels like a minority. This reinforces the contention that we should not return to the system of winner-takes-all. No section should be made to feel perpetually enslaved like second class citizens”.

    My friend, Senator Joseph Sarwuan Tarka(1932-1980) told me in London in 1978 that if Gowon had not created states, his United Middle Belt Congress which was inaugurated in 1955 and signed an alliance with the Action Group of Chief Obafemi Awolowo on May 6, 1957, will be still be fighting against oppression. According to him “the states creation saved Nigeria”.

    I am sure if the states were not created, many Adaka Boros would have emerged by now.

    That being so, the Igallas, the Nupes, Ijaws, Tivs, Idomas, Ibibios, Junkuns and all other minorities should celebrate the creation of states next year as a date for their own independence too.

    Although we still have the issue of minority within the states but if an Annang man like Chief Godswin Akpabio could be Governor of Akwa Ibom and an Igbiraman Yahaya Bello could be governor of Kogi State, there is hope that someone from Oke-Ogun could be governor of Oyo State someday and an Idoma could be Governor of Benue State and other minorities could be elected governors in all the states in future.

    The relevant question now is will new states ever be created? My answer is why not.

    Economic buoyancy has never been the major criteria for the creation of states. Of the five military rulers that have created states in Nigeria (General Gowon—May 27, 1967, General Murtala Muhammed – February 3, 1976, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (74) – September 23, 1981, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida – August 27th, 1991 and General Sani Abacha (1943-1996)—October 1,1996 none of them has explained that they created the because of economic viability.

    If we are to talk of buoyancy, how many states in Nigeria today could boast of complete economic independence? As of today all the states are indebted. I believe agitation by the people determines whether a state will be created in spite of section 8 of the constitution.

    It is the constant agitation by the people that will determine whether Okun, Idoma, Ogoja. Ibadan, Ijebu and other areas will become states in the future.

     

    • Teniola, a former director at the presidency, stays in Lagos.