The Nation Newspaper

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  • Running away from justice: The case of Justice Oloyede

    Contradictions have become the hallmark of our national engagements almost at every level especially in our public life since the advent of democracy in 1999. They have come in diverse shapes and sizes and in various dimensions ranging from the ridiculous to the absurd and from the completely bizarre to the seriously paradoxical.

    That a Senior Judge Osun  State judiciary Justice Folahanmi Oloyede who had made weighty allegations of financial impropriety against Governor Rauf Aregbesola and demanded that he be impeached is now running away from the responsibilities attached to her demands shows that she not only never had any grounds to have made that call in the first place, but may have also been instigated by other political jobbers who are intent on opposing the transformational efforts of the Governor. However, she has been invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), to substantiate her claim but she also refused to appear.

    It should be noted that the Governor never for one day sought to protest that allegation from the judge but chose to make himself available before the members of the State House of Assembly who summoned him and are the true representatives and conscience of the people of the state. He did not grandstand neither did he muster his political influences which is not insignificant in any way to dissuade the House from acceding to the request of the jurist. He made himself available for questions with candour.

    Paradoxically, the one who has asked for the empanelling of the process to investigate the Governor has refused to come and make her case when summoned to do so by the House of Assembly. If this is not contradictory, I do not know any other thing that is. My thoughts are that it is both morally compelling and statutorily obligatory for the Judge to appear before the House to defend her allegations. That is the way democracies are run since she has been provided the right opportunity to nail the Governor in fulfilment of her crusade.

    What she has done negates the fine principles of law that “he that alleges must prove”. It is unfortunate that she has chosen to abdicate this onerous responsibility especially when the whole nation awaited her testimony.

    Judges have moral obligation to obey the law and for a sitting judge to refuse to conform to this dictate, not only makes herself incapable of continuing in that hallowed office but also throws scorn at the entire Judiciary. She has made her position very tenuous thus capable of contaminating the entire Judiciary. Having made her position in the judiciary inchoate thus of no repute bringing shame to the judicial processes what other moral basis would this judge and the Judiciary have to demand that other members and segments of the society obey their judgments?

    It is therefore on this note that we say that this judge has grossly perjured herself and to inform her that the only path to self -redemption is an unreserved apology not only to the Governor but also the people of Osun whom she had denigrated by her false and malicious allegations then, immediate resignation from office if she still has any modicum of respect for her office and the judiciary. She has unfortunately made herself a cancerous tumour that has to be surgically excised before it becomes dangerously malignant and pollutes the Judiciary. That is why the NJC has an urgent duty to perform here by neutralising this poison in their chalice and setting in motion their in-house disciplinary machinery if she refuses to toe the path of honour.

    However, the Osun State House of Assembly should step to the plate and invoke their constitutional powers to remove her from office if the Judge fails to resign or the NJC abandons its duty. Her removal will be a great service to all stakeholders in the Nigerian project especially the people of Osun.

    In conclusion, it is apposite to commend the Governor for his deft and democratic handling of this duplicity by the judge. By refusing to arm twist the House and by making himself available to the House for proper investigation, he has shown himself once again a truly democratic leader worthy of emulation by other Governors and public office holders in Nigeria. His leadership qualities cannot be ignored if Nigeria is to make the desired change. He has once again demonstrated tremendous goodwill thus raising the bar of democratic standards in Nigeria.

    • Jimoh, is the Deputy Majority Leader in the Lagos state House of Assembly representing Apapa II Constituency.

  • What therapy for Oyo-Ogbomoso road

    The incessant accidents on Oyo-Ogbomoso expressway are becoming more of a debate as to whether they are rituals of fate or results of road terrorism. The two historic cities at each end of the road are ruled by powerful monarchs with political prowess; The Alaafin of Oyo and The Soun of Ogbomoso. The town of Ogbomoso serves as home to one of the nation’s foremost universities, the LadokeAkintola University of Technology (LAUTECH). The road is a link between the north and southern part of the country, reflecting the economic importance of the road; these obvious advantages have, however, not shown commendable influence on the state of the road. The road has remained in a deteriorating state for years, with increasing pot-holes, unimaginable faults, recorded accidents, hence, it’s been referred to as a ‘death -trap’. The appearance and experiences on the road have made plying the route come with default trepidation and this sad culture does not seem like ceasing without supervised government effort.

    According to the Federal Road Safety Commission, Oyo State recorded the highest number of road fatalities in 2011 and the Oyo-Ogbomoso road was a major contributor to this figure. The casualties on this road have since not reduced, as it continues to claim lives of students, traders and casual travellers. The 50 kilometre-long road has constantly suffered disdain from even the federal government. The road was meant to be included in the Ibadan-Ilorin road construction project executed by the previous administration, but for some ungiven reasons it was skipped. The road construction which started from Ibadan to Oyo was continued at the other end from Ogbomoso to Ilorin. Former Minister for Works under the administration, Mr. Mike Onolememen, had promised the construction of the Oyo-Ogbomoso expressway, but the road remains in its inherited  state with no signs of construction work.

    The width of most part of the dual carriage road is now visibly short of the standard seven meters, as the road has been significantly trimmed at the sides by erosive agents over the years and it can be said that the road is close to elapsing its design period. What has become most minatory about the road is the volume of heavy-duty vehicles transporting different materials across the country. The drivers of these vehicles are usually reckless even with their knowledge of the bad condition of the road, poorly calculated overtaking, vehicle control failure, amongst others, are activities that lead to regular mishaps on the road. Other times when these vehicles are not involved in accidents, they break down and it usually takes excess time in towing them off the road. This results in traffic jams and possible attacks on road users.

    The current financial position of the Nigerian government might be offered as a plausible excuse to allow this avoidable cause. Still, something needs to be done. The road in view continues costing innocent lives, leaving others deeply bereaved. The losses incurred on this road can be significantly reduced with devoted human effort to solve the nub and not a ritual to appease the jinx of the road. A proper rehabilitation of the Oyo-Ogbomoso road should become one of the import assignments of the current administration. The death statistics of the Oyo- Ogbomoso road shows that is not another alternative forgone for the government.

  • ICPC, EFCC and Buhari’s new offensive against corruption

    ICPC, EFCC and Buhari’s new offensive against corruption

    Events in the past few weeks have left no one in doubt that the Buhari administration has set the stage for the prosecution of its promised war against corruption. First, in an apparent move to plug loopholes facilitating leakages and mismanagement of public funds, the President recently directed all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of the Federal Government to maintain Treasury Single Account (TSA) in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for all public revenue.

    The move, which the Presidency stated, was to ensure probity, transparency and accountability in the management of public funds has been widely applauded. Closely following that directive was the announcement by the President that the trial of people involved in the stealing of public funds will begin soon, in a matter of weeks. And then also came the constitution of an Anti-Corruption Advisory Committee to help plan strategies for a new offensive in the anti-graft war.

    Nigerians are elated by this development. It shows that Buhari is committed beyond the rhetoric of his world declaration, during his trip to the United States of America, that he was determined to “Kill corruption before corruption kills Nigeria”. However, many are wondering if government had properly thought out how to make this new initiative work and how to surmount the major challenges that had stifled the war in the past, so that the new offensive will not run out of steam soon.

    These and other relevant issues are part of what the wise men of the anti-graft advisory committee are supposed to help government fashion out. But as they embark on that assignment, it is important to remind them and all other stakeholders that the war or campaign against corruption is not new, it is not just beginning. It has been raging for some time, some challenges had been identified, some lessons should have been learnt from those experiences and all these must inform current plans for the new offensive.

    The intervention of the two main anti-corruption agencies in the country – the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) – over ten years ago offered great hope. But today Nigerians are still talking about corruption as if the evil it represents had just been discovered. What happened? How have the anti-graft agencies fared? Have they failed the nation? Many Nigerians who have been monitoring the anti-graft war would concede that the anti-graft agencies can hardly be blamed. The truth is that they were operating in a very difficult environment that was more or less antithetical to the cause of the war.

    A key element of the inclement environment was the lack of commitment by the political authorities. This was evident in the failure or negligence to provide adequate funding for the operations of the anti-graft agencies. It is well known that paucity of funds had been a major constraint to the agencies especially in the past few years. Another important factor is the slowness of the judicial process of prosecution. This has been attributed to congestion of cases in the courts and the abuse of judicial processes through frivolous injunctions in a seeming conspiracy between the bar and the bench. As a result, a lot of cases being prosecuted by the agencies had been dragging for years and this has eroded public confidence in prosecution as a weapon of deterrence.

    The most debilitating blow to the anti-corruption fight was the insincerity of the political authorities or rather, their alleged complicity in corrupt activities. For example, the ideal thing to do on the various celebrated cases of alleged corruption involving very senior government officials some years ago would have been for the administration to hand over those cases to the anti-graft agencies. That was not done. Even the National Assembly which stepped in was rebuffed. In the same vein, most of the recent stunning revelations of corrupt practices involving billions of dollars point in the direction of acts of impunity by top public officials and their associates.

    This phenomenon could be described as state sponsored or state approved corruption. What could the agencies have done in such circumstances?  The anti-graft war in Nigeria will succeed when government begins to demonstrate sincerity of purpose and commitment, leading by example and fostering enabling conditions for anti-graft agencies to assert their independence and operate without hindrance. President Buhari’s recent actions have just shown a marked difference from the ignoble past. Now everybody knows that government would not take lightly any act of corruption or impunity, no matter who is involved.

    Having demonstrated the political will to root out corruption, the President should now proceed to address the other major constraints of the anti-graft agencies. He needs to give them the necessary capital and human resource empowerment to build capacity in terms of personnel strength, training, out sourcing of renowned experts in relevant fields on sensitive and technical cases under investigation and prosecution as well as logistics for various operations and activities covered by their respective mandates.

    Talking of empowerment, the President did say he was thinking of merging the ICPC and the EFCC into one big body and empowering the new organisation with sufficient financial muscle to face the challenges of the war. However, the idea needs careful examination it could be counter-productive at this point in time. Merging the two agencies now will definitely create a period of inertia during the transition process as the administrative frame work and operational logistics of the successor organisation are being worked out. This will be a set back to the tempo of activities the president has already raised of which Nigerians are expecting quick results.

    A merger may not be the best option in the quest to step up the anti-graft war at this time. In any case, the two agencies have separate mandates and apart from the aforementioned constraints they have, which are not of their own making, there is nothing to indicate that they,as presently constituted, cannot fight corruption successfully if properly kitted. It would be recalled that a prominent member of the new Presidential Advisory Committee on Corruption once opposed the merger proposal for the same reasons in an interview some years ago, when it was being debated.

    President Buhari has begun the new offensive against corruption very well. It might be more operationally effective for him to retain the two agencies, empower them, effect necessary reforms in the judiciary and other relevant areas to create the right atmosphere and then watch them pursue the war with renewed vigour; rather than create a new structure which will take time to find its feet.

     Folusho Akinseye writes from Lagos

  • Much ado about Bayelsa defections

    I have read with rapt attention media reports of the zigzag defections of some members of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) to the rival All Progressives Congress (APC) in Bayelsa, the home state of the immediate past president of Nigeria, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. Curiously, the leadership of the opposition, particularly Chief Timipre Sylva, turned it into a media jamboree. Sylva has been trying, to no avail, to reap political capital from it in preparation for the declaration of his vaulting ambition to return to power after more than four years of his misadventure in the Creek Haven, the state’s seat of government. And the narrative was skewed as if the defection was a one-way traffic, whereas hundreds of politicians from many political parties have also been thronging PDP’s camp in recent times.

    It is interesting to note that over 98 per cent of the defectors are Sylva’s appointees, associates, relatives and people he had used his office as governor to rail-road into the state and national assemblies between 2007 and 2011. Interestingly, almost all of these people did not support the governorship ambition of Governor Henry Seriake Dickson in 2012 when the election held. Instead, they supported Sylva even when it was clear that the then President, Dr. Jonathan, the critical stakeholders, the PDP apparatchik and, of course, majority of the people in the state were backing Dickson.

    Curiously, the names of same people who claimed to have defected to APC since the PDP lost power at the federal level are being bandied week in, week out whenever announcements of defections are carried in the media, making the whole Bayelsa defection a macabre dance! Can one person defect to the same party twice? But I am impressed with the way Governor Dickson handled the defection. Those who do not know the talk na do governor well had expected him to be hostile and deny the opposition the use of public facilities, but Dickson made the Samson Siasia Stadium available to them and provided security for a hitch-free decamping event recently; the same gesture the governor extended to President Muhammadu Buhari when he launched his campaign in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital. The reverse was the case in 2011 when Sylva, as governor, denied Buhari the use of the stadium and the general’s campaign was disrupted as hired youths pelted Buhari and his team with stones and sachet water.

    Top amongst the defectors are Hon. Heineken Lokpobri, the immediate past senator representing Bayelsa West; Chief Clever Ikisikpo, former senator representing Jonathan’s (Bayelasa East) between 2011 and 2015; former Chairman of NDDC, Dr. Tarila Tebepah and former Managing Director of NDDC, Chief Timi Alaibe. Others are the Commissioner for Agriculture under Sylva, Chief Dikivie Ikiogha and former House of Reps member representing Yenagoa/Kolokuma/Opokuma Federal Constituency between 2007 and 2015, Hon Warman Ogoriba; two former acting governors of the state, Hon. Nestor Ibinabo and Hon. Werinipre Seibarugu; former Finance Commissioner under Sylva, Mr. Charles Opuala and a host of other aides, appointees and associates of Sylva.

    Indeed, some of these characters were first recruited by the former First Lady to undermine Dickson ahead of the 2015 general election and to prepare the ground for the supplanting of Dickson with her anointed godson, Hon Weripamowei Dudafa, who was Commissioner for Local Government under Sylva and Special Assistant on Domestic Matters to the immediate past president. The defunct Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) under the leadership of Seibarugu became a veritable tool used to blackmail and cow the Dickson administration. They made it look to unsuspecting Nigerians that the governor was not supporting the re-election bid of Jonathan while in actual sense, he was the one leading the charge and taking all the shots fired at the former president!

    Indeed these same people calling for Dickson’s head are not doing anything strange. They are back to a familiar turf. As it was in 2012, so it is now and so it may be on December 5 when we shall all cast our vote and respect the majesty of the ballot box! What is, however, strange is that all the defectors want to be governor in December, making analysts to dub APC in Bayelsa as a party of serial governorship aspirants without membership! After three and a half years of Dickson’s administration, one would have expected these defectors to shift ground and come on board the restoration train. More so that Dickson has consistently patronised and extended the olive branch to them.

    Curiously, Alaibe, Tebepah, Ikiogha and all the former NASS members dumping the PDP are big time contractors in Dickson’s government. Yet they accuse the governor of not empowering them. Similarly, pundits had thought that since the thrifty Countryman Governor has delivered on his campaign promises by running the state in the fear of God, turning the state into a huge construction site, restoring peace to the hitherto volatile Bayelsa and providing purposeful, transparent and accountable leadership to the people, those jumping the ship would remain with Dickson to consolidate the gains recorded so far. That didn’t happen understandably because the defection is not about the well-being of the people, the development of Bayelsa State and the Ijaw nation; all that matter to the defectors is their self aggrandisement. Chief Richard Kpodo, factional chairman of APC in Bayelsa State, offered an insider perspective as to why some politicians were joining the ruling party when he said they were corrupt politicians who wanted to evade prosecution by the federal government of President Buhari!

    Information in the public domain shows that their grouse with Governor Dickson is that he has refused to loot or share public funds with anybody; a virtue that has earned the governor national and international recognitions, which the enemies believe must be cut down by stopping his re-election. A few of them also beef the governor for embarking on the ambitious first ever free and compulsory education programme and the social security scheme for the aged in Bayelsa State. They believe the money that should have been ordinarily shared among the elites is being channeled to the servicing of the lofty programmes, but the governor remained unshaken!

    In his recent media chat in Yenagoa, the state capital, Chief DSP Alameiyesiegha, first elected governor of Bayelsa State and Chairman of the PDP elders Committee/ Reconciliation Committee in the state, corroborated the above assertion mildly. He said: “As chairman of the Reconciliation Committee, we have invited so many people (defectors)… We dialogued with them and most of them saw reasons with us. The whole thing (defection) is about self-interest. Their grievances range from not being given appointments to not receiving their severance allowances during Timipre Sylva administration, or because they were not picked as candidates in the last general election. And I asked the question: must it always be you?”

    However, the cheering news, according to Alameiyesiegha, fondly called the Governor General of the Ijaw Nation, is that many of these ‘aggrieved’ politicians will return to PDP before the governorship election already slated for December 5 because, according to him, APC has no place in Ijaw land and Bayelsa in particular. He also expressed confidence that Dickson will be re-elected, declaring; “Governor Dickson has done well. What I have seen on ground in the last three years is very encouraging…”

    For the PDP and Governor Dickson, the so called defection to APC makes little or no difference to the strength and spread of the party in Bayelsa State. Yes, the PDP has lost out at the centre but in Bayelsa and many Niger Delta states, the party waxes stronger and remains a winning behemoth. Apart from the weighty voice of the Governor-General, the mainstream women and youth groups in the state, the clergy and Ijaw elders in Bayelsa have condemned the defection of some PDP members to APC, many of whom were aides, appointees and associates of Sylva. They are leading the movement for the re-election of Governor Dickson. Tagged Operation Retain Dickson in Creek Haven, the groups insist they must re-elect Dickson in government house to reward him for his hard work, vision and selfless service to fatherland.

    At separate events, these groups endorsed the re-election of Dickson. The elders for example, under the auspices of Bayelsa Elders Consultative Council, condemned the APC for perpetrating “falsehood” in the state. They also lambasted the PDP politicians that defected to the APC, describing them as shame to the Ijaw nation. The group, which is led by a PDP chieftain, Chief Francis Duokpola, wondered why a party that controversially wrested power from Jonathan would be embraced by desperate politicians whom they describe as self-seeking. They vowed to stop APC from gaining root in Bayelsa State even as they declared, “The APC has declared war on the Ijaw nation. Right from the days of our forefathers, the Ijaws have never been conquered and our generation cannot be conquered by APC!” The APC may be enjoying a synthesis of membership now, which will definitely lead to antithesis after a flag bearer emerges, and eventual implosion before the December 5 polls.

    For sure, the evidence on ground doesn’t indicate that the APC will defeat the PDP. Already the PDP produced 105 councillors and the eight council chairmen, controls the 24-man state House of Assembly with 21 members and produced all members of the National Assemblies! And with a litany of over 500 government appointees and strong PDP structure, it will take a camel to pass through the eye of a needle for APC to sack PDP from Creek Haven.

    Aside these advantages, if Governor Dickson declares for second term, he will be banking on the people and his landmark achievements in office to retain his plum job. But it won’t be a bad idea for the Alameiyesiegha committee to bring back the obviously repentant defectors to the PDP family.

     

    • Francis Agbo, a journalist lives in Yenagoa and wrote in via francisagbo38@gmail.com

  • Entrepreneurship as option for Nigerian graduates

    Nigerian graduates are trained to be job seekers in their various academic pursuits. This is the reason why lots of graduates, upon graduating from their various institutions, embark on job hunt without second thoughts. Yes, it is good to finally become independent, after all, our parents have done their part by training us to university level. At this point, we have to face the harsh reality: there are a lot of graduates but a little available job offers.

    Thank God that we have a new government which knows the plight of young Nigerians, and which is willing to listen to options, suggestions and advice from the public. The unfortunate thing is the reality that our youths graduate in geometric progression but the available job opportunities is in arithmetic progression. Lots of individuals are laying complaints about youths wasting away, without proffering solutions to these predicaments. Thank God for successful entrepreneurs like Tony Elumelu, who through his foundation, is looking at training a lot of youth to be self-sufficient through their focused entrepreneurship programs. Other NGOs like the Posh9ja Youth Initiative, also have embarked on the gospel of entrepreneurship through mentoring and vocational training/ skill aquisition. Instead of growing interest in this, lots of our youths have become up and coming artistes, looking for talents that aren’t there.I do not ascribe blames to them because they have to survive. In the journey of survival, some venture into internet fraud; others ditch their degree for menial jobs like okada riding, bus conductors/drivers, cobblers, corporate begging, e.t.c, all in a bid to make ends meet.

    As the clamour for entrepreneurship grows, the government should think it wise to bat the eyelid in this direction. Prof Pat Utomi, in one of his lectures at the Centre for Values and Leadership, explains entrepreneurs as individuals who see a problem and take punitive measures to create solution to these problems while entrepreneurship is the process of starting up a business or an organization. The entrepreneur is solely responsible for its conceptualization as well as its success or failure.The problem about our youth today is that they all aren’t ready to labour, they just want to start the business today and make profit immediately. We are all conversant with the stories of AlhajiAlikoDangote, who spent over 30 years in business before becoming the richest man in Africa. Also, Chief Mike Adenuga worked as a taxi driver in the USA before finding his foot in business. Nigerian youths just believe it is a day’s job of training, and money starts to spin by the next day.

    Entrepreneurship takes patience, grooming, under-studying, perseverance, finance and lots of encouragement. Business men who venture into this without the needed tools end up closing shop when the challenges gets too enormous. The big question now arises: how can one become an entrepreneur? What does it take?

    The first step is the dream and determination. The popular saying goes that ‘if you do not dream, you will eventually work for someone who dreams’. Having a dream isn’t just basically sleeping and wishing. It is what keeps you awake while everyone is asleep. Growing and nurturing the dream in view of every brickwall is what makes an entrepreneur. Once the idea has been conceptualized, the next thing required is to develop a step-by-step plan in actualizing the dream. Thank God we have internet available all around the country, and google isn’t keeping malice with anyone. There are tons of information available on the internet. Whatever business idea you might have, take a little bit of time to research on the internet. Its challenges, profitability, financial implication and even examples of people who have been in the business and have made considerable impact in it. If what you see does not encourage you, it is better to back out before becoming a failure. Research isn’t just about sitting behind the system and reading about it, it involves going for a course to understudy the idea. Having a form of internship or picking a mentor in the field will also go a long way in actualizing your dream. There are a lot of vocational centres across the country for those having the business ideas in fashion, baking, computer engineering and website development, e.t.c. If your idea is of a more complex nature, thorough research will be a plus. There is no knowledge as helpful as the knowledge gained on the field hence, the need to have good experience in whatever venture. After all research is done, test the waters with your services and possibly, execute your projects as the cheapest available in the industry. The standard you project will go a long way in categorizing you amongst either the best, average or worst.

    The government should really look at entrepreneurship as a means of creating jobs for the teeming youthful population. Not just in the creation of those jobs but also, proper verification as well as provision of enabling environment. Thank God that electricity has gradually improved since the take-over of President MuhammaduBuhari. While some individuals might be interested in being business owners, capital is one of the major drawbacks affecting many local businesses. During the previous administration by President Goodluck Jonathan, a scheme called YouWin was established to provide capital for would-be entrepreneurs. This really worked as lots of business ideas were birthed. Making this YouWin project a continuous one will go a long way in assisting these young ones in balancing their foot. There are some industries that are over-saturated while some are really in need of intellectuals to grow. While most graduates feel that agriculture is demeaning and degrading, they overlook the business part of that industry, forgetting that a commodity that never goes out of fashion is a commodity that is required for the daily living of humans.

    Also, entrepreneurship should be included in the curriculum of university students, irrespective of the course of study. We are in a society that everyone hustles for available jobs irrespective of the course of study. That is why we have Geologists working in Audit firms, Engineers working as teachers in primary schools and Biochemists as bankers.Our society is one that allows an individual employment as long as he passes the aptitude test. Corporate organisations should also step-up their CSR not just by maintaining and gardening round-abouts, but invest in human capacity building, especially the youth.

    Lastly, a country that engages its youths will not only clear out idle hands, but will also increase its revenue when these ones start to pay tax and employ people to grow their brands. The government should put special attention to the youth and entrepreneurship/ mentoring. If this is in place, a new set of billionaires will be groomed and in another 10 years, we will be glad we conceptualized such idea.

     

    • Oluwashola Jimmy Ayinde Idiagbon, President, SIJ Foundation/ CEO, SIJ Global Group.

  • Abia in a new dispensation

    Since his inauguration as Abia’s fourth Executive Governor about 65 days ago, Dr  Okezie Victor Ikpeazu has chosen to carry on with governance in uncommon ways. And the dividends of this creative leadership approach are  many.

    One of the early pronouncements of the governor was the directive to discontinue with the appellation of “His Excellency” as his official title. He also went on to discourage all forms of praise-singing,  sycophancy and frivolous courtesy visits. With this distinctive departure from  the past, Dr Ikpeazu has come to the level of ordinary Abians, adorning the toga of “a common governor doing things in uncommon ways.”

    He has also been spared the needless distraction of army of visitors who have very little to do with developmental governance. Not a few  have equally hailed Dr Ikpeazu’s prudent management of lean financial  resources of the state. Modest and frugal to the bones, the  governor has drastically pruned the usually high cost of governance. And no longer business as usual, Dr Ikpeazu travels with a few aides.

    He has also cut his salary by half, while pledging to pay workers before the end of every month after the holistic  staff audit that  would flush out ghost workers and enhance an innovative  revenue generation and  collection regime. Dr Ikpeazu is also repositioning Abia as prime investment  destination with focus on Aba, the state commercial capital.

    Tackling the city’s infrastructural deficit through an urban renewal initiative, the governor is desirous of improving the state’s  Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). Dr Ikpeazu targets N1.5  billion IGR per month.  To this end, he established three key government agencies: the Aba  Urban Renewal Bureau, the PPP and the Abia Investment Promotions  as well as the Economic Advancement Team (EAT) personally headed by the  governor. These agencies have since gone to work to realize their mandate in the  overall socio-economic  interest of Abians. Also to be noted are the massive reforms  silently going on in Abia in the last 65 days.

    Starting with the earth-shaking biometric staff audit  which has saved the state some N160 million, the planned automated and  harmonized revenue collection policy would also ensure accountability. The  governor has again sustained the momentum in the area of  road construction and allied infrastructural development. To say the truth, Abians knew better days are here when Dr Ikpeazu flagged off repair of some seven  roads in Aba and some  other parts of the state on his first day in office. He has  even added more, all  from projects earlier approved by the last State Executive  Council.

    And with some of  them nearing completion, more interventions have also been initiated as quick fixes as the rains and largely  ill-maintained roads mess up Abia.

    Still on the environment, serious work has equally been going on especially in Aba and Umuahia where the drainage systems are being  cleaned up. The Abia State Environmental Protection Agency has since evacuated refuses in urban  areas. In fact, all necessary equipment for the continuous  clean-up of the  state is now on ground, courtesy of the current  administration.

    In the area of peace and security, the government has been exemplary.

    Peaceful and pragmatic in nature, Governor Ikpeazu has a near-perfect working relationship with heads and members of law enforcement agencies,  traditional rulers and other stakeholder. The benefit of this synergy is a largely peaceful state.

    Security experts have equally commended the governor’s handling of two major security challenges in that last few days. First was the breach of peace in Powerline, Ariaria Market, Aba after men of the NDLEA allegedly killed two traders, while hunting for drug users. The overnor has since contained the situation even as investigations into the extra-judicial killings have commenced. He also advised the NDLEA to hence carry out their duties with restraint and caution.

    Another ugly incident which the governor handled with unequalled sense of responsibility was the razing of the INEC office in Mgboko, Obingwa Local Government Area.

    Governor Ikpeazu, who inspected the scene of the  fire which occurred on Sunday, August 2, expressed  shock at the level of damage done to the building and charged the police and other law-enforcement  agencies to ensure that the culprits are brought to book.

    According to the Chief Press Secretary, Mr Godwin Adindu, the governor also called on the police and the army to beef up security in all INEC formations in the state to forestall such incidents.

    He lamented over the tendency of some disgruntled

    elements in society to vandalise public property, saying that it is a big drawback to the effort of government in providing dividends of democracy. While reiterating the determination of his government to maintain  law and order and protect life and property of the Abia citizenry, Ikpeazu used the occasion to warn perpetrators of such acts to turn a new leaf as the current administration will not tolerate such deviant acts.

    Governor Ikpeazu has also tasked, empowered and mobilized security agencies to track down kidnappers and  chase out armed robbers from God’s own state. And this has radically reduced violent crimes in Abia. Generally speaking, Dr Ikpeazu is navigating the ship of state with a great sense of focus, passion and transparency.

    He’s also mindful of the fact that Abia is expected to emerge the most commercially viable state in the next few years.

    “It has been 65 days of serious and creative governance. In fact, Dr Ikpeazu’s first 100 days in office would amaze the  world. Abians should gear up for better days, having elected  a visionary leader  who is determined to change the narrative of the  state”, a public policy  analyst predicted.

     

    • Uche Olehi is Senior Special Assistant on Media to Abia  State Governor.

  • Reforming NYSC

    Concerning the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), I doubt if there is any serving or ex-corps member who would not have a story to tell. As for me, I have a thousand and one stories to tell. The ordeal of corps members across the federation is so heartbreaking and enormous that it would be difficult for one to discuss them in detail here. From poor welfare, problematic postings to the harassment and extortion of corps members by some NYSC officials, the list is endless.

    A young lady who finished her service last year recently told me, “If not for the fact that I met a lot of young wonderful folks who hail from different parts of the country—and that was real fun for me, I would have comfortably tagged my NYSC year a ‘wasted’ one.” She continued, “You won’t believe that our LGI (Local Government Inspector) at that time would always harass ladies up and down, threatening them with all sorts of sanctions. Not bad enough, he would compel all corps members to pay, sometimes N200 or N300 each, before we could have our monthly clearance done, despite having been cleared in our Places of Primary Assignment (PPA) as well as Community Development Service (CDS) groups. For goodness sake, isn’t that absurd?”

    On a fateful morning when they had all gathered for their monthly clearance, the LGI actually assaulted her. “We all gathered for the July clearance, I think, and we were told to pay the sum of N300 before we could be allowed to sign the Payment Voucher (PV) and I politely told our LGI that I did not have any money to pay. All of a sudden, he got angry and stood up and moved towards my direction and then pushed me in the chest violently. I was really, really dejected.” “Honestly,” she said, “it was as if I was dreaming. No one has ever assaulted me in my entire life. Well, I reported to the nearest police station and got the Zonal Inspector (Z.I) and other officials involved. It’s a very long story.” She wouldn’t conclude the story without saying this: “Many corps members are passing through a lot. I’m sure there are those who have really been traumatised but we never get to hear their stories. It doesn’t make sense at all and this has to stop!”

    I’m also quite aware that a number of states still use dilapidated primary or secondary school buildings as their ‘NYSC orientation camp’. For corps members serving in these states, their three-week stay on camp is like ‘hell’ for them—considering the poor welfare. Having jumped over the first hurdle, corps members then begin to grapple with the issues associated with postings to their stations of primary assignment. And what operates today is a typical representation of square pegs in round holes. Take for instance, a Mechanical Engineer or perhaps an Accountant who is deployed to serve as a teacher in a secondary school. Isn’t that totally strange?

    Established by Decree No. 24 of 22nd May 1973, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Scheme was created in a bid to reconstruct, reconcile and rebuild the country after the Nigerian Civil War. And then, a little over four decades later, what has become of this brilliant initiative?

    Within the past few years, there have been a lot of arguments as to whether the scheme should be scrapped or not. Those who argue for the former cite the incessant killings of corps members by insurgents and accidents, and ineffectiveness of the programme, as their main concerns while their opponents believe the programme helps to promote unity among Nigerians. To a very large extent, it seems as though these arguments have finally been laid to rest as President Muhammadu Buhari boldly declared recently: “I firmly believe in NYSC and I think it should remain a national programme to promote integration.” I also think the scheme should not be scrapped but it has to undergo very serious rehabilitation.

    A total overall of NYSC Scheme is needed. This should start with effective and transparent monitoring of all activities of the officials—from the highest to the lowest—who have been saddled with the responsibility of running the National Youth Service programme. All cases of corruption must be thoroughly investigated and properly dealt with.

    Corps members should be posted to their areas of competence so that they can use their fresh-from-school ideas to transform the economy—and the nation at large. According to Mrs Rabi Jimeta (the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Youth Development), the yearly enrolment of corps participants had increased from 2,364 in 1974 to 229, 016 in 2014. And it’s been projected that the number may rise to 300,000 by year 2020. This is a huge number and the nation should take advantage of it. Imagine the deployment of over two-hundred thousand young energetic minds into the various sectors—Agriculture, Education, Health, Information and Communication Technology, Oil and Gas, Mining, Manufacturing, Banking. This is not enough; they should be empowered and also given an enabling environment to work. You would agree with me that many of our dead sectors shall come alive. After all, the future of any country depends on the youths. If adequate provisions are not made for them today, then we are obviously sleeping on a time bomb.

    Effective leadership as well as various capacity development programmes should also be introduced into the scheme. I’m not talking about one-week training on bead making or baking of cakes which mostly take place during the orientation camp. Inasmuch as those trainings are helpful, they are not good enough to prepare the next generation of Nigerian leaders who are expected to take the bull by the horns and cause transformational change—I mean our future leaders deserve more.

    It’s also not a bad idea if low-interest medium to long term loans are made available to corps members who desire to set up their own Small and Medium Scale Enterprises post-NYSC. Who knows? Maybe this would give birth to thousands of Dangotes, Elumelus, Adenugas, Alakijas in the years ahead.

    The Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Johnson Olawumi recently said, “We are still thinking of ways we can use the scheme to address present challenges beyond the original challenge of national unity and integration.”  If the necessary reforms are carried out in the right way and at the right time, the NYSC scheme that frustrates Nigerian graduates today can go on to empower them tomorrow.

     

    • Ayodeji is a writer and transformational speaker 

  • Job creation beyond lip service

    Speaking at the 11th Benson Idahosa University convocation in July, former president Olusegun Obasanjo advised that the nation has to reverse the trend of unemployment by “empowering the youth with skills and taking them off the yoke of the unemployed.”

    Interestingly, it was exactly a week after President Muhammadu Buhari was quoted as saying: “We will no longer allow our markets to be flooded with things we can produce ourselves. We must believe in our system. Whenever you need my intervention at anytime, please come to me.” President Buhari was speaking to the Permanent Secretary, Abdulkadir Musa, and senior officials of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment. Also, Buhari said with its focus on job creation, his government was ready to do whatever it considers necessary to boost domestic manufacturing and industrialisation.  Buhari said: “So, we will shun all anti-development policies, and make the climate more suitable for entrepreneurs. We will create the environment for them to thrive. Generating employment was one of our key campaign promises and we will keep that promise”.

    While there seems to be a consensus on the need to teach Entrepreneurship in the formal schools as one of the strategies to create employment, little is done to practically and effectively achieve this. While there seems to be more emphasis and energy on the ‘hardware’ of infrastructure needs by entrepreneurial endeavour, the actual ‘software’ that will make more Nigerians willingly (my emphasis on ‘actual willingness’) embrace entrepreneurship with their heart and soul seems to remain unaddressed –  or is, at best, not yielding noticeable result.

    Consequently, I suggest the following steps must be urgently implemented: Firstly, public office holders must identify with fledgling business owners/entrepreneurs in their constituencies and tacitly endorse made-in-Nigeria service/product through visits to the entrepreneurs’ business premises. This will serve as a form of motivation to these entrepreneurs grabbling with a lot of discouraging factors and help stimulate patronage for such businesses as people will love to patronise such businesses on the strength of such endorsements. In turn, business owners will work hard not to lower quality of service in order to live up to such endorsements. I commend and recommend to other political leaders, the personal example set by the current governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, who has personally attended the launch of a few startups like a new school recently set up in Lekki and a hotel on the mainland. He should keep it up and extend such visits to other sectors like the printer in Shomolu, the fish farmer in Epe, the Cane village in Mende etc.

    Secondly, most Nigerian formal educational institutions are presently teaching entrepreneurship without a comprehensive business opportunity handbook that adequately compiles the thousands of local and international business opportunities like it is done in most nations that have successfully got more of their citizens to start and run their own businesses. The scope of entrepreneurial education for most Nigerian undergraduates  is restricted to the knowledge of the few popular business ideas commonly executed in Nigeria and most of them are not even aware that there is a Nigerian-published comprehensive business opportunity handbook that contains thousands of business ideas, summary of how to execute each idea, contacts of credible local and international funding sources, sample business plans and business plan templates, marketing tips and so much more valuable practical business information. Consequently, most undergraduates are not sufficiently exposed to the limitless benefit of a business opportunity handbook. To reverse this trend, schools should take a cue from what’s being done in Covenant University, Ota, which has integrated entrepreneurship education into its academic programme and gone an extra length to provide its students access to the mobile app of a popular business opportunity handbook. The uniqueness is that this mobile application is regularly updated with new business ideas, funding sources, business contacts etc. at no extra cost even after leaving the university.  Such a laudable programme and initiative should be extended to all schools all over the federation.

    Thirdly, the media has a critical role in giving enough exposure to Nigerian entrepreneurs to serve as motivation for aspiring entrepreneurs. Most Nigerian media houses, especially those in the online, print and electronic categories are guilty of a discouraging practice of having the same advert cost regime for large corporate organisations and small/ medium scale business owners and startups. Perhaps, by no fault of the media organisations, the cost of acquiring media leverage by Nigerian startups for their goods and services is presently to the disadvantage of such category of Nigerian entrepreneurs’ potential marketing gains and brand penetration. The ultimate loser is the society in terms of job creation and the media itself, which in the long run may lose patronage from struggling entrepreneurs who eventually turn out successful.

    To address this concern, media organisations should provide special advertising price packages for the Nigerian small or medium business owners either through individual or trade group mutual partnership arrangement or outright discount incentives.  Influential organisations like National Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Nigerian Guild of Editors(NGE), Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON),Nigeria Union of Journalists(NUJ) and Newspapers Proprietors Association of Nigeria(NPAN) can facilitate such partnerships. Furthermore, the media should do more to extol the merits of self-employment and the small firm as a vehicle for self-fulfillment, economic rejuvenation and employment generation.

    Finally, the small and medium enterprise economy relates to the large corporations and public sector sub-economies in a variety of ways. The real economic implications of the present Forex squeeze and tactical banning of 40 imported items by the Federal Government are yet to be fully understood even by most stakeholders and the government. The general theoretical assumption that these policies will automatically benefit the Nigerian entrepreneur as it is expected that more indigenous made-in-Nigeria products will be patronised will prove to be unrealistic unless the new government chooses to act differently.   The immediate beneficiaries of this policy are the smugglers and corrupt customs/immigration officers because the demand for such imported products will result in their scarcity and fuel increase in such commodities’ prices which will in turn serve as incentives to the smugglers. Within a week of this policy, the unofficial price of forex in the parallel market has spiralled out of control, further increasing the pressure on the depreciating naira. Also, within a week, the price of frozen chicken (one of the 40 items removed from the import list) has surged from N750 per kilogram to N1100 per kilogram, an equivalent of approximately 50 per cent increase.

    Yet these are the same imported poultry products, not those supplied by the Nigerian poultry farmer-entrepreneur. Except the government moves in immediately, this policy will not translate into economic benefits for the Nigerian entrepreneur. Government should immediately meet with the large corporations, wholesale importers, mega superstores and trade associations to track the sourcing of these ‘banned’ items by the big players, address their genuine fears and give incentives to large corporations that will genuinely abide by this policy by patronising local producers and suppliers of these items. The media should also help to report progress made in this regard. No doubt, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will need to investigate and possibly prosecute corporate players that may want to support smuggling or sabotage this policy.

     

    • Vaughan is the host of Biz Lifelines on Lagos-based Inspiration FM and Radio Continental.

  • Buhari, one more thing

    Has anyone else, besides me, noticed the avalanche of persons, experts and groups telling, advising, imploring, mandating, demanding, and even begging of President Muhammadu Buhari what he must and should do to move Nigeria forward, carry everyone along or pacify given interests? If one were to be on the streets of the United States of America, one would say “It’s All Good” to see these calls and demands because it means that democracy is alive and at work in Nigeria. Some are even impatient, and upset, with President Buhari for “being slow” in sharing the dividends of democracy which recently got him to be christened “Baba Go Slow”. Again, “It’s All Good”, because democracy in Nigeria means that there is freedom of speech.

    Following on the heels of these persons and groups, I want to add my own “request, demand, and urging” of President Buhari. Mr. President, please, you must find innovative ways to deal with ‘our teeming unemployed youths’ because conventional ways would not be enough to solve this problem. To paraphrase my hometown’s man, Professor Chinua Achebe, of blessed memory, “when a game animal starts to run in unusual ways, then the hunter must devise unusual ways to shoot at it.”

    The issue of unemployment among the youths of Nigeria, given Nigeria’s economic realities, on the backs of corruption, incompetence, inefficiency and prolonged bad leaderships, would not be solved by applying only known economic models. Mr. President, you must find out-of-the-box ways to tackle this monster because it is primed gunpowder waiting to explode in our faces. If we do not move urgently to solve this problem, and the unemployed youths unleash their energy, in their numbers, in bad ways, then the safety of lives and property in Nigeria would never be guaranteed despite the provisions of the Constitution to that effect, and in spite of whatever law enforcement or military efforts we make. The lessons of the Niger Delta militants and the Northeast Boko Haram insurgents ought to be educative enough for us.

    As a candidate in the just concluded 2015 elections, I was one of those, as was then candidate General Muhammadu Buhari, who went around and talked about “the teeming population of our unemployed youths”. Although the phrase means different things to different persons, the concept of “teeming population of our unemployed youths” needs to be universally described and better understood by Nigerians and our policy makers, for the issue can be properly addressed. Otherwise, it would be another electioneering slogan that fails and adds to the general failure of our leaders and the cynicism of the youths themselves.

    Some of these “teeming population of our unemployed youths” are educated, employable, but unemployed. To have such assets wasting away is not only foolish on our collective part, it is dangerous because they are educated, young and energetic and have plenty of time in their hands.  It is only better imagined what they could do if their educated minds, young and energetic bodies veer towards ill rather than good. Some of the youths are educated, but unemployable; which is a verdict on our education standards. Others are uneducated, employable, but unemployed. Finally, there are some that are uneducated, unskilled and unemployable. It is equally dangerous to ignore the last two groups because they are ready tools capable of doing anything with their plentiful idle time along with their young and energetic bodies.

    One of the reasons why “normal” economic models alone would not suffice in the approach to solving the unemployment among the youths in Nigeria is that each group of unemployed youths, as described above, needs different approach. The solution cannot be a one-size-fits-all; otherwise, our efforts at solving the problem would yield incomplete results. President Buhari should, therefore, seek unusual and innovative approaches to this issue.

    Rather than have these human capital assets of Nigeria continue to waste away and pose potential dangers to our collective being, we could take advantage of their youth in nation building by designing specific programmes targeted at specific segments of the unemployed youths. Opportunities abound for them in education, agriculture, manufacturing and environmental work. For example, the educated and employable group could be used to revive our falling educational standards. The educated and employable, and the educated and unemployable youths could become “Graduate Farmers” that would employ not just themselves, but would create employment opportunities for others. Our moribund manufacturing sector could be revived with targeted programmes that can employ these young bodies.

    Several numbers are bandied around about the unemployment of the youths of Nigeria. What cannot be debated is that in the proper context, youth unemployment confers economic and psychological states most worrisome, and which speak directly to “The Promise of Nigeria” to them as the future of our nation. But is there a “Nigerian Promise” as there is “The American Dream”?

    Although this question is better left for a bigger space of discussion, if there were to be a Nigerian Dream, what would it entail for any Nigerian young person? To enable them to compete in the global village, that dream must include “Stay in school. Get an Education. Play by the rules. Get ahead”. However, under the prevailing circumstances, what is the motivation for any young Nigerian to stay in school to get an education if he or she would end up being “educated and unemployed”? Rather than have these Human Capital assets go to waste, we ought to use them to make Nigeria better for our overall good. Such is the Change we need.

     

    • Obiakor was All Progressives Congress (APC) 2015 Candidate for Federal House of Representatives, Idemili North/South Federal Constituency, Anambra State

  • Education for development

    There are our exemplary education experts to train the next generation of students? The teachers have graduated with half-baked degrees, so it is guaranteed that their products – when not on some long- drawn-out enforced holiday due to strikes or student disturbances – would be half-baked at best or more likely quarter-baked.  So, the ones that would come after that, please… Very likely, I would be gone by then.  Not witnessing it is actually a blessing. That unfortunately may be coming to fruition earlier than anticipated with JAMB toying with or approving 180/400 as a pass mark for admission to university.  This is about 45% and by our own best academics’ esteemed reckoning this is now a pass mark for the next generation of geniuses for the country.  Their main focus after graduation, for the development of the nation, is to chase the annual Immigration recruitment exercise. Major stadiums filled to the brim for administrative jobs in Abuja have become the national showcase for our education system and we are meant to find this very inspiring.

    To get a better picture of our current paper-based system, the polytechnics are now even offering business studies, political studies, accountancy, mass communication, etc.  How these courses or programmes would technically and technologically revolutionise us into makers of products or instruments rather than being trained in how to use them is best left to our educational policy makers.

    Can the trend be reversed or is it too late? Are we interested in reversing it? Do we have the resources and personnel in place to reverse the trend? Most of the children of the Ministers, Commissioners, Legislators, even Local Government Councillors, are abroad or in Ghana, so who is interested in revamping this sector?  If able to discover some sense of urgency, can we bring in professional education experts into strategic parts of the education sector, retain and retrain some of the high-flying teachers and lecturers abroad, and for them to come and pass their knowledge to others – not going on a teaching holiday jamboree abroad?   Can we set up bonus system for teachers to be determined by the number of students that pass from their class? Can we put an anonymous feedback monitoring and evaluation system in place by the students of their teachers and lecturers?  These are just ideas, I am sure there are more innovative ones to improve our educational standard. The point is, there really is no time to waste.

    Education-sector professionals have repeatedly chided the government for never meeting the UNESCO requirement of spending a quarter of a country’s budget on education, which to them is the underlying reason for our regrettable situation.  The question is, even if we meet that requirement as a lot of African countries have managed to do, would we make any significant progress in our national economic development with funding mainly directed towards the knowledge-based service-oriented professions? Can our academic graduates add 24% productivity annually to the nation’s economic grid?

    The graduates from the knowledge-based professions are only able to advise, assist, support, guide, provide statistics, engage in discussions, seminars, conferences, lectures – mostly where? – in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt cities of course – LAP crew, as I refer to them.  The crème de la crème of them would invariably find their way abroad and would send us remittances to keep us surviving.

    Reflecting the same template at the state level is to produce those that would end up chasing greener pastures in the LAP cities. Or if they do stay, they fuel the civil service ranks of the state, patently unable to contribute meaningfully to the state’s revenue coffers.

    While every Nigerian is entitled to a university education, does every Nigerian have the ability and means to acquire university education?  If not university-oriented in terms of education, is that the end of the functional use of the person to the nation? Are we directing our curriculum orientation, budgetary allocation, personnel training and educational infrastructure away from the academic knowledge-based professions to the technical-vocation practical-based professions that can make a difference rather than producing those advising on how to make the difference?

    It is not the education that is the problem but the type of education.  Our current education system is for knowledge-based ‘pentrapreneurs’ aiming for office jobs with the LAP crew. Meanwhile, Nigeria’s agricultural and agro-based national fate lies in every state outside the LAP places.  Policies and practices aimed at entrenching this system is the root-cause template of our underdevelopment. We need entrepreneurs who can transform the agro-industrial sector, the academic curriculum reflecting such orientation, the budget revamped for giving prominence to the Universities of Technologies, Polytechnics and Technical Vocational institutes as advised by Mr Chibuzor Asomugha, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics President.  The current clamour in some quarters towards dismantling the dichotomy between HND and BSc is a step in the right direction apparently being looked into by the President.

    Reorienting our educational system would produce more doers than thinkers able to make practical contributions to the rural development of the economy, those who do not need to run to the cities for survival, channel the rural sector to integrate with the national economic system, produce those who can contribute to modernising the states and local governments creating human capacity potential to increase state and local government revenues. Our education curriculum should be synchronised with the national economic development framework for technical-vocational institutes and the agro-tech sector to build instruments, devices, implements and small machines for farmers in cooperatives in the local-rural communities.

    The idea by the Industrial Training Fund to train for more technical-vocational education is a step in the right direction. Similarly the proposal by the National Youth Service Corps for its members to engage in one kind of skills acquisition or the other during the annual national service programme, if well orchestrated with a nationwide agro-technical scheme, can lay the groundwork for sustainable long-term skills development. The roles of the Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture, very commendable, can also be integrated into this framework.

    If ever there was any one sector that should guide our national development and economic policy framework, it would be the education sector. It should be interconnected with the agricultural sector, technical-vocational sector, manpower planning and employment directorate, defence and security, foreign ministry, and most importantly the research institutes in the various disciplines at the local, state or national level, with an end-goal. If implemented well, maybe the education sector can lay claim to producing the leaders of tomorrow rather than the scammers, schemers or swindlers currently misrepresenting our nation both at home and abroad.

    • Owolowo is an educationist, trainer and rural entrepreneur