The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Only legitimate protests, please

    Only legitimate protests, please

    •In putting down illegal protests, the Police should realize the right of citizens to peaceful rallies.

    The clamour for secession of the Eastern territory out of Nigeria has suddenly become strident once again.

    After strident campaign in parts of the South East zone by some activists on the platform of the Movement for the Actualisation of Biafra (MASSOB), the massive sensitization procession on the streets of Port-Harcourt in the South South has demonstrated that it is not a development that should be waved away; or one that could be subdued by merely arresting some leaders of the movement.

    It is one demand that should be paid close attention by those in government at the state and federal levels.

    While we support the position that protests are legitimate in a democratic set-up, we equally accept that protests in support of illegality are illegal and illegitimate.

    It is unacceptable that a Radio Biafra could operate without licence to fire up raw emotions for secession. Section 2 of the 1999 Constitution is categorical in describing Nigeria as an indivisible sovereign state. The extent of the composition and boundaries are further stated in section 3 and the First Schedule to the Constitution. To that extent, any bid to raise flags for another state within the sovereign state is indefensible.

    It is even more dangerous when it is realized that while parts of the Niger Delta was conscripted to the botched Biafra bid, it was repudiated and led to a war within a war. The abandoned property syndrome is a scar left by that development. Staging such a protest in Port-Harcourt is thus a provocation to those in that part who remember the events of the Civil War (1967-1970) and might want to resist a repeat.

    However, we see no merit in any bid by the Nigeria Police to see all protests as evil. It is the mark of the freedom of the country that citizens reserve the right to stage protests, processions and rallies over social and political issues. All that should ordinarily interest the Police is that such gatherings are peaceful and that they are not held to mobilize the citizenry for illegal causes.

    At this point when there is so much challenge to nation-building and national development, Nigeria can do without a war along another corridor.

    In an earlier editorial, we had called on the government to ensure that the militias are put out of action intelligently and tactically. This would help in ensuring concerted action against terrorism in other parts of the country.

    This is a time that troops are deployed for all conflict situations and the armed forces fully engaged in the North East where they have a deadline set by the Commander-in-Chief to worry about.

    At the same time, the economy is on the verge of a recession. It is a time that all Nigerians should put their heads together and work towards pulling her out of the woods.

    It is reassuring that the Igbo elite have not joined the fresh clamour. The Nigerian state may be failing, but it is a challenge to all to contribute their quota in making things work. The laws must be enforced, the leaders guided by rule of reason and not rule of the mob, while the people realize that the way forward would require sacrifice.

    We recall that the Civil War fought to keep Nigeria one lasted 30 months, from August 1967 to January 1971. It cost the country so much in lives of men, women and children; and a setback in the development march from which we are yet to recover more than 45 years after. Mutual suspicion continues to define social and political relations in the country.

    We call on all to sheathe their swords and align themselves with the Fundamental Objectives of the Nigerian State, realising that the task of keeping Nigeria one is for all parts and citizens.

     

  • Minister’s manifesto for education and health

    Minister’s manifesto for education and health

    SIR: Outgoing Vice Chancellor of the Premier University, University of Ibadan, Professor Isaac Folorunso Adewole’s brilliant articulation of his thoughts while responding to the questions by Senators has left to one in doubt that President Muhammadu Buhari has not made a mistake by seeking out the Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology to be part of his change agents. It was a revealing engagement between the nominee (now confirmed) and members of the senate as the education and health sectors were dissected.  Adewole did not only show the magnitude of the problem, but as a scientist, he offered what needed to be done to bring the nation out of the current peculiar mess. His over an hour embodied not only the problems but ways of addressing the identified gaps in our education and health sectors. His narratives painted the picture of a nation with leadership that abdicates responsibilities to her people. Coming to serve in a government that made him ‘fly out’ of the country when he led a nationwide strike in the health sector 30 years ago, Adewole submitted that ‘I must regrettably say that not much has changed but we can better the situation, we can work together and there is a ray of hope in the horizon’.

    The problem of chronic under-funding of the education sector was discussed by the award-winning university administrator. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had embarked on a strike in 2013 to protest infrastructural decay, harsh working environment, and ill-motivated staff among others. Major issues on health at the screening revolved around abortion, inter-professional rivalry in the health sector and what Professor Adewole described as looming danger in cancer epidemic owing to the demographic transition and almost inactive lifestyle of Nigerians. Senators competed to ask questions on cancer. They got more than what they wanted and should now resolve to put money in health for the building of national cancer centre and revitalization of the Health system.

    It is obvious that so many things have been deliberately neglected by previous governments in health and education sectors. Health tourism is growing and people are losing confidence in our educational system. The Senate should go beyond saying Professor Adewole is a qualified man for the job but must play their part by voting 26 percent UNESCO benchmark for funding education. It is a disservice to the nation if National Assembly members and the leadership do not consume our education and/or jet-out for treatment in a country that cares for her people due to the distrust they have in the two sectors. While I have no doubt that Professor Adewole will deliver in either health or education ministry, he needs to be given all the necessary support (financial, environment, political etc) to work for Nigerians particularly the masses who are usually the victims of bad governance.

    • Dr Oludayo Tade,

    University of Ibadan.

     

  • Unilag electrocution 

    Unilag electrocution 

    •The Eko Distribution Company is rightfully found guilty of negligence

    The formal condemnation of the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC) for the negligence and lack of professionalism which led to the fatal electrocution of Miss Juliana Oluchi Anekwe, a University of Lagos student, must be praised as marking a new determination to hold institutions responsible for their shortcomings.

    The Federal Government Investigation Panel which probed the incident, as well as the one involving a 15-year- old student in Idi-Araba, found that the EKEDC had a poorly-maintained distribution network, and that its operations were riddled with below-average standards.

    The distribution company’s own claim that it was engaged in the re-routing of overhead cables at the university buttresses this claim: if it had undertaken that job more expeditiously and with greater attention to public safety, Miss Anekwe might not have died.

    The Panel’s findings are a relief to the University of Lagos, since they apparently absolve the school of contributory negligence. Its authorities have gone on to demand that EKEDC pay compensation to the family of the late Miss Anekwe under the terms of the company’s own insurance policy.

    In a country where dozens have been killed by the lethal mix of impunity, incompentence and negligence of public and private institutions, this acknowledgement that they must be held responsible for their failures cannot be over-emphasized.

    Prior to this time, the EKEDC’s notorious predecessor, the National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), was implicated in many electrocutions, market conflagrations and house fires, but benefitted from a percieved immunity to prosecution.

    As the EKEDC has now found out to its cost, such impunity will no longer be permitted. It should ensure it meets its obligations to the grieving Anekwe family, even though it is obvious that no amount of financial restitution can compensate them for the loss of their daughter.

    In spite of the welcome change in official attitudes to institutional negligence of this sort, there is still a great deal to be done before Nigeria can truly become a nation where lives are no longer lost so tragically. It is vitally important that there be a comprehensive review of the legislation regulating issues like this in order to ensure that the guilty do not go unpunished.

    It is shameful that no one been held individually responsible for the lapses that led to Miss Anekwe’s death, even though it is obvious that somebody in the EKEDC took the decisions that had such fatal consequences.

    If institutions only have to endure financial sanctions and are able to avoid criminal responsibility for their carelessness and incompetence, no lessons will be ever be fully learnt. The prospect of jail time is the best deterrent for institutional malfeasance.

    Legal reform is vital, given the fact that the problem will not simply disappear.  The EKEDC is not the only electricity distribution company in the country; their counterparts are probably guilty of worse lapses, since most of them are operating in circumstances far less likely to be publicized than that of the EKEDC.

    Outside the power sector, construction companies are building half-finished death-traps which have claimed hundreds of lives. Advertising agencies and telecommunications firms are putting up structures that constitute obstructions to road users. Then, there is the well-known inhumanity of the hospitals which refuse to treat critically-ill citizens without prior payment or police reports.

    The institution of a rigorously-enforced safety culture is also long overdue. Buildings should have clearly-marked entries and exits. Areas under construction or maintenance should be marked off and closed to the public. Housing estates should stop the practice of sealing secondary gates. Fire drills and other emergency procedures should be regularly practised in schools, places of work and worship.

    Accidents will happen, but their negative effects can be minimized by effective legislation and a safety-conscious citizenry.

  • Bring back our money

    Bring back our money

    •The West must respond to this cry; but Africa too must provide it with accurate and adequate details

    Although no one knows its exact size, almost everyone is agreed that vast fortunes, stolen by political officials in Africa from the very people they claim to serve, lie domiciled in European  and American banks; and in Caribbean safe havens for funds of questionable origin.

    The practice goes back to the 1960s, when a majority of African countries won independence from their colonizers; and governance passed into the hands of indigenous leaders, who had led or participated actively in the independence struggle.

    Some of the new leaders ran their states as fiefdoms.  The most notorious of them, President Mobutu Sese Seko, was rumoured to be wealthier than Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo).  It was, therefore, not unusual for him to lend some money to the national treasury whenever it was empty, so that Zaire could keep up the appearance of being a thriving state.

    Jean Bedel Bokasa thought it beneath his dignity to be a mere president of the Central African Republic.  So he renamed it the Central African Empire and crowned himself emperor in an orgiastic festival that drained the state treasury; while his vast personal fortune lay secure in the vaults of the most secretive banking institutions in France and Switzerland.

    The loathsome Nigerian dictator, General Sani Abacha pursued the twin goals of personal enrichment and self-perpetuation with maniacal frenzy.  Funds so far recovered from his secret accounts – a fraction of his loot, according to the best authorities – is bigger the budget of some African countries for an entire year.

    Only a vast fortune stashed offshore can sustain the obscenely lavish lifestyle of Teodorin Obiang Mangue, son of the president of Equatorial Guinea.  He lives in a five-story 101-room mansion, a monument to excess, on the fashionable Avenue Foch, in the French capital, Paris.  Last year, he forfeited to the United States assets worth $30 million that government officials say was looted from his country.

    His father the president, Teodoro Nguema Mbasogo and his family are widely believed to be at least as wealthy as their oil-rich country.

    It is paradoxical that Western nations that will not tolerate any fiddling with public funds all too readily serve as hospitable depositories for the pillage that political officials in Africa systematically visit on their countries.

    According to informed estimates, if just a fraction of it were repatriated and used judiciously, the impact on the economic and social development in Africa would be nothing short of transformative.

    The church, public-spirited organizations and persons of conscience worldwide have called again and again on Europe and the United States to move their financial institutions to repatriate this wealth, as have the United Nations and the African Union.

    The chair of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) Abubakar Lamorde, who has been leading investigations into money laundering and illegal financial flows, recently joined the call for repatriation of Africa’s stolen wealth.

    The call is warranted.  But it does not go to the heart of the matter.

    Those who looted the funds must be identified.  The amounts looted should be documented as far as possible, and their location should be ascertained.

    These are complicated tasks requiring a great deal of expertise.  No effort should be spared in procuring such expertise.  Armed with the data amassed by the experts, African countries can then confidently face the authorities of the nations where the funds are domiciled to demand repatriation.

    It is an indictment on the systems of checks and balances in African countries that such vast sums were ferreted out undetected in the first place.

    African countries must devise a robust mechanism of accountability; and enforce it to prevent such illegal flows, and to convince a skeptical world that they are serious about fighting corruption in its many guises and disguises.

  • Beyond nomadic census

    Beyond nomadic census

    •The eventual solution to the menace of nomadic herdsmen is a modern ranch system

    It took the September 21 kidnap of a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Yoruba elder, 77-year-old Chief Olu Falae, to bring more sharply into focus the perennial problems arising from the activities of northern herdsmen in the country’s Southwest region. The abduction introduced an unusual dimension, interpreted to mean an intensification of the violent methods linked with Fulani nomads over the years.

    The kidnappers initially demanded N100 million, which they later reduced to N90 million. It is unclear how much Falae’s family eventually paid to get him freed. But it is clear that money changed hands, to go by Falae’s comments to reporters at his home in Akure, Ondo State, after his release. By his account, he experienced a harrowing four days in captivity after he was seized at his farm at Ilu-Abo, in Akure. “I was let go the day after ransom was collected,” he said.

    The intervention by the police and the official involvement of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Solomon Arase, prompted by the presidency, may have made a difference. But money probably made the ultimate difference.

    Against this background and the expressed outrage it triggered, especially in high-profile quarters in the Southwest, the reported pacificatory moves by representatives of northern interests are welcome and should be appreciated. It was dangerous for the country’s unity that Falae’s kidnap not only inspired ethnicity-driven interpretations, but also encouraged politically unhealthy undercurrents.

    Of particular relevance is the October 18 emergency meeting involving the leadership of the Fulani community in the Southwest, which held in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital. An important result of the meeting is the resolution on compulsory registration of all herdsmen operating in the zone and their animals. This is expected to ensure effective monitoring of the herdsmen by their host communities and security agencies, and to prevent negative occurrences that may arise from their activities.

    It is worth noting that Alhaji Haruna Maiyasin who spoke on decisions taken at the meeting, sought the support of the various host communities, as well as the affected state and local governments, for the planned registration.  Commendably, the Fulani leaders were quoted as saying: “We should take into cognizance the fact that centuries of co-habitation between the Fulani and Yoruba in the Southwest had blossomed into inter-marriages between the two ethnic groups, hence leaders from both sides should always preach peace and not discord.”  The need for cooperation cannot be overemphasised, and it is in the interest of all the concerned parties to work towards achieving the building of a reliable data base as a useful first step.

    However, it should be stressed that such a significant exercise must not be limited to the Southwest, considering the continuing conflicts between northern nomads and host communities in other parts of the country, particularly over land.

    Perhaps more importantly, beyond the usefulness of registration, the continuous clashes call for new imagination and new ways of conducting an old business. It is debatable, despite its possible value, how much of a solution the registration programme could be. Indeed, it may prove to be too little, and too ineffective, in addressing the situation.

    This is an appropriate time to consider and implement reform. The old approach to cattle herding by the Fulani nomads, and the associated eruption of troubles with host communities, could do with fresh ideas. Notably, there have been loud proposals for a ranch system as a way out of the problem, and they deserve serious consideration. The critical advantage of a ranch system, which will help to officially regulate the movement of the herdsmen, and thereby minimise the possibility of clashes over land, is obvious enough.

  • Mathieu Kerekou (1933-2015)

    Mathieu Kerekou (1933-2015)

    •Mathieu Kerekou, former Benin president, democratic communist and man of
    extreme political paradoxes, exits

    Mathieu Kerekou (2 September 1933 – 14 October 2015), former president of Benin Republic, was an epitome of extreme paradoxes, at least in politics.

    In 1972, he shot his way to power as a military dictator, by and large the vogue of that epoch.  But in 2006, he exited power — finally — as a democratically elected president.

    He was among the first wave of African soldiers to seize power.  But when military rule ran out of gas, he was about the first to give in to the new temper; in the process becoming perhaps the first African military head of state to become lame duck, en route to democratic elections in 1991.

    Benin, Mr. Kerekou’s country, by many parameters, is an African minnow.  But by virtue of its classic Sovereign National Conference (SNC), it became a giant of Africa’s democratic transition of the 20th century.

    Incidentally, no other African country has replicated the Benin example.  After fumbling through three “national conferences”, Mighty Nigeria is none the wiser about a fresh political charter.  In tiny Togo, the exercise ended up in chaos, with the Eyadema clan still running the show, albeit under “democracy”.

    Mr. Kerekou was central to the Benin democratic triumph.  Though the Benin SNC stripped him of almost all of his powers, he never stopped the process, even if he loudly grumbled and admitted past wrong-doings by his military regime; and its pseudo-Leninist ideology.

    When he garnered only 32 per cent of the vote in the March 1991 election, he dutifully handed over to interim Prime Minister, Nicephore Soglo, as new elected president.  But Mr. Kerekou would come back in 1996 to defeat Prof.  Soglo, and thus deepen Benin’s new democracy.

    Indeed, in all of West Africa (if not the entire African continent), only Senegal and Ghana had matched the Benin democratic feat — of the opposition defeating the incumbent government.  Nigeria only attained that feat in the March/April elections this year.  Thus, tiny Benin, thanks to Mr. Kerekou’s heroics, “taught” the African “Big Boys” the ABC of democracy.

    A final point on the paradox flourish: Mr. Kerekou entered the power game as a military strongman, changing rules at whims.  But he exited power in 2006 the very epitome of complete submission to the Benin Constitution.

    That law not only capped the presidency to two elected five-year terms but also banned anyone 70 and above from contesting the office.  Mr. Kerekou complied, even when there were alleged pressures goading him to amend the term limit clause.  “If you don’t leave power,” he famously declared, “power will leave you.”!

    But even with his near Saul to Paul political trajectory, Mathieu Kerekou was no paragon.  For starters, he took his people on a wild goose chase, founded on ideological vacuity, just for personal and regime survival.

    For another, his much-touted “apologies” for past personal and regime misdeeds would appear a well crafted political soap, with a keen eye on an awesome comeback — which he eventually achieved at the expense of President Soglo, who had his neo-liberal economic policies to blame.

    Still, Mr. Kerekou only represented the worst and best of his era.  First, he wanted power so much he was ready to bury his country, in the graveyard of personal ambitions — to boot mouthing an empty Leninist ideology!  But then when that road led to nowhere, he submitted himself to Benin’s democratic renaissance: first, its first grand victim — booted out of power; but later, its grand beneficiary — earning himself a stunning comeback, and serving as two-term elected president.

    No wonder then, that his death ripped his native Benin in two: one part growling condemnation; the other, purling commendation.

    On the average, however, history would be kind to Mr. Kerekou.

  • Hall of shame

    •Port Harcourt Airport wins a global award – the worst in the world!

    Airports must be modern man’s closest thing to the sacred groves of yore. It is even more so with international gateways through which peoples from all over the world enter and exit a country. Therefore, apart from perhaps, presidential villas, the pristine seat of every country’s power, international airports and their entire precincts are the best kept and best guarded places in the world today.

    It is trite that most up and doing governments would be fastidious about their international entry points — especially airports — for the simple reason that they afford the visitor the first impression about the country being visited. An unkempt arrival and departure lounges as well as smelly, crowded and rickety facilities would immediately reflect the quality of the government and people of the country being visited.

    It is for this reason that we are troubled by the recent damning assessment of the Port Harcourt International Airport (PHIA), situated in the heart of the oil-rich Niger Delta, Nigeria’s southern-most end. The facility is probably Nigeria’s most important entry point for foreigners being the convenient route for expatriate staff of oil companies in that zone.

    The 2015 survey report by Sleeping in Airports, an affiliate journal of CNN, has named PHIA the worst terminal in the world to ply. The poll had requested fliers to indicate the worst and best aviation terminals they encounter in their trips. The criteria considered are comfort, conveniences, cleanliness and customer service.

    But PHIA, Nigeria’s number three airport, earned the global prize as the worst route to ply because fliers found its staff unpleasant and unhelpful, found corruption rife in transactions at the airport, found lack of seats and endured broken down air-conditioners.

    It must be noted, however, that work has been on-going at the airport for quite a while and a good part of the facility is in a make-shift state. That much, the report acknowledged; stating that some parts of the terminal have been recently renovated and that improvements are being made.  It, however, added that these improvements were a far cry from the norm. And no less telling point: efforts by the pollsters (CNN) to get comments from aviation authorities in Nigeria were to no avail. Perhaps there may be some plausible reasons why PHIA is in such deplorable state, but the authorities could not be bothered.

    Whatever the case may be, this scandalous rating of an airport in Nigeria is a tar on the Federal Government and an indictment of the management of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN). It is worthy of note that petty politics may have got in the way of the renovation and upgrade of the facilities of the PHIA, which has been stalled for a long time.

    Recall that the former Governor of Rivers State, Chibuike Amaechi and former President Goodluck Jonathan had been locked in a feud for about two years culminating into the general elections early in the year. This is one example how political conflicts could have a direct negative impact on economic development.

    Beyond politics, however, the Federal Government, especially in the last 16 years, has not lived up to expectations in the development and maintenance of the nation’s strategic infrastructure.

    For instance, for over a decade, the major road leading to the nation’s premier gateway, the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos has been a poor advertisement for whatever good Nigeria represents. But government could not muster the will to revamp that all important road. It remains an eyesore till today. It is the same attitude towards such strategic infrastructure like oil pipelines and the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, to name a few.

    We demand a complete change of attitude by government towards major public facilities. It is indeed a shame that Nigeria’s PHIA leads a class of infamy made up of such countries like Nepal, Haiti, Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.

    Not the best league to be in, is it?

  • Living in the fear of abductors

    SIR: Recently, the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae was abducted and an alleged ransom of about N50 million was paid for his freedom from his abductors. Although two Fulani herdsmen were later arrested by the Department of States Security (DSS) officials in connection to the abduction; the trauma incurred on the person abducted as well as friends and families remains indelible that it would have been better avoided. Across the country, the nightmare on who the next victim could be thrives and makes one wonder if our security institutions are responsible in their obligation to protect the lives of the Nigerian citizens at large.

    Kidnapping has become endemic in our country today because it appears to be an alternative, quick and “cool” way to eke out a living next to oil vandalism. The rate of this inhumane activity is so high that even the wife of a journalist was deemed a prospective “victim”. Gone are the days when foreigners were the core targets; now, the elites are the focus while children and aged men and women are not left out.

    But a cursory look at this budding menace reveals that there is never a smoke without a fire. As our tertiary institutions religiously churn out thousands of graduates on a yearly basis; unemployment is paraded at its peak, and the survival of the fittest principle dares jobless youths to dance to the rhythm of crime and societal ills. The inability to secure good jobs coupled with mounting responsibilities has made many to resort to criminal activities which kidnapping is no exemption.

    Also, poverty is a propelling force that tempts people to find shelter in kidnapping. The mind-boggling ransoms prompts a tremendous leap in the abductors social strata. A consuming desire to escape poverty has eroded the cause of morality in sourcing for wealth.

    War must therefore be declared against this societal threat. The government must not relent in its efforts to the end. Anti-kidnapping agencies must be equipped with due training and intelligence. Also, payment of ransoms should be discouraged as obtained in other developed climes so as to serve as a deterrent to people in search for a criminal but lucrative source of income.

     

    • Modupe Elegushi,

    Lagos.

  • Second chance

    • PwC’s fresh opportunity to lay bare the NNPC morass

    The nation would appear set on another phase of the journey to resolve the riddle behind the $20 billion alleged to be missing from the coffers of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).

    Last week, Uyi Akpata, Country Senior Partner, Nigeria and Regional West Market Area for PricewaterCoopers (PwC), told journalists at a workshop that his firm had been re-engaged by the Federal Government for another round of audit; but this time, with a much wider scope.

    He gave a picture of what to expect: “What I think that may be different from this audit, compared to the first one, is that there may be strong learning points in terms of plugging revenue leakages or erosions that may be minimised going forward, especially in the face of dwindling revenue that is available to government… People have seen that report and for the benefit of hindsight…have suggested to government that there is a need to widen the scope because NNPC may not be the only organisation involved in this governance issue. There may be a need to extend it to Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs)”.

    The above justification – or rationalisation – obviously makes eminent sense only in the context of the disappointing outcome of the previous exercise.  Although that took 18 months to conclude, it yielded practically very little in terms of establishing if indeed anything was missing; and if so, how much; and by extension, the individuals and entities responsible for them. It goes without saying, therefore, that the latest exercise only became necessary because the past effort failed.

    The reasons behind that failure are certainly not far-fetched. Whereas Nigerians were, quite rightly, outraged by the allegation that a whopping $20 billion was missing from the NNPC accounts, the Jonathan administration left no one in doubt that the last thing it wanted was an investigation to establish the veracity or otherwise of the weighty allegation. Indeed, it took relentless pressure mounted by civil society and a broad section of Nigerians to get the administration to agree on the need for a forensic audit.

    Even at that, the procedure it prescribed for the auditors turned out to be rather restrictive – deliberately so – for a supposedly forensic undertaking.  Worse, however, was the bad faith by officials – with tacit support at the highest levels of government, of course – which guaranteed that the key agencies central to the investigations refused to cooperate.  So, in the end, an exercise touted as a forensic one was reduced to a mockery of its essence.

    And so PwC, in what amounted to repudiation of the entire work, could only aver in its covering note to the Auditor-General of the Federation that:  “The procedures we performed did not constitute an examination or a review in accordance with generally accepted auditing standards or attestation standards”!

    The good thing is that PwC now has an opportunity to make good on its earlier effort. This time around, we expect that PwC will follow every trail, as indeed every transaction within its expanded scope. Time was when auditors took shelter behind technicalese to produce reports that are neither relevant nor actionable.

    But Nigerians will recognise the difference when they see the masquerades behind the plunder of the commonwealth unmasked and punished – the so-called Strategic Alliance Agreements (SAA), reported to have bled the treasury to the tune of billions of dollars.  Or when the opaque practices, which allowed highly connected individuals to defraud the nation, are finally dismantled.

    That would be a good test of PwC’s commitments, not just to highest professional standards but to Nigeria.  That should be the most compelling argument for justifying its re-engagement after its last outing.

  • Election 2015

    Election 2015

    From the EU Election Observation Mission’s report, it’s not yet uhuru

    The European Union Election Observation Mission has submitted its final report on the 2015 general elections.  The report highlighted some of the challenges during the election; and offered some suggestions to improve the system.

    While the general election received a lot of kudos and was adjudged credible, the Mission nevertheless made 30 suggestions on how to improve the process. The election also received a boost following the peaceful transfer of power, from a sitting government at the centre, to an opposition party.

    In presenting the report, the EU’s chief observer, Santiago Fisas, noted that there were, in some places, violence, abuse of incumbency and manipulation of the process.  Therefore, the Mission called for electoral reforms, proffering a modality for the selection of the election umpires, at all levels.

    Interestingly, the Justice Mohammadu Lawal Uwais panel, instituted by late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, following the travesty of the 2007 elections, also made suggestions that the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), should not be appointed by the President.  The panel premised its argument on the need to remove partisan officials of state from the selection process of the Chief electoral officer. Unfortunately, while some of the suggestions the Uwais panel made were implemented, the issue of appointment of the chief electoral umpire remains as it was.

    The EU chief observer also noted that out of the 30 recommendations made by the Mission, 19 of them would require legislative action, while some others merely require administrative action, at various levels. Mr Fisas, therefore, called on “the new office holders, legislative bodies, INEC and other stakeholders to demonstrate commitment to electoral reform”.

    One of the recommendations that would require legislative reform, is a law “to establish a more inclusive parliamentary mechanism for cross-party involvement in the selection and approval of the INEC chairperson and national commissioners”.

    Perhaps the proposed law could also provide a balance between the powers of the electoral officials at the polling units, ward collation centres, local government collation centres, state collation offices and the national electoral offices, particularly where there are glaring irregularities, at the subordinate levels. Unfortunately in practice, our electoral process is bedevilled by overbearing incidences of bad faith, both by election officials and the contestants at the various levels. So it is hoped that the law can be made to ameliorate these challenges.

    To help improve the process, the mission suggested the merger of the accreditation and voting process. As was observed at the last election, many voters who turned up for the accreditation process, failed to come back to vote. Perhaps if the two process is done simultaneously, many more voters would participate in the election. To make this realisable during an election, the accreditation process should be made simpler and faster, and to achieve that, there should be further resort to technology, as was witnessed in 2015, to aid efficiency.

    The suggestion by the Mission for an improved biometric data of voters, would therefore be useful. Indeed, if the biometric data is robust and efficient, Nigerians would be able to vote wherever they are, irrespective of where they registered. Again, the incidence of over-voting, underage voting, multiple-voting and many other frauds in the voting process would be curbed. As we have suggested previously on this page, Nigerians must push towards electronic voting, to stamp out, or reduce minimally, electoral fraud. The point: a transparent electoral process would also help to curb corruption in the polity.

    In the words of the chief observer, “there should be an elaborate plan for developing and maintaining the voter register to include improving biometric functionality, removal of the deceased’s names and extended enrolment of new registrants”.

    The suggestion on registration of new voters is welcome, and indeed should be made permanent; with a few weeks break, before any election, to aid efficient preparation process. The fetish made of the voters register should, therefore, be stopped, as many candidates in the past have pointed at manipulated voter registers, as the source of their defeat. So the voter register should be secure, transparent and tamper-proof, to gift Nigerians a free, fair and credible elections.

    We believe that many Nigerians look forward to the Federal Government’s reaction to the suggestion made by the commission to further improve the electoral process. We urge President Muhammadu Buhari to weigh in, and partner with the federal legislature and state governments to work towards a further improvement in the credibility of our electoral process.

    Considering the far reaching suggestions made by the commission, we urge that it should be embedded in the Justice Uwais report, and be implemented, as a legacy project for the current political actors. It is also important to remind the actors and all Nigerians that our electoral process will only be as good as Nigerians insist that it should be.