The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Nigeria’s paper imports

    •It’s high time the Federal Government reversed the trend to save forex

    There can be no better testimonial of the Federal Government’s bungling of the privatisation of its three paper manufacturing companies than the recent report that Nigeria currently spends an annual N500 billion to import paper products. Several years after the privatisation of the companies, it is easily a story of grand betrayal in terms of the expectations of swift turnaround and the grand dream of backward integration said to have supplied rationale to the much hyped process of sale.

    With none of the three specialised paper mills anywhere near the dreams as conceived by their founding fathers, not only is the nation served the short end of the stick as far as the expectations of performance go, nearly everything that could go wrong appears to have gone terribly wrong.

    We start with the oldest of them all – the Nigerian Paper Mill, Jebba, which opened shop in 1969 with an initial production capacity of 12,000 tonnes of apex per annum. Aside its best years of 1985 when it rolled out 40,480 metric tonnes of paper, representing 62.3% of its installed capacity, and 1986 when it took this up to 42,960 tonnes – representing 66.17% capacity utilisation, its story has been one of steady decline until 1996 when it finally shut its gates after output plumbed to 2.5 percent.

    Sold to MINL Ltd, an Indian company in June 2006, if we expected the company to take it to a new level, it has confined it to the level of waste paper recycling – a far cry from its initial dream as an integrated paper manufacturing entity drawing strength from backward integration. If the company ever intends to explore the use of primary fibre derived locally in its backward integration drive; that remains to be seen.

    But then, the story of Iwopin Pulp and Paper Company Limited, Iwopin, Ogun State, established in 1976 is even more tragic.  The company, designed to produce 68,000 metric tonnes of various grades of finished fine writing, printing and cultural papers, was planned to produce fully bleached pulp. Up till the time it was shut down in 1998, the mill never produced up to five percent of its installed capacity. This was despite attaining 85% completion.

    First, it was sold to an indigenous company – Noxieme Technologies Ltd – in December 2006; only last year, there were reports that the company has found a new core investor – Beulah Technical Company Limited. Yet, till date, there has been no tangible activity at the sprawling complex.

    The Nigerian Newsprint Manufacturing Company, Oku Iboku, is no different. The mill, with an installed capacity of 100,000 metric tonnes of newsprint per annum took off with a promise to save the nation billions of naira spent to import newsprint – the main raw material used in the newspaper industry. After turning out 28,927 metric tonnes in 1989 and 37,581 tonnes the following year, the company would suffer precipitous decline in the 90s due to scarcity of funds to refurbish the equipment and purchase raw materials. In the end, it was sold to Negris Limited. It has been in coma since.

    Presently, the newspaper industry relies almost exclusively on imported newsprint at great costs to the foreign exchange reserves.

    After investing so much in the entities, Nigeria obviously deserves more than the companies would seem in any position to offer. A good way to start is for the Federal Government to find out what went wrong. How come none of the companies has been able to affect the fortunes of the entities in any fundamental way? Were there no timelines, no performance clauses in the sales agreements? For how long will the country continue to depend on India and other Asian countries for its paper needs? There ought to be something that the Federal Government can do to redress the unacceptable situation. And the time to act is now.

  • Time to regulate CSOs

    SIR: All over the world, the role of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) is essentially in three coordinate parts namely: to facilitate the design of strategies for development; to act as service providers under the aegis of community and national non-governmental organizations (NGOs); and lastly, to be watchdogs in order to make government accountable for its commitments.

    Perhaps the description of Connor is more succinct and explanatory: “Civil society is composed of autonomous associations which develop a dense, diverse and pluralistic network. As it develops, civil society will consist of a range of local groups, specialized organizations and linkages between them to amplify the corrective voices of civil society as a partner in governance and the market” (Connor, 1999). In effect, CSOs should promote transparency, and sustainable growth of the economy either in partnership with government agencies or as independent groups. In additionto providing leadership in the strategic areas mentioned above, CSOs are key players in the area of poverty reduction, debt relief and, of course, the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in their locations.

    The emergence of CSOs in the mid-90s was largely driven by the quest to open up the space for players outside government and other established sectors and at the same time promote efficiency in service delivery and ensure that projects meant for the people have significant bearing on their lives. CSOs also came about in relation to managing the fallouts of the several reforms including the structural adjustment programmes propagated by international funding agencies and development partners.

    An upshot of the foregoing is that CSOs are supposed to be the engine rooms for the enthronement of democracy, accountability, personal liberties and good governance. They have been largely successful in other climes because by their enabling nature, they are supposed to be leaner, adjustable, tighter and driven.

    How have the CSOs fared in Nigeria? Have their activities touched the lives of the people? Have they been true to their mandate? Have they done justice to their primary objectives? A critical evaluation of their activities will show that at best it’s been a case of mixed blessings. Whilst it is gratifying to note that some of the CSOs may have been people-oriented, progressive in nature and have stuck to their founding mandate, the same cannot be said of others. Rather than see the government as partners in making the country better, the latter group seem to antagonize everything from that direction. Even where there are opportunities to re-create and turn things around for the better, they seem fixated with the ‘business as usual’ approach of the past because of the pecuniary gains to be appropriated by them. Unfortunately, their activities have diminished the good works undertaken by those who have conscientiously pursued the primary objectives of the organizations. Clearly, they have lost track having traded their sacred raison detre for ephemeral things. Like a virus, the level of proliferation of this insidious group have multiplied exponentially and one only hopes that the sector has not been infiltrated by mindless zealots

    I am therefore asking that for the country to get the best from the sector, it is about time to regulate their activities and in the course of this exercise, the country will be in a position to remove the grain from the chaff. This is calling on the Buhari administration to sanitize the civil society organizations. The time to act is now.

    • Shehu Adamu,

    Jos, Plateau State.

  • The economy, the economy

    •Even the CBN has raised the alarm over Nigeria’s receding economy

    It was former United States President Bill Clinton who popularised the famous line: “It’s the economy, stupid,” during his 1992 bid for the White House. Since then, the world has not been able to find a better phrase to alert a government about an impending economic peril. And though it may seem a tad too late in the day to throw in that Clintonian masterpiece, it is better late than never.

    The reason is that, even the most important economic manager in the land today – in the absence of a finance minister –  the governor of the apex bank, Mr. Godwin Emefiele, could not help but let out a plaintive cry last week. He warned that Nigeria’s economy was at the risk of slipping into a recession.

    And we may as well take a cue from Mr. Emefiele and add that, hey, Mr. President Muhammadu Buhari: It’s the economy, seriously! Yes, we acknowledge all the good tidings that have been ushered in since May 29, but again, the most important question would remain: what’s all the good things got to do with the price of bread, and garri and yam?

    Yes the coming of the Buhari era has ushered in a flurry of socio-economic changes but those are at best, symbolic, automatic reflex occurrences. The  economy of any nation is a series of carefully planned actions such that all things being equal; would yield a set of desired results.

    We note here, just as the CBN has also remarked, that the administration of President Buhari has not initiated any set of carefully planned economic actions so far. Rising from its meeting in Abuja last Tuesday, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria warned that the country’s economy could easily slip into a recession next year if the Federal Government does not take proactive steps to stimulate key sectors of the economy.

    Some of the critical points raised by the MPC, which is also headed by Mr. Emefiele, are first: that the capacity of banks to intermediate in the economy has been critically eroded by factors such as the Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy; the extended bailout loan to state governments and poorly serviced loans to the oil and gas sector.

    Second, the committee noted the impact of the persistent decline in global crude oil prices on the fiscal position of the Federal Government, which has resulted in rising debts. And third, with slow economic growth recorded in the last two consecutive quarters to June 2015, the MPC posits that the overall macroeconomic environment looks fragile and requires crucial fiscal policies to revive growth in key sectors of the economy.

    As the third quarter of the year draws to a close, it is apparent that the economy is in decline for the main reason that the Buhari administration has left it for too long on auto-pilot. As much as no blueprint has been made public yet, no directives were passed either concerning critical sectors like the subsidy question, power and such one-off issues like the nascent automotive policy. Not even the extant budget gets any mention. Economies thrive and fail on mere policy declarations and directions, sometimes.

    We urge the president to take cognisance of the fact that even if Nigerians would endure his “slow-and-steady” approach, the wheel of the economy never goes to sleep. Unfortunately, the odds are stacked high against him. In a season of rapidly declining oil revenue and after a gruelling, treasury-depleting general election, the economy needs fresh ideas and nimble feet to tinker it and beat it into new realities.

    In summary, while the president must not relent on the fight against endemic graft in the system, we ask that he considers hands-on economic adviser and finance minister as he picks his cabinet. His focus should be on men and women who can diversify the country’s economic base and achieve results in the shortest possible time.

    The winning mindset must be to revive our socio-economic and political institutions and to march forward, brilliant on the basics.

  • Saraki’s conduct in court

    Saraki’s conduct in court

    Senate President, a layman indeed!

    But for the label, the ‘accused person’ on the box where Senator Bukola Saraki sat, while appearing before the Code of Conduct Tribunal; an observer would think he was on the soapbox, when he launched his political remarks in court, last Tuesday. His reprehensible conduct was the culmination of the shenanigans he had displayed, all in an effort to frustrate his arraignment before the tribunal for alleged false declaration of asset. In complete disregard for judicial procedure, Senator Saraki, an accused, took the microphone, and cockily sought to teach the court, the prosecutor, and his defence counsel, the law, even when he accepted that he is a lay- man.

    This false wisdom by Senator Saraki was furthered outside the court, when he tried to sell the dummy that he was being persecuted because he is the Senate President. We doubt the authenticity of this claim, considering that the issues before the court were fairly straight- forward, and were alleged criminal infractions which preceded his disputed emergence as Senate President. As fellow laymen, like Senator Saraki, our understanding is that when an accused person is charged before a court or a tribunal, he will respectfully appear before the court, and plead his innocence or guilt, as maybe the case, instead of politicising it.

    This should even be more evident, when the accused is an elected lawmaker. So, while Senator Saraki must for now be presumed innocent, and given all the lawful opportunity to defend himself, he should not be allowed to denigrate the judicial process, as part of his defence. We therefore identify with the prosecutor’s argument that what Senator Saraki and his legal team sought to do, by shopping for an interim injunction from other courts, would have ridiculed our country’s judicial process if they had succeeded in securing conflicting orders from different courts.

    We hope that what has happened, so far, will be a lesson to other accused persons that the era of dubious injunctions, to frustrate criminal trials, is at its twilight. We therefore commend both the federal high court and the court of appeal, for resisting the temptation to hamstring the lawful duties of a constitutional process. Indeed, we also commend the bold insistence of the tribunal that the law should take its course, despite the unwarranted attempts by the accused person and his rancorous supporters to disrupt the process.

    We are particularly appalled that some distinguished senators of the federal republic would lend their influence towards that unfortunate effort to intimidate the court. To the chagrin of many ordinary Nigerians, the accused person and his supporters substantially turned the venue of the tribunal into a political arena, with all manner of persons and groups chanting songs in Saraki’s support. We had thought that such antics are reserved for the guilty who merely use such subterfuge to intimidate a tribunal, scurry cheap popularity, and give a false sense of persecution of the innocent. In our view, the obviously hired hands that were within and outside the tribunal had no business there, and their efforts should be an embarrassment to the accused person.

    As Senator Saraki has rightly observed, he is a layman. That perhaps explains his uninformed diatribe, implying that but for his present status as Senate President, the alleged crime of false declaration of assets, when he was governor of Kwara State, and subsequently as a senator, would not have been unearthed many years after. While admitting at the tribunal that there is a change in national orientation, and urging the prosecutor and the tribunal to adhere to that change in his trial, Senator Saraki, uncharacteristically refused to link the resurgence of all national institutions to their constitutional responsibilities, to that commitment to change.

    Having had his day in court, despite his efforts to frustrate same, we expect Senator Saraki, whether as Senate President or an ordinarysenator to henceforth dedicate himself to ensuring that all persons, regardless of their stature, are subjected to the rule of law. That is a fundamental requirement of any modern society. Indeed, it is only when all persons are subjected to the rule of law, regardless of temporal privileges, that such a nation can lay claim to be on the threshold of fairness, equity and good conscience. We also hope that the experience of Senator Saraki would be a lesson to others who are under oath to obey the dictates of the constitution. As we have severally warned on this page, those who abuse their powers should know that the day of reckoning will  come, someday.

  • H.I.D. Awolowo (1915 – 2015)

    H.I.D. Awolowo (1915 – 2015)

    • Awo’s ‘jewel of inestimable value’ is gone!

    The lived to a ripe old age; her death on September 19 put a dampener on plans for the celebration of her 100th birthday on November 25. Hers was a long and eventful life, often of interest to the public because of its socio-political dimensions.

    Chief Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo, popularly recognised by her initials, HID, was a fascinating figure, especially because she was the wife of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the legendary Nigerian political titan and progressive leader who died in 1987. Famously described as “a jewel of inestimable value” by her husband, HID’s image glittered on account of the glowing commendation by the man she married in 1937 and stuck with until death separated them.

    In a moving and revealing testimonial, HID’s husband said of her: “She has been of immeasurable  assistance to me in the duties attached to my career as a public man…I do not hesitate to confess that I owed my success in life to three factors; the grace of God, a Spartan self-discipline and a good wife. Our home is to all of us a true haven; a place of happiness, of imperturbable seclusion from the buffetings of life.”

    But HID was also significant in her own right, beyond the glory of matrimony. Apart from her entrepreneurial spirit and success in business, she demonstrated a remarkable capacity for administration as the head of the African Newspapers Nigeria (ANN) Plc, Publisher of Tribune titles. The Nigerian Tribune, founded in 1949 by Chief Awolowo, is Nigeria’s oldest surviving private newspaper. Until she died, HID kept the company’s flag flying, but not without some cost to her husband’s principles and the newspaper’s image.

    It is a reflection of not only her husband’s legacy but also her own personal worth that when she was alive her family home in Ikenne, Ogun State, was a mecca for various shades of political players who desired her support in pursuance of their political ambitions. She was politically accommodating, and the variegated complexion of the sympathisers drawn to her home by the news of her death spoke volumes about her politics of inclusiveness.

    It is noteworthy that President Muhammadu Buhari said in a tribute: “Chief (Mrs.) Awolowo will always be honoured too for the indelible legacy of very significant, behind-the-scenes contributions to communal, state, regional and national development.” This aspect of her life was also highlighted in a tribute by a former executive director of AAN Plc, Mr. Folu Olamiti, who said: “A good number of position papers meant to strengthen the southwest geo-political zone and the need to promote the unity of Nigeria were formulated in Ikenne, her home.”

    Her many-sided life had a notable cultural angle. The matriarch was a well-respected traditional title holder; and her major title, Yeye Oodua, suggesting that she was regarded as a mother figure by the Yoruba people, reflected her wide cultural significance in her native Yoruba environment. In this connection, HID was co-chairman of the Yoruba Unity Forum formed to protect and advance Yoruba interests within the country’s framework.

    There were particular moments in her life when she attracted spontaneous sympathy from empathetic compatriots following touching personal losses: the deaths of her husband and three of her children at different times. These experiences provided the public with a window into her indomitable spirit and solid equanimity.

    Her terminal moments fittingly reinforced her acknowledged strong familial values. A statement by her daughter, Mrs. Omotola Oyediran, on behalf of the family, said HID died “as she had always wished, surrounded by her children, grand children and great grand children.”

  • Vandals Vs Nigerian state

    Vandals Vs Nigerian state

    • Oil thieves’ ambush and killing of 9 DSS operatives are a killing too many. High time these vandals were crushed

    Oil vandals’ wilful murder of security operatives — the latest being the Directorate of State Security (DSS) 9 — is the fatal audacity of a dog in hot pursuit of a wolf: what the Yoruba would call Ajanlekoko. It is high time the Nigerian state cracked down and crushed this criminal scum.

    The murder of the DSS 9, at Konu, a creek border settlement between Ikorodu in Lagos and Arepo in Ogun State, was a climax of such wilful and despicable killings of citizens and security agents. The oil thieves, who don black vests and black pair of trousers, with red bandanas tied round their heads, probably did so, so they could be stealing our collective patrimony in peace.

    The vandals had, on September 16, in the thick of the night, ambushed and shot the nine DSS operatives dead in cold blood — with the mindless vandals carting away the bodies of their victims. That mindless killing put the virtual fear of God — or well, naked fear of the vandals! — in the nearby Oke-Oko community, near Ikorodu, Lagos State, with panicky residents fleeing. The state was well and truly captured in the vandals’ net; and even the bravest of citizens had genuine reasons to fear.

    That DSS killing was reportedly less than six hours, after another set of security agents were felled, by the same suspected thieves, at Ishawo, also in Ikorodu.

    At Arepo, it would appear a standard gory fare, of criminals always breaching pipelines belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), routinely killing citizens and security agents alike that dare to stray into their den, and burying them in shallow graves in the surrounding creeks.

    The Nation had a close shave, when one of its photo-journalists, in Arepo to cover a pipeline fire incident, escaped death at the last second, after he had virtually said his last prayers — he, with a professional colleague from another newspaper house.

    Even before, after a particularly gory campaign against security operatives, the police fled the area, virtually conceding it a no man’s land, a Hobbesian jungle, where the oil vandal was king. That has been the setting for this continuous anti-citizen outrage; and these criminals’ devil-may-care contempt for the Nigerian state.

    The question is: when will all this nonsense stop? Right now, we say without any hesitation. The Nigerian state must impose its will on every inch of the Nigerian landscape and, once and for all, give these free-killing criminals a bloody nose, and completely pacify the areas where they perpetuate their heinous crimes.

    But to get the most effective result, planning, cold meticulous planning, is key. For starters, intelligence. That the criminals have struck at will is, perhaps, because of two terrible reasons: intelligence leaks from the security plane; and little or no intelligence glean on the vandals’ enclave.  That should explain criminals ambushing security agents, when the reverse ought to be the case.

    Then there is the absurdity of the secret police storming a crime scene, totting arms. If DSS has to be that visible, then there is something terribly amiss. Let DSS concentrate on its intelligence-gathering business. That is the value it can add to the campaign. If the police are too soft to counter these murderous vandals and the military is too hard, what about a special security outfit — perhaps inside the police or outside of it — like the coast guards in the United States, being formed to take charge of this menace?

    With intelligence leaks blocked and the DSS penetrating the vandals’ haven, neutralising their plans even before they are hatched, smashing this disturbing crime empire can only be a matter of time.

    So, let managers of Nigeria’s security apparatus sit up. The oil vandals’ murderous impunity must not be tolerated for a second more. We must wipe out this collective shame; and safeguard the lives of law abiding citizens against marauding pipeline criminals.

  • What’s the matter with Union Bank?

    What’s the matter with Union Bank?

    SIR: We, the aggrieved pensioners of Union Bank of Nigeria Plc nationwide (pensioners from 2006 to 2014) have been maltreated, pauperized, traumatized, tortured, tormented and completely dehumanized by the recalcitrant posture of Union Bank and PENCOM. Some have been sent to their early graves.

    For almost four years, Union Bank has refused to remit the full legacy fund/accrued pension rights into our various Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs). By this action, we find it impossible to access our full monthly pension. This has made us to be in real mess and bondage; life has been extremely difficult for us and we have been unable to cater for our families.

    Despite many entreaties, protests and write ups in various national dailies urging the bank and PENCOM to correct all these anomalies, the bank remains adamant and unperturbed. This is sheer impunity which must be stopped. We have cried and shouted enough about these injustices and inhuman treatment meted on us.

    We are in a dilemma and we are appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and call both PENCOM and Union Bank to order.

    Union Bank must comply fully with part x (1) (a) (g) and part iv 15 (c) (2) of the Pension Reform Act 2014 as amended.

    However, the good news is that PENCOM on Monday, September 21, again directed the bank to credit our Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) on or before October 31.

    On Wednesday, September 2, the Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), Mrs. Chinelo Anohu-Amozu described non-remittance of pension funds by employers as a grave crime; she stated this after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.

    Will Union Bank comply this time? Will Union Bank continue with these impunity, recklessness and crimes unchecked? These injustices and inhuman treatment meted on us must stop.

    The bank must remit full and commensurate legacy fund/accrued pensions rights into our RSAs. The criteria and computation of the actuarial valuation of legacy fund/accrued pensions each aggrieved pensioner is entitled to must be made transparent and open to all; it must not be shrouded in secrecy.

    • Lanre Onawola,

    Apata, Ibadan.

  • Happy Eid-el-Kabir

    Happy Eid-el-Kabir

    •We should keep the spirit of the season beyond the festive period

    Eld-El-Kabir as the feast of sacrifice is inimitable for its spiritual connotation and underlying divine commandment. The celebration is of high significance in the Islamic Calendar, which is observed in commemoration of Abraham’s unalloyed obedience to Allah’s commandment that he should sacrifice his only son, Ismael, to Him. At the nick of time, Almighty Allah sent Angel Jibril to stop Abraham from killing his son, replacing him with a white ram instead. Ever since, Muslims observe annually, this age-long ritual, as epitomised in the slaughtering of animals, including cows, rams, goats and even camels.

    The Federal Government declared today and tomorrow public holiday to mark this feast, which fell as usual on the 10th Dhul-Hyjah-coinciding with the climbing of Mount Arafat, to mark the end of this year’s holy pilgrimage in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Almighty Allah was satisfied with, and convinced of Abraham’s unalloyed faith in Him. And since then, He foreclosed the use of human-being for any sacrifice. Abraham’s venerable decision to sacrifice his only son, even at an old age, with little hope of having another, remains the profundity of his faithful act. We wonder why some criminal infidels in Boko Haram and others are engaging in wanton killing of fellow beings in the north under the guise of keeping tab with erroneous tenets of Islam.

    In Islam, submission to Allah is unconditional as typified by Abraham who did not compromise his faith during the several decades of his childlessness. This year’s commemoration remains so dear to true Muslims across the world. They will eat and merry with friends and well wishers. The true spirit of this season is that we should learn to live together as brothers, with mutual benefits of harmony, peace and stability.

    The needless cruel killings by Boko Haram under the dubious guise of Islam are unacceptable because the religion preaches development, growth and progress. It also spreads the gospel of love; it teaches peace; preaches tolerance, as does Christianity.

    The unalloyed display of unity and love with no religious impediments, witnessed in this season, should go beyond the moment. Such fraternity should be for all times so that our nation can grow from strength to strength: Also, on a broader scale, for the world to be a better place for all to live in, irrespective of race, religion or colour of the skin. Father Abraham was a recipient of immense blessings because, in obedience to Allah’s commandment, he obliged to use his only son as a sacrifice to Him before Allah stopped him.

    While we as a nation anticipate such blessings, the people and the government should also be prepared to make inevitable sacrifices for the well-being of the country – during this occasion and beyond. Unfortunately, the country is still bogged down by unbridled insecurity arising from the criminal/inhuman spate of kidnappings, armed robbery, and, to a lesser extent these days, Boko Haram’s activities. Until recently, lives and property were being daily wantonly destroyed, all in the name of religion. Mosques and churches were attacked by these criminals that are denting the image of Islam.

    Also, we want a change in value degeneration ravaging the polity as the nation needs to make transparency and trust as genuine planks of public service. These vices are all consequences of official hypocrisy which Islam absolutely abhors in household as well as public affairs.

    This important season should serve as test of faith for all Muslims and non-Muslims to reflect on the selfless divine commitment of Abraham and also emulate his good virtues so as to ensure the growth of our society and democracy.

    We wish our Muslim faithful barka da sallah.

  • Atuwatse II’s lesson

    Atuwatse II’s lesson

    • In a tempestuous era, the Olu of Warri was an exemplar of conciliation

    His reign traversed years of feisty politics and inter-ethnic tension. Yet it is a credit to the OgiameAtuwatse II, reverently called the Olu of Warri, that his image never fell into the sordid slur of a parochial partisan. No one, not even those who tried to bait his Itsekiri folks, could pelt him with the charge of a royal out of order or an ethnic militant baying for blood. His death was recently announced in grand event that also featured the unveiling of his successor.

    The Atuwatse II ascended the throne on May 2, 1987, and his reign witnessed temptations to violence with his neighbours, especially the Ijaw. But his was also a time of political verve, including the contest over the Export Free Zone in Ogidigben during the fading years of the Jonathan administration.

    He also had his personal narrative in the maelstrom of his era. Yet, his was an image of a stabiliser, a reconciler. He played this role with such delicate dexterity that he did not compromise the glory, dignity and interests of his Itsekiri people. His was a stellar example of a ruler who knew how to steer a boat in an unruly waterway.

    Perhaps the most significant feature during his reign was the tension between the Itsekiri and the Ijaw. This had an immediate cause in the local government dispute in what is known as Ogbu –Ijoh, but it is rooted in history. The Itsekiris have been the dominant race in the region from the 17th century to the 19th century and held sway not only as a political and commercial behemoth but also as cultural mainstay. All these were buoyed by an awesome military machine.

    The colonial era changed all that. Since the 1950’s, however, a tension has manifested in local rivalries with the Urhobos and Ijaws and played out in court and violence. The Itsekiri-Ijaw tension rose from those atavistic impulses. But the Olu of Warri never sought bloodshed while standing by his people. The crisis is now essentially history and chroniclers of his era will document his role as a man of peace rather than an escalator of tensions.

    The last major public picture involved the last elections and former President Goodluck Jonathan’s visit to his palace. The former president wanted to placate the Itsekiris over the EPZ reportedly claimed by Ijaws but the Itsekiris believe it is theirs.

    The other story concerning the late Olu was personal. It involved his confession of personal faith in the Christian God. This caused a row in Iwerre, or the Itsekiri kingdom. The tension was palpable throughout the kingdom, and it signposted deep cultural collision between tradition and what is regarded as Western faith.

    There were moments of intransigence between the Olu and his chiefs who would not brook the “desecration” of the Itsekiri heritage. This was one of the few, but perhaps the most tempestuous, in recent memory in terms of a contest on the national stage between two self-acclaimed purities.

    Yet, the matter passed out of the public gaze, and till his death, the Itsekiri kingdom did not stir with this existential crisis from its throne.

    The late Olu of Warri was also known to be a lawyer and exercised his wisdom in bringing both colour and order to the throne. He also quietly fought for the employment of the Itsekiris in the oil industry. He was conscious of the fact that the Itsekiris sat over the nation’s main resource and, being a minority, it was easy for his people to be passed over in some of the plum jobs in the land. May his soul rest in peace.

  • PMB’s agenda and 2016 budget

    PMB’s agenda and 2016 budget

    SIR:The 2016 national budget is being awaited with a lot of hopes and enthusiasm because, it will be the first national budget to be prepared and presented by a different political party other than the erstwhile ruling Peoples Democratic Party, (PDP). The PDP has had the responsibility of crafting 16 annual national budgets from 1999 to 2015, leaving in its wake, mass poverty and high rate of unemployment.

    Nigerians did not appreciate the place of annual budgets in their lives, because they felt none within the 16 years the PDP governed Nigeria and implemented their fiscal and monetary policies. Nigerians will be looking into the 2016 budget to see in real terms, President Muhammadu Buhari’s plan for economic revival and infrastructural renewal.

    It is expected that the APC Federal Government will redirect the economy of Nigeria using the instrumentality of the 2016 budget to make our nation and its people a productive one, away from the culture of unbridled consumption.

    Although, following the timelines prescribed by the prevailing legal framework on the budgetary process, the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, the government is already running late as the National Assembly has not been presented with the details of the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) from where the 2016 budget will be derived from. It is expected that the trend on frivolous borrowing for recurrent expenditure would be stopped and the prescription of the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007 on borrowing, only for capital projects and human development adhered to strictly in line with Part 10, Section 4 of the Act for all tiers of government.

    The federal government will need a lot of planning to pull through the challenges of economic statecraft in the light of dwindling oil revenue. Advanced nations of the world use annual budgets to transform the lives of their people. This is achieved by ensuring that the capital component of the budget takes a larger chunk of their resources.

    With the efforts the APC-led Federal government  has been making to re-kick start the infrastructural bases of Nigeria’s economy in the last three months, and the agitation by the business community and development analysts for the policy direction of the Buhari government, the 2016 budget should reduce consumption and promote development within the context of capital and recurrent budget matrix.

    The Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy introduced and being implemented by the administration for proper and streamlined public finance management will enjoy an elaborate explanation in the 2016 budget within the context of the fight against corruption and looting of the public treasury. We expect better accountability in the management of Nigeria’s public resources through diligent planning and effective and transparent budgetary process. There should be no room for the annual budget of the Nigerian people to serve as a conduit for those in public office to siphon the commonwealth of the nation leaving in its wake mass poverty, ignorance and disease.

     

    • Ugo Jim-Nwoko,

    Abuja.