The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Lawmakers, not contractors

    Lawmakers, not contractors

    •Constituency projects have not advanced the cause of development. Lawmakers should revert to their traditional roles

    The introduction of the concept of constituency projects shortly after the civilians were restored to power in 1999 has been a source of constant criticism of the 469 federal lawmakers and a source of friction between the legislative and executive arms of government. The revelation, last week, by the Minister for Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs, Alhaji Tanimu Turaki, that about N900 billion had been committed to constituency projects in the past nine years has further illustrated the mind-boggling level of misplacement of priorities in the country.

    The constitution is very clear on the roles of the various arms and institutions of government. The legislature is tasked with making good laws to enhance the welfare of the greatest numbers of Nigerians, while the executive is legally bound to execute such laws. In addition, the lawmakers are required, in the spirit of checks and balances, to monitor the execution of the laws and policies of government.

    In particular, section 80 of the 1999 Constitution gives power to the National Assembly to appropriate fund for government programmes, schemes and projects every year. But, the normal course was perverted when the lawmakers twisted the arm of the Obasanjo administration to get them involved in the choice of projects to be implemented in their various constituencies. The development was said to have stemmed from a need to satisfy public yearnings for justification of the votes cast for the lawmakers.

    The legislators have been vilified for misappropriating such fund. However, this has been denied by the legislators who insist that the Office of the Special Assistant on Millennium Development Goals in the Presidency is the one awarding the contracts and supervising them. Recently, the duty has been transferred to the Ministry of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Affairs.

    Yet, we find it difficult and odd that lawmakers who should be concerned with improving on the corpus of national laws, supervising the ministries and agencies of government with the aim of ensuring that the people get value for their money is now drawn into identifying and locating projects. It has also been established that, in many cases, the lawmakers have influenced the choice of contractors for the projects. All these have led to distortion in the design and implementation of projects. All projects that the Federal Ministry of Works has the capacity and duty to deliver should be handled by it. The recent involvement of the special duties ministry has not in any way helped matters since the ministry lacks the capacity, too.

    As Alhaji Turaki pointed out at last week’s stakeholders meeting, abandoned projects litter the landscape, as many of the contractors to whom the projects were awarded lack the competence and financial muscle to pull through with them. The lawmakers who stepped in, too, did not know what to watch out for, therefore, in the few cases that the projects were delivered, they fell short of standards.

    We call for an immediate end to the institutionalisation of corruption of the process that constituency projects represent. Lawmakers should revert to the performance of their statutory responsibility of checking on executive implementation of projects, programmes and schemes. Those handed the trust of the public have a duty to ensure that the standard of living in Nigeria improves, to accord with the size and status of the country in the comity of nations, especially as a major oil-producing country.

    It is shocking to learn, as Senator Mohammed Ndume who chairs the Senate Committee on the MDGs pointed out, that all previous allocations for constituencies had been done without legal backing. How could lawmakers be involved in getting acts performed that were not covered under the law? For this year, the 2,399 projects that have been captured in the budget should be fully taken over by the executive arm and, where necessary, adjustments made.

    Nigeria needs vibrant legislators who would clinically assess budget proposals and performance of agencies and officials of government, not contractors.

     

     

  • Softly, softly, Borno

    Softly, softly, Borno

    •We commend the governor for initiating a big housing project, but not at the expense of churches and schools

    Like other states in the federation, the Borno State government has some responsibilities to citizens in the state, irrespective of race, tribe or creed. And how to go about such responsibilities is the government’s prerogative. To this extent therefore, no one can grudge the state government for its plan to build a 1,000-unit housing project in the state. A leaflet said to have emanated from the state Ministry of Lands and Survey, dated August 20 and signed by Musa Ummate, the officer in-charge of lands administration on behalf of the commissioner, and made available to journalists, said some parcels of land would be acquired for the housing project.

    This should ordinarily have been cheerful news to people in the state because housing is one of the basic needs of life. Others are food and provision of security. Government therefore has a responsibility to ensure that people can either build or, at least, acquire their own houses either by getting involved in this kind of project or by ensuring a conducive atmosphere for the private sector to do it.

    We do not know the model the state government wants to adopt in building these houses. But that is not an issue at the moment. What bothers us is the protest that has greeted the announcement of such a laudable project. In the vanguard of the protest is the state’s chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria as well as owners of farmlands in the state who are likely to be affected by the proposed housing project.

    The Christian community in the state is unhappy not necessarily because the government wants to ameliorate the housing needs of its citizens but because of the structures that have to be pulled down for the houses to stand. Bluntly put, the Christians in the state feel the planned housing project is targeted against them as a result of their faith. According to it, “Over 20 churches and many schools will be affected. The lands on which the churches were built were bought from farmers and have the authority and certificate of the District Head in Maiduguri, popularly called ‘Bulama’.

    It is in view of this protest that we think the state government should make concerted efforts to carry everyone along. No doubt Borno State needs good houses; but the state also needs schools as well as the churches, despite the fact that it has a predominantly Moslem population. The fact is that matters of religion are too sensitive to be toyed with. This is the more reason why the government should be somewhat more accommodating in its bid to acquire lands for public good. The impression being given by CAN is that the government is unwilling to even hear them out, let alone see if they have any grievance at all. For instance, the association alleged that “The Christians went for the meeting called by the governor and for several hours, the governor didn’t come out to see them.

    “It is always difficult for Christians to get a land in Maiduguri. Even after getting the land, the government won’t give you Certificate of Occupancy”. These are serious issues that the state government should not ignore.

    We therefore implore it to consider other areas where the housing project could be sited; Borno is a vast state, so, getting a suitable alternative to the present site should not be difficult. Yes, the people need houses, but they also need peace which can only be guaranteed when all segments of the population see that the government has their interest at heart. The matter is beyond mere compensation; especially so for people who have been on the lands, in some cases, for years. The state deserves peace and a break from religious crisis to accelerate its economic development.

     

  • Brain drain

    Brain drain

    •Our many medical doctors practising abroad will not return because we wish it

    Amidst the myriad of crises confronting Nigeria’s health sector today, including chronic shortage of manpower, the revelation that there are 3,936 medical doctors practising in the United Kingdom is, to say the least, shocking. We agree with the President of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), Dr OsahonEnabulele, that this situation is absolutely unacceptable.

    Shedding further light on the crisis in the sector, Dr Enabulele said the country has 71,740 medical and dental practitioners listed on the register of the Medical and Dental Health Council of Nigeria, with about 27,000 currently in Nigeria. The implication is that the country has a doctor-population ratio of 1: 6,187, given a population base of 167, 000,000. There is certainly no way effective and efficient health care can be delivered to the vast majority of Nigerians with this kind of depressing scenario.

    Again, Dr Enabulele is spot on when he avers that Nigeria has become a manufacturing plant for the production of medical doctors and dentists for the health care systems of developed countries such as the United Kingdom, USA, Australia and Canada where there is a high demand for medical practitioners from developing countries. This observation is certainly no exaggeration. It is estimated that over 15,000 Nigerian-trained medical doctors are practising abroad in the countries listed above, as well as South Africa, Botswana and Ghana, among others. The country is thus akin to the physician who is busy trying to cure others when he has refused to heal himself.

    At least 40,000 Nigerian medical doctors are reportedly practising in the United States today. At a recent meeting with officials of the Federal Ministry of Health, the Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora Affairs, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, reiterated the seriousness of the problem and sought collaboration between the ministry and her committee to address it. Citing the examples of China and India, she called for measures to encourage Nigerian medical professionals abroad to come back home to contribute their quota to the country’s health care delivery.

    Doctors who have migrated to other climes are not motivated by lack of patriotism or selfish pecuniary considerations. The massive brain drain of Nigerians abroad actually started in the 1980s, following the acute economic crisis caused largely by the profligacy of parasitic and corrupt ruling elite. Faced with poor remuneration, lack of a satisfactory working environment and the absence of the necessary equipment to function optimally, doctors and other professionals, including nurses, left the country in droves to countries where they could get adequate remuneration and fulfilment.

    The loser was the country’s health care system. It is instructive, for instance, that some states, particularly in the North have had cause to engage the services of Pakistani doctors! Thus, while we are employing foreign medical personnel, thousands of highly qualified Nigerian doctors are contributing to the development of the health care system of other countries. It simply makes no sense.

    The General Ibrahim Babangida regime in the 1980s set up a committee to address and find solutions to the brain drain challenge. It is not surprising that nothing came of it. The problem needs no committee. This country is undoubtedly sufficiently endowed to have well-equipped public health facilities manned by well-remunerated and motivated staff. That is the best way to woo Nigerian medical doctors, nurses and other professionals back to the country.

    Equally critical is the need to decisively address the security challenges confronting the country. The daily news of kidnapping, armed robbery, assassinations, wanton murder, communal clashes and religious conflicts emanating from Nigeria can only discourage any professional who has an alternative from returning.

     

  • Boxes of menace

    Boxes of menace

    • Container trucks threaten commuters daily, like two incidents in Lagos recently

    On September 7, the city of Lagos was twice partially shut down as containers fell across major road arteries. The first was along the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway and the second one occurred at Cappa, along the Agege Motor Road. Each of the two incidents caused major traffic snarls that lasted nearly 12 hours, with the attendant trauma on commuters.

    There had been cases of container trucks, fuel tankers and long articulated vehicles upending their contents on highways across the country, but these two mishaps happening in quick succession have roused road users, tasking various governments and road transport managers to review their operating procedures. Though container owners have noted that considering the fact that over 1,000 such metal boxes are lifted from the Lagos ports daily, the incidence of mishaps has not reached crisis level; but the point remains that even one fall in one week could be one too many because of the capacity of such singular incident to foul up traffic in the city, or even on highways for hours.

    The fear of container-bearing trucks on highways has become the beginning of wisdom for many motorists who seem to nurse the mortal fear that the huge boxes are not properly fastened if at all, and that they are always poised to fall off the trucks. But container trucks managers say that these fears are exaggerated as no truck leaves the ports if the containers are not properly clamped and held down with standard twist locks. They insist that just because the locks are not outwardly visible makes the generality of the people think that containers are not properly clamped. Container mishaps, they argue, are to be blamed mainly on poor road infrastructure, which include deep potholes and in some places, gullies found on many Nigerian highways.

    While ill-maintained roads may be a key factor, reckless driving is also to be noted. Many drivers of container trucks, articulated vehicles, petrol tankers and even large mass transit buses are known to drive with so much rage and impunity as if they are immune to accidents. Apart from often going beyond speed limits, they lead reckless lifestyles and drive under such debilitating influences as alcohol and drugs. Many of these drivers hardly get proper sleep or rest for days as they wait their turns to load the containerised cargo. Has anyone around here ever heard of a special school for heavy duty vehicle drivers where road rules, the right attitudes, temperament and professional ethos are carefully inculcated for the special purpose driving that is required for this cadre of drivers? What are the required age limits for truck drivers and what manner of trucks are allowed to haul heavy cargo?

    Further, even in climes where the road networks are adequate and in good condition, not so many heavily laden trucks assail the highways daily; the rail system which is an adjunct of most ports around the world allows for very large containers to be hauled by rail to transit points in the outskirts of town, thereby bypassing city centre when necessary. The rail line running through Nigeria’s number one ports in Apapa have been in disuse for decades. This is partly responsible for the large and unsightly cluster of trucks around the precincts of the Lagos ports, with the attendant daily traffic snarl and damage to the roads.

    Recently, the Lagos State Government had to lament the fact that revenue running into trillions Naira is realised by the Federal Government from the Lagos ports, yet the state government spends about N50 billion annually servicing the infrastructure around the ports. We urge the Federal Government to rethink the entire ports administration system, especially as concerns Lagos. The Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA, must wake up to its duties which go beyond being a rent agent. It must build a modern port rail system and maintain the surrounding road infrastructure. The recent container mishaps are a sign that we have lived haphazardly for too long.

  • Extortion by another name

    Extortion by another name

    LAST week, the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission, NERC, took steps to ensure stricter regulation of the generator-import trade with the publication of the ‘Guidelines for obtaining Clearance Certificate for the importation of generating sets and related matters’.

    Among its many highlights, one that perhaps stands out is the new regime of levies imposed on different categories of imported generators. Henceforth, a unit of 100KVA generator would attract a N25,000 levy; those between 25kva and 100kva – N3,500. For the smaller generators with capacities ranging between 5kva and 25kva, theirs is a levy of N1,000; and for those between 2.5kva and 5kva, it is N250; even those between 0.45 Kva and 2.5 Kva are not left out; theirs is a levy of N150.

    NERC also set the fee for the renewal of import licenses at 10 per cent of the fee paid on the initial certificate.

    The guidelines, according to NERC chairman, Sam Amadi, cover every import from fully assembled generators to knocked-down parts, either for domestic assembly or retail as spares. To qualify for generator-import license, NERC expects importers to submit annual report of generating sets or knocked-down parts imported by them in the last 12 months. The report is expected to cover details about capacity and the number sold.

    Considering the lack of regulation in the trade, the new guidelines would seem inevitable. And, to the extent that the country has today become a huge dumping ground for all kinds of generators, with scant considerations for quality and environmental standards, such measures are most welcome to sanitise that sub-sector of our foreign trade.

    But the more fundamental question is whether the NERC guidelines are altogether altruistic – borne of concerns for safety, consumer interest or the environment. This is very much in doubt. Indeed, it seems driven more by revenue than anything else. To start with, the much we know is that the responsibility for enforcing quality and environmental standards does not reside with NERC – that responsibility, with due respect, lies with another agency – the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

    What does the measure seek to achieve? To discourage importation of generators? If it is – we consider it flawed – to put it mildly. The point to note here is that generator-trade didn’t become big business in the country because Nigerians love the purring of their generators; or that they hated the inept Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). Nigeria became the world’s leading importer of generators because the government failed to guarantee public power supply. For the power-starved citizens forced to purchase generators, either for business or pleasure, the levy amounts to double jeopardy –in the event of being forced to pay additional costs without guarantees of improved public power supply. Perhaps, only NERC can afford to revel in the folly of imagining that the levy is a disincentive to the trade without the government seriously addressing the demand-supply gap.

    Much as NERC needs funds to run its operations, we do not think that the way to go is the extortionate path that seeks to take from the citizens in return for nothing. The idea that NERC can impose just about any levy because it has the powers to do so – without considerations for what is fair, equitable and just, is wrong. Nigerians didn’t ask to be rid of their corrupt and inept PHCN only to find themselves in the bosom of an inconsiderate regulator. It would be a good idea for NERC to shelve the levy until when electricity consumers are availed the clear choice in public electricity supply. At this time, it is still premature.

  • Lessons from outside

    Lessons from outside

    FOR a nation that likes to stress its sovereignty, it is strange that Nigeria continues to depend so heavily on the goodwill of others to achieve fundamental national development goals. The latest example of this anomaly occurred in Abuja when the former British Prime Minister, Mr Gordon Brown, outlined a series of financial initiatives designed to boost the country’s Universal Basic Education (UBE) Programme.

    Speaking in his capacity as the United Nations (UN) Special Envoy on Global Education, Brown told a conference on Accelerating Progress in the Attainment of Education for All in Nigeria that about US $500 million would be ploughed into the UBE over the next few years by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Development Commission of the European Union, the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development, and the Global Partnership for Education.

    What is galling is not so much the infusion of foreign funds, but the palpable inability of successive Nigerian administrations to give education the priority it so obviously deserves. The country’s educational statistics are a veritable disaster area. Nigeria has a literacy rate of 48.66 per cent. Over 10 million of its children are out of school, the highest number in the world. Its citizens enjoy about nine years of schooling, which is lower than the sub-Saharan African average of 9.3 years. Educational institutions are beset by infrastructural decay, poor funding, widespread cynicism, corruption and despondency, all of which have resulted in several industrial actions by teachers. Currently, the country’s federal and state-owned universities have been closed for several weeks due to a strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    The UBE programme has been in existence since 1999, but its impact is mixed, at best. There has been conflict with states and local governments that have constitutional responsibility for overseeing primary education, especially where the UBE Commission did not consult benefitting states about their proposed interventions. Primary school teachers continually complain of delayed salaries and the inadequacy of teaching inputs. Many parents and guardians have voted with their feet and sought admission for their children and wards in private schools.

    It is ironic that the outside world appears to value educational development in Nigeria more than Nigerians themselves. The envisaged contributions to the UBE by multilateral funding agencies reflect the international community’s understanding of the importance of education in the maintenance of international peace and security. As the Boko Haram scourge has tragically shown, the less educated a populace is, the more susceptible it will be to being used in the perpetration of large-scale violence. On the other hand, the more educated a people are, the better-equipped they are to take active roles in the overall development of their nation.

    It is time for Nigerian governments at the federal, state and local government levels to take education much more seriously than they hitherto have. The current practice of building model schools should be accelerated to cater for the country’s growing population, and should be adapted to the cultural norms of specific parts of the country. Greater effort should be made to ensure that all schools are properly equipped, resourced and staffed. Educational professionals should be given better salaries and conditions of service in order to attract and retain talented individuals. In obtaining funding, increased attention should be paid to the concerns of donor agencies, especially regarding transparency and accountability in the management of funds.

    In addition, there must be a readjustment of cultural attitudes away from the acquisition of wealth to educational attainment as the ideal goal of citizenship. A country where rapacious self-enrichment is celebrated at the expense of everything else cannot provide fertile grounds for sustained educational development.

  • Who will be left in Egypt?

    Who will be left in Egypt?

    Two years after thousands of Egyptian protesters risked their lives to bring down the dictator Hosni Mubarak, the military-controlled government in Cairo is expanding a repressive system that may ultimately be worse than the one Mr. Mubarak built and managed.

    On Thursday, with much of the world distracted by Syria, the Egyptian generals and the civilian officials they have appointed extended a countrywide state of emergency for two months. And after overthrowing Mohamed Morsi, Egypt’s first freely elected president, two months ago and trying to crush his Muslim Brotherhood allies, security forces have also begun to round up other dissenters, a chilling warning that no Egyptians should feel safe if they dare to challenge authority.

    That was not the kind of country that most Egyptians envisioned during the 2011 revolution when they sought democracy and freedom and demanded jobs and education. The repression and intolerance will ensure more instability and make it impossible for Egypt to revive its economy and play a constructive role in the region.

    The 1950s-era state of emergency law, which removes the right to a trial and curbs on police abuses, was for decades a hated symbol of Mr. Mubarak’s excesses. Although the law stayed on the books, the state of emergency was suspended after Mr. Mubarak’s overthrow. The military leadership revived it last month and has extended it until November, citing the security problems that have only grown worse since Mr. Morsi’s ouster.

    Just as troubling, the government has moved from singling out the Brotherhood and other Islamists to going after liberal and left-leaning activists and journalists. The April 6 group, which has been praised internationally for its role in the movement that brought down Mr. Mubarak, said Wednesday that police had raided a local office without a warrant and detained several activists for hours.

    That same day, the government also filed charges in a military court against Ahmed Abu Deraa, a journalist covering Northern Sinai, where the military is facing growing violence by Islamist militants and has sought to bar news coverage there. Mr. Abu Deraa’s reporting has contradicted claims from the military about operations in Sinai.

    There seems to be no end to the draconian controls as the military seeks to restrain the news media, manipulate the courts, misuse security services and restrict civil society groups. If it prevents the Muslim Brotherhood from operating at all, as many expect, it will go even farther than Mr. Mubarak. The process of revising the Constitution that was put in place by the government seems as flawed as the one implemented by Mr. Morsi. The results are almost certain to be regarded by many Egyptians as illegitimate.

    All this comes on top of a crackdown on peaceful demonstrators after the coup that killed more than 1,000 people. The Obama administration has quietly suspended assistance to the Egyptian government and called off military exercises, but it will soon have to decide whether to allow the transfer of other aid to the military. Given the government’s insistence on repressing its people and pursuing a self-destructive course, that money should be withheld.

     

    – New York Times

     

  • Politics of reprisal

    Politics of reprisal

    This is fast becoming one of the hallmarks of the Jonathan administration

    Reprisal is the name of the game, and the presidency is proving to be adept at it. The signs of presidential prompting, or backing, were evident in certain events that developed from the messy internecine conflict in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). Take the case of the reported unexplained police withdrawal of the security guards and escorts of Senator Bukola Saraki, a former two-term governor of Kwara State (2003 to 2011); and the reported branding of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as persona non grata by ex-Niger Delta militants.  It can be deduced that both politicians were on the receiving end because of their perceived guilt by association, following their membership of a splinter group.

    However, there are larger issues involved in the fragmentation of the PDP, with serious implications for the polity, beyond the personal troubles of Saraki and Abubakar. In the case of the former governor, it amounts to a raw abuse of federal might to deny him the benefit of security agents, if indeed he has such entitlement under the law. It is significant to note that this episode, again, raised questions about eligibility for state security services, and the implementation of related legislation.

    In rather dramatic circumstances, a side show by Kwara State House of Assembly Speaker, Razaq Atunwa, shed light on Saraki’s situation.  Atunwa told reporters in Ilorin, the state capital, “By virtue of Section 2 (3) Paragraph H of the Third Schedule of the Kwara State Governor and Deputy Governor Payment of Pension Law 2010, Senator Saraki is entitled to the provision of police security as part of his pension entitlement.”  He added, “That was a law validly enacted by the Kwara State House of Assembly.”

    Interestingly, he chose the occasion not only to condemn the treatment of Saraki, and appropriately described it as “a clear breach of the law”; he also strikingly disclosed that he had notified the state police commissioner that “by Friday, September 13, he should relinquish the police security attached to me until the police security of Senator Abubakar Bukola Saraki is restored.”  This development, following an ironic contempt for the law by the police, gave a glimpse of the undesirable consequences that could arise from escalating politicisation of the police and accompanying partisanship, which are unwelcome.

    The selectiveness in Saraki’s case further exposed the complicated fallout of the PDP split; and again highlighted the controversial subject of state police as a possible counter to the apparent drift in the direction of a virtual police state by the powers at the centre who control the force in the existing arrangement. It is alarming that a pattern seems to be forming, to go by the recent police withdrawal of River State Governor Rotimi  Amaechi’s  escort commander in circumstances which suggested that the move was inspired by his running clash with President Goodluck Jonathan; and the scandalous blockage of a major road to the Government House in Port Harcourt by the police.  Also, Jonathan’s recent sack of nine ministers had undertones of retaliation, considering the fact that it generally affected those who were sponsored by his perceived enemies, or who came from supposedly antagonistic areas.

    Notwithstanding the legal context provided by the Speaker, and his spectacular mode of protest, it is pertinent to contemplate the scale of police security that Saraki enjoyed before the disruption. Reports listed seven security personnel, including two at his Abuja residence, three at his home in Ilorin, and two others “at his beck and call.”  Certainly, this number of policemen attached to Saraki alone defies logic, particularly given the general inadequacy in policing across the country. Furthermore, the fact that the Saraki example is likely to be replicated among others of his ilk is a sad commentary on the abuse of state apparatus.

    Regrettably, the presidency’s hand was similarly discernible in the barefaced assault on Abubakar’s freedom of movement by former militia leaders who curiously belong to President Jonathan’s ethnic base. The meeting of the retired but perhaps unreformed warlords representing all nine states of the Niger Delta under the banner of the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative (LPCDI) in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, was suspicious and reeked of reprisal. The group declared, in words that were disturbingly revelatory, “It is unfortunate that Atiku, who has benefited so much from the Niger Delta’s crude oil and gas, is leading dissidents in a political coup against the first Southerner to ever ascend the seat of President of Nigeria.”  Additionally, it issued a not-so-subtle threat that deserves condemnation, particularly because of the potent danger to the right to free movement. LPCDI said, “We are aware of his vast business interest in the Niger Delta and we are warning him, in his own interest, to stay off the region.”

    Such crude posturing, most likely informed by proximity to power, does its supposed beneficiary a disservice. It bespoke aggressive intolerance and should be discouraged by any responsible government. To allow any group to wallow in the conceit that it can unlawfully deny others freedom of movement, or even association, is to send wrong signals, for such illegality could be adopted as a guiding example by opportunists, to the country’s detriment.

    There can be no acceptable rationalisation of the brazen lawlessness and stifling tendency promoted in these respective cases. They are paths that will do the country no good, and the government should know this.

  • Police and motor registration

    Police and motor registration

    This is an unnecessary digression; let them concentrate on their basic responsibility

    The decision by the Nigeria Police to introduce biometric central motor registration system, at a cost of N3,500.00, per vehicle, is yet another opportunity to unlawfully tax the already overburdened Nigerians. Moreover, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), another agency of the Federal Government is already engaged in issuance of new ‘secured’ number plates and biometric drivers’ license at enormous cost to the applicants. Also, vehicle owners pay to register their vehicles with state agencies; pay insurance, road worthiness and now an amorphous central motor registration with the police.

    Probably because the FRSC got away with its questionable taxation of Nigerians, on the easy sell that it will help solve the security challenges facing the country and even act against car theft; the police are also selling a similar story in order to unilaterally create an enhanced revenue base, directly under its care. According to Frank Mba, the Force Public Relations Officer, the new registration process, “is against the backdrop of contemporary security challenges bordering on terrorism, high incidence of car theft, kidnapping and other crimes”.

    If truly Nigerians will soon again be forced to queue before the police for another biometrics after the on-going excruciating pains to get the new drivers license and number plate from the FRSC, ordinarily an arm of the police; then it must be said for the umpteenth time that decisions like this make us wonder whether there is any rigour in the decision-making process of government and its establishments. Except of course, there is no coordination among the federal agencies or that the Federal Government derives pleasure from the harrowing poverty it is spreading in the name of governance in the past decade plus.

    In case the police authorities have grown weary, and are seeking for action, then let us remind them that their primary responsibility is to protect lives and properties; and if they will be honest, they have performed below par in this area. So, our advice to the police is to concentrate on their responsibility, and if they need the data of vehicle owners, they should get that from the vehicle registration authorities, or the FRSC; instead of surreptitiously creating a new bureaucracy for their corrupt officials to enrich themselves at our common expense.

    Indeed, the police should get busy on how to fine-tune their capacity to prevent and fight crime in some other ways, than seeking ways to cream off Nigerians. The police should, as a matter of utmost urgency, concentrate on the glaring inadequate manpower and the procurement of modern equipment for crime detection. On manpower, the police need a substantial increase in their number, as the current figure of about 500,000 serving a huge population of 160 million across Nigeria’s expansive land mass is grossly inadequate. There is also the need for the police to properly train their personnel, as most of our policemen lack civility and capacity to investigate basic crimes.

    Also, the police need capacity in forensic analysis, and that involves serious manpower training and procurement of laboratory equipment. Under the nose of the police there are long lists of unresolved crimes, and most of those crimes have nothing to do with the data of vehicle owners. Indeed, it is common for criminals to use cars snatched from their rightful owners to commit crimes. Even the high rate of kidnapping has little to do with cars, and if the police are overwhelmed by kidnappers, it will be fraudulent to blame the lack of biometric data of vehicle owners as the cause.

    Instead of chasing shadows and causing Nigerians more financial distress, the police should ask for modern equipment and trained manpower to face squarely their statutory responsibilities.

  • Royal rashness

    Royal rashness

    But now that the Olu has recanted on his controversial decree, the Itsekiri
    should let go and move on

    If there was ever an example of royal rashness, the decree by the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II, abolishing the Itsekiri royal title, as well as scrapping traditional rites in the 533-year monarchy, was it. Not surprisingly, the reaction was electric: protests in Warri and other parts of Iwere land.

    Thank God, however: good sense has prevailed; the monarch has rescinded the decree which obviously riled a cross section of the kingdom. It is time to move on, forgive and forget. The right lessons have been learned: no matter how attractive or fervent personal faith is, a monarch will rise or fall by the culture of his people.

    On the score of peace regained, Delta State Governor, Emmanuel Uduaghan, himself an Itsekiri, the Itsekiri Traditional Council of Chiefs, the Itsekiri Legacy Rebirth, the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, the protesting youth and other stakeholders, not leaving out the Olu who has magnanimously reversed himself, deserve praise for the astute management of the crisis. If the crisis had degenerated into a breakdown of law and order, everyone would have lost.

    The crisis, which climaxed with a stark choice for the Olu to retract the testy decree or abdicate started on September 4, when the monarch released the “New Order of Iwere Kingdom”, which purported to have abolished the royal title, Ogiame, for alleged link with Umalokun, the sea goddess, reportedly in conflict with the king’s faith as a born-again Christian; the Itsekiri anthem, with its refrain, “Ogiame suooooo”, which the king and his advisers interpreted as idolatry, since it purportedly worshipped the sitting monarch, when God, by Christian tenet, is the only one worthy of worship; and also “all sacrifice of wine, blood, food, water, kola nut and other items (known and unknown) offered in Iwere land”: Itsekiri traditional practices, now dubbed as fetish.

    The near-unanimous rebellion that followed, across classes and faiths in the kingdom, just showed the supremacy of a people’s culture; and the tenacity a people would show to stave off any perceived assault on it.

    But a more profound message for the crisis-prone political class and their penchant for hubris and impunity is this: though the Itsekiri adore their Olu, even to the point of mistaken idolatry, the crisis has shown the Olu cannot afford to embark on any royal hubris without devastating consequences. Without the Itsekiri and their rich culture, there can be no Olu. But the panoply of Itsekiri civilisation is incomplete without the Olu. So, the Olu is primate; but only when subjected to the dictates of the culture that created the stool, just as every political office holder cannot purport to be above the law that created his or her office.

    Indeed, Chief JOS Ayomike, of the Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, clinched the matter so beautifully at the height of the crisis: “If the Ogiame is abolished, the monarchy would have been extinguished; and if Atuwatse II ceases to be Ogiame, his reign as the Warri monarch would have expired.”

    Still, now that the Olu has withdrawn the decree, Chief Ayomike and his lobby should soften their reported insistence that the monarch should still abdicate, just because an Olu is not supposed to eat his words. He showed true nobility by bowing to his people’s wishes. But the Olu himself should resist the temptation to clamp down on “rebel” chiefs that joined the protests.

    Iwere kingdom should embrace a golden compromise that secures the past, sanitises the present and assures a future where the rich Itsekiri culture is under no threat – not even from royal quarters.