The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Boko Haram

    • Strong intelligence and a robust civic culture are imperative in the final anti-terror push

    That latest Boko Haram attack, the one on Sabon Gari Market in Domboa, Domboa Local Government of Borno State, was gory enough: between 20 and 50 dead, according to media reports; and no less than 50 injured in an explosion that went off in a crowded market at about 1:30 pm.

    While eye witness talked of Boko Haram cells, disguised as Fulani women milk sellers, planting improvised explosive devices (IEDs), passing as cow milk containers, the local police authorities gave a slightly different account.  Aderemi Opadokun, the Borno State Police commissioner, said a male suicide bomber detonated an IED strapped to his body.

    Whichever of the two accounts was correct, one thing was clear: the high level of casualties, dead and injured.  That is a grim reminder that Boko Haram, with all its attendant anguish and trauma, is still very much with us; and might not be history very soon.  On that score, the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency should further work on its strategies to bring to an end this horror.

    Still, from the pattern and trend of the latest attacks, it would appear that Boko Haram, as a frontal fighting force, seizing territory and hoisting its black flag over captive communities, has all but been checkmated.  That is no mean feat, given the rampage of the crazed Islamists, and the horror and terror they visited on their captive communities, while its territory-seizure tactics lasted.

    The Federal Government, the old under President Goodluck Jonathan and the new under President Buhari, have earned due commendation: the one for starting the curtailment, when everything seemed near-lost; the other for consolidating on the anti-terror gains.

    By changing strategy, and taking the war to the Islamists’ notorious and hitherto dreaded bases in Sambisa Forest, instead of waiting to repel attacks, President Buhari has done very well indeed.  The security forces appear to have seriously degraded Boko Haram as a combat force, thus seeming to pin it to a restricted area, en route to launching a final push to bury it.

    But the government successes have only succeeded to push the war right to where it began: hit-and-run terror tactics, with ferocious attacks mainly on soft targets.

    Boko Haram started on Islamist militants, on motor bikes, attacking police personnel and facilities, and banks: killing surprised police troopers; looting weapons after razing police facilities and looting money from attacked banks.  At its most brazen, it introduced suicide bombing, with indoctrinated cells used as suicide bombers.  Its climax was territorial seizure, over which it proclaimed its Islamic sovereignty.

    With reverses however, it is now back to hit-and-run attacks with which it started.  Even its “suicide bombing” would appear degraded somewhat to surrogate bombing, in which naive souls are conned into blowing up themselves — with their innocent victims — without knowing why.  There were reported cases of minors bearing bombs, but which other cells, at a distance, detonate.

    To combat this phase, strong intelligence is key.  So, is a renewed culture of civic responsibility, that sense of citizens’ total commitment to the cause of a community — in this case, every local’s total commitment to the collective safety and security of the affected area.

    For instance, the latest Damboa attack could perhaps have been averted with a more bonded community, ready to yield terror intelligence before even attacks are carried out.  Even if no one had a fore-knowledge of the attack, a generally higher vigilance level could have triggered an alarm when women posing as Fulani milk sellers vanished, leaving behind their wares.

    The security forces therefore must ramp up their intelligence-gathering capabilities.  Also, they should build on the goodwill on the Buhari government, particularly judging from the massive votes from the areas of conflict where the president won hands down in the last election, to draw the people closer, and build a strong and robust civic culture.

    With the locals accepting the anti-terror war as theirs, and seeing Boko Haram as a threat to individual and collective their survival, gathering the intelligence to conquer the menace won’t be such laboured work.

  • Memo to northern Nigerian youths

    SIR: It is your responsibility to make our office-bearers and spiritual leaders to be responsible and accountable. The angels didn’t do it for Nelson Mandela and wouldn’t for you. Stand up to be counted for the right reasons and there is no better time than now especially as Nigeria is presently encircled with the mantra of ‘change.’

    I am in a wonderland and find it hard to understand why you have chosen to take the back seat when burning national issues present themselves.

    How else can I explain the quietude displayed by you even in the face of dire consequences starring you eye-ball-to-eye-ball?

    These issues are legion. Politics and religious tenets do not mix but you have aided the political classes today to work with religious schisms to pull the youths apart.

    Why fall for these ruses? A man who chooses to use religion as a path to seeking elective office is a demagogue with nothing to offer. How many countries in the world succeed today by interpreting religious precepts over and above democratic principles or even the constitution of the country?

    It is inappropriate for you to be comfortable with leaders whose aim is to enslave you in perpetuity. Such leaders care more about the welfare of cronies than yours and send these yes men out of the country for religious pursuits at the expense of the development of state.

    What you need are leaders that can secure your future and that of your progenies and not mortgage it.

    Unlike your forebears, who appreciated the impact of ‘people power,’ today’s elected executives fritter your commonwealth on issues not related to development and they are not denounced.

    They ask you to work with an austere regimen but dole out monies frivolously to associates, buy up most of the properties in Abuja and I am left to wonder if there would be any property left for you to buy in Abuja at an appropriate time.

    Why celebrate administrators that cannot be credited with completing meaningful projects? They leave the states massively in debt and run to Abuja when their tours of duty are over.

    Like most youths elsewhere, why do you enjoy working with typecasts shoved down your throats for decades by people who say, “hate the other side”. You have worked with the charge surprisingly well. But how long are you going to work with such prejudices and stereotypes that pit one region of the country against another?

    Education is useless if it does not impact positively on the lives of millions of uneducated, ignorant youths who are teetering on hopelessness and poverty.

    Seek education enthusiastically; ensure your children attend schools and give the girl child an equal an opportunity for learning and development as the male child. Do not discriminate against children due to accidents of birth. Only small-minded people do so.

    When will you finally ask the elected, why are we so poor? Why are our youths known for begging? Why are these young boys in every major Nigerian city homeless?

    You wield a lot of power and can effect a positive change for the development of this country.

    Think about it again; at ages compared to your northern forebears ( some of you are even older now) they seized the moment to become nationalists but why have you kowtowed to intolerant politicians and some religious leaders whose mission is to pull this nation apart?

    Life has always been grim for the rural dwellers and today it is also greyer for the city dwellers with no supply of portable clean drinking water by government.

    Where then is the dole of democracy and why make the work of elected officials easy by not demanding accountability on issues impacting on your welfare?

    We need not recount the dangers of VVF caused by early marriages (child bride). How many of the rich give away their daughters at that age? They do not, because they secure the future of the girl child before marriage. Why should you – when they do not?

    Why don’t you raise awareness against the unwholesome practices where our girl-children are now abandoned due to being burdens and have become a menace to society?

    • Simon Abah,

    Port Harcourt

  • Questionable diversions

    •Diversion of a loan for rail to other unknown projects is a pointer to the financial recklessness of the Jonathan years.  Buhari should get to the root of the matter

    In the run up to the last general elections, the erstwhile Goodluck Jonathan administration touted the revitalisation of the country’s railway transportation network as one of the successes of its transformation agenda. To some extent, there was indeed some achievement recorded in this sector as revealed by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Alhaji Mohammed Bashar, while briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on the activities of the Ministry at the Presidential Villa, Abuja this week.

    According to Alhaji Bashar, the rehabilitation of the Lagos- Kano rail route has been completed and is now operational twice weekly. In the same vein, rail operations have reportedly commenced from Kano to Port Harcourt through on to Gombe. Yet, the over celebration of these modest attainments by the Jonathan administration indicates the pedestrian level of its vision and its overestimation of its performance — a key reason why it was voted out of office by the vast majority of the Nigerian electorate.

    The disclosure by Alhaji Bashar to President Buhari that a substantial part of a financial facility obtained from the Chinese Exim Bank in 2012 for the construction of a standard gauge rail line linking Lagos to Kano, is another evidence of the gross mismanagement of resources and utter impunity that characterised the immediate past dispensation. According to the Permanent Secretary, only $400 million of the $1.005 billion loan remains with the Ministry, the rest having been diverted to other undisclosed purposes by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

    We agree with President Buhari’s query as regards the legality and propriety of diverting foreign loans obtained in line with signed agreements to other projects. In his words “I hope that due process was followed before such diversions were carried out. Taking money from one project to another has to be done properly”. This practice is surely one of the reasons for the scores of abandoned and uncompleted projects that abound in the country.

    If the loans obtained for the transformation of our railway network had been fully, transparently and efficiently utilised, critical parts of the country would today be linked by a modern rail system with beneficial impact on the economy.

    It is a sad disgrace that the rail lines and locomotives in a country of our stature and resource endowment remain only marginally better than what was inherited from the colonial era. This is why it is important that the Buhari administration gets to the root of the diverted funds in the transportation sector with a view to finding out what use they were put to and if due process was followed.

    It is unlikely that the diversion of funds to purposes other than that for which they were earmarked is limited to the Ministry of Transportation. There is thus the need for the Buhari administration to get a holistic view of such funds diversion across Ministries, Departments and Agencies in order to put things right and aid the process of economic recovery.

    It is noteworthy in this respect that the President has set up a seven-man Presidential Advisory Committee against corruption led by the respected jurist, Professor Itse Sagay and comprising other men and women of high integrity.

    This committee should assist the government in combatting the menace of corruption including arbitrary diversion of funds from legally specified purposes in a coordinated, coherent and comprehensive manner. We urge President Buhari to see the radical modernization of the country’s rail system as an urgent and indispensable imperative for accelerated economic growth and development.     

  • Curbing medical tourism

    Curbing medical tourism

    What Nigeria requires stern measures to fix its health sector, like the other sectors, is not in doubt. This explains our support for the recommendation by the President of Abuja Chapter of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Fatima Mairami, that public officials should be banned from travelling abroad for medical treatment at public expense. Mairami made the call in Abuja at the Annual General Meeting/Scientific Conference organised by the NMA chapter. According to her, such a practice was borne out of corruption and is detrimental to growing the nation’s health system even as it constitutes a drain on its dwindling economy. Indeed, but for the profligacy of the past, such a policy ought to have come a long time ago.

    Mairami made the point succinctly when she said that” “Whoever goes outside for medical tourism, if you are paying the bill yourself, it is not an easy task. But, what has happened before was a lot of corruption. People cheated on the government, used public resources. That is why it is easy for them to go outside without feeling the pain. But, by the time we make it mandatory that everybody must get healthcare within the nation, as long as we can provide such services, and if you want to still go abroad, you must pay out of your pocket. Then, you will see the rate of medical tourism will dwindle as not many people would be able to afford it.”

    Nigeria has enormous benefits to reap from her suggestion. One, most of the 5,000 Nigerians who troop to India, Turkey, etc. monthly would be contented with having their medical needs met at home. And if the revelation by a former President of the NMA, Osahon Enabulele, is anything to go by, then we would be saving about N120billion annually that we presently lose to medical tourism. This is staggering and a sheer waste of scarce foreign exchange. Another benefit is the restoration of our national pride, as our elite too would not see any compelling need for medical tourism except for situations that we cannot handle at home, which would be few and far-between.

    The truth is that, today, medical tourism has become a status symbol in Nigeria; many of our rich people want to have their babies abroad and die abroad. We have nothing against these for those who can afford it. But not for people who rely on government sponsorship. Overseas travels by Nigerians in the past were essentially for studies, tourism or relaxation by those who could afford it. Then, some of our tertiary hospitals competed with some of the best elsewhere in terms of the facilities and trained personnel they paraded. Unfortunately, bad governance over the decades led to some of these hospitals being left to progressively decay such that today, they are the shadow of what they used to be. The brain drain that followed, especially in the mid-eighties, saw many of our good medical personnel leaving in droves to Saudi Arabia, the United States and other countries where their services are better appreciated and they also have the requisite tools to work with.

    We have got to the point where we must see medical tourism as the dysfunctional and unsustainable development that it is, especially with an experienced leader like President Muhammadu Buhari in power. Buhari had observed as far back as 1983 that our hospitals had become mere ‘consulting clinics’. This is what many of them still are; including the so-called centres of excellence and other tertiary medical facilities.  And poor consulting ones, at best.

    Since our public functionaries prepare the broad guidelines for public policy, it is only fair to compel them to do the right things to make our public facilities work. If it takes banning them from travelling abroad at public expense to get our hospitals fixed, so be it. Nigeria should not just be good as a playground or burial ground, or one God-forsaken country whose hope of redemption is lost. If people could make hospitals abroad work, we can.

     

  • Time for action

    Time for action

    President Muhammadu Buhari, speaking to a visiting delegation of American congressmen, gave a most pleasing piece of news: the Nigerian authorities now know the overseas banks in which Nigerian stolen oil cash is holed up.

    “We are getting cooperation from the international community, including information on ships that take crude oil from Nigeria and change direction or pour their contents into other ships midstream,” the president disclosed, revealing the rather snaky modus operandi by oil thieves’.

    “Some monies are paid into individual accounts. We are identifying the financial institutions and countries that are involved.  I have been assured,” he added, “that when we get all our documents together, the United States and other countries will treat our case with sympathy.”

    This is all very reassuring; and Nigerians must be convinced — if they need further convincing — that the president’s trip to the United States is bearing some fruits, even if it is early days yet; and only the beginning of a marathon to retrieve the stolen funds, given all the technicalities and complexities involved.

    Indeed, the president’s statement suggests a process just barely starting: banks’ names are being compiled; individual accounts being confirmed; and countries outside the United States, where those banks are domiciled, probably being  alerted, on the shape of things to come.  It just might take some time, given the expected differing response rates by each of the countries — and even banks.

    Still, time is of essence.  There was just too much alleged oil cash looting during the Goodluck Jonathan Presidency.  The painful physical manifestations are all too grimly present to ignore: mass poverty, near-nationwide default in salary commitments and even abandoned capital projects in the few states that still manage to do capital projects.  These indeed are lean times, even if wilfully caused by unpatriotic Nigerians who have betrayed their positions of trust; and put their compatriots in avoidable jeopardy.

    That is why this pitiable state cannot be allowed to continue longer than absolutely necessary.  So, for a start, why can’t the Buhari Presidency share its knowledge of these banks with Nigerians, who certainly have a right to know — it’s their patrimony, after all!  That way, the government can rally the people behind its action — except, of course, if such full disclosure could hamper further investigations and therefore become ultimately counter-productive.

    But full disclosure or not, President Buhari should move in post-haste, act on the information he now has, and nail proven culprits.  For one, Nigeria needs the money to boost a comatose economy; and re-energise a badly abused populace, now lying prostrate with criminal abuse of trust.  For another, quickly bringing to justice those found guilty of abusing public trust would teach the right lessons, and lift the people’s morale.

    There is definitely a disadvantage in announcing that “we know”, without prompt action.  If citizens could be brazen enough to betray their country; and salt our collective wealth turned personal loot in foreign banks, they certainly can further manoeuvre to save their illicit nest when crucial information gets to wrong quarters.  It is the natural survival instincts of a thief about to be caught.  That is why the Buhari Presidency should act with despatch or, if the coast is not fully clear, learn to better manage the information at its disposal.

    That as it may, we give the president our full support in this onerous battle of recovering the looted funds; and giving our much abused people the respite they sorely deserve.

     

  • DISCO debtors

    DISCO debtors

    •In view of their billing crisis, defending the N31bn debt by govt agencies might be difficult

    Electricity Distribution Companies (DISCOs) in the country have done what they are best at doing again: release huge figures as debts owed by electricity consumers. What they have always failed to do is provide convincing evidence that the sums against many of their customers’ names are genuine. At least six of the DISCOs say they are being owed a total of N31billion since November 2013.

    The Ministry of Defence and paramilitary formations are the biggest debtor, with a debt overhang of N15.5billion. Of the N7.1billion owed Abuja Disco, the Ministry of Defence is owing N3.6billion. The military again is the worst culprit as shown in Kaduna Electric’s debt books, with over N5.7billion while the police, other paramilitary outfits and state ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) owe over N980million. The entire debt from public institutions stands at N6.7billion.

    On its part, Ibadan Disco is owed N5.2billion by the federal and state MDAs, with the military owing N3.9billion. Others owe the balance of N1.2billion. Kano Disco is owed over N860million, with the state and other MDAs owing N560 million, and military formations owing N260million. Eko Disco in Lagos is owed N2.3billion with the police, federal and Lagos State governments owing over N400million; military formations in the state owe N1.9billion.

    Without doubt, this is huge, especially when it is realised that the record of debts owed to the other DISCOs in Port Harcourt, Ikeja, Enugu, Yola and Jos, by government agencies and the military was not included in the debt profile. But that is assuming that the debts are verifiable. Most if not all of the DISCOs still use the rule of the thumb billing method while crazy bills are still the order of the day. In the final analysis, these agencies may not be owing as much as the DISCOs are claiming. The issue now would be how to determine what exactly they are owing even as we agree that it is irresponsible of them not to pay these past years.

    Without doubt, we are against the idea of people or institutions using a public utility perpetually on credit because such impunity is a sure way of taking the service provider out of operation. It is particularly disturbing when the military occupies the topmost place in the roll of dishonour. Equally disturbing is the fact that the debtor agencies make provision for electricity supply in their annual budget. So, where could the money have disappeared into?

    But this is not the first time that these agencies would be accused of not wanting to pay for electricity consumed. In the Obasanjo years, when faced by a similar situation, the Federal Government decided to deduct the sums said to be owed by military formations and federal ministries and parastatals at source, to defray the debt. Unfortunately, that decision did not take cognisance of the unfair billing method of the time.

    Much as we agree with the Director of Advocacy and Research for the Association of National Electricity Distributors (ANED) that: “… President Muhammadu Buhari … needs to talk to his people from the State House to the State Governments to pay their bills …”, we want him to remember too that many, if not all of these electricity companies still rely on the anachronistic billing method of the past to determine what electricity consumers pay.

    ‘Let the DISCOs sanitise their billing system. Indeed, it is high time they expedited action on provision of prepaid meters; this is the only way out of the present billing crisis. It would be unfair for the DISCOs to make their customers pay for services not rendered’  

    Let the DISCOs sanitise their billing system. Indeed, it is high time they expedited action on provision of prepaid meters; this is the only way out of the present billing crisis. It would be unfair for the DISCOs to make their customers pay for services not rendered.  Just as it is not credible for the electricity companies that only doled out a whopping N5billion to the immediate past ruling party a few months back for its reelection campaign, to claim they do not have money for their operations. That generous donation was not emblematic of business entities in distress.

     

  • Privatising petroleum

    Privatising petroleum

    • Federal Government to implement a long-overdue policy?

    The recent announcement by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) that the Federal Government wished to privatise Nigeria’s four state-owned refineries is welcome news, but there is a history of legislative inertia, union opposition and repeated delay to overcome before it can become reality.

    The logic behind the push for privatisation is impeccable. For at least two decades, the country has been a living contradiction of an oil-rich country due to its heavy dependence on imported petroleum products.

    This paradox stemmed from the decline in the output of its four refineries based in Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna. In spite of the apparent interventions of successive military and civilian regimes, the country has been unable to get them to work at optimum capacity until recently.

    The huge import bill led to the creation of a subsidy regime which has been riddled with poor regulatory oversight and corruption, especially after its dramatic increase during the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan, when it allegedly rose from N300 billion to N1.9 trillion in the first six months of his administration.

    Privatisation would create several benefits. It would take the management of refineries out of the hands of a discredited Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and put it in the hands of established corporations whose main aim would be developing the reliability that is vital to sustained profit. It would progressively reduce the country’s dependence on imported petroleum products, and thereby help to end the corrupt subsidy regime that is based on it. The long-neglected downstream sector of the oil industry would expand as new players come in to take advantage of increased opportunities. That, in turn, would accelerate the growth of manufacturing, as the by-products of refineries become more widely available locally.

    Before these benefits can be attained, however, several obstacles must be overcome. Perhaps the most prominent is the long-delayed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). First sent to the National Assembly in July 2012, the bill is meant to formally define institutions, relationships and responsibilities within the oil sector with the aim of ensuring faster growth and increased local participation and ownership. It has suffered repeated delays due to the supposed opposition of multinational oil companies, the emergence of fake versions, and an inexplicable legislative apathy.

    The BPE claims that the passage of the PIB is vital to the implementation of the privatisation process. Even if it were not, it is difficult to see how such a significant policy could go through in the absence of the updated legal and regulatory framework provided by the PIB.

    Then there is the problem of oil worker hostility. Both the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) have consistently expressed their opposition to the privatisation of state-owned refineries. They argue that the focus should be on increasing local capacity and disparage privatisation merely as an attempt to sell the nation’s patrimony to well-connected cronies at give-away prices.

    Given the blatant lack of transparency that has characterised previous privatisation schemes in the recent past, the unions certainly have a point. However, even they must accept that the current situation is simply too unsustainable to continue. Government control of the telecommunications industry did not result in efficiency or cost-effectiveness; the entry of privately-owned telecommunications companies has turned Nigeria into one of the fastest-growing performers in the world.

    ‘The logic behind the push for privatisation is impeccable. For at least two decades, the country has been a living contradiction of an oil-rich country due to its heavy dependence on imported petroleum products’

    Government, too, must get over the unwarranted indecision which has only served to further complicate things. Former President Umaru Yar’Adua cancelled the sale of refineries in 2007, after it had been approved by his predecessor, former President Olusegun Obasanjo. The Jonathan administration initiated a process of refinery privatisation in December 2013, but it went nowhere. It is to be hoped that the Buhari administration will succeed where its predecessors have failed.

     

  • Caging impunity

    • We await with baited breath the audit reports of all MDAs

    The Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation (AGF) is the institutional fulcrum against graft and official corruption. Where this office is properly established and functional, corruption in public offices is often a rarity. This is why any attempt to curb fiscal indiscipline and financial recklessness often starts at the office of the AGF.

    This office tracks all financial transactions in all ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) by releasing annual audit reports. It issues queries to individuals and units found to be remiss in handling finances. The report is statutorily presented to the Senate annually and also placed in the public arena.

    By the very act of this report from the office of the AGF, accountability and transparency in government’s finances are ensured. This way, too, individuals and civil society groups would be able to track government expenditures both generally and as it concerns them.

    The last time a proper report was presented to the Senate was in 2004 when the then AGF, Mr. Vincent Azia, released the report for 2002. The report which was in itself a novelty as there was hardly any notable one before then, caused so much uproar in the polity. The report was a showcase of financial malfeasance and recklessness in the extreme. Hardly any MDA was clean, even the Presidency and National Assembly (NASS) were not only held up for finagling over finances, they had many unanswered queries.

    Not many other serious audit reports had been released since then. It seemed quite convenient both for the Senate and the Presidency not to care about the AGF’s reports. In fact, all through the era of President Goodluck Jonathan the only reports that emanated from the office of the AGF were about the poor funding of this critical office.

    It is based on the foregoing that we applaud the recent directive by President Mohammadu Buhari that all outstanding audit queries must be resolved within 30 day. Miffed by the wretched state of the AGF’s office currently, President Buhari during a meeting with the AGF called for an immediate return to the standard operating procedures and financial regulations in the service.

    In addition, the president ordered that going forward, audit queries must be answered within 24 hours. “The era of impunity is gone,” said the president. As stated by his media aide, “President Buhari will ensure that public officials and civil servants in the service of the Federal Government pay heavy price from now on for violating financial regulations and disregarding audit queries.”

    The real issues here are impunity and a complete disregard for laid-down rules and procedures governing public service. Just as is the case with tracking expenditures, so it is with monitoring remittances from MDAs to the federal treasury. Impunity reigns supreme in this area too, for instance, it was reported last week that the Nigerian Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (NEITI) found that the Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) company failed to remit about $11.6 billion (N2.32 trillion) between 2009 and 2012.

    Particularly notable is the frustration of the NEITI chief, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed who lamented that issues thrown up in her agency’s audit reports had remained unimplemented, describing the situation as “an unfortunate recurring decimal.”

    All these indeed paint a picture of a state mired in fiscal anomie. Revenues both at the state and federal levels are not tracked while expenditures have no proper accounts. The individuals and bodies concerned ignore audit queries when they manage to come and nobody seemed to care. There is no better way to gauge a collapsed polity than by the way finances are managed.

    While we salute President Buhari for identifying one of the main sources of graft in the system, we urge him to go beyond the periphery. The rot is very deep so he must make fundamental changes to the system.

    The office of the AGF is a key institution of state; it requires a complete overhaul and retooling to enable it carry out its crucial assignment. There is also a need to set up a body to track the revenues of MDAs and ensure that they are duly remitted to the treasury.

    We must cage impunity now.

  • The Fourth Mainland Bridge

    •Federal Government should partner with Lagos in providing this critical infrastructure

    Palpable fears that the Lagos State government may be forced by paucity of funds to shelve construction of a Fourth Mainland Bridge is a cause for concern. The Bridge was designed in response to practical challenges arising from population explosion and anticipation of need of its greater  as the city of Lagos, known as Nigeria’s mega city. The bridge, if constructed, will be a major lift for communities along the Lekki-Ajah axis and the Ikorodu corridor, which have begun to suffer from the overflow from the congested main Lagos city centre. It is a major component of a 23-kilometre ambitious modern road project.

    In April, while briefing the press on activities of the ministry of works, the former commissioner in charge of the ministry, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, pointed out that the only way the government could sustain the plan was to redesign and down-scale it. He pointed out that this had become inevitable as a review of the cost indicated that compensation to property owners along the right of way could amount to more than fifteen billion Naira.

    However, such a review might not keep faith with the vision behind the project. Lagos is a sprawling city, the commercial capital of Nigeria and the most cosmopolitan in the West Africa sub-region. It is, therefore, important for all involved to ensure that Lagosians heave a sigh of relief from the traffic congestion and poor planning that have defined its existence for some time.

    We call on the federal government to come to the aid of the state government if the project is to come to fruition. The Lekki-Ajah-Epe axis, with the plan for an airport and a Free Trade Zone, requires careful planning that could only be boosted by the Fourth Mainland Bridge as originally designed.

    We appreciate the load being carried by the state government that is at the moment handling and financing the Badagry expressway and the Mile-12-Ikorodu modern avenue. When this is added to the light rail project,  it would be beyond the capacity of the Lagos State government alone to accomplish.

    One of the advantages of a federal arrangement is that the central government intervenes in situations like this. The people of Lagos who are from all parts of the country would feel a sense of belonging if the Buhari administration steps in. It has been argued many times that the former federal capital deserves a special status. Other state capitals may be clamouring for greater attention from the federal government, too, but the case for Lagos is unassailable. This is devoid of political undertone as the contribution of the state to federal revenue from the Value Added Tax, income tax and manpower calls for compensation. The pressure on the available infrastructure is so enormous that it would be unfair if it were left for the state government alone.

    Federal intervention in the infrastructural development of Lagos should not be limited to the bridge. Efforts by the state government in such critical areas that impact economic growth such as power generation and distribution, Water resources and manpower development also deserve attention.

    We also call on the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to revisit, review the project and come up with a policy on it. He should table it before the federal government. He has a duty, too, to undertake a comprehensive review of the infrastructural need of the state and seek new partnership with the private sector that would also be a beneficiary of improved facilities. We recall that President Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), pledged to pay adequate attention to Lagos if elected. This is the time to fulfill that solemn pledge. Governor Ambode should pressure the president in line with their dialogue on the hustings.

  • Melinda Gates’ shinning example

    Melinda Gates’ shinning example

    SIR: I was touched by the recent report about Melinda Gates, wife of the richest man in the world, Bill Gates, carrying a bucket of water fetched from a village in Malawi. The billionaire’s spouse, alongside two Malawian women, was seen with a 20-litre bucket of water on her head walking on an untarred road. Despite her status, Melinda did not only carry the bucket, she also helped in washing dishes and stayed in the home of a local couple in a village. This act – which has generated many reactions from across the globe – admirably shows simplicity, humility and sensitivity to the plight of the less privileged in the society.

    The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is widely known worldwide to promote better living conditions in several countries through the provision of grants, aids and developmental lifeline for individuals and corporate organisations. Such a rare gesture is uncommon especially in a world where extreme capitalism, materialism, flamboyance and opulence have become the order of the day. One recalls ex-President Joyce Banda of Malawi, similarly carrying a bucket of water on her head to share the experiences of motherhood and promote water supply and development together with her people.

    Ordinarily, people are bound to insinuate that such generosity could be either a way of looking for an inroad and preparing the ground for massive investment in Africa or just an attempt at getting publicity while identifying with the poor. For me, I feel there’s no basis to hold any of these views. The duo are not known to visit any country based on political considerations. Rather, they are reputed to have brought about workable interventions at various times to lessen the plight of the weak and the disadvantaged.

    Another sticking point to note on this rare display of milk of kindness to humanity is that it takes a great deal of discipline, sacrifice and humility for someone of the class, stature and personality of Melinda to leave her luxury, dignity, riches and comfort zone in the God’s Own Country for that matter and come to a continent, where the cost of living is out of reach of the common man, to render such humanitarian assistance.

    In sharp contrast to Melinda, what is common to many of our women in the political and elite class in Africa is the exact opposite (penchant for luxurious living without much consideration for the poor, needy and the common man). Most male African leaders have been accused of engaging in corrupt practices that lead to bad governance. It is widely believed that public resources that are allegedly mismanaged may not have been so, if wives of such leaders had exercised positive influence on their husbands by doing what is expected of them rather using such influence and clout to ascend to glamour and fame.

    African women in positions of authority should, therefore, brace up and take a cue from the Malawian episode by making a big difference in the society. They should always realise that they have much influence on their men after all the popular saying goes that behind a successful man is a woman and vice versa. It is hoped that the authorities in Malawi would take advantage of the Gates’ symbolic visit for a better life for our womenfolk.

    • Adewale Kupoluyi,

    Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta