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Tag: challenges

  • NBCC, DCSL strategise to tackle SMEs’ challenges

    Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) and DCSL Corporate Services Limited plan to address the challenges of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), NBCC President Prince Dapo Adelegan has said.

    At the unveiling of the MSME Centre in Lagos, Adelegan said the centre, to be managed by DCSL, would strengthen business advisory and regulatory compliance, facilitate access to fund, provide support in taxation, governance, book keeping, immigration, business plan, secretarial, management, company incorporation and other areas to the entrepreneurs.

    He said the initiative became necessary to provide the needed support that would strengthen the sector and enable Nigeria to be a robust economy.

    Adelegan said SMEs remained a key sector that could accelerate the  economy out of the woods. He stressed the need to provide adequate support for the sector.

    “We are providing a platform where every SME will be properly structured so that it can attract investment and add value, and also provide everything required to take the business beyond the founder and become relevant,” he said.

    He said until Nigeria  built enduring institutions, particularly for SMEs, it might not record much growth.

    The initiative, part of the  programmes lined up for the chamber’s 40th anniversary, Adelegan said, took into cognizance the role SMEs “play in modern economies, especially in the areas of job creation and contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP)”.

    DCSL Managing Director Bisi Adeyemi said the aim was to add value to SMEs because of their role in boosting a country’s GDP, adding that though the government was trying to put the sector on track, the players lacked capacity for global competitiveness.

    “The greatest challenge facing the sector is lack of structure and knowledge. Most of the SMEs don’t have structure and they are unaware, but a little training can put them on track. In the past, the challenge used to be capital but now it is capacity. No lender will give you loan if you don’t have a structure.

    “What this centre will do is to offer SMEs a platform to consult in all area of their business. We are taking advantage of the synergy with NBCC to reduce the cost of services for them,” she said.

  • N120b debts worsen GenCos’ operation challenges

    N120b debts worsen GenCos’ operation challenges

    The inability of the Federal    Government to pay over N120 billion owed power generation companies (GenCos) has hampered their ability to operate efficiently.

    Former Executive Director, National Integrated Power Project (NIPP), Dr Albert Okorogu, said power generation companies, including the NIPP plants, were in a precarious situation because of their inability to raise enough money for production.

    He said the firms’ hope of reviving their financial position was dashed by what he described as “tactical silence” of the government on the payment of debts owed them. He said the debts were long overdue, noting that they were marred during the  President Goodluck Jonathan administration.

    Okorogu said: “As at the last time I checked the operation of the plants, the NIPP plants were not doing well because the operators were being owed huge amount of money by the government. The debts were incurred during the regime of former President Jonathan and transferred to the current administration of President Muhammad Buhari.

    “Due to the government’s failure to pay the debts, the GenCos are in financial mess. The firms can neither produce well nor offset the debts they owe gas suppliers. The issue is having undesirable effects on their operation and the sector at large.”

    Okorogu told The Nation in Lagos that power generation companies unbundled from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and NIPPs were owed by the government, adding that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has approved payment for the debts before President Jonathan left office.

    Okorogu, who was the former Special Assistant on Renewable Energy, to the former Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo, also said apart from gas, liquidity wa s another problem facing the sector. He said operation of the sector was interdependent, noting that problems in one segment of the value chain spills over to another segment.

    He said liquidity problem in the sector was making it difficult for the firms to maintain their turbines, sell them and get the necessary market value, adding that firms that bided for the NIPP plants were unable to buy them because they do not have gas to operate them.

    NDPHC’s spokesman, Mr Yakubu Lawal, said Federal Government was indebted to the power generation firms. He said many GenCos are being owed by the government, adding that   some firms were owed between N20billion to N30billion, while others were owed N50billion.

    Yakubu said: “To treat the debt owed the power plants under NIPP in isolation is not good enough. Virtually all the power generation companies are being owed by the Federal Government.  The debts owed NIPPs is huge because seven of its plants are on the national grid. I’m sure the companies would be happy to get their money back.

  • LCCI to Fed Govt: stimulate investment to overcome economic challenges

    LCCI to Fed Govt: stimulate investment to overcome economic challenges

    The Federal Government has been advised to stimulate investment to overcome the country’s economic challenges.

    Speaking at Ota in Ogun State,  Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Director-General Mr. Muda Yusuf said stimulating investment will help in bringing the nation out of economic recession.

    “The recession experienced in 2016 was the consequence of internal and external factors. The attack on oil installations by militants in the Niger Delta is the internal factor. The external factors are, principally, the slump in oil price and other adverse developments in the global economy,’’ he said.

    Yusuf urged the Federal Government to urgently devise a framework that would ensure liquidity of the foreign exchange market to accelerate the economic recovery process in 2017.

    “Forex liquidity was a major problem for investors in 2016 because many of them could not access it to procure raw materials and other inputs as and when needed,’’ he said.

    The LCCI chief said remittances had been very difficult, especially from the foreign airlines, adding that foreign exchange inflows from autonomous sources were also impeded because of the dysfunctional ties in the foreign exchange market.

    According to Yusuf, this impacted negatively on the forex supply, resulting in decline in Diaspora remittances, capital importation and export proceeds. He said a credible forex regime was critical to the restoration of investors’ confidence.

  • Okowa and challenges of governance

    SIR: There is no denying the fact that Delta State has over the years been denied the right atmosphere and policy framework for industrial growth despite having in abundance natural and human resources that could drive industrial and infrastructural development at a great speed.

    Therefore, having Governor Arthur Okowa at the saddle of leadership coupled with his trumpeted crusade of industrial, economic and socio-political re-engineering, it is expected that the drawbacks and obstacles that had stood in the way to speedy development of the state would be dismantled to pave way for progressive, meaningful and viable economic and industrial growth.

    Considering the dwindling resources of the country currently, resulting from fallen crude oil price and low performing rate of income generating institutions, it is appropriate to remind governor Okowa that his government will have to think out of the box to be able to contend with the challenges posed by paucity of fund as evident in drastic reduction in the Federal Revenue Allocation (FRA) to the states in recent times. To augment the shortfall in revenue therefore, Governor Okowa must plug the leakages in the internally generated revenue sector of the state to pave way for proper accountability.

    In the same plank, the nagging issue of unemployment has been recurring in the state, with successive governments paying lip service to its attendant harm to the socio-economic wellbeing of the people. The teeming unemployed graduates and indeed, able body men and women roaming the streets deserve better living standard from the government of the day. Therefore, Governor Okowa’s government must not fail in its responsibility to providing succor to the hapless and unemployed Deltans.

    The most pathetic a situation hurting the state is the deteriorating state of safety of lives and properties in recent times, and the attention of Governor Okowa is seriously needed in this regard. There is no denying the fact that the spate of insecurity in the state has assumed a disturbing dimension as crimes are committed with ease with little or no effort on the part of the law enforcement agencies to bring the perpetrators to book. Consequently, residents in most cities in the state now resort to self-help mechanism by contracting the services of private guards. What with the liberty at which youths wield dangerous weapons and cause mayhem in the communities and cities. Without mincing words, the rate at which lawlessness prevails in most communities of the state calls for urgent attention of the government or else, there will be total breakdown of law and order. Splinter groups of youths or factions in the communities often pitch against one another in a shooting bout and causing pandemonium as residents scamper for safety.

    Governor Okowa must ensure that the mindset of the youths is reoriented, reformed, and repositioned towards productive life endeavour. The governor must ensure that Delta State is safe and conducive for living with full enthronement of the rule of law which is sine qua non for economic and infrastructural development of the state. In other words, the Governor Okowa’s crafted road map to economic recovery and prosperity of the state through the platform of the SMART agenda cannot see the light of day when safety of lives and properties is undermined and botched by impunity and flagrant violation of the extant laws of the land by miscreants and ‘area boys.’

    In a nutshell, Deltans urge governor Okowa to be focused, steadfast and committed to his transformation initiative to be able to rescue the state from the current economic turmoil. This clarion call must be taken serious by the governor in situ.

     

    • Emeka Nwokocha,

    Warri, Delta State.

  • Ganduje: Buhari will conquer economic challenges

    Ganduje: Buhari will conquer economic challenges

    Kano State Governor Abdullahi Ganduje is hopeful President Muhammadu Buhari will turn around the country’s economic misfortune.

    According to a statement by the Commissioner for Information, Youth and Culture, Muhammad Garba, Ganduje stated this yesterday while delivering his New Year message to the people.

    The statement noted that Ganduje welcomed the people to 2017 and prayed that the year will be full of opportunities, blessings and happiness for everyone.

    The statement reads: “The past year has indeed not been very smooth in view of the challenging realities we found ourselves in, as a result of the recession. I am, however, optimistic that with the dogged commitment of our President, Muhammadu Buhari, to turn around the economy after many years of mismanagement, good days are very close by.

    “Our administration, like all other states in the country, is feeling the crunch, as a result of the dwindling revenue from the federation account. But notwithstanding the hard times, we have been able to judiciously utilise the little resources we are receiving along with our Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to initiate and finance laudable and beneficial projects and programmes.

    “Our commitment in this direction is very clear, particularly in terms of completion of inherited projects, initiation of new roads and bridges, underpass and flyover, water supply, health, agriculture youth and women development, education, rural development, sanitation and environmental protection.”

    The governor thanked the people for their understanding and support for the government’s policies, even as he urged them to continue to pay their taxes to enable the government execute more human-oriented projects for an improved welfare.

  • Nigeria and climate challenges

    Boko Haram, desertification and drought have combined to adversely decimate Nigeria’s North-east region.  Agricultural output has shrunken, falling below 25 percent of the regional capacity. Lake Chad is so desiccated that it can hardly support the eco-system around it. These latter challenges unlike Boko Haram are climate-related.  Addressing them requires a national buy-in, proactive policy options and international support.  Thus, the just concluded 22nd Session of the Conference of Parties (COP22) to the Kyoto Protocol in Marrakech, Morocco, was propitious.  The speed with which many nations acceded to the Paris Agreement proved that climate change concerns were real. COP22 provided an opportunity to develop an acceptable framework for implementing the Paris Agreement.

    Before COP22, discussions centered mainly on funding that would enable developing countries adapt to the effects of climate change. Contextually, the two weeks of negotiations in Marrakech was hardly fortuitous. One notable achievement of COP22 was the progress made on setting the timeliness and benchmarks for drafting a rules book for the implementation of the Paris Agreement. The rules will guide the actions of parties to the Paris Agreement, with 2018 set as the target date.  Yet unchanged is the fact that since COP19 in Copenhagen, climate finance has remained contentious. The $100 billion Green Climate Fund (GCF) established in 2009 has received only $10 billion in contributions.  The fund targeted to last until 2020, is grossly underfunded and underestimated as experts forecast that climate change funding will run into trillion dollars for the Paris Agreement’s aims to be achieved. Developing countries confront a confounding paradox; the yet unrealized $100 billion will not suffice for addressing the ambitious Paris Agreement; yet the adaptation fund and streamlining the process from which developing nations can benefit, remains a challenge.

    The continued refusal of some developed countries to accept responsibility for their contributions to the climate crises is stalling progress on the Green Climate Fund. Global North countries are non-committal, preferring to contribute symbolic, if not derisory sums. Explicably, developed countries -the heavy polluters- confront the ire of developing countries -the lesser polluters- that consider verbalized commitments as platitudinous. The latter insist that the $100 billion Green Climate Fund is grossly insufficient for fulfilling global adaptation needs; thus compelling a few developed countries to point to the lack of enough bankable projects from the developing countries.  Core funding issues aside, the challenge of benchmarking requisite deadlines for most of the Paris Agreement targets subsists. Invariably, most countries worry that absence of delivery deadlines for most of the agreement targets; will translate to laxity, if not non-compliance.

    COP22 ended with nations hopeful of the delivery of the Paris Agreement. For the Global South nations, the present juncture is propitious for drawing on the now operational $3.1 billion South-South Cooperation Climate Fund launched by China in 2015 in Paris. China, remains constructively engaged, and underlined its commitment by hosting a South-South Cooperation Forum on margins of the COP22.  Possible concerns about accessing the GCF were removed with Liberia and Nepal receiving $2.2 million and $2.9 million dollars respectively from the fund.  Twenty other countries are in line to have their proposals approved with each getting up to $3 million.  For its part, the GCF will approve projects worth some $2.5 billion soon.

    Donald Trump’s rhetoric on climate change, prior to becoming the President-elect of the U.S. still elicits concerns. Fiji delegation’s emotional remarks at the closing plenary of COP22 encapsulated prevailing and shared fears of most countries over the fate of the Paris Agreement during the Trump presidency.  Such concerns were doused slightly by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who reassured the global community that the U.S. will not pull out of the Paris Agreement, and that Trump as President, will find it difficult to do so. Thankfully, Trump has admitted possible connectivity between human actions and climate change.

    Impact of climate on Nigeria is still being grossly underreported and underestimated; with Nigeria’s overall climate change response still marginal. Yet Nigeria had a fair outing at Marrakech. Minister for Environment, Mrs Amina Mohammed, brought along at least three members of the National Assembly and two colleagues, Minister of Mines and Power, Babatunde Fashola and Minister of Agriculture Chief Audu Ogbeh. Such composition of the country’s delegation and collaborative approach adds to policy synergy and complementarity. It guarantees that Nigerian policymakers will not just understand the issues, but augurs well for fast-tracking the domestication of agreed climate change policies in Nigeria. As the power and agricultural sectors are hugely affected by climate change, Nigeria’s multidisciplinary approach is commendable.

    Whereas Nigeria hosted two side events in Marrakech and the Akwa-Ibom State government hosted another, there were some inexplicable missed opportunities. Nigeria should have led the African intervention, but for most part of the closing plenary, Nigeria’s four seats were vacant, leaving Mali to spearhead African intervention. Given her needs, Nigeria should have proactively sought international support for the funds for recharging of Lake Chad – estimated at $16 billion. That didn’t happen.  Nigeria appeared not too keen on taking advantage of the South-South Cooperation on Climate Change, especially via funds made available by China. Finally, Nigeria missed out of being part of the V40 Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), a group of 40 countries considered to be most vulnerable to climate change.  That grouping, which at the close of COP21 in Paris, had just 20 countries have expanded to a 40-nation group, without Nigeria.

    Nigeria not to pursue remedial measures at its disposal in tackling climate change will amount to gross oversight.  There is need to adopt climate smart policies and engage much more assertively within the framework of the South-South Cooperation Forum.  Such approach should be a signature modality of the Buhari government, if it desires to attract international support for its work on climate change.  Nigeria’s power generation policy must shift towards promoting investments in renewable energy and reducing use of fossil energy. The federal government must continue to incentivize key players in this sector and spearhead investments in alternative energy.  Finally, Nigeria should organize a post-COP national conference on modalities and structures for domesticating international agreements immediately and communicate same to the 36 states to ensure broad compliance. Work should also start immediately to ensure that Nigeria is able to access the GCF within the next one year as she stands to receive close to $3 million. Nigeria must shift from her business-as-usual approach and show the urgency required in climate actions.

     

    • Obaze is MD/CEO, Selonnes Consult Ltd.; Udeh is a Research Associate at Selonnes Consult Ltd.
  • Akeredolu: New dawn, new challenges

    Akeredolu: New dawn, new challenges

    Ondo State Governor-elect Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) will succeed out-going Governor Olusegun Mimiko next year. Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the challenges that will confront the new administration.

    Like a flash of lightening, the eight years of the Olusegun Mimiko administration will expire in February, next year. For the governor-elect, Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the euphoria of victory would have also withered down in the face of the daunting challenges. As an era ends, a new epoch is unfolding in the Ondo State.

    Akeredolu’s triumph at the historic poll underscored the audacity of courage. Four years ago, he had played his hands on the plough and he has not looked back. Although he was rejected by the electorate in the 2012 election as the candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), he returned to the drawing board. The Owo-born lawyer-turned politician started the race to 2016, shortly after his defeat by Mimiko. As the inheritor of the most formidable opposition structure, he fortified the political machinery and swung into intense mobilisation.

    Besides, Akeredolu sealed a pact with the people across the 18 local governments. Since charity begins at home, he rallied his Owo kinsmen to support his bid. After overcoming the hurdles at the controversial primary, he intensified his campaigns across the three districts. His loyal foot soldiers were very active on the field. The protracted litigation, which prevented his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart and colleague at the bar, Eyitayo Jegede (SAN), from campaigning, was to his ultimate advantage. Although the candidate of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) appeared formidable, it was evident that he was soliciting for votes on a weak platform. The structures of the far-flung party at the grassroots were irredeemably weak. Other smaller parties were just warming the register of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The Akeredolu Campaign Organisation was almost transformed into a movement. Thus, in a free and fair election, he was a candidate to beat. It is to his credit and that of the APC family that the distressed state has now retraced its steps back to the progressive fold, 14 years after the invasion of conservative interlopers. However, as the APC chieftain inherits power and prestige of the office, he also inherits the burden of governance in a highly enlightened and sophisticated state where voters are thirsty for dividends of democracy. As the government is under intense pressure to perform, it may be handicapped by dwindling revenue.

    The APC raised the hope of the people during the campaigns. The performance of President Muhammadu Buhari was not one of the issues that shaped the contest, but the manifestos of the candidate. According to observers, it will be difficult for any elected politician to escape the electoral wrath of Ondo voters, if the promises made to them before the election are not kept. In fact, the position of the aggrieved civil servants, teachers and local government employees on the way forward played a significant role in the achievement of power shift by the main opposition party.

    Akeredolu will be assuming the reins at a critical time in national history. The nation and the state are in economic recession. There is a reduction in the federal allocation and internally generated revenue is at a low ebb. Although Ondo is an oil-producing state, the impact has not been felt significantly in the last 10 years. Youth unemployment remains a time-bomb and a trigger for insecurity. Many critical sectors lay prostrate. Although some achievements were recorded by the out-going administration, many felt that the state deserved a better deal. Dissecting the health sector, the governor-elect observed that, although the state has some hospitals, they lacked doctors and nurses.

    In the last six months, workers have been agonising over the non-payment of salaries. This has worsen the industrial relations between the government and workers’ unions. A commentator, Mojeed Jamiu, who highlighted the challenges of governance in Ondo State, lamented that, since government is a continuum, the workers will now intensify their agitation for improved welfare under the new administration. Chiding the Mimiko administration for its failure, he said: “A government that could not pay workers’ salaries in the last six months will not pay them in the remaining two months before vacating office.”

    The voting analysis showed that many youths voted for the APC. During the campaigns, Akeredolu lamented the growing youth unemployment, which he also described as a national challenge. Ondo State has a large number of jobless graduates, who cannot be accommodated in the civil service and government parastatals. His promise of employment gave them hope. In four years’ time, analysts will beam a searchlight on the administration to see if there will be a gap between expectation and reality. One of the youths, who was among the jubilating crowd, told reporters in Akure, the state capital, that “if Akeredolu can provide jobs for us, we will believe that we have voted wisely.”

    According to experts, one of the ways to end unemployment is to encourage productive activities through industrialisation. The onus is on the Akeredolu administration to fulfill its promise of industrial revival. Some industries across the state are moribund. Gone were the days when the Oluwa Glass, Igbokoda, Oil Palm Company, Okitipupa, and Ceramics at Ifon were sources of pride to the state. Also, the new governor should be able to attract investors to the state. This can be done through the provision of an enabling atmosphere for the investment to thrive.

    In Nigeria, the bane of development is the incidence of abandoned projects. Successive administrations have often distanced themselves from laudable projects of their predecessors. Many expect Akeredolu to maintain a clean break from the past by completing the on-going projects of the Mimiko administration. The infrastructure battle is better fought when no project is abandoned. Besides, the APC government should convince the people about its progressive leaning by fulfilling its promise of infrastructural development. Many roads across the three districts are bad. The people expect Akeredolu to convert the state into a huge construction site as reward for conferring the mandate on him. The sitting of the projects should also reflect merit, geographical representation and the collective interest of the state. Although Owo, his home town, is one of the strongholds of the APC-and the ancient town overwhelmingly voted for him, Akeredolu should not be perceived as the governor of Owo, but the governor of Ondo State.

    Old politicians in the Southwest are of the opinion that the new helmsman will succeed, if he mirrors one of their mentors, former Governor Adekunle Ajasin, who incidentally hailed from Owo. The eminent politician put the state first in all his actions and dealings. Under his administration, all the sub-divisions-Ekiti, Owo, Akoko, Akure, Ondo, Ikale, Ilaje and Ijaw-were carried along. Appointments also reflected the geographical spread. If the progressive blue-print of the Second Republic-free education, free health, full employment and rural development-is fully implemented by  Akeredolu, the state will be catapulted to an horizon of progress. To implement them, the new governor should do two things.

    Akeredolu should set up a cabinet of talents-a blend of technocrats in politics and credible politicians bubbling with the progressive vision. His cabinet should not be weak in personality, patriotism and fidelity. This was the secret of success in Lagos under former Governors Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Fashola (SAN). Currently, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is successfully building on the foundation. Also, Akeredolu, a pro-democracy activist and former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), should preside over a model administration. His government should be a government of transparency and accountability. The governor should mirror the anti-corruption posture of President Muhammadu Buhari. This is in the interest of the state.

    As an APC governor, Akeredolu has a role to play in the Southwest integration agenda. Although the states of the federation cannot collapse into regions, but in the spirit of federalism and pseudo-regional autonomy, the states in each region can collaborate economically and socially in areas where they have comparative advantage. This is challenging. There should be a sort of inevitable reconciliation between Akeredolu and one or two governors, who had slight political differences with him during the electioneering.

    At the state and regional level, the new governor should also initiate reconciliation with aggrieved members of the political family, who protested the selection process that produced him as flag bearer. A government of vendetta is incompatible with the legitimate aspirations and expectations of Ondo people in post-election period.

    After the election, the next priority is governance.  Thanking the people for giving him the mandate, he said: “I will preside over a government that will serve the people.”

    It is gratifying that Akeredolu has waved an olive branch to his rivals and detractors. He said he was ready to be governor of all Ondo State. As the APC leader, he inherits a divided party. The governor has a duty to unite the family and reposition it for future elections. Only a united APC can withstand the challenge posed by the PDP majority in the House of Assembly. In post-election period, the party will also be warming up for ward and state congresses and parliamentary primaries. Akeredolu’s performance in office will either attract voters or sway the votes from the APC during the polls. Many will defect to the APC from the PDP. This will make harmonisation inevitable

    The governor-elect has  reiterated his determination to create jobs through the development of agriculture. This is a welcome development. But, the words should be backed by actions. Lamenting the soaring unemployment in the Sunshine State, he said the menace could also be halted through the revatilisation of moribund industries.

    Akeredolu, who spoke on his plans for Ondo State in a live television programme,  said: “I have promised to create jobs and we will do this through the development of agriculture.”The APC chieftain also promised to end the suffering of workers through regular the revival of regular payment of salaries. He said: “Civil servants have not been paid for months. We will revive the civil service and change the orientation of the civil servants to work.”

    On education, the governor-elect said: “We intend to promote functional education. Students should also learn trades while in school. We will provide a conducive atmosphere for learning in schools. We have to rebuild the schools and encourage teachers to work.”

    Akeredolu acknowledged the health care initiative of the Mimiko administration, saying that he will make health care accessible and affordable. He stressed: “There are mother and child hospitals. It is a good idea. But, the health centres must be accessible and affordable. It should be moved to the doorsteps of the people. We need more health centres from where referrals can be made to the general Hospitals. We need more doctors and nurses.”

    Akeredolu also reiterated his commitment to the proposed school feeding programme, saying that the project will be faithfully implemented. He also said the state will benefit maximally from its alignment with the mainstream politics in this dispensation.

    He added: “There will be a synergy between the Federal Government and Ondo State because it is the same party.”

  • ‘PDP ‘ll surmount its challenges’

    ‘PDP ‘ll surmount its challenges’

    Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain Hajia Tolani Animashaun, in this interview with MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE explains how the party will get over its crisis. She also speaks about other national issues.

    Why has the PDP not been able to resolve its internal crisis?

    Looking at the political situation world over, you will agree with me, that what is happening in the PDP is not peculiar, it is a global phenomenon. In Britain and America, political parties have witnessed one turbulent or the other. They had their low moments, what they did was to sit down, assess the situation and get back on course. That the PDP is going through a small crisis does not mean the end of the party. It is a normal thing and I strongly believe that when the time comes we will get over it. The leaders of the party have not kept quiet, they are doing their best possible to ensure that the PDP is back and stronger ahead of the 2019 election.

    The major problem in the PDP is the factionalisation party, how do you get them together in order to move forward?

    Like I said what is happening goes beyond the doors of PDP. I think it permeates the society as a whole, in all the facets of our national life, we play ethnic chauvinist cards.  We have not really seen ourselves as one; this I think is playing out at the various political party levels. We have too many groups put together, these groups have cultural divergence which sometimes disagree and putting them together has become a real challenge. That is where the crisis in the country actually started; it merely nosedived to the political level and other strata of the society. It is something we have to continually work on and it cannot be achieved over night. We have to continually work on the peace process. All we are concerned with is that democracy should be rooted in the country. We cannot achieve this at once, it will be gradual, we cannot afford to go back, and all that we need to do is to put heads together to achieve results. We must learn from the mistakes committed while trying to achieve a stable political atmosphere.

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife has said she may not support her husband in 2019, if adjustments are not done…

    What Mrs Aisha Buhari had just done should be commended. As far as I am concerned, I see a woman who is sincere to her husband and care for his progress. I have listened to what she said and from what I understood in her remarks; she is a woman concerned about the direction the country is going. I think she has spoken well and she is the pride of the people. She said something about the campaign promises made by the All Progressives Congress (APC), the things expected from the party. She equally noted that those who were part of the team that brought her husband to power are not even part of the government. For a woman to say that, it means she cares for her husband so much and wants him to succeed.

    The APC came on the change mantra, looking back has the party live up to its billing?

    I want to say that under the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the development of Nigeria started. It was continued by late President Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan. Today, the government we have in place says it is tackling corruption; I have no problem fighting corruption. But, how we fight corruption is important. How we are going to make the economy move forward is another thing also. My own concern is that if you are fighting corruption, the economy and the people are not seeing the benefit of the fight against corruption then there is need to change the tactics. When you are fighting corruption, there has been benefits to point to then, its time the APC reflect deeply. Now, I have not seen that or maybe I don’t know where the benefits are going. The accusation has been that the PDP government stole this, stole that. If you look back, the fight against corruption did not start today, each succeeding administration rode to power on the back that it was fighting corruption. It is an on-going process that has no terminal circle. I think everybody should be involved in the fight against corruption and where the people are involved; we will make progress in the fight against corruption.

    When Obasanjo was President, when he was fighting corruption, it was in the in-house he started. Most of the people on the anti-graft trail were PDP members. You have to clean up your house before you go out. The corruption we are fighting right now, to me seems to be a partial fight and not a deep rooted fight of corruption.

    You contested for House of Representatives 2011, in your opinion is the National Assembly on course?

    When I ran for the House of Representatives, to represent Eti Osa Federal Constituency at the National Assembly. My intension was to go there to see how we could improve some things generally in Nigeria and specifically in my constituency. Eti Osa which is the constituency where I was born and live, I saw lots of things that were not good for the people. Eti Osa has no General Hospital, that is a real problem. The youth don’t have centre were they could acquire skills and the schools were nothing to be proud of. Though, some areas have schools that were up to standard, but I was appalled when I saw some them that could not be proud of. Some of the schools were overcrowded, because I am passionate about education, I had to join the race for the House to enable me make some reforms. Some of the schools I visited during the campaign, the pupils told me they could not offer certain subjects because teachers were not available for them. I talked to the parents and from the revelation I got, there was need to make the necessary change to improve the standard of education in my constituency.

    Has PDP live up to its role as the opposition party?

    Not as much as would like because of the internal division. But, you know everything can be sponsored in Nigeria. We will move ahead of whatever challenge that we face in the party, we will come out stronger and better. When there is a direction to go and you ask people to go the direction, as long as they obey, the crisis will be over. We are going in the direction of the opposition right just like the APC is going the direction of the ruling party. The truth is that the APC is not transiting well as the ruling party, so also the PDP is not transiting well as the opposition party.

    hy has the PDP not been able to resolve its internal crisis?

    Looking at the political situation world over, you will agree with me, that what is happening in the PDP is not peculiar, it is a global phenomenon. In Britain and America, political parties have witnessed one turbulent or the other. They had their low moments, what they did was to sit down, assess the situation and get back on course. That the PDP is going through a small crisis does not mean the end of the party. It is a normal thing and I strongly believe that when the time comes we will get over it. The leaders of the party have not kept quiet, they are doing their best possible to ensure that the PDP is back and stronger ahead of the 2019 election.

    The major problem in the PDP is the factionalisation party, how do you get them together in order to move forward?

    Like I said what is happening goes beyond the doors of PDP. I think it permeates the society as a whole, in all the facets of our national life, we play ethnic chauvinist cards.  We have not really seen ourselves as one; this I think is playing out at the various political party levels. We have too many groups put together, these groups have cultural divergence which sometimes disagree and putting them together has become a real challenge. That is where the crisis in the country actually started; it merely nosedived to the political level and other strata of the society. It is something we have to continually work on and it cannot be achieved over night. We have to continually work on the peace process. All we are concerned with is that democracy should be rooted in the country. We cannot achieve this at once, it will be gradual, we cannot afford to go back, and all that we need to do is to put heads together to achieve results. We must learn from the mistakes committed while trying to achieve a stable political atmosphere.

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s wife has said she may not support her husband in 2019, if adjustments are not done…

    What Mrs Aisha Buhari had just done should be commended. As far as I am concerned, I see a woman who is sincere to her husband and care for his progress. I have listened to what she said and from what I understood in her remarks; she is a woman concerned about the direction the country is going. I think she has spoken well and she is the pride of the people. She said something about the campaign promises made by the All Progressives Congress (APC), the things expected from the party. She equally noted that those who were part of the team that brought her husband to power are not even part of the government. For a woman to say that, it means she cares for her husband so much and wants him to succeed.

    The APC came on the change mantra, looking back has the party live up to its billing?

    I want to say that under the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo, the development of Nigeria started. It was continued by late President Umaru Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan. Today, the government we have in place says it is tackling corruption; I have no problem fighting corruption. But, how we fight corruption is important. How we are going to make the economy move forward is another thing also. My own concern is that if you are fighting corruption, the economy and the people are not seeing the benefit of the fight against corruption then there is need to change the tactics. When you are fighting corruption, there has been benefits to point to then, its time the APC reflect deeply. Now, I have not seen that or maybe I don’t know where the benefits are going. The accusation has been that the PDP government stole this, stole that. If you look back, the fight against corruption did not start today, each succeeding administration rode to power on the back that it was fighting corruption. It is an on-going process that has no terminal circle. I think everybody should be involved in the fight against corruption and where the people are involved; we will make progress in the fight against corruption.

    When Obasanjo was President, when he was fighting corruption, it was in the in-house he started. Most of the people on the anti-graft trail were PDP members. You have to clean up your house before you go out. The corruption we are fighting right now, to me seems to be a partial fight and not a deep rooted fight of corruption.

    You contested for House of Representatives 2011, in your opinion is the National Assembly on course?

    When I ran for the House of Representatives, to represent Eti Osa Federal Constituency at the National Assembly. My intension was to go there to see how we could improve some things generally in Nigeria and specifically in my constituency. Eti Osa which is the constituency where I was born and live, I saw lots of things that were not good for the people. Eti Osa has no General Hospital, that is a real problem. The youth don’t have centre were they could acquire skills and the schools were nothing to be proud of. Though, some areas have schools that were up to standard, but I was appalled when I saw some them that could not be proud of. Some of the schools were overcrowded, because I am passionate about education, I had to join the race for the House to enable me make some reforms. Some of the schools I visited during the campaign, the pupils told me they could not offer certain subjects because teachers were not available for them. I talked to the parents and from the revelation I got, there was need to make the necessary change to improve the standard of education in my constituency.

    Has PDP live up to its role as the opposition party?

    Not as much as would like because of the internal division. But, you know everything can be sponsored in Nigeria. We will move ahead of whatever challenge that we face in the party, we will come out stronger and better. When there is a direction to go and you ask people to go the direction, as long as they obey, the crisis will be over. We are going in the direction of the opposition right just like the APC is going the direction of the ruling party. The truth is that the APC is not transiting well as the ruling party, so also the PDP is not transiting well as the opposition party.

  • Budget padding and its challenges

    Until disloyalty to the nation and the conspiracy against their constituencies which brought them together ripped them apart two weeks back, Speaker Dogara, and his estranged friend, Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrin, the former chairman, Appropriation Committee and the majority of the house members justified ‘budget padding’ by appealing to the provision of Sections 3, 24 and 30 of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act.  But that for many could only have been self-serving because the law on the public budgetary process is very clear. The motive of their framers is unmistakable and their logic, sound and unassailable. To the extent that a government budget is the political tool with which government in power fulfils its electoral promises to the electorate, the major actor in budget preparation is the executive. Other actors in the budgetary process have their specific roles clearly spelt out. The legislature debates, examines and authorizes spending of public revenue and to avoid any ambiguity, areas of joint cooperation between it and the executive are clearly listed to include implementation, monitoring, evaluation and reporting. To protect the interest of their constituencies, the legislature like all other actors such as NGOs, pressure groups and international donors are expected to lobby the executive at the budget preparatory stage.

    Padding of the budget especially after the second reading is therefore a criminal act. Unfortunately, that seems to be what has been going on since the beginning of the fourth republic. When last May, the bubble first burst following the alarm raised by the ministers in charge of health and transport about the padding of the budget they submitted, the President refused   to append his signature. He was however blackmailed by the lawmakers and their apologists who accused him of insensitivity to the plight of the public that will suffer from his refusal to play politics and accommodate the excesses of the lawmakers.

    But as it is often said, ‘there is no perfect crime’. Two weeks ago, Jibrin’s swift reaction to his removal as chairman of the Appropriation Committee following a claim he ‘unilaterally padded the 2016 budget to the tune of N4.1 billion to his Kiru/Bebeji federal constituency in Kano State’,  was to attribute his travails to his ‘inability to admit into the budget almost N30 billion personal requests from Mr. Speaker and the three other principal officers’. He went on  to add that that the Speaker did not only divert a federal government water project to his farm but that he blackmailed an unnamed construction company to work on his Asokoro new mansion.

    Last week, a civil society group, SERAP lodged a petition against Dogara and his men at the UN claiming ‘removal of critical projects and replacement of such projects with constituency projects, not only undermined the fight against corruption in the country, but also exacerbated extreme poverty’ of the same people on whose behalf Dogara and his House members pretended to fight. We have also now  learnt that about N350b appropriated by the National Assembly in respect of about 2,516 projects spread across the country in the last five years never took off even after full payment had been made. On July 17, this newspaper in a piece titled “Constituency Projects – a ritual of monumental waste”, listed on pages 9, 10 and 11, 211 abandoned budgets. It was the result of a survey of 436 projects spread across 16 states of the federation by a Civic Technology Organisation-BudgIT. Some of these projects include water bore-holes, rural electricity and roads projects and primary health centres designed to alleviate the suffering of the poor.

    This monumental fraud at the National Assembly is replicated in all the 36 states in the country where governors in most cases operate like sole administrators with state assemblies serving as rubber stamps. The 774 LGAs are not different. The local council chairmen who collect free allocation from Abuja are answerable to no one. The councilors many of who have been known to build houses within a year in office cornered the available road and culvert contracts that get washed away if and when implemented after one rainy season because of usage of substandard materials.

    Budget padding like some of our other crises of nationhood as many well informed Nigerians have told us is closely tied to our unwieldy and unworkable structure. This however is a fact those who are benefitting from the current anarchy including our over 400 highly paid lawmakers currently engaged in budget padding in Abuja and other parasitic politicians at the state and local council levels are ready to deny.

    Close  to a century after  the warning by the colonial masters that  we must as a multi-ethnic society with diverse cultures ‘allow groups to develop at their own pace without interference from others’, we have continued to play the ostrich. Sixty years after the collapse of the structure we inherited from our founding fathers, no Nigeria leader has been able to properly articulate our crisis of nationhood. But if we don’t know where we are going, we at least know where we are coming from. And this was exactly what Professor Banji Akintoye, a world celebrated historian tried to do in a recent lecture he delivered in Ibadan to celebrate the past peaceful co-existence of our various nationalities.

    In terms of world view, the Yoruba according to him has as its core value, ‘welfarism’. In most Yoruba towns, age groups engage in communal cooperative endeavours known locally as aaro whereby they jointly help their members to construct houses in turns. Women according to Prof Akintoye had their equivalent of aaro.

    What Awo and his group of Yoruba educated elite did, we now know, was to build on this core values. Free education was anything but free. Adult Yoruba who used to escape to the forest at the approach of tax collectors were heavily taxed whether they had children or not. Cocoa farmers were equally taxed through the marketing boards. The proceeds were used to prosecute free education and send brilliant western Nigeria youths to the best universities in the world. They built shoe, tyre, beverages and vegetable industries to add value to the farm produce of their farmers. They modernized the aaro concept with the establishment to housing estates and to cater for the taste of an emergent middle class. Of course, Ahmadu Bellow built on the values of his own people to establish the NNDC as the biggest business conglomerate in Africa, ABU and ‘one north one people’ where Christians, Muslims and various ethnic groups in the north coexisted peacefully.

    Sine no one deliberately sets out to destroy his father’s house, budget padding by elected legislators can only signify lack of faith in Nigeria. Unfortunately self-serving opponents of restructuring are not even prepared to appreciate that the whole essence of a federal arrangement is to make individuals and groups remain proud members of their small group within the greater nation.

    If I were an adviser to President Buhari who is currently seeking extra emergency powers, to tackle the nation’s economic problems, I will suggest he  ‘seeks first the of kingdom of politics’ as Nkrumah once admonished by leveraging on the trust he enjoys among Nigerians and use the unique opportunity he today has to undo what his colleagues – the ill-informed military adventurers did by restoring our beautiful country back to a workable, productive, and competitive federal arrangement that once made Nigeria a reference point as world greatest exporter of groundnut and palm oil, the country with the best bureaucracy in Africa, with the first television in Africa and with UCH Ibadan, as one of the best three teaching hospitals in the Commonwealth of Nations.

  • Abdulsalami seeks dialogue to end security challenges

    Abdulsalami seeks dialogue to end security challenges

    ex-Head of State Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar has called for dialogue in resolving the nation’s security challenges created by the agitation of militant groups

    Gen. Abubakar spoke with reporters in Nnewi, Anambra State, on Saturday.

    He said there was no need for the threats arising from these agitators – Boko Haram, Niger Delta Avengers and Biafra.

    “All I can say is that there is no need for the insecurity in Nigeria.

    “I am appealing to Nigerians, irrespective of what their grievances are, to come to a roundtable and try to resolve these issues.

    “We have amicable ways of settling these issues because there must be peace before we can progress as a country,” he said.

    Gen. Abubakar admitted that the economy was passing through a difficult time, but urged Nigerians to be patient.

    He hoped the Federal Government would fix the economy.

    The former leader urged the private sector to complement the government’s effort in revamping the economy, just as some industrialists were doing in Nnewi.

    “Unfortunately, Nigeria is not an island; all over the world, there is economic recession and that is what is affecting us.

    “Let us join hands to save this economy; the private sector must come in to help us to resuscitate the economy, just as Nnewi has shown,” he said.