The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Charmed out of legit business?

    Charmed out of legit business?

    • The odyssey of ChamsCity in the national ID card concession compels a revisit to Nigerian governments’ attitude to Nigerian businesses

    What is the cost of downgrading a 10-year concession into a contract? In the case of Chams Plc and ChamCity, its Nigerian national identity card concession special purpose vehicle, it is N9.2 billion of investors’ money down the drain.

    That is the long-and-short of the national ID card deal between Chams Plc and the Federal Government of Nigeria, via its agency, the Nigerian Identity Management Commission (NIMC). The disputed deal has led to the virtual death of ChamsCity — except the Buhari Presidency quickly intervenes. This has also sustained the hoodoo that has plagued the national ID card scheme, conceived in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but yet to witness full implementation.

    “Today is a sad day for entrepreneurship and innovation,” Sir Demola Aladekomo, Chams Plc’s founding managing director, griped, “as we close down ChamsCity at Ikeja that got Nigeria into the Guinness World Record, because my government could not protect Chams Plc from the onslaught of the NIMC management; a nation that kills its own.”

    Sir Demola’s stinging comment is rather strange. Why might NIMC, an agency of the Federal Government, not only disagree with its principal but is alleged to have muscled it to truncate a concession between the government and Chams Plc?

    Chams’ allegations are even graver.  After winning an open and transparent national ID card implementation bid, which featured 65 other international companies in 2007, the NIMC chief executive officer allegedly dragged his feet, for three years, to frame the concession agreement.

    In-between, based on then President Olusegun Obasanjo’s assurances, that Chams need not wait for the formal concession details, Chams, according to a report in The Nation, went to the market to raise N8.4 billion, to which it added its own N800 million, making a total of N9.2 million. All this it invested in hardware and software, the ChamsCity virtual malls, which entered the Guinness Book of Records as the only digital mall in the world boasting more than 1, 000 fully networked computers in a single location.

    Indeed, ChamCity are in four locations: Abuja (1,200 workstations), Lagos (1,100), Port Harcourt (1,000) and Benin (800), all reportedly geared to, by 2009, start delivering on the national ID card promise, such that by 2014, 50 million Nigerians would have had their ID cards.  The concession would have lasted 10 years.

    According to Chams, however, by 2010, when the formal contract details came out, the concession had reportedly morphed to a one-off contract, thus sparking a legal dispute.

    Rued Sir Demola: “We tried, we begged, we did our best to protect a  concession we won after a major international tender process.  N9.2 billion shareholders’ funds was wasted for pecuniary interests,” he alleged, “of converting a concession to contracts. God help Nigeria!” That has led to the closure of ChamsCity in its four locations; and holding in further abeyance, the national ID card project, which would appear to be jinxed.

    Whichever of the two parties has defaulted, the courts would pronounce in good time. Still, the Chams allegations are grave enough for the Buhari Presidency, under the rubric of its anti-corruption war, to investigate. That would be in the national interest.

    For one, too much money, with too little result, has been spent on the National ID card project for the government not to wade into the matter. It should; and see if it can fix the problem without much delay, so that the project can resume.

    For another, if the Chams allegations are true, it would be yet another painful example of how  the Nigerian bureaucracy often throttles private entrepreneurial initiatives, on an alleged nose for sleaze.  If Chams had been a mono-product company, and it had met this brick wall, the business would have sunk — and with it, hundreds of its employees, not to talk of the money its shareholders would lose.

    That would be wilful waste indeed, for a country in which mass unemployment is a terrifying problem. So, the early the Federal Government intervenes in this matter, the better.

     ‘Whichever of the two parties has defaulted, the courts would pronounce in good time. Still, the Chams allegations are grave enough for the Buhari Presidency, under the rubric of its anti-corruption war, to investigate. That would be in the national interest’

  • 500 days and still counting

    500 days and still counting

    We shall never be free of the burden of  bringing back the Chibok girls

    Thursday, August 27th, marked another tragic milestone in the evolving barbaric narrative of the Boko Haram terrorist insurgency that has, over the last five years, claimed thousands of lives, particularly in the North-East of Nigeria, and rendered the region economically prostrate.

    It was exactly 500 days that day since the extremist sect invaded the Government Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, on the night of April 14, last year, abducting 276 girls who were preparing for their end-of-year Senior Secondary School examinations and carried them away in several trucks into the evil bowels of their Sambisa Forest fortress. But for about 57 of the abducted girls who were lucky to escape from their captors, nothing has been heard till date of the remaining 219 girls.

    That horrific incident shocked the entire world and exposed not only the depth of evil symbolised by the Boko Haram sect, which claimed to be waging a war against western education, but also the utter irresponsibility, insensitivity and incompetence of the former President Goodluck Jonathan administration. For one, it was simply incomprehensible how the insurgents could operate with such abandon and audacity in an area that had been placed under a state of emergency by the Federal Government.

    Even more exasperating was the inexplicable initial lethargic and unserious reaction of the Jonathan administration to the girls’ abduction. The administration only bestirred itself to act almost two weeks after the incident, and then only because of the international outcry that ensued. That squandering of valuable time is certainly a key reason why the insurgents were able to successfully spirit the girls away and their fate remains uncertain and unknown over 500 days after.

    The girls and their families heroically insisted on their obtaining western education despite the murderous threats of the Boko Haram barbarians. Unfortunately, the Nigerian State failed in its prime responsibility of providing them with adequate security to safeguard their lives. The sheer agony that the relatives and loved ones of these girls have been put through since the commencement of this ordeal can best be imagined. For, they have no way of knowing what fate has befallen the helpless girls. The parents of at least 17 of them have reportedly died during the ordeal. It is improbable that even if they are eventually rescued, the girls’ lives can ever be the same again.

    Messages of solidarity from across the world on the 500th day of their abduction show that the plight of the girls continues to haunt the global conscience. The Bring Back Our Girls movement deserves commendation for its tenacity in keeping the issue at the forefront of international consciousness. Even though it did not create the problem, the challenge and responsibility of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is to mobilise all the resources at the disposal of the Nigerian state to locate and rescue the girls. Luckily, the administration enjoys tremendous international goodwill and support, which it should draw upon to achieve this objective.

    ‘Even though it did not create the problem, the challenge and responsibility of the President Muhammadu Buhari administration is to mobilise all the resources at the disposal of the Nigerian state to locate and rescue the girls. Luckily, the administration enjoys tremendous international goodwill and support, which it should draw upon to achieve this objective’

    Understandably, President Buhari has been cautious not to create the impression that he has a magic wand to find and bring the girls back home. It would be cruel and dishonest to raise the hopes of their loved ones on unrealistic premises only to have them dashed eventually. But no matter how bleak the situation looks, we must never give up hope of rescuing and returning the girls home. We agree with the sentiments of the Pakistani human rights activist, Malala Yousafzai who in a letter to the girls said: “…Today and every day, we call on the Nigerian authorities and the international community to do more to bring you home. We will not rest until you have been reunited with your families”.

  • Time for prudence

    • States must be compelled to spend CBN grants wisely

    Finally, it is hoped that the economic meltdown afflicting more than two-thirds of the states in our country, and resulting in arrears of salaries and pensions for several months, has come to an end. The cheery news follows the release of grants promised by the Federal Government to the affected states. Following the sudden dip in the accruals from the Federation Account, arising partly from the mismanagement of the oil industry, especially by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, and the crash in international oil prices, many states fell behind in the payment of salaries and pensions.

    Now, President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration has fulfilled the second part of his intervention policy, made in the overall interest of the general welfare of the people, and we commend it for this. By this policy, the Federal Government has authorised the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to pay about N338billion as long term loans to the affected states, to help them offset the huge debts owed to banks and as arrears of salaries to workers. While the propriety of the grant had raised a lot of debate, we consider it ennobling that the Federal Government has weighed in to save the deprived workers and pensioners. After all, the welfare of the people is a primary reason for government.

    Expectedly, the grants are rightly loans, to be paid back from the states’ allocations over a long period. We hope the Federal Government has put strict measures in place to ensure timely repayments. Also, states should realise that by the grants, their future generations are constrained to pay the salaries and pensions of the present generation. While that is worrisome enough, it will be a double tragedy if the states are allowed to mismanage the grants. Indeed, if there is a way for the Federal Government to ensure that the money is strictly used for the purpose it was granted, the better for the workers.

    We know that some states may argue against a direct disbursement of the loans to the workers by the Federal Government, on the grounds of federal principles, and they are right. But, such states also need to be reminded that by allowing their states to go near-bankrupt, and now lying at the mercy of the federal behemoth; they have also compromised the principle of federalism. For a lasting solution, we urge the states to demand for restructuring of the national economy in such a way that states become viable economic entities, instead of hangers-on, perennially in economic quagmire.

    To achieve such objective, our country must move away from an oil-dependent mono economy; and seek diversification of its wealth base. The current practice cannot also sustain the over- loated bureaucracy, both at the federal and state levels. As is common knowledge, the Federal Government is also in grave financial difficulty, even when it takes the lion’s share from the federation account. So, what is needed for a healthier federation is to embrace efficiency, accountability and diversification, in place of the recent opacity, criminal mismanagement, and over-centralised economy.

    The states must also brace up. No doubt, many of the governors have been complicit in the challenges facing their states. Many of them get involved in white elephant projects; some are also corrupt and reckless in the use of the state resources. Indeed, some of the governors run their states as fiefdoms, with over-bloated security votes and other self-serving expenditures. In the overall interest of the country, states must become economically more independent and prudent in the management of their resources.

  • Crying wolf

    •Buhari should not be deterred by Jonathan’s ministers’ outburst

    If some of the ministers who served in the Goodluck Jonathan administration had their way, they would want Nigerians to decorate them with garlands for their ‘meritorious service’ to the nation. This is the impression one gets from the letter by the ministers to President Muhammadu Buhari, asking the president to give his predecessor ‘his due respect’. The former ministers say that the Buhari presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have been condemning, ridiculing and undermining the efforts of the Jonathan administration as well as rubbishing the integrity of its individual members.

    A statement issued on August 30 by Dr. Abubakar Suleiman, former Minister of National Planning, on behalf of the aggrieved ministers, put their grievances in bold relief: “We, the ministers who served under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration, have watched with increasing alarm and concern the concerted effort by the Buhari administration and members of the APC to condemn, ridicule and undermine the efforts of that administration, in addition to impugning the integrity of its individual members”.

    And, as if to tell Nigerians that they made a mistake at the polls in March, the group added: “We are proud to have served Nigeria and we boldly affirm that we did so diligently and to the best of our abilities. The improvements that have been noticed today in the power sector, in national security and in social services and other sectors did not occur overnight. They are products of solid foundations laid by the same Jonathan administration.”

    It is regrettable that some of President Jonathan’s ministers would come out to say the kind of things that Dr Suleiman said, given the monumental disaster that their administration represented, leading inexorably to its defeat at the presidential election. Indeed, it shows how unserious and petty some of our highly-placed people could get in their self-delusion.

    We cannot see anything that President Buhari has done to warrant the complaint by these former ministers. Contrary to Dr Suleiman’s insinuation that the present government is painting every member of the Jonathan government with the tar of corruption, only a few of the former president’s ministers are being mentioned in most of the scandalous revelations and allegations that are making the rounds in the country.

    If Dr Suleiman cares to know, no one should have any apologies for saying the Jonathan administration was corrupt because that was the least that could be said about that government. So, the question of vilifying it does not arise. In the same vein, there is nothing that is ill-intentioned, unduly partisan, and in bad faith about the allegations.

    The best we would have expected Dr Suleiman to do was defend himself as a person if he was not involved in the monumental graft and primitive accumulation that have come to define that era.

    We urge the Buhari administration not to be intimidated by the ranting of these former ministers or any other group or association that might want to derail the government’s anti-corruption efforts. Rather, it should be more resolute in its bid to know what happened to our money, particularly in the Jonathan years. Lessons must be taught and learnt; and how do we do that if we do not beam the searchlight on that dark epoch in our national life?

    If, truly the former ministers agree as they claimed in the press statement, “that every administration has the right to chart its own path as it deems fit”, then they should leave the Buhari administration to pursue the anti-corruption war its own way. Anyone who feels offended by the way it is going about it can approach the courts for redress.

  • Screening only judges for corruption trials not enough

    SIR: The recent decision by President Buhari setting up a committee headed by Prof Sagay to screen Judges who will handle trials of corruption related cases across the states is a welcome development. It accords with the spirit and letters behind the enactment by the 7th National Assembly session of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 which was signed into law on 13th day of May, 2015 by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, GCFR.

    Like the purpose for which the Act was enacted, part of President Buhari’s principal motive for setting up the Sagay body is to identify incorruptible judges across the nation, to ensure that the system of administration of criminal justice touching corruption trials in Nigeria promotes efficient proper management and speedy trials of corruption cases in the system. It is also to protect society from the influences of those already infested with the corruption virus.

    As laudable as this idea may be, it appears the president must have left out two very crucial steps that he should address promptly before corruption cases get to the trial level for the incorruptible Judges to handle.

    No matter how incorruptible a judge is, what determines his sense of justice, firmness and indeed incorruptibility to pass a firm judgment against the corrupt public officers depends largely on the effectiveness and investigation done by the anti-corruption agencies. It is also dependent on the competence, commitment and honesty of the prosecuting lawyers.

    It is settled law in our criminal Jurisprudence that a judge can only convict or set a suspect free solely on the basis of the quality of evidence produced before him by the prosecution. The incorruptible judge cannot under any guise manufacture evidence or descend to the arena of the trial or conflict if he is to remain detached and independent.

    Therefore, the president must instruct the anti-corruption agencies to firm up their commitments by involving crack investigation operatives to conduct proper investigations before forwarding the investigated cases to prosecutors who also must be experienced lawyers.

    It has to be emphasised that the anti-graft agencies in recent times lost cases due to lack of prior handling as remarked by the courts and these must be promptly addressed. The politicians accused of corruption will try to create soft landing for themselves by penetrating investigators and or prosecutors with much looted money in their hands. Otherwise we should be ready to see those suspected of stealing billions set free by the courts.

     

    • Chief Utum Eteng
  • Presidential appointments: Matters arising

    Presidential appointments: Matters arising

    President Buhari must be guided by the criticisms when making subsequent appointments

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s latest round of appointments to federal office has drawn a great deal of criticism, especially across the southern half of Nigeria.  The immediate cause of the disenchantment is the ethnic origins of the officials he named to the positions at issue.

    Of the six, only Ita Solomon Enang, Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (Senate) comes from the South. The other five, Babachir David Lawal (Secretary to the Government of the Federation), Abba Kyari, (Chief of Staff to the President), Colonel Hammed Ibrahim Ali (Comptroller-General, the Nigerian Customs Service), Kure Martin Abeshi (Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Immigration Service), and Suleiman A. Kawu, Senior Special Assistant on National Assembly Matters (House of Representatives), come from the North.

    Their qualifications are not in dispute.

    But in the news media and public discourse, the appointments have been described as “lopsided”, as reflecting insensitivity to the plurality of the Nigerian state, and as having stirred up “outrage across Nigeria.” Some have even gone to the incendiary length to characterising Buhari as “President of Northern Nigeria.”

    The Chief of Staff reports directly to the President. His appointment belongs entirely in the President’s discretion. That is how it should be. The Presidency will function much better when President and the Chief of Staff share outlook and vision and have matching chemistry.

    The office of Secretary to the Federal Government has a larger purview and answers to a much larger audience. But here also, Nigerian presidents, going back to the Second Republic, have traditionally exercised discretionary power in selecting those whose devotion and loyalty they can more or less take for granted. The same goes for the President’s liaison officers with the Senate and the House of Representatives.

    Of the six posts at issue, then, only two – the comptrollers-general for the Customs and Immigration services– fall outside the realm of presidential discretion. Appointment to these posts is subject to confirmation by the Senate.

    It is here that the case can perhaps be made that the President should have cast his net much wider in search of suitable appointees, of whom there is no shortage. Surely, it has been asked, if a worthy appointee could not have been found within its own ranks to lead the Customs, instead of recalling a military officer from retirement to lead the agency?

    Over the decades, the Customs service has been notorious for setting ridiculously low revenue targets, and then congratulating itself on meeting and exceeding them. Desperate for enhanced revenues to cushion shrinking receipts from oil exports, the government seems to have decided, according to informed sources, that an outsider is better placed to lead the agency to answer to the new challenge.

    But it does not follow that the person should come from the North.

    Even so, and taking into account the President’s previous appointments, it is too early to write Buhari off as President of only one section of Nigeria. Cumulatively, the appointments constitute only a tiny fraction of those he will be making in due course.

    Besides, those judging the appointments in terms of ethnic arithmetic will stand on firmer ground if they weighed them in the overall context of senior public service positions, not piecemeal. The piecemeal approach rests on an unrepresentative sample, and is to that extent flawed. Also, how much power and influence derive from it should be the measure of the office, not crude numbers.

    Still, the concerns that have been expressed cannot be ignored. The President has been put on notice that his appointees will be closely scrutinised, and that he will be pressed to ensure that they fully and faithfully reflect the pluralistic makeup of the Nigerian State, especially in terms of ethnicity, religion and gender.

    It is healthy that the President has acknowledged the legitimacy of the concerns and promised that they will inform future appointments.

  • Anthony Oladeinde Fernandez (1929-2015)

    Anthony Oladeinde Fernandez (1929-2015)

    •Passage of a remarkable African

    Anthony Oladeinde Fernandez (12 August 1929-1 September 2015) would appear the Edward Blyden of his age.

    Edward Wilmot Blyden (3 August 1832-7 February 1912), was officially Liberian: at one time, Liberian High Commissioner to the Court of St. James; and at another, ambassador to France.  But he was born at Saint Thomas in Virgin Islands, to parents who were freed slaves, emigrated to Liberia, did education and journalism work in Sierra-Leone, where he died and was buried — but not before he became the champion of Muslim education rights in Fernandez’s native Lagos, Nigeria.  For that, he got a Lagos memorial: the Edward Blyden Memorial Primary School, off Lewis Street, in Lafiaji, on Lagos Island

    Ambassador Fernandez, who died in a Brussels, Belgium hospital on September 1, was born Nigerian.  But he lived his life as a pan-African, engaged in a trilogy of exertions: business, bureaucracy and diplomacy, in an awesome career that spanned a couple of African capitals; and which yielded humongous fortune.

    His pan-Africa diplomatic career was the stuff of sheer fable: Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Permanent Representative of Central African Republic (CAR) at the United Nations, special adviser to the President of Mozambique on international economic matters, Ambassador-at-Large for the Republics of Togo and Angola, in 1966 consul for the then Republic of Dahomey (now Benin Republic), economic adviser to the Angolan government, aside from long-time adviser to President Jose Eduardo dos Santos (who has ruled Angola since 1975); and deputy minister of finance, Swaziland.  That all of these countries are non-Anglophone also underscores his proficiency in language.  He was a polyglot.

    But his diplomatic-bureaucratic career would appear fired by his business interests.  Aside from Petro Inett, which did oil exploration in Angola, Equatorial Guinea and Gabon, his business interests spanned bauxite exports, gold mines and diamond pits, in these countries, mainly in central and southern Africa.

    In real estate, his high rise Tower Fernandez (now reportedly sold), hugs the Onikan skyline in Lagos, an object of neighbourhood buzz: of a reclusive native who made good, but seldom seen.  He is also said to own an island in New York, and choice property in Scotland, France, Belgium and England. These, with his array state-of-the-art autos, speak of benumbing wealth.

    Yet, all that came from a very humbling beginning, thus underscoring Fernandez’s stupendous rags-to-riches story. Though belonging to the proud Lagos Popo Aguda (Catholic quarters) community, of repatriated former slaves from Brazil, his father was a copy typist; while he himself left school in class four, stowing away to the United States on fortune-hunting. When the native returned, he was a far cry from the struggling boy of yore.  He had hit gold.

    It is an addition to the Deinde Fernandez mystique that though he never returned to Lagos (in the sense of a native who had conquered the world and come home to re-settle), and was probably more known in some African capitals than he would ever be known in his native Nigeria, his last home address was in Kano, where he married Haleema, a Kano native.  The marriage produced a daughter, Mahreyah. Mrs. Teju Philips, his first child, was commissioner of commerce, in Lagos Governor Bola Tinubu’s first cabinet (1999-2003).

    Also, for all his “Africanness” and “Brazilian” flavour, Oluwo Fernandez remained faithful to some native core values.  As Oluwo (literally, Yoruba for “chief of cult”), he was a high chief of the Ogboni Confraternity, and was highly revered in that cult. During the Abacha dictatorship and the ensuing battle to revalidate Chief MKO Abiola’s presidential mandate, he was a big but quiet financier of the cause of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO).

    The only chink, in the late Fernandez’s shining armour would appear his philanthropy.  At best, it was unstructured and ad hoc. At worst, it was near non-existent.  That is why his estate should put charity structures in place to memorialise him.

  • A novel writing prize

    A novel writing prize

    •Yet another excellent example of how commerce can foster culture

    Literature got a boost following the announcement of a novel literary prize, by telecom major, Globacom, on August 28. Named “Glo Literature Prize for Undergraduate Students,” the idea is timely and welcome.

    Gloworld Coordinator, Ebenezer Kolawole, who announced the prize, said it would be awarded yearly based on a writing competition open to all students of Nigerian universities. It was fitting that the prize was publicised at an event connected with the Nigerian literary luminary and Nobelist Wole Soyinka – “Evening with Wole Soyinka and Nigeria’s Outstanding Literary Stars”, held at the Convention Centre of Eko Hotel & Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The first edition of the award is billed to hold in 2016 and entries are expected to be original and unpublished manuscripts. Kolawole said: ‘“Our objective is to promote the study of all genres of literature. Therefore, Globacom is offering prizes to winners in the following categories: Prose, Drama, and Poetry. The winner in each category will receive the sum of N1.5m.”

    It is, importantly, the first prize in the country that would be awarded for all the three genres of literature at the same time, rather than the familiar format of rotation among the literary forms. It is a commendable sign of the seriousness of the organisers that the panel of judges for the prize includes distinguished literary names expected to ensure a credible process:  Professor Femi Osofisan; Professor (Mrs.) Akachi Ezeigbo of the University of Lagos; Professor Umar Buratai, Dean, Faculty of the Arts, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria; Professor Olu Obafemi of the University of Ilorin, and Dr. Promise Ogochukwu, who is the secretary of the panel.

    There is no doubt that the introduction of the prize will inspire new writing and promote literary creativity in the country’s tertiary educational institutions. It may be described as a catch-them-young approach, and the country’s significant writers of the future may well be produced on this platform.

    It is appropriate to acknowledge Globacom’s contribution to literary development in the country, particularly its sponsorship of the $20,000 Wole Soyinka Prize for Literature in Africa organised by the Lumina Foundation, which is awarded biennially to recognise the best literary work by an African writer.  The new Globacom prize for undergraduates represents a reinforcement of its services to Literature.

    The beauty of Globacom’s involvement in literary promotion is that it bridges telecom and literary activity in an exemplary fashion. It is a positive demonstration of corporate social responsibility which recommends itself in a land in need of innovative ideas in that area. Literature and the arts in general ought to attract greater support from big players in the corporate sector as a way of giving back to the society in which they operate profitably. In this regard, it is noteworthy that another telecom company is behind the Etisalat Prize for Literature, a pan-African prize for “first-time writers of published fiction books.”

    It is a testimony to good thinking that Literature is being supported and promoted by corporate entities at a time when there are serious public criticisms of alleged decline in writing skills among the country’s youths in an age that is more visual than literary. Reading and writing are essential skills in a literate society, and the literary focus of the Globacom undergraduate prize has the potential to release new energies in the relevant spheres of authority in the pursuit of an acceptable literacy level in the country.

    Before now, at no time did undergraduates in the country have the kind of exclusive opening to strive for excellence in creative writing offered by the Globacom prize. It is hoped that the prize will be sustained by the company well into the future.

  • No, FERMA, Ekiti-Kogi Road still bad

    No, FERMA, Ekiti-Kogi Road still bad

    SIR:  I jumped up for joy and relief when I read in a supposedly national daily (not The Nation) that the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA) had completed the fixing of the vital Ekiti-Kogi Road that had gone deplorable for years.

    The misleading report, which was titled “FERMA repairs Ekiti-Kogi road,” published on August 13, 2015, gave the false impression that the critically failed section along Ifaki-Ikole-Omuo-Kogi State Border, which stretches over three kilometres, had been fixed.

    The development, according to a statement by the Engineer in charge of Ekiti, Emmanuel Onu, said the report followed a directive by the agency to all its Field Offices to embark on rescue mission on federal roads within their jurisdiction across the country.

    “The agency has mobilised by removing unsuitable materials, clearing of site, provision of earth drain and turnouts, filling with Boulders, Stonebase, Priming and Asphalt overlay on the failed sections of the road where vehicular movement had been impeded for a while now.

    “The Executive Management Team has come around to assess the extent and quality of work done and applauded the feat attained. The team also inspected other critical roads in Ekiti State to assess the extent of damage and propose possible measures to mitigate the situation,” the statement said.

    Emboldened by the headline, two days after – August 15 – I hit the route from Abuja and headed for Ekiti for a burial ceremony. Alas, my ordeal was better imagined: The route remained a hell as, like other unsuspecting motorists, I wallowed through for over two hours!

    Questions ran riot in my mind as to why the newspaper, Onu and his cohorts at FERMA could decide to delude the motoring public. This is unfair especially on the part of FERMA. There is no reason rushing to the press when the job is yet undone. It is time we realised the fact that members of the public have feelings since blood flows in their veins. Blatant deceit and propaganda won’t do us any good, please!

     

    • Maj. Gen Biodun Alade rtd,

    Maitama, Abuja.

  • Forewarned is forearmed

    •About N400 billion at stake in a cassava disease

    Naturally, warning about a possible outbreak of a cassava killer-disease in the country should be a cause for concern, especially considering Nigeria’s position as the world’ s largest cassava producer. The National Root Crops Research Institute (NRCRI), Umudike, Abia State, sounded the alarm about Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) at the launch of WAVE Project, a campaign against CBSD, at its base. It is a reflection of the importance of the project that the event attracted agricultural researchers from Ivory Coast, Benin Republic, Burkina Faso, Togo and Ghana.

    Apart from the likely negative impact on the country’s food production level, the institute pointed out that, in economic terms, the crop disease which attacks mainly cassava could result in a loss of about N400 billion (about $2 billion) yearly. In food terms, the institute said the disease could bring about complete loss of root yield in cassava and constitute a severe threat to food security not only in Nigeria, as it may affect sub-Saharan Africa as a whole.

    According to the institute, “CBSD used to be confined mainly to coastal areas of eastern and southern Africa, but in the past few years it has become substantially more virulent and begun spreading across the continent.” The institute warned that there is “great need to prepare against it as it is already having devastating effect in some East African nations like Kenya.” Defining the disease, NRCRI said:  “With symptoms like folia necrosis, stem lesions and root necrosis, it has since emerged as one of the two most important diseases of cassava, the other being the cassava mosaic diseases.”

    The institute’s role in publicising the disease and its dire dimensions is laudable and underlines its relevance in the field of cassava research and development locally and internationally.

    There is no doubt that the disease represents a disturbing threat to food security, with undesirable socio-economic implications. The scale of the challenge is suggested by information that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is funding CBSD-focused research and campaign with $3.6 million domiciled with the University of Felix Houphouet-Boigny in Ivory Coast.

    The foundation’s example recommends itself to authorities in the country’s agriculture sector. It should be stressed that the publicisation of the disease by NRCRI cannot be enough and needs to be backed by research funding as well as public enlightenment programmes. The institute should appreciate how vital it is to carry cassava farmers along as they constitute an important public.

    The crop is produced in 24 of the country’s 36 states. The major cassava-producing states are Anambra, Delta, Edo, Benue, Cross River, Imo, Oyo and Rivers, while Kwara and Ondo, among others, produce the crop on a comparatively lower scale. Statistics show that in 1999, the country produced approximately 33 million tonnes of cassava, and a decade later produced approximately 45 million tonnes, which is put at about 19% of world production.

    It is noteworthy that cassava’s major position as a food crop was further highlighted by the NRCRI executive director, Dr. Julius Okonkwo, who noted that advancements in research involving the institute yielded cassava bread. Although the development of cassava bread generated controversy in the country largely because it was politicised by ambitious and insincere politicians and political leaders, the product makes a strong statement about the possibilities of cassava.

    Thankfully, the alert by the NRCRI is timely and gives the relevant authorities time to take pro-active steps against the spread of the disease. Forewarned is forearmed. There should be no excuse for not taking prompt action to prevent any outbreak of the disease.