The Nation Newspaper

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  • Adefuye: Adieu – My teacher, my friend

    Teachers play a crucial role in society. The noble occupation is undertaken by volunteer spirits for whom personal gain is not the cardinal consideration for enlisting in the corps of those on whose shoulders the task of building future generations rests. Teachers mould destinies. They identify and nurture leaders. They build nations. I was privileged to have had Prof. Adebowale Ibidapo Adefuye (January 1947 – August 2015) as my teacher and I like many others acknowledge the positive turn of my life and career to God through (to a large extent) the efforts of great teachers like Prof. Adefuye, who was my lecturer in the Department of History, University of Lagos when I was an undergraduate in the early 1980s. Professor Adefuye was a towering presence in the faculty from the time of his arrival as a fresh PhD in 1974 to his exit in 1986 when he became Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Jamaica. Alongside many of my teachers – Professors Antony Asiwaju, TGO Gbadamosi, Jide Osuntokun, BA Agiri, Nina Mba, Jeremy White and many others, Professor Adefuye prepared us well for our future.

    Though he arguably became much more celebrated and famous when he transitioned to becoming a diplomat due to the opportunity the diplomatic service offers practitioners of his pedigree to be celebrated and to engage global leaders and royalty in the hallowed courts of the worlds’ capital cities, I pride myself in being one of those to have encountered him early in the modest classrooms of UNILAG’s Faculty of Arts. His Diplomatic History class remains indelible. Without a single sheet of paper, he would deliver two hours of lecture extempore on topics as wide-ranging as the Age of Enlightenment in Europe to the role of Nigeria and the United States in the Anti-Apartheid struggle in Southern Africa.

    Since I graduated from the university and the trajectory of our lives took us in different directions, time and space did not permit us to see each other and be in touch frequently; fate would however have us meet at crucial epochs – key milestones in his life and in mine so far, when our relationship was refreshed and when we had time to catch up and celebrate the values we both held dear. I fondly remember one of such occasions – in fact the first time after the UNILAG years, when we had cause to meet on opposing ends of the barricades. It was in the year 1992 during the military regime of General Babangida when those of us in the pro-democracy movement in the United Kingdom decided to add more verve to our agitations by adopting the picketing of the Nigerian High Commission in London as one of our strategies.

    The pickets gained traction over time and became a source of embarrassment to senior diplomats at the Nigerian High Commission – Prof. Adefuye was at the time the Deputy High Commissioner of Nigeria to the Court of St. James, after his stint in Jamaica as High Commissioner. On one of such pickets, Prof. Adefuye ventured out of his office and on seeing me at the forefront of the protests pointed at me saying, “I know you, I know that one, he was my student”. I wasn’t surprised he could recognize me as I was one of his favourite students. I however shrugged off the confrontation ensuring the irreverent name calling and singing that characterized those civic actions of that era increased in tempo to drown out his voice. That was a defining moment in our relationship and sign-posted some of the ideological differences we had in the means and tactics who chose to achieve our common ends. I was to later send him a letter confirming I was the one he had confronted. I stated in that letter that “…even if we don’t agree on tactics, we all hold one thing to be the truth”, as I made my argument to him that the continued stay of men of his reputation and goodwill in the regime of General Babangida was offering the regime the legitimacy it did not deserve.

    Long after that rather unsavoury episode when I was caught up in the cross hairs of my former teacher, we had the opportunity to smoothen out the relationship as our paths crossed more often at international gatherings when he served as Special Adviser on Africa to the Commonwealth Secretary General and later Deputy Director, Political Affairs at the headquarters in London and then during his brief stint at the ECOWAS Secretariat in Abuja. We stayed in touch through the years with him taking every opportunity to inform his associates with genuine fondness and pride that I was his student. At his last station as Ambassador of Nigeria to the United States, during which I became Governor of Ekiti State, he ensured he carried me along in almost everything he did, particularly his efforts to attract foreign investments to Nigeria. He pragmatically collaborated with stakeholders in the business community and other interest groups to organize a number of conferences to this end, some of which the Government of Ekiti State participated in. It is to his credit that one of the most successful initiatives we recorded in the agriculture sector in Ekiti State was brokered at the summit organized by the Nigerian Embassy in the US in 2011.

    It is to his credit that the relationship between Nigeria and the United States of America did not break down totally during one of the most tumultuous periods of diplomatic engagement which saw tensions between both nations simmering under the surface largely due to differing positions on the approach to tackling the insecurity challenges in Nigeria. He will be remembered for fearlessly articulating the positions of the administration he served most loyally in the finest diplomatic traditions of tact, clarity and firmness. His intellectual jousting with former US Ambassador to Nigeria and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, John Campbell was remarkable in this respect.  He never skipped a beat even after the change of government in Nigeria in May 2015.  Prior to the inauguration of the new President, he was already reaching out to the State Department and the White House and to those he knew on the President-elect’s team on a range of issues including the possibility of a visit to President Obama by the incoming President. The credit for President Buhari’s visit to the US in July was largely due to his efforts. He was unrelenting in strengthening those links and his sterling relationships with institutions like the Constituency for Africa, US Chamber of Commerce, and the various think-tanks in Washington DC contributed significantly to his success in office. He was arguably Nigeria’s most effective Ambassador to the United States in the last two decades.

    During his last visit to Nigeria in early August in preparation for his return home and as part of his post-Presidential visit review and follow-up, he dropped in to see me and we got talking about next steps.  He loved his job dearly and wouldn’t have disapproved of an extension to his stay in the United States but he understood the basis of the President’s action. We discussed the possibility of his memoirs and I suggested he should target his 70th birthday in January 2017 as the time to unveil the memoirs. He had been involved in so many events in the last three decades in active international diplomacy and his memoirs would have enriched so many in international diplomacy. He said he was thinking of spending some time at NIPSS in Kuru, Jos and was equally eager to complete his house in Abuja. Even then, I could sense a hint of uncertainty and apprehension about his impending return home.  Alas, all of these were not to be when I received the shocking midnight call that my ‘Oga’ had gone to the great beyond.

    I will forever hold fond memories of his brilliance, his warmth and his generosity of spirit. His wife, Aunty Sola, was always a gracious host during my many visits to their residence in America. I am indeed privileged to have been touched by the intellect, wisdom, humility, graciousness and faith of such a great Nigerian. I join all men and women of goodwill to salute one of my most cherished teachers and mentors – a man of deep humility, great conviction and profound sense of patriotic purpose. And I pray that God gives his wife, children and the rest of his family the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.

    May the memory of Professor Adebowale Ibidapo ADEFUYE be always blessed.

     

    • Dr. Fayemi is the immediate past Governor of Ekiti State.

  • Comments

    ‘Re-one hundred days later. Whoever cares to know will in the last 100 days, know that President Buhari meant ‘business’ and does not mind whose ox is being gored! Apart from the appointment lopsidedness against three geo-political zones, he is in the right direction. May Allah help him through, amen. He should make the following, his focus; security, power, health, economic diversification, unity of Nigerians and rule of law. From Lanre Oseni’

    For Olatunji Dare

     

    Sir, in one hundred days, President Buhari has demonstrated that his administration will be characterised by high ethical standards, and an unflagging commitment to adding value and enhancing excellence with a view to promoting development. the inability of the past administration led by former president Dr. Jonathan to, efficiently manage the country through qualitative decision making is accountable for president Buhari’s careful approach. We should understand that anything hurriedly done is never done well. From Adegoke o o, Ibadan, Oyo State.

    Re: One hundred days later. Note that it took the PDP leadership 16 years to wreck the Project Nigeria; and like Prof. Dare recalled,”The truth is that Jonathan inflicted grave damage on every aspect of Nigerian life,” that is, to the foundation.”If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?”(Psa.11:3). However, just 100 days under the new era of President Buhari and APC; the opaque NNPC has been penetrated and truly in-corporate,  petrol stations are seeking customers, electricity supply is improving, civil servants are waking up to earn their wages.The erstwhile clueless situations are receiving appropriate response.The once comfortable treasury looters are now convulsing. Even Jonathan who did not give “a damn” for the past six years has woken up with a new spokeman-Dr. Suleiman who co-ordinated his failure at National Planning, to now give a damn. Surely, Buhari has moved mountains within 100 days . What a promising start. From Elder L .O . David, Efon Alaaye, Ekiti State.

    You have spoken well on President Buhari’s 100 days. One thing I want to put as a reminder here that the president should go back to his drawing board i.e. his manifesto or campaign promises which will serve as guidelines in running his administration. From Osaro

    If that was an examination, I would have issued out A’ because you’ve hit the hammer on the nail. Keep it up. From Uga Paul, Gboko Benue State

    Your write-up on the 100 days in office of the man popularly known as Baba is holistically drawn. It is objective and advisory. A nice piece. From Amanda Paul, Makurdi

    Good day sir, thank you for your comments on 100 days of PMB; you depicted the picture as it is, Baba and his emerging cabinet will deliver and set example for good governance. From Kabir Nasiru Daura.

    Re-one hundred days later. Whoever cares to know will in the last 100 days, know that President Buhari meant ‘business’ and does not mind whose ox is being gored! apart from the appointment lopsidedness against three geo-political zones, he is in the right direction. May Allah help him through, amen. He should make the following, his focus; security, power, health, economic diversification, unity of Nigerians and rule of law. From Lanre Oseni.

    Great piece indeed! Within his first 100 days in office, Buhari has laid a solid foundation upon which the Nigeria of our dream will be built. I don’t know how anyone who has been following the trend of events these past days could miss or diminish the import and essence of such an achievement. For me, so far, so re-assuring. From Julia, Uyo

    One hundred days later in The Nation Tuesday of September 8. You have dwelled more on the past than present. And with this trend, no nation can sustain development when more than half of its energy is dedicated to its past. You will do better by placing emphasis on the activities of the current administration. Anonymous 

    Much as we know that Buhari, with the cooperation of Nigerians, was going to make a great difference, I still think it is too early to make a clear distinction between his government and the Jonathan’s administration. Nigerians as you rightly observed, judge government performance mainly on the basis of the tangibles – provision of good roads, hospitals, electricity, water, and above all, job creation which will put food on the table of Nigerians. These are among the basic needs of the people for which he has truly done little or nothing so far. While it’s still proper he hastens slowly to avoid mistakes, I think a little speed will be of a great advantage. A brilliant but over-cautious student who could have finished his exam in time and come out in flying colors may end up failing the same examination at the end of the day, for lack of the speed needed to cover the required ground within the time allotted for it. That’s my fear for Buhari. From Emmanuel Egwu,

     

    For Segun Gbadegesin

    Re-the day the world changed. Whether al-Qaeda, al-Shabab, Boko-Haram or/and isis; they must be quashed and crushed as if any of them is a World war. Lackaidasical attitude and words of mouth by usa, Russia, Britain and France would not end these insurgence and therefore would look like a deliberate act by world powers to perish the less developed africa and asian countries. world powers should realise that their survival alonen cannot make them enjoy their wealth.  From Lanre Oseni.

    Your write-up in the Nation of today was excellent. Anonymous

    Sir, while it is laudable the effusiveness of the German government to accommodate refugees making their foray into the heartland of Europe, a cheaper course remains ending the bitter wars in Syria and elsewhere. The same world powers’ commitment would do the magic, I believe. Anonymous

    I have an idea on how to revolutionise Science education in Nigeria. I’m an educationist. At the moment I am trying to build the first science laboratory in a public primary school in Apapa given the fact that pragmatic practical science does not exist in public schools. From Opawoye Seye, Randle Road, Apapa

     

     

     

     

  • PDP, Ndoma-Egba and APC

    It is interesting that Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba’s purported plan to decamp to APC has generated enough discourse lately. Little wonder quasi and pseudo political pundits have trivialized the issue which received immense and enormous applause amongst Cross Riverians as Senator Ndoma-Egba was not the only that was one shut out of PDP. His followers were also not spared. The winners in the cancelled ward congress which saw Ndoma-Egba’s faction emerging victorious, House of Assembly, House of Representatives, Senate and Governorship aspirants loyal to Ndoma-Egba with their supporters were also shut out of PDP and they have long decamped to APC. He is merely joining them to provide leadership as his character, integrity and political reach at the centre is needed in Cross River APC.

    As a follower of the events that preceded the 2015 General Elections, ward congresses were conducted in 2014 and Senator Ndoma-Egba’s line-up emerged victorious while the then Governor’s line-up lost. Same scenario played out in Enugu State between Senator Ike Ekweremadu and then Enugu State Governor Sullivan Chime. A political settlement was brokered at the instance of PDP where Ekweremadu retained his Senate seat and the governor took the rest. Why wasn’t same done in the case of Cross River? Why did PDP order total cancellation of the result of the ward congress conducted by a committee sent by PDP chaired by a man of impeccable character Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun? Why was Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba, SAN then Senate Leader singled out for maltreatment? Questions without answer.

    Ndoma-Egba’s exit from PDP is not just because he was shut out and denied ticket; it is because he cannot retire from politics now and in Nigeria one needs a political party as a platform to play politics. It is true he was a Senator under PDP for 12 years, but when your employer of 12 years decides to prematurely terminate your employment without any justification, you shouldn’t continue to hang around them. You should move on and moving means getting engaged by another employer. Senator Ndoma-Egba is merely yielding to our yearning as we the constituents can’t stand him being retired from politics as he is below 60 years of age and his services are still needed.

    And I still wonder the reason for the fuse over Ndoma-Egba’s decampment. Two of PDP’s former national chairmen are now in APC. Why did they leave? The highest ticket a party can give to anyone is that of the President. Olusegun Obasanjo a former President tore his PDP membership card and decamped to APC. Atiku Abubakar as a former Vice President also decamped even while in office . All these boil down to the party’s inability to handle its affairs.

    It is now established that PDP loathes and despises what APC desires and hunts for and that is political intellectuals. PDP governors and former governors either by design or divine succeeded in pushing away the resource of the party which is the intellectuals as they are afraid of challenge. They instead prefer yes-men. In a way, this attribute accounted for APC’s victory in the last general elections as all those shut out of PDP like Senator Ndoma-Egba switched parties and emerged victorious afterwards.

    In Kebbi State, Senator Atiku Bagudu was a PDP Senator. He was denied PDP’s governorship ticket. APC offered him its platform and today he is the governor of the state. Same scenario played out in Benue, Niger, Bauchi, Jigawa and Plateau states. Senator Barnabas Gemade, a former National Chairman of PDP was edged out of the party by the former Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam and PDP was silent; he moved over to APC and won the election afterwards. Ndoma-Egba was principled enough not to have taken the mandate of PDP to another party as that was what played out then. He instead chose to remain in PDP to exhaust their mandate to the displeasure of many of us who pleaded with him to decamp before the elections.

    I still remember Senator Udoma Udo Udoma, a political intellectual that was retired by the former Akwa Ibom State governor Victor Attah. He is nowhere to be located now in the national and state political map and the state is worse for it. We in Cross River State cannot fold our hands and allow that happen to us. As at now Cross River has no voice at the national level as they have all been cunningly plucked out. We lost our oil wells, we also lost tourism and sports to our sister state and all these happened under one man, Liyel Imoke.

    Until PDP as a party decides to return power back to the people, and not to allow its governors decide who gets what, when and how, it will never get its act right again.\

    ‘It is now established that PDP loathes and despises what APC desires and hunts for and that is political intellectuals. PDP governors and former governors either by design or divine succeeded in pushing away the resource of the party which is the intellectuals as they are afraid of challenge’

     

    • Iwara writes from Calabar

  • Why do the Igbos hate Buhari?

    Forget about the lies and hateful propaganda against the person of President Muhammadu Buhari from some noisy, frustrated, hypocritical and angry persons and groups from southeast Nigeria. They churn out all manner of lies that Buhari “hates the Igbos” and that’s why he has not considered, or does not consider them for appointments into plum positions in his government.

    But is it true that President Buhari hates the Igbos? I have seen statements and lamentations like “Why does Buhari hate Igbos?” coming from groups like the Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo, the Aka Ikenga group and other Igbo socio-cultural groups, and I have often wondered whether that question and lamentation should not be the other way round. I sincerely believe the right question should be, “Why do the Igbos hate Buhari?”

    Don’t get it twisted; I know quite a large number of Igbos that are fanatical supporters and promoters of the Buhari Project, and I have an inner knowing that even if you put a knife on the throats of these people to denounce Buhari, they will proudly refuse to denounce him. Unfortunately, these Igbos that are staunch lovers of Buhari are regarded as outcasts in Igbo land and are therefore treated as scum.

    The first time Buhari took a shot at contesting the presidential election was in 2003, and who did he pick as his running mate? A notable and credible Igbo man called Senator Chuba Wilberforce Okadigbo, a former President of the Nigerian Senate. And where did the Igbo votes go to in that presidential election? The second time Buhari took a shot at contesting a presidential election was in 2007, and, again, who did he pick as his running mate? Another notable Igbo man called Rt. Hon. Edwin Ume-Ezeoke, a former Speaker of the House of Reps. And where did the Igbo votes go to in that presidential election?

    Twice the Igbos rejected him, in spite of picking some of their prominent men as running mates.

    For the next two presidential contests Buhari took part in, he moved towards the Yorubas for a running mate. Once in 2011, the Yorubas rejected him in spite of the man having one of them as running mate, but in 2015, they accepted him. But in all the four presidential contests Buhari participated in, he was massively and resoundingly rejected by the Igbos, which, again, asserts that the right question should be, “Why do the Igbos hate Buhari?”

    [ad id=”403656″]In all fairness, is it not outright mischief and shamelessness to expect plum positions in the government of a man you have perpetually rejected and insulted with all manner of derogatory words? And even while they are making hypocritical noises about appointments, they keep saying that they are proud of the way they voted in 2015, and that if given the chance again they will repeat voting for an absolutely corrupt regime that was resoundingly rejected by Nigerians and the global community, and yet they want to be incorporated into Buhari’s kitchen cabinet? To promote the values they cherished in Jonathan’s sordid regime for which he was overwhelmingly rejected?

    You want to be part of running a government of CHANGE after deriding the CHANGE MOVEMENT right from inception up to election day?

    They want to be military service chiefs in Buhari’s government but yet they don’t want any “Boko Haram” prisoner in any federal prison built in any of their towns? They want power without responsibility or even a shred of shared responsibility? A case of looking for “juicy appointments” without sprucing the fruit trees in the garden, or a case of seeking to enjoy omelettes without the simple hassle of breaking the eggs shells, or a case of seeking to enjoy federal power without being federalist, or a case of being Biafrans while being Nigerians at the same time, right?

    Also, they want to be either Senate President or Deputy Senate President but deliberately hooked themselves to a notoriously corrupt and dying political party and thereby walked themselves out of the Hurricane of Change that blew across the country, and had to rely on subterfuge and alleged forgery to “kidnap” the position of Deputy Senate President, and yet they want more other top positions?

    Does Federal Character mean an Igbo man succeeding an Igbo man as SGF even after an Igbo man spent about five years in that position? Or does Federal Character mean the other 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria should not be appointed into positions which they label as “juicy”? Or don’t they know and understand that they are just one of the 250 ethnic groups in Nigeria?

    Without doubt, the Jonathan regime was an Igbo regime, for the man truly put them in many strategic and “juicy” positions, especially in almost all the nation’s finance institutions. But how has this Igbo domination of the Jonathan regime helped the Igbos or the southeast in general apart from the hefty bank accounts of those Igbos Jonathan “empowered” with those “juicy” appointments? The famous East-West road and the Second Niger Bridge were merely turned into cash cows for the Jonathan gang. So what is the rationale for their loving such a hopelessly corrupt regime that did not even serve any part of the country with services except the deliberate promotion of ethno-religious sentiments, which, in itself, was a ploy to perpetuate that same distasteful regime through national disunity?

    What should serve as a metaphoric description of the contradiction in the “love story” between the Igbos and Jonathan’s government is a heart-rending piece titled ‘The Road to Arochukwu’ written by ace writer and Editor of THIS DAY newspaper, Segun Adeniyi, on the back page of the paper on Thursday, July 23, in which the writer lamented the deliberately neglected Arochukwu road in Abia State. According to him, he and other travellers who had cause to use that road for a condolence trip spent about two hours on a journey of just 34 kilometres, which ordinarily should last for about 15 to 20 minutes. This was because the road was in complete ruins despite being a federal road, and the government of Jonathan that was so loved by the Igbos and had a lot of Igbos nicely tucked in in very “juicy” federal positions, yet they could not deploy their “juicy” positions to influence the fixing of that road and, perhaps, many other such roads in their region!

    In a follow-up piece on the same road by Segun Adeniyi on Thursday, July 30, he exposed how the contract for the reconstruction of the road was awarded in 2012 by the Jonathan regime to a firm called Beks Kimse (Nigeria) Limited owned by Professor Kimse Okoko from Bayelsa State at the cost of a little over 4.7 billion naira. The company was promptly paid around 2.5 billion naira as mobilisation to commence work, and the flag off of the project was done on March 29, 2013 in the presence of the Abia State Governor at that time, Chief T.A. Orji, and the late Senator Uche Chukwumerije, and other prominent politicians and businessmen from the area.

    Well, since the flag off was done, the contractor did just less than one kilometre and abandoned the project after! Since the work was abandoned, no one has ever heard the Ohanaeze Ndi-Igbo or any other noisy Igbo group demand to know why the project was abandoned by the contractor and the Jonathan government. Rather, they were all busy endorsing and promoting the Jonathan 2015 presidential project!

    So, what is the nature of the “mutually beneficial” relationship between the Jonathan regime and the Igbo elite on the one hand, and between the Jonathan regime and the Igbo downtrodden on the other in the light of the fact that the Arochukwu road project seemed to be a cash cow for a Bayelsa contractor and some highly placed Igbo politicians? And, was the alliance of Bayelsa politicians and contractors with their Igbo counterparts just an elaborate financial benefit scheme for their elite class at the expense of the manipulated downtrodden Igbo peasants and small time traders? And was the massive propaganda of lies and hate that emanated from that region against Buhari prior to the presidential elections another elaborate scheme to chain down the downtrodden Igbo in perpetual slavery to the whims and financial benefits of their corrupt elite?

    President Buhari should not allow his administration to be blackmailed and intimidated by angry and frustrated “Federal Character” chanters who never even believed in it nor in its practice in their six years of looting, rape and plunder of the country’s wealth. Buhari should just focus and concentrate in building and empowering our national institutions, and providing good governance irrespective of whoever he uses.

     

  • CBN dollar policy, cement and free trade zones

    The opportunity to be heard is a remarkable difference from what happened few weeks back when we all dressed to our various offices only to be told by our employees that our businesses has been decreed out of existence by the CBN. Not only were the channels of communication wrong, the powers to technically ban those 41 items were highly questionable. Such is the impunity and hostility that has beclouded our business environment and inhibited its growth. Today we live in an economic environment of confusion, policy summersaults and inconsistencies. In most cases, you see yourself standing face to face with, and against the law. We have gotten to a level where our law and the constitution say one thing, and our operators say a different thing.

    The Free Trade Zone is a creation of statute. Its activities are governed by Decree No 63 of 1992. Going by the provisions of this Decree, business enterprises within the zone enjoy some incentives and exemptions.

    Some of these incentives include exemption from all federal, state and Local Government taxes, duties, levies, VAT and foreign exchange regulations. This is clearly written in Section 26A of the decree setting up the free trade zone. By law, the free trade zone and the CBN are institutions of coordinate jurisdiction. Free Trade Zone enterprises are in theory, regarded as a country within a country. The CBN therefore has no legislative authority over the zones. The CBN in realization of this had washed its hands off the fiscal responsibilities of the zones until this recent attempt on the annexation and colonization of the zone. The status confers and imposes certain restrictions as well as obligations on mode, module and medium of exchange. For instance, companies within the zone are incentivised to import foreign currency of any amount and export 100% of same. They are exempted from the buying of forex from the CBN, among others, thereby affirming their quasi autonomy. This suggests that the only avenue open to the operators for the sourcing and procurement of forex was the free funds, or the BDC’s. Depositing and withdrawal of dollar cash was a way of life and has never been under the sledgehammer of the CBN.

    But the dollarization policy which is now being enforced across board and borders has laid comatose the operation of the Free Trade Zone, as the only foreign exchange window open to operators had been shut, padlocked and the key flung into the ocean.

    The immediate dire consequence of this unfortunate, ill-conceived policy is the suffocation of investments within the zone leading to business closure by investors and foreclosures by banks and other lending institutions. The fall out of this would be litigations arising from breach of contracts, mass retrenchment of workers, loss of revenue by government and loss of face in the international community, and of course, the short circuiting of technology transfers – which is a cardinal factor for the setting up of the Free Trade Zone.

    Why would CBN ban 41 items in the guise that they do not have sufficient dollar to fund their imports only to turn around to ban deposit of the same currency in our banks as a result of excess dollar?

    As the CBN continues to reap from where they did not sow with regards to foreign exchange regulations within the Free Trade Zones, one needs to remind them of the ripple effect of their actions. Secondly they need to observe the thin line that separates the various organs of government as contained in the principles of separation of powers.

    When the CBN cannot give long term loan to a young graduate to buy equipment and commence the production of toothpick, why would they stop the same boy from importing N10,000 toothpick from China where the investment climate is not only conducive but predictable? To do otherwise is impunity and starvation.

    To put up an average cement plant of one million to two million metric tonnes one requires a capital outlay of about $300 – $400 million. This used to be an average of N50 billion to N60 billion. To accomplish this, using the current exchange rate, an intending investor needs an average of N80 billion. It does not stop there: The ugly side of it is that as long as this policy remains, no Nigerian can ever invest again in the cement sector. How, you would ask?

    To put up an investment of this magnitude where banks’ lending is on short-term and double digit interest rate is practically impossible in an economy of today. Let us agree that you get a willing bank to help syndicate the financing, you would be required to put down an equity contribution of about 30%. This translates to about N24 billion. The implication is that you require 10 banks to syndicate your equity alone, and another 20 banks to syndicate the remaining 70%. This is impossible. In addition you need to have your market share and popularize your brand before any bank can take this huge risk on you. What is possible is what has been the practice where backward integration policy was designed for new entrants. These new entrants had attracted an investment of over $20 billion tied to various strategic trade partnerships. These investments are threatened by this dollarization policy.

    As a member of the Presidential Committee that produced the 2009 cement policy, our recommendation was that new entrants should be encouraged to embark on backward integration with some government incentives. This was how Lafarge, Dangote, Unicem, Flour Mills etc started. They formed strategic trade partners who signed technical and business agreements towards local investments. This is how the near success story we have today in the sector

    If we have a success story in cement, why are we buying a bag of cement at N2000 in 2015? In Asia, a bag of cement sells for as low as N350 a bag; in Europe it sells at N500 a bag; in neighbouring West African countries a bag of cement sells for between N1200 and N1400 a bag. When the lie of Nigeria being a net exporter of cement was told by several persons, in several quarters, including the former coordinating minister of the economy, some of us who know covered our faces in shame.

    In a recent survey, the World Bank predicted Nigeria’s cement consumption to be 45 million metric tons. Mind you, consumption is different from demand and supply. With a total installed-not production capacity of cement at over 20 million, Nigeria still has a huge demand gap of between 15 – 20 million metric tons.

    The reality of this deceitful situation will soon hit us when government solves the insurgency situation in the North-east and commences rehabilitation works; moves to fill the over 15 million housing deficit, tackles our huge infrastructural decay; and starts the cement – base road construction, by then, existing cement plants would have started growing old, I bet you, Cement may sell as high as N3000 in this country.

    In my honest opinion, government needs to open the cement space for investors of all sizes to come in. Monopoly should be discouraged. A limit should be set as to maximum investment an individual can invest in any sector of the Nigeria economy to create room for others’ participation. This would also ease credit tension and whittle down risk appetite of banks and other lending institutions.

    This what countries like China and India have done. In China, you have over 9000 functional cement plants and over 800 in India. China for instance, manufactures over 2.42 billion tons of cement per annum, representing 58.6% of global production. In reality Nigeria produces a little above 25 million. What the government of these countries did was to liberalize investment in the sector, encourage and incentivise investors.

    What the CBN Governor has done with the recent foreign exchange restriction on cement and 41 items amounts to a ban and criminalization of businesses.

    Governments world-over encourage investments; you don’t decree, you don’t frustrate, you don’t criminalize. A toothpick importer of today may be a Bill Gate or another Dangote of tomorrow.

    Being a paper presented by Ochiagha Ufomba at the Focus Group Discussion on Impact of CBN Foreign Exchange Policy organized by the Lagos Chamber of Commerce at Oriental Hotel Lagos.

  • Why Oyo education needs re-jig

    Undoubtedly, Jeremy Bentham’s (1748 – 1832) utilitarian theory is peradventure the most appropriate for a dispassionate appraisal of new education policy in Oyo State.  The British immortal philosopher postulated that measuring public policy is best anchored on the “greatest happiness principle”.  That is in his “utilitarianism”, public policy should be targeted at the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people in any human collectivity.

    By happiness, he understood a predominance of ‘pleasure’ over ‘pain’.  In essence, each policy has its own pro and cons.  The beauty of any policy is that larger members of the society targeted by the policy should be satisfied by it.  A public policy no matter how robust may not be wholly acceptable to all but large chunk should have heave a sign of relieve with public policy aimed at achieving public good.

    It is within that context that this piece explicates Oyo State’s policy thrust on education.  There are eight major rubrics in the policy as enunciated by the state government.  Out of the eight, two are very contentious by the irreverent critics of Ajimobi administration cum the opposition elements in the state.  They are the introduction of a thousand naira development levy in public secondary schools and outright stoppage of payment of WAEC registration fees.  These two elements appear like a policy shock to the down-trodden more so in a state which is reputed to be the intellectual capital of Nigeria.

    The fundamental question is why the need to re-jig education sector? It is an open secret so to say, that the sector is nothing to write home about.  It takes a courageous and patriotic governor to attempt a general overhaul.  This is what the Senator Ajimobi-led administration seeks to do.  The empirical analysis below suffices to explain why the new policy is imperative.

    It is instructive to note that between 2007 till date, the state government has expended a total sum of N3.2 billion naira on public examinations.  With that, the highest pass rate ever was in 2011 with 20.55%.  In 2007, 52,551 registered for WASCE with entry fee of N3,250.00 per candidate. Government paid a total sum of N170,790,150.00.  Only 3,706 could manage to get five credits and above.  Percentage pass was 7.05%!  Government lost N158,745,650.00.  In 2008, 55,878 candidates registered with entry fee of N3,500.00.  Just 5,608 could get five credits and above with 10.04% pass rate.  Government forfeited N175,945,000 on the failures.  In 2009, the bad trend continued.  Out of 52,484 that registered, the pass rate was 14.11%. In 2010, 52,448 candidates registered and only 7,357 could manage to pass, that is, 14.03% pass rate.  By 2011 when this administration came on board, 60,000 candidates registered, 12,327 passed with five credits and above which translated to 20.55% pass rate which was to be the highest ever!

    With population explosion and desire for education, more candidates registered in 2012, with as many as 67,786, the highest figure since 2007 which is under our purview, but 9,973 only too could pass WASCE at 14.71% pass rate.  In 2013, 55,432 registered with 10,285 securing five credits and above, i.e. 18.55% pass rate.  The story was not really different in 2014 and 2015 with 54,862 and 59,945 respectively registered with WAEC.

    Nevertheless, if between 2007 till date, Oyo State WASCE candidates have not recorded 25% pass rate talk less of 50%, automatically, the sector requires general overhaul.  To do this, the state government took a holistic view of the situation. This is done by targeting students/pupils, parents, teachers and infrastructure.  Long before the 2015 elections, a total of 5,300 teaching and non-teaching staff were recruited to redress the anomaly.  But the sector requires well-thought out  policy beyond mere recruitment of teachers.

    In its quest to reposition and further enhance quality education through concerted efforts of all stakeholders in Oyo State, the administration of Governor Ajimobi in his second term has taken some bold measures.  Few of them include enforcement of 80% attendance for all students to ensure good performance in external and internal examinations.  Students who fail to make 80% attendance may not be eligible for promotion examinations. Still targeting students and pupils, automatic promotions in all public secondary schools have been cancelled forthwith.  Promotion is, henceforth, to be based on merit.  This is to ensuring that quality products are graduated from public schools.  Not only that, extra-mural classes will be re-invigorated for JSS 3 and SS3 students in all public secondary schools to add quality time to the teaching period.

    Nevertheless, the state government, having properly carried along all the stakeholders in education sector most especially Parents Teachers Association (PTA), Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT),  All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPS) and Association of Heads of Primary Schools among others decided to involve the parents effectively in the care of their children and wards.  Hence, a sum of N3,000.00 education levy was agreed upon by all which could be paid per term on a  thousand naira instalment basis, to compliment government efforts vis-à-vis provision of teaching aids and infrastructural facilities. Parents and guardians too are to equally bear the burden of payment of WAEC registration fees.  No doubt, with the involvement of parents, they should be more passionate about what the future of their siblings is in their educational pursuit.

    Back to the students, government also makes it mandatory that they pass mock examinations to be conducted on final year students to ensure that only serious and quality students are presented for final external examinations.  The state government also directed that the use of GSM phones be banned during school hours.  Much as GSM has value for learning, the abuse is prevalent among the students and pupils.

    Perhaps the hallmark of the policy thrust on education is the desire to by the government to partner effectively with the interested stakeholders who may desire either to take over completely the running of their schools, that is, old boys and girls or missionary founded schools including community schools where the community-owner is keenly interested.  It is high time for the government to promote the participation of more investors at the secondary school level so that better products get to the tertiary level.

    In the final analysis, government cannot afford to be complacent in the education sector.  The rot over the years is now telling with debilitating concomitant effect on the sector.  It is pathetic that the rate of failure is ‘criminally’ high.  The negative effect is that more products of private schools get admitted into tertiary institutions.  This is very dangerous for the society.  It may lead to social stratification whereby the children of the poor may not be able to compete with the affluence in a society that needs to pursue egalitarianism on virtually all facets of the society.  At the end of the day, if implemented with the needed zeal, the policy will definitely lead to the greatest happiness of the greatest number of people.

    • Dr. Ojo is the immediate past Special Adviser to Oyo State Government on Political Matters.

  • The Nigeria we seek; the professionals we need

    The recent controversy over the new administration’s appointments so far and the preemptive accusations of ethnic lopsidedness and bias reflect this perennial obsession and anxiety over representation at the expense of actual performance and service delivery. It is unlikely that there would have been this much controversy if government positions were truly perceived in terms of responsibility and service rather than power, privilege and prestige. Our national struggle with graft is inextricably linked to the popular perception of public office as an opportunity for self-enrichment – a place to which we are invited to “come and chop” and to claim our own portions of the national cake on behalf of our ethnic groups.

    Given the clear commitment of the present administration to fighting corruption, it is also clear that a key component of any holistic anti-corruption campaign should be a battle to redeem the hearts and minds of Nigerians. There are changes that will be accomplished through diligent prosecution of official wrongdoing and reforms in the architecture of our institutions – certainly – the culture of official impunity can be dispelled once it becomes clear that for the first time in our recent history, there is a confluence of the political resolve at the highest levels with refined and strengthened institutional capacity to ensure consequences for bad behaviour. The certainty of punishment is one of the strongest disincentives for official misconduct. But ultimately there also has to be a values reorientation of the society at large.

    Today, there are grand possibilities for change. To begin with, we have in the presidency two men who register very favourably in the integrity perception index. They are very worthy and believable vessels of the message of values reorientation. An ethical reorientation today must have among its cardinal pillars a restoration of the idea of professionalism to governance, a rediscovery of the idea of government office as a place of responsibility and service of the common good, not sloth and entitled privilege. We must come to see government as an enterprise deserving only of the most exemplary characters. In short our entire conception of public service must change.

    President Muhammadu Buhari has already long expressed his intention to fill his cabinet with technocrats. We may interpret the term “technocrats” to mean “professionals” who bring experience, expertise and integrity to their respective briefs. He has also signaled his disdain for pork barrel politics and distributing government appointments as mere “jobs for the boys”. When a preference is expressed for technocrats in government as against simply lavishing public office on run-of-the-mill political jobbers, we are casting our vote for a knowledge-based, values-driven and ideas-oriented approach to managing our common aspirations. We can therefore infer that his administration will favour the rise of professionals to the fore of power and responsibility.

    We must however ensure that professionals, who would be privileged to serve in this dispensation and after, understand the need to be equipped with much more than professional competences in dispensing their duties. A dose of humility is required by technocrats and professionals when they contemplate engagement with governance. It is not enough to be professionally qualified for the job; professionals need to purge themselves from the entitlement mentalities which hinder them from adapting to the peculiar environment of public office. In order to succeed, professionals need to learn the social skills and graces that will enable them function effectively in leadership positions in public service without necessarily making the full transition to becoming politicians.

    Over the long term, professionals need a clean break from the prevailing philosophy that characterizes our educational systems – the undue emphasis on certification above thorough education which only serves to produce professionals with character deficits.

    The Case for Meritocracy

    Looking forward to the new Nigeria we seek, only a meritocratic system can deliver excellence. By opting for the low hanging populist fruits of equal opportunity at all costs within the official bureaucracy, we have sacrificed the means by which we can achieve a truly equal society. Worse still, we have encouraged the politicization of the public sector, its perversion as a zone of patronage where politicians can reward cronies and party loyalists with positions and the perception that it is a theatre of sectarian contestation by sectional champions purporting to seek positional advantages for the narrow constituencies and interests they claim to be representing. Indeed, the default assumption at the heart of the way the public service is run is that its purpose is simply “representation” rather than “service.”

    Perhaps, the most tragic implication of the cavalier way in which the public service has been handled is that we are also sending a dangerous signal to the young about the relationship between competence and honesty on one hand and promotion and recognition on the other. Nothing destroys the work ethic like the idea that hard work is futile; nothing subverts public ethics like the idea that honesty does not pay. One of the reasons public service is not esteemed in Nigeria is because it is regarded as a realm in which factors other than merit dictate one’s progress and promotion. A perverse notion of affirmative action and entitlement feeds a sense of unfairness and grievance which ultimately saps morale.

    Consequently, we cannot attract our best and brightest into the public service and so cannot but put forward the most ill-qualified or at best average products to undertake critical national tasks. This has also popularized the association of public service with mediocrity. The mediocre and ill-qualified personalities who rise to leadership positions become faces of the nation and degrade the public service even further. Many of our top public functionaries through their substandard performances have contributed to the poor reputation of the public service. It is said that we perpetuate what we permit and we receive what we reward. Mediocrity thrives because it is permitted and rewarded. Excellence will flourish and proliferate when it is not merely permitted but celebrated, encouraged and rewarded.

    Conclusion

    The task of national rebirth is not for government alone. It is a collective duty that requires the enlisting of every one of us. We must reestablish the foundations of honesty and diligence as the surest way to success. Thus, the role of professionals, not only in government but the larger society cannot be overstated. Too often, we see that official graft and nonperformance is usually aided by accomplices from the larger society, those who have learnt but whose characters have not been developed.

    We must be reminded that in the pristine traditions of education and the intellectual grooming of succeeding generations, certificates from our citadels of learning are awarded to those who are considered worthy in both “Character and learning”. We must start putting round pegs in round holes, and entrench a meritocracy which enlists true professionals in every area of our national life, from the artisans to the public service to the private sector, even to the sanctums of faith. We must discourage the adulation of overnight successes and stop fawning after those whose rise cannot be traced to a process of disciplined tutelage, selfless service and sound character development. We must denounce many of those whose rise to the limelight was aided by corruption and deception – those intelligent rogues who profit from the misery of others. We must restore the dignity in labour.

    We must rekindle the patriotic spirit that favours the common good over personal interest in every area of our national life, so that finally, government working with an energized and empowered citizenry can deliver on its promises of tangible and intangible goods by which the Nigerian people will know without a shadow of doubt that Change has come and a New Nigeria has been born.

    • Excerpts from a paper titled ‘Our New Nigeria: The Role of Professionals in Government’ presented by Dr. J. ’Kayode Fayemi, former Governor of Ekiti State, Nigeria at the maiden public symposium of the Advanced Media and Communications Academy, Ibadan on Wednesday, September 9, 2015

  • Buhari and August 27, 1985 (thirty years after)

    This might allow experimentation with new forms of electoral representation, reintroducing political competition and participation first at the grassroots.

    Phasing in democracy in this way could defuse grievances and pressures and give the government a stronger basis of legitimacy. With the economy in dire straits, there will be no shortage of grievances and pressures in the months to come. Nigeria’s external debt remains in excess of $20 billion, and payment on short-term trade debts is lagging months behind. Oil production remains low and petroleum prices are likely to tumble further, as Babangida himself recently warned the nation. Hence, the prospect is for even less than the 1984 oil income of $10 billion, which is less than half the peak figure of four years ago. Most economists believe that the only way out of the crisis is for Nigeria to reach agreement with the International Monetary Fund for a three-year $2.5 billion loan; negotiations on this have been deadlocked for three years because Nigeria has refused to accept the IMF’s stringent adjustment program. Upon taking office, President Babangida seemed determined to come to an agreement quickly but then threw the question open to public debate, and the consequent intense opposition has clearly reduced his freedom of manoeuvre.

    Reaching agreement on an IMF loan would unlock perhaps another $2.5 billion in loans and credits from other sources; it would also enable Nigeria to resume imports necessary to regenerate industrial production and employment. But critics denounce the hardships that would follow the required currency devaluation and subsidy cuts. They also dismiss the utility of another huge infusion of cash, which, they maintain, the country is no better equipped to manage than the massive infusions of the oil boom. As President Babangida recognized in his recent independence- day address, “with or without the IMF loan facility,” all Nigerians “must make hard choices involving great difficulties and requiring sacrifices from everyone in every sector, including the Armed Forces.” With or without the loan, the prospect is for a prolonged period of economic austerity, in which consumption has to be limited severely and productivity sharply increased. Knowing this, the Babangida government may well determine that the urgent need for government to be responsive to the popular will, in particular the opposition to the loan, outweighs the urgent need for new foreign exchange and restructuring of debt. The Reagan Administration’s new policy emphasis on economic growth as the best relief for debt crises in the Third World may eventually benefit Nigeria.

    Further, since the Babangida government has struck a surprisingly cordial stance toward the United States and promised to remove bureaucratic and other obstacles to foreign investment, the time might be propitious for the United States to take the lead in helping Nigeria to restructure its international obligations. Ultimately, however, the success of the new government is likely to depend on whether it can build a national consensus around a coherent economic strategy, distribute the sacrifices fairly, and put a stop to the disastrous leakage of the country’s resources through corruption and mismanagement. This will be difficult to do without some institutional means for ensuring open and accountable government. In this sense, 20 months of repression may have taught the valuable lesson that the choice between democracy and economic recovery is a false one.

    We should also flash back to Major-General MuhammaduBuhari’s maiden address:

    In pursuance of the primary objective of saving our great nation from total collapse, I, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari of the Nigerian army have, after due consultation amongst the services of the armed forces, been formally invested with the authority of the Head of the Federal Military Government and the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It is with humility and a deep sense of responsibility that I accept this challenge and call to national duty.

    As you must have heard in the previous announcement, the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1979) has been suspended, except those sections of it which are exempted in the constitution.The change became necessary in order to put an end to the serious economic predicament and the crisis of confidence now afflicting our nation. Consequently, the Nigerian armed forces have constituted themselves into a Federal Military Government comprising of a Supreme Military Council, a National Council of States, a Federal Executive Council at the centre and State Executive Councils to be presided over by military governors in each of the states of the federation. Members of these councils will be announced soon.The last Federal Military Government drew up a programme with the aim of handing over political power to the civilians in 1979. This programme as you all know, was implemented to the letter. The 1979 constitution was promulgated. However, little did the military realise that the political leadership of the second republic will circumvent most of the checks and balances in the constitution and bring the present state of general insecurity. The premium on political power became so exceedingly high that political contestants regarded victory at elections as a matter of life and death struggle and were determined to capture or retain power by all means.

    It is true that there is a worldwide economic recession. However, in the case of Nigeria, its impact was aggravated by mismanagement. We believe the appropriate government agencies have good advice but the leadership disregarded their advice. The situation could have been avoided if the legislators were alive to their constitutional responsibilities; Instead, the legislators were preoccupied with determining their salary scales, fringe benefit and unnecessary foreign travels, et al, which took no account of the state of the economy and the welfare of the people they represented. As a result of our inability to cultivate financial discipline and prudent management of the economy, we have come to depend largely on internal and external borrowing to execute government projects with attendant domestic pressure and soaring external debts, thus aggravating the propensity of the outgoing civilian administration to mismanage our financial resources. Nigeria was already condemned perpetually with the twin problem of heavy budget deficits and weak balance of payments position, with the prospect of building a virile and viable economy.

    The last general election was anything but free and fair. The only political parties that could complain of election rigging are those parties that lacked the resources to rig. There is ample evidence that rigging and thugery were relative to the resources available to the parties. This conclusively proved to us that the parties have not developed confidence in the presidential system of government on which the nation invested so much material and human resources.While corruption and indiscipline have been associated with our state of under-development, these two evils in our body politic have attained unprecedented height in the past few years. The corrupt, inept and insensitive leadership in the last four years has been the source of immorality and impropriety in our society. Since what happens in any society is largely a reflection of the leadership of that society, we deplore corruption in all its facets. This government will not tolerate kick-backs, inflation of contracts and over-invoicing of imports etc. Nor will it condone forgery, fraud, embezzlement, misuse and abuse of office and illegal dealings in foreign exchange and smuggling.

  • Diversification: Lessons from Uduaghan’s legacy

    For some time now, anytime anyone, particularly policy makers or major opinion leaders in the society, harp on the need for the diversification of the nation’s economy, to make Nigeria a better place for all,  one name that readily comes to my mind is that of the immediate past governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel  Eweta Uduaghan.  The reason is not far-fetched – at the end of his eight years in office, the medical doctor-turned-politician carried out what, for a long time, has remained an impossible task, only mouthed by many political office holders.  He succeeded in extricating Delta State from over-dependence on oil.

    The significance of Uduaghan’s achievement was again, as it is often done, brought to the fore last week by President Muhammadu Buhari and the new President of African Development Bank, AfDB, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina.  Speaking while in audience with the new Ambassador of Saudi Arabia to Nigeria, Fahad Sefyan, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Buhari promised his administration’s urgent diversification of the country’s economy and development of the non-oil sectors.   In a similar vein, Adesina, at his inauguration as the financial institution boss described diversification as the key to a greater Africa.

    Had the different leaders of the country carried out their promise to diversify the economy which, as far as Nigeria is concerned, translates to reduced dependence on oil as the mainstay of the economy, the endless crave and promise to carry such out year in year out would not have been necessary at all.

    Without any attempt at making a god out of Uduaghan, there are so many lessons to learn from his administration, having succeeded where many had failed woefully in the area of developing other areas of the economy, apart from oil, for the betterment of the state and its people.

    For example, while the governments of the different states of the federation and even the federal government continued to mouth their commitment to developing other sectors to no avail, Uduaghan was successful with his project which has become a reference point for all and sundry – “Delta Beyond Oil”.

    From the level of idea conception, to execution, the glaring qualities that came to the fore are deep thinking, careful planning, total commitment and doggedness.  For instance, with due recognition of the fact that no business enterprise can survive in a turbulent environment, Uduaghan sought the much elusive peace in his state at the time he resumed office.  In an extremely volatile area with people of the different groups that make up the state killing themselves, the former governor brought in the needed peace and everyone could sleep with two eyes truthfully closed.

    Having achieved that, development work began in earnest, with him giving assurance that “No hard-working Deltan will go to bed hungry”.

    Displaying good understanding of the devastating effect of impoverishment that the long years of internal strife, bad governance, oil spill and other problems had on the people of the state, Uduaghan  saw the need to create the financial wherewithal for the “hard-working” people of the state.

    The people were obviously ready to be enriched through a systematic way in the form of Delta State Micro Credit Programme (DMCP).  Through the programme, small and cottage industries gained a new lease of life and the erstwhile poor people achieved a more decent standard of living.

    Before Uduaghan left office, no fewer than 111, 321 person – male and female – who made up about 10,439 groups of entrepreneurs benefitted from the programme.  The businesses of the people boomed and their products assumed international standards.  From dependence on oil, many veered into fish farming, agriculture and manufacturing of products which include insecticides, soap and many others.

    An account of a previously unemployed graduate, Daniel Uwandulu, a beneficiary of the scheme who had suffered to no end best stresses the happiness that trailed the scheme.

    “Suddenly a new dawn came and a lover of the masses was enthroned as the governor of my state.  He introduced soft loans for the less-privileged like me and my one-time hopeless life received unexpected hope that will forever remain in my memory,” he said.

    The success of the scheme is also seen in the fact that it won different awards for the state from the Central Bank of Nigeria.  In a letter signed by Dr. Kingsley Chiedu Moghalu, Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, the CBN says the awards were in recognition of the state’s efforts towards developing the Microfinance/SME sub-sector during year 2009 and the programme’s efforts towards developing the Agricultural sub-sector in 2009.

    Also in an award of the Silverbird group’s 2014 Man of the Year, mention was made of his programme that created self-employment opportunities for the people of the state.

    Organisers of the award said:  “His sterling performance in health signposted by the free medical care for children and the elderly as well as the free maternal care for pregnant women, and the micro-credit scheme where over 111,000 Deltans have been empowered to set up their own businesses, were highlighted as part of the programmes for which Nigerians who traditionally voted for the winner elected Uduaghan the winner.”

    The desire and efforts to diversify brought a lot of good things for the state.  For the teeming population of the state who had been shut away as a result of bad roads and lack of bridges to cross the rivers that are in abundance, it was the end of a sad chapter in their lives.  In the build up to creating abundant opportunities for the people, massive road construction was embarked upon and the pains majority went through to bring the farm produce to town ceased.

    A particularly intriguing case is the construction of Sapele-Abigborodo Road which made it possible to drive to Abigborodo, a community situated in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State, for the first time.  Incidentally, Uduaghan belongs to the community, and at the inauguration, he declared:  “For me, it is historical and very encouraging; and I am so sentimental about it, I must tell you that a car has never been to Abigborodo before but with this bridge, that is now a thing of the past.

    “The good thing now is that at least one can drive through this bridge. For the very first time, especially for those of you who have been following me to the village when we have elections, we always go by boat. Now that the bridge has been constructed and we can drive through by road, I am very happy.”

    Let me say simply that with the laudable achievements in Delta State under his administration, it certainly would not be out of place to say that those who are willing to make a success of the bid to diversify the Nigerian economy, including the federal government, should borrow from the Emmanuel Eweta Uduaghan legacy.

     

    • Johnson, a public affairs analyt, wrote in from Asaba, Delta State

  • 100 Days of Buhari: I stand to be corrected

    “What we need to be doing is not just changing who holds power, but changing the way we conceive of power. There is the power we’re all familiar with — power over. But there is another kind of power — power from within.” (Starhawk, 1979)

    Buhari has already won the psychological war on corruption – the fear of repercussion, at least, is palpable. Everybody is now scared of stealing and everyone is talking about the war even when not asked. The Nigerian atmosphere is evidently charged with the new spirit of the times. The battle of the minds was won without firing a shot. The next and the main battle front is not only in government offices, but in all strands of the Nigerian tapestry; in banks, churches, mosques, schools, taxis, fuel stations, market stalls, hospitals, the media, sports, security system and even the internet. The only sector of our national life that seemed to be immune from the corruption plague was the morgue—indeed, apart from a few instances were corpses were kidnapped from the Abuja National Hospital, Nigerians don’t steal corpses- every corpse is accorded the dignity of claim by its owners and some even enjoy the privilege of photo shots and compliments while lying in state. Let’s not derail the discourse here; Buhari has gotten all Nigerians to talk not only about, but publicly against corruption. Nowadays it is fashionable for known corrupticians to buy airtime and talk against corruption on television—to act holy and to dissuade public angst and condemnation. But Buhari knows these persons just like every other Nigerian does. To pretend not to know a thief even when caught until the thief defends himself and proven guilty is one of the funniest lies we`ve been forced to accept. But that is the bullshit about the rule of law. But I’m not against the rule of law—after-all bullshit can also be used to grow flowers. My point is that the particular aspect of the Nigerian rule of law that protect known corrupticians who looted our patrimony is bad bullshit. It is painful to know that these corrupticians are everywhere, and like the shrew, deviously poisonous and constantly spraying their odious stench. One hopes the recently inaugurated Itsay Sagay committee will give the needed teeth and close the loopholes in the Nigerian legal system before these same bad eggs encircle the president. Delay is dangerous.

    Buhari is a disciplinarian and everyone knows he came to clean the Aegean stable. Few days after his swearing in, his brother-in-law was forced to repent, a certain refinery announced its readiness to start production, a certain former minister publicly returned fleet of cars and certain amount of cash and others are running to take refuge in foreign hospital on phantom medical stories., and most recently, a self claimed whistle blower rattled EFCC, the very ombudsman saddled with watching over our commonwealth, of stealing over a trillion naira. The fear of Buhari has grip Nigerians such that the Nigerian police was begging applicants not to pay bribe for the upcoming recruitment. These are the same applicants who were scammed blue during the immigrations and civil defence `Oga-at-the-top` recruitment saga. I think Buhari has successfully mobilized the nation against corruption the war is half won!.

    The first challenge that stared at Buhari`s administration were the renewed severity of terror attacks, long queues at filling stations due to round-tripping and other sleazy deals that surrounded the management of fuel subsidy, and the perennial power outages. Buhari`s responses were swift and surgical; he immediately engaged the stakeholders of the power and the petroleum sector and extracted an understanding that restored normalcy to those critical sectors. Today, no Nigerian can deny noticing improvements in the service deliveries of those sectors. On Boko Haram, Buhari briskly rallied countries of the Lake Chad basin to put a multilateral force to confront the terrorists. After relocating the military command centre to Maiduguri and appointing new service chiefs. The military started recording success. From Borno to Adamawa, territories after territories are being recaptured from the terrorists; the plights of the internally displaced persons are being ameliorated. Apart from several official visits to the IDP camps by Osibanjo and the First Lady, President Buhari ensured the released of the monies earmarked for the welfare of IDPs but kept away by the past administration for reasons yet to be explained. Such intervention was not only enjoyed by the mostly northern IDPs, in the Niger delta, apart from the recent exploits of the Nigerian navy pulling down bunkering sites even the ones behind rivers government house, the story of Ogoniland was the saddest of all. This was a community that produced the wealth that the nation survives with but its land cannot breathe life due to the sludge through years of oil exploration. Again Buhari came to the rescue by making ensuring the clean-up of that forgotten community in the very heart of the Niger delta. He followed it up by appointing a brand new coordinator to articulate the amnesty programme to its true intention. In the south eastern part of the country, Buhari`s attention was immediately drawn to the overly politicised 2nd Niger bridge commission by the Goodluck administration. Initially Buhari`s order for a review of the contract was misunderstood by the those who felt they are about to be deprived of that strategic infrastructure. But the fact remains that the president was not only nosing for probity, but to ensure its completion and never to be abandoned again. To Buhari, ignoring such a project will  amount to abandoning the fabled  `bridge across the Niger`, a dream he fought for even as a soldier.

    Within this period also the Buhari administration has released funds for the sport sector to enhance their preparation for the next Olympics and sundry competitions. The recent mauling of the Angolans in the finals of Afrobasket competition by D`Tigers cannot be unconnected with the Buhari push. The president knows that aside being a tool for providing youth employment, nothing conjures national integration than sports; not even religion. Thus every investment in sport is as strategic as economy and defence.

    On the diplomatic scene, Buhari has been at the top of the game. His trips to the Chatham House and the White House were not show trips, these were deft engagements at its best given the calibre of those two countries in global affairs and the attendant benefits Nigeria stands to reap. His earlier invitation as an observer to the 2015 G20 Summit, the Lake Chad region engagement against terrorism, the recent visitation by the UN Secretary General is a pointer to Nigeria’s blistering arrival at the international stage.

    While I will not encourage praise singing Buhari to start playing god in office, it is unfair to brush aside his efforts especially at this take-off stage. Our knowledge of the aviation comes to mind: ask any pilot, take-offs are always itchy, and they require steady hands and deep concentration and calculations if the plane must manoeuvre the clouds. That is when it is compulsory to wear seat belts. Nigerians must buckle their seat belts and pray for Buhari to dominate this fog of a cloud.

    I sincerely salute those criticising Buhari. He needs more of criticisms if he must remain focused. Criticism is a major ingredient of civil rule, it draws leaders attention to the other opinion, especially to how followers perceive governance. It helps the leaders in formulation of balanced policies. But criticism can also be negative; geared not towards redress but to poison the system and pull down the leader. Recent tirades on Buhari`s appointments is gradually becoming poisonous. Yet again we are relapsing to our different ethnic choirs while still singing the change song. Buhari is not oblivious of the Federal Character principle. But he should make haste to fix his entire team so that his policies, actions and body language can easily be explained to the masses to avoid being constantly misunderstood by the governed. The whole idea of APC machinery acting as government mouthpiece is not politically correct. There should be a line between podium tirades and articulating government policies and actions for public acceptance. Public engagement is different from campaign oratory. The masses too should learn to trust their leaders and first flush their minds of seeing government as the oppressor and always playing the victim, weeping parochial tears instead of standing up for collective good. The `we` versus `them` mentality is what weakens people’s strength to achieve popular goals. Let’s watch Buhari`s next moves. I stand to be corrected.

     

    • Afaha is a public affairs analyst.