The Nation Newspaper

Tag: corruption

  • ‘Weak institutions make corruption thrive’

    ‘Weak institutions make corruption thrive’

    After 27 years in the civil service, Dr Tunji Olaopa retired as the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Communication Technology. Leveraging on his rich experience and deep knowledge, he teamed with some others to establish the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy. In this interview, he talks about the rot in the public service system and suggests ways that corruption can be better tackled.  Bisi Oladele was there.

    You just retired as a Permanent Secretary. How would you describe the Nigerian civil service?

    In fact, in the public service system and as a political scientist, one of the first things I noticed was that a lot of what we practise in government lack theoretical basis; they are more like commonsense. A whole lot of these were conceived properly in the First Republic because the colonial administrative system taught the first generation, brought them up in the knowledge of people; what the parameters are and what you can call the theoretical and value foundation for these institutions. But even the institutions have changed over time. What you have is that we still carry on, based largely on experience. And these are factors that are really constraining the effectiveness of some of these institutions. If you read some of the books that have influenced me mostly; that have deepened my thinking greatly, one of which was the book on Why Nations Fail. You will see that there have been so many theories on why Africa is not working. There has been the theory of geography because the weather is very friendly. The Africans are not innovative; you can sleep for a whole day, for the whole year if you are a son of a millionaire. But you can’t be a son of a millionaire in America and sleep like that. If winter comes and you don’t prepare for it, you may die. So, the society compels you to innovate because the environment could be very hostile. But  we feel that Africa has a type of soil that even if you just wake up from your window and you throw anything to the soil, it will germinate whereas if you go to Israel and you don’t study the soil and re-cultivate it significantly with technology, you cannot bring out a single fruit. There is also the cultural theory by Max Weber that the West was largely influenced by the factor of Christianity. And it is a reflection of the theory about us, the cultural thing. We are so comfortable; we are a very consumptive people and all of that. So, there have been different theories but what an author said is that in spite of all, you cannot get development to happen if your institutions are not functioning. If your institutions have lost their focus and values, you can’t make things happen. For example, if the police cannot be made to work according to the ethics of policing, nothing meaningful can come from the force. It is only in Nigeria that somebody who has not been trained to be a police would go and be wearing uniform. There are values. There are strong issues that define institutions. Look at our institutions, the Legon University in Ghana is still like the University of Ibadan (UI) of the old. But what made our institutions to derail and become prodigal is because there was so much money. We had money because oil was the first to be discovered because it was defining global trend. All the multinationals came and quickly exploited it. But immediately the money was coming, we forgot gold and other mineral resources. Bitumen is more than oil but we forgot. And that is how it happens to spoilt children; all they think is what goes to their mouth. They don’t use their brain. So, what we want to do in the Ibadan School of Government and Public Policy is to offer policy research and advise executives while at the same time creating sustained platforms for innovative problems solving in executive education.

    What do we mean by these? We would not be doing the regular courses like courses in strategic planning, project management – is not our own focus. What we want to do is that we will be looking at critical challenges. Why can the Lagos/Ibadan  express way not be constructed? That is talking about infrastructure finances because we are still thinking financing through the budget, because we are thinking of Public Private Partnership (PPP) in a contrite manner. We don’t understand it.

    The second thing we want to do is that for every year, the conference will help us to shape the kind of issues that we are going to be concerned with in that year. So, we would have been able to assemble the core of experts. For example, maybe next year we are looking at human capital development. The whole issue will look at education, skills and all these artisan issues.

    After looking at infrastructure, we will now look at education, health and human capital. You will see that these are big issues. We are looking at taxation and all others. The last thing I want to mention concerning what the school will be doing is to raise the bar of discourse towards advancing the Nigeria’s course.

    Are you alone in this venture?

    No, I am not. We have a very large house. First of all, our chairman is Prof. Akin Mabogunje. We have a couple of people who are like advisers such as Dr. Christopher Kolade, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and former president Olusegun Obasanjo. The reason was we shared our experience with them when we were setting it up and we did almost all you may call marketing research. So, in the process of interaction, they encouraged us. So, you discover that a lot of them feature in our programmes. They already have ýbackground knowledge of what is building up. Then, one of the other things we did is that we have within the scope leading political scientists like Professor Adigun Agbaje, who is one of those I regard as the real eggheads of political science.

    Again, you must know that my background has been a policy and institutional work and I have done a global tour and I have built a whole legion of networks. So, what we want to do is that we retain a very large network. And also there are young researchers that we have identified in departments of Economics, Education, Archaeology. We have a list now of experts on our database that is running almost to 300. They are the people that will run the programme that we are starting. As we speak, the programme we are starting is about 250. We are starting a journal, something like a bulletin; I don’t want to call it magazine. We will start with quarterly. It will be like a must read for any policy maker and civil servants because it is going to be directed at educating them; making them know the current thinking that is defining government around the professional skills to run the government. We had a conversation with the Ministry of Science and Technology. In fact, they have asked us to come and help rethink the critical issues in their policies. We are building a whole range of expertise

    The Institute (ISGPP), apparently from a theoretical level, is flamboyant. It is something one can look forward to and say that this is going to be a hub of institutional thinking for society but do you anticipate issues that can militate against this flourishing idea?

    In fact, as we speak, the kind of programme we want to start after the conference are largely driven by a whole range of international institutions that want to do things in Nigeria. Some institutions you don’t know about who have interacted with us. There is one in Nairobi that specialises on governance research. They have a lot of funds. But you see the problem is that most of the equivalent institutions here cannot do their level of work that can pass their scrutiny. I saw it in governance. Most institutions in Nigeria are looking for quick money. They want to do populist things. For example, one of my philosophies is that we will not need to be going around to tell anybody. There are some programmes we will simply advertise and we have our business consulting people almost like the marketers who would go round to critical people that we think should benefit. But you see, it is not volume of patronage that will determine whether we are succeeding, it is the quality of the interaction and the target group that you are getting. People that are looking for solution when they see who can provide it, they will come, and the larger part of those people are the civil societies in the local government. For example, everybody talks about the local government not doing development but nobody has been able to throw it up as an issue of national debate. But by the time it becomes a core issue of research, we will publish it and it will raise the level of debate and level of advocacy that will be challenging. A lot of state governments don’t do good governance. Nobody is looking at it. I can tell you that, I know a lot of things that are happening there that if people know, they will protest. But we will not stand against government. What we would just do is that most of the people that are likely going to appreciate the thing we are doing will be included. Again, it is unfortunate but they are the ones that are looking for quality work. And that is why we are going to begin to create policy dialogue. A lot of these programmes don’t even require people participating to pay. We will just create platforms to popularize a whole range of thinking to educate. I discovered also that a lot of things are happening wrongly in government because people don’t know the proper thing to do. They just follow tradition like “the governor doesn’t allow commissioners to sign for money”. And these are the same governors that will be rated the best in Nigeria. And if you go to the states of these governors, their commissioners cannot even approve N5000. They are the only ones approving money. Some of them will concentrate the money in the hands of their wives. These are things that you can never hear about outside. So, what we want to do is to bring out salient structural and institutional constraining issues and raise it to the level of debate.

    What we need in the country is more like a culture change; values reorientation. All these ‘no light, no water…’, if you go to find the root cause of the problem, it is the people. So, Nigeria is being undermined by culture but a lot of people don’t know. If people know the magnitude of corruption that is at the federal level, they will know ‘Dasukigate’ is a child’s play.

    I am happy you mentioned corruption. Is this project going to develop any programme that can help government go beyond the level of just arresting and prosecuting…?

    You see, my own conception of corruption is that all these arrests, for me, is a way of making yourself popular. It should be done but the question is: have you defined the goal? Corruption is a systemic issue arising from the weakness of institutions.  For example, for 15 years a cabal was thriving on payroll pension silently. It never allowed computerization for almost two decades because they knew that some biometrics and introduction of technology to that industry will kill their shady business venture.  And so they didn’t allow the right kind of people who are not compromised to be sent there. And they confused government. Former President Obasanjo got it right but can you imagine the kind of government we have had but they will be briefed by people who would divert their attention from the facts. So, for me, the starting point in fighting corruption is knowledge. And that is why we want to stand out. If we want to make money from this kind of school then we must be ready to simply help government. What most people in government want is who can help them to paint a good image. They don’t want somebody that will help them to interpret their reality for the public to appreciate. A lot of information and knowledge, if made available to the public, will begin to shape the way the people compromise themselves in the name of election. There is poverty but how many leaders have done sufficient scientific analysis of where we are, the steps we have to take before we can get out of poverty? All you tell people is ‘I’ll buy food for your children in school’. They will just pick an issue that doesn’t tie up. But when people know that you cannot eat an omelet without cracking egg, you can’t overcome corruption without first of all sitting down going through the pace and within a short time you do a turn around. So for me, the way to tackle corruption is while you are doing all these razzmatazz, you must be tackling the roots of corruption. You must begin to get institutions to work. You cannot be getting people to run institutions through lobbying and they would get there and face up to the core job. There are a few things around value and I think we are lucky with a government like Buhari’s because the luck we have is that one thing that has been missing in Nigeria’s dynamics was discipline. But you could also have discipline that will not translate to anything. In my book, I call it ration without knowledge.

    Why have all the institutions not been able to find solutions to some of the problems you have highlighted in government because we have corporate personnel who go there for training?

    It depends on why they are set up. The focus and methodology; I think the way ASCON and others are structured are achieving what they are set up to achieve: to provide continuous training for people in government. But the nature of the bureaucratic structure that it operates with, the quality of people in its faculty can hardly make it. You can only give what you have. The quality of the faculty you assemble which is a factor determines so many variables. If you go to Lagos Business School, the structure is created just like the Kennedy School: it is for you to have an expanded scope of income. Secondly, the environment is created for you to be very innovative, the courses are not structured. So, then you are also exposed to a lot of trainings. You find in most of our training institutions that some of our trainers have never gone to training themselves. They just come and say what is project management and they define it. Is that the way to go? So, it is a typical approach to learning and that is what you will find in university also. Why? Because of the flexibility; how much resources do you provide for them to do research? Do you even attract the kind of people that can do research in such institutions? So all you have are instructors who have first and second degrees and who have done it so well. When I used to talk to them in the training institutions, they will say but the civil service produced somebody like me. And I told them that I made efforts; it is not the system. Most of the knowledge that I have, most of the things I published, those in the civil service only read them to pass examinations because the system itself doesn’t directly have a need for it. So, I was developing myself to be on top of my game; the knowledge of my chosen area and I built up skills. But somehow, it comes out that through my advocacy the whole issue of reform was getting more serious. So we are raising the level of debate. Previously, routine officers that took reform. When they want to set committee to do reform, they bring retired people with mere reputation but without necessarily knowledge. For me, a lot of the institutions are serving what they are supposed to do but they don’t have the kind of flexibilities that would enable them to engage in some of the activities that can make them to be creative in a manner that we want to do here. For example, ASCON people cannot wake up tomorrow and say that there is an issue in government and they want to research it. Then, the first thing we will ask is how do you get the money? If you want to ýget money from somewhere, you have to go write a letter to the Permanent Secretary in charge of training who would now say why are you looking for money? Then they would say let us look at financial regulation; what does it say about how we can raise money? But even if we want to raise fund, there is protocol but the protocols are supposed to be directed at enabling you to solve problems. We won’t go for grants that we know will constrain us. And that is the difference between us.

  • Rule of law not intended as line of defence for corruption suspects—Minister

    Information and Culture Minister  Lai Mohammed  said yesterday that  the Buhari  Administration would continue to fight corruption within the confines of the Rule of Law, but warned that it (Rule of Law) is not in any way  intended to be used as a weapon to hamper the dispensation of justice.

    ‘’The Rule of Law is not and was never intended to be used as a line of defence for suspects undergoing trial for corrupt practices in the courts of law that are lawfully constituted and endowed with the legitimate authority to carry out same trial,” the Minister said at a symposium organised by the Gani Fawehinmi Students’ Chamber of the Faculty of Law, University of Lagos.

    He added: “In response to the ongoing anti-corruption efforts of the government, an increasing number of voices have emerged in defence of suspects being indicted for various acts of corruption by the courts of law under the banner of upholding the Rule of Law.”

    He said the Administration is a product and true advocate of the Rule of Law, and that ”there is no greater proponent of that time-tested legal principle than Mr President himself.”

    The minister said there was nothing questionable in the administration’s approach to fighting corruption, adding: ‘’The government is bound by law and is following the Rule of Law in its anti-corruption efforts. Were this not the case, the accused persons so far charged would not be having their day in court.’’

    He said each society had used methods expedient to it to fight corruption at different times in their own history, citing the example of Singapore which once fought corruption by suspending rule of law and fundamental rights.

    The government, according to him, has not requested  emergency powers to tackle corruption, even though some school of thought unequivocally believes that Nigeria is in an emergency, with high unemployment, unpaid salaries, reduced income, insurgency, reduced oil income and primitive looting of the treasury by the  immediate past administration.’’

    Rallying support for the fight against corruption, he said the battle is a constitutional imperative, and quoted Section 15 (5) of the Constitution, which says: “The State shall abolish all corrupt practices and abuse of office.”

  • Corruption: Questions for President Buhari

    When President Buhari started the war against corruption, he started a worthy struggle, a direction that our country desperately needs. His prosecution of that war is still commendable as far as it goes. But there are already potent indications that this war may soon plunge into some sort of confusion.

    Already, from some of our eminent voices, as well as from the mostly unheard voices of the masses of our people, troubling questions are being asked about the agenda. Some days ago, one of our country’s most respected Christian leaders proposed that the war against corruption should end simply with the recovery of stolen public money. He suggested that once the thief has surrendered his loot, our government and law enforcement agencies should do nothing further against him – indeed that he should be left alone. The implication of this is that recovery of stolen public money is the end purpose of the whole war. But very many citizens are wondering whether this is right.  What about our laws? Are we now maneuvering ourselves into a new culture – one more destructive than the culture of corruption, a culture in which our country’s laws will become negotiable. If a Nigerian be accused of a crime, will it become sufficient for him to send influential relatives and friends to beg the rulers of the land or make some retribution which the rulers arbitrarily deem acceptable? Is this the future we are striving towards? A sort of primitive ‘pre-law’ society?

    A few days ago also, another eminent Nigerian, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, proposed in the course of a public discourse that President Buhari should start the war on corruption from the highest level – that is from the presidency itself. Apparently, he was not thinking of asking anything other than that the probes should start from Buhari’s own presidency. It would appear also that he did not think that his question could have wider ramifications. To his surprise, someone in the audience asked him whether he meant that the probes should extend all the way back to the Obasanjo presidency. The former president sidestepped the question in his response and preferred only to remind his audience that it was he who had created the legal instruments that are now being used by President Buhari to fight corruption. In that, he is right; but most Nigerians would still want to ask him if it would be right to limit the probes only to the present.

    Nigerians know that the era of unrestrained public corruption in our country started in 1966, or at the latest, 1979. The big question is this: Can we really destroy the culture of corruption if we deal with the thieves of the past six years only and leave those of earlier years to luxuriate in their loot? Moreover, is this a war against federal level corruption only or will it also take on functionaries of state and local governments also? And then there is an overarching question: Can we really be said to be killing corruption if we are doing it only amongst the highest public officials only? What about the deep roots that corruption has dug into other levels of our society? Afterall, no nook or cranny appears to have escaped the scourge! Are we going to do something about senior civil servants who regularly take bribes from folks seeking civil service jobs? Or those who dream up phantom contracts, award them to phantom contractors and pay the contractors for the phantom completion of the jobs? How about university officials who take bribes to manipulate university admissions, or those lecturers who coerce their students to buy shoddy handouts or give various types of gifts as a condition of passing the examinations? What shall we do about the rampant passing of bribes at all levels of public service, customs service, immigration service, passport office, driver licensing offices, land administration offices, etcetera? How about the rampant practice of bank employees stealing from their employers and customers? Or the general fear of Nigerian employers about the tendency of Nigerian employees to cheat and steal? For that matter, will we do anything about the perpetual rumour that church officials also steal from church coffers? The list is endless!

    In short, how far do we, as represented by the Buhari presidency, intend to go with this war on corruption? These questions are now emerging because not much is being told us Nigerian citizens by our government. All we hear is a constant stream of stories of mind-boggling amounts of loot that has been detected and sometimes huge amounts that have been returned by the thieves. The president has started the most important war in our country’s history – a war for which he deserves our commendation. But he is not talking to us as he should about it. Perhaps it is his military background that predisposes him to believe that his government can fight this overwhelming war alone. He needs to consider that he may be wrong. This is a war that all Nigerians are mightily interested in. We want it to be won. We have all had enough. We therefore want to understand what is happening in this great war. We want to be able to help in whatever small or large way we can. We know there are powerful forces hiding in the shadows, waiting for an opportune moment to wage a counter-offensive. We perceive the rumblings of corruption’s fight back already. President Buhari will need us, the masses of common Nigerians, to resist that counter-offensive. He needs to prepare us accordingly. He must begin to do that now. He must leverage all the authority of the presidency to do so. This is a war for all Nigerians who love their country and want her to become prosperous and respectable. We are in a fight for the very soul of our nation. Those who seek to keep corruption alive and well are akin to vampires who care nothing for their victims but seek only to suck the very lifeblood out of her. President Buhari has begun the rescue of Nigeria from those predators who would bleed her dry and indeed have been doing so for decades. Many hands they say, make light work. Not that this work could ever be light. But it can be made lighter by the participation of millions of willing Nigerians. President Buhari must harness their involvement. Ultimately, this great war will only be won when most of us citizens accept the mantle of ‘corruption fighter’. When love for country supersedes desire for convenience. When we return to the days when dishonesty carried a stigma and thieves were shunned by decent, upright citizens. Then and only then, will we win this war on corruption.

  • ‘No room for corruption in Plateau’

    ‘No room for corruption in Plateau’

    Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong spoke with TONY AKOWE on his anti-corruption crusade, the revenue drive, plans for tourism and his agenda for peace in the Northcentral state.

    Plateau is known for tourism. How are you developing this sector?

    If you don’t have peace, you can’t have tourism. Plateau was known as the home of peace and tourism. I can still remember that when I was younger, people usually traveled from far and near to come Jos. I was discussing with Ambassador Jeta yesterday and he said that Plateau was a tourist attraction for every American who like spending their weekends and holidays in Jos. That was why many people kept their families in Jos even when they were working in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria. Suddenly, crisis came in and people started running away from Jos and the hope of making the place a tourist attraction was no longer there. So,when we came in, we made peace and tourism part of our policy thrust. As part of our five policy thrust, peace and security was number one. I had the challenge of first curtailing the insecurity that I inherited and I am sure that you know that in the last four month before we came in, Jos was a no go area. So we first concentrated on checking the insecurity in the state by ensuring there is mutual understanding between the fulanis and the Berons. We went as far as establishing a committee to take care of their problem and quickly, I established a Bureau for Conflict Management. We have put in place a law to that effect. So, we have been able to curtail the insecurity in the state and those areas that were hitherto no go areas are not free areas for people. Having done with peace, we are now moving into other areas of attraction for tourism. Although tourism is not the second pillar on our policy thrust, but agriculture which is also the focus of the federal government. We are also going in line with the policy of the federal government and the APC manifesto. So, we are following exactly what the President is proposing especially in respect to agriculture, commerce and industry. We just came back from a retreat where the five policy thrust were discussed. After appointing and swearing in commissioners, I realized that the best thing was to go for a retreat and so, we had a one week retreat and out of that retreat, a lot of things came out. Some of the things that came out of the retreat are complimenting what we are doing already. In my campaigns, I promised to dwell on commerce and tourism. I told Plateau people that by the grace of God, I will rebuild the Jos Market that was burnt down. I immediately established a committee which has already commenced work. They have already advertised, calling for investors who will come in and build the market. When they advertised, I was surprised at the number of investors that came forward and expressed interest in rebuilding that market. So, as far as reconstructing the market is concerned, it is a done deal.

    The Jos Wildlife Park is another tourist attraction that has been left fallow. What are you doing about reviving the place.

    Part of the suggestions that came out of our retreat was that we should continue to run the place through government effort or give it to private investors. We are now in the era of public private partnership where Government will only rocked the enabling environment. We are also thinking about that. We want to attract people because wildlife is very important. Apart from from the Jos a Wildlife park, we also have the Pandam Wildlife park which is untapped. We also have the Wase Rock and even the weather on the plateau. We see tourism as an advantage to us and so, we are going to develop that tourism while concentrating on sustaining the peace and then go on to fill our mandate as contained in the five pillar thrust.

    In view of the dwindling resources from oil, what is your blueprint for revamping the solid mineral sector in the state.

    Before the dwindling resources from oil, nobody was bothered about solid minerals. We lost so much in the area because we left it to illegal miners. This is the time to look inward. Plateau was the headquarters of the Nigeria Mining Corporation. That should tell you the importance or significance of mining to the people of Plateau state. In those days when people were talking about groundnuts and cocoa, we were hitting our chest and talking about mining. That was why the name Jos became popular. When the prices of oil started falling we said we must go back to mining and agriculture. I was very happy when the Minister for Solid Minerals Development came to Jos, he told me that the best inputs he got on ways of managing the solid mineral sector came from Jos. The day he visited Jos, I was having, I was having a wilder stakeholders meeting with the people of Plateau and they were also part of it. That meeting shifted from all other things to solid minerals and very heavy contributions came from Plateau state and those contributions was what helped us at the National Economic Council meeting and that is what is what is going to form the policy thrust of the administration both at the federal and state levels. So, to me, it is an advantage. Virtually every part of my state is rich with solid minerals. But the law was done in such a way that the states were disadvantaged. People come into your state after collecting license from Abuja, some times, they come with military and police escort, do whatever they want and give the communities stipends and you don’t know what they are taking. This time, the. President has a change of attitude according to the change mantra. He said no, we must follow the law. States must also participate in the exploration and advantage of solid minerals in their states. To me, it is going to boost the economy and have serious impact on my revenue generation. We factor that into our retreat as to how to take advantage of the new policy on solid minerals in improving revenue generation.

    What efforts have you made for foster unity in the state?

    Plateau is a very unique state. Unique in the sense that when they want to so something, they do it without looking back. Plateau is also a very religious state. That is why you don’t find many cases of corruption in the state. So, when the election came, we knew that something was going to happen, change was going to happen on the Plateau because we are united. Suddenly, an administration came that was almost diving a list everybody along religious and ethnic lines and Plateau people said no, this is not the time for that; we must get a change. Lucky enough, the change came through APC. Some of us were diehard members of the PDP. You know I was Speaker under PDP for seven years. But we realized that many things were going wrong in the party and that was why some of us left the party and joined the opposition. When we saw the opposition moving under a driver like the present President, Buhari, we knew that something was going to happen in this country and so. We followed that opposition and that was what gave rise to our election. You said the PDP won everywhere. It is not everywhere they won, some of the elections were rigged and the tribunal gave it to them. Other wise, if it were true election, APC won in so many places and the governorship was very clear. It was the collective opinion of Plateau people and the hard work done by he then opposition. When I won my election, everybody came on board irrespective of political affiliation. It was seen as a Plateau project and I am also managing it as a Plateau project. I can only manage and build the confidence of Plateau project when I deliver the dividends of democracy to the people and when we see a change in attitude from what was obtained before. That is what we are trying to do to bring unity to the people of Plateau state, to being our hop and ensure equity and Justice.

    Many people believe that the past administration in the state should be probed. What are you doing about this?

    I have said it severally that the fact that you are not hearing anything from the Plateau does not mean we are not fighting corruption on the Plateau. We have sent several cases to the EFCC and ICPC. My Accountant General just came back from the EFCC. They were called to come and give evidence as to the investigations that at going on. We have a lot of such investigations going on, we have also had so many arrest especially from the last administration and many of them are on bail. At the appropriate time, prosecution will start. EFCC may be slow, but I know they will prosecute. We had a transition committee and we came out and told Plateau people what we inherited, some of the genuine and others not genuine. Some of them we have submitted to the EFCC and others, we have commissioned a very reputable accounting firm, KPMG who are currently auditing the state and at the appropriate time, when they come out with the result, you will hers what will happen on the Plateau. We have recovered money too. Recently, we recovered N2.7 billion in the state. That was money that was supposedly lost. We traced the money which was meant for teachers. If you remember, teachers were not paid in my state for 11 months, civil servants were not paid for about nine months. When I came, the Judiciary was not there because everybody was on strike and it was like government was dead. But when I came on board, we did our best. We now have arrears of salaries of only two months. For teachers, we paid all, they are back to work. The judiciary is also back to work. Litigations were here and there between labour and government but right now, there are no more litigations because they have all withdrawn the litigations. So, for us on the Plateau, we are moving well. But, in the area of corruption, we are putting pressure on the EFCC, because at the appropriate time, when they finish their investigations, let them start prosecution. We want prosecution and the refund of the looted funds.

    Have you been able to pay all outstanding salaries?

    No, in my state, not yet. Before the issue of bailout came,  we have already started paying workers in the state even with the backlog of problems we inherited. When the issue of bailout was announced, we applied for 10 billion which was supposed to be for the arrears of salaries for about eight or nine months. Even without the full bailout, we only received five billion. Today, I was in CBN, trying to pursue the bailout for Plateau state. Plateau was supposed to get 10 billion for salaries and 10 billion for infrastructure. But we got only N5 billion and even with that, we were able to clear the backlog of salaries. From May till date, I am not owing salaries, but the ones we inherited, we have been able to pay with only two months remaining. For local government, we have paid all the arrears and presently, we are not owing them. If I am able to get my balance of five billion, within a week, all the remaining salaries outstanding would have been cleared.

    The Treasury Account Account is aimed at assisting in the fight against corruption. Why are states finding it difficult to implement Treasury Single Accounts?

    Well, other states may be finding it diffult, not Plateau,  we are already implementing TSA. Immediately I saw the introduction of the TSA by Mr. president, I called my accountant-general and Commissioner for Finance and told them they must implement. I am not an accountant and at that time, I didn’t know the implication. But from what I saw about the advantages of TSA, I said let TSA be implemented in the state. I immediately set up a committee and today, it is being implemented in my state I don’t know why some governors will find it difficult to implement TSA. But for me, if wasn’t difficult for me to implement and we are getting some reserved funds. Things that were not know at all, some accounts that were not known to us are being traced and we are getting excess money from there. I will ask governors that has not done TSA to quickly adopt and start implementing it in their state.

    Eight months into the life of the Buhari administration, Nigerians are beginning to complain. Are you worried about this?

    While I am worried because of the kinds of complaints that are coming, I am also worried because of the impatience of Nigerians. If you begin to compare the state of the nation before the election, you will understand what the President is facing. Before 2014, what was the cost of a barrel of oil? At a stage, it was over $140, but today, we are getting back to less than $30 with the same budget and the same responsibility. Like in my state, it is the same salary and every other thing. In the past, allocation to my state was between N5 billion and N8 billion, but today, with a salary bill of about N1.8 billion, we are getting about N2 billion, sometimes less. Last month (January), we got N1.6 billion. But the people will not understand. They will tell you it is change and since you said change, it should have been better. But they must also understand the economic situation we are going through. What we need to do is to be a little bit patient because the reforms that are going on is yielding fruits, but it will not be something that will be immediate. We will have to take out time. Let us give ourselves at least one year and see what Mr. President is doing. Let us give ourselves one year and see what the states are doing. We are already moving away from oil and no longer depending on oil because many of us are now diversifying. We are moving into Agriculture and other ways of enhancing our revenue generation. If you give me adequate funding, (I say adequate funding because I have not received my bail out) and successful Internal Revenue, if you come to Plateau in the next six months, you will see a different thing. That is what I am also expecting of Mr. President.

    At the federal level, we heard that the President is under sever pressure to drop the anti corruption war. Are you facing the same pressure in Plateau?

    If you are fighting corruption anywhere, corruption will fight you. Those of us on the Plateau know what I have gone through. Within the civil service, when you are fighting corruption, you get frustrated from all angles. We have done our best through Transition Committee, but each time we come out, if is frustration here and there. We are going back to investigations. The EFCC is there, but sometimes, people refused to come and give evidence. Let me just emphasis that corruption is not an easy thing to fight. But you must have a way and anytime you are fighting it, don’t look back. At the end of the day, if is sacrifice that everybody must do. If we have to make this country good.

    You said federal allocation to your state has reduced drastically and this is the complain of your colleagues, who have argued that they cannot keep up with the minimum wage. What is your position on this.

    Initially, there was misconception about what we were saying. At the Governors’ Forum, we were appealing to the president to reconsider the position of the states so that people will be able to pay salaries it is not inky payment of salaries that we have as our responsibility. There are so many people on the street and so, you need to employ people and this was becoming very impossible and to pay salaries. So, we were calling for measures. Thank God that the president has introduced some measure. For example, we are talking about solid minerals now, we are beginning to open the space so that we can use that to improve our internal revenue. I am not sure they got us right when they say that we wanted to downsize. As far as I am concerned, it is going to be very difficult to saying will downsize on the Plateau. I am not thinking of doing that. What I am trying to do is to be able to retain what I have and be able to improve on it. That is why our concentration us on how to improve our revenue generation so that we can sustain the salary structure that we have, and if possible, employ additional workforce. Downsizing is going to be very unpopular especially in the change era. The President has said it will be difficult and that he will not advice any state to downsize. Not only state, but corporate organization. So, what we are trying to do is to manage what we have and also improve on it.

    It’s always been very difficult for most states to run football clubs. Plateau United has just gained promotion. What is your arrangement.

    Let me tell you that if you go to my state, they will say there will be no reason why football will fail because I was also a footballer. I played with the likes of Nduka Ugbade. We were all selected to go to Kwara. It was from there that they went for international engagement. Some of us were writing our exams and so could not make it. That is to tell you the level I played football and so, I tKe football seriously. When I came in, my first task was to be able to take Plateau United to the Premier division. They had no hope of achieving that because they were just managing. But within that short period, I was able to struggle to take the team to the Premier division. It was not the past administration that took them there. I tried that win a short period of time and they were up. We are doing our best in other sports. It is just the dwindling resources that we have. I inherited a stadium that was uncompleted. A very big stadium which was abandoned. Right now, we are going back to complete it. The National Sports Commission have also advised that incomplete that stadium. Once we complete that stadium, the Super Eagles will have a place to be training. I am sure that there is place as to where to play now. It would have been Jos especially because of the weather. I play a lot of golf and last year, we had the governor’s cup. It was the first time in the history of this country that a golf tournament had participants more than expected. We we’re expecting 100 people, but 340 people were in Jos. They said it was the first time that a tournament was being played on two course at the same time. If you quantify the cost of the influx of people into Plateau state, it was put at about N50 million and above. That is the kind of thing we are supposed to be talking about. We are not relenting at all in the area of sport because we also want to engage our youth, empower them and employ them.

    President Buhari just returned from a five day break and statistics revealed that he has done 15 trips out of the country in the last eight month. He has also released a bulletin indicating that he will be visiting three more countries soon. The question Nigerians are asking is, should he continue to travel. Probably if he had sat down, he would have noticed the padding of the budget because he did not study the budget and that is why the budget mafia hijacked the budget.

    For me, I see nothing wrong in traveling. Today, I am granting an interview in Abuja and not in Jos. Sometimes, people say that we governors don’t seat down in our states. But travel a lot. Imagine if I seat down in Jos, who will fight my bailout fund for me? We are concentrating on donor agencies, but they are in Abuja and always, they would want to meet with the Governor. When I became governor, because of the insecurity, foreigners were not coming to Jos, but will only end up in Abuja. So, if you are looking for investors, they will say if you don’t come to Abuja, we will not come to Jos. So, I had to be coming to Abuja because if I don’t, they will not come to Jos because in most cases, they will say we want to meet with the governor.

     

     

     

    Sometimes, they will refuse to meet with the deputy governor. In that case, you have to move round. That is what the President is doing. We are moving into attracting the private sector into doing business in this country and so, he cannot sit down in one place. So, I think we cannot undervalue these trips. It was not because he travelled that he had problem with the budget. Sometimes, whatever you are doing, there will be sabotage. Sometimes, you do your best. But the civil servants will always be smarter than you. You will trust everybody, but these things happen from time to time. So, I think that the President’s trips should not be a thing of concern to us as long as the trips are bringing the benefits.

    The roads in Jos are in a terrible state. What are you doing about that.

    I am sure that the last time you were in Jos was last year. Those are some of the things I inherited and it was very glaring that it was going too be difficult for those of us who are going to be governors in such states. We inherited a debt of over N200 billion and an impending contractual liabilities of about N105 billion. Everything that was left in that state was N95 million and that was horrible. Uncompleted projects were littered all over the place, including the main road leading into Jos. Contract was awarded and abandoned. So, what I did in my own way was to say, these roads are for the people of Plateau state and so, must be completed. We are investigating the cost of some of the contracts, but that will not stop us from going ahead to complete them. It may interest you to hear that if you get back to Jos now, it will be a different story. There was a flyover bridge that was left abandoned and nobody believe that we will complete the bridge. Right now, we have completed that bridge and all the main roads are under construction. I am hoping that in the next six months, if I am able to get my bailout, I will complete most of the projects that were abandoned and even engage new ones.

    The EFCC chairman has accused the Judiciary and lawyers of being a problem to the fight against corruption in the country. As a lawyer, how would react to that.

    If there are allegations against a profession like that, it is always good to be specific. We have had cases like that severally and each profession had a way of disciplining their members. We can’t say that the law profession is a perfect one. We are not angel and that is why there are disciplinary measures against members. That is to say that there are members who are recalcitrants. There are ways of going about that and not to make a blanket statement like that. Of course, he did not say all, but some and I am sure that with time, he will name those lawyers. It is better to name those lawyers and not to make a blanket statement against a profession like that. I hold the EFCC in hong regard. I was also a guest of the EFCC. If you are aware, in 2005/2006, I was detained by EFCC as Speaker for more than 40 days. I was prosecuted and discharged. Those ones were during the Obasanjo era. It was complicated with desire to impeach illegally which some of us resisted. We were all detained and at the end of the day, we didn’t do that. Many people who did it regretted it after. My lawyer. My reason was not because I was defending somebody against corruption, I was following due process. Some people did if without following due process and at the end of the day, many of us were vindicated by the Supreme Court. What I am saying is that I respect my profession and hold it in high esteem. So, for anybody to say there are some that are bad, it is good to be specific. As EFCC, if you know some of these bad lawyers, you have a right to arrest, investigate and prosecute them because they don’t have immunity. Even governors who have immunity cannot go away from investigation.

    What is the place of women in your government

    The manifesto of the APC which we also copied in our state, we have something called the three Es- Empowerment,  Engagement and Employment for youths and women. Everything we are doing in the state, we are doing it for the youths and women. I have three female commissioners and all of them are occupying very sensitive positions. The Commissioner for Finance is a woman, same with Commissioner for Agriculture. I have seven Permanent Secretaries who are permanent secretaries. So, we are taking good care of women affairs in the state.

     

  • Lagos CJ, EFCC to tackle corruption

    Lagos CJ, EFCC to tackle corruption

    The judiciary will support the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the fight against corruption, Lagos State Chief Judge Justice Olufunmilayo Atilade has said.

    The CJ spoke when EFCC Acting Chairman Ibrahim Magu visited her.

    She said a team of  judges were ready to handle corruption cases with dispatch.

    She  advised the EFCC that matters were usually slowed down not because of the judges but the prosecution teams of the commission.

    She appealed to the EFCC to embrace the plea bargaining system of justice in some financial crimes which saves time and reduces the cost of justice.

    Earlier, in his address,  Magu com-mended and appreciated the state Judiciary in terms of standards, hardwork and commitment to the job.

    According to him, “Lagos State occupied an enviable position in our scheme of things. As at 2015, we have had 103 convictions in the corruption cases brought to courts. This shows the commitment and zeal of the judges towards the fight against corruption. For such a judiciary we must thank the Chief Judge and her team for a job well done”.

    He advocated the  continuous  designation of judges on EFCC cases and that magistrates at the Igbosere axis be designated to handle remand orders.

    He assured Justice Atilade that the training and retraining of judges and prosecutors have been an ongoing preserve of the EFCC,  adding that such training would further assist the judges in the criminal Justice Division in the state and enhance their job.

    Other issues that came up for discussion during the meeting include that of  filing of cases and compilation fees for appeals.

     

  • The anger, incoherence and impotence of a “concern citizen”: the raw underbelly of the war on corruption

    The anger, incoherence and impotence of a “concern citizen”: the raw underbelly of the war on corruption

    Absolutely unedited and uncensored, here is the text of one reader’s response to my reflections on the need to bring the rule of law into a fruitful union with justice in last week’s piece in this column. The only thing I have done to the text as received is to bracket it from the brief comment that I shall make on it by placing it in italics in its entirety. Here it goes:

    Prof as we used to call you guys with too much english knowledge in my days at 9ja Uni ive been reading with rapt attentions 4 some weeks now your dialogue about president buhari’s method in Fighting the anti graft war .Haba! Prof yoruba adage says ina esusu kijoni lemeji meaning once bitten ttwice shy why can’t you these grammar people 4 once consider that itvis you this so call elite that are destroying and using your so call classroom and pen knowledge to continously making this God blessed nation called Nigeria becoming a laughing stock to comity of nations . Why on earth are you ppl always talk of rule of law and human right in defence of those that need not to be prosecuted but stone to death haba! Prof you ppl hv now rven gone yo the extend of quoting the word of God lopsidedly in other to buttress your so call heartless heart please permit me as i really don’t want to personalise this write up but i cry for my beloved Nigeria whenever i read most of you people write ups sir where was the rule of law when God killed all the stiffnecked israelites and refused to let them get to the promised land bcos of their bresking God’s law where wss rule of law when God removed and eventually destroyed the first king of israel Saul when he broke God’s commandments have yiu all forgotten what happenrd to the guy that try to right the ark of God when King David was taking it from obededium house and were been instructed by God yhat nobody should torch it under any circumstances ive million and one example sir in the same bible you people started quoting arbitrarily to support those heartless animals called looters  to me they aren’t looters but murderers . Haba prof! Some people in a country that has no light no pipeborne water no hospital no no jobs for the semi demi illetrates that our so call glorified nursery schools called university are year in year out graduating with their only paper certificate shared 2.1 billion dollars among less than 100 people and you people are still talking and debatinga about whether their fundamental human right  or rule of law was or wssn’t follow. Sir with all respect in that America yiu are sir have you not hear of guetsmala bay prison in cuba? Thank Godvive lived there fir several years , in England am here right now have yiu not read about our MP some 2 or 3 years ago that went to jail for ordinary misapproptiating less thsn 5000 pounds? Not stealing o just may be claiming some ridicuolous 2000pounds over yheir imprest or for their mortgage thats agsinst the law of the land. Sir for all my years hrre in uk i never saw one article written to support them for being a good crook is only in Nigeria you see all sort of educated misnormals wasting english language if i may borrow from one of my olden days proffessor here in england he always wonder why we nigeria always waste english by speaking or writting in big grammar i remember then jokingly i usedvto tell him that people used such big english to defend  themself after embezzling public funds but today i think am right.Sir with all respect you peoplecshould remember that thats hiw you started condeming the same buhari in 1984 as head of state until you playrd into the hands of the real sabotouers and never allow yhr man to lay us a good foundation in Nigeria all is now history brother but unfortunately 33years after you people have started again with your big english and rule of law snd humam unright orvwhatever yiu call it but to before warn is to be fore harm  .God bless . Pst Dele  from London

    The anger, the rage of the writer of the text is all too palpable. The text was set to ME by email and I am addressed by my professional title, “Prof”, but the real addressee is a plural group identified as “yiu ppl” (you people). To the writer, we are all heartless people defending looters who are not “ppl” but animals that should be “stone to death”. Now anyone with even minimal literacy skills that read my pieces on the looters would have immediately understood that I was far from defending them, but this is of absolutely no importance to our raving interlocutor; I am guilty, I am one of the “heartless” “ppl” only because the term “rule of law” appeared in my robustly anti-looters pieces. The writer also finds me guilty of defending the looters for using “big enlish” but this a lesser charge or even a merely additional crime to the unconscionable evil of using the term “rule of law” in my writings on this matter, a matter that is of life and death importance for our absolutely irate compatriot. I ask Palladium especially but everyone else reading these words to please take note: the fury of the person who sent this text to me is so deep that it is almost elemental; moreover, it is shared by tens of millions of Nigerians at home and abroad.

    But beyond the anger, there are the incoherence and, above all else, the impotence. These are the things that I wish to reflect upon in this short commentary. The incoherence is of course at its most obvious in the complete absence of punctuation in the text; but it is not this technical register of incoherence itself that I wish to draw the reader’s attention to. Rather, it is the emotional and mental incoherence that the ‘punctuational’ incoherence produces that worries me. I call this order of emotional and mental incoherence strategic and tactical: merely by spotting the term, “rule of law” in ANY writing whatsoever, the writer of the irate text lost the ability to distinguish between “opponents” and “defenders” of looters, an inability, in other words, of the capacity to distinguish between potential allies and actual powerful backers of the looters, especially in the judiciary. I confess that this not only worries me tremendously, but it also frightens me, so much so that I have had to dig deep into my intuitions regarding what we can learn from experiences from all over the world in periods of volatile social ferment such as the one Nigeria now faces in this war on corruption and looters. This observation leads me to the last issue that I wish to reflect upon in this piece. I wish to express this as carefully as I can since it is at the core of all my reflections in this piece.

    In all parts of the world in periods when extremely volatile mass resentment against deep and wide social injustice is rampant, the strategic incoherence that makes it impossible for the millions of the aggrieved to distinguish between their potential allies and their real enemies reflects a deep sense of powerlessness, a political impotence in which raving incoherently against the prevailing order of things replaces the necessity for individual and mass action against the prevailing (dis)order, injustice and misrule. I suggest that this is the source of the kind of emotional and mental incoherence of the writer of the raging diatribe against anyone talking of the rule of law when, to him or her, the looters should all be “stone to death”. Let me be very clear about this point: to the writer of the irate text, Buhari and his administration will do the work that is necessary to bring the looters to justice; anyone and everyone seeming to question Buhari’s war, his tactics or lack of tactics, is an enemy. And so from the UK or from Kontangora, the cries go up: leave Buhari alone to do what must be done for us, for Nigeria! But when has it ever happened in the history of revolutionary periods that without the intervention of the masses themselves acting through their own organizations and as individuals, when has it ever happened that badly needed change and reforms come exclusively from the ruler(s)?

    In conclusion, let me say that this point about the necessity of mass action to bring the looters to justice and recover the loot from them is a point, a declaration that I have made again and again in this column in the last few months. I shall keep making it as long as the delusion remains that Buhari alone will deliver justice. Thus this is a call for action, a peaceful but determined intervention of our peoples for justice and restitution. One would have thought that as a ruling party that places so much propaganda value on “change” the APC itself would have called for this mass intervention in support of its intentions – if they are genuine. I end with a call to the writer of the diatribe against “yiu ppl” using “big english” to forget us and march, protest, and demonstrate for restitution of the stolen loot and punitive justice against the looters. If and when he or she does that, some of us using “big english” will join him or her. And we will prevail, Insha Allah!

     

    Biodun Jeyifo                                                                                                                 

    jeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

     

  • Widening gyre of corruption probe: who’ll be left?

    Widening gyre of corruption probe: who’ll be left?

    Given the number and array of those invited for questioning in the ongoing corruption probe, the question many are asking is not whether there will be an end to the investigations, but whether at the end of investigations any Nigerian of renown and repute will be left out. Without having to widen the probe to the oil industry, and while so far limiting the investigations to a small part of national life, virtually all top military brass have been mentioned, and gargantuan sums of money allegedly embezzled by them reeled out to the press. Even in that little corner of defence contracts, the scope is widening sickeningly. In that little corner, virtually all areas of national life, including politics especially, the media, whole families and traditional institutions are already mentioned. By the time restitution will begin, who knows which little unknown boy in one remote village will be asked to cough out his share.

    It is expected that the probe will soon get to other lucrative sections of the national economy, particularly the oil sector, and perhaps too the subsidy regime, which saw subsidy allocation figure rising from a little over N240bn in 2011 to more than a trillion and a half by 2014. There are many other areas of national life that may soon host anti-graft investigators. When that happens, the country must hope that a few persons would be left untouched by the sleaze. This should tell Nigerians that if the problem is really to be tackled, the government must have a better and greater understanding of the structure and dynamics of corruption. Until these problems are tackled from the roots, the temptation to indulge in sleaze will always reoccur.

  • Corruption, others hinder funds’ flow

    Corruption, policy inconsistency and lack of appropriate investible products have been the bane of full deployment of N5.1 trillion pension funds to nation building, the Managing Director, Zenith Pensions Custodian Limited, Mrs. Nkem Oni-Egboma,” has said.

    Oni-Egboma made this known during a paper presentation on “Security and Strategic Deployment of Pension Funds in Nigeria for Nation Building” at the Nigeria Pension Consumer Symposium held in Lagos.

    For Nigeria to harness the exponential growth in pension asset and channel it to achieve laudable infrastructural and structural transformation, there is need for creation of suitable investable vehicles like infrastructural bonds and equity with low risk.

    She stated that there is also need for the right policy formulation that will provide conducive ground rules for its deployment.

    According to the World Bank report, Nigeria infrastructural deficit requires investment of $15 billion  about N2 trillion per annum for a decade in critical areas such as housing, transport and power sectors.

  • Corruption, others stifle MSMEs’ growth, says World Bank

    Corruption, others stifle MSMEs’ growth, says World Bank

    The World Bank Country Programme Director, Nigeria, Mr. Rachid Benmessaoud yesterday said survey has ranked access to finance, power, infrastructure, taxes and corruption as major constraints to the growth of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises.

    Benmessaoud spoke during the launch of Business Innovation and Growth (BIG) platform in partnership with Growth and Employment Project (GEM) World Bank Group in Abuja, stating that the project is aimed at stimulating job creation.

    He said: “The government of Nigeria has identified security, job creation and governance as three key priorities. For job creation, its focus is on the need to create two million new jobs each year, and it aims to do this through industrialisation, public works and agricultural expansion, diversifying the economy away from reliance on oil revenues.

    “GEM project is a major initiative aimed at stimulating job creation through the growth of specific high potential, non- oil sectors, ICT, construction, entertainment, light manufacturing including agro processing, hospitality and tourism.

    “It will also make resources available to help address some key constraints identified by business, with a particular emphasis on MSMEs, which are widely regarded as vital engine for growth and job creation.

    “When focus is more on access to finance as constraint, the poor quality of business plan, financial planning and managerial capacity are often diagnosed as being significant factors behind the inability to attract or unlock finance.”

    The County Director said, the online platform will be the main channel through which GEM assistance is made available to MSMEs, building the capacity of firms and helping them to organise, in order to facilitate better access to finance.

  • Corruption, others hinder deployment of fund

    Corruption, others hinder deployment of fund

    Corruption, policy inconsistency and lack of appropriate investible products or instruments have been the bane of full deployment of N5.1 trillion pension funds to nation building, the Managing Director, Zenith Pensions Custodian Limited, Mrs. Nkem Oni-Egboma,” he said.

    Oni-Egboma made this known during a paper presentation on “Security and Strategic Deployment of Pension Funds in Nigeria for Nation Building” at the Nigeria Pension Consumer Symposium held in Lagos.

    For Nigeria to harness the exponential growth in pension asset and channel it to achieve laudable infrastructural and structural transformation, there is need for creation of suitable investable vehicles like infrastructural bonds and equity with low risk.

    She stated that there is also need for the right policy formulation that will provide conducive ground rules for its deployment.

    According to the World Bank report, Nigeria infrastructural deficit requires investment of $15 billion  about N2 trillion per annum for a decade in critical areas such as housing, transport and power sectors.

    She pointed out that one would expect the accumulated pension fund of over N5.1 trillion to provide a sure gateway for the needed finance to fund the infrastructural deficit.

    The Zenith Pension boss said the reality, however, is that a very large proportion of the pension fund is deployed to fixed income securities and equities, and very little is channelled towards infrastructure because of corruption, policy inconsistency or summersaults and lack of appropriate investible products or instruments.

    Speaking specifically on how to channel Nigeria Pension Fund towards infrastructural development for nation building, she said there is need for capacity building, and Public-Private Partnership (PPP), among others.

    She explained that pension operators need to acquire necessary knowledge, expertise, skill and resources through the development of appropriate capacity programmes that would enable them play directly in infrastructure investment.

    She said: “A contractual arrangement between a public agency and a private sector entity. Through this agreement, the skills and assets of each sector are shared in delivering a service or facility for the use of general public. Government needs to ensure that all parties are carried along to build confidence with stakeholders.

    “Floating of infrastructure bond targeted at specific public good and infrastructure with clearly defined exit route, Private equity – targeted at infrastructural development like ARM Harith Infrastructure Fund for power project; appropriate government policy and stability that would create the enabling environment for the right financing from pension fund and collaboration with Nigeria Mortgage Re-financing Corporation.”

    Project Director, Abidemi Adesanya said the symposium was designed to create a window of opportunity for workers in Lagos to be able to rub minds and ask questions on grey areas from leaders and professionals in the pension industry.

    It was further designed to sensitise employers and workers on the importance of subscribing to the contributory pension scheme in Nigeria,” he added.