Category: Editorial

NIGERIANS may have been in shock with the revelation of the criminal abuse of duty exemptions at the House of Representatives probe of the N255 million bullet-proof cars involving the aviation minister, Stella Oduah, and the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA). The revelations at the Joint Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriation investigating reports of alleged over-bloating of the 2013 budget in Abuja last week has again confirmed that the abuses of waivers and duty exemptions are pervasive, cutting across the entire public finance system.

Appearing before the committee last week, Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Customs Service, Abdullahi Dikko Inde, put the revenue loss to the waivers and exemptions in the first nine months of the year – that is January to September – at N603.2 billion. Of the sum, N263.8 billion is said to represent the waiver granted on importation of petroleum products.

Other waivers include those on import duty certificate, N84.6 billion; manufacturers and assemblers (Completely Knocked Down and Bulk), N76.1 billion. Most astoundingly, he told the senators that the Customs Service is not in a position to know the amount of crude oil being exported daily because the service is “not on ground to know.”

The figures said to be lost to the waivers should, ordinarily be alarming enough. It seems unimaginable that the nation would continue to fritter its revenue so carelessly on duty waivers only because it can afford to pump crude oil. And, to imagine that this is not about a trade-off between current earnings which is lost; and the development of the future capacity of the economy to renew and regenerate itself.

More worrisome however is the complex web of corruption associated with the administration of the duty waivers and exemptions over the years. First, it is known to be a major source of patronage to those least deserving of them; the greater trouble however is that the stated objectives for granting them hardly materialise, which in the situation calls into question, the rationale for sustaining them.

It is, in the circumstance, tempting to call for its abrogation in its entirety. But then, we appreciate that this would neither be feasible nor even desirable. Waivers for certain categories of imports may sometimes be absolutely necessary. The problem is when discretions are exercised in such manner as to benefit the narrow interests of a few, as against the strategic national interest which the regime of waivers is advertised to advance.

Under the Obasanjo administration, for instance, we saw how waivers granted specifically to import industrial machinery and vital construction equipment were used as cover to bring in cars and other luxury items without the offenders being visited with appropriate sanctions. And, as we have just heard in the on-going N255 million bullet-proof cars saga, the waiver meant to bring in duty-free vehicles for the Lagos State Sports Festival is alleged to have been recycled by Coscharis Motors to bring armoured vehicles with attendant loss of N10 million in import duty revenue.

The challenge therefore, is one of how to curb the abuses. One way is to develop a clear set of guidelines for potential beneficiaries as against the current discretionary rule of the thumb known to be prone to abuse. The other is to ensure that violators of the guidelines are treated as economic saboteurs. Also, the time has come for the Federal Government to publish, periodically, the names of the beneficiaries of the waivers, as well as items covered, to enthrone a regime of transparency. That way, the citizens have at least a fair chance of knowing who got what, if only to help monitor the so-called benefits said to derive from them.

IT was victory so comprehensive in its brilliance: FIFA U-17 World Cup for a record fourth time: 1985, 1993, 2007, 2013; Most Valuable Player (MVP) and Golden Ball in Nigeria’s Kelechi Ihenacho; Golden Glove for championship’s best goalkeeper in Dele Alampasu; FIFA Fairplay Award for best behaved team in the championship; Silver Boot for second highest scorer, Kelechi Ihenacho; FIFA record for the highest number of goals any team has scored in U-17 World Cup: 26 goals, beating Germany’s 2007 feat of 24!

Aside, the coaching crew logged some records. Manu Garba, the late Yemi Tella’s assistant in Eaglets’ last win in South Korea, has now won the U-17 World Cup twice. Nduka Ugbade, one of Garba’s assistants, has now won the cup both as player and coach: Ugbade captained the first ever U-17 World Cup winners in China, 1985; and only a horrendous injury kept him off USA ‘94 World Cup, where he would have been the first Nigerian to have played in all World Cup categories.

FIFA U-17 World Cup, United Arab Emirates 2013, showed us what we had always known: that Nigeria, with the right leadership and motivation, has the capacity to compete and be the global best.

The Manu Garba boys paraded a rock solid defence, a fluid and brilliant midfield and a razor-sharp attack that was always going to score, no matter the antics of the opposition. When a team parades the best goalkeeper as well as the second highest goal scorer, what you get is a team almost too complete; which brilliance is almost blinding. And to think the team’s anticipated goals machine, Isaac Success, was lost to injury against Sweden, after only two matches!

But the technical quality of the lads symbolised the plethora of talent that Nigeria boasts. The happy addition, at UAE, was the tactical input from Coach Garba who, like Yemi Tella before him, added tactical manoeuvre to technical ability to achieve brilliant victory. Indeed, Garba’s feat gloriously contrasted the Nigerian team to Finland 2003 under Austin Eguavoen, where a gifted team comprising Mikel Obi, Isaac Promise and others, fell to below-par coaching.

It is good the Eaglets have, for the umpteenth time, shown the world what they can achieve. The disturbing question is: why haven’t past wins catapulted Nigeria to the elite league in global football?

Some say Nigeria often uses overage players; and that her alleged cheating has been catching up with her. Though many Nigerians still appear sceptical about the ages of the current champions, there is scientific proof, confirmed by FIFA’s MRR tests, that none of them was over-aged. That sounds good and reassuring.

Does that mean the U-17 world champions will automatically become world beaters? Not necessarily. Former Arsenal great and now Barcelona star, Cesc Fabregas, was MVP in Finland 2003. He has now joined the global elite simply because Spain, his country, enjoys a superb local league (indeed he was a Barcelona cub) and was tutored by the legendary Arsene Wenger at Arsenal.

To make these cadet champions world beaters in no distant time therefore, the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) must improve on the local league. But equally important, NFF must strictly scrutinise contracts offered these minors, so that they don’t sign their future away.

Interestingly, between Kelechi Ihenacho and Chrisantus Macaulay, there is an interesting parallel. Ihenacho just won Golden Ball and Silver Boot. Macaulay won Silver Ball and Golden Boot in South Korea 2007. Yet, Macaulay now languishes in Spain’s second division, no thanks to injuries, when he should be rubbing shoulders with the elite. If Ihenacho is not to go this same path, then the NFF must take a more than cursory interest in his career – and that should pass for all the members of this wonderful team.

The Nigerian cadets have shown the way. Nigeria’s political leadership should follow their example, and deliver Nigeria’s manifest destiny, driven by merit. After all, as the poet Williams Wordsworth declared, the child is the father of the man!

The convergence on Geneva on Friday of John Kerry, US secretary of state, and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and the UK, indicates that after decades of diplomatic deadlock between Iran and the west, there is a real chance of striking an interim deal with Tehran that starts to constrain its nuclear ambitions. All sides cautioned no agreement was imminent, while signalling one was tantalisingly within reach.

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, certainly thought so. He denounced what was cooking as the “deal of the century” for Tehran. Saudi Arabia, Iran’s rival as top dog in the Gulf, has also been loudly unhappy about any possible rapprochement between the US and the Islamic Republic.

Details of any deal are being held close. But they could see temporary curbs on Iran’s uranium enrichment, perhaps in return for the partial unfreezing of Iranian assets abroad seized after the 1979 revolution. That would leave intact economic sanctions – painstakingly designed, laboriously erected and visibly biting – while meeting an Iranian demand going back to the overthrow of the Shah.

Yet Iran’s new president, Hassan Rouhani, would still have something to sell to his people, and offset pressure from the vested interests of the theocracy that oppose any normalisation of relations with the west. It would require only an executive decision by President Barack Obama, enabling him to bypass a US Congress sometimes more alert to Israel’s concerns than US national interest.

The distance from any short-term deal to a permanent resolution of the stand-off between Iran, many of its neighbours and much of the world is still very big. To have any chance of bringing this off, Mr Obama will need to be clear-sighted, sure-footed and resolute – not qualities he has demonstrated over-abundantly.

Iran has the right to enrich uranium. But its neighbours and current adversaries have the right to verifiable proof, from strict outside invigilation, that it is not running a nuclear weapons programme. The defenders of detente also need to make a convincing case that getting Iran inside the tent can only improve the worst problems of the surrounding region – the Syrian civil war, of course, but also Lebanon, Israel-Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan. If diplomacy is a bit like lock-picking, then this deal has the potential to spring quite a few regional locks, including some that have rusted shut.

War with Iran, which Mr Netanyahu all but threatened before Mr Kerry dropped by on his way to Geneva, would fatally convulse a Middle East already close to the limits of turmoil. The Israeli prime minister is right – in the wrong way. Handled right, this could be the deal of the century – not for Iran but for the region as a whole.

– Financial Times

Among the perplexing issues arising from the scandalous news that the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) spent N255 million on two bulletproof vehicles purchased for aviation minister Stella Oduah is the composition of the government’s administrative three-man probe panel. The fact that the administration dithered over its response was worrying enough, but this was compounded by the naming of its investigators. It seemed rather odd, even revealing, that a government which should have been eager to demonstrate impartiality picked a team that had the stamp of the Establishment.

With a former Head of Service, Alhaji Isa Saleh, at the helm, and National Security Adviser (NSA) Col (rtd) Sambo Dasuki and Air Vice Marshall Dick Irueravbere as co-members, the absence of independent appointees was sufficient cause for concern about the government’s sincerity. Even more damning was the inclusion of Dasuki, who apparently should have questions to answer in any thorough examination of how such a flagrant impropriety happened.

Quite apart from the alleged inflation of cost and the suspected abuse of process, it is important to point out that at the heart of the misdeed is the very nature of the vehicles, which has grave security implications. It goes without saying that bulletproof cars do not belong to the categories that should be allowed into the country without the knowledge and approval of security agencies. The consequences of uncontrolled import of such cars are so dangerous that they should be left only in the realm of imagination.

Against the familiar backdrop of widespread insecurity resulting from violent crimes perpetrated by well-armed desperadoes, unrestrained access to bulletproof cars would mean further empowerment for the criminally-minded who can own them. Especially for a country locked in a difficult battle with terror groups of various hues, the scenarios that could arise from official inattention in the strict monitoring of the entry of such vehicles are decidedly undesirable.

It is noteworthy that, on account of his official designation as an adviser, Dasuki’s membership of the panel has attracted criticism on the grounds that he lacks the statutory powers to investigate economic and financial crimes, which the Oduah scandal represents. However, beyond such legalistic argument, and without prejudice to that line of thinking, there are even more compelling reasons why Dasuki is unfit.

To start with, it is incredible that the question of security clearance for the bulletproof cars has been played down, and it is a critical trivialisation. It is logical to expect that the security system should not only have defined powers to oversee the entry of such vehicles into the country; the structure should also perform the crucial role effectively and with all sense of responsibility. Furthermore, if there are structural shortcomings, as the current case suggests, it is imperative to probe that angle in the investigation of the affair.  In addition, it would be helpful to know just how well the organisation has carried out this function over the years.

Above all, the setting up of the presidential committee to look into the matter in itself is nothing but a grand distraction. There have been other committees set up by the National Assembly to probe the same issue; there are the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and security agencies that ought to have swung into action on this matter.

Moreover, the President should remember that he has not been spared criticism since the scandal broke; despite the so-called cold shoulder he allegedly gave Ms Oduah in Israel. So, for him to set up his own committee is unnecessary duplication of efforts. The President ought to have been confident that the other committees would do the needful on the issue. If he cannot trust them, what gives him the confidence that Nigerians would believe his own committee’s report?

Ever since his employment as coach of the Nigerian senior national football team, it is indisputable that Stephen Keshi has positively turned around the fortunes of the Super Eagles. The inspirational performances of the Eagles so far under his watch have elicited new confidence from millions of soccer-loving Nigerians who had hitherto lamented the decline in recent years of a team that once struck fear in competitors across Africa and made impressive forays on the global soccer arena. Keshi has brought his immense experience as a player and captain of the national team for several years, as well as coach at various times, of the national teams of Togo and Mali to bear on his current assignment, with positive results.

Not only has he instilled a new sense of discipline and pride in the team, there is a fresh competitive spirit among the players who are no longer under any illusion that they can simply stroll into camp and bag shirts simply on the basis of super star status or past achievements. Now, merit and current form are the decisive factors in earning a place in the team. Unlike what obtained in the past, players in the domestic league have also been given a fair chance by Keshi, to compete for shirts in the national team, thus boosting morale and prospects of the local game.

It is thus not surprising that Keshi not only led Nigeria to qualify for this year’s Africa Cup of Nations championship in South Africa, the team put up a superlative performance to emerge continental soccer champions against all expectations. And, despite the Eagles’ first round exit from the FIFA Confederations Cup, which held in Brazil, the team still posted an impressive performance against world-class opposition, although it is still undergoing a rebuilding process.

Under Keshi’s tutelage, the Super Eagles remain unbeaten in the African qualifiers for the 2014 World Cup. Indeed, with the team’s victory over Ethiopia in the first leg in Addis Ababa, many Nigerians are confident that a triumph this month in the second leg to guarantee a ticket for the global soccer fiesta is a mere formality.

Against this backdrop, the news that Keshi was being owed his salaries for the last seven months has been a most shocking and embarrassing dampener. Understandably embittered by a report purportedly emanating from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) that the national team coaches can survive on their allowances and bonuses, Keshi has publicly voiced his frustrations at his plight. He noted with regret that he never went through such humiliating experience as coach of the Mali and Togo national teams. This is, to say the least, most shameful.

The inability of Nigeria’s football authorities to honour contractual agreements and pay national team coaches predates Stephen Keshi. Virtually all Keshi’s predecessors – Christian Chukwu, Shuaibu Amodu, Samson Siasia, Austin Eguavoen and John Obuh – went through this ordeal. Not even expatriate coaches like Berti Vogts, Manfred Hoener, Phillipe Troussier and Louis Lagerback were spared the unsavoury experience.

We find manifestly untenable the claim by the NFF that it has been unable to fulfil its contractual obligation to Keshi because it is cash-strapped. Before entering into a legally binding agreement, the NFF ought to have been sure of its capacity to meet its own part of the bargain. In any case, given the immense popularity and potential of the round leather game in Nigeria, the soccer authorities have no credible reason to be broke.

With efficient, creative and transparent management, soccer in Nigeria can be a mega revenue earner that can make the NFF financially self-sustaining. This is certainly no time for excuses. We understand Keshi has been paid three months salaries, leaving four months outstanding. The relevant authorities should simply pay him the balance, now.