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  • Oyo: Why all hands must be on deck

    While the nation was preparing for the 2015 general elections across the country, several political permutations were flying around. Many Nigerians turned political analysts; the rank of strategists swelled as every discussion became what can be described as political gymnastics.

    In Oyo State, one point that dominated public discourse was the hitherto assumption that no civilian governor ever won a second term.  Commentators held on to this assumption with religious fervor and conviction.

    At some point it became a herculean task for the supporters of the incumbent Governor Abiola Ajimobi to persuade the naysayers that it was not cast in stone that a governor cannot rule for two terms of eight years. It was of particular interest that all through the period, not once was Governor Ajimobi accused of incompetence or any other reason adduced on why he should not or could not be given another chance to be at the helms of affairs of the state. Here was a governor who was on top of sundry challenges facing the people in every area of human endeavour, resolving some and ameliorating the  effects of other harsh developments in the socio-economic terrain of the Pace-Setter state which he inherited.

    When Ajimobi mounted the saddle in the Agodi Government House in 2011, the capital city of Ibadan soon began to take on a clean and orderly look that a report actually branded Ibadan as one of the cleanest states in Nigeria! Almost everything that had become chronic negative attribute of the ancient sprawling city began to fade away. From inappropriate parking of vehicles along roadsides which created traffic logjams to criminal activities of notorious and unruly National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) to dumping of wastes which formed mountains that were an eyesore, all disappeared. All because the man at the helm meant well for the state and had plans to make life comfortable for its residents.

    It was a sharp departure from the situation his administration met on ground more in particular in the area of security where criminals nearly ran law abiding citizens out of the streets of the state. Apart from the menace of commercial drivers, mounting robbery incidents turned the previously peaceful state to a lawless society with lives increasingly becoming short and brutish.

    The governor had to deploy his experience in the corporate world with his humble disposition, deep intelligence and good human relations to tackle these and other problems. While some of these problems were man made others were a manifestation of deep seated socio-economic malaise caused by previous maladministration and some cultural peculiarities.

    It was in view of the much visible success that Senator Ajimobi made out of his first term in office that many observers were surprised at the stubborn insistence of those who argued that he would not win the 2015 governorship election. Some of these critics were even from his own party, All Progressive Congress (APC). But he worked hard and had result to show for a successful tenure.

    No doubt, there was a formidable contest from opposition parties significantly, the Peoples democratic Party (PDP), Accord Party (AP), Labour Party (LP) and to a lesser extent, the Social Democratic Party (SDP). At the end of the polls however, the APC which flag the incumbent flew won the highest votes and thus he was declared winner and given the mandate thus breaking the jinx of second term on the governor’s seat in Oyo State.

    Ordinarily, the declaration of a winner in an electoral contest more so in a democracy should have ended with the loser embracing the winner or if desired begin to brace up for the future. But in the case of Oyo State, while other contestants have accepted their fate in good faith, Senator Rasheed Ladoja, a former governor of the state who contested on the ticket of Accord Party went to challenge the result. On the other hand, another former governor, Otunba Christopher Alao-Akala who contested in the same election on the platform of Labour party to which he defected from PDP tugged his personal interest underneath to join hands with Senator Ajimobi to work for the peace, progress and development of the Pace Setter State.

    In all of this, the state chief executive has remained his simple self, focused and strategic in the pragmatic way he administers the state.  In order for the benefit of his systemic approach to governance to percolate to every sector, there is need for all stakeholders to get involved rather than stand aloof or continue to criticize everything government is doing. The opinions one hears in conversations on the street, that is, inside taxis, at newspaper stands, drinking places and after worship chats point to one salient fact: many citizens want much more from government. Unfortunately, these expectations, legitimate as they may be, do not often reflect in the responsibilities the people themselves are willing to embrace. Many people look at government as a machine which is primed only to dispense what they want rather than a system to co-ordinate and provide what the majority need and which require their own input as well. They will rather imagine that they only obliged a leader with their votes and do not see it as an investment in which they have a part to play. What the electorate must know is that they are a critical part of the democratic process from which they expect adequate dividends.

    Or where do affordable healthcare, good education, clean and healthy environment, food and social security come from? These indices of human development are the often quoted benefits of the synergy between a people and their government. After all, governments come and governments go, it is the people that remain. As government works at providing good governance even in the face of dwindling national resources due to global economic distress, the need for support from the people cannot be over emphasized. They must be ready to accept the new paradigm shift in view of the reality that it can no longer be business as usual even though this may sound unpalatable especially in the ears of cynics and detractors. The citizens are being encouraged to appreciate that it would naturally take some time and their co-operation especially in the area of income taxation for government to do such things that make life and living meaningful.

    There is the need to let people know that government can only have the resources to do more for greater number of citizens if public infrastructures are collectively protected from plunderers and vandals, if every community imbibes the spirit of volunteerism and learn to offer useful, constructive and genuine criticism with patriotic and non-sinister motive.

    Finally, one category of Oyo State residents that cannot afford to abstain from the shared responsibility for development is the youth. This is because they are the natural inheritors of the good days ahead if government succeeds in providing good governance. They must not allow their spirit to sink even in the face of evident challenges of unemployment, disappointment in today’s leadership or other hindrances, but they must reinvent, deploy the advantage in new technology to take their place in their respective spheres of influence and take the state to the height of their dream.

    In all, everybody must endeavour to bear the inevitable moment of hunger while the soup cooks properly,   especially when the mother, in this case the state government, is not unconcerned about their plight.

    • Morakinyo writes from Ibadan.     
  • Jumbo salaries of legislators

    Jumbo salaries of legislators

    Apart from the issue of oil subsidy, no other subject has enraged and infuriated Nigerians more than the issue of the jumbo salaries and allowances of the members of the National Assembly.

    Yet in spite of the anger, the salaries and allowances are licit under the monetization policy of the government which was implemented in 2003.

    It is the monetisation policy that enabled the former Senate President David Mark to buy so cheaply the official residence of the Senate President at Apo in Abuja- a house that should be a National heritage- and get away with it.

    Ditto to the former speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole who bought the official residence of the speaker of the House of Representatives also at Apo at giveaway price and got away with it.

    If we talk about the jumbo salaries and allowances for the legislators what about top civil servants who earn their jumbo salaries for life and the governors and former governors who also earn their jumbo salaries and entitlements for life?

    Once we adopt the Presidential system of government we cannot run away from its excesses. And also its shortcomings. The jumbo salaries and allowances of the members of the National Assembly and the security votes of the governors is also part of the excesses. They must be curbed in the light of the dwindling fortunes of the Nigeria economy. We cannot afford it.

    What is monetisation? Monetisation is the quantification in money terms of those fringe benefits which government used to provide for its workers as part of their conditions of service. Such benefits include residential accommodation, chauffeur-driven cars, residential furniture, utility services, etc.

    This policy is only practiced in Ghana, Cameroun and other African countries. I understand that Ghana had stopped the policy in the last two months.

    The proposal came from the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission. It was debated in the National Assembly and passed into law as ‘Certain Political, Public and Judicial office Holders (Salaries and Allowances etc) Act 2002. Monetisation was clamoured for by Civil Servants, as conveyed in the Communiqué of the Re-orientation Workshop for Directorate Level Officers in the Federal Civil Service read to the President, Olusegun Obasanjo on  January 14, 2002. The Organised Private Sector and a number of Government Agencies and Parastatals have adopted Monetisation of benefits for quite some time now, e.g. CBN, NNPC, etc.  I note also that the university system has monetised fringe benefits and allowances.

    In other to ensure effective implementation of the policy, the presidential committee on the monetization of fringe benefits in the public service of the federation was set up by President Obasanjo on November 11, 2002 under the chairmanship of the then Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Ufott Ekaette (CFR). Following the submission of the committee’s interim report to President Obasanjo and its subsequent adoption by government, a circular detailing the newly monetised fringe benefits and the modalities for their implementation was issued on  June 27, 2003, with July 1, 2003 as the commencement date of the programme. To sensitise the states on the implementation of the programme, an interactive session was earlier organized on Tuesday June 17, 2003 to enable both the Head of Civil Service of the Federation to intimate Secretaries to State Governments (SSGs) and Head of Civil Service of the States(HCSS) in the 36 states of the federation on the modalities for the implementation of the policy. Suffice it to say the states objected to the implementation insisting that they could not afford it.

    On November 27, 2003, Chief Ekaette told members of the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Lagos under the headship of Professor Lai Olurode that “ Monetisation as a public policy reform must be appreciated in the context of other reforms each of which plays complementary roles with the new overarching economic development strategy of the Obasanjo administration called NEEDS(National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy).”

    The following was approved for members of the National Assembly as part of the monetisation policy: (a) Housing Allowance-100% of Annual Basic Salary (b) Transport Allowance-350% of Annual Basic Salary (c) Utility Allowance-20% of Annual Basic Salary (d) Domestic Staff Allowance-75% of Annual Basic Salary (e) Entertainment Allowance- 10% of Annual Basic Salary (f) Constituency Allowance- 150% of Annual Basic Salary (g) Furniture Allowance- 300% of Annual Basic Salary (h) Allowance for Employment of Special Assistant- Equivalent of 25% of Annual Basic Salary to be paid (i) Vehicle Maintenance and Fuelling- 30% of Annual Basic Salary (j) Recess Allowance- 10% of Annual Basic Salary (k) Severance Gratuity- 300% of Annual Basic Salary(to be paid once in a life time) after successful completion of tenure.

    The following was approved under the monetization policy for federal civil servants (1) Accommodation: Grade level—01-06 (50% of Annual Basic Salary), Grade level – 07-17 (60% of Annual Basic Salary and Grade level – 15 & above (75% of Annual Basic Salary. Transportation – Grade level 01-17 (25% of Annual Basic Salary. Meal Subsidy: Grade level-01-06 (N6,000.00), 07-10(N 8,4000.00), 12-14 (N9,600.00), 15-17 (N 10,800.00), Permanent Secretary (PS) (N 16,200.00). Utility: Grade level – 01-16 (15% of Annual Basic Salary), 17 &above (20% of Annual Basic Salary). Domestic Servant: Grade level 15 (1GL. 3 Step 8), 16-17 (2 GL 3 step 8), PS & above (3 GL 3 step 8). Leave Grant: 01 & above (10% of Annual Basic Salary. Medical: 01 & above (10% of Annual Basic Salary to be paid to NHIS). Furniture Allowance: Grade level—01-06(NIL), 17 & above (200% of Annual Basic Salary in five years, i.e. 40% of per annum). Vehicle loan: Grade level, 01-05 (100% of Annual Basic Salary), 06-07 (150% of Annual Basic Salary, 08& above (200% of Annual Basic Salary. Driver: Grade level 17 & above (1GL.3 step 8.

    The following was approved for the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Judges of the Supreme Court under the monetization policy: (a) Accommodation- to be provided by the government (with an option to be paid 100% of Annual Basic Salary if opted to stay in personal house); (b) Furniture to be provided by government (c) Medical Care to be provided by government, including members of immediate family (d) Robe- to be provided by government (e) Transport: official cars to be assigned and maintained by government; (f) Security to be provided; (g) Utility bills to be settled by government; (h) Domestic Staff to be provided (i) Entertainment to be catered for by government; (j) Special Assistants to be provided from within the Civil Service; (k) Leave Allowance: 10% of Annual Basic Salary to be paid once in each calendar year (l) Hardship Allowance: 50% of Annual Basic Salary; (m) Severance Gratuity: 300% of Annual Basic Salary (to be paid once in a life time) after successful completion of tenure, and, (n) Retirement Benefits- Payable on the basis of Approved Scheme of Service

    In spite of the objection by the states, the Federal Government went ahead and implemented this policy on October 1, 2003 and that policy is still on till today.

    The monetization policy was given legal teeth with passage and coming into the effect of the Certain Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders (Salaries and Allowances etc) Act, 2002 which was extended by circular to cover all federal civil servants. The law took effect from July 1, 2003 for the designated Political, Public and Judicial Office Holders, while it was extended, with somewhat modified rates of benefits, to Federal Civil Servants with effect from 1st October, 2003.

    At the time of his departure from office in 2007, President Obasanjo was shocked to find out the magnitude of the monetisation of the legislators and the jumbo salaries they were to earn. He refused to sign the bill, leaving for President Umaru Yar’Adua who signed it eventually in order to please the legislators. That’s where we are now. This issue cut across party lines in the National Assembly for they are all united for it.

    The monetisation policy, a policy that was meant to solve problems, has now created more problems. It is like a monster now. The question now is, can we afford the monetization policy? The answer is no. It will be unfair to talk about the jumbo salaries and allowances of legislators as a result of monetization policy in isolation without talking about other public officers benefiting from this policy. Cutting salaries by half as announced by President Muhammadu Buhari and his vice, Yemi Osinbajo is a good step. I doubt whether members of the National Assembly will follow the President’s example no matter the pressure. In fact they will tell the President that they have not come to Abuja merely to pass bills or endorse unworkable resolutions only.

    As for these members of the National Assembly and other public officers benefiting from the monetization policy, national sacrifice has to wait.

    All that the President should do is to call a meeting of the stakeholders including governors, legislators, Nigerian Labour Congress, public discussants, religious leaders, market women and other bodies and insist that the government cannot sustain any longer the monetization policy of 2003.

    In the interim he should withdraw the circular on monetisation.

    If possible, he should ignite a national debate on the issue, after all he is our moral guide.

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

     

  • Trial of Supreme Court judgments

    Trial of Supreme Court judgments

    The obiter dictum from the fecund mind of, late pre-eminent jurist, Chukwudifu Akunne Oputa, JSC, in Adegoke Motors Ltd vs. Dr Babatunde Adesanya & Anor (1989) 3NWLR (Pt. 109), 250 at 274, on the finality and the infallibility of the judgments of the Supreme Court, regardless of what lesser mortals, may think, wherein he said: “we are final not because we are infallible, rather we are infallible because we are final”, has resurrected, following some recent judgments of the apex court; and will resonate across the country, for some time to come.

    Just as Nigerians were ruminating on the judgment of the Supreme Court in Ejike Oguebego & anor. vs. Peoples Democratic Party & ors., on the Anambra State Peoples Democratic Party’s 2015 party primaries, the court delivered her judgments, in the controversial Akwa Ibom and Abia states’ gubernatorial elections, to add to the fire, already stoked by her earlier judgment in the Rivers State’s gubernatorial election. While awaiting the reasons behind the judgments, from the apex court, no doubt, these judgments, that have secured the mandates of all the gubernatorial incumbents, have stirred controversies.

    What is however abundantly clear, from the reactions, in the mainstream and social media, is that some Nigerians are insinuating extraneous reasons for the judgments. Indeed, many of the commentators that were offended by the judgements, that upturned the concurrent judgments of electoral tribunals and the court of appeal, in some of the cases, used unprintable words, in their condemnation of the learned Justices. Even among the parties to the suit, and their supporters, their actions, days before the judgment, betrayed their strong believe that the courts are not merely guided by the provisions of the law and the facts emanating from their presentation at the tribunals, but can be influenced by fresh media campaigns, rallies and sponsored commentaries.

    So, while the Justices of the Supreme Court were sifting through the facts presented to them, and gauging the provisions of the law, the parties were busy presenting their claims, evidences and supporting arguments to the public, in the earnest believe that the Justices, who also live within the larger society, would be persuaded by the dexterity of these presentations. With the judgment delivered, those who feel that the facts in the public domain, particularly with respect to the Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Abia states’ elections, do not support the judgment of the apex court, are up in arms, against the learned law lords.

    For some of those who participated in those elections, some of those who saw action in the war that our elections turn out as, some of those who were flagrantly and violently denied participation in some of the elections by thugs and political opponents, and who were upbeat that some of the results would be cancelled or upturned, are flabbergasted by the decisions of the courts, and would swear that some of the judgments were procured by external influences. Conversely, those who have gained from the judgments are expressing their gratitude to the jurisprudential ingenuity of the learned Justices of the Supreme Court. Perhaps it is time to open a debate on our adversarial legal system, and consider the merits of mediation, which substantially approximates to our native jurisprudence.

    In Anambra State, the jejune interpretation by a vocal minority, of the judgment of the Supreme Court, over the 2015 PDP primaries in the state, more than any other, portrays our legal system, as a joke, particularly for a layman. In that state, where the PDP acquired a gargantuan reputation for cash and carry politics, the state executive committee, recognized by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), organized a primary which produced a set of candidates, whose names were submitted to the electoral body, for the 2015 general elections.

    Some weeks to the election, that state executive committee was dissolved, and a caretaker committee was put in place. INEC was compelled by a judgment of the Court of Appeal, which set aside a High Court judgment, and recognised the caretaker committee, to change the names of the party’s candidates, to those elected in the primaries organised by the caretaker committee. Now, the Supreme Court has set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal, and re-instated that of the High Court, which had declared the caretaker committee, “as illegal, null and void”.

    The restored judgment made an order that any delegate list or nominated candidates from the purported caretaker committee or ad-hoc committee, is “illegal, invalid, unconstitutional, abuse of court process, null and void and cannot be used for any purpose.” It also forbade the PDP from sending the list from that caretaker committee, to INEC, and also ordered INEC, not to accept any such list.

    Those who were elected at the primaries conducted by the Oguebego faction, whose mandate as the authentic state executive council, has now be restored, hoped that INEC would give them their certificates of return, without much ado, since their names were substituted with the eventual winners in the election, based on the Court of Appeal judgment, just before the 2015 general election. Now, to their chagrin, the beneficiaries of the Court of Appeal’s judgment, already enjoying their ‘purported mandate’ at the National Assembly, are saying that the reversal suffered at the Supreme Court, do not affect them.

    After reading the judgment, as published in the press, which I presume to be correct, I do not agree that the judgment does not jeopardise the continued representation of those, nominated by the ‘purported caretaker committee’. Of note, the court specifically declared any primary conducted by them, or any list submitted by them as “illegal, invalid, unconstitutional, abuse of court process, null and void and cannot be used for any purpose.” The argument that the judgment is merely declaratory, and cannot be enforced, is not supported, by the available facts.

    While reliefs 1 and 2 are declaratory, reliefs 3, 4 and 5 in my humble view are mandatory injunctions, clearly restraining the PDP and INEC, from specific acts. While the PDP is restrained from submitting the list from the ‘purported caretaker committee’ to the second defendant, INEC is retrained from accepting any such list, from the PDP. In my view, the judgment of the Supreme Court renders the election of those on the list submitted by the ‘purported caretaker committee’ a nullity. To contend otherwise, is gravely absurd. Unfortunately, the Supreme Court did not make any consequential order, as to what happens, after nullifying the said process.

    Even those contending that the judgment is merely declaratory, and dose not amount to anything, miss the point. For by our High Court Rules, emanating from England Rules of 1883 and their Order 15, r. 16, “no action or other proceeding shall be open to objection on ground that a mere declaratory judgment or order is sought thereby, and the court may make binding declarations of right, whether or not any consequential relief is or could be claimed.” This position is supported by the judgment of our Supreme Court, in Dantata vs. Mohammed (2000) FWLR, 889, at 908. The real tragedy in Anambra State, is in the integrity of some of the personas involved, and their despicable do-or-die politics.

     

  • Buhari and the venal crowd

    These certainly are not the best of times for the grex venalium (the venal crowd) popularly known by ordinary Nigerians as treasury looters. The ongoing battle by President Muhammadu Buhari against this corrupt cabal who have held this nation hostage for years leaves no one in doubt that it is no longer business as usual for politicians of fortune.

    It is a mistake to assume, that this is President Buhari’s private battle to clean the Augean stable. Rather, it should be seen as a determined effort to right the wrongs of the bad leadership which has been the bane of Nigeria’s development for decades.

    Previous attempts to fight corruption were somehow symptomatic but the present government has adopted a strong, pathological approach that aims to get to the root of the matter, which is why every Nigerian should give the president total support. What is being done now, if carried to the logical conclusion, would free the country from the labyrinth of a deeply entrenched tribe of Machiavellian politicians whose sole purpose for seeking power is to loot our common patrimony.

    When former President Goodluck Jonathan emerged on the scene, he came across as a power –shy, harmless politician on whose shoulders providence placed the leadership of this great nation at a critical period in our political evolution. His moving story of grass to grace, with the memorable line that he went to school like many Nigerians without shoes, caught the attention of the electorate who gave him the mandate in his first-ever quest to seek elective office in 2011.

    Once on the presidential seat in that enclave called Aso Rock, we saw a different Jonathan altogether. Never has a president in this country come to power with such level of goodwill and blow it just as fast as Dr. Jonathan. Perhaps, overwhelmed by the demands of office, or ill-prepared for its challenges, the first president from a southern minority exhibited poor governing capacity and inherent weakness unbecoming of the leader of a huge country like ours. He had to be goaded to act with firmness when occasion demanded, which was why he virtually lost control of his presidency to his cronies. His appointees and associates went about looting the public treasury with unprecedented impunity; not even the intermittent public outrage moved President Jonathan to sanction them. And when he did, it was either too little or too late. Corrupt ministers were relieved of their posts with slaps on the wrist, while nothing was done about their loot. With the current anti-corruption saga, we can now understand why Jonathan and his PDP cohorts spared no expenses to buy themselves back to power. This time however, the fairy tale run of goodluck failed them.

    The hapless president was sent packing. Serendipity was out of kilter!

    That era of impunity ended suddenly, but we cannot just sweep what happened during the PDP government under the carpet. Regardless of who is involved, justice must be done to send a clear message that leaders must be accountable even after they leave office. I perceive that this is what President Buhari is trying to prove, that is why I support him.

    The charge of selective prosecution and the ethnic or religious card being played by some to discredit this anti-corruption war is nothing but a mischievous charade. Those arrested for suspected corrupt

    practices cut across the party, ethnic and religious divide. Nigerians must therefore, not fall for the antics of the venal rich, who are fighting back, using media propaganda to win sympathy.

    One is however, constrained to raise this point because of a public statement credited to Anthony Cardinal Okogie in which the Catholic prelate expressed reservations about the government’s philosophy in prosecuting the anti-corruption war vis-à-vis the Rule of Law and his perceived thinking that other governance issues are not being addressed as should. The cardinal is entitled to his opinion, but there is no factual evidence to support this claim.

    The venerable Cardinal is unappreciative of the dialectics of change within the Nigerian context. The Nigerian scenario is indicative of an aberration embedded in our political genes. Whereas politics and

    economics are sociological kinsmen, yet politics maintains an ascendancy over economics in practical realities. The hoi polloi determines the political leadership but economic superintendence is the prerogative of the elite. Nigeria’s existential bane is not lack of professors in mantled academia, nor is it a paucity of economic knowledge in the geo-political arena. Rather, it is leadership, leadership and yet leadership. Ad nauseam!

    Leadership is the terra-firma upon which the citadel of progress can be erected. If the foundation be destroyed by corruption what can the righteous do? It is my founded expectation that the respected cardinal would urge the government to probe the leadership of CAN, PFN and other pseudo religious organisations who acquired their fabricated titles under spurious Christian nomenclature.

    If Attahiru Bafarawa was the accredited agent of the Muslim prayers welfare package, who then collected on behalf of the multitudes of Christians? Who? Who is that Christian proboscis whose insidious suction availed himself of billions of naira on behalf of the followers of Christ? Who is that Judas? Maybe Judases? What about Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor’s one-plane airline becoming the surreptitious instrumentality for some covert military operations involving over $9 million in South Africa? All sacred cows must become secularized.

    Government must ascertain the scope of pecuniary inducement that informed their political alignments in the 2015 elections. What an irony, that those who should scrupulously guide the people are themselves poisoning the water from which the flock will drink. Corruption is a hydra headed monstrosity that must be confronted by the gladiators of righteousness. For indeed, he who dares to face his maker will not tremble before the sons of men. Satis verborum!

    We must understand that even if the law is an ass, corrupt folks must not be allowed to ride it out of the dragnet of the law when apprehended. The present campaign is a challenge to the integrity of our jurisprudence. Members of the bar and bench are Nigerians, and they must not sabotage the efforts of this government to restore sanity to governance in this country. There’s nothing the EFCC has done so far to suggest that it disrespects the rule of law. The president himself has said, “You cannot fight impunity with impunity”.

    • Rev. Okotie, a former Presidential candidate of FRESH Democratic Party wrote from Lagos.

  • Youths and Lagos Employment Trust Fund

    It is now an open secret that things are no longer at ease with the Nigerian economy. Sharp decline in the global prices of crude oil, a major source of income for the country, has brought the nation’s economy almost down to its knees. Presently, oil price continued its abysmal somersault. As at the time of putting this together, Brent, the global oil marker, fell by more than $2, or six per cent, to $31.48 per barrel the lowest since in April 2004.

    With the global price of oil now at all-time low, economic analysts are already speculating that, unless a miracle occurs, things might be tough for the nation in 2016. In the previous year, the Federal Government scaled down the benchmark for the 2015 budget from $78 to $73 per barrel (ironically, a barrel of oil in the international market presently oscillates from $37 to $30 per barrel). As a reflection of how bad the situation was in the previous year, the Federal Government had to bail out some states that could no longer meet up with their financial obligations to their workforce. Some Federal Government agencies equally did not fare any better in this respect.

    Unfortunately, the private sector is also not totally immune from the gloomy economic reality in the country. With the diminishing fortune of the naira, local industries are facing serious challenges that could actually lead to downsizing of workers if the situation is not quickly redressed. Hence, from every perspective, these are, indeed, trying times for the country.

    The way things stand, the unemployed in the country, especially the youth, might be in for a hard time. If the working class is not actually finding things easy with the present harsh economic reality, without a doubt, the growing populace of the unemployed might just as well be on a journey to Siberia. Sadly, the unemployment situation has become worse with the low-productivity rate of the manufacturing sector. The power situation isn’t helping matters either. The inability of subsequent administrations to improve the nation’s power condition spells greater doom for the unemployed in the country as most manufacturing firms with the fair prospect of creating jobs are either relocating or folding up. Curiously, multinational firms, that hitherto held great job prospects for Nigerians, are equally not left out of this gloomy trend.

    With the present scenario, our nation is certainly sitting on a keg of gun powder. With the rampaging and heartless Boko Haram sect destabilizing the economy of the North-east, and by inference depleting the already dwindling national economy by engaging the nation in a needless war, we cannot afford to be at peace with the current unemployment situation in our nation. The implication of having a large percentage of unemployed youth aimlessly lurking around is not, by any means, palatable. To make ends meet, a hungry and disenchanted jobless youth could easily be lured into embracing vicious anti-social options. And any nation that allows its youth to go astray has already mortgaged its future. As a nation, we cannot afford to toe such an ignoble path.

    Any nation that denies its youth the necessary enabling environment to thrive does so at its own peril. Youths are the dynamo of every society. Their energies, inventions, character and orientation define the pace of development and security of a nation. Through the aggregate of their creative talents and labour power, a nation makes giant strides in economic development and socio-political attainments. In their dreams and hopes, a nation finds her motivation; on their energies, she builds her vitality and purpose. And because of their dreams and aspirations, the future of a nation is assured.

    Without doubt, the youth represents the most vibrant and adventurous group in any society. In the words of late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe: “If you want to know the future of any nation, take a look at what the youths are doing presently.” Usually, if the prevailing condition in a given society does not offer the youth the needed platform to channel their burstling energy into positive use, they readily embrace rebellious predisposition. It is a well-known fact that nature abhors a vacuum.

    Therefore, if there is anything that government at all levels needs to focus primarily on now, it is youth empowerment through various job-creation platforms. It is, indeed, in this respect that the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode must  be commended for coming up with a far reaching creative and institutionalized framework to address the pathetic and appalling unemployment situation in the state. Since his assumption of office, Ambode has so far taken several steady strides that clearly demonstrate his resolve to take Lagos to new heights. However, in fulfillment of his campaign promise, the most audacious and positive steps he has taken, thus far, was  the recent institution of a N25bn Employment Trust Fund to address unemployment and promote wealth creation through entrepreneurial development.

    The beauty of it all is that the initiative is a carefully thought out project that will definitely outlive the Ambode administration. It is a huge gift to Lagos, in particular, and the entire nation as a whole. By providing a legal and institutional framework for the laudable initiative, Ambode has gone a step further ahead to secure a better and brighter future for our youths. When he eventually leaves office, what he is bequeathing to the coming generation would speak volumes for him in years to come as a visionary and passionate leader. One would also like to commend the leadership and members of the Lagos State House of Assembly for the thorough and speedy work it did in making the Employment Trust Fund bill to see the light of the day.

    One salient quality of a reliable leader is the ability to make promises and keep it. Thus far, Ambode has come out as one leader who loves to keep his words. The establishment of the Employment Trust Fund was in line with keeping faith with the promise he made to the people during the electioneering campaign. The fund is to be reimbursed by the state government with an annual contribution of N6. 25billion. It is projected that the fund would hit ambitious N25billion mark over a period of four years.

    Already, a 10-man board comprising of seasoned professionals, under the leadership of former chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mrs. Ifueko Omoigui-Okauru, has been put in place to manage the fund.

    With this initiative, the Lagos State government has thrown a big challenge at the youths of this country and it is not exclusive to the unemployed. It is a salvo to fire their imaginations, direct their energies and discover talents. The state is all out to back the evolution of value-generating ideas that may as well be what Nigeria requires to get out of the threatening economic quagmire.

    It is hoped that more of such forward-looking and resourceful initiatives would come up from the stable of the Lagos State government. If our people are to be freed from the shackles of poverty and hopelessness, this is the path we must continue to tread. It is the only path to economic emancipation. It is, indeed, the right path to prosperity.

    • Lateef, a public affairs’ commentator, writes from Ikeja.

     

  • Lagos and the nuisance of ‘danfo’ drivers

    Lagos and the nuisance of ‘danfo’ drivers

    For me, it was like a scene from a blockbuster movie. It was such a horrendous scene that I couldn’t get over the shock for some time. I left home for work that fateful day, looking forward, as usual, to an eventful working day. But alas, the whole of the day was messed up by the wayward action of a naughty ‘danfo’ (commercial bus) driver who acted in, perhaps, the most irresponsible manner I had ever witnessed in my whole life. We were caught in the typical Lagos early morning traffic gridlock which wasn’t really as bad as it used to be because it was a moving traffic.

    My mind was not actually on the traffic situation as I had an urgent task to accomplish that auspicious morning. As I was I was thinking of how I would carry out the pressing assignment, I looked up and behold I saw a ‘Danfo’ bus that moved completely out of our line and faced on coming vehicles in what I considered a very audacious display of lawlessness and haughtiness. He drove in such a reckless fashion that every oncoming vehicle had to delicately swerve to avoid having a smash with it.  Sadly, a heavy duty lorry which, perhaps, was oblivious of the stray ‘danfo’, was approaching and within a twinkling of an eyelid, there was a collision between the lorry and the ‘danfo’ and what followed next is better seen than imagined. It was such a repulsive scene.

    By now, the whole place was in serious disarray as commuters, pedestrians and others along the road were running helter-skelter in utter confusion. Thanks to some brave guys who put a call through to the Lagos State Ambulance Service, ambulance came in no time to ferry wounded commuters in the ‘danfo’ for emergency medical care. The whole place had become a mess of sort. The goods inside the heavy duty lorry had littered everywhere. The hitherto moving gridlock had now become completely motionless with serious overriding impact on adjourning and other link roads along the route. It took the combine efforts of men of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, LASTMA,   Federal Road Safety officials, traffic police and others to put the traffic situation back to normality. But then, the havoc had been done already because I eventually ended up spending about 4 hours on a trip that ordinarily shouldn’t have taken me more than 30 minutes.

    Welcome to the above the law and irritating world of Lagos ‘danfo’ drivers!  It is no longer news that in Lagos‘danfo’ drivers are notorious for contravening traffic laws. For instance, the BRT lanes are strictly meant for BRT buses but ‘danfo’ drivers, in their characteristics style, have continued to flout this rule with impunity. Aside this, most of them drive against traffic, carry more than the required number of passengers, stop to pick passengers at un-designated places, over speed among many others terrible acts. Whenever they are apprehended by relevant officials for such acts, they simply resort to harassing, and even beating up the hapless officials. They act in such unruly manner that makes nonsense of the law of the land. In Lagos, impunity is a way of life for the ‘danfo’ drivers whose reckless attitude on the road has become quite legendary.

    Like most cosmopolitan cities across the world, Lagos experiences gridlock which is popularly referred to in local parlance as ‘go slow’. Though, the Lagos traffic jam occurs as a result of many factors, it is, however, really worsened by human factors. Human induced actions that complicate traffic hassles in the State include deliberately driving in an unsafe or threatening manner, illegal parking, street and roadside trading, driving against traffic, making illegal U turn and disobeying traffic lights and other traffic instructions.

    One significant truth that is always ignored is that failure of motorists, particularly commercial bus drivers, to obey simple traffic rules and regulations often lead to traffic snarl that occasionally cripple socio-economic activities in the metropolis. Sadly, traffic chaos has severe consequences on the socio-economic landscape of the state. These include economic losses arising from delays, diminished productivity, wasted energy, environmental degradation and a diminished standard of living. Other outcomes are missed appointments, higher fuel bill, decreased productivity and diverse health challenges. This, no doubt, poses great threat to the State’s viability as a decent place to live, visit and invest.

    With time, especially with an effective and efficient  mass transit system in place, the Lagos state government should save our souls by gradually phasing out commercial buses on major roads in the metropolis. Public transportation is too important and strategic to be committed into the hands of unruly and disorganized set of individuals. This could jeopardize drive for foreign and local investments in the State. The traffic situation of every city determines the volume of investment that is attracted to the city. No sane investor would want to put his money in a place that is renowned for irresponsible traffic behaviour. It is, therefore, imperative, all other things being equal, for authorities concerned in Lagos State to address the nagging question of the nuisance of commercial bus drivers in the State, once and for all. To avoid any public outcry that such step might attract, especially from transport unions, willing commercial bus owners and drivers could be incorporated into the enlarged BRT system to avoid job losses.

    Consequently, there is an urgent need to expand the operational scope of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. Though the system does not use all the features of some of the renowned BRT systems across the world, it still has many advantages over a traditional bus system. Universally, the BRT system has the capability of moving huge numbers of people from one place to the other at a time in a faster and more convenient way. The system operates on the concept of utilizing dedicated lanes in areas where competition with highway traffic would be greatest while it makes use of existing highways and roads in areas that are less congested in order to reduce cost. According to the Lagos Metropolitan Transport Authority, LAMATA, by 2009 the BRT system has lifted over 52million passengers.

    The BRT scheme, if well expanded and strategically developed, could help in drastically reducing traffic chaos in the State. A first step towards achieving this would be to inject new busses into the fleet of the scheme. Once this is done, the next strategy would be to create more routes across the State for the scheme to meet more needs. In creating these new routes, priority should be given to areas with greater population density such as Badagry, Mowe-Ibafo axis, Sango-Ota axis, Alimosho among others. Also, the BRT scheme could be planned to include commuting within short distances within a particular local government or location.

    The efficiency with which people, goods and services can move from one point to the other largely determines the quality of life of a society. Hence, every investment and every effort geared towards sanitising the sector is not misplaced.

    • Omojoye wrote in from Palmgroove, Lagos

     

  • Zika – the war against the future

    Zika – the war against the future

    A new type of terror, in the shape of a virus, has been abroad in the past few months. Day by day, it gets bigger in the public eye. Public Health authorities all over the world are worried.

    The epicenter of the crisis is Brazil, host of the Rio Carnival, and host of the Olympics in a few short months.

    Africans, long stigmatized,and bearing a vague sense of guiltfor rare infections that have originated from the continent to ravage the world, may be excused for heaving a sigh of relief. At least this one is in South America. Nothing to do with us – thank God!

    Unfortunately, the celebration, such as it is, is very short. For the antecedents of Zika are – yes – sadly, in Africa.

    In 1947, in Zika forest, in Uganda, a rhesus monkey came down with a febrile illness. A hitherto unknown virus belonging to the group of arboviruses was identified as the cause of the illness. It was named the Zika virus, after the forest.

    A year later, the virus was detected in the mosquito AedesAfricanus.

    There are reports that the virus was found over the next twenty years to be endemic in some parts of Africa, including Nigeria and Senegal, but not really posing a significant health risk to the human population.

    In 2012, two French scientists became infected with Zika while working in Senegal. Here the story gets very interesting indeed. Neither of the scientists was seriously ill. However, after one of them returned to his home country, where there were no mosquitoes to serve as vector, his wife became ill with the same illness. The children of the couple did not catch the fever. This meant the only way the scientist’s wife could have caught the infection was through sexual transmission.

    This was totally ‘out of the box’. A mosquito-borne viral infection was also manifesting as a Sexually Transmitted Infection.

    At this point, it was a medical curiousity – a unique ‘crossover’ infection, but hardly more than that.

    The story was about to get more scary.

    From 2013, an epidemic of Zika virus infection was noticed in French Polynesia and the Pacific Islands. These included popular tourist destinations such as Tahiti and Bora Bora, where up to 20,000 people were afflicted. Some of the affected persons developed a syndrome similar toGuillaineBarre syndrome – a condition in which there is unexplained paralysis of the body’s muscles. Some of their babies were also born with neurological birth defects.

    The alarm bells began to ring. It would soon get worse – much worse.

    In 2015 Brazilian health authorities observed that there was a massive increase in the numbers of babies born with microcephaly in certain parts of the country. This is a condition in which the head is abnormally small, and the growth and development of the brain is impaired. Many children with the condition have severe intellectual impairment and neurological problems, and some do not survive beyond a few years. In most of these cases, the baby’s mother had suffered from Zika infection during the pregnancy.

    The first few cases where this connection was clearly made occurred in May 2015. The evidence was difficult to doubt. In a typical year, about 200 babies are born with microcephaly in the whole nation. Since October 2015, more than 4000 babies have been born with the condition.

    A similar pattern of affliction has been observed in some other countries in Latin America. These include Columbia, El Salvador, and Panama.

    It is not difficult to understand the sense of fear, even panic, occasioned by the mystery and mystique of Zika. It is physical illness behaving like a Curse, skipping lightly over the patient herself and visiting its worst ravages on the next generation. The ‘sins’ of parents are being visited on their offspring. Most of the afflicted are poor people living in mean circumstances, living on the hope of a better tomorrow. The emblem of that hope is the child of their loins. Zika destroys that hope, and leaves them with the brain-damaged shell who will have to be looked after all of his short and miserable life. At the level of Psychology, there is no greater violation of the human being than the elimination of his hope for the future. King Herod knew what he was doing when he ordered all the infants in his domain murdered. Nothing showed how total his power was than that he could contemplate such a measure with equanimity.

    The potential horror of Zika challenges human society at its point of maximum vulnerability. How far would people go to ensure that they have ‘normal, healthy’ children? How far is it permissible to go to avoid the opposite? Should a woman who is carrying a child with microcephaly in her womb be allowed to abort the pregnancy? Should she be encouraged, even? It may sound callous and outrageous on first inspection, but the same logic is already in application in some genetic disorders, including Sickle Cell Anaemia.Where does Public Health shade into Eugenics?

    The unique challenge posed by Zika can be sensed from the spate of measures and counter-measures churned out by various governments. The Brazilian government is distributing insect repellents to 400,000 expectant women who qualify for BolsaFamilia – the local ‘cash transfer’ scheme that is in operation. 310,000 health workers have been deployed to sensitise the public and teach citizens how to keep mosquitoes at bay. Environmental health officials attacking the breeding grounds of mosquitoes have been joined by 220,000 soldiers. Brazil is naturally motivated by the welfare of its citizens. But beyond that is the fact that, troubled as it is already by a deep economic crisis, Zika could drive the world away from Brazil and imperil its tourism and the Olympics of 2016 on which it has so much riding.

    Some governments in the Latin American neighbourhood have already advised women of child-bearing age to delay getting pregnant for up to a year, presumably to allow the worst of the danger to blow over. Even Jamaica, where no case has yet been reported, has given similar advice. El Salvador recommended that its women should delay pregnancy till 2018. Panama issued a warning to women from its indigenous community, who have a relatively high rate of infection with Zika, not to conceive – Period.

    Even the governments of the United States and some European countries – not directly affected, find it necessary to advise that pregnant women avoid the ‘hot-spots’ for now.

    There are scary, ‘out of contol’ scenarios. One of these is – if it is true that infected male persons can become carriers and go on to spread the infection to others through sexual or other person-to-person contact, like the reported case of the researcher in Senegal. Another one is if the quiescent virus that has always been present ‘in the hood’ – in Uganda or Senegal  or even Nigeria- suddenly ‘lights up’ in tandem with what is happening in Latin America.

    In the process of mounting a response to Zika, some of the fault-lines and controversies have been opened up afresh. Latin America is strongly Catholic. Catholic doctrine frowns on abortion and many aspects of birth control. Even sex education is circumscribed by strict rules. And yet all of these are tools which will have to be deployed – officially and un-officially, if Zika is truly on the rampage and society needs to be saved. In El Salvador, abortion is forbidden by the law, even if the woman’s life is in danger. The situation is not much different in Brazil, although momentum is now building up to end most of the bans. Sex education in the whole region is inadequate. Health workers are reluctant to prescribe contraceptives for teenagers and women who have not had children.

    The vector of the Zika virus is the mosquito AedesEgypti, although it is also said to be spread by the Tiger mosquito – AedesAlbopictus.AedesEgypti is an aggressive daytime biter that bites people indoors and outdoors. The illness caused by the virus itself is usually a mild fever with a rash. Death or serious debilitation is almost unknown. There is no vaccine or specific treatment at the present time. It is possible that there are already large numbers of people who are carriers of the virus, but show no evidence of illness themselves.

    Why has the Zika virus, which has been around for so long, suddenly become a clear and present danger.

    The uniqueness of Zika, the ‘crossing generational borders’ in terms of who is the patient and who is the victim, the suggested possibility that there may be person-to-person transmission, in addition to vector-to-person, and the fact that the virus renders the human certainty of not just the present but the future shaky fits it pat into the end-time scenario which is popular in Christian lore. One major pastor of a Pentecostal church in Nigeria at the beginning of this year predicted the advent of  ‘a disease worse that AIDS’. Is Zika that disease? Is this one of the end-time ‘plagues’?

    Perhaps Zika has been over-blown, and, like all fads, will soon blow over. But we cannot take a chance on that. All the best minds must come to work on the problem. That a virusdiscovered in 1947 has no vaccine or remedy tagged to it can only be due to the fact that it was not seen as a significant threat. Now that it has shown itself in its sinister essence, or mutated into a potent trans-generational evil, it needs to be taken down. One of the abiding certainties driving human life is the conviction that the future will be better than the past. It is the reason why people – in Yoruba culture and other Nigerian cultures, are ready to skimp and save and deny themselves in order to educate and care for their children. If the promise of the future is taken away rudely by cruel disease, the rationale for life itself becomes questionable for many. If Zika is what it appears to be, it is an ontological threat to human life. As the language goes in Environmental Health, it is a nuisance that must be abated.

    And if it is not?

    Even if Zika proves not to be the looming gargantuan epidemic that it is being ‘talked up’ to be, in exposing it to the harsh scrutiny of Science, we stand to gain Knowledge. Nothing is lost by getting governments to see the need to prescribe, enforce, and fund common-sense precautions to further strengthenpublic health and safety. Some extremely restrictive social norms in some parts of the world will be loosened, and unpleasant realities, such as the need for society to formalize a common-sense stand on Abortion and Sex Education, will have been faced and talked through.

    In the end, Society will be the better for it.

     

  • Badaru, Lamido and Jigawa’s health sector

    One of the beauties of democracy is the freedom of speech only that we do not allow justice and truth to be killed on the table of egotism, envy, hatred and ingratitude. I have been thinking what Jigawa government under Alhaji Muhammadu Abubakar Talamis wants to achieve by always attacking and discrediting Sule Lamido’s visible and pragmatic achievements in Jigawa.

    Instead of recognizing and appreciating what he did and continuing from where he stopped, they keep belittling him by using people to mislead the general public particularly those who have not visited Jigawa or heard of what Lamido did in the state.  A first time and even a wayfarer through Jigawa can attest to the work Lamido did in the state. Records and legacies don’t lie.

    Before the coming of the Lamido administration in 2007, the health budget of the state was never above five percent. From 2007 there was a gradual increase in the size of the budget reaching 15% in 2013 making the state the only one in the federation to attain the Abuja Declaration.

    In 2007 when Lamido took over as the governor, he introduced a decentralized and integrated district health system known as Gunduma Health System to improve access to healthcare and reach out to the rural dwellers within the limit of available resources and he succeeded.

    Lamido’s vision in the initiating Gunduma Health System, was to have a healthy and productive population in Jigawa State and to promote the health status of the people through improved integrated health care service, awareness on health and health related matters, to ensure good resource mobilization and practices with increased public – private partnership and effective participation and ownership to ensure that basic health services are made available, accessible, affordable and acceptable to the people of Jigawa State.

    This came with a number of gains including:  the revamping of the infrastructure, improvement in health care financing, strengthening of the human resource, improving health services delivery, sustaining drugs supply and equipment provision and promoting community participation and ownership. Gunduma Health System was created to focus on improving health service delivery while the state Ministry of Health maintained its stewardship role for policy direction.  Before Lamido became the governor in 2007, Jigawa State had the highest maternal and infant mortality rate in the country; the health sector then, was a sham. The Gunduma Healthcare System he initiated was messiah for entire health sector in the state.

    When Lamido took over in 2007, his administration inherited only 21 doctors, six pharmacists and less than 200 nurses/midwives in what undoubtedly showed and proved a decaying health sector. Because workers are the engine of any institution, before Lamido handed over power in May 29, 2015, there were 160 doctors, 685 nurses/midwives, 34 pharmacists – in a healthcare system having 6,136 staff strength in different cadres. What a passionate, brilliant and a caring leader!

    The health sector has witnessed improved financing options from the government since 2008. The percentage of state budgets allocated to the health sector has witnessed a sustained increase in budgetary allocation to the health sector from nine percent in 2009, 11 % in 2010, 14% in 2011 to 14% in 2012. This upward trend is due to implementation of Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) and Consolidated Medical Salary structure (CONMESS).

    The only School of Nursing in the state was operating in a local government council secretariat for almost 19 years, but because of Lamido’s prudence, and the value he placed on the health sector, built a new brand one in Birnin-Kudu which is one of the best in the country. Lamido built General and Cottage Hospitals, Primary Health Centres, Dispensaries and Health Posts, Basic Health Centres, Psychiatric Hospital, Tuberculosis and Leprosy etc. He also renovated and expanded the Rasheed Shekoni Specialist Hospital and School of Health Technology Jahun among others. At the time of handing over in May last year, Lamido’s administration left behind a total of 676 functional health facilities (Hospitals) in the state.  And there were provision of high quality free and affordable drugs in all the hospitals (medical buildings) in the state.

    The Haihuwa Lafiya programme introduced in 2008 ensured that there was 5.5 million hospital attendance in 2014, against 1.2 million in 2008; 3.3 million children seen, against 0.5 million in 2008; 35 percent pregnant women delivering in Jigawa hospitals, against only seven percent in 2007. By May last year, the rate of women attending ante-natal rose to the all-time high of 89 percent.

    Apparently, the assertion about the so-called neglect of the health sector started since the advent of the present administration in the state, especially with the retrenchment of all health casual workers in the state, stoppage of allocation to all Jigawa health institution (including free drugs to the masses) and Haifuwa Lafiya scheme, the present plan to reduce the health workers salary and other entitlements (welfare), and also the outbreak of cholera in Hara and Kafijiba villages of Dutse LGA of the state recently. As the record reads, about 40 people, most of them children, are reported to have died as a result of the outbreak of a disease suspected to be cholera. Also, the outbreak was linked to lack of good drinking water because their well in the village which served as the source of drinking water is not functioning now and there was a suspicion whether the disease was a result of contamination of drinking water.

    Today, one cannot write complete history of Primary Health Care under one roof without recourse to newly structured health system in the state which has enviably provided impetus to the general re-structuring of the health system across the nation. In fact, during Sule Lamido administration, several states visited Jigawa to study the health system or some components of the system towards adopting or adapting according to their individual peculiarities. Among the states that visited Jigawa are Bauchi, Enugu, NasarawaYobe, Bayelsa, Zamfara and Kano.

    What Sule Lamido did to Jigawa and humanity in general is a true sign of good leadership and no question about the obvious. The entire populace are convinced that the political gladiators in the state, region if not in the country cannot produce a match to Lamido in terms of political participation, his ideologies, credentials, principles and achievements.

    Jigawa before Lamido was at the peak of political, social and economic degeneration but within a short time, Lamido restored a new social order for the people. Because of the facilities provided by Sule Lamido, the socio-economic landscape of the state has changed for good. Jigawa has not only improved positively, it that can compete with many states in the country most especially in the health sector. Governor Badaru is advised to take counsel from former U.S President, Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) who said –  “Do your duty, and history will do you justice”.

    • Adamu wrote in from Kafin-Hausa, Jigawa State

  • NDIC and good governance

    In Business Insider of India, Amy Cuddy, a professor at Harvard Business School published a report based on first impressions. In the study she conducted over 15 years with two colleagues, she discovered patterns in interpersonal interactions. Also in her new book Presence, published last December, Cuddy says people quickly answer two questions when they first meet you: Can I trust this person? Can I respect this person? Psychologists refer to these dimensions as warmth and competence, and ideally we all want to be perceived as having both.

    Interestingly, Cuddy observed that most people, especially in a professional context, believe that competence is the more important factor because they want to prove that they are talented enough to handle your business. But, in fact, she says, warmth or trustworthiness is the most important factor in how people evaluate you. Cuddy gives her reason: “it is more crucial to our survival to know whether a person deserves our trust.” For example, she says, it makes sense when you consider that in cavemen days it was more important to figure out if your fellow man was going to murder you and steal all your possessions than if he was competent enough to build a good fire.

    Apply this to corporate organizations and it matches perfectly. When stakeholders deal with corporate organizations, they are looking for answers to those two questions about trust and competence. And in the corporate world, this realization —that corporations need to comply with set of codes and framework that will guarantee trustworthiness and competence — came in the hard way. It came in the wake of the collapse of corporations like Enron and WorldCom in the early 2000s and the global financial meltdown of the 2008, which were all attributed to enforceable frameworks that guide how corporations are governed. And since then measures in the form of codes have been issued to corporations by the regulators all in an efforts to address the quest for trust and competence in the way corporate organizations are governed. Those measures are today enshrined in the mantra called good Corporate Governance not only in Nigeria but across the world.

    So what is corporate governance? It is variously defined as both the processes and structures by which the business and affairs of an organization are directed and managed in order to improve long-term shareholder values by enhancing corporate performance and accountability, while taking into account the interests of other stakeholders.

    Good corporate governance seeks to address several issues all dealing with the governance of an organization from the responsibilities of its board to its composition and from the board’s structure to issues to do with risk management, financial disclosure and audit committees, etc.

    In Nigeria, the foremost formal corporate governance code could be traced to the Code of Corporate Governance for Banks and Other Financial Institutions in Nigeria which was issued by the Bankers’ Committee in August 2003. This code was the outcome of the work of the Bankers’ Committee’s Sub-Committee on Corporate Governance. It was initiated in response to the financial crises in Nigeria in the early 1990s and in the realization that poor corporate governance was one of the major factors in virtually all known instances of financial sector distress in the country.

    But because it was not issued by a regulator – having been issued by a voluntary association of the chief executives of the banks in Nigeria, otherwise known as Bankers’ Committee – not much is known about the code. However, today there a number of regulatory bodies issuing corporate governance codes to organizations in the sphere of influence. They include: Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Security Exchange Commission (SEC) and Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC).

    It is the mandate of these regulatory bodies not only to issue the codes but to ensure compliance. In line with this oversight function, we saw how recently Fiscal Responsibility Commission had cause to commend the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC) for its compliance with good corporate governance.

    Following the submission of its 2014 External Audit report of its financial statements and annual report to the Fiscal Responsibility Commission (FRC), the commission reviewed the report and gave the Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC)  high commendation for prompt remittance of sum due to the Consolidated Revenue Account of the Federation in line with the provision of the extant law applicable in Section 21 – 23 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007 especially the submission of Audited Financial Statements and payment of 80% of its operating surplus to the Federal Government.

    Remarkably also, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) had examined the NDIC’s 2014 Annual submission of Audited Financial Statements and Report where it was declared that the Corporation was managed in line with sound corporate governance with its complete and well above average compliance with the sections of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA) 2007. It further commended the corporation for compliance with all applicable guidelines on the establishment of a General Reserve Fund (GRF) wherein 20% of its operating surplus is retained in accordance with the provisions of section 21(1) of FRA 2007.

    Part of the commendation read as follows: “It is quite commendable that NDIC is one of the few corporations that have fully adopted IFRS which has greatly improved financial reporting of the activities of the agency.”

    It went further to reiterate that “The accounts were generally of high standard and depict compliance with the international best practice. The corporation’s record keeping is commendable while the integrity of its Financial Reporting is enhanced with the adoption of   International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS)”.

    The report also declared that the NDIC has also been consistent with the payment of 25% of Gross Revenue to Consolidated Revenue Account of the Federation in line with the Federal Minister of Finance circular to all affected agency of Federal Government. The FRC report noted with satisfaction that the contribution of the NDIC has undoubtedly increased the revenue base of the Federal Government. The FRC report also enjoined the management to continue to consolidate on its laudable achievements in compliance with section 23(3) of FRA 2007 and in pursuit of high standard in terms of financial discipline, governance.

    Such exemplary compliance with good corporate governance by bodies like NDIC that also regulate deposit-taking banks will go a long way in assuring its stakeholders that corporation is both trustworthy and respectful or, to borrow Cuddy’s terms, it is evidence of both warmth and competence. Every stakeholder will feel safe dealing with NDIC.

    Needless to say that the banking business, which NDIC regulates to large extent, is based on trust and public confidence and, as such, it is important to enthrone good corporate governance practices in the industry; for, as the saying goes, charity always begins at home.

    Thus, effective corporate governance practices are essential in achieving and maintaining public trust and confidence in the banking sector. This is even more so because of its role in the mobilization of funds, the advancing of credits to the various sectors of the economy, the payment and settlement system, and the implementation of monetary and insurance policies.

    Ensuring compliance with corporate governance is the surest way to winning the war on corruption, which the federal government has embarked upon, as a matter of national priority, to attract foreign direct investment. If we are to meet the challenge of diversification of our foreign exchange earning sources, there couldn’t be a more urgent imperative.

    • Hassan is a business and financial analyst based in Abuja.

  • Buhari in Ogun: A citizen’s reportage

    Shortly before sunset on Monday, February 1, President Muhammadu Buhari flew into Lagos on his way to nearby Ogun State for a two-day visit. He was received at the creaky Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja by a good slice of the crème of his governing All Progressives Congress (APC): Bola Tinubu (APC’s National Leader), Bisi Akande, former National Chairman of the party, Lai Muhammed, Information and Culture Minister, Ogun Governor, Ibikunle Amosun and Lagos State Deputy Governor, Oluranti Adebule, among others.

    The pick of the pictures  that captured the event in the newspapers the following day was that of a small crowd of smiling politicians all revealing their sartorial  and facial trademarks: Akande’s  ear-to-ear grin, Amosun’s skyward cap, Tinubu’s Awo-like spectacles, Adebule’s hesitant smile, Lai’s crescent-packed cap and finally Buhari’s ascetic gait.

    At 6:15pm, a chopper dropped Buhari at Dipo Dina International Stadium, Ijebu Ode. Thereafter, he moved to the palace of the Awujale of Ijebu land, Oba Sikiru Adetona. He held a 20-minute meeting with the monarch. They shut out journalists who trailed them to the palace. But the reporters wrote back to their editors that they gathered from traditionally reliable sources whose names they withheld that Amosun was part of the talks and that the Awujale pleaded with Buhari to facilitate the creation of Ijebu State.

    Deep into the night, the visiting leader was hosted to a banquet where he tersely addressed eminent personalities and monarchs of Ijebuland. As courtesy demanded, Buhari apologized for his late arrival citing crucial meetings with diplomats in Abuja. Indeed the newspaper the same day ran a photograph that showed the President introducing members of his cabinet to the Prime Minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Buhari was robed in the same agbada and buba that brought him to Lagos and Ogun.

    Buhari found a strong ally in his relentless war on corruption when the Awujale told the Nigerian leader at the banquet: “If we don’t face corruption, corruption will kill us. And we don’t want corruption to kill us. So, Nigerians must support your efforts.”

    Leaving Ijebu Ode, Buhari headed for Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital by road in company with Amosun. The accountant -turned governor had invited the President to be part of celebrations marking the 40th Anniversary of the creation of Ogun State. Amosun saddled him with enacting a dramatic symbolism: the Nigerian leader would commission 40 projects executed by Amosun’s administration to reflect the 40 years of the existence of Ogun State.

    The nocturnal road trip was revealing: Buhari saw flood-lit six-lane roads, several flyovers, modern housing estates, farm projects, fully kitted hospitals among several other landmark features representing the new face of Ogun State in the era of Amosun.

    On Day Two of the President’s visit, the state government asked its citizens to stay away from work and schools as a mark of honour to the visiting leader. After inaugurating several projects, the President was the chief guest at a state luncheon in Abeokuta.

    It was a moment of nostalgic outbursts when the muse of reminiscences took over. After hailing Amosun for giving Abeokuta and several parts of the state a palpable facelift, Buhari said: “If you drop me in any part of Abeokuta and ask me to find out where the barracks is, I assure you I will get missing. I will not be able to locate Lisabi Club, where we used to drink Fanta while those who (did) other things also (did). And we listened to music. I am firstly pleased with your (Amosun’s) success and I envy you, because whatever I think I know about Abeokuta I have lost.”

    Ageless ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo was among those who spoke. He did not drop a bomb. He reacted to the Awujale’s agitation for Ijebu State. Obasanjo said he would support the campaign for Ijebu State “only and only if” its capital would be Ikenne, home of the revered Chief Obafemi Awolowo. Buhari was the Military Governor of Borno in the country’s North-east in 1976 when Ogun was created. Observers say Buhari can talk of a ring of déjà vu to this renewed clamour for the birth of a new state. No such creation has been done under a civilian dispensation since the end of the Nigerian Civil War in 1970. But a Mid-west Region was midwifed by the Tafawa Balewa government in the 60s. It descended from the big womb of the sprawling Western Nigeria.

    Will Buhari seek to break the jinx the same way he made a mess of the myth that in Nigeria the opposition at the centre wouldn’t be displaced by the ballot? Only the bullet could. Buhari opened no chink to let the state creation lovers know where he belongs.

    Meanwhile some explosive politics played out during the President’s visit. Back to Day One. Amosun held a parley at the Executive Chambers of the Governor’s Office. It was to gather the living ex-rulers of Ogun. Shouldn’t they come under one roof to bask in the giant strides of Ogun, the baby they nurtured these past four decades? Shouldn’t the living also honour the souls of those who once governed the state, including the journalist-governor, Bisi Onabanjo (Aiyekoto) who was the state’s first civilian governor in 1979? Two prominent sons of Ogun State, former governors Olusegun Osoba and Gbenga Daniel shunned the meeting hosted by the incumbent Chief Executive. But they were at the palace of the Awujale to pay homage to President Buhari. According to watchers, politics of temperance receded at the Abeokuta gathering of former governors of the state.

    The citizens are asking: what message was passed across to this visiting apostle of change by the disappearing act of the ex-governors? Did he notice what transpired? If he did, this reporter missed his reaction.

    • Ojewale is a journalist at Ota,

    Ogun State