Category: Editorial

• Fetishisation of aptitude and integrity, in tests, is hardly the way to go

People of Cross River State must be proud of their governor, Prof. Ben Ayade and his love for scholastic rigour.  Yet, isn’t the new governor rather over-playing the scholastic part of him?

Governor Ayade has come out with a rather curious pre-test for his would-be cabinet and other state appointees.  They would all have to undergo a mandatory “integrity and aptitude” test.

“His Excellency, Prof. Ben Ayade, wants all the nominees for appointments as commissioners to undergo and integrity test,” declared a release by Christian Ita, the governor’s chief press secretary.  “Additionally, the nominees  would also write an aptitude test.”

To show that His Excellency means business, a committee to conduct the tests has already been set up, made up of Paul Erokoro, an Abuja-based lawyer, Martin Orim, the chief of staff to the governor and Mrs Grace Ekanem.  After the putative cabinet members have had their day with the committee, the committee would shift its attention to would-be members of boards of parastatals and agencies.  It is only after that the governor would pass their names to the state legislature for endorsement.

For starters, since integrity and aptitude tests are a sine-qua-non for any sinecure under the Ayade governorship, which body vetted members of the Orim-chaired committee — or did His Excellency do it himself?  And what of Mr. Ita, who rolled out the diktat — under instruction, of course.  Did he too have a private grilling with the governor?

Do not get us wrong.  With mass governmental turpitude and the attendant decay in the public space, every political leader ought to take an especial interest in the moral tincture of his lieutenants.  Whatever each of them does, their principal, the governor, takes the can: for they act in his name; and hold office at his pleasure.

Aptitude is no less important — for it is a matter of competence; and the ability to grind out results, even with telling circumstances.  We do not want to pump officials with so much state resources, without commensurate results, do we?

Still, is sitting virtual examinations on morality, integrity and competence the way out?  It could be, but not necessarily so.  By the way, did the governor himself write such tests when he was gunning for nomination?  And the aptitude bid: since he most probably would pick from among his party peers, when did he start having doubts on their competence: before the elections when their inputs were needed to secure power?  Or after: after power had been sealed and delivered?

All this might sound like playing the devil’s advocate but that is exactly what is probably playing out in the mind of the potential candidates for the proposed test.  But such is Nigeria’s political sociology that even the most hurt and humiliated would quietly lick their wounds, stoop to conquer and gain the el-dorado of their dreams — government sinecure with all its lollies.

Governor Ayade must take every logical step to ensure he marshals a dream team, such that can sustain and improve on the worthwhile legacies of the Donald Duke and Liyel Imoke years.  On all objective fronts, Cross River would appear one of the relative success stories of this democratic dispensation.

But he must be careful not to appear, ab initio, crassly disrespectful of his team; and elevating himself to a virtual tin god over his cabinet, when all he needs is mutual respect between him and the cabinet,  to fire their sense of individual worth; and nurture a collective creative instinct.

Making full adults sit for “integrity and aptitude” test is taking campaign for rectitude in public offices too far.  The governor should forget such an idea, and think of a more nuanced method of achieving his goal, without making the subject of the test feeling hurt or humiliated.

‘But he must be careful not to appear, ab initio, crassly disrespectful of his team; and elevating himself to a virtual tin god over his cabinet, when all he needs is mutual respect between him and the cabinet,  to fire their sense of individual worth; and nurture a collective creative instinct’

•The North must look inward to fix its own problems

Northern governors, under the auspices of the Northern Governors Forum (NGF), met on September 11 and declared their region was ‘decaying’.

“It has become imperative, especially for northern state governors,” said Kashim Shettima, chair of the forum and governor of Borno State, “to brace up for the challenges ahead.”

The governors’ alarm would elicit varied responses, with not a few claiming it could be another northern ploy to corner more resources, now that the president is from that region.

That would be cynical but not altogether unfounded.  But if that is true of the North, it is also  true of other parts of the country.  The Nigerian political elite, for selfish interests, often regionalise power — the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency’s South-South – South East coalition being the latest example.

But there appears no guarantee that even other regions yet to taste federal power, would not return to such clannishly self-destruct behaviour when they eventually get their chance.  Still, that is no path a nation should travel.

That is why it is reassuring that the northern governors themselves, from their resolutions, appear to be looking inward, not towards some federal might (euphemism for loading the dice of federal favours in a regional direction), to solve their present and pressing problems.

Again, from Governor Shettima: “After exhaustive deliberations, the northern state governors have resolved to adopt a holistic approach towards solving the problems.  Should the present leaders fail, the consequences would be better be imagined than experienced.”

On this, the NGF is spot on — the region, wilting under numerous crisis, from the economy to security, does need a holistic plan: of the North, for the North,  by the North.

Take security.  The Boko Haram menace is the North’s most reported security challenge.  It is good news the government appears to, at last, be routing the insurgents.  But even with that, the terrible scars remain.  So, there must be a grand post-militancy resettlement and reorientation programme.

Aside from Boko Haram, ethnic killings, with roots firmly in economic parchment, lay the North prostrate.  Even with a reported peace initiative, 20 people, on September 11, were reportedly slain in killings in the Plateau communal crisis, where the Fulani and Berom are falling upon themselves.  In Taraba and Adamawa, it is the same gory tale of ethnic killings.  This conundrum of inter-ethnic resentment, if not outright hatred, is what the North must sort out — and fast.

But it cannot do that without digging deep into its roots; and a major problem is the fatal match-up between Fulani herdsmen and local farmers.  The herdsmen appear to have gifted themselves the divine right to feed their cattle, even if that means wilfully destroying the farmers’ livelihood.  The farmers too would appear to take laws into their own hands, pleading criminal collusion from some elements of state, who they allege illicitly embolden the marauding herdsmen.

Yet, both herdsmen and farmers are entitled to legitimate livelihood.

What to do?  The northern authorities must come up with a solid plan of building modern ranches, within which the herdsmen can graze their cattle, without endangering farmlands of pastoralists.  Aside from doing away with the traditional nomadic grazing, that has triggered so much violence and bloodshed, the modern ranches would come with a sweet value-added: agro-allied processing.  That way, the ranchers would get more money for their produce now turned products; but exert less physical energy; and suffer less loss of human lives.  The same argument goes for the farmers.  But mass enlightenment is needed to sell this new approach, to wean the mind of traditionalists off the old ways.

But more than anything, if the North really is desirous of exiting its present sorry pass, it must make conscious and collective investment in social infrastructure.  Encouraging vibes are already coming out of Sokoto and Kaduna states, which governments have declared free and compulsory education to secondary school level.  The key word is compulsory, for education in the North has always been largely free; but not many have taken advantage of this precious investment.

This challenge can be confronted with a sound and  comprehensive education master plan, under the auspices of northern regional integration.  Indeed, integration should be the developmental elixir for other geo-political regions in the country.

•Banks must be held to account for holding on to federal government money and unilaterally hiking interest rates.

For an industry permanently on the spotlight, two developments –not unrelated – have merely driven home the reality of extant practices that continue to erode trust in the financial services sector.

The first is the whopping sum ofN12 billion said to have been collected as revenue by banks on behalf of the federal government but which they failed to remit. This was the finding by the consultant engaged by the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) to verify and reconcile revenue collections and remittances by 19 collecting banks engaged by the Nigerian Customs Service and Federal Inland Revenue Service. The period is said to cover January 2008 to June 2012.

Now, RMAFC is demanding that the banks promptly remit the amount into the federal government coffers.

The other is the subject of an on-going probe by the Consumers Protection Council. It involves alleged N1.8 billion excess charges on the account of the Bauchi State government by one of the banks. The CPC is said to have stepped into the matter following a petition to the council; that was after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) reportedly declined further adjudication on the case earlier brought to it by the state government.

In the petition, the state government alleged that the bank, without any prior information, charged 21 per cent interest rate per annum on two loans of N10 billion and N3 billion, which the bank granted it on January 22, 2009 and June 15, 2011 respectively both at the rate of 13 per cent interest per annum, and that this has resulted in excess interest charges on its account, amounting to the sum of N1,864,188,594.78 as at February 2014.”

The state government further alleged  inconsistencies in the application of interest rate with the rate going up as high as 54.46 per cent in some cases.

Both cases, obviously exemplify some of the more brazen abnormalities in the banking system for which Nigerians are now only too familiar. To start with, only in the most permissive, laisez-faire environment that the banking sector has become can the idea of an agent withholding revenues collected on behalf of its principal for months, if not years, can be contemplated. Worse is that a process so basic or elementary, and yet so fundamental to the revenue collection process, would take several years to accomplish.

The same – unfortunately – is no less true of the dispute between the Bauchi State Government and one of the banks over interest charges. This time, a bank is accused of changing the applicable interest rates at will, leaving the customer terribly short-changed.

The RMAFC should proceed forthwith to get the offending banks to remit the funds – we daresay with appropriate penalities-  without further delay. As for the matter before the CPC, we consider it as deserving of serious investigations to be undertaken – and this expeditiously.  It goes without saying that Nigerians are entitled to know how the matters are resolved given the public interest nature of the cases.  The whole affairs reek of fraud and impunity.

Both developments obviously underscore the need for further sanitisation of the financial system. Here, the challenge would seem essentially one of restoring integrity and best practices into the system without which the factor of trust will continue to be a mirage. The issue is simple. If the financial services industry cannot be trusted to play strictly by the rules, wherein lies the future for the overall economy?

The need to embrace global best practices is even more imperative now with the coming of the Treasury Single Account. We expect the federal government to enforce the deadline scrupulously as the issues of transparency which made it imperative can no longer wait.

• Why would NDLEA officials pursue a suspect to his death?

To what do we put this heinous crime down to: callousness? Poor training? Overzealousness? Lack of regard for the sanctity of the human life? Or sheer power drunkenness?

It is indeed a bit difficult to come to terms with the report of the gruesome death of a certain Dapo Olasore, a 32-year-old man said to be a graduate lawyer. He was reportedly caused to drown by officers of the Nigeria Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

As the story went, officers of the NDLEA, apparently on a tip-off, had stormed the waterside area of Agboyi community in Alapere, Lagos, in search of drug traffickers last Sunday. Upon getting to the scene, the law officers had attempted to apprehend Olasore who had already boarded a canoe. In the ensuing scuffle, he was said to have tipped into the Agboyi River. Obviously unable to swim, the boatman had attempted to rescue him but the NDLEA men were alleged to have prevented him by pointing a gun at the boatman.

They thus watched Dapo Sasore drown. His body was washed up to the shore the following day.

Surely, this is no way to enforce law or treat any suspect. Officials of the NDLEA could not have been trained to snuff out the life from any suspect even if he attempts to escape. One would expect that NDLEA personnel, like all other armed officers of the law, are afforded specialized training on self-control, suspect management, sanctity of the human person, human rights and the rule of law.

It is unthinkable that these officials would have been burdened with such high responsibility of bearing arms and life ammunition without a thorough tutoring on the essence of control, comportment under pressure and the ultimate supremacy of the rule of law.

The incident leading to the drowning of Mr. Olasore if true as reported, is callous and reprehensible to say the least and criminal for sure. There is nothing to indicate so far that the victim is the actual suspect being sought, in which case it would have been easy to have apprehended him and made to face the law. Uncannily, the authorities of the NDLEA had not made any public statement on this matter, even as the body was washed up and family members are seeking to retrieve the body for burial.

We urge the police to step in and apprehend the officers of the NDLEA who carried out the Agboyi operation last Sunday. They must be prosecuted — and publicly too — so as to serve as deterrence not just to them but to others who are armed by the state to maintain law and order.

This incident also calls to question, the quality of training the agency avails its recruits and officers. There might be a need for an overhaul of the current training regime. We seem to have become too enarmoured with brute force and gun-wielding where intelligence and soft power would often suffice. What was the point of storming a riverside commando-style in unmarked vehicles and shooting sporadically? The only result, it seems now, was to blunder into a likely manslaughter.

The lesson must be learned and indeed reinforced at every opportunity that uniform and arms are never licenses to kill. The point must indeed be made all the time that to turn the gun at a fellow citizen under any guise, is a criminal offence which comes with dire consequences.

The agency must also see to it that it does everything necessary to assuage the pains of the family of the victim; that is the very least expected of them.

• That is the sad tale of Nigerian states that maintain executive aircraft but can’t pay salaries

It is no secret that the vast majority of Nigeria’s 36 states are today financially crippled; and are unable to discharge their obligations to the citizenry.

Nothing better demonstrates this predicament than the inability of most of them to pay salaries and allowances of their workers for several months now. So bad had things degenerated that the Federal Government has been forced to bail out the affected states through a lifeline loan of approximately N804.7 billion to enable them clear the backlog of unpaid salaries.

The plight of the states has been attributed largely to the drastic fall in accruals to the Federation Account following the crash in international oil prices, which has implied a huge reduction in the monthly allocations to the various levels of government.

Matters were worsened by the inept and opaque management of the Federation Account by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, particularly the large scale theft of the country’s crude oil; and the phenomenal corruption which saw the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) illegally withholding humongous amounts that should have been remitted to the government coffers for distribution as constitutionally stipulated.

However, a substantial number of the states have also been the architects of their current financial misfortune through sundry acts of corrupt enrichment, profligacy, complacency, poverty of imagination and sheer misplacement of priorities. This has been responsible for their continued dependency on Federal allocations rather than creatively enhancing their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) base.

Reports that two Embracer ERJ 145 aircraft purchased by the Taraba State government at an estimated cost of $42 million (N8.3 billion) have been lying idle at the Abuja and Kaduna airports since they were bought about four years ago exemplifies the kind of reckless expenditure and poor prioritisation characteristic of the states.

The aircraft purportedly purchased for the proposed Air Taraba were reportedly abandoned due to the political crisis in the state following the air crash involving former Governor Danbaba Suntai. Apart from the loss of an estimated N3.3 billion in probable revenues due to the grounding of the planes, aviation experts reckon that it will cost no less than N2.1 billion to service and make the planes airworthy once again.

Now, the question is, does it make any sense for a poverty-challenged state like Taraba to invest in an airline business, rather than focusing on basic infrastructure and poverty alleviation programmes in health, education, rural roads, water supply, agriculture and other critical areas that affect the majority of the people?

This is particularly so as Jalingo, the Taraba State capital, reportedly has only an airstrip and not a full-fledged airport with the capacity to accommodate the planes purchased.

What really is the rate of air traffic between Taraba and the rest of Nigeria and other parts that would make an Air Taraba a viable proposition? Even if it had potentials of profitability, should the state government not have encouraged private sector investment in the business instead of getting directly involved, given the country’s dismal experience with state-run businesses?

In the same vein, the reported discovery of an aircraft belonging to the Bauchi State government in Morocco has recently generated considerable controversy. Governor Mohammed Abubakar insinuates that the plane found its way to Morocco in suspicious and opaque circumstances. But his predecessor, Isa Yuguda, cries foul. His handover notes, he claims, clearly explained that the aircraft owned by the Bauchi State government, but currently on lease to Overland Airways, is in Morocco for routine checks and maintenance.

Still, should owning an aircraft for whatever reason be the priority of a state where the basic needs of life elude the vast majority of the people?

If this pattern of expenditure is not curbed, most states will remain perpetually unviable and fiscally vulnerable.  If struggling states spend their little resources on useless projects, how can they ever get out of the poverty loop?

Such irresponsible behaviours should no longer be tolerated — and the time to stop is now.