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Tag: avoidable

  • Abia NNPC pipeline explosion was avoidable, says Senate

    The Senate Joint Committee investiga-ting the NNPC pipeline explosion that rocked two villages in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of Abia State has described the incident as avoidable and vowed to ensure that the culprits were brought to justice.

    The joint committee leader, Sen. Kabiru Marafa,  led the members, comprised of Petroleum Downstream and Police Affairs to the scene of the incident at Umuimo and Umuaduru and expressed deep regrets that such an incident, which led to heavy loss of lives and wanton destruction of properties had happened in such peaceful communities.

    He insisted that the committees of Downstream and Police will get to the root of the matter, stressing that the committees were also looking into heavy losses that had affected the economy of the nation.

    He commiserated with the traditional rulers of the affected communities, praying for the peaceful repose of the unfortunate citizens that lost their lives to the pipeline explosion.

    The committee also interacted with the contractor handling the repairs of pipelines from Port Harcourt Refinery who disclosed that the contract with corporation was to maintain one of the pipeline and that he had been up and doing.

    Also at the NNPC Depot at Osisioma, the committee was received by the former Depot Manager who told the committee that the exploded pipeline had been abandoned for close to 16 years, but that there was a quantity of product left inside the pipeline.

    Asked by the committee why the pipeline was not flushed since it had been out of use for a good number of years, he said it was standard practice, but his reply drew the ire of the team, who insisted that petroleum product was left there to deliberately snuff life out of innocent citizens.

    At this juncture Sen. Maraca asked the NNPC to put all their defence in a single document and ensure that the report gets to them before Tuesday. The same instruction was given to the contractor as well as those that have any information that would enable the committee arrive at a peaceful conclusion.

    The committee later paid a courtesy call on Governor Okezie Ikpeazu who thanked them for the visit and urged them to do all within their powers to ensure that justice was not only done but seen to have been done, lamenting that the death of his people was very painful.

    It would be recalled that a pipeline explosion engulfed the two communities of Umuimo and Umuaduru in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area and claimed the lives of not less than 150/individuals, but the number has gradually increased following the death of some of those receiving treatment at the Abia State University Teaching Hospital and other care centers where they were rushed to.

    Members of the Downstream committee that made the visit include Sen. Samuel Anyanwu, Sen. Ibrahim Danbaba, Sen. Mao Ohuabunwa, Sen. Yahaya Abdullahi, Sen. Albert Akpan And Sen. Shuaibu Laa, while those of the Police were Sen. Theodore Orji and Sen. Obinna Ogba.

    The senate had, through a resolution, given the committee two weeks to report back their findings.

  • Avoidable over-reaction

    The proposed bill to punish, by hanging, hate speeches resulting in death, is unnecessary.
    But it also points at temperance in a fractious country.

    The Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) has just taken  serious exception to a bill in the Senate, proposing that vendors of hate speeches, that lead to the death of others, should face the hangman’s noose.

    The IYC posits such a law, if passed, is prone to abuse, by ruling blocs, in a polity notorious for abuse of power. That is no unreasonable assertion, given the reality of Nigerian politics. Nevertheless, any action that leads to  wanton loss of life must be decried — and punished.

    Senator Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi (APC Niger) proposed the bill, which directs that any person found guilty of hate speech, that leads to the death of another person, shall die by hanging.

    The bill further defines “hate speech” as “a person who uses, publishes, presents, produces plays, provides, distributes and/or directs the performance of any material, written and/or visual, which is threatening, abusive or insulting or involves the use of threatening, abusive or insulting words of behaviour, commits an offence, if such person intends to stir up ethnic hatred, or having regard to all circumstances, ethnic hatred is likely to be stirred up against any person from such an ethnic group in Nigeria”.

    This is quite a mouthful, almost an omnibus. Though causing the death of others must be punished by extant laws, passing a loose law, which allows unscrupulous politicians to use such legislations against partisan opponents is equally bad. Indeed, if its original aim is to prevent horrendous killings, an abuse of the law would achieve the exact opposite — judicial killing of citizens, on the pretext of saving lives. You don’t — and can’t — save lives by wasting it.

    That is why the IYC alarm must be treated with all the seriousness it deserves. Even if the law is eventually passed, there must be enough tightening of its provisions, such that it cannot be, sparely or wantonly, used as an instrument of legislative terrorism against political opponents.

    Still, the polity would be remiss in its duty to itself if it failed to trail the genesis and sociology of this bill, which is clearly an over-reaction to a dangerous trend of spreading virulent rumours and toxic communications, along ethnic lines. If there are laws already taking care of murder, manslaughter, armed robbery among other felonies that take lives, why should a special law be linked to “hate speech”?  Truth  be told, it is simply because such practices are so many now they appear to be getting out of hand.

    In fairness to the senator-sponsor of the bill, there is an urgent need to root out such conduct.  Still, care must be taken not to play Draco with a situation which can be remedied, before getting to the Mosaic point of “any eye for an eye”.

    Draco was the severe lawgiver of ancient Athens who, struck by the sheer decadence of his day, punished almost every offence with death! If evil rumours directly lead to death and are themselves punished with death, it just means the society itself is losing it. That extreme cannot be good for anyone.

    If you must consider the law at all, then a rigorous definition of hate speech must be its central plank. But just as people instinctively recognise beauty and ugliness when they see one, these terms are extremely difficult to define. By the same token, everyone feels love or hate. But hardly anyone can define it.

    Factor that into the politics of ethnicity in the Nigerian media and polity, where power seems to be everything and institutions are weak, then the possibility of abuse of such laws is never far away. It is one situation where good old prevention is better than cure.

    Still, no word is severe enough to excuse ethnic hate, particularly in a delicate and fractious country like Nigeria. As democracy guarantees rights, so do rights have limits. Right to speech doesn’t give the beneficiary the liberty to turn speech into some fatal verbal missile, felling fellow citizens. Again, love of your own ethnic group — which is your essence really — doesn’t give you the licence to hate others with the same passion as you love yourself. That is bigotry, which is the mother pool, from which other hate speeches flow.

    The first task perhaps is to promote love and understanding among Nigeria’s ethnic groups, such that blind hate reduces. Bigotry most times results from lack of correct information about others, leaving the starved mind to see others as enemies, simply because they are not of his or her own stock. With mass enlightenment, the Federal Government, with its National Orientation Agency (NOA), can drive the message in a structured, focused and effective way.

    If this is done, and positive results achieved, there would be less need to codify a specific law for hate speech, for incidence of hate speeches would have dramatically reduced.

    But special law or no law, people must learn to take responsibility for their actions. As rights go with responsibilities, and actions come with consequences, everyone would do well to embrace temperance and fairness in their day-to-day dealings.

    That is the only guarantee that such laws would not be passed. If they are passed, the possibility of abuse is always there. Again, prevention is better than cure!

     

  • Avoidable tragedy

    •Tragedies on Lagos-Ibadan Expressway highlight an urgent national problem

    Another avoidable tragedy raised questions about the state of inter-state roads as well as the state of mind of passenger-bus drivers on such roads. A report painted a picture of a September 14 crash: “Thirty-one people were confirmed dead while seven others were seriously injured when two 18-passenger buses loaded with passengers collided with another vehicle on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway on Thursday night. The crash occurred close to a construction site around Elebolo area in Oluyole, Ibadan.”

    How it happened showed impatience and over-speeding, two dangerous things drivers are encouraged to avoid. The situation was compounded by darkness. According to the report, “The Oyo State Head of Operations, Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr. Cyril Mathew, said the accident occurred at about 8.30pm and blamed it on over-speeding. He said the two vehicles were travelling in opposite directions, adding that the driver of the Ibadan-bound bus had increased speed in an attempt to overtake an articulated vehicle, but he lost control of the bus before ramming into a bus, which was on its way to Lagos.” Mathew was quoted as saying 20 men and 10 women died in the crash.

    Thankfully, there were survivors, and one of them reportedly corroborated the observation of the FRSC boss: “Busari Owolabi said the driver of the vehicle he was travelling in had been cautioned several times by passengers against over-speeding before the accident occurred.”

    Additionally, the report said: “One of the FRSC officials at the scene of the accident noted that the accident could have been caused by the drivers’ use of alcohol. He said that both of them reeked of alcohol during the rescue operation.”

    Obviously, over-speeding and alcohol consumption are human factors that are controllable, which makes the role of the drivers involved condemnable. There is no excuse for such dangerous and potentially destructive behaviour behind the wheel. When such accidents happen as a result of such causes, the problem can be attributed to a failure of common sense. It is important to emphasise that the regular public enlightenment campaigns that discourage over-speeding and alcohol consumption for road safety reasons need to be treated seriously and absorbed by drivers.

    It has been observed that the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway poses the greatest challenge to road marshals in terms of traffic control, accident prevention and response to crashes. The road is notorious for its high traffic volume and fatal crashes, but this should not be accepted as unchangeable. The relevant authorities should pay attention to the condition of the road and ensure that it is properly maintained and managed.

    It is noteworthy that, following the introduction of the speed limiter, the FRSC, in February, said enforcement had brought about a noticeable decrease in crash rates on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway. The FRSC had given motorists, particularly commercial vehicles and fleet operators, up to February 1 to comply. Its Sagamu unit commander, Mallam Mohammed Abdullahi, had said:  ”It is a well known fact that the human factor in relation to speeding, accounted for 50 per cent of road crashes in the country. Crashes involving commercial vehicles and trucks had always been prevalent but now we are seeing a decline as motorists begin to comply on the speed limiter policy.”

    He added: “It is advisable that everyone obtains the speed limit devices. It is just an attempt to take away the human control of speed and transfer to the machine. With the speed limiter, you will not be able to exceed the approved calibrated speed cap of a 100km/h, placing a stone on the pedal would make no difference. For now, the enforcement is only on the commercial vehicles and that’s simply because commercial vehicles have capacity to carry more passengers than the private ones.”

    The current state of enforcement is unclear, considering the latest tragedy on the expressway. Reducing crashes and fatalities on the road is an objective that must be achieved.

     

  • Avoidable crisis in the health sector

    SIR: The Nigerian health sector has always been on the news with one problem or the other, with the various professional bodies trying to outdo the other. The problem now is between the radiologists and the radiographers.

    The radiologists are sponsoring a new bill in the National Assembly with the help of their colleagues – the National Council of Radiology and Radiation Medicine Establishment Bill 2017, to regulate radiography practice in Nigeria. This is very wrong

    All professional bodies in the health sector are regulated by their councils or boards. The medical doctors including the specialists are regulated by the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN); the nurses are regulated by the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, the pharmacists are regulated by the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, the medical laboratory scientists are regulated by the Medical Laboratory Council of Nigeria, the radiographers are regulated by the Radiographers Registration Board of Nigeria (RRBN), the optometrists are regulated by the Optometrist Board.

    The laboratory scientists work with the pathologists, the pathologists do not regulate them, the optometrists work with the ophthalmologists and the ophthalmologists do not regulate them. The nurses work with medical doctors; the doctors do not regulate them.

    Why now do the radiologists want to take over the functions of the radiographers’ Registration Board of Nigeria? In United Kingdom Germany and others, each profession regulates its members

    The entire wordings of the National Council of Radiology and Radiation Medicine Establishment Bill 2017, is mostly a repetition of the Radiographers (registration etc) Act of 1987 by just removing the word radiographer and replacing it with radiologists. The membership of the NCR bill is twenty (20) with twelve (12) radiologists and only three (3) radiographers.

    The National Assembly is asked to stop this bill. The honourable minister of health is asked to stop this bill. The general public is asked to stop this bill. The nation cannot afford other crisis in the health sector.

     

    • Frank Offor,

    G.R. A. Enugu.

  • Avoidable deaths

    •The Calabar viewing centre electrocution should never have happened. Governments nationwide should take steps against such tragic recurrence

    The popular viewing centre was on Access High School Road, Calabar. Little did the 120-odd cheering denizens packed inside it, watching the Manchester United Vs Anderlecht Europa Cup quarter-final match, realise it could turn high access to sudden death! When the smoke cleared, no less than 10 lay dead, according to the police. Tens of others suffered severe burns.

    Yet, that accident need not have happened. The tragedy, however, is that there is no guarantee it would not happen again, for the objective situations that triggered that mishap are replicated in poor neighbourhoods nationwide. That is why our governments should take pro-active measures to avert a recurrence.

    From news reports, the match was in high gear when there was a cut in public power supply. Then, came a bang on the roof of the make-shift centre, made of corrugated iron roofs. It was a high-tension cable, which had fallen off the University of Calabar (UNICAL) 11 KV feeder. It was around 9:30 pm.

    The viewers knew what had happened. But in the ardour of the moment, with pumping adrenalin often accompanying such high-competitive matches, they asked the operator to put on the generating set. In another moment, the public lights came on again. But that transformed into instant electrocution for the unlucky ones that had contact with the iron sheets!  The stampede to rush out of the tent claimed some casualties too.

    Again, this was a death that shouldn’t have happened. But we deeply console with the families of those who lost their lives, suffered burns and general trauma. May the souls of the dead rest in peace; and may God comfort those they left behind. The Cross River State government too owes it a duty to the hospitalised to get good care. It is the least it can do under the circumstance and it should do it with cheer.

    Yet, as that saying goes, prevention is better than cure. A little more attention to urban planning, in the Calabar metropolis, should have exposed that spot as accident-waiting-to-happen. A corrugated iron shack, built under high-tension wires, was always going to be problematic.

    To start with, the profile of the shack suggests there might not have been a government approval for the structure. If someone, somewhere had asked some probing questions, and taken action, perhaps the shack would have been dismantled, and the viewing centre would not be there. Even if a cable had fallen, as it did, the casualty rate, if any, wouldn’t have been so high.

    That is the right thing to do. But that, given the reality in many of Nigeria’s urban centres, where growth and expansion always trump planning, is easier said than done.

    All over the country, there are fully built-up areas, under high tension wires. At night, these cables hum and buzz, as they ferry high-tension electricity. The people underneath are aware of the danger. But poverty and sheer fatalism make them wish the danger away.

    The governments too, often overwhelmed, with millions of denizens fleeing the city centre in search of cheaper rents in the outskirts, know the right thing to do. But they seldom have the political will to do them.

    If you decide to pull down the structures, do you have the cash to resettle the people? Even if you have the cash, do you boast the logistics to resettle everyone fairly, such that such an exercise doesn’t lead to another social crisis?

    If you apply the big stick and just pull down the houses, how would you guard against crime and other effects of homelessness, and their stupendous social costs? So many a time, an over-stretched government just does nothing and pretends the problem would go away. Well, the result is the Calabar tragedy.

    What to do is to take a wholistic look at Nigeria’s endemic crisis of urbanisation and put in place town-planning counter-measures to stem unbridled settlements. This is the real disease. All other results, no matter how grim, are nothing but symptoms.

    The government cannot afford to shirk its responsibility of making our cities and towns safe for human habitation. So, if it must enforce stringent environmental planning laws, setting the human rights community whining in antipathy, so be it. Only the living claim human rights. The dead don’t.

    Let the Calabar deaths; therefore, signify new thinking in this all-important matter. Enough of needless deaths.

  • Avoidable energy crisis

    •With adequate planning and more seriousness, there should be no shortage of kerosene and gas  

    An acute shortage of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), otherwise known as cooking gas, that hit the country about a month ago, has further compounded Nigerians’ hardship. This has invariably led to the prices of both products skyrocketing. For instance, the four-litre gallon of kerosene, which sold for N1,200 about three weeks ago, now sells for N1,600;  while a 12.5kg cylinder of gas is now sold for between N4,000 and N5,000, from the previous N3,200.

    We do not understand why the Federal Government allowed this to occur in the first place; to allow it linger is beyond comprehension. Kerosene is the common man’s energy, in which case it should be affordable and available. As for cooking gas, its scarcity should be an abomination in a country trying to discourage the use of dirty fuel and protecting the environment.

    The incessant scarcity of these products is an indication that the government is yet to overcome the challenges bedevilling their supply. Kerosene is scarce because our refineries are not producing at optimal level. Even the importation that the government resorted to has not guaranteed steady supply. Before the present scarcity, both the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and major oil marketers had been importing kerosene.

    However, for some time, the marketers have not been able to get forex and therefore have to patronise the black market with its outrageous exchange rates. Only a few weeks ago, the marketers complained that the Federal Government was owing them about $1billion, mainly bank loans.

    Of course the inability of the marketers to import as they used to will naturally tell on supply. All we need to prove the supply shortfall is the statistics from NNPC’s monthly financial and operations report for last November, which revealed that in September 2016 (the last time it imported the product) it brought in 33,662,899.42 litres while total production from the three refineries was a paltry 42,313,316 litres as against 84,153,826 litres in October. In line with the natural law of demand and supply, prices will jump in a situation where demand exceeds supply.

    The problem with gas appears hydra-headed. One is inadequate infrastructure. Mr. Basil Ogbuanu, President of the Nigerian Association of LPG Marketers (NALPGAM), gave a distressing example. He said for about a week, a vessel laden with aviation fuel occupied the jetty waiting to discharge even as other petroleum products cargoes queued up, unsure of when they would be allowed to discharge their products. Meanwhile, there was also an LPG vessel (a product that is sorely needed) that had been at the anchor point for weeks, incurring demurrage.

    It is becoming obvious that we need more than the two terminals that can take LPG in Lagos. The government should build terminals in Port Harcourt and Calabar, for instance.

    Just as with kerosene, forex remains a serious challenge in the gas supply chain. This is because the product is priced locally at international rates. The problem is exacerbated by the weak exchange rate of the naira that has further increased the price of LPG. We also have to factor in the cost of diesel to power the generators when the gas gets to the plants. A litre of diesel now sells for N250. “All these costs eventually lead to increase in retail price of gas. Even if the vessels are allowed to discharge now, the cost of 12.5kg from a reasonable wholesale plant cannot be less than N4,000.’’ Ogbuanu lamented.

    The government must address these challenges as well as the security concerns that led to the abandonment of the NOJ and POP terminals. It should also be ready to “invest in transportation of LPG from those terminals into the country either by rail or by trucks. We have to get all of that done. We have to make sure that we have enough distribution centres across the country,’’ as suggested by the NLNG.

    And, as the National Chairman, Liquefied Petroleum Gas Retailers (LPGAR) branch of NUPENG, Mr. Chika Michael Umudu said, the government may have to revitalise the 2007 Obasanjo LP Gas policy that helped to generate some improvements in the sector.

  • Avoidable drain

    •It is high time government reviewed software licensing agreements

    It is again another classic Nigerian paradox: a nation of eager, IT-savvy youths; yet one where wholesale dependence on imported software solutions in industry and commerce rules. According to Dan Azumi Ibrahim, Director-General of the National Office for Technology Acquisition and Promotion (NOTAP) – the Federal Government agency responsible for registering and monitoring all software before they are deployed – more than 99 per cent of the software packages that are used in the banking industry in the last six years are imported.

    Hence his lament: “If you see the quantum amount of money that leaves this country as software licensing fees, you will shed tears. In fact, it is with pains and difficulty that we approve those agreements”.

    The banking industry is however not alone. In fact, the same is true of the oil and gas industry, the information technology (IT) sector, the manufacturing sector as indeed, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) of governments. Today, the combined annual loss to the economy – in terms of the cost of acquisition and maintenance of foreign software – is currently put at N400 billion – up from the N200 billion that it was in 2012.

    It is a story that Nigerians are only too familiar with – the never-ending paradox of a nation that does best at exporting what it does not have while importing what it has a surfeit of, or has the potential to produce locally. We recall that 10 years ago, former President Olusegun Obasanjo actually issued a directive that all MDAs must patronise local personal computer (PC) makers and software developers. Indeed, the 2006 Federal Government circular signed by the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ufot Ekaette, specifically directed all MDAs to patronise made-in-Nigeria software and locally assembled computers as a priority choice of applications for all their functions. The verdict, 10 years on is that this directive is being observed in the breach.

    Overall, whether it is in the oil industry where the nation currently struggles for a measly 10 percent local content after more than 50 years of oil exploration, or in the banking industry that has been in operation for more than 120 years, the story is the same, of missed opportunities to grow local pool of talent and hence a vibrant local industry.

    We understand the impregnable odds faced by our local PC assemblers and software developers compared with their foreign counterparts. Where infrastructure is not lacking, they make do with virtual absence of any form of institutional support. With due respect to many of our local software developers that have proven to be world-class, we understand that a good number of them still have a long way to go, at least as far as bringing their efforts to international standards.

    The truth however is that the story of technical inadequacy is not nearly half of the story of what has become a culture of preference for anything foreign and its twin – corruption which allows top executives of entities – private and public – to double as fronts to foreign software companies, to repatriate humongous amounts of foreign exchange annually under the cover of maintenance and annual licensing fees.

    One immediate solution is for the Federal Government to give practical effect to the 2006 circular. Not only will the measure save humongous costs, it would certainly boost local software development efforts and ultimately, youth employment. Secondly, it seems to us that the time has come for the Federal Government to undertake a comprehensive review of software licensing agreements not only to promote skills/knowledge transfer but to discourage needless capital flight.

    At this time, fresh initiatives to assist the local software developers to acquire the muscle to compete with their peers globally would clearly be worth every dime spent on it.

  • Another avoidable tragedy

    •Time to fix the failed portions of Abuja-Kaduna Expressway

    Last Sunday was another sad and bleak one for Ekiti State and Nigeria as a whole. It was a day that the country lost six medical doctors in a fatal accident on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway. There were 13 occupants of the 18-seater vehicle, including the driver who, incidentally, also lost his life.

    The doctors were among the Ekiti State delegates to the 56th Annual General Conference/Annual Delegates Meeting of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) holding in Sokoto. Those who died – Dr Alex Akinyele, Dr Tunde Aladesanmi, Dr O.J Taiwo, Dr Ogunseye, J.B, Dr Olajide, O. and Dr Atolani Adeniyi  – were from the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti, the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti as well as the state’s health management board, respectively.

    Interestingly, the accident reportedly occurred around the spot where the former Minister of State for Labour and Productivity, Mr James Ocholi, as well as his wife and son died in a road accident on March 6. Again, just as in the Ocholi case, the bus conveying the doctors to Sokoto was said to have had a burst tyre. But a burst tyre can only lead to this kind of tragedy if the vehicle is on high speed. The implication of all this is that the relevant authorities did nothing to ameliorate that failed spot and other damaged parts of the road between Mr James Ocholi’s fatal accident and that of the six deceased doctors as well as their driver.

    It is a notorious and perennially lamented fact that inter-state highways across the country are in terrible shape. Most of them have become veritable death traps. It is only when prominent  persons are involved in fatal accidents that the news makes the headlines. Thus, the incidence of loss of lives on our deplorable roads nationwide is most likely grossly underreported.

    A strange and curious twist to the tragedy is the protest and strike by workers of the Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido-Ekiti (FETHI), who put the blame for the death of their colleagues on the institution’s chief medical director, Dr Lawrence Ayodele. The aggrieved workers claim that at least 42 members of staff have died during Dr Ayodele’s tenure and this they believe is as a result of rituals he allegedly carries out on the institution’s premises, with the aim of getting his tenure in office renewed. Vehemently denying this allegation, the FETHI spokesman, Mr Adeboyejo Adekunle, said “Some people are against the CMD’s second term. They are disgruntled elements and they are the ones behind all these”.

    It is a pity that this gruesome tragedy is being politicised in such a cynical manner that shows little respect for the memory of the dead. While we understand and identify with the deep grief of FETHI’s workers, we urge them to make claims that lie within the realm of reason and empirical verifiability. The allegation that rituals carried out by the CMD or his agents are responsible for the fatal accident seems far-fetched and is impossible to prove since such claims are essentially metaphysical. For us, there are practical steps that must be immediately taken to stem the rate of fatal accidents and avoidable tragedies on the Abuja-Kaduna Road.

    We call on the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency (FERMA) to immediately fix the dangerous portions of the road and all other such death traps on highways across the country. It is also incumbent on the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) to engage in more aggressive public enlightenment campaigns to sensitise the public to dangerous portions of roads as well as stem the tide of over-speeding on the highways. We commiserate with the families of victims of what is another avoidable tragedy and pray that God grant them strength in this dark hour.

  • Nigeria’s lingering but avoidable problems

    Sir: Every Nigerian now has to bear the brunt of a mismanaged economy courtesy of the Jonathan mal-administration. If only we knew we would not be better off now than we were four years ago, perhaps the story will be different. We are on the verge of making another choice as regards who will lead the country for another four years. It’s a choice between continuity, which President Jonathan represents, and change, which General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) promises to bring to bear if elected. Many Nigerians are torn between these two choices, which the New York Times editorial referred to as miserable.

    Regardless of this, we have to weigh our options. Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s recent allusion to the lack of institutions, systems and process as the reason for persistent corruption and the current state of the Nigerian economy is an afterthought. Though institutions, systems and processes are needed but what has been done under the coordinating minister of the economy to address this problem and avoid this economic mess? Nobody has come out to tell Nigerians that the economy is in recession. Worst still, what the economic management team told us is that we need to start diversifying the economy in order to be able to cope with the current fall in oil prices. Nigeria’s economy is finally in recession.

    Former CBN Governor, Professor Chukwuma Soludo in his much criticised article titled: ‘Buhari versus Jonathan: Beyond 2015’, which was published in most newspapers stated that ‘’at a time of oil boom, Nigeria again went on a consumption spree such that the budgets of the last five years can be best described as consumption budget with new borrowing by the federal government exceeding the actual expenditure on critical infrastructure. Not one penny was added to the stock of foreign reserves at a period Nigeria earned hundreds of billions from oil.’’

    Professor Soludo continued; ‘’President Obasanjo met about $5 billion in foreign reserves and the average monthly oil price for the 72 months he was in office was $38 and yet he left $43 billion in foreign reserves after paying $12 billion to write-off Nigeria’s external debt. In the last five years, the average monthly oil price has been over $100 and the quantity also higher but our foreign reserves have been declining and exchange rate depreciating.’’

    The CBN’s further devaluation of the naira after that of 2014 and Dr. Okonjo-Iweala’s warning that tough times await Nigerians are all pointers to the challenges ahead. All the indices for measuring government performance on the economy have been poor for Nigeria according to reputable statistical organisations. This has been the case for many years now and past administrations have done little to improve these indices so as to be able to improve the standard of living of Nigerians. The reasons for these are quite obvious. Leaders of government and politicians have failed to address the fundamental problems. They have refused to reduce the cost of governance as well as the salaries and emoluments of public office holders. Besides, the citizens have not tried to compel their representatives at the National and State Assemblies to work on cutting down government spending by at least 50 per cent.

    Countries that do not have as much natural resources like we do are managing their economy in such a way that the citizens are not made to suffer untoward hardship. Besides our over-reliance on crude oil as the major source of revenue has resulted in undermining the agricultural and mining sectors which are capable of solving most of our economic problems. Now, the current economic management team is looking at diversifying the economy as a result of the fall in oil prices but this should have been done a long time ago.

    However, we must see the present challenges as an opportunity to fundamentally restructure Nigeria’s political economy including its fiscal federalism and mineral rights. The current system guarantees cycles of consumption and one cannot see sustainable long term prosperity without major systemic overhaul.

     

    • Liman Abdullahi Isah

     Ibb University, Lapai.