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  • Reappraising Okotie’s call for paradigm shift

    Reappraising Okotie’s call for paradigm shift

    Let’s think hypothetically for just a minute… What should we expect if Rev. Chris Okotie of the FRESH Party becomes

    the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria? The same old display of inept and uncreative governance or a departure from the status quo to world class ideologies that shape the times and brings international discussants to ‘study’ the new and emerging Nigerian governance model?

    Other options that have been mentioned, who fit into this hypothesis include Governor Adams Oshiomole of Edo State, Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai and Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

    This thought takes me back to the elections of 1979, when we had the luminous political quartet of Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe (NPP), Chief Obafemi Awolowo (UPN), Alhaji Waziri Ibrahim (GNPP) and Mallam Aminu Kano (PRP), all of blessed memory, as actors vying for the office of the President of Nigeria on our political stage. What would have become of Project Nigeria if we had got it right at that crucial point? With hindsight, that ‘Judelex (Judicial, Legislative and Executive) coup’, as Chief Obafemi Awolowo described it after the 1979 elections, was the genesis of today’s failing Nigeria.

    Unfortunately we missed that boat, which resulted in the subsequent line of Buhari-IBB-Abacha-Shonekan-Abdulsallam-led governments, which cocooned us in almost two decades of pariah nationhood. At that crucial juncture in our socio-political and economic evolution, we made a wrong turn, which spiraled our nation down to the abyss that entrenched corrupt politicking as an inherent nature of our politics.

    1999 also presented the opportunity for a shift, as we all hoped for a new beginning as a nation. But again, sentiment ruled over reason, and almost two decades on, with hindsight, we obviously took a wrong turn as the images of our democracy leaves little to be desired or celebrated. That was probably why Comrade Uche Chukwumerijie said in a recent Guardian Newspaper interview that, “we have not begun our journey to nationhood”.

    By 2015, it will again be almost two decades after the elections of 1999 like the elections of 1979 before it. And looking at the stage of obvious possible aspirants, we can safely say that we again need a shift in our political paradigm, which is vital in determining the course of our lives, both individually and as a nation.

    In dealing with the failing bureaucratic structures of any system, as in our politics, a shift from the norm presents the best possible option to reverse the adverse effects of wrong decisions, and create a new beginning for maximising the potentials of the human capital and national assets, for the general good of the people. This is what a paradigm shift accomplishes.

    About this time last year, the Super Eagles struck gold in the mining fields of South Africa, by winning the coveted Africa Nations Cup, against all expectations. They stirred our despondent nation into wild celebrations by the much needed victory. Just 12 months down the road, our home-based Super Eagles went for the second tier of that competition, and returned home with a bronze medal; after resurrecting from the dead against Morocco, in a heart wrenching quarter final match; but fell to an old foe, Ghana, in the crucial semi-final because our boys couldn’t raise their game.

    We may lampoon them and the coaching crew for several blunders, and it is true, but we commit the same blunders daily, especially in our politics, which affects every other area of our lives. We need to reappraise our assessment of aspirants and our stance on national issues that affect us adversely. This is why I believe in Rev. Okotie’s call for a paradigm shift. It has become a national imperative that we change our thinking.

    Anyone with an objective outlook, who has heard Okotie speak on issues that pertain to the nation or has read his commentaries on Facebook and the national newspapers, can tell without doubt that he has a sound understanding of the problems that confront us and how they can be solved. He announced this grasp of political profundity before the 2003 elections when he appeared on the Presidential debates, where he made a mince meat of political stalwarts who debated with him.

    By 2011, his invitation to the debates was withdrawn, for obvious reasons, which subsequently led to other aspirants boycotting the debates as President Jonathan had to be interviewed alone. We would like to hear Okotie on the political rostrum, speaking in a public debate or media chat on matters arising on the local and international scene.

    But one of his biggest challenges is that he has not been a public figure in terms of religious, social or political appearances, so people have not been able to properly appraise him, and we are generally afraid of the unknown. That is why we fear change. We seem to be more comfortable with what we are used to. Like President Clinton once said, “we vote for people we claim to hate”. The public on one hand wonders if he will not go the same way as our corrupt politicians, while the political class believes he will carry out a witchhunt of corrupt politicians when he ascends office. This is like living between a rock and a hard place.

    Pundits have also expressed the fear that Okotie is unknown in the field of politics, or the corridors of power. They have asked what political pedigree equips him to handle the nation’s problems. In an apparent response to this reasoning, he told his audience last year on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of his church that “ministry is all about service. It is probably the best nursery and training ground for leaders in any sphere of human endeavour. It is in ministry that the complex problems of humanity stare you in the face.”

    But how does this equip him for partisan politics and all its internal convolutions? He again said that in ministry, “you encounter circumstances that only God could handle because of their sheer complexities and bizarre nature… financial challenges, domestic upheavals, issues of economics, ministry politics, envy, rivalries, competition, you name it! That sounds familiar to veteran politicians”. That is why he once said that the government should not ask the people to tighten their belts; rather, government should tighten its belt by reducing recurrent expenditures.

    Rev. Okotie has declared his intention to contest the 2015 presidential election, offering us another “paradigm shift” option. If we miss the 2015 boat, then the 1979-1999 abnormality will be repeated. As mentioned earlier, there are many other viable Nigerians who can take this country to unimaginable heights on the international scene. These are the kind of men we need to power Project Nigeria. The time has come for them to emerge and take the bull by the horns.

    Let us come out en-masse to vote and sound our new paradigm to the ruling class by insisting that our votes count. Let us shift gear in 2015 and finally begin our match to nationhood.

    •Omolegho a public affairs commentator wrote from Lagos.

  • Boko Haram and gruesome massacre of students in Yobe state

    Boko Haram and gruesome massacre of students in Yobe state

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), received with rude shock and disbelief the coldblooded and gruesome killings of over forty three (43) school children aged 14-18 years, and of Federal Government College at, Bunu Yadi, Yobe State early this week.
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    We would recall that though this would not be the first time members of the notorious terrorist outfit, Boko Haram, would be launching an attack against innocent and defenseless people of this country since the group registered their horrendous presence in the consciousness of ordinary Nigerians and the government over 3 years ago, this is an attack too many, both in brutality, scope of targets and rationality for shedding of blood of youths that cut across both Geo-political zones and religious lineages of this country.

    The dastardly and repugnant acts of killing innocent students drawn from different strata of the society underpins the historical lack of acceptable logic and sheer force of coercion that seems to drive the agenda of these faceless terrorists whose only declared objective is to turn all Nigerians, at least, those living in the North eastern part of the country, into their own religion with wrongful and absurd indoctrination of their members to guarantee their commitment to its evil agenda. This is why we are most worried as ‘those made to believe in absurdities could easily be swayed into committing most terrible atrocities’.

    It is against the backdrop of the stated considerations that we hereby join other well-meaning and concerned Nigerians and foreign sympathizers to condemn this latest assault on our collective safety and cohesion and enjoin the Nigerian Government to immediately deploy all in its machinery to track down members of this sect, especially perpetrators of this heinous crime, rescue the selected females students kidnapped at gun point, ostensibly with a view to using them as sex slaves,  while efforts should be made to look at the socio-economic causes that encourage people to volunteer for such unholy assignments.

    In another vein, PENGASSAN wishes to express its sympathy to the families who have lost their beloved children to this dastardly act of cowardice, the Federal Government and people of Nigeria most especially leaders of the Muslim communities who have come out to condemn in strong words this crime against humanity.

    Government at all levels, are advice to take inventory of all the victims of these horrendous and lingering attacks anywhere in the country, since the beginning of the insurgency, with a view to rehabilitating victims of such attacks to minimize the psychological damage, while security and underground surveillance should be enhanced at likely targets of attacks, considering how the Boko Haram group has resorted to attacking soft and helpless targets in recent time.

    Our heart goes out to the families of this latest attack while we sincerely hope that the general anger and frustration expressed by most Nigerians over the sad incident would be enough impetus to galvanize those at the helms of affairs in this country to action and make them resolve that never again would our society continue to be a land of pillage and unnecessary shedding of innocent blood.

    Gambo, PENGASSAN’S P.R.O, writes from Lagos.

     

  • Comments

    Comments

    For Dare Olatunji

    In Nigeria of today, awards are given to the most criminal to appriciate his or her criminality in the country. Very soon our leaders will be thinking on how to give awards to terrorists for terrorising people. Our money is being wasted on daily basis in the name of award giving. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa Lagos

    The criteria used as widely advertised were Sustainability, Empowerment, Impact, Change agent, Corporate brand (SEICC) in line with the UN development outlines for MDGs. Thank you. From MVGWA Team

    Re: ‘Annals of awards and coronations.’ The award of MVGF won by Abia State Governor’s wife among other wives further revealed the joblessness of these state first ladies! What have they done and what impact did they make on citizens’ welfare, none. This to me was part of joblessness by them further impoverishing many others. Corruption unlimited! Awards without efforts! Awards without credentials and awards without requirements. One day, all these fantasies shall come to a close. Awards, my foot! From Lanre Oseni

    Some of these awards are monetary-oriented-agenda organised to get money from the awardees. Award is no longer on merit but what belly will eat. From Gordon Nnorom

    Dare, when leadership is aimless and visionless, what it offers are myriads of senseless programmes and corruption aiding devices. The issue of First Lady started with the military and in spite of its continuity, constitutional reviews over time even by the military which initiated it, First Lady office has been refused constitutional right. Where, in the world, does such a permissive fraudulent platform exist except in Nigeria? It is nauseating that the election of a leader confers automatically the “first lady office” on his wife? What an insult on the Constitution and an abuse on the freedom of electoral right of Nigerians! Don’t be surprised if in future a governor’s wife initiates an award for the “best governor’s child”. Something urgent has to be done on this nauseating “first lady office”; an unconstitutional political creation, now. Nigerians’ mandate is to the elected person only. From Lai Ashadele

    But Tunji, how will there be a quarrel among our First Ladies when more awards are going to be invented? No prize to you for guessing who and who have been selected for the following, soon to be announced: Most Winsome First Lady, Best Dressed, Most Valuable Cook, Most Inventive Hair Stylist, Best Nollywood Fan, the Omoge Faaji, Most Valuable Prayer Warrior, etc. Watch out for the announcement. But I assure you there will be enough to go round. And enough funds from the governors office to celebrate them. Cheers! From Femi Osofisan

    It is a master piece indeed. However, I pity our generation that has refused to make sacrifices and rescue this country from the deep “mess” it has been thrown into by our “supposed” leaders.

    Please help me organise an award for the Best Driver. Did you say no money would be gotten from organising it? Poor attitude to issues has been woes. Arise O! Compatriots indeed! From Amadi Nicholas U., Imo State Polytechnic, Umuagwo-Ohaji.

     

    For Gbenga Omotoso

    Gbenga, these are funny up-to-date Nigerian stories well packaged for the Nigerian readers. I cannot stop laughing. Political madness I must say, nice work! From Eniola A.

    Mr. Gbenga, please note that the village where Boko Haram killed over 146 people is Izghe village in Gwoza Local Government not Konduga you referred to in your master piece tagged “Interesting times”. From Ismail

    More power to your elbow. I like your write-ups on the happenings in Rivers State. Anonymous

    Good analysis, Gbenga. I love that. Wish you the best. From Sammy, Lagos

    Mr. Omotoso, it is so unfortunate that our own dear native land has been deprived of nourishment and now made to scavenge on the carcasses of dead conscience. From Daniel Pedro McDaniel, Kaduna

    I read your interesting column tagged, “Interesting times” and I enjoyed it, but time is interesting and very unfortunate, while other countries like South and North Koreans are busy uniting themselves in development, we are busy stealing and dividing one another in so many things. Anonymous

    Your piece “Interesting times” is quite very interesting. Kudos! From Niyi Idowu

    The Nigeria Police is under-using and misusing the talents and skills of its officers and men. CP Mbu should have been deployed to Borno State where his skills at decimating the President’s real or perceived enemies and tough guy are needed to combat Boko Haram. From John Oko, Port Harcourt

    Thanks Gbenga, you have made my evening. We are really in very “Interesting times” in a country where we are helpless with virtually everything, including human beings, sitting with on their heads. A pleasant one; but when will you talk about a state in Southeast where local government service has been exterminated? From Kalu, Umuahia

    Although today’s Editorial Notebook dealt with serious issues, it sent me reeling with laughter when I got to poor lion heart Mbu’s new assignment in Abuja! Who says Gbenga is not the fearless gladiator of modern times that uses the pen! Bravo! From Dr. Yusufu Musa CON, Former Deputy National Chairman ANPP

    Your Editorial Notebook is fantastic. Please, keep on with this type of essential points so that everybody will know how Jonathan spends our money. From Peter Olaiya, Akure

    I weep for Nigeria. At a time that $20 billion probe is ongoing, the President suspended the CBN Governor. What is President hiding? We now know where the $20 billion is. Nigerians, rise up to this looting of our money. Interesting times, indeed. Go ahead Sanusi, challenge it in court. Nigerians are behind you. Anonymous

    The President is making these times to be because he is taking a wrong decision at the right time and right one at the wrong time. Things are going wrong under him and he is happy about that. If actually the President is in charge, this is the right time for him to correct the wrong impression about him. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa Lagos

    All the principal officers that encouraged Ms Stella Oduah to purchase the N255 million bulletproof cars should be dismissed too. Anonymous

    Interesting times indeed! Kudos; so comprehensive a piece. Cheers! From Yusuf Tukur

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

    Re: “The crucifixion of truth.” What the happiest people on Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s removal/suspension fail to know is that as fair, strict, tough and honest to outsiders/public as Sanusi was, it was the same toughness, fairness, law-abiding and transparency tendencies that he exhibited at home – CBN. Again, if some people were happy at his removal, they need to remember that the cane previously used to deal with the senior wife is kept on the roof for a similar penalty for the new wife. Anonymous.

    I am at sea on why Sanusi’s sack is generating unnecessary press attention. Recently, Eze Festus Odimegwu revealed what had been going on at the National Population Commission as regards census figures. Some people went to the Presidential Villa and pressured President Jonathan to sack him. When President Jonathan agreed to their request, everyone had Odimegwu to blame for opening his mouth so wide. Sanusi should have learnt his lesson from what happened to Odimegwu. For failing to do that, I have no tears to shed for him. In fact, his sack is a case of good riddance to bad rubbish of an employee who wanted to become more powerful than his employer. It is the case of the proverbial bird, Nza, that challenged its ‘chi’ after a sumptuous meal, according to the late Chinua Achebe. From Chukwuma Dioka, Owerri.

    The President has finally legalised corruption in the country by removing transparency and replacing it with lies. It is very unfortunate that lies and deceit have overpowered the truth in the country we all call our fatherland. The earlier all of us stood up to challenge Sanusi’s suspension, the better. Anonymous.

    Yours was a great job; precise. Second, you hit the nail on the head. Regards. From Igbogbahaka, Enugu.

    At what point did the Presidency and Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN) realise Sanusi’s imprudence? If those powers fail to at least restore Sanusi, they should at least condemn his suspension/sack, if only to stop such impunity. Today’s CBN population of about 9,000 from 6,000 was consequent upon many legislators, presidency, judiciary and traditional rulers lists of requests. Their quietness now is surprising. In 2009, after the promotion-appointment mess of 2008 at the CBN, Sanusi took up the massive mess that nearly threw the bank into turmoil and did justice without knowing the aggrieved. From Lanre Oseni.

    Tunji, so Jonathan even has a platform known as FRCN yet the case of Diezani spending recklessly on private jets was swept under the carpet. In fact, out of Oduah, Sanusi and Diezani, who should have been fired first? Let GEJ tell us. Anonymous, Makurdi.

    Tunji, your one-sided judgement portrayed Sanusi as a saint by making un-appropriated spending; you found nothing wrong. It is unfortunate. Please, always try to balance issues. You did not hide your hatred at all. From C.U. Onor.

    You should first ask about the veracity of the FRCN which reported Sanusi’s financial recklessness before becoming an apostle of APC. That is the right thing to do if really you are writing as an unbiased commentator. Anonymous.

     

     

     

  • Comment

    Comment

    For Dare Olatunji

    Sir, I wonder whether your article titled Corruption: The EU to the rescue was not a ‘cash & carry one’ But for Mallam Sanusi’s whistle blowing, NNPC would not’ve owned up spending the unaccounted for $10bn or more on operational costs. By the way, who approved the money for NNPC? Let us be sincere! Anonumous

    Dare, “Corruption: the eu to the rescue” will remain brilliant as an expository material on Europeans’ false claim of transparency far above Africans. They are still under their colonial illusion, bathing in self-delusion of superiority over a selected race, African. Corruption was brought to Nigeria principally through international trade with Europe and other foreign countries; predominantly white. And like anything beneficial to converts, it grew in bounds within. Curbing big time corrupt practices would take connivance with European and other countries, who are recipients of stolen funds from Nigeria. The US$2.8billion Gulf War windfall carted away decades ago must have turned around fortunes of the country it was stacked in by 300% now. Your antidote to European deceptive transparency gimmick is the right dose. And that bit on Sanusi’s fallacies and the Oduahgate issue are big lessons too. From Lai Ashadele

    Dear Dare, would it not have been better for you to come out plainly to support curruption than to defend the tolerant attitude of the President over Ms Stella Oduah and others whose stealing habits are smelling all over the place? Tunji, please do not derail. From Vin Chukwu Port Harcourt

    Re: Corruption: The EU to the rescue. So Olatunji Dare, you can be this fair minded to governmental issues. I love you the more. From Folorunso Daniel

    Corruption is boastful achievement in Nigeria whether you like it or not. It is not a suprise, if transparency international and EU come up with their rating toward Nigeria position in corruption intake goverance, because we merited it. The only thing that remains in goverance is to establish ministry of corruption or agency for corruption. It is only in Nigeria that you served public domain without stealing, people would not regard you as somebody even the family you come from. It is unfortunate conduct in Nigeria. God will help us. From Gordon Chika Nnorom, Umukabia

    No president of a country, empirical knowledge confirms, would deliberately want to become a failure to be entered on the wrong side of the nation’s history, no matter what. Jonathan, I am sure, cannot be exception. He inherited a very enomous economic rot of the country left by his predecesors and has been doing his best to turn things around, except that his best has not been good enough to fetch us the needed eldorado. His scorecard so far might not be very impresive but the difference between the economy he inherited and the one he leaves behind at the end of his tenure it is, that should give us the clear picture of how good, bad, worse or worst his overall performance has been, including his war against corruption. Hence, his assurance to leave the country a better place than he met it inspite of the many odds and chalenges facing him. Whatever happens at EU presently notwithstanding. From Emmanuel Egwu

    Sir, in your article, “Corruption: The EU to the rescure”, I have the following questions for you: Is it the entire EU 28 countries budget that is$100bn? If the entire budget was lost to corruption as surgested, was there nothing carried out on both recurrent and capital budgeted expenditure? From Odus Emma

     

    For Gbenga Omotoso

    Gbenga, with what you are writing about PDP and its leaders especially on Mua’zu’s visit to Obasanjo. I hope they will not make you one of the victims of the snipers Obasanjo wrote about? I love your write-ups. Anonymous

    A dead body that has been buried and exhumed cannot be the same again. The pestilent and his erst-while chairman killed the party and buried it, and now somebody who has just woken up from sleep said he would exhume it; it is very far from reality. If Mua’zu wants to succeed in his reconciliatory tour, he should listen to the G7’s demand and work with it; if not, his reputation is at stake. PDP is a rotten egg that needs to be destroyed. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa Lagos

    The CBN governor is a very patriotic Nigerian. For once we have a CBN that can call a spade a spade. Call the NNPC to order. Leakages must be blocked! Enough is enough; period. Anonymous

    We are not surprised, this is just the beginning; more figures are coming. From Hassan Usmania

     

    You are very correct; it is not a personal issue. Sanusi has presented facts, let NNPC counter with its own facts, finish! From Chollom, Abuja

    Either just or unjust, we should not foolishly go to war because of selfish ambition of two friends. When two elephants fight it is the grass that suffers. From Lukman, Kaduna

    Re: Mua’zu visits Obasanjo. After my hard day’s job when I had the time to go through your write-up, I was highly relieved with nerve-cracking laughter I burst into, reading from the beginning to the end of Muazu-Obasanjo Abeokuta discussion. May God settle the party rumpus for them, amen. From Lanre Oseni

     

    For Tunji Adegboyega

    Re: ‘Good riddance’. Even as it sounds and looks belated , I think Mr. President should be appreciated for taking his time to ponder the pros and cons of action on Stella Oduah, most especially that might later sound to some people harsh and others as an after-thought. Ghana is different from Nigeria! It got her political independence in 1957 and in 1981 did what we have been avoiding here, hence the ‘slow decision’ taken on Oduah. Then, what would you write, say or do if at the end of this administration Mr. President fails to relieve Diezani Alison-Madueke of her appointment? Most likely she would stay with the administration to 2015. This is why Mr President deserves commendation on Oduah … Ingredients of development in a decent society are honesty in appreciating a decision made. Remember, some people accused OBJ of harsh and rash decisions even though they were justified. Discipline in Nigeria is lower than Ghanaians. From Lanre Oseni.

    Get it right, what is important is not that Oduah is gone; it is that Jonathan is not sincere about the war on corruption. Anonymous.

    Re: Good riddance: Another view. Recently, I went to Imo Airport to pick up a friend. I was overwhelmed by the new look Imo Airport that I saw. This was in contrast to what I saw two years ago. I said to myself whoever must have remodelled this airport must have a sense of decency and must be an achiever. Despite the scandals, Stella Oduah has taste! She has become the new face of aviation infrastructure in Nigeria of today. She has achieved what her predecessors could not do. For this and many more, I say well done to her. Great achiever, welcome back; you have done us proud. From Chukwuma Dioka, Owerri, Imo State.

    Your argument on Oduahgate is a security risk. N255m cost of bullet-proof cars is not worth more than the figure as written on the pages of newspapers, compared with the safety of ministers. From each according to his ability, to each according to his need! Bullet-proof car is for safety of diplomats and envoys. Will Oduah carry the cars with her out of office? Is Satan not defeated; is Satan not shamed? … The wisdom of God rules the world. Strive, Tunji, to perceive His almightiness. Somebody sacked in Ghana for acquisitiveness is different from security conscious minister who bought bullet-proof cars with N255m. The car in which Murtala Muhammed was shot dead is in the National Museum till today. Can N255m buy the life of General Muhammed back? The wisdom of God rules the world; strive through your recognition, Tunji, to perceive His omniscience. The only reason I can adduce to the President’s clamour of social agitators over Oduah is that the agitators had no point. Oduah did not steal the money, there is administrative protocol that brought papers to her table to sign and she signed. You only call the pot black to give it a bad name. Anonymous.

    We don’t need any prophetic statement from anybody to understand that the President actually got his mind made up for him to remove Stella Oduah. Mr. President does not believe in fighting corruption. Because Sanusi spoke the truth about the missing money, he asked Sanusi to resign immediately while he kept Oduah in office for close to five months. History is on the side of the oppressed. From Hamza Ozi Momoh, Apapa, Lagos.

    The qualification to engage in corruption and go scot free goes thus: you must belong to the specie that perm their hair, use lipsticks, and have the mammary glands. Having a light skin will be a big plus. Now, the biggest mistake anyone will make is to conclude that President Jonathan eased Oduah out because of the jersey of … that she wore so fittingly, no! Do not be surprised to see her resurface in a couple of months with her so-called Neighbour-to-Neighbour stuff! Expecting this President to fight corruption is the same thing as waiting for him to self-destruct. From Simon Oladapo, Ogbomoso.

     

  • Nigerian civil service at threshold of the future [1]

    Nigeria, undoubtedly, is in the threshold of history. There are commendable development strides in the governance space which, if deepened and accelerated, will soon redefine Nigeria’s global reckoning. But the key words are ‘deepening and acceleration’ which entail balancing ‘doing the right thing’ and ‘doing it right’. Deepening means doing things differently, doing some magic of a sort and here disciplined execution is key. My concern in this attempt to extend discourse on political leadership into the realm of institutional reengineering is resolving the whole issue of ‘execution trap’ through getting the government implementation machinery, the civil service, capability ready in the assumption that sufficient transformational leadership commitment and passion drives the development process.

    The global world today only recognises those states which are distinguished by their economic competitiveness as well as their democratic governance profile. This explains the many global instruments that track economic growth and development worldwide. For instance, the Global Competitiveness Report, published by the World Economic Forum, assesses the competitive strength of over 150 states, spanning the MINT and the BRICS, the Arab world, Latin America and the Caribbean, the European Union, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of the Report is to benchmark those factors that hinder or aid national economic competitiveness. Competitiveness is defined as ‘the set of institutions, policies and factors that determine the level of productivity of a country.’ And so, in mapping competitiveness, the Report outlines twelve pillars that are crucial for any state which wants to achieve sustainable growth: institutions, infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education, higher education and training, goods market efficiency, labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological readiness, market size, business sophistication and innovation from technological and non-technological knowledge.

    In the ranking for 2013-2014, Nigeria is ranked 120 out of 148 on the Index, with a score of 3.57 out of 7. The 120 ranking is a drop from 117 in the 2012-2013 ranking. South Africa is the first African country that made a strong appearance at number 53 with a score of 4.37. In terms of the strength of institutions, Nigeria is ranked a dismal 129 out of 148. The emphasis of the World Economic Forum on institutions as a critical component of the basic requirements for growth and development brings home cogently the nexus between leadership effectiveness and the crisis of institutions in Nigeria. In those series, we submitted that it is the strength of the institutions that determine the quality of leadership, and leadership itself sets the template for the evolution of such strong institutions in the first place. It is therefore the synergy between the strong leader and the strong institutions that guarantees competitiveness and growth.

    A nation’s productivity profile becomes the first point at which the development process begins to hurt a state’s governance template. However, increasing the productivity level involves rethinking a country’s institutional capacity to address multifarious issues arising from internal and external dynamics. Institutional capacity speaks to the urgent need for a capable developmental state that would serve as the focal framework for enacting and implementing good governance policies. States that overcome their developmental problems are usually developmental states. And developmental state automatically also assumes the existence of a leadership arrowhead that gives direction to a common national agenda and processes.

    However, no state can ever hope to become developmental except it can rely on an efficient and effective civil service system that would facilitate the smooth transformation of government policies into a fast and democratic service delivery that will impact positively on the lives of the citizens. Thus, a developmental state is itself made capable by a development oriented civil service that channels inputs into deliverable outputs. The last centenary of the evolution of the Nigerian civil service demonstrates that this institution requires a huge dose of rejuvenation that would not only redeem it from its amalgamated logic, but, much more significant, would also strengthen it as the solid institutional link between the past and the future. When the Nigerian civil service began its evolutionary journey in 1954, it came into a host of problems which are the consequences of attempting to adapt a foreign structure on local realities. The evolving institution therefore had to undergo series of reform, mediated by several commissions and committees, to panel-beat the civil service system into shape for the task of post-independence reconstruction in Nigeria.

    In our recent series on the centenary of the Nigerian civil service, we highlighted the most significant of these reforms. We outline the fact that the civil service was given birth to with the tentative hope that it would, through the many reforms, acquire the capacities and competences needed to drive the engine of socio-economic growth in postcolonial Nigeria. However, we eventually came to the conclusion that in spite of the valiant, century-long efforts made on behalf of the civil service system, the institution is still some steps away from delivering capacities, competences and public goods; it is still struggling to attain the status of a world class institution. The reason, essentially, is that within a century, we missed two transformatory moments which the historical dynamics of our evolvement compelled us to confront and utilise.

    The first is the historic lesson, within the context of the development of the regional civil services, which points at the benefits of a synergy between the political and the administrative leadership as the foundation of a thriving civil service. The successes of the Awolowo-Adebo model of administration, however, have not been translated into the core of our reform efforts. The second transformation moment that was lost was the failure by the military leadership to heed the warning of the Udoji Commission Report on the need for a managerial transformation of the civil service system. If that warning had been heeded, the Nigerian civil service would have successfully installed a performance management system that would bring the institution to a delivery mode required to transform policies to demonstrable developmental outcomes.

    The Nigerian civil service is now confronted with the prospect of another century, and therefore the urgent need to rethink its historical dynamics, institutional readiness and transformatory potentials. I have attempted to do all these within the context of a forthcoming book titled: The Nigerian Civil Service of the Future. This eighteen-chapter book is an intellectual effort to retrieve the two transformatory moments within the historical dynamics of the evolution of the Nigerian civil service. The book projects an optimistic and demonstrable theoretical and practical trajectory of how the past of this institution can become a foothold of strength from which to launch the achievements of the next centenary. The Nigerian Civil Service of the Future is meant to serve as a reform blueprint for jumpstarting the debate about institutional renewal and democratic consolidation of the civil service.

    More than ever before, the Nigerian civil service must prepare for its own future. And that future, according to Walter Mosley, is what we make of it. It would consist of the optimism with which we prepare, the alacrity with which we redouble our efforts, the foresight we bring into our prognosis, the determination with which we rethink our administrative and historical dynamics, and the boldness of our decisions. The forthcoming book roadmaps several issues, landmines and detours, stretching from the past in 1954 to the present—represented by the reform efforts from 1999 to the present Transformation Agenda of the current administration. These issues, landmines and detours constitute the core of the administrative arsenal by which we can take informed steps and decisions into a future already mapped by the lessons of where the rain began to beat us.

    In the next part of this series, we will make effort to highlight and outline the structure and basic arguments and practical guides which form the basis of the forthcoming book. Suffice to say, in conclusion, that the future of the Nigerian civil service is not a joking matter; the political and the administrative leadership cannot therefore be caught taking it lightly. Our next centenary depends on it.

    Dr. Olaopa is

    Permanent Secretary

    Federal Ministry of Communication Technology

    Abuja

    tolaopa2003@gmail.com

  • A vote against public smoking

    The Lagos State House of Assembly is a good case study of how the legislative arm of government can serve as tool for social engineering. From the child’s right law, building control law, tenancy law, law against illegal trading at unauthorised places to the Lagos traffic law, Lagos state has used emphasis of laws as a means of controlling and regulating unhealthy public conduct.

    Presently, the House has gone ahead to settle once and for all the face-off between public health activists and pro-tobacco lobbyists by passing the Anti-smoking Bill on Monday, January 20, 2014.

    As one of the most common and unhealthy of human habits, smoking, generally in public, had been regarded as a personal choice that bystanders had little control over.

    Now, for the first time and in the first state in Nigeria, the act of public smoking will be regulated when assent is given to the bill. Smokers will still be available to freely smoke in their own homes, in privacy, still able to enjoy themselves while bystanders will be protected from risks associated with smoking.

    Tobacco use is said to have killed at least one billion people worldwide this century, with 10 million lives estimated to die by 2020 and 70 percent of these deaths to occur in developing nations, Nigeria inclusive. According to the World Health Organisation, WHO, second-hand smoke contributes to over 600,000 deaths per year, from causing conditions such as serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. The Organisation, however, concluded that 300 million deaths from tobacco could be prevented in the next 50 years by cutting adult cigarette consumption in half worldwide.

    For years it has been the opinion of many health professionals, Tobacco control advocates like Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance that eliminating cigarette smoking is one of the most important thing that could be done to improve the health of the people.

    If the risk factor of public smoking is assessed, there is no doubt that only a handful of pro-tobacco beneficiaries will question the appropriateness of the proposed new law. Meanwhile, while still awaiting the governor’s assent, it is important to start educating the masses on purposes the law is aimed to serve as one cannot rule out protest and disinformation by lobbyists oppose to the law.

    Whereas the effects of other self-indulgent, personally harmful behaviors, are more singularly linked to the participant, the injurious effects of smoking in public spill over into other people’s lives with a more consistent, tangible, and (sometimes) permanent impact. This proposed new law is to protect second-hand smokers from injurious effects of smoking in public places and save government cost of treating patients with tobacco related ailments. In summary, the law is coming out to protect public interest which is what good governance is all about.

    Smoking of cigarettes is known to increase the risk of death and disease from lung cancer, from chronic obstructive lung disease such as emphysema, and from heart disease. Second-hand smoke exposure is clearly linked with negative outcomes on one’s health. While the exact degree of the harm is still debated, it’s increasingly harder to make a case that second-hand smoke causes no significant injury to the breather – especially over longer periods of time. From cancer to heart disease, the scientific evidence has mounted for decades now.

     It is evident that introducing this ban that prohibits smoking in public would benefit Lagosians greatly. Prohibiting public smoking has lots of benefits.  For one, it protects anyone who doesn’t smoke, especially kids to avoid secondhand smoke. It equally helps in ensuring that public places become less toxic. Additionally, it reduces the effect of air pollution while by standers won’t have to worry about their health. Perhaps, more importantly, it reduces the possibilities of bystanders contacting smoke related diseases and hazards.

     Tobacco control advocates like Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria Tobacco Control Alliance, a coalition of groups and individuals united in their fight against “Big Tobacco”, deserve applause for providing critical support along the way. Hopefully other state houses of assembly will follow suit while the National Assembly will pass the Tobacco Control Bill.

    Musbau is of the Features Unit, Lagos State Ministry of Information and Strategy.

  • Falana, when will you mind your own business?

    My dear FF, your frequent interventions in national affairs these days are getting me worried about how you harness your energies, time and resources at this critical period in your life. I read your statements on police permit for rallies, the kerosene subsidy palaver and the latest was your letter to the Auditor General of the Federation on the missing $20 billion illegally withheld from the Federation Account by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    In your letter dated February 7, you demanded a comprehensive audit of the federation account by the Auditor General of the Federation in order to reconcile the conflicting figures of both the Central Bank of Nigeria and the NNPC. You also threatened to take appropriate legal actions against the Auditor-General if he failed to act on your letter. You and I know that this was not the first time money will be missing from the NNPC.

    It started way back in 1977 when Vera Ifudu of the NTA had an exclusive interview with Senator Olusola Saraki on the findings of the Senate Committee that investigated the discovery of $2.8 billion in the account of a notable military officer in a Midland Bank branch in London.

    The Senate Committee’s findings contradicted those of the Justice Ayo Irikefe Panel which absolved the military officer from any wrong doing. Dr. Tai Solarin who helped in spreading the “rumour” through his column in the Nigerian Tribune was advised by Justice Irikefe to mind his own business when he failed to substantiate his claim when he appeared before the panel. Solarin’s confession that he heard about the missing money inside a molue angered Irikefe and his colleagues.

    I commend your consistency and commitment to the struggle for a just and better society, responsible leadership and good governance. However, I must warn that you have gotten to a stage in your life when you have to reflect on your activism and your participation capacity considering your age and your expanded family commitments, having attained the status of a grandfather. Just last month, I read that you lost your son-in-law, Juwon Majekodunmi, who got married to your daughter just a year ago. This may not have any direct connection to the struggle, it is just a way of telling you that there is need to re-strategise and possibly deploy and re-channel some of these energies and resources into some personal endeavours.

    I am concerned about the fact that after almost 35 years of “active activism” you are not showing signs of either withdrawing from it or slowing down the tempo of your anger against the nation’s political leadership. I must acknowledge though that your serial interventions in the Nigerian project have really helped us to achieve the little sanity that we have today, I still feel that the time has come for you to watch from the terrace or the sidelines how the game would be played without your involvement. The history of your activism is replete with so many instances of your confrontations with governments and their security agencies. Some of them were as dangerous as they were lethal. The number of persecutions you have suffered in the course of ensuring that our leaders govern the people, according to their oath of office and the laws of the land, is so massive that we your friends believe that only God could have made you survive them all, at least to date.

    I do not know of any government since the time of Alhaji Shehu Shagari in 1979 that you have not had dangerous encounters with. You were unsparing in your attack and condemnation of the high voltage profligacy and police brutality witnessed under the Shagari administration. You could not conceal your anger and bitterness against the outrageous electoral fraud and madness which characterised the 1983 elections nationwide. I must admit, however, that the Shagari administration was full of all kinds of evil capable of destabilising the mental constitution of even the most sober individual in Nigeria. It was a government of brigands. The brushes you had with the Buhari-Idiagbon administration were provoked by Buhari’s slide into tyranny after enjoying popular support from the people for overthrowing the Shagari’s administration. You also revolted against the Buhari administration’s decision to withdraw meal subsidy from all our universities. You protested and fumed against this oppressive policy but all to no avail. The kinds of travails you went through during the regime of Ibrahim Babangida were such that only a man of steel could have survived them. I remember very well that you, Beko and Gani were sent to Kuje Prison purposely because the government of IBB felt that was the only way to break you and your obstinacy.

    Ernest Shonekan could not even sit properly because of your incessant attacks on the constitutionality of his government. As an eye witness to some of these events, I can confirm that your presence at the daily protest at Ikeja under-bridge was instrumental to the dramatic step aside decision of Ibrahim Babangida. It was a fight-to-the-finish battle with the Abacha regime as you, Gani and Beko took his government to the cleaners with your vitriolic protestations against his despotic activities.

    My dear friend, I think there are some defects, structural and systemic, in our Aluta strategy. Have you not observed that all our past struggles/Alutas have only led to changes in characters and styles? Just when you think you have dealt with a Babangida and his antics, another character, possibly more evil than Babangida, for instance, an Abacha, would later surface on stage with his own style, his own evil, his own corruption, his own despotic and tyrannic tendencies and exploits and then, the struggle continues. What can we do to end the struggle? When do we have time to mind our own personal business? What profits do we derive from a national struggle that saps our youthful energies and faculties, and also threatens the peace of our old age? What is more pathetic is that some of our people, previously engaged and involved in this struggle, have been blighted by the struggles one-step forward, twenty-steps backward scenario, and have either joined them, the so-called oppressors, or have been settled to keep mute in the midst of evil, or have been disabled physically, mentally, spiritually and economically. You and I might have been favoured to still remain alive, blessed and prosperous, but does that confer on us any moral authority to berate those who have committed class suicide having seen the vanity and futility of a struggle that remains as it was in the beginning and appears to want to remain like that forever? The struggle may be your life but your life does not have to be all about struggles.

    That is why the Yoruba say: ta ba dagba a ye ogun ja, meaning our involvement in ware fare is halted by old age

    My dear friend, your involvement in the struggle at this age (approaching 60 years) illustrates one thing: that our generation has failed in evolving a succession plan. When I see Dr. Dipo Fasina (Jingo) still doing aluta at his age, I chuckle at our succession failure. If we started in our 20s and we have been involved in active engagement for more than three decades, what is wrong in handing over to some of our youths who have the vibrancy and the passion for activism? Is it that we don’t have confidence in them or we think they lack the capacity for revolutionary resilience? For all you know, some of these youths are not coming out because they see that some of you, the older generation, are unwilling to quit the stage for them or reluctant to carry them along because you seem to be enjoying the glamour and the publicity of activism.

    Your dominance and intimidating profiles are sufficient enough to scare these youths off the stage. We need to help them build their confidence and make them know that activism is not just about noise-making but about our individual commitment to a struggle that concerns our collective survival. Activism is not, and should not be, about intense competition for economic or political space but about how to use the available space to create some utilitarian value for all the occupants of the space. I am sorry to have introduced the age dimension into an issue that recognises no limitations in whatever respects. But who will not be bothered about the wastefulness of energy, time and resources which go into the campaign for a just society, a transparent process, and an accountable system? I am worried that the response and attitude of the state or the government to all the missing funds and corruption allegations are too perfunctory, unserious and unconvincing. What is more, the same citizens whose economic interests are being protected here, are the same people that are being mobilised for the neutralisation and circumvention of the campaign and the struggle. The Stella Oduah saga readily comes to mind. I still remember vividly how people carried placards to support her action because she is from their village. When, therefore, a struggle is developing complexities and such inexplicable contradictions or paradoxes, we need to re-evaluate the strategy of the struggle in order not to endanger the process of attaining the desired objective by unwittingly encouraging the abandonment of the beneficiaries of the struggle. Every struggle needs the people, hence the regular orientation and enlightenment of the masses. There should also be justification and rationale for our action, otherwise the campaign may end up relapsing into ineffectuality. For any struggle to sustain its objective, it is important to consider inclusiveness because of the potency of number as nothing tangible can be achieved from a struggle that notates exclusions.

    Femoo, I want you to tell me in all sincerity if you were not frustrated and disappointed when you were rejected by your own people in Ekiti when you contested for the governorship of the state on the platform of the National Conscience Party (NCP) in 2003. You must have been (mis)led into politics and the governorship race by the illusion (or is it impression) that your popularity and fame as an activist of untainted reputation would get you into power. Again, you would have thought that it was an opportunity for the people to compensate you for your activism over the years and for your past sacrifices to ensure good governance in Nigeria even at the point of death. Were you not shocked and bemused that the same people who refused to vote for you as the governor of Ekiti State enthroned a clown and a clueless fellow like Ayodele Fayose as the governor of a state like Ekiti which boasts of nothing less than three to four professors from every community. What do we call this? An anomaly? A paradox? Political ingratitude? An irony? A contradiction? Whatever name we give to it, there is no justification at all for an enlightened state like Ekiti to have opted for a Fayose where there is a Falana. Any system, nay, any society, where this kind of aberration is encouraged, is sliding into insanity. Though, some people claimed that you were unable to effectively fund your campaign, should that be an excuse for your rejection? Were your selfless sacrifices for the nation not sufficient to obliterate every financial disability? Were your incarcerations not enough to generate goodwill in place of financial insufficiency? Was the humiliation you were subjected to before you were made a SAN, when virtually all your juniors in the Bar had been made SAN, not an opportunity for the Ekiti people to console their son who was being persecuted for fighting an evil society?

    The truth is that our people are as confused as our nation. I salute your courage, my friend, because despite this rejection, you were quick to recover and, in no time, resumed your participation in the national struggle again. You refused to be frustrated by the system and the people of your state. You refused to allow the setback you suffered in your political ambition to affect your commitment to the people of Nigeria. But I must submit that the system or society that did this to you was unfair and unjust. I am not trying to rake up any animosity between you and your people but it is important that we all learn one or two lessons from your episode so that tomorrow a Kayode Fayemi will not lose election to an ungrateful Labourer, or a poultry thief or a failed banker. Or an Aregbesola losing election to a peripatetic rogue. We must as a people begin to learn how to reward people’s diligence and selfless services to their fatherland instead of commercialising our electoral potentials/assets.

    What I love about you, my dear friend, is that you have never accepted any political appointments despite having been offered on so many occasions. You, Gani Fawehinmi and Beko Ransome-Kuti declined political offices/appointments because you thought that it was a way of inducing compromise. Imagine what would have happened if you had served under Babangida, Abacha, Obasanjo or Jonathan. Your present campaign against NNPC’s missing funds and the kerosene subsidy would have been weakened by sentiments and partisanship. And once a struggle lacks credibility, it becomes very easy to discredit the campaigner.

    It is disheartening, though, that you will fight against a particular bad government or system, and when it is time to appoint people into the new government, some clowns and charlatans who never participated in the struggle will come from nowhere to come and reap from where they did not sow. Such is life.

    I am tempted to ask you to consider spending the rest of your life in the service of GOD by joining us in the Redemption Camp. But I am not too sure if you will not continue your struggle by descending on our redeemed pastors and their “flamboyant” lifestyles. This may be a very dangerous adventure.

    God, Himself, may be forced to ask you “why you are criticising another man’s servant.” In the church, struggle is regarded as a rebellion while activism is seen as a mutiny against the “heavenly hosts”. Remember that you left the Catholic Church as a page boy when you could not condone or agree with some of their doctrines. I want to believe that you are still very bitter with the Church. God does not encourage rebellion, so, I advise you to mind your domestic business by spending more time with Funmi. Folarin, Folakemi and Foladele. My dear friend, you need some rest after a long battle with this evil society.

  • Future of Journalism: Media operators need to be more radical

    Future of Journalism: Media operators need to be more radical

    Is the future of journalism in trouble? Will newspapers, magazines and broadcast media become extinct? What will replace them? Questions, questions and questions…
    JOKE KUJENYA sought answers in this discourse with Mr. Taiwo Obe, Founder and Moderator, EverythingJournalism, a LinkedIn e-forum and Director, the Journalism Clinic and Nigeria Director, Innovation Media Consulting.

    What’s the future of journalism in Nigeria in this age of digital media and economic uncertainty?

    My take on that is that there are lots to contend with. There’s the fast way on how the news is spread on social media. There’s the hard data on which stories sell faster, which website had the highest hit and the psychological connection between how we think and how what drives sharing? For us in Nigeria, it’s time to be bold and go for gold in the way the media is operated. It’s about recognising figuratively that “the future is in our hands.

    What exactly are you suggesting can be done?

    What has to be done applies to both managers of media and professionals to know that under our hands are the future. It’s all under our control; no one else can do for us what we can do for ourselves. I am using my license to stretch it to mean that, only what you do with your hands -your skills -can make you get ahead in the future. US President Barack Obama in June 2013 told a group of youths at a Soweto university that ‘the future of the continent is in your hands.’ Of course, we all know that he was speaking metaphorically. He was more or less telling them, “yes, you can.” The simple message I have for media owners and the professionals who work in the media is: it is time to use our heads our brains more than our hands. In October 2013, figures released by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), show there were 121.8million active telephone lines in Nigeria. A global market research firm, TNS, in its report, ‘Navigating growth in Africa,’ also states that with no fewer than 26million Smartphone users, Nigeria closely follows South Africa as the second biggest market in Africa.

    Can you explain what this implies for our situation?

    I am saying that in internet penetration, Nigeria beats all other countries on the continent, with 45million users. This is according to the latest figures on connectivity rates in Africa from the Internet World Stats. In 2000, there were 4.5 million connected users. And this takes me back to Obama. Let’s use that license again and interpret his admonition as: only the skills you possess will put you in good stead in the future. If we are going on that literal train, then, I would rather the US President had told the youth: the future of the continent is in your heads. Because in this age, he who knows, rules the world. This is the plank I am standing on in gazing at the future of journalism in Nigeria.

    Well, using the international standard in our own situation may not gel. So, what point are you making specifically?

    The point to ponder is, do rising numbers really mean much to our media owners? Or, and even, the journalists themselves? In my view, it should be because the future of journalism, they better believe, revolves around how Smartphone and internet users are maximally engaged, by the content that our media houses and the individuals provide. When you look at Innovation Media Consulting, which has been described as McKinsey of Journalism Business, it has proved with lots of success stories that “good journalism is good business. That’s why the way forward for journalism in Nigeria is about what we know or how we think: the future, yes, is in our heads. It is just simply ‘Never complain about the things you can change. If you don’t like something, change it or change the way you think about it as Joshua Davidson, speaker, start-up advisor and founder @ChopDawgStudios, often says. Let me give a few examples; in November 2007, at the Ibero-American Summit in Santiago, Chile, late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, railed on former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, calling him a ‘fascist’ and that ‘fascist are not human. A snake is more human. Then, Spain’s King Juan Carlos, who was at the meeting, pointed a finger at Chavez and in Spanish asked him, “Why don’t you shut up.” Of course, that was headline news on the networks and papers. It was also a hit on YouTube. But someone used his head and deployed technology to deft and profitable use. He got an actor in a bid to avoid legal issues concerning any breach of King Carlos’ image rights -to mimic the King asking “Why don’t you shut up?” and with sound effects added, a ringtone was born. No fewer than 500,000 people have reportedly downloaded the insult, generating a reported US$2m. There are branded mugs, t-shirts and all sorts of stuff that have been produced from this.

    What exactly are you driving at?

    If you follow several of Nigeria’s online portals which aggregate stories about international celebrities, you would have noticed that many of these stories come from Mail Online. What this has meant for Mail Online is increased web traffic. Indeed, since last July, the site has had 33per cent growth in monthly web traffic reaching 161million unique visitors. Someone is surely thinking at the Mail. Yes. Aware that at least 70per cent of all web traffic originates predominantly from the US, Mail Online moved to acquire dailymail.com, so as to migrate from dailymail.co.uk. Also, according to a news report, after ‘lengthy negotiations’, Daily Mail paid ‘excess of one million pounds’ to a paper in the US which held the dailymail.com address. Not only that, the Mail has double its staff strength in the US. Why not? The Mail will charge advertisers in the US premium price for this huge traffic; and it is targeting revenues of 60 million pounds in 2014. Surely, rival news sites such as independent.co.uk and Telegraph.co.uk would have to do something quite radical, if they are not going to be left bruised.

    Good for the Mail… What can we do in Nigeria?

    If journalism in Nigeria has to move anywhere, the drivers have to do a few things radically. They have to start seeing their media -newspapers, radio, TV -as brands and their readers, viewers and listeners as audiences and meet them wherever they are. The journalists also have to see themselves as content providers. In June 2010, David Carey became president of the Hearst Magazines, after being president of Conde Nast. In January 2011, he put out a challenge to himself and his team: “Let’s dramatically dial up our entrepreneurial thinking. Let’s put a final stake in the heart of ‘playing it safe’. Let’s move out of our comfort zone. Let’s think of ourselves as inventors and pioneers who just happen to find themselves in a well-funded start-up. The team listened and acted. Just one example of what happened thereafter, according to an interview with Carey as published in the Innovations in Magazine Media 2012 World Report, Says Carey: “Kate White, the brilliant editor of Cosmo, came up with the idea for Cosmo for Guys. We knew men were readers of Cosmo, but it was hard to get them to read the magazine in a public setting. We knew 30 per cent of traffic to the Cosmo website was male – men trying to figure out women, and vice versa, go back to the beginning of time. With that knowledge, we launched Cosmo for Guys, an iPad-only product, last summer with a radical promotional idea built by the editorial team using new technology. The iPad head girl video went viral with 700,000 views in a matter of days (by January 2012, it was up to 1.2m views). So, we were able to use a viral video to help create a new editorial brand. The video resulted in the sale of thousands of subscriptions, and the video itself hit the top 30 on YouTube. From that excerpt, you would see the power of knowledge and technology. Nigerian journalism can’t play in the future while continuing to do business the way it has always done it in the past. It is also imperative that, going forward, professionals with the know in all the various areas that the digital age has spurn have to be engaged to provide solutions. I have seen some journalists armed with three Smartphones in addition to a Blackberry, but you won’t find them on Twitter or LinkedIn, in an age when serious journalists are using the social networks to crowd-source and folks who are not trained journalists are creating blogs which draw huge traffic.

    So, what advice would you give?

    What I would say is that like the case of these journalists: citizen journalists have taken over your jobs; better wake up. I doubt if many of our journalists have heard of the One-Man Band (OMB). No, I am not talking about Jimi Solanke or his like. I am talking about that solo journalist who carries out multiple roles: shoots, edits and write his stories. This reporter is also called Solo Video Journalist (SVJ); Backpack Journalist; Multimedia Journalist. To be sure this brand of journalism had evolved in the early 1990s with the New York 1 news channel being the first to hire only video journalists. In the late 1990s, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, as a cost-saving measure, hired video or journalists or retrained existing journalists or camera man in video journalism. Various other broadcasters such as the BBC and even newspapers such as the New York Times have at one time or the other had or still have one-man-band journalists. Let me assure you that OMB will still be with us for much longer. One major reason for this is technology. When you next see a horde of reporters crowding one politician at an event, you look at what they are pointing at his mouth: their mobile phones. Only a few now use the Digital Voice Recorder for on-the-spot voice and video recordings. Even so, OMB journalism has not developed here as it has in the advanced world where access to even more sophisticated equipment including portable satellite dishes are being deployed by journalists who are either working independently or for news channels. But, I can assure you that for economic reasons, the bug will catch on. And, you must begin to get ready. “This is obviously the direction that much of the industry is going,” states Eric Olsen, a video journalist with the New York Times. He adds: “Being a digital journalist today, despite the troubles the industry as a whole is facing, is one of the most exciting and interesting occupations around

  • Once upon Oyo’s dry taps

    The Ipad generation of Nigerian youths may find it difficult conceiving of water beyond sachet/bottled water and boreholes, but time was in this country when the taps actually flowed. In many parts of the country, as late as the early 90s, very early in the morning – or as dusk came calling – a siege of pails and buckets usually surrounded the taps mounted in strategic places nearly on every street in town, and daily water needs were met amid lively chatter and theatrics.

    In the Pace Setter state, the last time anyone enjoyed such a luxury, as pipe-borne water would later sadly become, was in 1996. This is no surprise: both local and international observers agree that water and sanitation coverage rates in Nigeria are amongst the lowest in the world. On a national scale, access to an improved water source stagnated at 47 per cent from 1990 to 2006. It is no surprise then that conservative estimates cite access to adequate sanitation as decreasing from 39 per cent in 1990 to 35 per cent in 2010.

    With no functional water supply in Oyo State, life rapidly deteriorated in the state. Open defecation even in the daytime and in the full glare of the public was routine, and Ibadan, the state capital, became almost synonymous with filth and degradation, even when it retained its lead position as a centre of commerce and intellectualism. The Water Corporation of Oyo state, a public corporation carved out of the Western Nigeria Water Corporation in 1976, always had seven directorates and four units, with its headquarters at the Secretariat, Ibadan and district offices located at Agodi, Bodija, Egbeda, Jericho, Oke-Ado, Ogbomoso, Oyo and Saki.  It had a vision to ensure uninterrupted provision of potable water for the use of the people the state at reasonable charges, with clearly spelt out objectives of production and distribution of potable water for the use of human and agro-cultural purposes through construction, installation and operation of necessary water infrastructure on behalf of the Oyo State government. Among the other charges were, to control and manage all water works vested in the corporation; to establish, control, manage, extend and develop new schemes and to extend and develop existing ones as the corporation may deem necessary for the purpose of providing adequate water in order to meet the requirement of the general public, agriculture, trade and industry in various parts of Oyo State; to ensure that potable water is supplied to the consumer thereof at reasonable charges and in potable quality and adequate quantity and, finally, to organize the conduct of comprehensive research for the purpose corporation from time to time on matters relating to its function under law.

    But has it supplied water in the last 17 years?

    The first week of January 2014 came with great news for the people of Oyo State, as Senator Abiola Ajimobi, the state governor, commissioned the N262 million ultra-modern water treatment plant at the Asejire, ending the 17 years woe in the state and the neighbouring communities. With a production capacity of 186,000 cubic meters of water per day, the Asejire scheme is the largest water production scheme in the state, supplying potable water to 85 per cent of the entire populace in Ibadan metropolis, as well as the communities of Ikire, Ikoyi and Apomu in the neighbouring Osun State. The project, awarded just six months earlier by the state government as part of efforts towards increasing the volume of potable water supply to the people of Ibadan metropolis, saw eight out of the 10 pumps rehabilitated with 100 per cent efficiency, and critical water treatment units functioning well.

    When the Ajimobi admnistration came on board, the water treatment plants in the state were operating at a miserly eight per cent capacity utilisation due, as the governor himself admitted during the commissioning of the Asejire scheme, to “un-imaginable neglect by past administrations and the managerial deficiencies of erstwhile operators.”

    Water equipment was obsolete and decrepit, partly because spare parts for their maintenance were not available and supply was perpetually interrupted. And so following a needs analysis, Governor Ajimobi said, government awarded contracts for the construction of Ayete Water Supply Scheme, to supply water to Tapa, Idere and Ayete communities; dedicated a power line to Saki Water Supply Scheme and rehabilitated a dedicated power line to Ogbomoso water supply schemes.

    It also extended pipelines to new areas throughout the state, upgrading of water treatment facilities at Koso and Atori Waterworks in Iseyin. What is more, the comprehensive replacement and repair of all electro-mechanical components at all water supply schemes and booster stations in the state, upgrading and rehabilitation of Oyo Water Supply Scheme, rehabilitation and upgrading of Igboho Water Supply Scheme, expansion works on Igbetti and Ogbomoso Water Supply Scheme, revalidation of construction of Ilero Water Supply Scheme and laying of New Rising Mains from Eruwa to Igboora (Phase I & II) all fitted smoothly into the administration’s plan to provide potable water to the masses of the state, long traumatised by visionless politicians in khaki or agbada.  While eliminating the incidence of water-borne diseases, the plant can conveniently supply about 150 million litres of water to about four million residents of Ibadan and its environs on a daily basis.

    Now, the functioning water supply schemes in Oyo State are Asejire, Eleyele, Eruwa , Oyo, Iseyin, Saki, Kisi, Ogbomoso and Igbeti Waterworks. Specifically, the projects approved, completed, on-going or about to be awarded include the following: reclaiming of Eleyele Waterworks after the flood incidence of year 2011; rehabilitation and upgrading of Asejire Water treatment plants and purchase and installation of modern analytical equipment for the state Central Laboratory, Asejire. Others are the purchase of water treatment chemicals as and when due; payment for electricity used as and when due;  and relocation of pipes at Bodija Restoration Bridge, Mokola Fly-over Bridge, Eleyele/Dugbe Dualised Road, Efunsetan/Challenge Road, Iseyin Dualised Road and Ogbomoso Dualised Road; construction of Ayete/Tapa/Idere Water Supply Scheme; rehabilitation and expansion of Igbetti Water Supply Scheme; repair of filter beds and replacement of spent filter media at Oyo, Saki and Eruwa Water Supply Schemes;  and rehabilitation of dedicated power line at Ogbomoso Water Supply Scheme. There is also the construction of dedicated power line at Saki Water Supply Scheme; construction of dedicated power line to Eruwa Water Supply Scheme; purchase and installation of electro-mechanical components for all water supply schemes throughout the state; purchase and installation of New High and Low Lift Pumps and 500KVA Generator for Eruwa Water Supply Scheme; electro-mechanical rehabilitation of Igboho Water Scheme and laying of new rising mains from Eruwa Water Supply Scheme to Igboora township (Phase I & II).

    Others are bulk purchase of pipes and other repair materials; purchase and installation of 875/1000KVA generator for Agodi and Bodija booster stations respectively; upgrading of Koso and Atori Water Supply Schemes at Iseyin; extension of pipelines to new areas all over the state and construction of Ilero water supply schemes, and  the purchase of computer sets and other accessories, the state having  secured an African Development Bank loan for the urban water supply and sanitation for Ibadanland. There was also the purchase and Installation of gas plants for Asejire Water Supply Scheme and, of course, the construction of mini water supply schemes for other urban communities in the state.

    With the massive infrastructural development ongoing in the state, the restoration of pipe-borne water is a fitting tribute to the vision of a competent manager of men and materials determined to institute a new order, and restore Oyo State to the path of progress charted by the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo.

     

    • Ismail lives in Ibadan, Oyo State.

     

  • Igbo Presidency and Ohanaeze’s delusion

    It never ceases to baffle the kind of personalities that are being saddled with the responsibility of running the affairs of apex Igbo socio-cultural organization Ohanaeze Ndigbo. Just like every other organisation, Ohanaeze had its crises before now, and many had thought that the organisation has been repositioned with responsive and responsible leaders who can work for the collective interest of the Igbos at all times. But that appears not to be the situation for now, going by the recent action of the president of the organisation, Chief Gary Nnachi Enwo-Igariwey .

    Igariwey was in the news recently following his arrangee visit to the former governor of Abia State, Orji Uzor Kalu at his Abuja residence on the pretext of prevailing on him to shelve his 2015 presidential ambition.

    If I may recall, Kalu has consistently denied having presidential ambition in 2015 ever before now. So which presidential ambition did Igariwey visit Kalu on behalf of the organisation to prevail on him to shelve or was the drama an attempt by Kalu to seek political relevance ahead of the 2015 general elections?

    Nigerians may not be surprised to discover that the visit was arranged by Kalu and his political allies, one of them a former senator from the same state with Igariwey. If not, where and when did the Ohanaeze leadership sit and agree to send Igariwey to visit Kalu and prevail on him to shelve his 2015 presidential ambition?

    Why was Igariwey alone on the visit, instead of going with other members of his executives? That speaks volume of the circumstances surrounding the arrangee visit, and what it was meant to achieve for those behind it. Besides, the grave silence of members of the executive is a sign that they may be or are beneficiaries of the charade.

    It is an indisputable fact that there is no way Kalu’s alleged 2015 presidential ambition will be a problem to the unity of Igbos in 2015. How would the ambition of a man who has not attended any meeting convened by the Ohanaeze Ndigbo or any other Igbo groups since he left office as the governor of Abia State be a problem to Igbo unity? Even the Njiko Igbo group which he floated sometime ago to feather his political nest has since lost its voice and presence in the polity. Of what political value was Kalu to the Igbos when and after he left office in 2007 as governor of Abia State, apart from opening political fights against his people, and making unguarded utterances in the media?

    Who among Kalu’s colleagues in the zone is still grandstanding politically? Is it Chimaroke Nnamani, Sam Egwu, Achike Udenwa or Chinwoke Mbadinuju? They have all cued in to work with their people for the good of the zone. If, Kalu has such political value and acumen as he, his allies, and Igariwey want the world to believe by the visit, why was he unable to manage the success of his party in Imo and Abia states in 2007?

    Why has he been so desperate to return to PDP, instead of teaming up with the members of the major opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC) to prove his political worth in 2015?

    Besides, Igbos have not forgotten in a hurry his roles in series of leadership crises that rocked Ohanaeze Ndigbo. Now, he wants to use the same Ohanaeze leadership to shore up his dwindling political image ahead of 2015. It is obvious that the purpose of the visit, which some newspaper editors have been celebrating in their columns is to pretend that Kalu is still a force to reckon with ahead of 2015 polls.

    While it is Kalu’s constitutional right as a qualified Nigerian to seek for any public office, which he did in the 2007 presidential election and the 2011 Abia North senatorial election and failed woefully, he and his allies should draw a parallel line between personal ambition and the interest of the Igbos. This is because the Igbos know where they are heading to politically without Kalu. Kalu as an individual is not, and can never be a factor in determining the Igbo interest because he has no such charisma or Midas touch to do so. Igbos have leaders in their state governors, their representatives in the National Assembly and other public officer holders to chart the way forward for them in 2015 based on the political realities on ground.

    It is these leaders that the leadership of Ohanaeze should partner and work with to ensure that the people of the zone get what belongs to them from the government all the time. Even if there is need to incorporate the ex-governors, former public office holders and others in the political affairs of the zone, such persons should be ready to cue in into agenda of the people, and work with the present political leaders of the zone.

    That was what happened in the 2011 general elections and the zone is presently reaping the dividend of their massive support for President Jonathan in the election. Apart from holding more than 35 per cent of the public offices in the country, the zone has witnessed tremendous infrastructural development courtesy of the present government.

    So looking at political atmosphere in the country today and the body language of the political leaders in the South-east zone, there is no doubt that the zone would do something in 2015 different from what they did in 2011 with or without the leadership of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo that appeared to have sold herself to Kalu for a pot of porridge. Igbos will definitely throw their weight behind President Jonathan, if he accepts to run for second term in office. With the present political situation in the country, Igbos can only make moves to contest the Presidency in 2015, only if it is clear that President Jonathan will not be contesting the election. And if by commission or omission such need arises, Igbos know whom they will go for, which will not be Kalu. There are better, educated, committed, die-hard, authentic Igbo presidential materials of which Kalu is not among them.

    Meanwhile, there is every need for the Igbos to be at alert, and beam their searchlight on the activities of the present leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo ahead of next year’s general election, before they drag the values of the people to the mud for their selfish interest. The abrupt Abuja visit to Kalu is enough evidence of what the leadership of Ohanaeze especially the President is capable of doing.

     

    • Omeneogor, wrote from Toronto, Canada