The Nation Newspaper

Tag: creation

  • Aspirant calls for creation of treasury ministry

    Aspirant calls for creation of treasury ministry

    Lagos State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant and former acting National Vice Chairman (Southwest) Adedeji Doherty  has called for the creation of the Treasury Ministry at federal and state levels to curb corruption . He made the statement in a chat with newsmen in Lagos.

    He said: “The Treasury Ministry is the bedrock of accountability of government; it can cut corruption by 100 percent. I am advising President Goodluck Jonathan to create it at the federal level and governors to create it in their various states because, without the treasury ministry, corruption will continue.’

    Explaning the responsibilities of the ministry, he said it will monitor the government income, receipts, accounting systems, expenses, allocations and the projected income.

    He added: “Treasury ministry must be represented in all government income-making offices of the government. It is the information from the treasury ministry that will help to make reliable budget. You can never have a substantive budget that is workable, if you don’t have information from the treasury ministry.”

    Doherty said that the Treasury Ministry will foster reliability, accountability and responsibility.

    He stressed: “With the ministry in place, people will rely on the information that come from the account of the Federal Government and state governments. It will encourage accountability, eliminate fraud and cut corruption. Also, it indicates that the government is ready to protect the economy and the assets of the governmen. The Treasury Ministry will not overlap with the responsibilities of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Ministry of Finance.

    “The CBN is for the monetary policies and it is the watchdog on banks and financial institutions while the Ministry of Finance is for government policies and budgetary policies, the creation and execution of government policies. Customs Service’s responsibilities will be restricted to the examination and the assessment of goods while the money will be paid to the Treasury Ministry, which will account to the government.”

    “The creation of the Treasury Ministry will foster  a strong economy and create job opportunities by promoting the conditions that enable economic growth and stability at home and abroad, strengthen national security by combating threats and protecting the integrity of the financial system, and manage the government’s finances and resources effectively.”

  • Knocks for state creation proposal

    Knocks for state creation proposal

    More obstacles are on the way for advocates of new states, despite the National Conference’s endorsement of their case.

    The conference has endorsed the creation of 18 states. But, to many Nigerians, including some delegates to the conference, this is unnecessary.

    According to them, creation of states is not the solution to Nigeria’s problems.

    Youths delegates at the conference, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Vice President Isa Aremu, who also a member of the conference, Ijaw Youths Congress (IJC), House of Representatives Deputy Leader Leo Ogor, among others, rejected decision.

    The conference on Thursday recommended the creation of an additional state for the Southeast and 17 other states.

    The states are Ijebu, Aba, Katagum, Amana, Apa, Aioma, Savannah. Etiti, Njaba/Anim, Gurara, Ghari, Adada, New Oyo, Orashi, Ogoja and Kainji.

    Delegates representing youths’ interest in a statement yesterday by Hassan Rilwan, Yadomah Bukar Mandara and Nnaemeka C. Ikegwuonu, said creating additional states would further divide the country rather than deepen its unity.

    Besides, the youth delegates noted that cries of marginalisation by minority groups would be better resolved with power rotation and not states creation.

    They said Nigerians should be concerned with a Nigeria in good state and not Nigeria with more states.

    The statement said: “It was extremely embarrassing for us as delegates of the National Conference that approved the creation of 18 more states. What is happening in Nigeria?

    “We understand the issues of marginalisation in some states; we support innovative ways of solving it. Not creating more problems to solve a problem.

    “Does state creation solve the issues of marginalisation? What happens when others feel marginalised within the new states?

    “Are we going to have to create even more states? Except we want to create states out of the over 300 ethnic groups in Nigeria. State creation as a solution is a short cut which is usually our way in Nigeria.

    “The only reason the elite may want more states is to increase ease of access to power.  If that’s the case, then rotation along senatorial zones with states and local governments would have solved that.

    “What will solve marginalisation are responsible leaders who will take special interest in the affairs of the minorities to see that they are adequately catered for.

    “How did the late Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello lead northern Nigeria as a whole? He did it by making sure all had a sense of belonging, which made the late Sunday Awoniyi, a Yoruba and Christian in the North, to respect him till he died.

    “On one hand, we say we want to reduce cost of governance and on another we want to build 18 more government houses, create 18 more recurrent expenditure centres?

    “We the youth of this country reject the balkanisation of our country and urge our elders to please thread with restrain. Let us not make mistakes that will prove more difficult for our children to solve.

    “Let us think out of the box and factually allow justice and selfless leadership take centre stage in our country. Enough is Enough!”

    Aremu, Vice Chairman, National Conference Committee on Labour, Civil Society, Sports and Youths, said more states were not sustainable. The states, as they are, remain dependent on federal allocation and loans because they are not financially viable.

    Aremu, who spoke yesterday in Ilorin, said the creation of a state in the Southeast would enable the region, which has five states, to be at par with the other geo-political zones.

    Ijaw youths expressed anger over the proposal, saying it is skewed to favour some nationalities to the detriment of Ijaw people.

    The youths described their delegates at the National Conference as “docile without an agenda”.

    Rising from an emergency meeting in Yenagoa at the weekend, the youths under the aegis of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide, threatened to block oil exploration, insisting that “our oil won’t be used to develop the proposed new states”.

    The youths said the conference had undermined all the requests and agitation of the Ijaw people, including their demand for the creation of Toru-Ebe and Oil Rivers State.

    “The Ijaw made a request for the creation of two additional states, Toru-Ebe State from the present Delta, Edo and Ondo states and Oil Rivers State from the present Rivers and Akwa Ibom states,” IYC spokesman Eric Omare, said.

    “However, the conference committee on Political Restructuring and Forms of Government recommended creation of additional 18 states across the country without considering the Ijaw requests.

    “It is totally unacceptable for the Conference to recommend the creation of additional 18 states without considering the requests of the Ijaw ethnic nationality, which is Nigeria’s fourth largest tribe.

    “The conference recommendations are geared towards empowering some ethnic nationalities to have more political control to the detriment of other ethnic nationalities in Nigeria and in total disregard to the political marginalisation and oppression of the Ijaws of Delta, Edo and Ondo states,” he added.

    Omare recalled that the Ijaws were the first to demand a region of their own, even before independence in 1960 when Nigeria had only three regions.

    He said despite the creation of the existing 36 states  in Nigeria, the Ijaws, who first demanded a region, has only one state, Bayelsa.

    “If the conference recommendations are implemented, there would now be 54 to 55 states out of which the North would have 28 states; Yoruba: nine states; Ibos: nine states, with additional two to three in south-south.

    “But Ijaw that is the fourth largest tribe that requested for a region of their own even before independence and their leader Major Isaac Boro declared a 12-Day Republic partly because of state creation would have only one state: Bayelsa State,” he said.

    Ijaw youth leaders are to meet to reconsider the roles of the Ijaw delegates at the ongoing conference.

    He said: “The IYC would not and will never allow Ijaw resources to be exploited to fund and develop other states to the detriment of the Ijaws.

    “And without creation of Toru-Ebe and Oil Rivers State to liberate the politically oppressed Ijaws, the Ijaw people would have no other option than to reconsider their position in Nigeria.

    “In the coming days, Ijaw Youth leaders would meet to take a position, especially to consider the role of Ijaw delegates at the ongoing National Confab, who have been docile without an agenda.”

    The Centre for the Vulnerable and the Underprivileged (CENTREP) also knocked the conference  for recommending the creation of additional states and the return to the old National Anthem.

    The Executive Director, CENTREP, Mr. Oghenejabor Ikimi, noted that the recommendations were not borne out of patriotic or nationalist consideration.

    According to him, the conference was set up by President Goodluck Jonathan to discuss the problems that had retarded the growth of the country; and to proffer solutions to them.

    He insisted that the National Anthem had never posed any problem to the country neither had it retarded the country’s growth.

    Ikimi said returning to the old National Anthem, which “we had claimed in the past to be a colonial relic, is unacceptable as same would be likened to a dog going back to his vomit”.

    “We make bold to say that creating 19 additional states to the existing 36 states is senseless, and the said recommendation should be jettisoned.

    “The present scenario where two thirds of the 36 existing states in the Federation are not financially independent and viable as they depend solely on monthly allocations from the purse of the Federal Government for their survival is pitiable and, indeed, very sad.

    “Many governors have had to complain in recent times of shortfalls in the monthly revenue allocations due their various states, which the Federal Government has attributed to dwindling level of crude oil revenue.

    “Therefore, creating an additional 19 states to the existing 36 states would no doubt be chaotic. The above recommendation as in the instant case is what a country gets, when its leaders adopt the same mentality and methodology with which they used in creating a problem, to trying to solve the same problem,” he said.

    Ogor said the resolutions of the National Conference must pass through the National Assembly because it has no constitutional backing or force of law.

    He said efforts and resolutions of the Conference may end up being just a waste of time, as the issue of if or not to subject the resolutions to a referendum does not arise because the Constitution makes no provision for such.

    Ogor said the fact that the delegates were selected and not elected “ by anybody”, and that their resolutions may pass for law only if “a new constitution is written.”

    His words: “It would be more like a wasted effort because there is no way you can pass whatever they are doing into law without subjecting it to the process or modalities with which laws are made, except probably we are going to write a new constitution.

    “There is no section of this constitution that gives room for what they call referendum. And you have the the provision of Section 1 sub 2 of the Constitution stipulating clearly that any law of Act that is inconsistent with the provision of the Constitution, is to the extent of that inconsistency null and void.

    “The modality or methodology of making laws is clearly stipulated under the provision of Section 58 of our Constitution. So, how are you going to pass a law without following the 1999 Constitution? Are we going to set the 1999 Constitution aside?”

    The lawmaker described the misunderstanding of issues, especially the powers of the National Assembly by the delegates as “unfortunate”.

    “The Conference is there to articulate positions that will be presented to Mr. President, because first and foremost, lets know that the delegates to the Confab were not elected by anybody – they were selected.”

    To Ogor, the concept of the National Conference is that the executive has the power to put a team together to discuss Nigeria because there are challenges, but the outcome must pass through the National Assembly.

  • Southern Kaduna renews agitation for state creation

    Southern Kaduna renews agitation for state creation

    Correspondent TONY AKOWE writes on the persistent clamour for the creation of state by the people of Southern Kaduna to preserve their identity.

    The agitation for the creation of a state by the people of Southern Kaduna started in the 1950s. Its leaders supported the agitation for the creation of a Middle Belt Region. The area was called Southern Zaria. It was part of the old Zaria Province.

    In 1975, the Southern Kaduna leaders made a formal request to the Justice Ayo Irikefe Panel for the creation of a seperate state. The request was repeated in 1987 and in 1996. The panels set up by the federal government recommended that a state should be created for them. But the military government did not implement the recommendation. Therefore, they lost out. The people alleged injustice, pointing out that their request failed, despite their marginalisation in Kaduna State.

    In this dispensation, the agitators have turned to the National Assembly for help. However, the announcement by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, that none of the proposed states met the criteria jolted the agitators of new states. Among those who felt that Ekweremadu, who is the Deputy Senate President, was being economical with the truth was the President of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), Dr Epharim Goje, who is clamouring for the creation of Gurara State from the Kaduna State.

    Goje accused the Senate Committee of jumping into the conclusion, without giving the agitators the opportunity to work to meet the criteria. He said that, al hough state agitators were asked to update documents submitted to the committee, the Senate created the impression that those agitating for states did not meet the requirements.

    “What I expect the Senate to do is to say that, if there are certain things missing, update them in view of the realities on ground.We know that the process is cumbersome, but that is why the senate committee is there in the first place. They are supposed to propose amendments that will make state creation easier. It was because we knew that the process is cumbersome that we held those sessions to ensure that, when people who genuinely need a state make the demand, they get it. The Houses of Assembly, the House of Representatives and the Senate are the organs we need to create states. Once the two-thirds of those Houses say yes, this is what we want, why should we be denied?”

    However, those who signed the request for the creation of Gurara State out of Kaduna State were not the the right people. The wrong signatorie, who signed the document as lawmakers representing the area, are no longer in office. For example, out of the seven members from the area in the National Assembly who signed the document, only Yakubu Umar Barde and Godfrey Ali Gaiya are still serving as federal legislators. Also, many of the local government chairmen and councillors who signed the document have left office.

    The agitators were given a second chance by the Senate to amend their presentation. The senator representing the Kaduna South District, Senator Nenadi Esther Usman, quickly returned home to ensure that they did not missed the opportunity. She gathered the Southern Kaduna elders and opinion leaders to inform them that a new window of opportunity had opened for them and that the Senate Committee on State Creation may reconsider its earlier stand by giving the agitators the opportunity to correct the anomaly in their requests and represent same to the committee.

    Usman told them that the amended request will be treated by the committee on a first come, first serve basis. She said that, in accordance with section 8(1) of the constitution, only serving lawmakers at the state and National Assembly and local government chairmen and councillors should sign the request to make it valid.

    According to her, of all the requests presented to the Committee, only 17 partially complied with the law and they were processed by the committee, pointing out that none of the 17 complied with the provisions of section 8(1) of the constitution. therefore were rejected. Usman said: “At our last meeting, those of us who are from areas requesting for states made a case to the committee. We told the committee that, as the representatives of the people, we should be able to make provisions for state creation and that we should be given the chance to correct the errors in the requests.

    “Those who are not requesting for states agreed with us and, at the end, the chairman of the committee agreed that those requesting for states be given a second chance to correct their mistakes and submit, but warned that it will be treated on first come, first serve basis. If you look at our presentation, you discover that many of those who signed the document we presented are not even necessary.

    “What the constitution requires is that only elected representatives of the people, who are members of the National Assembly, State Assembly, elected local government chairmen and their councillors should sign the document. In the past, I have been accused of going into other areas and those people who made that allegation are still around. That is why I have restricted myself to my zone only before people go round to say I want to contest for the office of the governor. It is my aspiration to see that we have a state of our own and with your support, we will actualise this dream. We will not abandon it now”, she said.

    The Southern Kaduna people believe that they have all it takes to have a state of their own. Their best chance came during the Abacha regime, but lack of unity of purpose by the agitators robbed them of a state. There were more than one request for a Southern Kaduna State. The groups requested for different places as capital. While the majority wanted Kaduna as the capital, other groups wanted Kafanchan and Zonkwa as capital.

    They lost the opportunity as Abacha turned his back on them although the list of states that were created came out from the office of the Principal Staff Officer to Abacha, who happened to be a high ranking officer from the area. However, the people seem to have resolved the issue of state capital in favour of Kafanchan, which appears to be central to all the local government areas constituting the proposed Gurara State.

    Goje, reiterated that the people have all it takes to have a state of their own. He said: “We have the capital, the human resources, the land and every other thing that it takes. Our state has a lot of potential and we are capable. If they give us Gurara State, I am saying that we don’t need the federal allocation. We can survive without oil money in Southern Kaduna under the new Gurara State. If we are given a state, we couldn’t be worse than states created by the military.

    “All we need is to harness our potential. If we are given Gurara State, it will be one of the model states in this country. We have the capability and we are saying give us this state and see what we can make out of it. We are also saying that it is one of the ways you can bring about peace in Kaduna State”, he said.

    However, the agitators face opposition from the northern part of the Kaduna metropolis, especially Kaduna North, Kaduna South and Lere local government, which is located in the Northern Senatorial Zone.

    Goje is not disturbed by this because, according to him, “my colleagues from the northern part are also asking for their own state and we have a very good understanding between ourselves. The only gray area is how to handle Kaduna metropolis, which we will do through a round table negotiation and for the border communities. We will do a referendum for them to decide where they want to go. As far as we are concerned, we have an agreement with our brothers in the northern part of the state. We are prepared and working towards it to ensure that Kaduna State is divided into two.

    “My two senators – Makarfi and Nenadi Usman- are really working hard to make sure that they mobilise us to meet up with the requirement and whatever it takes for us to have a state and I am sure that the senator from zone two, even though he comes from a different political party, I am sure he shares the same dream”.

    The consciousness about the bebefits of an additional state is growing. A committee of elders set up by the state government, immediately after the sharia crisis in 2000, recommended the splitting of the state into two. The committee report, which was accepted by a government white paper said: “We hereby solemnly, unanimously and unequivocally resolve that, in the supreme interest of peace, security, development and welfare of our people, the present Kaduna State should be divided into two. We declare that this decision is not based on any ill-motives or ill-feelings or desire to hurt anybody or any group whatsoever.

    “We declare that in the new state, by the grace of God, we shall ensure justice, fair play and equity to all people regardless of their ethnic or religious affiliations. We declare that there shall be no interference with the rights of the people on their religious beliefs and traditions; and we declare that in the pursuit of the above declarations; we have taken cognisance of the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution”.

    The Kaduna State House of Assembly also passed a resolution sponsored by 11 members of the House on October 17, 2002 supporting the splitting of the state into two, in accordance with a position prepared by the delegates to the National Constitutional Conference.

    Senator Usman, who is a member of the Senate Committee on Constitution review, has motivated the Southern Kaduna agitators to repackage their request. They have got 100 per cent support from the elected representatives of the various local government areas that are supposed to constitute theproposed state and submitted the document to the National Assembly for consideration. The document, it was gathered, will be presented to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), which is expected to conduct a referendum on the request, following its approval by the Senate.

     

  • Agric holds the ace in job creation

    Agric holds the ace in job creation

    Often times, government reels out statistics of steady economic growth. The growth index, say economists, is occasioned by rising oil prices and quantity of oil sold. An analyst, Comrade Chika Onuegbu, described such growth as “jobless, non-inclusive growth.” He enumerates how to create jobs through the agricultural sector and keep Nigerians in gainful employment, reports DUPE OLAOYE-OSINKOLU.

    Unemployment rate in Nigeria is burgeoning and at the moment stands at well over 30 per cent of the nation’s workforce. When segregated, the figures become more alarming, especially those for the youth which stand at about 70 per cent in the urban areas and 60 per cent in the rural areas. These numbers are increasing by the day and nothing seems to be in the offing in the nearest future to get anything done to reverse the trend. The consequences of this, both to the economy, polity and Nigeria as a whole are dire and demands immediate response both for now and the future.”

    This is the thrust of a paper by an analyst, Comrade Chika Onuegbu, at a gathering in Lagos. The paper, which centred on employment generation, addressed the issue of solution to unemployment, saying, agriculture remains the way out. He noted: “The easy money from petroleum led to the abandonment of agriculture, changes in the fiscal federalism and the pursuit of ‘easy life’ by the government and people of Nigeria.”

    Onuegbu in the paper entitled: Agriculture and unemployment in our country: The way forward, said despite Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rate since 2000, “our rate of unemployment is one of the highest in sub-Saharan Africa” . He also said agriculture can bail the youth out of unemployment.

    The drift of young men and women from the rural areas to the cities in search of jobs, he said, can be addressed through agriculture.

    He said agriculture can create new workplaces as it engages a large percentage of the population directly in its processes, such as land cultivation for crops, both in small and large holdings, poultry, piggery and dairy farms for milk production.

    The larger these workplaces are, the more the number of people employed in them, he said.

    Onuegbu said agriculture has not been the basic driver of job creation because of distorted national policies as agricultural development dwindled, unemployment worsened, showing a strong correlation between them, he argued.

    The agriculture sector, Onuegbu said, can redress the dislocation caused by the emergence of oil, adding: “In Nigeria, agriculture accounted for a larger percentage (about 70 per cent) of the number of people in employment, but with the emergence of oil, which distorted the economic allocative processes, more people left the land for white collar jobs.

    With this, agricultural production suffered and Nigeria gradually became a food importer, which finally, led with the passage of time, to her becoming dependent on the rest of the globe for food imports. As agriculture suffered, and as the population increased, as the skill demand level for other jobs increased over time and as lifestyle changed, more and more people found themselves increasingly in the unemployment queue. These sets of people, as a result of certain factors, were unable to go back to agriculture and this worsened the unemployment situation.

    “Agriculture can, therefore, generate increasing workplaces in its various stages and processes, from the preparation of the land, the planting of the crops, tending and caring, harvesting and storage and processing into various end or semi-end products. The same can be done with the other segments of the agricultural sector.

    “The agricultural value-chain is long and can be stretched to accommodate more and more workers seeking jobs. The more new farms come on stream, the more new hands are needed for their operations,” adding that agriculture creates new bases for jump-starting manufacturing activities.

    “Manufacturing activities depend very much on the raw materials provided by the agricultural sector. It provides the bases for individuals to become manufacturers. The technology involved in some of the early stages of the value chain in agriculture is often simple and is easily assessable to the interested entrepreneurs.

    “This, therefore, generates a basis for jump starting manufacturing which has the capacity of generating workplaces, thus increasing employment.”

    Onuegbu said when manufacturing activities rise in any economy, new workplaces are created. Agriculture being an enabler of small scale manufacturing, not only employs the entrepreneurs involved in it, it also allows them to become creators of jobs thus increasing employment.

    Agriculture, he said, generates absorptive capacities for new entrants into the job market. “New entrants into the job market, especially fresh graduates from both tertiary institutions and secondary schools at present do not command high level of skills needed in the highly technologically driven Industrial processes and most of the demands of the service sectors, such as the financial institutions, telecoms, etc. This allows for the existence of the syndrome of “unemployable Nigerian graduates,” meaning that even where there are vacancies, you may not readily find Nigerians to fill such vacancies.

    “However, the agricultural sector, because of the low skill demand in the lower end of the business, provides a readily available platform for the absorption of these low skilled new entrants into the labour market, either as entrepreneurs or as employees. With a vibrant agricultural sector therefore, it becomes easier for fresh graduates to participate productively in the nation’s economic processes.

    “Another plus that can be derived from agriculture is its being a source of seed money, or capital for investment in other businesses,” Onuegbu said.

    He said every economy needs investible capital to start new businesses. The agriculture sector, if properly directed, serves as a ready source of seed money for aspiring entrepreneurs to invest in other areas of the economy. The capital needed to start a small- scale holding farm is often not above the means of the average family and when the right crops are planted and income generated at the harvest season, a reinvestment of a proportion of this over some few years would serve as capital to go into other businesses that demand greater start-up capital.

    The availability of start-up capital creates jobs both for the business owner, eventual direct employees and others that may be engaged indirectly because of the spin-offs generated by the business thus established. This will impact positively on unemployment.

    Agriculture also creates horizontal and vertical multipliers. Agriculture, he said, is a primary industry, adding that many industries depend on it for their operations. If agriculture gets a boost, other sectors, both the ones that depend on it for raw materials and the ones it depends on for supplies are reinvigorated.

    “If we use fisheries, for example, which most of us here can identify with, or cassava cultivation, which is also prevalent here, the business chain that will be created out of these alone can turn this whole environment into an industrial/commercial hub. Starch can be made from cassava, which will attract both other food and pharmaceutical industries, flour for bread and other confectioneries, animal feeds by extension a vibrant poultry sector, the associated businesses to service and enable the sector will all come in with the attendant boom in the real estate sector. Just stretch your imagination and see what can happen to employment generation if we can carefully and consciously regenerate agriculture.

    “Having examined some of the roles the sector could play in reducing the present scourge of unemployment, it is imperative that we look at some of the factors that have impeded the growth of agriculture in Nigeria and, especially in our community, so that the roadmap forward can easily be discernible.”

    Onuegbu also spoke about impediments to agricultural development. To boost agriculture investment, he advocated subsidising major input to make the sector both locally and internationally competitive.

    “When a farmer knows that the price at which he will sell his products are already guaranteed even before planting, this reduces exposure to various associated risks and encourages him to expand his output. It allows him to calculate his probable returns with certainty and makes the financial sector to invest in agriculture.

    “Subsidy on power and oil may also serve as a boost to agricultural production. These include but not limited to: Agricultural loans to improve access to funds, provision of incentives – via pricing, subsidy etc, creating greater interface between government agencies, scientific findings and farmers.

    “There is an urgent need for a deliberate policy of creating funding pools for the development of agriculture. The Central Bank of Nigeria at present through the banks have set aside this pool of resources for investment in agriculture, but the problem is that these funds are not accessible to, especially, small- scale holders. The collaterals are very tough, the thresholds very high that the small scale are easily excluded for participation.

    “A system of rebates and tax holidays should be devised to encourage banks to lend to small scale holdings and the government should be able to guarantee some of these loans so that the issue of stringent security requirements would be mitigated making funds readily available for agriculture.

    “I know many young entrepreneurs, who have ideas of what they want to do in agriculture, but are hindered by funds. If funding is made more accessible, their creative energies will be unleashed on the agriculture sector. However, these young men remain frustrated and may, unfortunately, go to their graves without showcasing their ideas. Without funding, ideas will remain in our heads and atrophy.”

    He suggested conscious and deliberate efforts on the part of policy makers to make investment in the agriculture sector more attractive to old and budding entrepreneurs. He also sought duty waivers or reduction on imported equipment and other input for direct use in agricultural projects, tax holidays for organisations involved in agriculture, and price guarantees for certain products of agriculture.

     

     

  • Obi, Kwankwaso and knot of state creation

    Obi, Kwankwaso and knot of state creation

    Those who scoff at former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s increasing warnings about an impending revolution in Nigeria are probably caught in the complex of confusing the message with the messenger. Yes, Obasanjo’s privileged presence in the portals of power since 1967 make him an integral part of Nigeria’s leadership failure. But while the retired general’s share of the blame for Nigeria’s misfortunes cannot be downplayed, his expressed concerns are nonetheless not misplaced. The issue is not about his assumed self – righteousness but about the state of the nation. And one of the sore points of our narrative is that of an imbalanced federation. With states and local governments forming the basis of revenue sharing, allocation of infrastructure and high profile appointments, the relevance of states in the nation’s political economy cannot be overemphasized.

    For good reasons, attention has tended to converge on the South –east’s quest for the creation of at least one new state in the region. With the least number of states, the South – east assumes conspicuous minority status among the nation’s six geo – political zones. As such matters go in the context of Nigerian government and politics, some of the state creation demands in the South – east are among the oldest in the country and so comparatively elicit greater consideration.

    Seizing the moment, the South – east has given vent to as many as six new states agitations in the zone recently. However, rising to the responsibility of leadership, Anambra State Governor and chairman, South – east Governors’ Forum, Peter Obi, has moved to get the zone speak with one voice and in such a way to achieve satisfactory results at the end of the day. Between November and December alone, South – east political leaders have met twice in Enugu on the subject. Underscoring the resolve of the zone’s leadership to achieve result, efforts are on to streamline the different requests and come up with just one or two applications for state creation.

    Disturbing questions arise from the skewed regional distribution of these entities in the country. The north’s 19 states to the south’s 17 states obviously confers it with political and economic superiority; a scenario amplified by the contrast between the South – east’s five states and 95 local governments and the North – west’s seven states and 180 local governments. In terms of revenue profile alone, the sharp contrast in the fortunes of the South-east and other zones is glaring. Statistics from the Federation Account show that in the period January to June 2010, the South-east received the least allocation of approximately N99 billion; South-west N166 billion; North-west N168 billion; North-central N116 billion; North-east 119 billion and South-south N386 billion. Following a consistent pattern, the February 2012 allocations display a gnawing disparity between the South-east’s approximate N10 billion and the North-west’s N15 billion.

    Analysts believe Obi’s submissions were an indirect response to the stance of his Kano State counterpart Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso who has demonstrated little restraint in opposing the proposal for a sixth state in the South-east. Kwankwaso was widely reported by the media in late September to have dismissed the calls for creating a sixth state in the South – east in favour of his own Kano State.

    While Kwankwaso is entitled to his views, it is however necessary to situate the discussion in its proper perspective. The Kano State Governor’s obsession with population and geographical size as the qualifications for state creation are misplaced.

    The composition of the United States of America, the country from which our federal and presidential systems is crudely derived, reveals a more egalitarian approach to state creation. Consider that the state of California has a population of 37 million with 570,374 square miles while the state of Delaware has a population of 897,000 and 1,955 square miles in size. Consider also that Texas with 25 million population and of 261,914 square miles is not any more greater than Rhode Island which has one million population and 1,045 squares miles. Similarly, Michigan, 23rd in size among America’s 50 states co-exists with Alaska, the biggest state in size but with just a population of 710,000.

    In the modern world, states are founded on the quest for self – determination. States provide the administrative platform for pursuit of development for groups with a shared sense of socio – cultural affinity. And especially in a diverse polity, as we have in Nigeria, states play a mediating role in the tensions arising from majority – minority relations.

    It is instructive to note that the Gowon junta created an equal number of six states in both the north and south. Apologists of the present lopsidedness in the structure of the country conveniently forget that this equilibrium endured for nearly 10 years before it was disrupted by the insensitivity of the Murtala Muhammed regime. A sober Yakubu Gowon who appreciated the dangers posed by sectional domination acted fairly on state creation but an over-confident Muhammed could afford to act irrationally believing that nothing would happen. Subsequent military rulers who created states, all from the north, progressively maintained the imbalance, deepened further in the distribution of local governments.

    It is hard to believe that these allocations of states and local governments decreed by military dictators without regard to the wishes of ordinary Nigerians can be seized upon by any enlightened person as the precedent that will guide future state creation exercises.

    As the leader of the South – east geo – political zone, Governor Peter Obi’s strong advocacy for empowering the zone with a new state should be viewed both against its benefits to the region and the national distress a continued denial will provoke. When the Ibrahim Babangida junta created Akwa Ibom and Katsina states in 1987, it belittled the well – reasoned recommendation of the Cookey – led Political Bureau for the creation of at least one state in the South-east to the chagrin of the people. Continued disadvantage of the South-east again compelled the National Political Reform Conference in 2005 to resolve on the desirability of an additional state for the zone.

    Obi has placed a core demand of the south-east on the table. Let the other zones do the same. With the recognition of the interdependence of the units of a whole, every group should accommodate the legitimate needs of others. This spirit will suffice to overcome the stringent constitutional requirements on state creation and other exigencies and move the country forward.

    • Afuba wrote from Nimo, Anambra State.

     

  • On Sanusi, government and job creation

    On Sanusi, government and job creation

    SIR:The recent call by the Central Bank governor Lamido Sanusi on the Federal government to lay off 50 percent of workers is thoughtless, callous, and perfidious. After he was rained curses by Nigerians and further upbraided by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), he now claims he was quoted out of context. But the fact remains he was quoted verbatim. And the harm is already done. This is not the first time Sanusi has stirred up a hornet’s nest. Not long ago, Sanusi with his characteristic knack for fantasy suddenly dreamt of making our highest money denomination N5, 000. It took President Jonathan’s intervention to stop him.

    Sanusi’s excesses are getting too much. He may have voiced his personal opinion, but he must remember that his position is a sensitive one, and that he embarrasses President Jonathan and what ever his government stands for, when ever he makes unguarded statements especially with regards to the president’s social contract with the people. The President should caution him.

    One is sure many Nigerian government workers must have had their blood pressure hitting the top on hearing Sanusi’s comment. And that is why it is soothing to know that the government through the Labour Minister Chukwuemeka Wogu, has immediately spurned Sanusi’s statement,

    Re-assuring Nigerians that instead of sacking, government will even create more job opportunities.

    The Labour Minister, in dispelling Sanusi’s statement said “Government owes the society an enabling environment to create job opportunities and the president’s desire is to create more jobs and not retrenchment.”

    One of the things often said when it comes to jobs is that government does not create jobs, but only lays the enabling environment for jobs to be created. If workers are sacked, what happens to their dependents? Sanusi should answer this question. It is easier to destroy than to build.

    Government jobs are very critical to education, health and many other areas the private organizations cannot provide. Government jobs also help boost the private sector because when those who are employed by government have money to spend on goods and services provided by the private sector, it keeps the private sector in business, and helps boost the economy.

    The primary role of public sector workers is to provide service to all for the public good, and profit is certainly not its motive. It is through the public sector that the dividends of democracy can be provided, nothing more, nothing less.

    The public sector and the private sector should exist side by side as they both have their unique roles to play in the society. Government must also spend money to make sure certain jobs remain with it to keep them from being taken over by profit seekers who only serve the benefit of the owners and investors. Those against big government must also know that they may be inadvertently helping Sanusi beat his drum of misery. Government should instead provide a level playing field for all Nigerians.

    Sanusi has a government job, and so do President Jonathan, the governors, and lawmakers; and they may still be looking forward to keep these jobs beyond 2015. Other Nigerians should be allowed to keep theirs.

    • Dr Odoemena, Medical

    Practitioner, Lagos

  • ‘Saraki facilitated creation of Ekiti State’

    ‘Saraki facilitated creation of Ekiti State’

    THE Chairman of the Committee for the Creation of Ekiti State, Mr. Deji Fasuan, has eulogised the late Dr. Olusola Saraki, describing him as a man who gave the Ekiti a helping hand by facilitating the creation of Ekiti State.

    He said: “The death of Dr. Olusola Saraki, generally referred to as the kingpin of Kwara politics, is a shock, which reverberations go beyond Kwara State.

    “During our struggle for the creation of Ekiti State, we knew the elder statesman through Dr. Bode Olowoporoku, who was his political associate and the Ewi of Ado, who was his royal friend. He did for Ekiti, what many of our elders, political and military heavyweights were unable or unwilling to do. Of all our influence-wielding leaders, only General Adeyinka Adebayo and Air Marshal Dada (of Ipoti Ekiti) bothered to understand and appreciate what we were all about.

    “While leading a delegation of Ekiti leaders to Saraki’s home in Ilorin sometime in 1994, he told us that our struggle could only be realised if we worked hard and remained united, especially concerning the location of the state capital. We kept to this religiously and it paid off.

    “On at least two occasions, the Ewi of Ado-Ekiti led some Obas and leaders to Dr. Saraki’s office in Abuja when he was the Chairman of the Business Committee of the Constitutional Conference between 1994 and 1995. Each time we were in Abuja, he facilitated our appointments in Aso Rock.

    “Dr. Saraki was generous to a fault. He was always willing to help the poor.

    “Ekiti leaders and monarchs sought assistance from many non-Ekiti during our five-year struggle for the creation of Ekiti State, precisely from 1991 to 1996, but none was as effective as Dr. Saraki’s. We owe much of our success to him. We will miss him. We say a big thank you to God Almighty and to people like Dr. Saraki, who helped us to realise the creation of Ekiti State.”

     

     

  • Anambra votes for state creation, rotational presidency

    The Senator Representing Anambra Central, Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige, yesterday commended Governor Peter Obi for taking the South-East to a higher level.

    Ngige recalled that during his time as governor, the South-East Governors Forum was not as strong and united as it was today under the leadership of Obi.

    Ngige was speaking at the  meeting on Constitutional review at the Women Development Centre, Awka.

    At the meeting, stakeholders in Anambra State agreed on aspects of the constitution to be amended, especially one more state for the South-East and equally agreed that office of the President should rotate among the six political zones while the office of the governor should rotate among the three senatorial zones.

    They stakeholders insisted that geo-political zones should have equal number of states. This, according to them, therefore, means that one state must be created in the South-East zone to redress the present imbalance in the six geo-political zones while the geo-political zones should be included in the constitution for administrative purposes.

    They also agreed that  indigeneship and residence status should be incorporated in the Constitution to enable people who have lived in a particular place for a long time to enjoy rights and privileges of the area including right to contest election.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Plateau supports state creation

    Two of the three senatorial districts of Plateau State have supported the creation of more states.

    At the Plateau North Senatorial District, stakeholders said they are comfortable with the present state as it is constituted, but added that should any other senatorial district be interested in state creation, it should go ahead with the agitation.

    But the Central and Southern senatorial districts unanimously supported creation of more states.

    The three senatorial districts took a common ground on the issue of indigeneship and citizenship, saying indigenship should be enshrined in the proposed constitution just as they say they believe in equal rights of all citizens.

    Stakeholders from the three zones are expected to meet at the Government House, Jos, to meet with Governor Jonah Jang to harmonise their position before proceeding to Markudi, the Benue State capital, tomorrow for the North Central constitutional review meeting .

  • We’ll work towards creation of Ijebu State, says Mark

    We’ll work towards creation of Ijebu State, says Mark

    Senate PresidentDavid Mark yesterday said he would work towards the creation of more states, including Ijebu state, to bring governance closer to the people.

    Mark said the creation of new states or the agitation for same does not mean people do not want to live together anymore but because additional ones would ensure that many Nigerians have a sense of belonging or governance that is closer to them.

    The Senate President spoke in Ijebu – Ode, Ogun State, as a special guest at the Ojude -Oba annual cultural festival of the Ijebu people.

    He urged the National Assembly to work towards the country having more states.

    Mark was responding to a complain-cum appeal by the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, that the National Assembly should help facilitate the actualisation of Ijebu state.

    The monarch, who lauded Mark for honouring him and the Ijebu people, described it as “embarrassing” and a glaring act of “injustice” that Ijebu which formed one of the 24 provinces of Nigeria has not morphed into a state of its own whereas each of the other provinces have been broken into two or more states.

    Adetona lamented that the Ijebu people have been clamouring for a state of their own since 1975 and have remained consistent with the agitation, adding that the way to assuage the pains of “marginalisation is for Ijebu state to be created on or before the next Ojude -Oba festival.

    The monarch also proposed Ijebu-Ode, to serve as the capital of Ijebu state, if eventually carved out from the present Ogun State.

    Mark said he was in full support of Ijebu state and would urge the National Assembly to work towards it.

    He said: “ I have received the delegation from Ogun State who are the main committee members for the creation of Ijebu state.

    “I’m here to say one thing that I’m fully in support of the creation of Ijebu state.

    “My good friend, Governor Ibikunle Amosun, is here and he also supports the creation of Ijebu state.

    “Let me make my point clear. Where I stand in politics is never in doubt. I support the creation of Ijebu state.

    “I support the creation of (more) states in this country. And the National Assembly must work towards that.

    “When we create states, it is not because we cannot live together but because we want to bring governance closer to the people.

    “A lot of people desire and deserve to feel a sense of governance in this country and when we create states, that is what would happen.”

    Also present were Amosun’s wife Olufunso; Senator Mamora Olorunimbe; Senator Iyiola Omisore; Senator Gbenga Obadara (Ogun Central); Senator Lekan Mustapha; Chief Ayo Adebanjo; Tunji Ayanlaja( SAN) ;Police Commissioner Ikemefuna Okoye; Senator Gbenga Kaka (Ogun East); Prof Adebayo Adedeji; Foreign Affairs Minister Amb. Gbenga Ashiru; Dr Subomi Balogun; the Olu of Ilaro, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, Commissioner for Commerce and Industry Bola Ashiru; Olori Kemi Adetona; Deputy Governor ­­­­Segun Adesegun among others.