The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • The NSA and the risk to the internet

    The NSA and the risk to the internet

    Revelations about the activities of the US National Security Agency, and the extent to which it spies on foreign citizens, are triggering intense debate across the world. For some, the leaks by the former NSA contractor Edward Snowden are the cause for much alarm, amid signs the agency hoovers up vast amounts of internet data on foreign citizens. For others, there are fears that the leaks have weakened the US intelligence services, undermining their counter-terrorism efforts.

    Wherever one stands in this debate, one fear should unite all. This is the risk that the controversy over the NSA will lead to a “Balkanisation” of the internet. This is the risk that governments around the world will respond by ringfencing their networks in order to protect their citizens’ data and limit the ability of the NSA to conduct its spying.

    There are several signs that nations are moving in this direction. After reports that the US spied on the email of Dilma Rousseff, the Brazilian president, her government has announced plans to promote its own networking technology, even setting up a secure national email service. Michel Barnier, the European commissioner for the internal market, has suggested Europe should develop its own “European data cloud”, independent of US oversight. The EU, meanwhile, is considering revoking data sharing agreements with the US, requiring American website providers to warn Europeans that their data are subject to US surveillance.

    Such developments are of concern. The worldwide web is the most open communications platform on the planet. It is an engine of the world economy, accounting for a fifth of gross domestic product growth in advanced economies over the past five years. If it is transformed from a global commons to a patchwork of national cloud networks, the economic fallout will be immense.

    A disproportionate share of internet traffic flows through America, giving US internet companies global sway. However, the Balkanisation of the internet will add hugely to the costs borne by tech groups such as Google and Facebook, which would have to set up regional subsidiaries.

    There will also be a political gift to authoritarian states such as China and Russia, which operate closed national intranet systems to limit information flows. These states will be far from unhappy to witness the internet fragmenting.

    The Obama administration needs to start acting to arrest this process. It must give western governments assurances that the NSA is becoming more accountable and transparent in its operations. The NSA is currently in a position to monitor internet traffic that passes from one European citizen to another, simply because it passes through US servers. The US must guarantee limits on this.

    The US must also give assurances that the NSA will stop undermining the security of its internet titans. It emerged last week that the NSA has secretly broken into the main communications links that connect Yahoo and Google data centres around the world, accessing data without prior judicial oversight. This has left the companies struggling to reassure its global users about the security of their personal information.

    In short, the interests of US national security need to be balanced by commercial imperatives. The US clearly wants to maintain a strong counter-terrorism capability. But protecting the role and reputation of US communications companies – and their place in a seamless worldwide web – is a crucial economic goal. As the controversy over the NSA continues, the risk that the US faces is that the unfettered power of the agency will ultimately damage America’s internet companies – the symbol of US technology leadership.

    – Financial Times

  • Not yet cold shoulder

    Not yet cold shoulder

    Media reports might have said President Goodluck Jonathan gave the embattled Minister of Aviation, Ms. Stella Oduah, cold shoulder in Israel, to show displeasure with the minister’s alleged involvement in a scandal which has embarrassed the Federal Government. The point is that Ms Oduah had no business being in Israel on official assignment in the first place.

    Yes, the trip might have been planned a long time ago, with Ms. Oduah assigned the responsibility of signing BASA with the Israeli authorities in her capacity as aviation minister. Yet that itinerary ought to have changed the moment the scandal broke. This is not necessarily saying the minister is guilty as yet-to-be charged; it is just to demonstrate the government’s zero tolerance for corruption. She can resume her official duties fully after she might have been cleared of the weighty allegations against her. That is the way to go in all civilised climes.

    So, it would seem to us that the so-called snubbing of the minister in Israel by the President was at best an after-thought, and, at worst, a mere spin, which is tragic, coming from a Federal Government that wants the world to believe that it is fighting corruption.

    Nigerians have feasted on amazing reports on what has been described as Oduahgate involving the minister who allegedly caused to be purchased two armoured cars for N255million by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), a parastatal under her ministry. It was amidst the protests that she went as an advance party to Israel, ostensibly to sign the BASA agreement. President Jonathan and other members of the government entourage travelled to Israel a few days after for a “pilgrimage” as well as to have talks with the Israeli authorities.

    What a remarkable coincidence! The President probably thought he was saying something reasonable when Dr. Reuben Abati, his spokesman, said that the BASA agreement was not signed by Oduah, but by the foreign minister. The question then is, why did Mr. President allow Oduah’s journey to Israel? It was unimaginable that a president would have allowed Ms Oduah to leave Nigeria at a time she was neck deep in financial and image crisis at home.

    Even as we write, more facts are still emerging on this Oduah palaver. Apart from the two costly armoured cars which were said to have been purchased at inflated prices, it would seem that the aviation ministry had deceived the Federal Ministry of Finance and the National Security Adviser that the two vehicles and 300 others were for the 18th National Sports Festival (Eko Games 2012 hosted by Lagos State, and falsely used this information to get Customs waiver).

    Also, First Bank which financed the transaction confirmed that it entered into “a loan agreement” of N543million (inflated to N643million) and not “a lease agreement” with the NCAA, as we were made to believe, to purchase 54 vehicles. For the bulletproof cars, there was a Coscharis proforma invoice attached to the application to the value of N255million. Strangely enough, the original request of N564million by the NCAA to the minister was changed to N643million on approval by the First Bank, an excess of N79million.

    The Oduah scandal reeks of bad odour, and is a great embarrassment and setback to the President’s fight against corruption. Ms Oduah’s case is not the first such incident in this dispensation. We wonder why she is being shielded while the world is given the impression that the President is unhappy with her. The nation and the international community are anxiously waiting to see how this saga would end. For now, we hold our piece.

  • Constructive example

    Constructive example

    Given his celebrity and social provenance, it was perhaps to be expected that, sooner or later, following Steve Jobs’ death, significant features of his life would assume the status of monuments.  So, news that his childhood home, where the Apple co-founder built some of his first computers, has been designated a historic site, merely reinforced not only Jobs’ fame, but also America’s respect for history. It is noteworthy that the historical commission in the city of Los Altos, California, reportedly voted unanimously for the designation, which means that any proposed renovations to the ranch-style home would require official approval.

    Interestingly, the home’s distinction rests on the fact that it was the place where Jobs, with the assistance of his sister and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, built the first Apple 1 computers. Also, it was there that he wooed some of Apple’s first investors, and where in 1976 he established the first partnership for Apple.

    It is apt to recall various honorific descriptions of Jobs, whose death in October 2011 at age 56 was indeed momentous.  Besides the terms “legendary”,  “futurist” and “visionary”, his acclaimed genius earned him the titles,  “Father of the Digital Revolution”,  “master of innovation”, “master evangelist of the digital age” and “design perfectionist”. He was acknowledged internationally for his role in the revolutionary development of the iMac, iTunes, iPod, iPhone and iPad.

    Without doubt, the designation of the location where it all began is a statement on the importance of preserving not only history, but also the sources of history. In this regard, the American society has, remarkably, continued to show impressive example. By the designation, the site has been invested with touristic as well as inspirational value, a fact that offers immense lessons.

    It is pertinent to observe that such perpetuation of reputation is not totally alien to Nigeria, even though the country, unfortunately, reflects inconsistency in practice. One year ago, for example,   the Lagos State Government converted the house of the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti, at 8, Gbemisola Street, Allen Avenue, Ikeja, into Kalakuta Republic Museum to “promote cultural heritage.”

    However, instances like this one are few and far between, a situation that can neither boost touristic activities nor motivate the people. The ever-widening circle of those affected by such official failure to formalise positive remembrance includes personalities from various walks of life, specifically politics, business, arts and science, activism and sports, to name a few.  It is indeed regrettable that the country’s approach to honouring people and places of historical significance is generally visionless.

    One sour case in point, which is prominent, particularly because it has been the subject of a popular campaign for years, is the treatment of Michael Taiwo Akinkunmi, 77, who is credited with the design of the country’s national flag. It is such a shame that although Akinkunmi who designed the flag in 1959 has received awards from individuals and organisations, successive governments at the centre have denied him a national honour, which is perhaps the ultimate recognition. Even more disturbing is the fact that he is said to be partially blind and penurious. His apparent neglect is indefensible, and a sorry commentary on the values of the country’s leadership.

    Ironically, on the other hand, especially in recent years, the lists of recipients of the country’s national honours have been intensely controversial, with allegations that persons of questionable reputation are continually decorated. Evidently, such elevation of the undeserving does history a disservice; it is also a testimony to crooked standards.

    The import of the Jobs’ instance, which should not be lost on Nigerians, is that given the reality of mortality, society benefits from imagining ways to preserve the remembrance of the departed who achieved distinction.  Immortalising constructive examples should be our way of life.

  • India goes to Mars

    India goes to Mars

    On Tuesday India launched a spacecraft from a small island in the Bay of Bengal, which aims to reach the planet Mars. The launch of the unmanned space probe Mangalyaan, which means “Mars craft” in Hindi, will be the most remarkable and controversial moment in India’s 30-year space programme. The $72m mission aims to collect information about the atmosphere on Mars and the nature of the Martian surface. If the vehicle gets to its destination next September, India will become only the fourth power in the world (after the US, Russia and the EU) to reach the Red Planet.

    For India, Tuesday’s launch is a matter of great national pride. The government sees it as a way of stealing an interplanetary march on regional rival China. But many outside the country regard the spectacle of a nation as impoverished as India undertaking a mission to Mars as absurd. More than 40 per cent of children in the country are malnourished. Half the population have no toilet. The country has a third of the world’s poor. Critics regard India’s space programme as a delusional quest for some kind of superpower status.

    This view is too simplistic. For one thing, space technology can bring lasting scientific benefits to the country. Its meteorologists derive much of their imagery from satellite observation. They have recently enjoyed success accurately predicting the movement of cyclones across the country, something that saves lives.

    The outside world must also recognise the huge role that science in general – and space exploration in particular – have played in India’s political culture. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of a free India, was profoundly committed to the development of the nation’s scientific base. Today five planetariums across India are named after him. Space exploration is a national obsession – and arguably a healthier focus for the nation’s pride than militarism.

    Many outside India will today wonder whether the $72m earmarked for this Mars mission is money well spent. But the reality is that $72m, by itself, is never going to bring 400m people out of poverty. Instead, the hope must be that India can somehow channel the energy and dynamism that we see in its space programme into tackling the country’s poverty, inequality, corruption and social woe. After all, a nation that seeks to pull its people out of chronic poverty will do so only if it maintains the broadest horizons and the highest dreams.

    – Financial Times

     

  • Awful fuel import

    Awful fuel import

    • It is a testament to our inefficiency that small Niger is northern Nigeria’s major fuel supplier

    What omen does it portend that Soraz Refinery, a foreign oil company with installed maximum capacity of 20,000 barrels per day (bpd) is now providing the bulk of petroleum products consumed in most of northern Nigeria? The oil company that is located in Zinder, 900 kilometres east of Niamey, Niger Republic’s capital meets that country’s domestic consumption, reportedly put at less than 5,000-7,000bpd. The vast excess of over 13,000bpd is left for export to a self-inflicted consuming country like Nigeria. What is more saddening is that Nigeria boasts of obviously under-utilised four refineries – One in Kaduna; two in Port Harcourt and one in Warri, with purportedly combined refining capacity, on paper, of about 445,000bpd.

    We ask: Why are these Nigerian refineries operating far below installed capacities; or why are they in outright decrepit state? Where have all the monies expended on Turn-Around-Maintenance (TAM) of these refineries, spanning decades, gone? Will this shameful trend of the northern region relying on refined oil products from a foreign country continue unabated despite the huge oil resource base of the country? Questions and more questions could be asked on this scandalous venture.

    Nigeria’s daily fuel consumption, according to the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) is about 38.298 million litres. Yet, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) that has demonstrated to be an inept custodian of the four refineries sees nothing wrong in its current import of 33 percent of the country’s total fuel consumption needs. The major/independent oil marketers import the 67 percent balance. No wonder, the NNPC with its corruptive inclination, is sustaining this irrational policy of fuel imports simply because the government subsidises its entrenchment, despite that many people who are discernible have since seen fuel subsidy as a phoney initiative.

    With Niger Republic’s involvement in supplying refined oil into the northern region, with obvious support of President Goodluck Jonathan, we doubt whether the Federal Government is giving any serious thought to making the local refineries work so as to be able to refine Nigeria’s fuel needs domestically. No wonder, northern states in the country, including Katsina, Bauchi, Sokoto, and Jigawa, among others, do not see anything wrong in becoming major consumers of Soraz Refinery’s refined petroleum products. Even Governor Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State has hinted further that the 180 megawatts (MW) independent power plant being proposed by his state would rely on Low Pour Fuel Oil (LPFO) from the Soraz Refinery.

    We are aware that Aliko Dangote, Nigerian-born Africa’s wealthy business mogul, through his refinery, petrochemical and fertilizer complex to be located in Olokola free trade zone in Ondo State, has promised to reduce, by 2016, Nigeria’s imported refined petroleum products by 50 per cent. But that is a far too long three years away, and what this means, unfortunately, is that this tragedy of fuel importation will continue.

    Nigeria could not get her oil management right because of corruption. The government seems helpless at the increasing rate of oil theft in the country. President Jonathan reportedly confirmed that 300,000 – 400,000 barrels of oil were being stolen per day.  This is barely above 10 percent of all Nigeria’s oil production capacity, thereby ripping the nation and the oil companies of around £1bn per month. The cost implication of oil theft is more than what government currently spends on the education and health sectors. This is a bad signal.

    Nigeria should be ashamed that she cannot easily meet the fuel needs of her people, when a smaller and poor country like Niger is successfully doing that and even lending a helping hand to rescue Nigeria’s northern region from fuel drought. Although the argument may be that Niger, is far less populated than Nigeria, so, her fuel needs will be far less than Nigeria’s, the point is that she is meeting her domestic needs. Should there be a role reversal today, it is doubtful if the Nigerian government can guarantee uninterrupted supply of refined petrol for Niger’s population.

     

  • Recurring ghosts

    Recurring ghosts

    Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, finance minister’s revelation that the Federal Government has saved about N119 billion from ghost workers through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) is heart-warming and equally thought-provoking.

    The disclosure that she made while inaugurating the Implementation Committee of the IPPIS is gratifying because, if effectively implemented and sustained, it can enhance efficient personnel cost planning and budgeting, thereby minimising sharp practices through staff fraud. Consequent upon the new system, Okonjo-Iweala declared that henceforth “personnel cost will be based on actual verified numbers and not estimate”. More important too, workers’ salaries would now be paid centrally from the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation into individual worker’s account.

    Hitherto, estimated staff salaries were released to government organisations that in turn paid such into the individual worker’s account. This old regime promoted staff scam. Under it, 46,821 ghost workers amounting to one out of every three workers in the audited organisations were reportedly found to be ghosts on Federal Government payrolls. Perhaps upon further scrutiny, the figures could have been higher.

    So far, 215 ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), with total staff strength of 153,019 have been reportedly captured on the IPPIS. Also, each staff’s biometric data is captured to enable the implementation officers of IPPIS determine the authenticity of each staff. The government has also shown commitment by reportedly setting up biometric identification registration at 300 payroll distribution centres throughout the country. This would ensure that staff that are not bold enough to come forward for biometric verification would be considered to be part of those used by pay officers of the MDAs to defraud the government.

    Furthermore, there are additional 321 federal MDAs waiting to be captured into the system by the Yarima Ngama, Minister of State for Finance-led newly inaugurated IPPIS implementation committee. The committee is also working on the Government Integrated Financial Management and Information System (GIFMIS) – it is through this latter system that the acquisition, allocation, utilisation and conservation of public financial resources would be automated and integrated for easy budget accessibility and monitoring. These initiatives, like many others before them, must not fail.

    The menace of ghost workers deserves utmost attention from the government. The unsavoury trend is assuming a monumental dimension that has gradually become a serious drain on the public till. We still could not fathom why some highly placed public servants would continue to thrive by deliberately injecting ghost workers into the public service. Thence, a service that ordinarily was meant to serve Nigerians has since been criminally deployed to serve and replenish private pockets.

    This trend is not peculiar to the federal level alone since it has equally become rampant across the states where large-scale ghost workers have also been unravelled. Surprisingly, from Zamfara State came a disconcerting facet to the staff ruse when it was discovered that a newborn baby was added to the government payroll as ghost worker. The baby reportedly earned about $150 (£93) a month for over two years. This is corruption of the highest order that should not be swept under the carpet.

    We call for more concerted official efforts to nip this obviously devastating fraud in the bud. The IPPIS is commendable but governments at all levels would do well by ensuring that those officials behind the fraudulent ghost workers syndrome are caught and made to face the full wrath of the law. The act is festering because the perpetrators and their accomplices are hardly apprehended. The government should exploit this idea of arrest of culprits if only to serve as deterrence to ghost-creating criminals in the civil service.

  • Curbing oil theft

    Curbing oil theft

    •FG’s consideration of e-surveillance is good, but can it manage it well?

    THE Federal Government has claimed that it is exploring the use of electronic pipeline surveillance system, to monitor oil theft in Nigeria. President Goodluck Jonathan, represented by the Senate President, David Mark, made this assertion at the closing ceremony of the Oil and Gas Investment Forum in Onne, Rivers State. The President also claimed that his “administration has embarked on a number of far-reaching measures to combat these unwholesome activities.”

    No doubt, the government should be worried about the increasing theft of crude oil, the mainstay of our economy. Different amounts have been given as the loss the country incurs daily from the activities of oil thieves. Some have said we lose as much as 400,000 barrels daily. President Jonathan himself however admitted in Abuja while speaking at this year’s Annual Banking and Finance Conference that we lose between 60,000 and 80,000 barrels of oil daily to oil thieves. At $113 per barrel, this translates to between $6.78m (N1.08bn) and $9.04m (N1.45bn) daily. None of these figures is pleasant.

    According to the president, “Most of the figures you see don’t even represent the theft. They say 400,000 barrels per day, but that does not represent what is being stolen in this country … What is stolen is between 60,000 and 80,000 barrels per day. But once they start stealing from your pipelines, do you allow them to continue? No, you shut them down and once you shut down, the entire production stops; so that is also a loss. So, when you see the entire loss, it is mainly because of the shutdowns and not because of the theft. The theft is little, but even that theft, since it is bringing another shutdown, is also a problem.”

    This is not a laughing matter. Unfortunately, in spite of these huge losses, there is no evidence that the Federal Government under President Jonathan is ready to combat oil theft. Indeed, the common believe is that it is condoning it.

    However, as the idiom says, ‘better late than never’. So, if truly the Federal Government has woken up to combat the shameful sharing of our major national resource with criminals, with the aid of the electronic pipeline surveillance system, so be it. But we are doubtful if this idea is not merely another opportunity to create a lucrative contract, to service party interests. After all, the billions of naira contracts awarded to thugs and other questionable interests, to protect the oil pipelines, by President Jonathan’s government were once touted as the solution to oil theft in Nigeria. As we noted then, it was a duplicitous exercise to create jobs for the boys, especially ex-militants; it is therefore not surprising that instead of helping to reduce illegal bunkering, the menace has escalated.

    It is shameful that without an account to the Nigerian public or even an apology for that waste, the government is thinking of another money guzzling enterprise that may yet again, become a drain pipe. Our position is that before any financial commitment to this high-tech venture, availability of the energy needed to power such technology should be considered, among others. It will be shameful, if after our common resources are expended, the government returns with stories that we lack the technical competence to manage the infrastructure. After all, across the country, many technologically driven investments and so-called turn-around projects have been abandoned, well after the contractors and their extended beneficiaries have taken the nation for a ride.

    We hasten to add that much of what has been attributed to oil theft had occurred because the integrity of many of the pipelines has been compromised. They are generally too old even as they are not well maintained; the result is that they have deteriorated to the extent that they now pose a danger to those living within the precincts. Yet, the relevant authorities prefer to hold criminals and militants responsible for all the disruptions in the system.

     

  • Cholera epidemic

    Cholera epidemic

    • It is shameful that this is happening now

    THE report of outbreak of cholera pandemic in some states is startling. Despite futile efforts by some governments to downplay the enormity of the affliction in their territories, the details of a release made by Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, Minister of Health, shows the seriousness and spread of the disease across the country.  At the last count, the centre government reportedly put the casualty rate of cholera victims in some parts of the country at 86 out of 1,623 reported cases. No state has challenged this assertion.

    The breakdown of the plague that is blighting Ogun, Oyo, Plateau, Zamfara, Nasarawa and Lagos states is: Zamfara State-1,110 cases with recorded 51 deaths; Nasarawa State – 105 cases with 9 deaths; Lagos State – 134 cases with 4 deaths; Plateau State- 130 cases with 11 deaths; Oyo State – 29 cases with six deaths and Ogun State – 115 cases with five deaths. We take cognisance of the fact that the details could still be higher since there is possibility of new cases and mortalities, especially among those currently bedridden by the ailment in hospitals across the country. Only reported and certified cases that are proven in laboratories to have been caused by vibiro cholerae serotypes 10 and 0139 are purportedly included in the ministry’s released statistics.

    The intra-state nature of cholera outbreaks shows that the disease should not be handled with levity. It is good that the Federal Government has directed the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control to forthwith swing into action and come up with daily reports to be submitted to the Federal Ministry of Health, showing the degree of progress so far recorded across board. Such reports should be made public. It is equally cheering that all federal health facilities in the country have been directed to provide free services to cholera patients. We recognise that this is of course without prejudice to the concerted efforts that have been made by governments of the affected states to put a halt to the spread of the deadly disease.

    The minister made a valid point by stating that “Each Nigerian must commit to certain things; can we stop going into the bush to defecate…every Nigerian must know that it is unhealthy…” He further stated that “… every Nigerian should have access to clean and potable water.’’ But he should have told the world how many affordable decent houses with decent toilets have been built by the Federal Government for Nigerians in the last five years or thereabout, or what the government has done to make this within the reach of Nigerians. He also could not say what the contribution of the centre government has been in transforming the rural areas and the ghettos in towns and cities across the nation so as to forestall the outbreak of cholera.

    We demand to know from the minister how much was spent on potable water provision by this administration and what percentage of the 160 million Nigerians have access to potable water. As the directing mind of the nation’s health policy, he should have drummed it into the ears of government that it is perilous for Nigerians not to have access to potable water. That is why he should have been more cautious in putting all the blame at the door steps of poverty- beaten Nigerians. It is frightening and a shame to this administration that such basic hygiene problems still happen in the country in this age.

    Despite government’s failure to provide these amenities, the people should also not take this as an excuse to engage in unhygienic practices. Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that occurs primarily by drinking water or eating food that has been contaminated by waste product of an infected person. Infected persons suffer from serious vomiting and watery diarrhoea which can lead to rapid dehydration and electrolyte imbalance, and death in some cases when not promptly attended to medically. We expect the people to weigh the serious consequences of cholera so that they can do everything possible to avoid it.

     

  • Broke, not broke?

    Broke, not broke?

    IT is a measure of the deep mystery surrounding the management of the nation’s finances that the discordant tunes over its true state would just not go away. Not with the deepening controversies in the aftermath of the botched July and August meetings of the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) over the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC)’s statement of accruals into the federation account. Till date, those differences over what is due to the states from the pool have remained largely unresolved, with the result that the states have had to complain of insolvency.

    Last week, the matter again re-echoed at the National Assembly’s sitting of the Joint Committee on Appropriation and Finance during an appearance by the Accountant-General of the Federation, Jonah Ogunniyi Otunla, and the Director-General of Budget Office, Bright Okogwu. Asked by Senator Ahmed Maikarfi, a member of the National Assembly joint committee whether the nation was indeed broke, both Otunla and Okogwu were unequivocal: the nation is far from being broke. While Otunla was point blank that “Nigeria is not broke but it is currently having cash flow problems”, Okogwu would add that “though the nation currently experiences cash flow problems from time to time; it does not suggest that it is broke. We may have cash flow problem. But countries like Greek and Spain are broke. They are now approaching their international neighbours for bailout but Nigeria has not done that and we are nowhere near that situation at all”.

    Back in September, Andrew Yakubu, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC had attempted to put the raging debate in perspective when he told the National Assembly that the corporation produced an average 2.19 million barrels per day (b/d) of crude oil between January-July, in contrast to the 2013 planned production of 2.45 million b/d. He put the total earnings for the period at $20.9 billion. While blaming the shortfall on large-scale oil theft, pipeline vandalism and illegal bunkering which severely disrupted production and exports, the NNPC boss also admitted that oil prices actually averaged $108/barrel, about $38 per barrel above the budget benchmark price.

    The issue would seem simple in the circumstance: the nation’s oil revenues have declined in the past few months. While the effects are largely spread across all tiers of government, the states and the local councils in particular are worse hit. Indeed, some governors, faced with the grim possibility of not being able to pay workers’ salaries, were reported to have cried out over their precarious cash positions.

    The point is, we do not think that the issue can be reduced to the semantics of “broke” and “cash flow”. And to be sure, there has not been – as yet –any suggestion(s) as to the possibility of the nation not being able to pay its bills anytime soon. It is certainly bad enough that a good number of the 36 states of the federation have had to suspend the implementation of their capital projects because of paucity of funds; worse however is that the Federal Government, which draws the lion’s share of 54 percent from the federation account, would seek shelter behind the specious distinction to deny the cold reality of the states’ insolvency.

    Of course, we agree that most states are not doing enough to improve on their internally generated revenues; so also have some of the monetary policies of the Central Bank of Nigeria not been particularly helpful to the finances of the states. But then, the point remains that the 36 states and the generality of the people cannot be wrong and one Federal Government, right.

  • Abba Moro!

    Abba Moro!

    FAT cats in government sap themselves with the tragic delusion that the land is so rich there is a certain depth of poverty no citizen can plumb. But it is such tragic presumption that once prompted a French queen to snap at citizens to go for cake if bread was beyond their reach; or perilous delirium that made Nero to fiddle away, even as his Rome burnt.

    This much can be garnered from the manifestly unwise reaction of Abba Moro, Minister of Interior, to a House of Representatives resolution that the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) should drop its N1, 000 charge for every applicant applying for NIS job, which recruitment is going on.

    Minister Moro, evincing the mien of an all-wise Solomon, dismissed the Representatives’ resolution and allied criticism against the charge. He insisted the criticisms were “misplaced and misguided.” Besides, he further argued, other agencies that carry out similar recruitment exercises, like the Army, Air Force and the Navy, charge a standard of N2, 000. So, NIS, a parastatal under Moro’s interior ministry, had been magnanimous enough to peg the fee at N1, 000.

    So, to the minister, the basis of discourse is not affordability – every Nigerian, in his esteemed presumption, should be able to – or simply can – afford a token of N1, 000 to access the NIS recruitment internet portal for forms.

    Affordability settled, why all the fuss, when other agencies charge at least double what NIS charges? Besides, NIS has engaged consultants to make the recruitment exercise as clean, transparent and fair as possible, so that it only employs those who merit employment, and not just some cronies whose winning qualification is knowing people in high places.

    Thanking God for small mercies, we must thank the minister and his team of patriots for the high-minded nobility and consuming sense of fairness with which they are approaching their task, even if such patriotism and focus would cost a little bit more! But the minster must know that the high-handed way he dismissed the legitimate and compassionate appeal, of the House of Representatives’ resolution, has negated every merit of his noble intention.

    Indeed, it is precisely the annoying and self-glorifying attitude of people in Nigeria’s public space, the penchant to pat themselves in the back, and the clear folly of shutting their minds against criticism, therefore willfully denying themselves the chance to correct their mistakes, that is the bane of public office in Nigeria.

    Besides, it is ironic that a Minister of Interior, whose basic beat is to track immigration among fellow Nigerians, among other assignments, is the one scandalously at sea with the economic status of this mass.

    With some 70 per cent of Nigerians living below poverty line, it is riling and roiling indeed that a minister would judge every Nigerian from the prism of his own comfort zone to make such an insensitive and unconscionable statement. If every Nigerian job seeker can afford his asking price of N1, 000, why this tell tale of mass poverty bordering on penury all over the place?

    The media that often latches on to the legislature and their so-called “jumbo salaries” should perhaps beam more attention on executive perks. A minster was accused of frittering a whopping N2billion bill on chartered jets. Another is right now in the storm of buying two armoured plated cars worth N255 million. Now, Moro, from his cozy executive paradise, had decreed every Nigerian job seeker, no matter how dirt poor, could afford his N1, 000 e-form asking price!

    President Goodluck Jonathan should call his insensitive ministers to order. They cannot afford the recklessness of the well fed brat who called his father a fool for feeding him so much. Moro must find internal ways to fund his golden forms, and pay his gilt-edged consultants, than passing the costs to economically distressed Nigerians hardly clinging to life.