The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • For accountability’s sake

    Nigerians have the right to know how defence ministry spends its security vote?s

    Is it proper to jettison transparency and accountability under the guise of managing the affairs of the nation’s defence ministry? That is the message being passed across by the Ministry of Defence that got appropriated funds for security vote but seems not ready to give account of how the vote was spent. But, we consider as cheering the insistence by the Senate Committee on Defence and Army to unearth how the ministry spent over N1.275 billion security vote budget in its 2014 fiscal year.

    Senator George Sekibo, Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence, was unsparing as he pointed out discrepancies in the fund appropriated for the ministry, especially under the subhead of security vote, including operations/ration and allowances for Brigade of Guards. He wondered what could account for ‘duplication since Service Wide Vote, which was provided for in the year under review, covered the issue of security vote for Brigade of Guards.’ Sekibo’s committee also discovered the glitch showing that the ministry always brings to the new budget the same items that were budgeted and supplied in the previous year. The committee, ostensibly in the bid to get to the root of the matter subsequently called off consideration of the ministry’s 2015 budget proposal because of disparity in figure as the ones with the ministry was different from the figure with the committee.’

    Like the committee, we consider as discourteous, General Aliu Gusau, Minister of Defence’s consistent refusal to appear before the committee to defend his ministry’s budget. Rather, Aliyu Ismaila, the permanent secretary in the ministry was always saddled with the duty. Gusau, as the political head should be bold enough to personally defend how money appropriated for his ministry was spent in 2014. Otherwise, this might be misconstrued as arrogance against the Nigerian people that elected those legislators on the Senate’s committee.

    We consider as equally confounding the fact that the ministry could be in possession of N1.275 billion security vote budget last year alone and would still not be able to procure modern weapons for soldiers fighting against Boko Haram in the northeast.

    We ask; what is the rationale behind the provision for security vote that nobody among the recipients at the presidency, among the state governors, local government councils’ chairmen and ministries, amongst others in the land, is willing to share with the public? What does such an obviously uncontrolled fund stand for? More importantly, we are yet to see a clear constitutional provision in the current grundnorm of the country giving legal cover for such vote. This brings up another salient question: How does the country come about security vote that has become a serious drain on public till? Could this be assumed to be a fraud, under the guise of tradition, designed by those in authorities to fleece the country of her hard-earned money?

    There is need, soonest, for a definite pronouncement from whatever quarters, against this illicit official tradition that has not been of any eventful security advantage to the nation at large. We call on not only this Senate committee, in the discharge of its oversight functions, but also the Auditor-General of the Federation, to commence forthwith, a comprehensive audit of previous budgets of the Defence ministry and other beneficiaries of security vote so as to block bleeding avenues in the nation’s haemorrhaging till.

  • Technological triumph

    •Nigeria must begin to avail itself of advances in technology

    One of the most prominent characteristics of the contemporary era is the speed and comprehensiveness of technological change. The truth of this was asserted yet again when a solar-powered aircraft launched an ambitious attempt to make the first-ever circumnavigation of the globe.

    Called Solar Impulse-2, the aircraft took off from Abu Dhabi last week, and will cross India, China, the Pacific Ocean, the United States and the Atlantic before landing in Oman after 25 days later. The significance of a successful journey is hard to downplay. It will demonstrate the increasing relevance of solar power and other clean technologies in an era of global warming, growing environmental pollution and climate change, and will further accelerate the adoption of products, services and techniques based on them.

    Where does all this leave Nigeria? In the immediate short-term, the country will suffer. Indeed, the sharp decline in the price of crude oil, its main export, has already begun to have negative effects on revenues. Like other developing nations, the emergence of new technologies and processes will upset current policies based on outdated approaches to agriculture, manufacturing and industry.

    The irony, however, is that Nigeria is also uniquely placed to take maximum advantages of green technologies if it can comprehensively integrate them into the development process. Unlike developed economies that have had to experiment with nuclear power, for instance, Nigeria can focus its efforts on solar, wind, wave and other forms of renewable energy. The advantages are even more beneficial when it is realised that the country has an abundance of the sunlight and coasts that are the basis of these new technologies.

    To achieve these goals, there must be a wide-ranging change in attitudes. In spite of the obvious benefits of modern technology, it does not seem that Nigerians are mentally conditioned to exploit them to the fullest. A notorious example is the uproar over card-readers in the forthcoming general elections. Even though the efficiency of card technology has been conclusively demonstrated in the banking sector, there appears to be no consensus on extending its benefits to an electoral process in which fraud has been rampant.

    One way in which this problem can be adequately resolved is to expand and entrench the use of renewable energies to the extent that it is more prominent in development policy. Federal and state governments can begin to insist on solar-powered street lights on all roads currently under construction. The Lagos State government can extend its commendable school solar power initiative to more schools, and to its housing estates and parastatals. Businesses and firms should begin to sponsor research into  renewable energy and projects like Solar Impulse-2.

    It is especially important that interest in renewable energy increases in Nigerian society generally. Given their travails with public power supply, it is amazing that more citizens have not taken it upon themselves to learn more about sources of power which are almost infinite in their sustainability. The available alternatives are woefully inadequate, and are often limited to the noisy and polluting generators that have become ubiquitous across the national landscape.

    Such attitudes are to be contrasted with what is prevalent in other places. The Solar Impulse-2 project is being promoted by Swiss nationals, and is the logical evolution of their enduring passion with extending the frontiers of renewable energy. It has received corporate sponsorship, worldwide publicity, and is leveraging the pioneering spirit of its pilots to the fullest.

    The lesson is clear: no nation can make real progress if its citizens do not make concerted efforts to conduct scientific research and ensure that they benefit fully from its fruits.

  • Buhari’s first 100 days in office

    Buhari’s first 100 days in office

    SIR: It is a tradition that leaders of countries from around the world do celebrate their first 100 days in office. The first 100 days of a new leader of a country is crucial and determines how his administration will be. In Nigeria, the first 100 days of Mohamadu Buhari, if elected, will be celebrated by Nigerians.

    In my opinion, the following will likely be among the first major effects of Buhari’s first 100 days in office.First, after his swearing-in on may 29 if he emerged victorious in the March 28 election, petroleum, kerosene and other oil products will stabilise and be abundant in the market. This is because the scarcity of the products is deliberate and unnecessary. Also, filing station owners will be afraid to close their stations for no reason as they are aware that Buhari was once a petroleum minister and he is well conversant with the nature of the market.

    Secondly, general availability of products and service will manifest in his first 100 days. From network services, power providers, civil service, marketers and retailers etc, God willing, everything will start to be doing well as they all fear Buhari because of his anti-corruption stand.

    Thirdly, there will be relative currency stability, security and discipline. This is due to the fact that, most of the corrupt government officials and business tycoons will run into exile or quickly jettison their corrupt practices. Corruption is directly related to security. Most of the money budgeted for security in Nigeria is mis-used by corrupt government officials. Of course, the naira will stabilise against the Dollar relatively.

    Fourthly, respect for the office of the President, other official government positions and confidence in governance will greatly increase. This is because Buhari is courageous and will not tolerate controversy and corruption.

    Lastly, Nigeria’s image and the respect for Nigerians will be redeemed. The world will respect Nigeria because it has good leaders voted in by the people. The world will respect Nigerians for their maturity, peaceful and legal change of a corrupt government. That will be in the first 100 days.

    That will not be the only thing to happen God willing. Among some other things to happen are: There will be no office of the first lady, no extravagant spendings in Aso Villa; unity and trust among Nigerians will start to increase, and there will be no claim and counter claim by different government officials and agencies. I can’t wait to see Nigeria change.

     

    • Comrade Abdulbaqi Aliyu Jari,

    jariabdubaqi@gmail.com

  • The slide to anarchy

    The slide to anarchy

    •Protests by pro-Jonathan forces against deployment of card readers in the general elections are irrational and condemnable

    Daily, as the March 28 presidential election draws closer, antics of pro-Jonathan forces are getting out of hand. They show that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan is desperate to hold on to power and he is unwilling to do the civilised thing in a democracy: allow free, fair and credible polls.

    The latest was the protest staged by the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) and other forces loyal to the president in Lagos on Monday. Under a primitive lie that they are seeking the resignation or removal of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, the protesters paralysed traffic along very busy Lagos highways, including the popular Ikorodu Road and Funso Williams Way.

    The staged acts subverted the fundamental principle of peaceful protests in a democracy. The law was pooh-poohed.  The protesters brandished dangerous weapons, including guns, machetes, pocket knives, even as law enforcement agents apparently undermined their own responsibility to society by providing cover for them. They smashed vehicles, harassed innocent citizens, shot indiscriminately, paralysed the city, punctured social liberties and truncated commerce.This is unacceptable in a sane and lawful society. Nigerian law does not allow illegal possession of firearms, and its display in broad daylight is yet another indication that the state has further decayed under the administration that the protesters seek to keep in power.

    Another nightmarish parody was the place of the Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE- P) in the protest. The agency was designed ostensibly for progress and peace. But it has become an agent of subversion and primitive lawlessness in the past two years in Lagos. The Jonathan administration has been alerted to the danger of their activities but it has kept an undignified silence.  It constitutes violence against the state for men paid their wages and expected to be independent of political persuasions to join hoodlums in waging war against the society.

    A time there was when ethnic militia were outlawed in Nigeria. Leaders of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) that organised a similar protest in Ebonyi, Enugu and Anambra states were arrested and arraigned in court for seeking the dismemberment of the country. The objectives of the movement have not changed and the leaders are still in office. Yet, the Jonathan administration is recruiting members of the outlawed organisation to keep it in power. It reflects not only desperation but that President Jonathan follows the Machiavellian path of overthrowing the constitution for his own selfish ego.

    Every day, the signs become more apparent that the Nigerian state is failing and the incumbent government is unable to make a distinction between its task of providing leadership or caving in to his interests fuelled by a carpet-bagging cabal at such a difficult moment. The role played by the Nigerian Police is even more savage. The police is the civil institution saddled with the task of protecting the common citizens, ensuring that the ship of state remains afloat and that the laws of the land are obeyed by all. However, as the militia men disrupted the peace in Lagos and the South eastern states, they had the police looking on. It did not matter to them that the weapons being brandished emanated from unknown sources and could have been used to perpetuate crimes before they surfaced at the protest rallies.

    Ralph Uwazurike of MASSOB and Gani Adams of the OPC who felt compelled to seek Jega’s removal only because some politicians felt he would not do their bidding are apparently doing so because they had been so mobilised by a government from which they have derived succour in recent times. The OPC and its leaders have just had their nests feathered by a slew of juicy oil pipeline-protecting contracts.

    The protests underline fear in high places over the upcoming elections. Only cowards take to gangster methods as the OPC demonstrated in Lagos. They also campaigned against the use of card readers, a device that would make the elections more transparent and readily acceptable. They do not want the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and the Card Readers for which money has been appropriated and approved by the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council for the general elections. The electoral commission had served notice since 2011 that it would be travelling this road. Why then would the same government be supporting calls for resignation of the symbol of the electoral system now?

    Anyone familiar with the nation’s political history would realise that tampering with the balance in the North West or South West is an invitation to anarchy. This is one thing Nigeria can ill afford at this point when the economy is in a shambles and all facts point to collapse of the state if the drift is not arrested.

    The ruling political party owes the country a duty to call its supporters to order. Powers must be accompanied by responsibility. At a time when all that contribute directly or indirectly to political violence are being brought to justice at the International Criminal Court (ICC), we call attention of those who think they could misuse state power to this development.

    All that Nigerians want now is the conduct of free, fair and credible polls. It is the only way to go as the people want their will respected.

    We call for the arrest and prosecution of all those inviting mayhem in the country. Any unauthorised display or use of weapons must be punished as deterrence to others. The Jonathan administration is setting another dangerous precedent that could easily become the norm in other parts of the country.

    We condemn the President who, as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, has not found it fit to query the Inspector-General of Police and the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the show of shame  Neither the president nor any of his associates has condemned the barbarous show in lagos. How could the president explain to himself that he is encouraging militancy in the south while he is fighting another in the north? This sort of double standards will not bring peace and trust in the land.

    Certainly, 12 days to a crucial election is not a time for any sane person to call for removal of the head of an electoral commission without adducing verifiable reasons.

  • Out of Namibia

    Out of Namibia

    •Pohamba wins Mo Ibrahim African Leadership Prize

    One of the most innovative and far-reaching initiatives to promote credible leadership and good governance in Africa was the institution of the Mo Ibrahim African Leadership Prize. Set up by the Sudanese business tycoon after whom it is named, the prize attracts a cash prize of $500, 000 for 10 years and, thereafter $200,000 a year for life. The winner of this year’s African Leadership Prize is the outgoing President of Namibia, Hikefunkeye Pohamba. Aged 79, President Pohamba assumed office in 2005 and is expected to step down this month. Elections held under his watch have been widely regarded as free, fair and credible. The announcers of the award paid tribute to Pohamba’s commitment to the rule of law, respect for the constitution and promotion of gender equity. This is something good for Africa out of Namibia.

    However, we consider it curious that since the establishment of the award, only three presidents have won it before Pohamba. These are the former presidents of Cape Verde, Pedro de Verona RogriguesPires, Mozambique’s Joachim Chissano and Festus Mogae of Botswana. In other years no leader on the continent was considered worthy of the honour. The criteria for the award are quite straightforward. To win, a recipient must have been democratically elected, displayed exceptional leadership, served only their constitutional term and must have left office in the three previous years.

    There is no doubt that these criteria have been deliberately crafted to enhance the quality of governance in the continent, promote democracy and respect for the people as well as discourage the sit-in-office forever syndrome that has been the bane of politics and development in Arica. Why then is it that only four leaders have so far won the award? The simple answer is that, despite the growing culture of competitive elections in Africa, the quality of governance is still poor, elections are still plagued by fraud and many African leaders still want to continue in office even after the expiration of their constitutional tenures.

    It is not impossible that many corrupt and sit-tight African leaders do not think very highly of the award and the otherwise impressive financial benefits that go with it. After all, if such leaders stay put in office by all means, they will most likely make more from pilfering the public till than the Mo Leadership Prize can offer them. Such a cynical world view, if it exists, is exceedingly shameful, unpatriotic and disgraceful to Africa.

    Another curiosity is the concentration of winners of the award in the South African region. Is there anything in these countries’ history of armed struggle that predisposes them to better governance after independence? This should not necessarily be so. After all, both President Pohamba and President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe participated actively in armed struggles that freed their respective countries from colonial bondage. However, one sits tight in office at close to 90 years of age and the other is graciously and honourably quitting office to the applause of the world.

    We commend Mr Mo Ibrahim for his selflessness in investing his wealth in trying to promote the cause of good government and democracy in Africa. We also call on other like-minded Africans and non–Africans of means to contribute their quota to this cause. Bad and unaccountable governments anywhere in the world breed poverty, hunger, disease or terrorism that constitutes a threat to humanity everywhere.

    We also urge African leaders to strengthen the peer-review mechanisms offered by the African Union and the New Partnership for Africa to hold each other to account and enhance the quality of governance in the continent. It is also crucial that the Mo Ibrahim Foundation does not lower its standards just so that there can be more recipients. Rather, it is African leaders who must raise their own governance standards to merit the award.

  • Bank Verification Number

    Bank Verification Number

    •Banks and their customers must take the initiative seriously to curb frauds

    Worried by the increasing incidence of bank frauds due to the emergence of revolutionised payments system in the country, which also opened new windows for fraudulent manipulations, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) initiated the Bank Verification Number (BVN) scheme last year. It is a system whereby individual banks collect their customers’ biometric data that is then collated to serve as a centralised biometric identification system for the entire industry.

    Unfortunately, many bank customers are yet to key into the scheme, barely three months to the deadline given to all bank account holders to collect the new number. Obviously, many people do not understand its essence because, only a few years back, bank customers were asked to migrate to the 10-digit Nigeria Uniform Bank Account Number (NUBAN), as part of efforts to improve services in the financial sector. So, asking them to go for yet another scheme that seems to them to serve the same purpose as the NUBAN is unnecessary.

    But this is where such bank customers are mistaken. Trust is a critical element in banking. Where this is eroded, people become wary of keeping their money in the banks. And in Nigeria, as in many other parts of the world where bank frauds are on the increase, it becomes imperative for the bankers and regulatory agencies to move miles ahead of fraudsters who are never tired of inventing new tricks to beat whatever security arrangements that are put in place, to checkmate their activities.

    We also have people who take advantage of the lack of the centralised platform that the BVN offers to operate multiple accounts and take loans that they never intended to repay. The activities of such people who constitute serious risks to the banking sector would be drastically curtailed, if not eliminated, when every bank customer gets the BVN.

    Part of the beauty of the scheme is that the individual bank customer’s biometric information that is generated from the registration is a once-and-for-all requirement. So, even if a customer has many bank accounts, all he or she needs do is register for the BVN in any of the banks and the information would automatically be linked to all his or her bank accounts as well as be integrated in the banking system, generally.

    Because it is not easy to manipulate biometric information, BVN protects customer bank accounts from unauthorised access, thus strengthening the financial system; it also makes detection of fraudulent/duplicate bank accounts as well as blacklisted customers easier. When fully integrated, BVN is expected to provide a synchronised efficiency to banking since all banking operations will be verified using the same method, reducing cases of human error or inconsistency.

    With BVN, transaction authentication would be done essentially using only biometric and a PIN; eliminating the use of cards. So, illiterate bank customers therefore do not have to worry much about the difficulties posed by the use of cards because transactions can still be done even if one forgot one’s PIN.

    In order to make registration for the BVN customer-friendly, enrolling for the scheme has been simplified. All a bank customer is supposed to do is walk into his or her bank branch, fill and submit the BVN enrolment form; the customer’s biometric information such as fingerprints and facial imagery, signature, etc. are then recorded and an acknowledgment slip with transaction ID is issued to him or her. A BVN is then created and customer is alerted to arrange to pick it up. To guarantee the integrity of the process, registration can only be done by the individual customer in the bank, not online or by proxy.

    Bank customers must take advantage of the initiative before the restrictions on customers without the BVN take off on July 1. With effect from that date, such customers would be deemed to have inadequate know-your-customers and their transactions may be declined. But the CBN and the deposit banks too must sustain the tempo of enlightenment until everyone that should be included has joined the scheme.

  • Another crude shocker

    •Report on America’s oil storage is a wake-up call to Nigeria to diversify its economy

    For corruption-ridden and spendthrift Nigeria, the report that the current glut in the United States oil market might further dampen the prices of crude oil and refined petroleum products, further pushing the price down to as low as $20 per barrel, must have come as a terrible blow. Yes, terrible blow because Nigeria has failed to save for the proverbial rainy day, and neglected the diversification of its economic base over the decades.

    According to the Associated Press, America is running out of storage for crude oil because, on the average, about one million barrels of oil per day has been flowing into the country through importation and local production. If this continues, it is only a matter of time for the storage tanks to reach their operational limits, probably by the middle of next month. The implication is that crude prices could tumble. “The fact of the matter is, we are running out of storage capacity in the US,” Ed Morse, the Head of Commodities Research at Citibank, said at a symposium at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York.

    The difference between Nigeria and the United States is leadership. That is the singular factor that accounts for the robust planning that has put the United States in a position to attain its highest point in crude supply in about 80 years.

    While the U.S. has been working assiduously over the years to ensure that America attains its present level, irrespective of the government in power, successive Nigerian governments have continued to pay lip service to the development of the oil sector. While the governments keep talking about diversification, they’ve done little or nothing to actualise it.

    The sad aspect of it is that since the discovery of crude oil in Oloibiri in 1956, we also neglected agriculture, which until the advent of oil was the country’s economic mainstay. Perhaps if we had even paid serious attention to the oil sector beyond waiting for the monthly handout from the Federal Government to sustain the states, things would not have been this bad today, despite the shocks in the global oil market. But successive governments’ complacency and irresponsibility degenerated to the point where we abandoned our four local refineries and we now import a huge percentage of the refined petroleum products that are consumed in the country.

    What we now reap is a lose-lose situation irrespective of what happens in the global crude market: when crude prices were high Nigerians paid more for the imported refined products and when they are down as they are now, we can hardly derive any benefit as a nation because some costs, i.e. landing cost, etc. are fixed, meaning they still have to be paid whatever the price of crude oil. Worse still, many of our governments mismanaged the proceeds from crude sales instead of investing in worthwhile ventures.

    It is even worse under the present administration where incompetence and large-scale looting have deprived the country of huge resources that could have been spent on regenerative projects. All these explain why the country is now in a mess where many public servants at both the federal and state levels are now being owed salaries for months.

    Unfortunately, we had the same experience with oil glut in the Second Republic, during the Alhaji Shehu Shagari era, which made the government to declare austerity measures. That singular experience was enough to wake us up from our slumber to the urgency of diversification.

    But it is better late than never. Our current cash crisis should open our eyes to the reality that oil-driven economy is dying. We need to return to agriculture and agro-allied industry, even as we must unlock the potentials in many states which some extant laws prevent the states from exploiting. The government must also be ready to tackle corruption headlong because so much money had been stolen that should have been used for developmental purposes.

  • Sickening symbolism

    The slash in works ministry’s budgetary allocation is metaphor for a govt’s pact with underdevelopment

    The sheer symbolism of it is benumbing — slashing the budget of the Federal Ministry of Works from a proposed N100 billion to N11 billion: almost N90 heaved off every N100!

    Yet, the works ministry is not only responsible for road infrastructure — perhaps the most visible proof of governmental performance and economic wellbeing — it is also the bread basket of contractors, local and foreign, after legitimate daily bread.

    In this age of equal opportunity sleaze and perhaps widespread budgetary padding, perhaps hardly anyone could vouch for the integrity of the originally recommended estimates? Perhaps the works ministry itself — like others? — had a history of unconscionable padding of budget estimates, so much so that someone, somewhere felt he or she had the missionary and patriotic duty to knock the flabby and fraudulent document to shape?

    Still, even with the collapsing economy (which was the main reason for the slash), slicing a works ministry budget from N100 billion to N11 billion must have taken some doing! It is either the officials responsible are terribly misguided, or the Jonathan presidency itself suffers acute lack of any developmental compass.

    The works ministry, after all, is the bastion of capital projects. Capital projects invest in present triggers for future growth — and development.  So, visiting its budget with such cavalier hacking would appear symptomatic of a government that has made its peace with recurrent expenditures (tantamount to just living by the day), against laying solid foundations for citizens’ future wellbeing.

    That would qualify for a big shame, even for the most developed economies of the world. For a developing economy like Nigeria’s, however, it is tantamount to wilful economic crime!

    Not surprisingly, a jeremiad has come from Mike Onolememen, the works minister. By this brutal hewing, the minister said, only 33 out of the Federal Government’s ongoing 210 road projects would receive attention.  That is ultra-bad news, for a country that, at the best of times, has suspect stock of roads.

    But more bad news: if the N11 billion estimates stand, there would be no capital vote for the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA), as well as for the Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation. Starkly, what that means is that FERMA cadres would just receive salaries this year but would carry out no road maintenance function. It also means that the Surveyor-General and staff would hardly be in any position to design new roads! Yet, a good number of Nigerian roads are always in a near-permanent state of disrepair and neglect!

    Defending the ministry’s budget before the Senate, the minister also complained about a long history of the finance ministry withholding capital votes from the works ministry. “Only N45, 682, 844, 395 was released for the works ministry out of the 2014 capital appropriation of N98, 814, 368, 704” he said. That was less than half, leaving a shortfall of N53, 131, 524, 309.

    Now, if the Jonathan presidency, by the capital/recurrent ratio of 28:72 (as per 2014) spends less than N3 out of every N10 it makes on capital projects, and still there are short-falls in the release of the capital vote, then something is terribly wrong in that government’s thinking and approach.

    Besides, for the finance ministry to just brutally cut (as the works minister appeared to allege) and then engage in seeming routine capital vote shortfalls — is there no coordination between the two ministries? Indeed, is there no inter-ministerial coordination with the Federal Ministry of Finance to decide in times of stress, such that even any cuts would be taken after a joint x-ray of the crisis?

    The budgetary cut of the works ministry leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, no matter the financial strictures Nigeria now faces. Even if the government hopes to depend on BOT (Build-Operate-Transfer) protocols, it cannot afford to leave itself virtually stark naked as the budget suggests.

    The matter should be revisited.

  • Political class and Nigeria’s future

    SIR: Members of the political class, who comprise of power-brokers and those governing, represent the soul of any country as they are the building blocks of leadership recruitment. By virtue of their calling, politicians are expected to show leadership and live up to their promises. They are also obligated to uphold and promote fundamental national values concerning political, economic and social imperatives. Part of these imperatives are representative democracy, good governance, popular participation, political stability, national unity, peaceful coexistence, law-abiding and dutiful citizenry, constitutionalism, due process, the rule of law, separation of powers, respect of basic human rights, social justice, sense of inclusion, equal opportunities, thriving economy, sustainable development, human welfare and international respectability.

    More importantly, members of the political class or elite should stand for national cause at all times, notwithstanding their party, ethnic, religious, cultural or ideological affinity. In this case, unifying and stabilising factors like pan-nationalism, patriotism, statesmanship, national unity, corporate existence, nation-building, national integration, multiculturalism and bi-partism (or even multilateralism) should be their watchword. No doubt, these factors and similar ones encapsulate the spirit of the guardian class whose enlightened members are driven by the impulse of national interest, which is paramount, not personal or sectional interest that has been the bane of politics and governance in many developing countries, including Nigeria.

    Going down memory lane, our nationalist heroes and founding fathers who featured prominently in the politics of the First Republic (1960-66), such as Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo (all of blessed memory), in spite of their human frailties, set a shining example of what are required from a model political class like selfless service, human touch, national fervour and integrity. For example, Dr. Azikiwe (the Great Zik of Africa as he was fondly called) was a tireless exponent of dignity of man, national unity and pan-African co-operation. On the other hand, Sir Tafawa Balewa was a grassroots and self-effacing political leader who espoused unity in diversity in Nigeria, just as Chief Awolowo (Awo) as he was popularly known) saw the future of the country as being inextricably tied to true federalism.

    If truth must be told, the aforementioned personages had shown through their laudable feats that they were in a rendezvous with destiny as they strove to shape the future of their expectant people. With our fatherland now at a crossroads in the face of dire political, economic and social challenges, members of our political class could be said to be in a race against time. Irrespective of their affiliations, they are called upon to soften their rhetorics and close ranks for the sake of the Nigerian future that is currently threatened by intense political wrangling, violent religious extremism and ethnic militancy.

    So, as we inch towards the decisive presidential and national polls on March 28 and those of the governorship and state legislative houses on April 11, our politicians owe it as a moral duty to help defuse the rising tension and uncertainties in the land over the possible outcome. Accordingly, they are implored to shun political mudslinging, hate speeches and inflammatory remarks that could lead to violence, bloodshed and depredation. In conformity with the spirit and letter of the Abuja Peace Accord for non-violent elections signed by various presidential candidates on January 10, 2015, all the political aspirants in the forthcoming polls in the country should drum home the normative message of this agreement to their staunch supporters and admirers who, in most cases, are the foot-soldiers of inter-party thuggery.

    May God save and bless our dear fatherland.

    • Okechukwu Emeh

    is a public analyst.

  • Agwai ‘s sack

    Agwai ‘s sack

    It smacks of pettiness on the part of the FG and unseriousness with the objectives of SURE-P that he headed

    The removal of General Martin Luther Agwai as chairman of the intervention agency, Subsidy Reinvestment Programme (SURE-P) is another indication that something is fundamentally wrong with the philosophy of the Jonathan administration. The agency, a baby of the popular struggle for transparency in the management of prices of petroleum products in 2012 certainly needs men of proven integrity to manage it. This explains the appointments of the first chairman, Dr. Christopher kolade, and Agwai who succeeded the former high commissioner.

    Kolade was recommended for the job because of his vast experience in both the public and private sectors. He has the reputation of a man who could be trusted with public funds but had to bow out when he could not tolerate the practices that threatened his reputation. Agwai, a retired four-star General of the Nigerian Army who had the distinction of rising to the pinnacle of his career had won laurels at home and abroad. He was Chief of Defence Staff in the Obasanjo administration and a commander of international peacekeeping operations. His appointment was meant to allay fears that the government frustrated Dr. Kolade out with a view to derailing the programme. However, Agwai’s sack last week and his replacement with a regular public servant has raised questions about the sincerity of the Federal Government about tackling national maladies.

    We find it inappropriate that the Federal Government could not officially adduce reasons for the removal. A man of such distinction does not deserve such a shabby treatment. If he had done anything wrong, it ought to have been pointed out, if only to allay public fears on the direction of public policy and encourage other men of repute to take public appointments.

    It has been suggested that Agwai was removed for attending and presenting a paper at the 78th birthday of General Olusegun Obasanjo, a former president of the country and commander-in-chief of the armed forces. It is surprising that the government did not deem it fit to congratulate the former president, let alone being represented at the well-attended and well-advertised event. It is even more unfortunate that a retired General could draw the ire of the government for honouring the invitation of his former boss.

    Governance at the highest level in the country deserves decorum, decency and grace. A man of honour at the helm of affairs would realise that the trenchant criticisms by General Obasanjo of recent do not make him an enemy. Differences in political opinion should not be allowed to becloud our sense of propriety.

    What the president did in sacking General Agwai smacks of pettiness. A society faced with the sort of crisis in the country today requires the services of all men and women of distinction, irrespective of their political affiliation. The United States of America is one country that owes its rapid development to the part being played by technocrats who are either apolitical or even aligned to opposing political parties. Realising the need for such bipartisan disposition, President Barack Obama saw nothing wrong in appointing a Republican his defence secretary at the inception of his administration.

    We must learn the good lessons. As we prepare to hold another general elections, Nigerians should begin to ask the correct questions of their governments. We must insist that morals and value play great roles in building good societies and thus insist that any government that intends to captain the ship of state must seek good materials and accord them the respect that they deserve. The governments at all levels should realise that public officers are not robots who could be robbed of their independence and viewpoints. General Agwai was entitled to his opinion at the Obasanjo birthday and that certainly is not enough to deprive the society of his sterling qualities in managing SURE-P.

    The presidential system of government is hinged on competence and the drive for excellence, not blind personal loyalty to the leader or the ruling party.

    Now that General Agwai has been sacked from SURE-P, Nigerians, and especially the civil society groups should begin to pay closer attention to the agency and other similar intervention agencies with a view to ensuring that they keep to the highest standards in performing the roles they were set up to fulfill.