The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ‘broke

  • Going for broke

    With the way game-planning by Nigeria’s political actors towards the 2019 general election is getting heated up, we must wait to see if the business of governance in the country will stay open until the poll.

    For instance, the legislative space for much of last week was dominated by mass defection of lawmakers at the national and state levels, and as well the sacking of principal officers in some state assemblies – in particular, Benue. The Senate chamber of the National Assembly early in the week shelved plenary sitting as members proceeded on an annual vacation from which they aren’t expected back until September 26. The catch is: before making that call, the chamber willy-nilly hung up on processing some crucial legislations, among them the supplementary budget proposal of N242billion for the 2019 poll. At the laggard’s pace with which the NASS notoriously processes appropriation bills, there is genuine cause for worry that the impending elections for which fund is being sought are due to hold barely five months after Senate resumes plenary.

    Also, there are confirmation hearings pending before the red chamber regarding nominees to strategic government agencies, including a deputy governor for the Central Bank of Nigeria. All those will have to await the ‘distinguished’ members’ pleasure at the resumption of plenary sittings.

    But you could hardly say the Executive arm of government faired any better. Presidential schedules in recent weeks have been weighted too heavily with random consultations towards securing the chances of the ruling party and its candidates in the forthcoming elections, especially the President who is himself seeking another term of office. Actually, the guest list at Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja for nearly all of last week was predominated by party actors ostensibly calling at the seat of power to brainstorm strategies for the forthcoming poll. In effect, it is moot how much else went down by way of governance.

    Besides electoral game-planning that has bogged down governance, the biggest challenge facing the Nigerian democracy yet may be how to keep vital organs of state that are required to be apolitical insulated from political colouration, as such organs in the course of their statutory operations engage with partisans angling for poll advantage. The police force, which is one of such organs, came under severe political colouration last week and was locked in a credibility battle over its latest moves to investigate Senate President Bukola Saraki for his alleged indictment regarding the April 5th bank robbery in Offa, Kwara State, in which more than 30 persons were killed by bandits.

    Police Inspector-General Ibrahim Idris had last Monday written Saraki to report the next day to investigators at the Intelligence Response Team office of his agency in Abuja for further questioning over confessional statements by five principal suspects of the Offa robbery that allegedly implicated him. The police’s invitation letter required the Senate chieftain to come before homicide detectives and answer questions on the bank robbery by 8a.m. on Tuesday. But Tuesday was as well the day pencilled by some members of both chambers of the NASS to declare their defection from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) among others.

    Saraki said he woke up on the day in question to a police blockade of the street leading to his residence, allegedly with an intention to prevent him going out for the day; and his aides have ensured generous dispersal of visuals purporting to prove that point. He also claimed that he received a call from Deputy Senate President Ike Ekweremadu same morning advising that his own (Ekweremadu’s) residence was as well under lockdown by policemen along with agents of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the Department of State Security.

    The Senate principal inferred that police authorities intended to prevent that day’s plenary of the red chamber from holding by keeping both presiding officers away, all so to upend  plans by aggrieved senators to announce their defection from the ruling party. Saraki surmounted all odds to preside over Senate plenary, where the sole business of the day was to give effect to the defections before members shut down for a freak two-month vacation. But he didn’t consider it sufficiently imperative to honour the police summon and rather sent in a written response he deemed adequate for queries raised in the invitation letter.

    The police however insisted on its invitation to Saraki and also denied staging the siege on his residence as well as that of Ekweremadu. Force spokesman Jimoh Moshood said the Senate President was being expected, “otherwise the Force will not hesitate to use all the instruments of the law to ensure compliance with the law.” He added in a statement: “The Force wishes to categorically state that there was no authorised deployment of police personnel to besiege the residence of the Senate President or his deputy…However, the Inspector-General has directed a thorough investigation to ascertain the facts of the case.”

    Elaborating the logic of police’s non-involvement in the purported blockades in one of his media appearances, Moshood said: “If we were expecting (Saraki), why would we go and block him?…What happened (on Tuesday) was not a blockade by our personnel…Those seen in the picture and video were personnel that were attached to him, because we don’t even use Mercedes-Benz for patrol. We don’t have any Mercedes Benz in our fleet for patrol, and in that picture there was a Mercedes-Benz vehicle. Those are the personnel attached to the convoy of the Senate President and those attached to his residence for his protection.”

    Our reality is that the tenor of politicking towards the 2019 poll is hitting war pitch, and as ancient Greek tragic dramatist Aeschylus once said, truth is the first casualty in war. Thus it isn’t readily apparent what is truth and what is hype in the items of information plied by the lawmakers’ camp following the purported siege on the residences of Saraki and Ekweremadu.

    Since our democracy in Nigeria is yet nascent, it thus must be defended and nurtured; hence we must not condone jackboot tendencies that threaten civil liberties. Neither can we have agencies of state that should be apolitical meddling in politics. To that end, the police have more to explain on the urgency of its invitation to the Senate President as to warrant such summon taking precedence over the red chamber’s plenary for the day in question as was apparently expected. Remember that the IGP’s letter inviting Saraki required him to face police investigators by 8a.m. on Tuesday. Besides, it was a curious coincidence that the EFCC, according to uncontested reports, also wrote Ekweremadu a July 24th letter inviting him for immediate questioning over alleged conspiracy to alter Senate rules, abuse of office and money laundry.

    But here is bottom line: the two Senate principals have pending issues with the law that they must seize the initiative to earnestly and effectively discharge, if so to ensure the sanctity and good image of the legislative chamber they preside upon. Even if the police and EFCC acted out a political script last week, it must be because Saraki and Ekweremadu are held by the security agencies – rightly or otherwise – to be at odds with the law. After all, the House of Representatives also gave effect to the defection of some of its members to other parties same day as the Senate, and neither the Speaker nor Deputy Speaker were reported hunted by security agencies of  ahead of that chamber’s plenary for the day.

    No wonder the Holy Book say where there isn’t a dead body, vultures do not gather.

     

    • Please join me on kayodeidowu.blogspot.be for conversation.
  • Nigerian Embassy in New York broke

    Nigerian Embassy in New York broke

    The Nigerian Embassy in New York has fallen on bad times. For months, workers have not been paid. Neither is the embassy able to repair its air conditioners, the only source of air since the windows of the imposing glass house cannot be opened. Visitors now wait outside the building while their passports are being processed, writes Adeola Fayehun,  who visited the embassy in New York.

    I needed to see for myself. I’ve heard that it’s been more than a month since the air conditioner broke down at the Nigerian High Commission in New York. It was 32°C, and there are no windows or cross ventilation in the 21-storey all-glass building located on 44th Street and Second Avenue. The only source of air in the edifice are the air conditioning units.

    Outside the embassy, visitors were sitting, waiting for their,  passports. I approached a woman with two kids, a boy and a girl. Idera had been sitting outside for hours, while her husband breezed in and out of the embassy. The heat inside was unbearable for her and her children. She showed me the boy; his face was covered with sweat. She lifted his arms; “My baby had no rashes before we came here today, now his two arms are covered with rashes from the heat. It’s like an oven in there,” she said.

    When her husband came out, he hesitated to tell her, but despite waiting for six hours, the embassy said he had to come back in two days because they were out of ink.

    “You won’t believe how rude they were; they talk to you anyhow,” he said. I begged them that my children cannot come back to this heat, but they didn’t care.”

    Another family sat near the pillar  painted in grey outside the building. The three teenagers waited patiently outside for their mother who kept going in and out. “We’ve been here for six hours,” one of them said.

    As soon as I got in the elevator, I thought of running back outside. On the eighth floor, the chairs were empty. The old standing fan made no difference. It was blowing heat. No wonder people sat outside. I went to the sixth floor, no air. I went to the fourth floor, no air. I went to the second floor, no air. I had to see for myself.

    Getting back to the first floor, I went to the waiting room, where about three families were waiting. Two families gathered around a portable air conditioner, the only air conditioning unit I saw working in the building. I was so happy to see at least one source of fresh air, and I mentioned it to the two families. I was surprised by their response.

    “The air conditioner didn’t work all day; we were all sweating, so most people went outside. It was later in the afternoon that it started working,” they said.

    I was short of words. I looked around the waiting room, and I was ashamed. How can this be my embassy? I saw loose wires hanging on the walls near the surveillance camera, and an old box television with nothing playing. Though beautiful outside the huge building made me feel like I was in Nigeria, at one of the ministries’ run down offices.

    A man held his newly born baby to his chest at the waiting room,

    “My baby’s food is finished,” he said. I begged the staff all day to please help us do the passport today. We came very early, all the way from Pennsylvania; we drove for five hours, they just dismissed me and told my wife and I to come back on Wednesday.” They told him to come back in two days because they’re out of laminating supplies. I was confused, I thought they were out of ink, now it’s laminating supplies.

    From what I gathered, some diplomats have not been paid for four months. Some local staff also have not been paid for two months. The mission is unable to pay for medical insurance of staff and diplomats. So, I was not surprised to hear customers say one man was willing to produce passports if money exchanged hands. However, I have no means of verifying this information, because while I was in the room, the man did not take money from visitors. They offered him cash, but he rejected it.

    An embassy employee noticed me and wanted to query me. So I asked, “Are you happy working under this condition?” He looked at me and said “no!” I told him my hope in reporting this, is that the Federal Government will release funds to pay salaries and fix the air conditioning. I found out even if they get money today, it could take two months for the units to work.

    Back outside, I met a man that flew in from Minnesota. “They just told me to come back on Wednesday, how am I supposed to do it?” He works in Minnesota; now he has to change all his plans and his return flight if he wants a new passport.

    Several families have to come back to this heat. I only spent about 40 minutes in there, and I couldn’t wait to buy a bottle of water, which I drank in a gulp. I was drained!

    For two days, I tried to get a top official of the embassy to comment on these issues. Finally, after telling me to call back again and again, the official said he needed to get approval from Abuja before he could talk to the media.

     

  • MFM will go for broke against Tornadoes – Onuwa

    MFM will go for broke against Tornadoes – Onuwa

    MFM FC midfielder Chukwuka Onuwa Emmanuel has told AfricanFootball.com they hope to beat visiting Niger Tornadoes today in continuation of the Nigeria league after they were held at home by champions Enyimba in midweek.

    “The match against Enyimba is gone now, we are looking forward to great game against Tornadoes, victory is what we target and we will go for it,” the petite Onuwa told AfricanFootball.com

    The mercurial midfielder revealed he was disappointed they failed to beat champions Enyimba at home as they played out a goalless draw at the Agege Stadium in a Week 16 game of the NPFL.

    “Well, it’s a game of football where three results, win, draw or loss are possible but I am not happy because we dropped points at home, but nevertheless playing a team like Enyimba, either home or away, and not losing is not a very bad result,” he reasoned.

     

  • ‘Why Ondo can’t be broke’

    ‘Why Ondo can’t be broke’

    A University don, Dr. Theo Adebowale, has explained why Ondo State should not be broke, despite the economy crisis ravaging the nation.

    Adebowale said if its natural and minerals resources have been properly utilised, the state can survive by paying workers’ salary, constructing roads, building hospitals, providing jobs without depending on Federal Government allocations.

    The university don, delivered a lecture at a programme organized by the Broom Initiative for Empowerment and Sustenance [BIES] to mark the Independence Day in Akure, the state capital. The theme of the programme is: Party Supremacy: Leadership and Discipline

    He lamented that the state was listed among states that benefited from the bailout funds because it could not pay workers’ salaries.

    He said when a visionless leader is in charge of affairs, the result is that the economy would crumble and the masses would continue to suffer.

    Adebowale added: “ Ondo state is blessed with Oil, coffee, Cotton, Quart sand, Clay, Granite, Limestone, Talc, Kaolin, Coal, Columbine, Rock, Tin, River, Mineral deposits and Bitumen which is the 2nd largest in the world and if these are properly utilized  by a vision governor, the state should not be depending on federal government allocation before paying workers’ salaries.

    “If all our moribund industries like Oluwa-Glass, Okitipupa Palm Oil Company, Ifon ceramic industries and others are being revived, by now unemployment should have been reduced in the state”

    The lecturer lauded the former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, for proving himself as the best choice for the state when former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime stopped the allocation of the state.

    Adebowole, however, urged electorate to stop allowing money to influence who they would vote for during election time, saying that the result is always the production of bad leader in the seat of power.

    The Coordinator of the group, Erelu Modupe Johnson said the group aim is to enlighten the people ahead of next governorship election and also to empower the masses.

  • I cant date a man who is broke

    I cant date a man who is broke

    Nollywood actress, model and TV presenter, Nancy Isime, might be relatively new to the Nigerian movie scene, but according to her, hard work is her recipe for success. She speaks to OVWE MEDEME on her journey into acting and life as a model, among other issues

    Give us an overview of yourself and how you got into the acting world

    I am a model and an ex beauty queen. I am still modelling. I started out with a TV drama series called Echoes. That was my very first gig. Last year, I was in a couple of movies. Some of them are yet to come out but I started acting from modelling. I was doing runway modelling then and a director on one of the runway shows was going to do the TV series called Echoes, so he saw me and suggested that I come read a script for the drama. I wasn’t too into it but I went for the reading and I got the role.

    From there, it just kept going. From the comments I am getting and from the referrals and commendations, I would say I have done well. Also, I am a TV presenter. I present a show called The Squeeze which is a gossip show. I also present a show called What’s Hot. It is a technology show. I also covered back stage on MTN Project Fame season 7.

    Is it right to say acting stole you away from modelling?

    If I still get modelling projects, I still go for it but acting is something that has caught my interest. There is something I have always said. I don’t want to be stagnant in life, I want to go out there and explore my options. I modelled for a while, I was a beauty queen at first. I won the Miss Valentine International pageant in 2009. Even before then, I was a model but my career in modelling took off from there. After that, I started doing fashion shows. I did quite a lot of fashion shoots and also commercial modelling. But when it came to acting, I found it really interesting and very challenging but I still model. I won’t say acting took me away from modelling.

    Professionally, how long have you been acting?

    I did Echoes sometime around 2011 and then I went off the scene for a while. You can rightly say that professionally, I went into acting from last year when I did Heaven on Ebony Life TV. If you want to count from Echoes, it would be from 2011. But mind you, after we filmed Echoes, it didn’t start showing till last year as well; so it is safe to say I started acting from last year.

     In summary, how would you say your acting career has been?

    It has been awesome. I happen to work with very talented people. I have worked with quite a number of big names including John Njamah. I just finished a job with him.  So far so good. It has been awesome to be able to work with people who have been in the industry for a while, people who have been acting way longer than I have. So I can say it has been going on very well.

    What was your first experience on set like?

    I was really nervous. At a point, I forgot how to speak English (laughs). I didn’t know what was going on. The director kept on saying ‘Nancy, calm down.’ I would still give it up to him. His name is Gibson. He is a Ghanaian director and he nurtured me. He told me that I was doing great. As soon as I caught on, I could speak up. When I started, really, I couldn’t speak up. I was so scared that my voice sounded somehow. I used to speak on such low tones. I was so nervous working with really big people. Echoes had a lot of stars.

     So far, what has been your low moments?

    None, really. All I can say is that it is really challenging being an actress. When you are on set, no one cares if you are down or anything. They just want you to come and deliver a job, whether it is an emotional scene or a very violent scene. All they know is that you should come on set and do what you can.

    For now, there has been no major low moment. It is just that I have had very challenging times and anybody who is in the industry will tell you that most directors are extremely strict and they can appear harsh but that is just for your own good. I hope I never have those low moments, but there are times when I get home, I just drop my bag and say no more because sometimes you have to shoot for as long as 17 hours a day.

     How far are you willing to go to rub shoulders with the big names in the industry?

    I am a total believer in hard work, in persistence and in being focused. The highest I can go is to get to work, be the best I can be and bring out the best in me each time I’m on set. I don’t believe in doing several takes. I believe in bringing out the best in the very first take. What I just need to do to get higher in the game is to be the best, to work really hard and to stay focused and to just make sure that I do what I am supposed to do on set and give my producers and directors their money’s worth and not waste anybody’s time. All I’m just trying to say is, I just make sure I bring out the best in me, make sure I connect with the crowd and can give the audience what they want to watch.

    What does being a model entail?

    First and foremost, you need to have the body. Also, you need to be patient enough to go for auditions, stand on queues and also have the heart to take disappointments. People think modelling is so easy but it is not. You have to stand on a long queue, get auditioned, get picked sometimes or get dropped at other times.

    It is all about the ability to always try and to keep coming back until you get your big break. In Nigeria, modelling is not as it is in the western countries where you get your big break and that is it. Here, you can get your big break and still go back down, so it is very imperative that you get your big break and continue to work hard and continue to come back for more. Just be hungry because when you stay hungry and when you stay focused, you keep coming back for more. Make sure you look good and presentable all the time because you have to represent brands, so you have to look the part.

    How true is the notion that modelling rakes in big money?

    The fashion world hasn’t really gotten there if you ask me, but the commercial world is definitely there. For example, if you get to model for multinational brands, it brings a lot of money compared to the fashion industry which has been stagnant for a while. There is money in the modelling business but you need to have a big break for that.

     Compared to acting, which pays more?

    For now, I can’t say. Because in acting, I am not yet in a place where I can start to receive all the big bucks. I just basically started a year or two years ago. I cannot be expecting to get paid as much as people like Mercy Johnson and Genevieve Nnaji but trust me, there is a lot of money in acting but that depends on the stage you are in. I believe someday, I will get to the stage where I can say it pays too much. For now, it takes care of my bills. It pays moderately but if I am to compare it to modelling, I can’t really say. But as I said, some modelling just pay small cash; some bring in the big cash.

    Would you date a broke guy who is jobless?

    Let me put it this way, I would date an ambitious guy and ambitious guys are never really broke, they are never jobless. They are guys who are so industrious, guys who would go out there to do everything they can to make money for themselves. I say this because I want the best for anybody that I am in a relationship with, be it a friend, my family member or a boyfriend.

    In the case of a boyfriend, I believe any man who is broke and jobless really has no business being in a relationship. I say this because it actually takes away from your focus as a man. As a struggling man, you should sit down and focus on your goals, unless you want to be poor forever. If you know you want to be rich, there is a stage you have to pass through. If you can pass through the stage of working hard, putting yourself out there to make sure you are comfortable, at least you can now go out there and find a relationship.

    You don’t even have to go out there and look for a relationship. They will come to you. That way, you can now start to make your choice. But if you are a man who is pursuing girls up and down in the name of ‘I am broke, please love me,’ I don’t think it is necessary, I don’t think it is worth it. Coming back to me, I cannot date a man who is broke. I can only date a man who is ambitious, who is focused and who is hardworking. You can’t be hardworking and jobless. Those two do not come together. I work too hard to want to sit down with a jobless man. I only can date a man who can inspire me to be better. So we both can work hard to get to where we want in life. But when you are jobless and you are calling my phone 24/7, then I have a problem with that.

     Are you in a relationship?

    That I can’t answer (laughs).

     Is it that you are wary about having an interference between your career and your relationship?

    No, I don’t see myself having any interference whether I say I have a boyfriend or not. I just like to keep some things personal for my own sake, for personal reasons. It has nothing to do with the job. There are married people in the industry, so if it doesn’t affect them, it shouldn’t affect me. I would rather keep that personal.

     Can you let us into your educational background?

    I did my diploma at the University of Lagos where I studied Social Work. It was a two-year course, but I haven’t gone for my BSc. I rounded that up last year. For now, I am still working with the diploma.

     Why Social Work?

    I do love social works. It is something that, if push comes to shove tomorrow, I would love to practice it. I love social works and the fact that it enables me be there for humanity, to be able to give and just help people in general. Later on, I intend to go for my BSc in the same field.

  • Mr President, is Nigeria truly broke?

    Mr President, is Nigeria truly broke?

    ‘Our government teaches the whole people by its example. If the government becomes the lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself … it invites anarchy ‘ – Louis D. Brandeis

    No one in his right judgment can deny the fact that politicians need money to prosecute their electoral pursuits. That is why all over the world, politicians require big war-chest through donations from people, friends, the business/elite class to win elections. Some have also argued that open donations during electioneering periods allow for financial transparency and accountability in political parties/candidates election campaign finances. But the question is whether such donations should be done at the detriment of public morality, the laws of the land and the citizens’ sensibility as typified by President Goodluck Jonathan’s recent re-election donations? The event re-opened the floodgate of corrosive money in politics and also epitomises everything that campaign donations should not be.

    The re-election assemblage nauseatingly reminds one of the infamous launch of Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital during the President Obasanjo era when businessmen, multinational organisations, governors, interest groups and individuals jostled to outwit one another in their beastly donation contest. In Jonathan’s latest event tagged: Peoples Democratic Party Fund Raising Dinner, which held at the old Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, the gathering purportedly donated the sum of N21.27 billion to support the president’s re-election campaign in this 2015 general elections. The questions: Does it mean the president is such a wonderful performer to warrant such stupendous contributions for his re-election? How far has this administration gone in bridging the gap between the rich and the poor? How could it be possible for such money to be raised for the president when most states are being paid reduced allocations and while workers in most states are being owed arrears of salaries?

    This column wants Jonathan to publicly let Nigerians know whether the country is broke and needs austerity measure with these odious donations from individuals, groups and corporate concerns that make such official posturing mischievous and outlandish. The breakdown: Mr. Tunde Ayeni, a legal practitioner, chairman of Skye Bank Plc and a director in the Ibadan Electricity Development Company and chairman of the occasion donated N1billion for self and partner. He further announced another N1billion donation from his unnamed friends. His display reminds of one Emeka Offor, the then famous fabulous donor at every ruling government event in the early part of this democracy. Even players in the Oil and Gas sector that is reeking of corruption donated N5billion; Real Estate and Building sector donated N4bn; Transport and Aviation gave out N1bn; Food and Agriculture, N500m; Power, N500m; Construction, N310m.

    The Road Construction, N250m; National Automotive Association, N450m and Shelter Development Limited, N250m. Prof. Jerry Gana, Chairman of the fundraiser committee and his friends and associates in the power sector donated N5bn. PDP Governors Forum (21 in all) donated N1.05billion.The SIFAX Group- N100m donation; PDP stakeholders in Rivers State- N50m. The 15 states on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) donated N15million, among other donations. Several private individuals also reportedly gave donations. Aliko Dangote, a sensible business mogul cleverly avoided the motley crowd of political philanderers whose donations are nothing but foundations for further milking of the nation’s collective wealth through undue waivers, concessions and inflated phantom contracts.

    For a long time, the public will be disturbed as to why the oil and gas that is in turmoil – oil price dip and of subsidy graft and oil theft – still had the effrontery of publicly donating N5billion. The news has been awash with the need for recapitalisation/bailouts of new power firms and Nigerians would be wondering where those new companies in the power sector could have sourced their donated N5billion. Isn’t it plausible to ask what is happening in the real estate and building sector with several abandoned and collapsing buildings to warrant the donation of N4billion? The comatose transport and aviation sector still mustered N1billion, haba! Where did the N500million from Food and Agriculture come from when balanced diets have become nightmares to Nigerians? What is going to be the implication of N500million donation by the so-called power on electricity supply to homes and institutions in the country? What better things are happening in the construction and road construction to necessitate the donations of N310m and N250m respectively? We now know that it is not common good that is behind the high tariff on imported cars vide the N450m donation of the National Automotive Association to Jonathan’s re-election campaign fund. Even the Shelter Development Limited donated N250m. Despite the level of infrastructural retardation in the Niger-Delta, the NDDC could still donate N15million to Jonathan’s re-election bid – laughable!

    In politics, money has a monumental role to play especially at election times. That is why the law came in to moderate the influence of corruption and not to level the ground between the rich and the less privileged class. This point was amply underscored by Chief Justice Roberts of US Supreme court when he said that the: “Congress may regulate campaign contributions to protect against corruption or its appearance, but it “may not regulate contributions simply to reduce the amount of money in politics or to level the playing field between wealthy forces and those of lesser means.’’

    The donation jamboree embarked upon by Jonathan under the guise of seeking campaign funds flouts not only the ground norm in the land, but also other statutes governing such practice. On the issue of campaign expenses limit, the Electoral Act 2010, as amended, stipulates in Section 91 (2) that; “the maximum election expenses to be incurred by a candidate at a presidential election shall be N1 billion.” Yet, a president in Jonathan who prides himself as respecter of the rule of law gleefully showcased his illegally received donations of N21.27billion as campaign funds.

    Also and more importantly, the 1999 Constitution in Section 221 provides: “No association, other than a political party, shall canvass for votes for any candidate at any election or contribute to the funds of any political party or to the election expenses of any candidate at an election.” What this means is that all those hypocritical sectoral groups/individuals that donated billions to Jonathan/PDP campaign funds did so in contravention of the constitution and yet, INEC is shamefully watching. Also, those organisations that donated billions of naira have questions to answer because the Companies and Allied Matters Act in Section 38(2) explicitly forbids companies from funding or donating gifts, property or money to any political party or association. Yet, Jonathan encouraged these wanton illegality and immoral financial affronts from these companies/organisations.

    The truth that Jonathan and the PDP must know is that any contract built on illegality cannot stand. That is the principle behind the contractual term: ex turpi causa non oritur actio. It is not possible to deploy illegally procured money as foundation to seek the legal and legitimate mandate of the Nigerian people that Okonjo-Iweala recently told should prepare for austerity measure as a result of the conspicuous public spending of the centre government. Again, Mr Jonathan, could you in all conscience, say that Nigeria is broke or should truly be under any austere policy judging from what we saw recently at your campaign fundraiser in Abuja?

    NB: Here’s wishing my dear ardent readers a blissful Christmas and a Happy New Year in advance. Thanks for staying with this column.

  • Big economy, broke nation

    SIR: That Nigeria’s economy, by virtue of its recent rebased Gross Domestic Product, is the biggest in Africa yet governments across all levels have been finding it extremely difficult to meet their fiscal obligations due to cash crunch, remains one of the internal contradictions that characterise the country’s 100 years’ existence. In Nigeria, it is the more you look, the less you see!

    Except the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala and her team, every Nigerian knows that Nigeria is broke. The argument by Okonjo Iweala that “Nigeria, as country, has quite enough assets…” is only meant to distort empirical facts. To be broke, in its simplest term, means to be lacking in money. The concept of liquidation as applicable to banks if juxtaposed with the minister’s argument will expose her double standard. For example, banks are liquidated on account of bankruptcy not necessarily because they do not have enough assets but simply because they do not have enough cash to continue carrying on in their businesses. As a matter of fact, a liquidated banker’s assets are usually mobilised to set off its debts. So, it is inconsequential that the country has “enough assets” as the minister would insist. Until those assets (assuming they exist) are “mobilised”, the bleeding truth is that Nigeria is currently bankrupt, simplicita!

    Indices of a broke nation have continue to stare us in the face. The most evident is the continuous dwindling of the revenue allocation accruing to states and non disbursement of same to states as when due. As a result, most states have resulted to other excruciating means in order to augment the dwindling allocation. Today, many states owe their workers running into months. And where they could not endure any longer, they resulted to borrowing in the money market through bond’s instrumentality. Of course, the implication of this is that States are mortgaging the future of their citizens. Yet we have a “fat” economy which effects are yet to translate to meaningful impacts on the lives of Nigerian masses.

    How does the Finance Minister explain the recent disturbing revelation by the Niger State government of its inability to pay the debt of N294 million it owed the National Examination Council (NECO) was responsible for the non release of the 2013/2014 examination results of candidates from the state? The state government was unmistaken in its statement that this worrisome scenario was caused by the inadequate cash flow from the Federation Account. Also, in recent times, state commissioners for finance have had to storm out of meetings with the federal government in anger as a result of the inability of Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) to release their monthly allocations.

    Even the federal government, recently, have had to go borrowing from foreign countries and bodies in order to carry out her fiscal responsibility. The most recent was the $1 billion external loan approval sought and received by the federal government from the parliament to procure arms to fight the Boko Haram. It is abundantly clear from the foregoing that Nigerians do not need soothsayers or economists to tell them that the country is not only broke but may also not have the so-called “enough assets” to revive its much taunted N80.22tn economy contrary to the Finance Minister’s claim.

    Largely responsible for the doldrums is corruption and mismanagement of resources. And until these maladies are checked, the country will continue to witness cash crunch that may eventually drive it to the state of perpetual bankruptcy, notwithstanding the so-called big economy status, and the sooner the minister and her employers come to the realisation of this notorious fact, the better for the country!

     

    •Barrister Okoro Gabriel,

    Ebonyi State.

  • NFF CRISIS FALLOUT: Broke NFF can’t pay Falcons’ hotel bills

    NFF CRISIS FALLOUT: Broke NFF can’t pay Falcons’ hotel bills

    • Glass House barely able to feed players

    • Referees owed

    The crisis bedeviling football in Nigeria has now eaten deep into the finances of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and is affecting payment of the football house bills, NationSport has scooped.

    The recent power tussle at the Glass House has made it difficult for the federation’s leaders to access funds directly and independently from a variety of sources like they used to in the past and this has resulted in the NFF being unable to honour its financial commitments.

    “It hurts me that there is no money to manage the programmes of the federation now and people are busy doing politics,” an NFF official lamented to NationSport.

    The source continued: “As it is now the federation is finding it difficult to pay workers’ salaries and owes a lot of people including the hotel where the Super Falcons, who are currently in camp preparing for the African Women’s championship (AWC), are lodged.”

    “We are just managing to see that those girls feed, even the hotel where they are lodged, we owe them a lot but they are still indulging us because of the long-term relationship we have had with them. Even the referees, we owe them a lot of money.”

    The federation has made a lot of financial commitments which may soon expose this secret of how bankrupt the NFF is.

    “Imagine that we could take a match to Gabon where it will be easy for us, but look at the kind of embarrassment that followed it”, the source lamented.

  • Broke, not broke?

    Broke, not broke?

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Osun is not broke, says Aregbesola

    Osun is not broke, says Aregbesola

    Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola yesterday debunked the rumour that the state is broke.

    He said Osun is economically strong, despite the massive construction work going on across the state.

    The governor spoke in Osogbo, the state capital, after inspecting some on-going projects.

    He said contrary to speculations in some quarters that the state was insolvent, its economy was growing.

    Aregbesola described some opposition leaders, particularly in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), as “political jobbers”, who cannot see anything good in his administration.

    He urged the people to disregard the rumour, saying: “Do not mind their claim that the state is bankrupt. You can see that there is massive construction work going on everywhere. If the state is insolvent, will there be these kind of development in virtually all areas?

    “Osun is not insolvent. The question of insolvency should not even arise at all. They are just jabbering and we will not be distracted by their negative comments.”

    On why he had not been inaugurating projects since he assumed office, Aregbesola said the inauguration of projects was meant for lazy leaders.

    He said in advanced countries, leaders do not roll out drums to inaugurate projects, adding that such ceremony was a waste of public funds.

    Aregbesola said: “Our administration does not believe in inaugurating projects. We believe it is the people’s projects, so why must you inaugurate it. In advanced countries, we do not see leaders inaugurating projects the way we do in this country.”

    He expressed satisfaction with the work done by the contractors handling various projects, adding that they were working according to specification and should complete the projects on schedule.