The Nation Newspaper

Category: Editorial

  • Triumph of federalism

    Triumph of federalism

    We commend Supreme Court’s judgment on tourism control

    For six long, awful years, the Federal Government instituted and pursued a lost protracted legal battle against the Lagos State government over the proprietary of tourism control within the state. The futility of the exercise was exemplified by a recent Supreme Court unanimous lead judgment read by Galadima JSC. Through that epochal judgment, it has become obvious, that the Federal Government has no power of control over tourism activities outside federal jurisdictions. Henceforth, the apex court declared that it is only state governments that can exercise control over licensing or grading of hotels, restaurants and fast food outlets in the country. And that the Houses of Assembly can validly make laws on tourism.

    The Attorney-General of the Federation, in the suit filed against the Lagos State government questioned the effrontery of the latter to challenge its control of tourism affairs, through the Nigerian Tourism Development Corporation (NTDC), in the state’s jurisdiction. But the learned justices of the apex court in their wisdom decided that the Constitution only empowers the National Assembly latitude to regulate tourist traffic: A term deemed in the esteemed view of the respected court to exclude hotel registration or licensing. In another concurrent suit on the same subject challenging the proprietary of the Hotel Licensing Law of Lagos State and the Hotel Occupancy and Restaurant Consumption Law made by Lagos State House of Assembly that was consolidated for appellate hearing with the former case, the apex court declared both laws validly enacted. The court went ahead to declare as null and void the offending sections in the NTDC Act.

    The judement has gone far in calming frayed nerves resulting from several years of muscle flexing by the warring parties. While the avoidable squabble lasted, the NTDC, relying usually on federal might, flagrantly established parallel registration and regulation structures to that of the Lagos State government. This created a situation of multiplicity of taxation to the chagrin of stakeholders in the tourism industry. The final resolution of the issue definitely has come with a cost since the Lagos State government reportedly claimed to have lost to the Federal Government over N4.5 billion in revenue from over 3,000 hotels that would have accrued to her from hotel licensing in the last six years. The state government can heave a sigh of relief now that the apex court’s judgment has given it unfettered control over the state’s hospitality industry. The era of harassments from NTDC, a federal agency, has finally been put paid to by that landmark judgment.

    We desire more of such illuminating judgment that typifies what true federalism should be. The country constitutionally has a federal structure in place. But in practice, the Federal Government seems to derive unflinching pleasure in treating the component states as appendages with no minds of their own. That should not be. The 1999 constitution (as amended) clearly spells out in the Exclusive Legislative List, areas in which the Federal Government has exclusively wholesome powers to preside over. It is a thing of joy that the apex court has clearly stated that on the issue of hospitality businesses, the Federal Government, or its assigned agencies can no longer encroach on state governments’ powers.

    There are several items on the Exclusive Legislative List that are begging for attention of the government at the centre. Power, police affairs and prisons management, among other areas, need genuine reforms. We also need general policy re-direction from the Federal Government. If all these necessary areas have not been properly handled, what rationale would then be behind the move of the Federal Government to unlawfully compel appropriation of others, like the tourism industry, that are ultra vires its powers?

    This monumental judgment would have been impossible if the Lagos State government did not stand up to the federal challenge in court by fighting for redress of NTDC’s illegal encroachment. Now, it is not only the ‘Centre of Excellence’ (Lagos) but other states across the federation that will benefit from the judgment. Other state governments whose rights at one time or the other had been trampled upon by the Federal Government or its agencies should not hesitate to follow the Lagos example. It is through such reasonable judicial activism that most of the defects in the country’s federal structure can be rectified. We commend the Supreme Court for standing firm in upholding the tenets of federalism in the nation.

  • Inflated budgets

    Inflated budgets

    But for the Federal Ministry of Finance which had on June 13 directed the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) to close the accounts of ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) that had failed to remit a total of N58billion independent revenue to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF), the sum of N34billion recovered from some of the agencies would still have been outside of the government purse. This, in effect, is to say that N24billion is yet to be recovered!

    Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said that her ministry would continue to work on the matter “until government gets what it wants”. By this we understand the minister to mean that the government would not relent in its effort to recover the rest of unremitted funds by defaulting agencies. We were then told that the recovered money “had been factored into the cash-backing for the second quarter”.

    Apart from the recovery of unremitted funds, the minister said that 215 MDAs and a total of 153,019 staff members were already captured on the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS) platform since January, from which savings of N118.9million had been recorded as a result of the operation of the system.

    We regard the information by the Minister of Finance as sweet talk meant to sooth the nerves of agitated critics of the yearly unremitted funds into the Consolidated Revenue Fund. This idea of recovering unspent and unremitted funds from the public treasury has been going on for years. However, all we hear now and then is about money being recovered. We are hardly told about who the culprits are except in the case of a former Minister of Education, Professor Fabian Osuji, who was sacked because of unremitted fund of just N50million at that time. Now, cases of unremitted funds have escalated to N58billion.

    But the recovery of such a huge amount of money from the MDAs put a big question mark on the basis of budget preparations by relevant agencies of government, and the approvals by the Federal Ministry of Finance.

    How come such an amount was not utilised by the concerned agencies in the first place? Was it the case of inflated budget so that the leftover would be shared by some government officials after the end of each financial year?

    We also believe that the amount so recovered should have been ploughed back as part of the following year’s budget. Also, the MDAs with excess from their previous budgets should have got an equivalent amount of excess money deducted from their next budget as they really did not need it except probably for the personal use of public officials who might want to steal it. This is probably why MDAs always lobby for inflated budgets when defending their budgets.

    We have always heard of inflated contracts as a way of stealing public funds. In these days, we do have budget inflation which has now been captured by the mandated recovery of overstuffed budgets. The pity of it is that when the excess money is recovered, Nigerians cannot feel the impact on governance. Have they felt the impact of the billions recovered from culprits like the late General Sani Abacha and many political thieves whose stolen wealth had been returned to the Federal Government by the governments of Switzerland, United Kingdom, Germany, United States, among others?

    For once, the Federal Government should get serious by not only recovering the excess of inflated budgets and recovered loots from thieving politicians and top government functionaries, but fish out the culprits for appropriate punishments. Until this is done, all talks about recovery of money from this or that quarter remain sheer hypocrisy.

     

  • Adieu, Allah De

    Adieu, Allah De

    His nom de plume, ‘Allah De’, was as creative as it was revealing. It was not only an imaginative stylisation of his first name, Alade; it also gave a glimpse of the foundations of his moral platform, an aspect that perhaps informed his journalistic practice. This pen-name, a combination of the Islamic term for God and a Pidgin English word signifying existence, reflected his Muslim faith and his conviction about the place of the divine in human affairs. In the context of his work as journalist and conscience of society, it was a well chosen pseudonym that announced to power especially that a Higher Power was watching.

    It is sad that the man who branded himself with such captivating deliberateness, Alhaji Alade Idowu Odunewu, made a terminal exit in Lagos on July 25, at age 85. He belonged to a vanishing generation of journalists who, in professional terms, straddled the country’s colonial and post-independence eras. Furthermore, as a journalist he experienced both democratic rule and military dictatorship in the country’s political evolution.  This chronological framework and professional exposure meant that he was not only witness to the shifting landscape of journalism in the country; he also played important roles in advancing the value of the media.

    His career, which began in 1950 at the Daily Times where he worked as a reporter and sub-editor, turned out to be an odyssey that took him even to government positions. One of the earliest Nigerians formally trained in Journalism, he studied on a Federal Government scholarship at the Regent Street Polytechnic, London, (now University of Westminster), where he won the Commonwealth New Statesman Prize for the best all-round student.  His professional trajectory also took him to the Nigerian Tribune and the Allied Newspapers of Nigeria, before he became the Editor, Sunday Times, and later Daily Times. He also served as editor-in –chief at the well respected Daily Times, and CEO of the media empire’s publications division.

    However, it was as a columnist that Odunewu attained immortal celebrity, and his Allah De column was a must-read for legions of newspaper readers across the country. Indeed, he wrote his column well into his advanced years, and it is heart-warming that a collection of his writings spanning 1963 to 2000 has been published with the title Winner Takes All. Allah De, well rated for his masterly written insightful pieces and witty style, earned the flattering epithet “dean of satirical journalism”, a decoration inspired by the late political titan and orator,  Nnamdi Azikiwe.

    His place in the pantheon of journalistic greats is definitely assured, having been named among the icons of the practice in 140 years of Nigerian Journalism. Honours from industry institutions like the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) of which he was a president, the Newspaper Proprietors’ Association of Nigeria (NPAN) and the Nigerian Institute of Journalism (NUJ), cemented his status as a model. It is to his credit that Odunewu employed his undoubted sense of professionalism as chair of the Nigerian Press Council. Equally noteworthy is the fact that his acclaimed integrity earned him public service positions at different periods, including Commissioner for Information and Tourism in Lagos State (1973-1975), Lagos State Public Complaints Commissioner, and Federal Electoral Commissioner for the 1979 general elections.

    His love for Journalism and devotion to the finest standards of practice were evident, and his enthusiastic association with the Diamond Awards for Media Excellence (DAME) and the Nigerian Media Merit Awards (NMMA) till the end, were testimonies to his commitment. With his departure, it is hoped that, in his honour, the DAME Informed Commentary prize which he sponsored from 1992, and the NMMA Columnist of the Year prize which he sponsored from 2006, would not be allowed to die.

  • What your car knows about you

    What your car knows about you

    If you bought your car in the last few years, chances are it’s equipped with a device that records such data as how fast you are driving and whether you’re wearing your seat belt. Chances are you don’t know it’s there.

    Black boxes aren’t just for airplanes anymore. They were first installed by automakers as a way to analyze the performance of their cars if that became necessary, but it didn’t take long for crash investigators to see them as a source of information about what led to an accident. Was the motorist really traveling within the speed limit, as he claims to have been? When did she begin to apply the brakes? Because of the boxes’ value in accident investigations, and in determining recall-worthy safety issues, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration this year proposed that they be required in all new cars and light trucks beginning in 2014. Car companies are willing, and insurance companies support the idea because the information could be used to determine who is at fault in accidents.

    But various consumer groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which advocates for individual privacy rights in the digital world, have their doubts. Right now, the information recorded by the black boxes is very limited. Though they continuously gather information, they also continuously erase it. If a crash occurs or an air bag deploys, the boxes retain only the data from a few seconds before to a few seconds after. But with new advances, the boxes might retain data for longer stretches of time. They might also include new information, such as the car’s location or cellphone calls that were made using the car’s equipment and how long they lasted. Another problem is that black box data are not considered 100% reliable at this point.

    That shouldn’t rule out their use in investigations. But the NHTSA, in its enthusiasm, has neglected to include adequate protection for consumers in its proposal. To start, the buyers of new cars should be informed, clearly and verbally, that the boxes exist and what they record. Right now that information is tucked away in the owner’s manual, which isn’t exactly bestselling reading material.

    Information gathered by the devices should be limited to safety data, and the only information that should be available to investigators and insurance companies should be what’s directly related to a crash — meaning the seconds immediately before and after. The boxes should not collect audio or video data; the conversation in the car before an accident should not be recorded. And the information should be available only by warrant or subpoena, unless the owner voluntarily surrenders it. Beyond that, the data gathered about a driver in the car he owns belong to him alone.

    – Los Angeles Times

     

  • No room for complacency

    There is no doubt that the on-going massive military offensive against the Boko Haram terrorist group, attendant on the declaration of a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states by President Goodluck Jonathan has substantially crippled the capacity and capability of the extreme sect to wreak violence on the horrendous scale hitherto witnessed, particularly in the North-East zone of the country. Yet, the multiple explosions that rocked the Sabon-Gari area of Kano on Monday night, claiming at least 45 lives, according to community leaders, shows that it is still a long way to victory over terror in the country, and there must be no room for complacency.

    As their fortified strongholds in the North-East are routed by the Nigerian military, the Islamic extremists will naturally get more desperate as well as operate more randomly, arbitrarily and unpredictably in a way that can maximally undermine the country’s cohesion.

    It is certainly not by accident that the explosions in Kano were targeted at the Sabon-Gari area, mostly populated by non-indigenes. The Kano State Governor, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, was thus right when he described the barbaric act as an attack on Nigeria. In his words, “This attack on Sabon-Gari is an attack on Nigeria because Muslims and Christians are involved. Several people of different ethnic extractions have either lost their lives or are critically injured. Whoever did this thing targeted Nigeria”.

    Political leaders and security strategists should, therefore, expect that the extremist sect will, in future, most likely strike in ways that can incite inter-ethnic, religious and regional animosity and strife. It is important to keep on enlightening Nigerians to see through the sect’s antics and refuse to fall for any such bait by maintaining the peace no matter the provocation.

    Also instructive is the observation of a community leader in Kano, Prince Ajayi Memaiyetan, that “What happened is that for the past two months, we in Kano have been enjoying the peace of the graveyard. We are waiting for security agencies to give us details on what really happened … The truth is that the security is not as effective as before because of the lull in attacks”. Increasing successes of the security agencies in containing the Boko Haram menace will, therefore, breed fresh challenges of its own that the authorities must be ready to tackle by continuing to fine-tune their anti-terror strategies in accordance with changing situations. At no time can we afford a lull in security alertness in any part of the country because the war on terror cannot be over until the extremists are completely subdued.

    The recent arrest of 42 Boko Haram suspects in Lagos and Ogun states adds a dangerous dimension to the saga of terrorism in the country. It is an indication that the sect plans to extend its destructive activities, so far limited to the North, to other parts of the country.

    We commend the vigilance of the security agencies which, acting on intelligence reports, apprehended the suspects at Ibafo trailer park and Ileke new trailer garage in Ogun State, as well as such locations as Aviation Quarters, Mafoluku, Oshodi; Ketu/Mile 2 Motor Park; Orile Trailer Park and the Bar Beach, all in Lagos. This kind of efficiency was also evident in March and June, respectively, when Boko Haram suspects were arrested in Ijora-Badia and Kotankowa areas of Lagos before carrying out their alleged plan to bomb specified designations in the state.

    While urging the security agencies to remain vigilant as well as continue to sharpen their intelligence gathering and counter-insurgency skills, we also call on the political authorities to expedite the pace of economic recovery in order to create jobs, boost prosperity and reduce the capacity of terror groups to recruit new members.

     

  • Lagos and homeless 70

    The news that the Lagos State government dumped 70 beggars of South East origin at Onitsha, Anambra State, has upset many, especially Nigerians from that part of the country. That development is unfortunate and should be decried.

    Inasmuch as Lagos faces the dire prospect of its facilities being over-run by economic migrants from other parts of the country, the solution is certainly not dumping citizens in their suspected places of origin as it was the case with these 70 beggars.

    Yet, the Lagos action and the consequent emotional angst are only mere symptoms. The real challenge is to locate the real problem; and solve it, once and for all, to avert a future recurrence. To do this however, both the Lagos State government and the aggrieved citizens must quit the emotional game.

    To start with, the ‘Onitsha 70’ was not the first case of Lagos destitute shipped back to their states. There were earlier reported cases of 160 “northern beggars”; and even Yoruba hinterland destitute sent to Oyo State.

    These were very drastic actions, no doubt. But the rational reasons that fuel it must be tackled: an economic pull that though drags virtually the whole of Nigeria to Lagos, while Lagos in return is not equipped to cope with the flood. That is the crux of the matter.

    Because Nigeria’s federation is structured on elite consumption and hardly productivity, there is little or no attempt to create economic hubs all over the country. In the absence of that, there is always the long treasure pilgrimage to Lagos.

    Lagos, to the bulk of deprived Nigerians, is the magic city that solves all economic problems. But that grand illusion to economic migrants is dire straits to the government, as it tries to manage its limited facilities, stretched to breaking point, to cope with the explosion.

    Indeed, it is a grand failure of state in which Lagos is as much a victim as the destitute it expels. Destitute streams into Lagos because of little or no opportunities in their locale, leaving their home government free of their woes. Lagos, on the other hand, picks up the extra burden when its burden is crushing enough, as it is. Meanwhile, the Federal Government, in Nigeria’s skewed federation, sits on idle funds better needed in the states to avert the migration catastrophe that Lagos faces.

    Meanwhile, when Abuja was decided on as the new federal capital, Gen. Murtala Muhammed, the then military head of state, made a firm pledge that special provision would be made for Lagos, because of its peculiar status as the nation’s economic capital. But that has been observed in the breach as even extant federal infrastructure in Lagos has progressively decayed with almost no hope of resuscitation.

    Even value-added tax, the consumption tax, the bulk of which is generated in Lagos, is redistributed with a skewed formula that prevents the state from benefiting from its own tax sweat.

    To prevent future recurrence of destitute expulsion therefore, the Nigerian federation must, as a matter of urgency, be restructured. But that is in the long run. In the short run, the country must give Lagos special funds to cope with the extra burden it carries. Also, state governments whose natives stream into Lagos must wake up to their responsibilities. It is ingenious, to say the least, to pass your due burden to a sister state and yet mount the mountain tops to scream when that sister throws back at you your original problems.

    So, a tri-partite – Lagos, Federal Government and other states – initiative is called for to think of equipping Lagos for its extra burdens, while also trying hard to reduce the influx of migrants by creating economic opportunities in other parts of the country.

     

  • Audacious hope for Middle East peace

    It is a mark of how slim the chance of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become that the talks about talks that are soon to begin in Washington are the most hopeful development for some years. Few expect substantive progress to emerge from the discussions. There is little sign that the Israeli government will accept its 1967 borders as a starting point for negotiations, as Palestinian leaders have been insisting; in the occupied territories, it continues to build illegal settlements that it aims to annex to Israel as part of any deal.

    What has brought the parties to the table is not so much the prospect that talks might succeed as the advantages to be won by taking part. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must appear to engage with the Palestinians if it is to deflect international pressure to end its obstructionism. The Palestinian leadership receives a concession in the form of prisoner releases, and anyway has few alternative venues in which to press its demands. Meanwhile, having made the cause of Middle East peace his own, John Kerry, US secretary of state, needs to show some return on his frenzied diplomacy if he is to move it further up the agenda of his boss, President Barack Obama.

    It would be easy, therefore, to wax defeatist about Mr Kerry’s initiative. Certainly, without strong backing from the White House, he is in no position to offer the leadership in the Middle East that Mr Obama once promised but has failed to deliver. Still, a glimmer of hope is a precious thing. Historic change has sometimes been wrought from inauspicious beginnings, and, if Mr Kerry can lift the air of futility that now surrounds the peace process, even modest steps towards agreement could conceivably mark the beginning of progress that will one day come to look unstoppable.

    If that faint prospect is to be realised, others must do all they can to nurture it. Mr Obama’s capitulation over Israeli settlements – which he criticised in his Cairo speech in 2009, only to veto similar criticism at the UN Security Council in 2011 – has weakened his voice. But the squeals of protest in Tel Aviv that followed the EU’s recent decision to cut a small amount of European funding for Israeli entities on occupied Palestinian lands reveals a government sensitive to criticism from foreign quarters.

    Israel’s friends must use all their influence to ensure that this chance for peace, hard-won but slender, is seized.

    – Financial Times

     

  • No room for complacency

    No room for complacency

    Kano bombings, an indication that the terror war is far from over

    THERE is no doubt that the on-going massive military offensive against the Boko Haram terrorist group, attendant on the declaration of a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states by President Goodluck Jonathan has substantially crippled the capacity and capability of the extreme sect to wreak violence on the horrendous scale hitherto witnessed, particularly in the North-East zone of the country. Yet, the multiple explosions that rocked the Sabon-Gari area of Kano on Monday night, claiming at least 45 lives, according to community leaders, shows that it is still a long way to victory over terror in the country, and there must be no room for complacency. As their fortified strongholds in the North-East are routed by the Nigerian military, the Islamic extremists will naturally get more desperate as well as operate more randomly, arbitrarily and unpredictably in a way that can maximally undermine the country’s cohesion. It is certainly not by accident that the explosions in Kano were targeted at the Sabon-Gari area, mostly populated by non-indigenes. The Kano State Governor, Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso, was thus right when he described the barbaric act as an attack on Nigeria. In his words, “This attack on Sabon-Gari is an attack on Nigeria because Muslims and Christians are involved. Several people of different ethnic extractions have either lost their lives or are critically injured. Whoever did this thing targeted Nigeria”. Political leaders and security strategists should, therefore, expect that the extremist sect will, in future, most likely strike in ways that can incite inter-ethnic, religious and regional animosity and strife. It is important to keep on enlightening Nigerians to see through the sect’s antics and refuse to fall for any such bait by maintaining the peace no matter the provocation. Also instructive is the observation of a community leader in Kano, Prince Ajayi Memaiyetan, that “What happened is that for the past two months, we in Kano have been enjoying the peace of the graveyard. We are waiting for security agencies to give us details on what really happened … The truth is that the security is not as effective as before because of the lull in attacks”. Increasing successes of the security agencies in containing the Boko Haram menace will, therefore, breed fresh challenges of its own that the authorities must be ready to tackle by continuing to fine-tune their anti-terror strategies in accordance with changing situations. At no time can we afford a lull in security alertness in any part of the country because the war on terror cannot be over until the extremists are completely subdued. The recent arrest of 42 Boko Haram suspects in Lagos and Ogun states adds a dangerous dimension to the saga of terrorism in the country. It is an indication that the sect plans to extend its destructive activities, so far limited to the North, to other parts of the country. We commend the vigilance of the security agencies which, acting on intelligence reports, apprehended the suspects at Ibafo trailer park and Ileke new trailer garage in Ogun State, as well as such locations as Aviation Quarters, Mafoluku, Oshodi; Ketu/Mile 2 Motor Park; Orile Trailer Park and the Bar Beach, all in Lagos. This kind of efficiency was also evident in March and June, respectively, when Boko Haram suspects were arrested in Ijora-Badia and Kotankowa areas of Lagos before carrying out their alleged plan to bomb specified designations in the state. While urging the security agencies to remain vigilant as well as continue to sharpen their intelligence gathering and counter-insurgency skills, we also call on the political authorities to expedite the pace of economic recovery in order to create jobs, boost prosperity and reduce the capacity of terror groups to recruit new members.

  • Lagos and homeless 70

    Lagos and homeless 70

    The ‘Onitsha 70’ saga is only the symptom of wrong-headed federalism

    THE news that the Lagos State government dumped 70 beggars of South East origin at Onitsha, Anambra State, has upset many, especially Nigerians from that part of the country. That development is unfortunate and should be decried. Inasmuch as Lagos faces the dire prospect of its facilities being over-run by economic migrants from other parts of the country, the solution is certainly not dumping citizens in their suspected places of origin as it was the case with these 70 beggars. Yet, the Lagos action and the consequent emotional angst are only mere symptoms. The real challenge is to locate the real problem; and solve it, once and for all, to avert a future recurrence. To do this however, both the Lagos State government and the aggrieved citizens must quit the emotional game. To start with, the ‘Onitsha 70’ was not the first case of Lagos destitute shipped back to their states. There were earlier reported cases of 160 “northern beggars”; and even Yoruba hinterland destitute sent to Oyo State. These were very drastic actions, no doubt. But the rational reasons that fuel it must be tackled: an economic pull that though drags virtually the whole of Nigeria to Lagos, while Lagos in return is not equipped to cope with the flood. That is the crux of the matter. Because Nigeria’s federation is structured on elite consumption and hardly productivity, there is little or no attempt to create economic hubs all over the country. In the absence of that, there is always the long treasure pilgrimage to Lagos. Lagos, to the bulk of deprived Nigerians, is the magic city that solves all economic problems. But that grand illusion to economic migrants is dire straits to the government, as it tries to manage its limited facilities, stretched to breaking point, to cope with the explosion. Indeed, it is a grand failure of state in which Lagos is as much a victim as the destitute it expels. Destitute streams into Lagos because of little or no opportunities in their locale, leaving their home government free of their woes. Lagos, on the other hand, picks up the extra burden when its burden is crushing enough, as it is. Meanwhile, the Federal Government, in Nigeria’s skewed federation, sits on idle funds better needed in the states to avert the migration catastrophe that Lagos faces. Meanwhile, when Abuja was decided on as the new federal capital, Gen. Murtala Muhammed, the then military head of state, made a firm pledge that special provision would be made for Lagos, because of its peculiar status as the nation’s economic capital. But that has been observed in the breach as even extant federal infrastructure in Lagos has progressively decayed with almost no hope of resuscitation. Even value-added tax, the consumption tax, the bulk of which is generated in Lagos, is redistributed with a skewed formula that prevents the state from benefiting from its own tax sweat. To prevent future recurrence of destitute expulsion therefore, the Nigerian federation must, as a matter of urgency, be restructured. But that is in the long run. In the short run, the country must give Lagos special funds to cope with the extra burden it carries. Also, state governments whose natives stream into Lagos must wake up to their responsibilities. It is ingenious, to say the least, to pass your due burden to a sister state and yet mount the mountain tops to scream when that sister throws back at you your original problems. So, a tri-partite – Lagos, Federal Government and other states – initiative is called for to think of equipping Lagos for its extra burdens, while also trying hard to reduce the influx of migrants by creating economic opportunities in other parts of the country.

  • Audacious hope for Middle East peace

    Audacious hope for Middle East peace

    – Kerry fought hard for a slender chance that must be seized

    IT is a mark of how slim the chance of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become that the talks about talks that are soon to begin in Washington are the most hopeful development for some years. Few expect substantive progress to emerge from the discussions. There is little sign that the Israeli government will accept its 1967 borders as a starting point for negotiations, as Palestinian leaders have been insisting; in the occupied territories, it continues to build illegal settlements that it aims to annex to Israel as part of any deal. What has brought the parties to the table is not so much the prospect that talks might succeed as the advantages to be won by taking part. The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must appear to engage with the Palestinians if it is to deflect international pressure to end its obstructionism. The Palestinian leadership receives a concession in the form of prisoner releases, and anyway has few alternative venues in which to press its demands. Meanwhile, having made the cause of Middle East peace his own, John Kerry, US secretary of state, needs to show some return on his frenzied diplomacy if he is to move it further up the agenda of his boss, President Barack Obama. It would be easy, therefore, to wax defeatist about Mr Kerry’s initiative. Certainly, without strong backing from the White House, he is in no position to offer the leadership in the Middle East that Mr Obama once promised but has failed to deliver. Still, a glimmer of hope is a precious thing. Historic change has sometimes been wrought from inauspicious beginnings, and, if Mr Kerry can lift the air of futility that now surrounds the peace process, even modest steps towards agreement could conceivably mark the beginning of progress that will one day come to look unstoppable. If that faint prospect is to be realised, others must do all they can to nurture it. Mr Obama’s capitulation over Israeli settlements – which he criticised in his Cairo speech in 2009, only to veto similar criticism at the UN Security Council in 2011 – has weakened his voice. But the squeals of protest in Tel Aviv that followed the EU’s recent decision to cut a small amount of European funding for Israeli entities on occupied Palestinian lands reveals a government sensitive to criticism from foreign quarters. Israel’s friends must use all their influence to ensure that this chance for peace, hard-won but slender, is seized. – Financial Times