The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Re: PMB: the road not taken

    Re: PMB: the road not taken

    SIR: Just read again the piece – PMB: the road not taken by Sanya Oni in The Nation of July 21. I dare say it’s a good piece. El rufai’s panacea on scrapping the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is at best an outburst not well thought out but reminiscent of our political class. I say this because I know and believe that every corporate entity can be reformed if one is truly sincere. Killing NNPC is throwing the baby away with the bath-water. A serious effort to reform NNPC to me is even easier than we are made to think. Several bodies exist in the international space to assist in the improvement of the workings of these organisations or we come up with our own solutions incorporating some best practices as done in other climes.

    On the issue of subsidy, I dare say that for so long we have continued to miss the shot! Refined petroleum products should be available here and not imported. Why spend all that money when you can actually increase capacity to meet local consumption and even export? The cost of building a world class and modern refinery is less than US$2billion. Five of that would amount to just $10billion USD and with the existing ones we’ll have no need for petroleum products importation! And think of the thousands of jobs these will create. After design, these five can be operational in less than 24 months. We can actually do copy-and-paste in design cause these plants have been built elsewhere. A little modification in engineering and design won’t take more than six months.

    The truth is: those in charge of policy making or leadership know next to nothing about these  things and are more interested in amassing wealth at the detriment of the hoi polloi!

    Even PMB does not understand the workings of NNPC any more. His directive for a review of crude swap arrangements is at best naive if he does not initiate a long term programme such as urgently building new refineries and rehabilitating the old ones. These things are easy! It ain’t rocket science. Some of us won’t break a sweat to do them but in Nigeria everything is politics and we continue to go round in circles substituting one problem with another. We should identify our problems and tackle them one by one.

    Avaailability of refined products is one; build five refineries in 30 months and create over 50,000 jobs in the process.

    It is possible even in less time.

     

    • Engr. Ochoma Jonathan U

    Port Harcourt.

  • Season of anomie

    Season of anomie

    • Robbers and kidnappers descend on the land, even as some police operatives plumb a new low in sleaze

    The spate of kidnapping and robbery incidents across the country, should worry the government and the security agencies. Even more worrisome is that media and other professionals appear to have become prime targets.

    Just last weekend, Donu Kogbara, a long-running columnist with the Vanguard Newspaper, was released, after spending days with her kidnappers, in Port Harcourt. Earlier this week, Toyin, the wife of Steve Nwosu, the deputy managing director of The Sun Newspaper, was abducted from her home, in Okota, a suburb of Lagos.

    As if to rob salt upon injury, there is a media report, that a police man from Area M Police station, covering Egbeda, another suburb of Lagos, allegedly asked for N15,000  from a victim of robbery, one Ayodele Oduniyi, to track the robbery suspects. Just as the police are allegedly demanding money to do their job, the kidnappers are also demanding ransom to release their victims. In the case of Toyin, the kidnappers according to his distraught husband, are asking for N100 million naira, to release her.

    The case of Toyin is particularly surprising, considering the enormous resources Lagos State has invested to rein in violent crimes in the state. Mr. Nwosu has appealed to the kidnappers to release his wife, reminding them that he is a journalist; and does not have the N100 million ransom the kidnappers are asking for.

    Speaking to journalists on Tuesday, Mr. Nwosu said: “Apart from yesterday’s (Mondays) contact, the abductors of my wife have not made any other calls. I have left everything to God. All I would say is that I am a poor journalist and do not have the kind of money they are demanding”. We just hope the kidnappers are human, after all.

    Perhaps the government of Governor Akinwumi Ambode recently revved up the state special anti-robbery squad; so they should take the battle back to these hoodlums. Being a state of excellence, the government should never allow the armed robbers and kidnappers any foothold in the state. To achieve this, the state police commissioner and his officers must gear up to their responsibilities. The reported slow response to the kidnap incidence, in Okota, is unacceptable. According to sources, the kidnappers whose get away speed boat, had a breakdown, spent about 20 minutes, at the scene before taking off.

    The federal authorities must also wade in, with all the necessary security infrastructure and sundry support, to stem criminality across the country, particularly in major cities, like Lagos and Port Harcourt, which are strong economic hubs for the country. Considering the peculiarity of Lagos, the Inspector General of Police should dedicate a special squad to clean-up the state, of any form of criminality. Indeed, it is an embarrassment to the security agencies, particularly to the police, to have incidents like that of the Nwosus’, considering the state government’s enormous investment in their welfare and logistics.

    Perhaps, the federal police needs the complement of state police, to make the country safer. That suggestion which we have made severally on this page, needs repeating. After all, the state governments across the country, have made invaluable contributions to the effectiveness of police commands in their states, by buying operational vehicles, building offices, paying special allowances to personnel in their states, and through several other interventions.

    For us, whatever is needed to make the protection of lives and property more efficient, should be done to save citizens, from the trauma, associated with a visit by armed robbers and kidnappers.

    In the meantime, we join other well-meaning Nigerians to demand for the unconditional release of Toyin Nwosu. The security agencies should ensure her quick release.

  • Pensioners’ plight

    Pensioners’ plight

    • Nigerian senior citizens deserve a better deal

    Continuing reports of senior citizens in pains on account of unpaid pensions, and difficulties experienced under the country’s pension scheme, are increasingly disturbing.  This is because the pathetic suffering is no news. It is bad enough that the system created pains.  It is even worse that the agonies are sustained in both public and private sectors.

    It is worrying that 11 years after the enactment of the Pension Reform Act of 2004, two major employers of labour in the country — state governments and the organised private sector — have been identified as major defaulters, following their failure to fully adopt  and effectively operate the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS).

    It is noteworthy that the National Pension Commission (PenCom), the pension sector regulator, painted a sad and condemnable picture of pension operation in the public sector in its Act implementation status report. The document said: “As at the end of the first quarter, 2015, 26 state governments had enacted laws on the CPS, while the remaining 10 were at the bills stage. Eight out of the 36 states had commenced remittance of contributions into the Retirement Savings Account (RSA) of their employees.”

    The reported level of public sector compliance is unacceptably low, and gives little cause for optimism. But the picture is no less gloomy concerning compliance by private sector players.

    Importantly, the PenCom report is corroborated by media investigations. According to a recent publication, “Many state governments are unable to pay pensions. Some do not remit their counterpart deductions, as required by the Pension Act, to workers’ respective Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs). Others, yet, have no plans or ideas on how to pay.”

    It continued: “Besides, many private sector organisations do not comply with Pension Act regulations requiring them to partner with workers in contributing to the scheme and providing how retirees would access their funds.”

    Certainly, the problem cannot be exclusively attributed to the country’s so-called harsh economic realities. It goes deeper than that factor, and reflects a clear insensitivity to the circumstances of pensioners who have invested the energies of their active years only to be tortured by disappointment in retirement. It is unfair to the pensioners; and the defaulting parties must accept responsibility.

    The question must be asked: What is the use of the Pension Act, if its regulations can be flouted with impunity? Put differently, the relevant authorities need to urgently address the injustice imposed on pensioners who are being prevented from reaping where they have sown by a system that is not working according to plan.

    Just how terrible the pensioners’ plight is was captured by Comrade Osmond Ugwu, Chairman, Enugu State Workers’ Forum, who was quoted as saying that the contributory pension scheme “prepares the retiree to die before his time, because there is nothing you are hoping on.”  Ugwu added: “This particular policy is entirely a policy of frustration and founded on injustice. It has nothing to benefit the worker…It is the lack of fiscal management that has brought this problem on workers.”

    Apart from the agonising experience of the pensioners, the situation offers no comfort to workers who cannot look forward to retirement with peace of mind. It amounts to a double loss: if workers expected to bear deductions from their salaries for pension purposes end up bearing the pain of delayed pension payment — or worse: non-payment of their pensions.

    To redeem the system, defaulters should be sanctioned.  That should send a strong signal that the scheme is designed to work, so  sabotage, in any form, would not be tolerated.

    The country’s pensioners deserve peaceful retirement. The operation of the scheme meant to create an enabling environment for this end must be sanitised to achieve its laudable objective.

  • Health workers’ attitude to patients

    Health workers’ attitude to patients

    SIR: Oluchi was still alive by the time she was being rushed to the medical centre of the school but the doctors and nurses refused to attend to her  until they saw her identity card and confirmed that she was a student. They refused to attend to her and that was how the girl died there. The most shocking part was that when I got there, Oluchi wasn’t even placed on a bed; they wrapped her body and placed it on the floor. I told the doctor that it is wrong for them to have done that because sometimes the person could still be alive at that point.

    Those were the words of Nkem, the elder sister to Oluchi Anekwe, the girl who was electrocuted by a high-tension wire at the University of Lagos last week.

    It is so disheartening how this promising young lad’s dreams of graduating with a first class honour (a rare feat among students), dream of being a chartered accountant among others which has been brought to an abrupt end as a result of her inability to provide an identity card.

    My question is even if she is not a student of the institution can’t her life be saved first?

    Bluntly speaking, she isn’t the only one to have died as a result of this pitiless act exhibited by health-care workers, across the nation; a lot of emergency patients in dire need of urgent medical attention have been known to be denied treatment based on their inability to either produce a police report or other requirements. if

    I am yet to read or hear anywhere in other parts of the world where a patient in dire need of medical attention is allowed to die for his/her inability to provide an identity card or a police report as done in this country.

    For God sake, it’s human lives we are talking about here. Hands cannot just be folded, watching this sadistic act continue. Let whosoever that has made this cruel law that has allowed our health-care workers close their eyes on dying patients in urgent need of treatment have it reviewed. This to a large extent will help reduce the high rate at which lives are lost in the country; as attending to these patients will help boost their chances of survival.

    It is high time everything needed is put in place to save the lives of Nigerians, since no one knows who the next dying patient in dire need of urgent medical attention may be. It may be you, me or your close ones.

     

    • Solomon Odeniyi

    Ondo.

  • Kill-and-go

    Kill-and-go

    •The Lagos State government had better get more serious about enforcing its traffic law, before ‘kill-and-go’ truckers despatch more innocent road users

    It appears the Lagos State government and owners of trailers and trucks, banned by law from plying Lagos roads between 6. 00 a.m. and 9.00 p.m. in the public interest, are in for a long period of disagreement.  This is following the failure of the vehicle owners to obey the law.

    In spite of the state road traffic law which makes it illegal for the articulated vehicles to ply the roads in the state within the stipulated time, many of the banned vehicles continue to be on the roads, during the time belt they are supposed to be off, in blatant contravention of relevant sections of the law.

    Indeed, the sections of the state traffic law, which bars the trailers and trucks from the roads within the Lagos metropolis between 6. 00 a.m. and 9.00 p.m, states that “any driver found contravening the provisions of this section shall have his vehicle impounded by a duly authorised officer … and shall upon conviction be liable to a fine of N50,000 or a term of imprisonment for six months or both”.

    But this law had been obeyed more in the breach by the articulated vehicle owners, with the security agents turning a blind eye — until September 2 when three people were killed in an accident involving a container truck, at the Ojuelegba area of Lagos.  This accident made the state government to remind the trailer and truck owners of the relevant sections of the law they had been contravening, warning that henceforth, such illegality would not be tolerated.

    The permanent secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Transportation, Mr. Oluseyi Whenu, had warned after the tragic Ojuelegba accident that “The state government will henceforth go tough on any trailer and long vehicle that contravene the law; as such vehicles will be impounded and made to pay the stipulated fine accordingly”. Whenu added: “The new directive will pay more emphasis on flawless flow of traffic, while traffic offenders will now be booked and expected to pay their fines within the stipulated period in line with the state government’s promise to Lagosians to make life easier for them”.

    But feelers from the truck drivers, under the aegis of the Association of Maritime Truck Owners and National Association of Road Truck Owners, indicate that they would not withdraw their trucks from the roads with immediate effect, over the restriction. They gave reasons, though, including safety of their trucks, drivers and the cargoes due to the activities of hijackers, and lack of a designated place in the state to park the vehicles, among others.

    We cannot say these are unfounded, but then, they cannot be sufficient justification to break a law that was made following the due process. We recall that there were lots of stakeholders’ meetings before the road traffic bill was passed into law. These concerns ought to have been raised at that time. Now that it has become law, it has to be obeyed.

    Be that as it may, such restrictions can only be a short term measure to deal with the menace of articulated vehicles’ drivers on our roads. It is common knowledge that many of these vehicles are not roadworthy; they had caused many accidents and wanton loss of lives and property all over the country.

    At the very basics, the Lagos government must ensure whatever trucks, or articulates vehicles, that plies its roads are certified road-worthy.  Whichever are not must, as routine, be impounded.  This nonchalant attitude to safety, and government’s own lethargy to enforce right road habits, clearly cannot continue. So, if these vehicle owners must remain in business, they must ensure that their vehicles are roadworthy. Moreover, many of their drivers are generally reckless and daring; they have scant regard for human lives. No government worth its salt would shut its eyes to such recklessness or treat public safety with levity.

    All said, however, we need a holistic approach to end the nightmare of articulated vehicles on our roads. Law enforcement has to be intensified, even as the government should make the necessary investments in other modes of transportation like the railway and waterways, to relieve the roads of the heavy burden of these vehicles on our roads — and the sheer menace of these kill-and-go truck and trailer drivers.

     

  • Diluting diplomacy?

    Diluting diplomacy?

    •Cost considerations should not hamper foreign policy objectives

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent announcement that his administration would undertake a comprehensive review of Nigeria’s missions overseas is a logical response to shortfalls in funding and a need to properly focus the nation’s diplomatic activities.  But it should not be achieved at the expense of broader foreign policy goals.

    The president’s concerns are clearly justified. The country is said to have 119 missions scattered across the world on which it will spend N34 billion this year. Some of these missions are located in relatively obscure nations with little social, political or economic relevance to Nigeria. Others have only a handful of Nigerian citizens.

    In spite of the huge sums expended on their maintenance and upkeep, many of the country’s missions are disgracefully dilapidated eyesores, which do nothing to enhance national prestige. And as is all too common with most things Nigerian, they have become conduits of corruption. The 2014 national budget contained N872.46 million for fuelling and maintaining generators in foreign missions, including those in places like New York and Washington. The budget also included N30 million for the fuelling of non-existent boats and aircraft purportedly owned by the country’s missions abroad.

    However, it is also clear that Nigeria’s place in the world is such that it cannot but have a robust diplomatic footprint upon the global stage. As the largest black nation in the world, the country is burdened with the historic mission of elevating the black race, consistently arguing its cause and resolutely preventing its continued degradation. That was why the country took up the anti-apartheid cause as its own, even if it was not directly affected by that odious system of institutionalised racial discrimination.

    Such ambitious foreign policy goals cannot be achieved on a shoestring budget. Diplomacy is particularly expensive because its successful prosecution assumes an ability to be present when important decisions are made, a refusal to abandon one’s friends and allies, and a preparedness to put one’s money where one’s convictions are.

    What that means for Nigeria is the vigorous pursuance of its diplomatic interests in three main spheres: the West African sub-region, where it is by far the dominant power; the African continent, where it is a key guarantor of political stability and economic growth; and nations in Europe and the Americas where it has a large and growing diaspora.

    It would be incorrect to visualize diplomatic involvement in these areas merely as egoistic grandstanding without substantial returns: remittances from the Nigerian diaspora totalled US $ 63.17 billion between 2011 and June 2014. In 2013 alone, it was an estimated $20.77 billion. Indeed, Nigeria is in the happy position of enjoying a near-perfect symbiosis between its geopolitical and altruistic interests.

    In the light of this, the Federal Government should seek to balance its cost-cutting tactics with the enhancement of the country’s foreign policy strategies. The anti-corruption war must be taken to foreign missions with a vengeance; the sundry scams and extortions many of them have become notorious for must be wiped out. Greater attention should be paid to the shenanigans of embassy officials who use their positions to perpetrate fraudulent practices. Ludicrous items must expunged from the foreign affairs budget.

    But more effort should also be devoted to ensuring that the country has an effective presence in the places it needs to be active in. That would mean the creation of more consulates in countries with large numbers of Nigerian citizens, as well as the rehabilitation of foreign missions in order to make them more effective proponents of trade, investment and cultural exchange.

    Successful foreign policy is like delicious stew: it is not cheap, but its rewards are truly satisfying.

     

  • Fear of MERS

    Fear of MERS

    •Like Ebola, Nigeria’s public health officials must be wary of this fast-spreading respiratory disease, first reported in Saudi Arabia

    Nigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabia for this year’s Hajj cannot be too careful, following the news of an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)-CoV, which has claimed about 513 lives so far. Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Health said the country has recorded 1, 205 cases, out of which 614 have recovered, 65 are active and 13 are quarantined at home.

    A viral respiratory illness new to humans, MERS was first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and has since spread to other countries, including the United States, Jordan, Republic of Korea, Philippines, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.  It is a cause for worry that symptoms of the sickness are ambiguous at the early stage, making its detection complicated and constituting a challenge to healing.

    The World Health Organisation (WHO), whose emergency committee sounded the alarm ahead of the September 22 commencement of the Hajj, said: “It is not always possible to identify patients with MERS-CoV early because, like other respiratory infections, the early symptoms are non-specific.”  In other words, the illness is accompanied by, but not defined by, fever, cough and shortness of breath.

    The outbreak so close to the Hajj, according to the WHO, raises the threat of pilgrims returning to their respective countries with the virus. The organisation said: “The recent outbreak in the Republic of Korea demonstrated that when the MERS virus appears in a new setting, there is a great potential for widespread transmission and severe disruption to the health system and to society”

    With 66,000 Nigerian pilgrims expected to be flown to the holy land ahead of the closure of Jedda Airport on September 17, and scheduled to return to Nigeria in batches in an operation that will be concluded by October 27, it is obvious that viral infection is a possibility.

    It is commendable that the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) has adopted measures to protect the country’s pilgrims. The body’s Commissioner-in-charge of Health, Dr. Ibrahim Kuta, reportedly publicised its preventive measures, which include making the pilgrims aware of the danger of eating camel meat in the holy land as such consumption has been implicated, setting up a surveillance unit and screening all returning pilgrims at the departure point in the holy land in order to check possible export of the virus to Nigeria. Also, any Nigerian pilgrim that develops symptoms of the illness is expected to report promptly to the official medical team that accompanied the country’s pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.

    ‘With 66,000 Nigerian pilgrims expected to be flown to the holy land ahead of the closure of Jedda Airport on September 17, and scheduled to return to Nigeria in batches in an operation that will be concluded by October 27, it is obvious that viral infection is a possibility’

    It is noteworthy that the WHO said: “Infection prevention and control measures are critical to prevent the possible spread of MERS-CoV in health care facilities.” It is hoped that the Nigerian health officials would be guided by the insight of the global health body.

    Against the backdrop of public anxiety about MERS,  the September 8 news of the deaths of five Nigerian pilgrims in the holy land, four in Madinah and one in Mecca, is a cause for concern, especially because the causes of their deaths were undisclosed. The development is a further reason for proactive alertness on the part of the relevant health officials.

    The September 11 crane collapse at the Grand Mosque in Mecca, resulting in the loss of 87 lives (including a reported six Nigerians, according to Saidu Adamu, Kaduna State Task Force on Hajj spokesperson), provides an additional reason to be prepared to deal with emergencies that may involve Nigerian pilgrims.

    There is no doubt that, in the circumstances, it would be a tough challenge to ensure that the country’s pilgrims return safe and sound. However, with proper preparation, readiness and vigilance, the medical and welfare-support workers should be able to prevent disasters that can be avoided.

     

  • Living in denial

    Living in denial

    • Former President Jonathan ran a cabinet of technically sound men with woeful performance

    It is indisputable that Dr Adewunmi Adesina, the new President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Ms Arunmah Oteh, just appointed Vice-President of the World Bank, are two first class Nigerian professionals eminently qualified to play the critical roles assigned to them in these international organisations. Every Nigerian is justified to be proud of their accomplishments; not least former President Goodluck Jonathan in whose administration Dr Adesina served as Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development while Ms Oteh was the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

    The former president is perfectly in order,  congratulating his two former appointees on their new responsibilities. The content of his widely publicised congratulatory letters to the duo, however, suggests that Dr Jonathan was either being deliberately mischievous or is still living in denial over three months after the Nigerian electorate showed him the way from the Presidential Villa in Abuja, back to his native Otuoke in Bayelsa State.

    As far as Dr Jonathan is concerned, the international recognition accorded the two professionals “attests to the fact that my administration had a good team that managed the affairs of the country”. In his letter to Adesina, Jonathan enthused that “You were not only a critical voice in my economic team, you also walked the talk and earned the praise of our countrymen and women by ensuring that Nigeria’s quest for self-sufficiency in food production became an achievable dream”.

    As for Ms Oteh, Jonathan wrote: “I am delighted that you are going to your new job fresh from the experience of having led the recovery and growth initiatives of the Nigerian Bourse in the wake of the decline, occasioned by recent global economic recession and financial crisis”. If these exaggerated claims were true, Jonathan and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would still be firmly in power rather than being emphatically rejected at the polls.

    We reaffirm that both Adesina and Oteh are outstanding intellects. They both came to their positions in the Jonathan administration with track records of wide experience and excellent performance in various reputable international organisations. Another such member of the administration in Jonathan’s government was Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Minister of Finance and coordinating Minister for the Economy. But the truth is that the elevation of Adesina and Oteh to their international positions is more due to the duo’s individual abilities and accomplishments than an acknowledgement of some imaginary collective achievements of the Jonathan administration in which they served.

    Yes, some commendable reforms were achieved in the agricultural sector under Adesina but the sector continues to function far below its potential. That is why the country remains a mono-cultural economy so perilously dependent on petroleum revenues. In spite of her expertise and experience, Oteh did not leave Nigeria’s Capital Market necessarily better than she met it. They were both members of the Economic Management Team of the Jonathan administration that has bequeathed to its successor a depressed economy brought to its knees by the current drastic fall in oil price and corruption. And this is despite several years of booming oil sales during Jonathan’s tenure.

    The fault of course is not that of accomplished Nigerian professionals who perform brilliantly on international assignments but poorly at home. Rather, the problem is with the kind of inept and permissive leadership best exemplified by Dr Jonathan under whose leadership corruption and impunity rose to unprecedented proportions in Nigeria. The mediocrity of Dr Jonathan and the majority of his team made it impossible for the few outstanding professionals among them to perform to their full potential and make a positive impact on governance.

    ‘The mediocrity of Dr Jonathan and the majority of his team made it impossible for the few outstanding professionals among them to perform to their full potential and make a positive impact on governance’

     

  • NNPC’s recovery drive

    • Every dime owed the country must be recovered

    The news that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has begun the process of recovering billions of dollars in outstanding obligations by its Joint Venture partners and other players in the industry should ordinarily gladden the hearts of every Nigerian. A report submitted to the President detailing activities since the new management took over says that the corporation has begun the process of recovering over $7 billion in over-deducted tax benefits from JV Partners (JVP) on major capital projects.

    Among other highlights, the report also referred to the on-going work by a reputable international accounting firm to ascertain the exact amount due to the federation from the Strategic Alliance Contracts entered by the Nigerian Petroleum Development Company (NPDC) involving an outstanding $2.46bn; the reconciliation of the crude oil for refined products swap contracts said to have yielded an outstanding $420 million in favour of NNPC, of which only $277m has been recovered in lieu of products although recovery effort is said to be on-going.

    In all, NNPC’s Group Managing Director (GMD) Dr. Ibe Kachikwu touched on the performance measurement and value-for-money review embarked on by the corporation covering the period between 2008 and 2013 as raising great prospects of raising more cash into the national kitty.

    These initial steps are certainly important, both from the point of view of the on-going efforts to reposition the national oil corporation and the need to boost the accruals into the treasury. The reality however is that the report – largely statements of intentions – is not nearly enough if the outcomes of similar findings in the past are anything to go by. Nigerians expect to see the Federal Government move swiftly to recover every dime. If merely by the current state of the national treasury, any form of dithering by any of the debtors to promptly remit those funds already established as accruing to the NNPC, and by extension the federation account, would not just be intolerable but smack of acts bordering on economic sabotage. In the circumstance, it would not be out of place for the Federal Government to consider all possible options to ensure that the funds are paid without further delay.

    Howbeit, we recognise that these activities are merely a tip of the iceberg, given what is required to clean up the corporation’s Augean stables. They are in fact tangential to the main layers of investigations going on. Here we have in mind the investigations being undertaken at the behest of the ad hoc committee of the National Economic Council (NEC), the forensic audit ordered by the NNPC itself, and other sundry investigations being undertaken by the National Assembly. The issue really is that nothing stops the Federal Government from collecting its dues from either the JV partners or those found to have reneged on their primary obligations under the nebulous Strategic Alliance Agreements even as these investigations go on.

    It bears stressing that the efforts, far from being a closure,  are only the beginning of the long process to unravel the mystery accounting that has surrounded the operations of the NNPC; we see it as part of the wider efforts to check impunity in the nation’s public life and to ensure that proven cases of crime are deservedly punished. At the end of the exercise, Nigerians expect not only to see a re-branded NNPC but also a transformed and truly sanitised oil industry in which actors not only play and are seen to play by the rules, but one in which grave infractions are visited with serious consequences.

    The NNPC obviously still has a long way to go in this regard just as all eyes are on the Kachikwu-led management to see how well it would deliver on its current mission to clean up the rot in the industry.

  • A troubling raid, and an intriguing ‘stockpile’

    •DSS’ raid on Akwa Ibom Govt House raises many fundamental questions

    Last week’s raid by operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) on the Presidential Lodge within the Government House Complex in the Akwa Ibom State Capital, Uyo, has set off across the country reactions ranging from outrage to renewed questioning about whether Nigeria is a federation or, for all practical purposes a centrally-administered state pretending to be a federation.

    The DSS said it carried out the raid following credible intelligence that the house served as a dump for unlawful weapons. The raid reportedly yielded some arms and Improvised Explosive Devices but, more dramatically, what the operatives called a “stockpile” of U.S. dollars.

    In the public imagination, that term conjured up an enclosed space of no small dimension, chock-full of banknotes rising from floor to ceiling. What the pictures reportedly taken from the scene show is less dramatic, but it is troubling that the bundles and bundles of 100 U.S. dollar should lie outside the banking regulations.

    Who owns the arms and the money? Who stored them there, and for what purpose? How did they get there? Were they in proper custody?

    A detailed investigation will have to be conducted to answer these questions conclusively.

    There are even more fundamental questions that should be addressed.

    The DSS says the raid was backed by a search warrant. Under what circumstances was the search warrant granted? Did the DSS show probable cause for seeking the warrant? If the answer is in the affirmative, were reasonable alternatives considered as the law requires?

    These questions are not academic.

    The DSS has often tended to strike first without carrying out the necessary investigation, hoping that a raid would yield evidence on which a successful prosecution could be grounded. In a democratic society, the law takes a dim view of such conduct, regarding it as nothing but    a fishing expedition.

    At other times, the DSS has lent its authority to purely partisan exploits, such as when it staged a dramatic raid of questionable legality on the Opposition (as it then was) All Progressives Congress’ (APC) Data Centre in Opebi, Lagos, subjected the operators, including a pregnant woman, to physical abuse, and claimed to have uncovered equipment for cloning voters’ cards that the APC was going to use to rig the impending general election.

    Yet, in the face of such apparently damning evidence of electoral skullduggery articulated dramatically at a news conference by DSS spokesperson Marilyn Orgar, since defenestrated from the agency, no prosecutions were brought. The staffers and senior party officials lived under a cloud of suspicion. Perhaps that was the real purpose, to help the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) portray the Opposition as a party sworn to electoral malfeasance.

    That misadventure undoubtedly informs the charges now being made that the recent DSS raid on an annex of Government House, in Uyo, seat of power of a government led by the Opposition PDP, may have been instigated by the APC-controlled Federal Government.

    The Federal Government cannot dissociate itself too soon or too vehemently from this incident.

    The raid has also been characterised as yet another assault on the federal principle. Whether an agency controlled wholly by the Federal Government has or should have the prerogative to launch a raid on a facility or premises of a state governor is a matter yet to be resolved to every party’s satisfaction.

    The Federal Government has overall responsibility for security, and the Criminal Code has overriding jurisdiction. But it must exercise its powers mindful of the constitutional imperatives of federalism, even in a defective federation like ours.