The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Displacement and despair

    Displacement and despair

    •Strike Force should be manned by state security personnel in a democratic setting 

    The recent announcement by the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) that it is struggling to cater for some 200,000 Nigerian refugees in Niger, Chad and Cameroon is a sobering reminder that the after-effects of Boko Haram’s terror campaign are yet to be fully dealt with.

    The refugees’ already-bleak situation has been worsened by the WFP’s funding shortages which make it unable to fully meet its commitments to feed, educate and provide medical care for them. Apparently, less than 50 per cent of required funds are available, with some U.S. $ 41.6 million still needed for the rest of 2015. The onset of the rainy season will further complicate matters, as does the fact that additional numbers of refugees are still stranded at Nigeria’s borders and yet to reach any camp.

    Nothing sums up the tragedy of the Boko Haram insurgency like the plight of these refugees and the estimated 1.538 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) within Nigeria itself. Made up mainly of women and children, these are citizens who have lost virtually everything to a crisis they had no hand in creating. Most arrive at refugee camps having endured the trauma of dispossession and violence, traversing vast distances on foot and battered by hunger and disease.

    Unlike their more fortunate compatriots elsewhere in Nigeria who face the challenges of relatively untroubled lives, refugees and IDPs are compelled to grapple with the fundamental question of survival. In the camps, they constantly worry about their prospects: re-starting livelihoods, obtaining medical care, education for their children, and most of all, returning to their homes. The global refugee crisis, which has seen the numbers of displaced people reach the record figure of 59.5 million, only underlines the dire urgency of their situation.

    The Federal Government cannot allow its citizens to continue to suffer in this manner. The basic guarantee of security of life and property was betrayed by the previous administration; that failure should not be compounded by the inability to properly provide for refugees and IDPs.

    In ameliorating the poor living conditions of Nigerian refugees and IDPs, more needs to be done to increase the capacity of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). The agency does not appear to be adequately structured to cope with challenges of this sort, especially given the huge numbers involved. Only recently, authorities of the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital (UMTH) criticised the agency for what was alleged to be its indifference to injured Boko Haram victims being treated in the hospital.

    NEMA apparently restricts much of its operations to the supply of relief materials to IDP camps; even this appears to be insufficient, and a host of charities and other non-governmental organisations have had to take up the slack.

    Tragedies like the refugee/IDP crisis are stark reminders of the vital necessity of avoiding the tensions and hatreds which trigger the conflicts that lead to the mass displacement of citizens. It is unfortunately becoming far too easy for self-seeking individuals to inflame passions with reckless statements, confident in the knowledge that they will not be held to account.

    Much of this is attributable to the general decline in the standards of political practice, as witnessed in the spate of personal attacks and hate speech which characterised the just-concluded general elections. The rise of ethnic militia, replete with egotistical individuals purporting to speak for whole ethnic nationalities, has aggravated the problem.

    It would be a tragedy if Nigeria focuses on the military campaign to the detriment of those who have been displaced by the conflict. No true victory can be claimed while refugees and internally displaced persons continue to suffer.

     ‘The Federal Government cannot allow its citizens to continue to suffer in this manner. The basic guarantee of security of life and property was betrayed by the previous administration; that failure should not be compounded by the inability to properly provide for refugees and IDPs’

  • Between DSS and soldiers

    Between DSS and soldiers

    It is curious that the 253 officials of the Department of State Services (DSS) transferred to the Presidential Villa on June 8 were rejected by the villa’s authorities. The impression given then was that President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo were yet to move into the villa because the place was undergoing renovation; so, no one was sure of what exactly the security arrangement would be like under the new dispensation.

    But a clearer picture emerged more than a week later, when it was reported that soldiers are now to take over the responsibility of the Strike Force in the villa, hitherto performed by operatives of the DSS. The force is a special security outfit saddled with the responsibility of protecting the president and the seat of power.  Its operatives are usually specially trained in counter-assault and other techniques aimed at enhancing their performance.

    Indeed, a lieutenant who would lead 21 other military personnel had reportedly been transferred to the Strike Force, with an instruction to take over from the DSS officials. What further lends credence to the speculation that soldiers from the Nigerian Army Intelligence Corps might be taking over the DSS’ role in the villa is the machinery put in place to change the new Presidential Villa’s Administrative Officer, who was deployed by the DSS about two weeks ago. He has been reportedly replaced with a military officer.

    One point that strikes one immediately is the confusion in the postings of the DSS officials and their rejection by the villa authorities, which shows a palpable lack of synergy among the country’s security agencies. Why for instance would the villa reject the DSS officials after they had been duly posted to the place? Did the security services not get in touch with the villa before sending signals to its officials to move in there only to have them turned back?

    If the speculation (that anyone is yet to controvert) that the president prefers the military for the Strike Force is true, then it is apparent that President Buhari believes that the DSS officials had been too compromised to do their job creditably. In a nutshell, he has lost confidence in the organisation due to the way and manner many of its personnel performed their job in the immediate past. If this is the case, he probably has a point. The DSS became an extension of the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a willing tool of subversion in the last elections. Perhaps the highpoint of their perfidy was the admission by the organisation, against any sense of decency, that some of its men wore hoods in the course of their duty during the August 9, 2014 governorship election in Osun State.

    But even the military is not without blemish in the elections, whether in Ekiti and then Osun, last year. The role of some of its men and officers under the President Goodluck Jonathan administration also leaves much to be desired. We were regaled with tales of how cabinet ministers gave orders to military generals to rig election for the PDP. In short, virtually all arms of the security agencies became compromised during the elections.

    Therefore, it would appear the president is more comfortable with the military because that was his primary constituency. Unfortunately, we do not think he has much choice in the matter concerning which arm of the security agencies should be in charge of security in the Presidential Villa, especially in a democratic setting. If he could live with the military, he should be able to live with the DSS as the organisation with the responsibility of protecting the seat of power in our present circumstances.

    So, the president, rather than sideline the DSS, has a duty of correcting whatever anomalies may be inherent in the organisation. All the security agencies are long overdue for reforms to put them along the path of professionalism. The army has its place and roles in the polity but there is no gainsaying that heavy presence of soldiers in Aso Rock would be out of sync with democratic setting.

     

  • Threat and tariff

    Threat and tariff

    • NERC and the power firms still have a lot to do to give Nigerians light at fair prices

    Last week, the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) spoke of its plan to revoke the licences of power generating companies that failed to meet up with their licensing obligations. At a licensing ceremony for four new entrants into power generation sub-sector, chairman of NERC, Sam Amadi, told his audience: “We have no choice but to revoke some licences. That is the only way that we can send the signal to people across the world to come and invest in Nigeria … For somebody with a piece of paper that is not performing, it remains a piece of paper. We have no choice but to make sure that potential investors deliver what they are supposed to deliver”.

    He would also inform: “Every licence has key performance indicators that are included in the terms of the licence. And it is also expected that within the first six months to three years, each licensee is expected to reach certain thresholds…”

    Ten years after the coming of the Power Sector Reform Act 2005 seems about time to separate the wheat from the chaff. Sanctions – or the threat of it – would seem the natural order of things if only to get things going in the beleaguered sector. The irony of course is that NERC that failed to sift the serious from the hordes of opportunistic players looking for fast and easy money has become the drum major for sanctions.

    Beyond that is the question of why only   a few out of the motley crowd of 124 licences awarded for power generation since 2006 have managed to plod on. Obviously, the sheer number of defaulters would tend to suggest a more serious problem than the simple invocation of legalism would indicate. In other words, much as we acknowledge the rules as carrying the obligations to meet up with key performance indices, the question is whether identifying the hordes of laggards for punishment is all there is to the problem. This point obviously bears stating given the frustrations daily voiced out by operators about the challenging regulatory environment, particularly the failure of the Federal Government to guarantee minimal conditions for their smooth and effective take-off.

    The challenge for NERC therefore becomes one of sifting of the black legs from investors with genuine operational issues, to ensure that players live up to their obligations and to adopt global best practices.

    That takes us to a related issue – the latest firestorm over tariff reviews being planned by the Distribution Companies (DISCOs). Yet again, we see the DISCOs and NERC as merely playing to type in willfully ignoring what is really at issue between the electricity consumer and the DISCOs. As far as we are concerned, what  the DISCOs should be after is fair and equitable returns on investment. As for the electricity consumer, he wants to see equity in pricing and value delivery which unfortunately he is not getting under the estimated bill regime defined more by the rule of the thumb. In short, the consumer wants to pay only for the units of electricity consumed which is only possible when he is availed of smart, pre-paid meters. It seems strange, utterly unimaginable that the DISCOs would seek to further extend the skewed and inequitable electricity market under which consumers are charged arbitrarily in spite of their failure to provide this basic item. For NERC, we say that this is hardly the time to play the ostrich; rather, it is time to assume the role of effective, even-handed regulator as contemplated by law. There is hardly a better place to start than getting the DISCOs to put timelines to the provision of pre-paid meters.

  • Give Lagos its due

    The state deserves a special status because it carries a collective burden

    Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Femi Falana, SAN, has opened again the debate on giving Lagos a special status, as former political capital but extant economic power house.

    Speaking during an event marking the anniversary of the annulled June 12, 1993 presidential election, Mr. Falana asked Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to demand compensation from President Muhammadu Buhari, for Lagos.

    “As long as we have this distorted federalism, Lagos must go further and demand its rights in the constitution,” he said. “All the shipping activities are done in Lagos, all the aeroplanes are flying over Lagos. This is the time,” he added, “ for Lagos to ask for compensation for what it is contributing to the country.”

    Despite Mr. Falana’s slight hyperbole (on Lagos as sole host to shipping and aviation activity), his claim is, over all, self-evident, fair and equitable. We therefore completely endorse it; and call on Governor Ambode to do as advised; and President Buhari to, without delay, do the needful.

    Indeed, way back in 1976, when Gen. Murtala Muhammed, then Head of State, approved the Justice Akinola Aguda committee’s recommendation to move Nigeria’s political capital from Lagos to Abuja, Gen. Muhammed pledged that the Federal Government would not abandon Lagos, since it was most likely to continue as the economic capital.

    Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, whose government formalised the movement to the new federal capital, also gave the impression that he was not averse to a special status for Lagos. Even during the last electioneering, President Buhari, then as presidential candidate, told former Governor Babatunde Fashola to, should their party, the All Progressives’ Congress (APC) win, pressure him to deliver on the Lagos promise.

    Still, Lagos continues to bear the brunt of the nation’s economic activity, putting immense pressure on its roads and other infrastructure, with the explosion of economic migrants, from all over Nigeria.

    The absence of a modern and efficient rail system is especially dire on Lagos roads; while housing delivery is tantamount to dropping spoonfuls of water, when an ocean-pour would be more like it. Though the Fashola government was very active on the environment front, the wear-and-tear is still all too visible, requiring the new Ambode Government to make sizeable investments, especially in transportation, housing, health, education and security, to cater for the needs of the state’s explosive population, put unofficially at near-20 million.

    President Buhari should, therefore, consider the Lagos special status as top priority; for any extra kobo spent on Lagos is well spent on all parts of the country, for no part is unrepresented in the Lagos mega-sprawl.

    This is all the more imperative, going by states’ internally generated revenue (IGR) figures, which the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) just released.

    In a pool of 23 states, Lagos in 2014 generated N276.1 billion (averaging N23 billion a month). Between Lagos and second-placed Rivers (N89.1 billion) was a gulf. But that Lagos earned 28.1 per cent lower than the N384.2 billion it grossed in 2013 appears to suggest its IGR-raising capacity is creaking.  Yet, its 20 million population appear far from being satisfied.

    That is why, aside from a special fund for Lagos’ development (which should pass for “compensation”), some economic derivation should be worked out for Lagos, if oil-bearing states enjoy 13 per cent derivation. Yes, these oil states face massive environmental hazards.  But Lagos’ roaring population, if neglected, could end in much worse: urban decay, breeding violent crimes, general insecurity and structured poverty.

    This derivation should come from a fair share from money made from massive business in Lagos sea ports; and airport.  Besides, earnings from VAT should be distributed in such a way that Lagos, which generates a good percentage of it, gets an equitable share. Indeed, the Buhari Presidency should assist Lagos in its light rail project, to give intra-state commuting a boost.

    Nigeria should pay Lagos its due.  It is called enlightened self-interest: for an unsettled Lagos slows down Nigeria’s economy; and invariably deepens poverty nationwide.

  • So what if it’s trending?

    SIR: Recently, I stumbled into a programme tagged “You Got Issues”, on Spice TV channel 192 on the DSTV platform.  SPICE TV Is a lifestyle channel that focuses on beauty, fashion and life style. Its target audiences are teenagers, youths and women.

    I was concerned about the content of   the episode, I stumbled into.  The concept is that youths send in questions on issues they need advise on and the host and two guests try to give their views on the issue.

    Most of the questions discussed centred on pornography. I wondered if these questions were made up by the producers or real questions sent in by viewers.  Never thought our youths had started such sexual experiments that are trending in western countries and for which shows like “Sex in the City and Swigger Wives” showcased.

    Parents, if these are some of the issues that our youths are exposed to or even “trending” among some youths, then we have a hell of a problem in our hands!

    We need to keep up with them get educated on these issues through research and find a way to talk through them with our teens. We live in a world that is a global village and since we can’t hide our babies in caves, we need to wake up, smell the coffee and act! To have such programmes airing on daytime TV (parental guidance or not) is plain wrong but these are the times we live in.

    Pornography has an adverse effect on boys and young men already at high risk for aggressive behavior. High risk factors include impulsivity, hostility to girls/ women and promiscuity. Very frequent use of porn is associated with higher rate of sexual aggression.

    While pornography use may result in a short term high, it eventually results in feelings of emptiness, low self esteem and deep loneliness. It ultimately creates emotional distance in relationships. Studies show that actual brain function changes in someone who has addiction and the changes are the same in all addiction: alcohol, drugs or pornography.  Because pornography use can become actual addiction, viewers are not able to stop through their own will power. Pornography addicts will need to engage in the same difficult recovery process as a drug addict has to go through.

    It’s imperative our youths are sensitized to know that just because everyone is doing a particular thing doesn’t make it right.  Have a passion to be different. Be a change agent. Do things based on your conviction not just because everyone is doing it or it’s the trend. A trend could be positive or negative

    The National Broadcasting Commission needs to be more vigilant and strengthen its monitoring of content of programmes being aired by media practitioners.

     

    • Angela Odah
  • Good riddance

    Good riddance

    We commend the FG for terminating the ill-gotten pipeline contracts to militants and ethnic militias 

    The dubious oil pipeline surveillance and protection contract which the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan gave to even dubious organisations in the twilight of his administration has ended ignominiously. According to the publicity secretary of one of the beneficiaries of that devious arrangement, Mr. Sylvester Eweka of the New Age Global Services, “on Sunday, a lorry load of task force members invaded the Sagamu area, claiming it had orders to forcefully reclaim control of the pipeline area”. He further said that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) abruptly sent a text message terminating the contract, with effect from June 15, 2015.

    We commend the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari for sacking the ethnic militias masquerading as security agencies. As we had written on this page when the Jonathan administration took that desperate manoeuvre, it was unlawful to allow the ethnic militias to appropriate the statutory responsibilities of our security agencies. The leadership of one of the groups, the Oodu’a Peoples Congress (OPC), openly boasted that the contract was given to them to empower the group to deliver the south-west to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the 2015 general elections.

    To show how cynical the past regime was, the pipeline contract was parcelled out to ethnic militias that operated where the pipelines are. The protection of the pipelines in the creeks of Niger Delta was parcelled out to the various militant leaders in the area, before the amnesty programme. So, the Jonathan administration, instead of disarming the militants who had turned to terrorisers of their neighbourhood, opted to empower them financially, and provided them a cover to acquire more arms, in the name of execution of security contracts.

    As predicted, the beneficiaries of the pipeline protection contracts were unable to stop the stealing of our crude oil. Indeed, while the contracts lasted, pipeline vandalism increased, and the result was the continuous dwindling of the accruals from our crude oil. As expected, many commentators were wondering whether those who had been put in charge of the protection of the pipelines were complicit in the increased wave of pipeline vandalism, and the stealing of our crude oil.

    Another fallout of the dubious contract was increased violence in their areas of operation. One of the most volatile areas was Arepo in Ogun State, where a number of law abiding citizens became victims of the untrained security manpower used by the ethnic militias to guard the pipeline. In the Arepo incident, a lady lawyer was gunned down, as the hoodlums exchanged gunfire, with one of the culprits claiming to be fighting to protect the pipeline. There were also several cases of police engaging pipeline vandals in gun battles, with the latter claiming to be agents of the contractors.

    So, while the contract lasted, insecurity and confusion reigned in the areas that provided passages to the pipeline. There was also the contest for patronage among the ethnic militias. In the south-west, the two factions of the OPC contested amongst themselves which of them deserved to gain the contract. Similar disagreement also took place in the Niger Delta, and each time the contest spread into the streets, lives were lost, and properties destroyed.

    This contract no doubt gave rise to more proliferation of small arms, as the contractors without lawful permits armed themselves, in the line of their duty. Nigerians were appalled as television cameras caught these hoodlums bearing arms and engaging in mini-warfare, while the state security agencies watched helplessly. Instances abound where the pipeline contractors took their battle to other security agencies, with causalities on both sides. In such instances, the heads of the militants talked openly about losing their boys, as if they were the commanders of para-military agencies of state.

    So, we urge the Federal Government to completely flush out these unauthorised persons who are bearing arms and competing with state security agencies, quickly. As we have severally canvassed, the Nigerian Navy should be equipped to man our waterways, and protect the pipelines in the creeks; while the civil defence, police and the army should protect the pipelines that are covered by land. There is no justification for private citizens, under whatever guise, to be given the contract to take up the responsibility of the state, and of course, engage in abuses detrimental to the country’s economic wellbeing.

    We however add that the operation should be conducted with military efficiency and dispatch. The claim of one of the contractors that lives were lost in the takeover of the oil pipeline at Shagamu is unfortunate, and we urge the NNPC to give advance notice, before sending in military operatives. It is however salutary that the pipeline contract for political support is coming to a closure.

  •  Ekong’s way

     Ekong’s way

    •A Nigerian student not only solves a 30-year math puzzle but accuses us of neglecting our education at home.

    One of the laments that cast a gloom on the state of the nation during the recent election campaign season in Nigeria was the abysmal low to which our education system has dropped.

    But the news coming from Japan, and specifically Tokai University in Tokyo, lifts the mood. Ufot Ekong has so far capped his storied run of accomplishments in that far-eastern country by solving a mathematical puzzle that eluded everyone for 30 years. And he pulled off the feat in just his first semester in the university.

    This is a cut away from the usual Nigerian tales of turpitude and vanity ranging from financial crimes to drug trafficking to footloose spending. This is a Nigerian contributing in sublime ways to advance civilisation.

    In a picture that displays his Nigerian fervour, Ekong decked out in flowing bright Nigerian attire with a dark cap as he bowed to receive his award from the university chancellor. He also obtained a first class degree in electrical engineering with the best marks in the university since 1965.

    Prior to the latest laurel, he had won six awards for academic excellence. Yet he does not fit into the picture of the peacock class of Nigerians whose parents are rich and pay the fees and plant them in the luxury of the foreign society. Rather, Ekong had to work two jobs in order to pay his fees. He combined physical deprivation with mental exertion to soar over his mates onto the high perch of history.

    Even now that he is working for the top automobile brand Nissan, he is studying for his PhD. For his project, he has designed an electric car that travels as fast as 128 kilometres per hour and changes batteries on the go, according to news reports. For Nissan, he is a proud owner of two patents, which shows that he is not just a bookish warrior but one who bends the straitjacket of the classroom to meet the exigency of everyday needs.

    Ekong is not just the sort of engineer locked away from the humanities. He is endowed with the renaissance elan as he is a polyglot fluent in English, French, Japanese and Yoruba. He won a Japanese language award for foreigners.

    The eminence of men like Ekong only reminds us of the glittering potential buried in the inefficiencies, corruption and general poor governance in the country. Ekong did not bloom like this in Nigeria. He had to struggle to a foreign soil, work to pay his fees and excel.

    His story only underpins the tragedy of our system. Our gold is dross at home. Our dross is the gold of the world only when burnished for us by foreigners. This newspaper has written a number of editorials on people of coruscating minds like Ekong, and we seem to just celebrate them and move on to the next big story from outside our shores.

    Not long ago, we had the story of Emmanuel Ohuabunwa who made history at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University in the United States. The Arochukwu-born prodigy became the first black student to earn a grade point average of 3.98 out of 4.0 for a degree in neurosciences. He also bagged the highest honours in his graduating year.

    No less fascinating is the story of 21-year-old Gabrielle Oluwanifemi Akinluyi who earned a first class degree in petroleum engineering at the University of Tulsa, also in the United States.

    It is high time we asked of ourselves the efforts that would light the candle of genius from our own schools. We should not always celebrate the potential of our students and our environment.

    It is time that we had our home-grown genius, and many of them.

  • Uncle Sam at 80

    Uncle Sam at 80

    •The Vanguard publisher has contributed immensely to national development and deserves the encomiums on him by Nigerians impressed by his unique style

    TODAY, his address and identity come together in the Vanguard newspaper. The success of the newspaper founded in 1984 sums up the years of struggle and triumph of Mr. Sam Amuka-Pemu who chose the ostensibly dreary world of journalism as his passion when it held little prospect for young educated Nigerians. Then, it attracted those who saw it as the only profession available for them after trying others, and those who felt sufficiently challenged by colonial domination of their country. Uncle Sam joined those who applied themselves to the urge to use the media to champion the attainment of independence.

    It now seems he has been the publisher and proprietor of the newspaper forever. This is not so. Mr. Amuka-Pemu is today the most outstanding professional media manager. He has been at it for more than five decades and keeps waxing strong. He has been a journalist of repute, an editor of distinction, a celebrated columnist and a media entrepreneur. In all the roles, he excelled and deserves the encomiums being poured on him by members of the media constituency, the government and the general public.

    What are those things that stand out Uncle Sam, as he is fondly addressed? First is his simplicity. Uncle Sam has no airs around him. Anyone, even in his Vanguard empire, could stop him along the staircase for a hearty discussion. He is also a mentor of note. When he notices potential in any of his staff, many have attested to the detailed attention he begins to pay to him or her. He is said to invite even junior reporters for lunch in the company’s canteen and the senior editors and managers are periodically treated to dinner at his guest house.

    As a publisher, the Vanguard brand has come to stay largely because of its unique, breezy style and liberal approach to issues. Uncle Sam may have positions on national issues, but he is not known to force them on his editors. As a successful businessman and influential newsman, he has friends in high quarters. Many of today’s politicians were fans of his column in the Daily Times and Punch. But, he is not renowned for pushing for contracts that could compromise the newspaper. This has made him, in person, a darling of the reading public, and his newspaper a respected brand.

    Uncle Sam represents the values that Nigerians want in their leaders. Although an Itsekiri, he stayed out of the fray during the Urhobo-Itsekiri communal strife. His paper was not turned into a tool for prosecuting the war. In Delta State where the newspaper records its largest sales, the Vanguard publisher is not known to have teamed up with any political party or tendency.

    At 80, Uncle Sam has paid his dues. He is a social celebrity who, in addition to being at home with plebians, is comfortable when clinking glasses with the social elite. This has made him a role model for upcoming leaders.

    The legacy of this simple and unassuming man should be preserved. His admirers and protégés owe the society a duty to get a quality biography of his published as a guide for others and imperishable record of his contribution to the growth and development of the Nigerian nation. He also owes the society a duty of documenting his life history in book form. What motivated him to go into journalism? What characterised those wars he fought and how did they turn out? As one who covered the socio-political circuit in the First and Second Republics, was a publisher during the Third and Fourth Republics, he should tell the story of the various administrations as he saw them, and publish his diary of events that gripped and shaped the Nigerian state at various points in history.

    We join millions of Nigerians who wish this icon well in his endeavour. This is one of those occasions when a sweet tale could be told by an octogenarian. Realising that his mother just died last year, we look forward to more years of fruitful contributions to national progress by this veteran journalist.

  • Continuity or change?

    Continuity or change?

    SIR: APC was formed as a progressive political party. But happenings since the inauguration of the party on May 29, suggest that there may not be a departure from what Nigerians experienced in the hands of PDP which ruled for 16 years.

    PDP was voted out at the centre for obvious reasons. Nigerians did not vote for President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC because they want the status quo. Nigerians are beginning to doubt whether APC stands for continuity or change. Happenings in the National Assembly makes one to wonder whether the agenda of the party is continuity or change.

    Having discovered that PDP was not offering something new after their 16 years rule, Nigerians took the bull by the horn by voting for change. The tide of change also swept across states that were traditionally regarded as PDP states. Nigerians openly expressed their dissatisfaction with the poor level of governance under the PDP government.

    Nigeria is faced with numerous challenges and everyone looks up to President Buhari and his political party to fix these problems. The APC government needs to live up to the people’s expectations and have a radical departure from what obtained under the PDP. APC should not be tempted to adopt the policies and style of the PDP. Doing things the PDP way is definitely not an option for members of the APC at all levels of government. APC needs to vigorously pursue its change agenda without any hindrance.

    What played out at the inauguration of the 8th National Assembly on June 9, shows that true change may not have come after all despite President Buhari’s avowal in his inaugural speech. The coup d’état in the senate, the emergence of a PDP Senator as Deputy Senate President and the dissenting voices of some disgruntled members of the National Assembly all show what the course of events would be in the next four years.

    Nigeria is truly evolving; besides the APC is saddled with the responsibility of bringing about the desired change. It is up to APC to prove to Nigerians that what they voted for during the 2015 general elections is not continuity but change.

    • Bolaji Samson Aregbeshola,
  • Not excusable

    Not excusable

    •That 191 House of Reps members had nary a bill in four years is troubling

    MORE than 50 percent of the members of the 7th House of Representatives could not muster even one bill in the course of four years. This troubling revelation is the result of an official report tagged: “Status of Bills, Petitions and Other Legislative Measures,” said to have been released on the authority of the former Speaker, Alhaji Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

    According to the report which was compiled by the Rules and Business Committee of the last House, while 191 members initiated no bills at all, 169 members sponsored a total of 679 bills. Seventy bills came from the executive arm while the Senate sent in six. Therefore, a total of 755 bills were introduced and read in the 7th House from 2011 to 2015.

    Though only 123 were eventually passed into laws, it is quite a commendable number of bills that have been brought to the purview of the lawmakers over this period. We hold up for special commendation, Ali Ahmad (APC Kwara) for rolling out a total of 36 bills; Uzoma Abonta (PDP Abia) who had 32 and Femi Gbajabiamila who came up with 20 over this period.

    Though lawmaking is not the only function of legislators, it is their first call and indeed their preeminent duty to their constituencies, the society and indeed the  country. It would be rather otiose to highlight the essence and paramountcy of law in the society. Suffice it to note that it is mainly in cognisance of the grand import of law that the gigantic infrastructure and huge bureaucracy of the National Assembly was set up.

    It is particularly important for a fledgling democracy like Nigeria’s where the firmaments of law and conventions for fashioning a modern state are still at their rudimentary levels. It can be argued therefore, that Nigeria needs all the laws that can be enacted by her lawmakers. To think that democracies that are over 200 years old still have laws churned out from their parliaments.

    It is on this score that we admonish the 191 (except the Speaker who is not to personally present bills) of the House members who could not pull out nary one bill in four years. Yes, we are aware that most of them may have been active in the various committees of the House; we also concede that they may have participated in the oversight and constituency functions of the House; the bill is the core duty and instrument of measure.

    Not to have any bill in such a long time seems to be a pointer that the legislator is bereft of ideas or is lacking in the deeper understanding of his presence in the hallowed chambers of the legislature. But indeed, the law-making function of government is in every clime, a higher and patriotic calling and rare privilege to drive the lofty objectives of any nation.

    It is in the rarefied chambers of parliament that great thinkers, leaders and statesmen are wrought across the ages. It is not a place for revellers and jobbers as we have seen in Nigeria in recent years. For instance, it was in the rustic Congress of 13 United States of America that the liberating words of the American Revolution and subsequent independence were forged.

    We dare note that the content and quality of legislative process in the country in the last 16 years have been mediocre and uninspiring, to say it decently. The best minds from constituencies no longer get the opportunity to rise to this national call; instead, it has become jobs for hangers-on and dog handlers to godfathers who have neither the faculty nor facility for what in truth, ought to be an epochal assignment. It is apposite to state that the dire state of the country today is in a large part a reflection of the very poor quality of the legislature.

    We can only urge the members of the 8th House to rise to the high occasion; to go beyond the humdrum, to take up campaign, advocacy and nationalistic fervours, the very essence of lawmaking required in an infant democracy like Nigeria’s.