The Nation Newspaper

Tag: crisis

  • ‘PDP crisis should serve as a lesson to Edo delegates’

    ‘PDP crisis should serve as a lesson to Edo delegates’

    A chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party PDP, Chief Nosa Ekhoe, has said the crisis in the party should serve a as lesson to Edo delegates as to who to trust with their ticket.

    Ekhoe said those causing problems in the party are men with selfish ambition, adding that many of them are only loyal to their causes and not of interest of the PDP.

    He added: “For the future of our party in Edo State… delegate should choose a candidate who will serve the interest of the good people of Edo State and of our party.

    “It is a known fact that Matthew Iduoriyekemwen is the most loyal party man seeking the nomination for Edo gubernatorial election.

    “Supporting Iduoriyekemwen  with your nominations is a step closer to Greater Edo of our collective dreams. Do it for the next generations. Together we will get there.”

  • NSCDC wades into industrial crisis in Bayelsa

    The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC), Bayelsa State Command,  recently, organised a stakeholders’ meeting to resolve the protracted crisis among producers of table and sachet water in the state.

    Prior to the meeting, the was a dispute between producers of the product whose factories were located within the state and others who were bringing similar products from outside the state. The vans of persons bringing in the products were constantly ambushed and harassed by aggrieved youths raising security concerns especially in Yenagoa, the state capital.

    The meeting was attended by the Special Adviser to Bayelsa Governor on Security, Boma Sparo-Jack,  representatives of National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and  executive members of  Association of Table  Water Producers of Nigeria(ATWAP) from Bayelsa,  Delta, Imo, and Rivers states, among others. ATWAP National President, Mr. Ubina Ubi also attended the programme.

    In fact, ATWAP,  Bayelsa State chapter, has been at loggerheads with their counterparts from the neighbouring states who bring packaged water into the state, a development that generated security concerns.

    To avert possible bloodshed, the State Commandant,  NSCDC, Mr. Desmond Agu, decided to call all the stakeholders to discuss their disagreements and find lasting solutions to the problems. Agu said the event was organised to avoid crisis in Bayelsa State.

    He said there were situations people blocked the supply of packaged water coming into the state from Delta,  Imo, Rivers and other places.

    He said such a development if not promptly tackled could lead to a breakdown of law and order in the state.

    He said: “To avoid such problems,  that is why we organised this stakeholders meeting for all ofnthem them to come for dialogue to resolve the problems. We are optimistic that today, we are going to iron out all the issues for a long lasting solution.

    “As you are all aware, the NSCDC by virtue of the Act 2003 as amended in 2007, section 3, subsection 1 (4) (6), the corps is saddled with the responsibility “to arrange,  mediate in settlement of disputes among willing members of the public’ which your association is part of.

    “In view of this, the corps has convened this stakeholders meeting to fashion,  harmonise all members of ATWAP doing business in Bayelsa and also to proffer a lasting solution to the lingering  crisis existing among you.”

    In his speech, Sparo-Jack eulogized Agu for being proactive in managing crisis in the state. He appealed to other security agencies to imitate the zeal and commitment of NCDC in nipping problems in the bud. He asked producers of water to put their acts together to grow the industry and contribute to peace in the state.

    The Chairman,  ATWAP, Bayelsa State,  Capt. C.K. Emiemokumo (retd.),  lamented the problems facing packaged water producers in Bayelsa over the years.

    He said that some of their counterparts from neighbouring states turned the state into a dumping ground for all sort of contaminated water.

    He commended the meeting, saying it would put a stop to the unbridled influx of all sorts of water into the state.

    He said suppliers of substandard water refused to register with ATWAP Bayelsa State so that their activities would continue without any check or control.

    He said: “ NAFDAC conducts annual recertification tests on all water producing companies every year. But regrettably,  we have no way of knowing which companies were tested or which were not since ATWAP has no record or control over the water that comes into Bayelsa.”

    He, therefore,  called on the state government  security agencies and all other stakeholders to cooperate with ATWAP in Bayelsa to be able to have control on the companies bringing water into the state.

  • Way of out wage crisis

    Sir: Despite the bailout fund from the federal government, many states in Nigeria still struggle to pay their workers’ salaries; some do not even pay. The dwindling federal allocation; poor innovation on internally generated revenue (IGR); bloated workforce and fraud-riddled workers’ payroll are the main reasons behind the inability of many states to promptly settle their workers’ salaries.

    This is a critical situation that requires critical measures. Governors have to look at ways to generate revenue other than over-depending on the declining federal allocation. We must admit that many states do not have flourishing economic activities that are profitable and easy to tax without upsetting common people.

    One trend in most states is, once IGR is mentioned, most states cast their mind to their old method of taxation – but our tax system in Nigeria has history of corruption and inefficiency, thus most Nigerians are sceptical of their states’ taxes and levies administration.  States can generate new revenues and wealth through levies and taxations, but states need to move away from the ‘rocket-science’ approach to tax collection.

    States should introduce a modified system of awarding ‘tax collection rights’ to investment firms. This should be modelled according to each state’s economy, culture, needs and environment – a state can enter into agreement with a firm to give government monies in advance for taxes from a certain sector, while the firm will collect the money by operating as a tax agent- the famous tax auction. For example, if it is projected that revenues from taxis, buses and lorry services in a certain local council can generate one million naira a month, an innovative investment firm will agree to give a state government, let say N800,000 in advance. Then the firm will collect taxes for taxis, buses and lorry services in the local council for that particular month. This type of arrangement can be implemented in many sectors of the economy of a state using what operations researchers call reductionistic approach- monthly, quarterly on yearly basis. A good investment firm will make the tax collection efficient and fair- by reaching agreement with taxpayers on how to pay and enjoy incentives too. This type of arrangement can assist states to have  tax efficiency and tax fairness- government will relieve itself from the burden of tax collection, it will have the needed revenues in advance ( could be up to 10 years advance payment) to help states temporarily relief themselves the burden of unpaid salaries.

    Apart from innovation in taxes, states and even the federal government can look into leveraging from the assets they have. In many states, there are thousands of unserviceable vehicles, farm implements and many types of electrical equipment. Governments can make money by auctioning such items. Furthermore, many states have abandoned building- completed and uncompleted, fenced and unfenced plots of land.  These   assets are commercially viable. They can be leased or sold. Funds can be generated from the arrangement. In addition, the Nigerian Governors Forum (NGF) should discuss with regulatory agencies, CBN, quoted companies and pension fund administrators on how government can utilize unclaimed dividends, pension fund and CBN’s many intervention funds.

    For states and LGA chapters of Labour unions, this situation calls for their creativity and sacrifice- the union and states governments should sit and design a model on how each worker will get at least, some parts of their salaries every month- critical situation requires critical measures. Instead of no pay every month, government and labour unions should design a formula on how each worker will get something from the meagre funds available. Something is better than nothing, even if it is half salary.

    With the current hard situation many workers are facing, questions are being asked about the monthly dues workers pay? If these monies were being invested; then this is the right time for the labour unions to make use of the profit being generated to assist their members. But if the monies were not invested- a big lesson has been learnt.

     

    • Zayyad I. Muhammad,

    Jimeta, Adamawa State.

  • ‘How to avert predecessor-successor crisis’

    ‘How to avert predecessor-successor crisis’

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel spoke with reporters in Lagos on his achievements and constraints, the agitation for state police and how to avert predecessor-successor crisis. Excerpts:

    How can Nigeria regain its lost glory?

    Nigeria is a blessed country in all the areas of human and material endeavour. but, we find out that our people are not getting the benefits of these endowments. That actually should call for concern. If we look at the G7, they are not just there because they have the guns or that they can do propaganda. When you hear the committee of G7 nations, it is those that have economic power. The question there is, do we not have better than what they have that made them that big? How come we are still where we are today? That is what is driving us as a state, starting from the basic housekeeping facilities. These housekeeping facilities to be very basic. How do we tell the outside world that we are just connecting villages to the national grid for electricity? The question is, through all the ages, does it mean they did not have light? But, that is the truth about Africa. They didn’t have. And to think that at this age we are still talking of providing potable water for our people. That is why we are putting serious attention on these housekeeping facilities

    We run a system in this country. If you think you can take care of your health offshore, wait until you are in trouble and a flight of 50 minutes seems like eternity. If in the flight from Uyo to Lagos the person is on ICU, tell me how he is going to make it abroad. That is why we have to have facilities that can take care of our health needs in this country.

    What are your achievements in the last one year?

    These are some of the things, within one year. we would put things up because we have started our planning, believe me. But these are real things on ground.

    Then, you talk about soft infrastructure that you can’t see, you can’t find. Take, for example, right now, I set up a target that Akwa- Ibom in the next seven years, if you have 11 players on the field, I must produce four to five first to 11th and I am working towards that.

    I am saying every athletic event in this country, I must have an Akwa Ibom there. That is why today, Eyom Ekem, a JSS student, is running for Nigeria 200meters, Commonwealth gold medal. We picked her from the village and trained her in our stadium.

    What we are doing is that, in 10 federal constituencies, we go, we see some secondary schools there, you see some normal football pitches that can compete anywhere in the world. What is the difference between Serena Williams and a girl from my village. it is her exposure to facilities. If they see fantastic tennis court to practise, they would do it. We just believe that human development does not really begin and end with First Class. A lot of people who had First Class today are still not doing better than Messi.

    In those days, we used to hear of Ekarika, Friday Ekpo, Ettim Essien. We don’t have to lose sight of those things. So, we are rolling these things back, most of these things, you won’t see them to read. So, in the next seven years, we are coming with something with say look and we want to catch them young.

    By September, we would start the Talent Hunt, at least, one of the centres is ready. The other ones would be ready before September. So in 10 Federal Constituencies, we would start that and nothing is stopping me.

    Even today, even the little we are doing, look at where we picked Akwa United from. They won the FA Cup. Even, you could see that even mentally, a mental alertness can change a lot the situation of things.

    How is your party resolving its leadership crisis?

    Let me say something. there must be some dissenting voices here and there, whether you like it or not. Even, between two brothers,  it doesn’t mean two of them must agree on certain things. That is why there is this word in the dictionary, the word they call moral suasion.

    Be that as it may, if you keep doing things the same way, you will keep getting the same result. But in politics, you should know that when you have the majority, you are home and dry, and today, we have the majority. What do we want? We want a solid and virile party that is united and that handle the problem of this country.

    I don’t have any other party. the only party I know in my state is the PDP. This is because that is the party that brought development. So, as far my people are concerned, that is the only thing they know. So, what we are telling people now is look, what do you want to achieve? Can we work from what we want to achieve? We must leave all those things, all those sentiments, biases and so on that we started from outside before we can determine where to go. So that is the new direction and that is why you see some of us in the frontline of repositioning our party. We would not allow the selfish ones and so on to derail what we are doing. That is what we are working on and we would succeed.

    How can predecessor/successor crisis be averted?

    You know one thing about human beings is how to manage fellow human beings. So, predecessor/successor’s relationship in Africa as a whole occurs because people don’t know how to relate.

    Two, you must put a round peg in a round hole. If I am a professional in politics, I must also know, if a professional in politics would succeed me to ensure there wouldn’t be problem. If I am a professional in politics and I go and look for a professional politician, there would be a problem in his own ideology and so on.

    Three, it also depends on what are you are looking for? Because that is question many people don’t bother to answer. What are you looking for? I am looking to set my dream and if you are also looking to set your dream, then, you must face that project. And if you are facing that project, there must be no problem. So, we have no complaints, our goal is to make Akwa Ibom a better place. So that goal actually unite our sense of direction and purpose.

    And also, there must be personal determination because they say determination is victory. If you are determined, the banana peel that others marched, you wouldn’t march it. Because it is a banana peel, we’ve just decided two of us won’t march it irrespective of the pressure.

    Some of the pressure is from the press because in Nigeria, people don’t believe that two people must work in harmony. If you work in harmony, they start looking for a name for you, because they expect you to quarrel” with your predecessor. That is what people expect and if they don’t see that happening, they say no, he is subservient to this one. You know it does work that way. We must learn to work with one another for this country to move forward because it is going to be a major distraction for you to leave what you are doing to be doing what does not benefit the common man. How does that bring food to the table of that poor girl inside a village that has never eaten since morning.

    So, I don’t pray that Nigeria should continue that way. People should also learn to know where they are going to and design their style of living and everything because, at the end of the day, what matters most is the people, the citizenry and we must be able to actually take them frm where they are to a better place.

    What are you doing about reconciliation in your state?

    We have only one project in Akwa Ibom and we should all join hands to come and work for Akwa Ibom. If you come to my government, there are a whole lot of people, they were those that were carrying brooms. So, immediately they left the broom, I embraced them because they are Akwa Ibom people.

    You see the day I won my election I said that was the year of campaign partisanship and that I have just settled for governance, and for governance, I go for quality not partisanship.

    But, you don’t just single out a human being out of 6.2 million people. We are building structures and those structures should be able to sustain and endure, even in my absence. So, that is why an open invitation shouldn’t revolves around one man, it revolve around an institution, anybody dropping, we are working with that person.

    What is your reaction to the agitation for state police?

    Unfortunately, I can’t say much on security. Every state governor would tell you the same thing. The little money we get today from the Federal Allocation, we spend a lot on security.

    The late MKO Abiola once said, if you think education is expensive, try ignorance. If a state is not paying attention to security, and say it is a waste of money, go and sleep and see whether you would sleep well. And there is something a lot of people don’t know. If government stops to work for one minute, you wouldn’t sit where you sit. So, government must work 24/7 before you sit where you are sitting.

    If you call me 2am, in most case. I must be somewhere doing night patrol with the security forces, even if I cannot shoot gun. Even mere driving, telling them let’s enter this side, they feel so excited that as a governor you are showing concern for them because they are human being like you too, they have family, they have children. That moral support goes a long way. Pick up phone and call them, where are you people going on patrol today, who is who? Let my ADC know and my CSO know. So at times they need a little support morally, you don’t just sit in the comfort of your room. Take it from me, governors spend a lot of time, enery, attention on security, not only in Africa, not only in Nigeria, but everywhere in the world. Security is a major issue and whatever you spend on security is an investment.

    What is your view on the restructuring of Nigeria?

    What is my take on the current structure of the Federation of Nigeria. I only concentrate on things I can change. Things I cannot change, I leave them for God. I cannot change this one. if you want to change this one, call a Sovereign National Conference. I will attend. My change mantra doesn’t extend to this one.

    Could you shed light on the invasion of the Akwa Ibom Government House?

    One thing I have to state here is that the bail of money you saw on the internet had been on google since 2011 or so. they just put the picture there. it didn’t come from the Government House. I was there.

    Two, I want to also commend the president because immediately those guys came, I picked up a phone and called Mr. President, and he answered and he called the NSA immediately. So, they didn’t see a dime not to even talk of the money. But, to me, I just see that as one of the challenges of a developing economy, when an economy is developing, it is like a child that is learning to walk. He would walk, he would fall, he would hit something, at times, he would walk and hit the glass and get some injuries. It is in the process of walking and by the time he starts now starts walking, he won’t make those mistakes again.

  • Away from crisis

    Away from crisis

    We should not dwell heavily on the cause of our woes. We should not bellyache over the corrupt doings of the Jonathan years overmuch. We should not carp on the wasted opportunities with the Naira and our foreign reserves. The Naira, now fallen, preened on sunnier days and our foreign reserves rolled in buxom times.

    But we cannot escape it when we say that elections have consequences. That Jonathan mattered and now matters. When we vote, we do it on sentiments. Sentiments, as Oscar Wilde says, propel us more than reason. But we voted a man for his so-called humble looks and his backwaters roots. We are now in the backwaters of inflation, joblessness, hunger and desperation.

    Democracy is not always about wise decisions. It can be foolish. The Algerians and, recently, Egyptians voted in a set of brooding fanatics into power and had to fret until they were ousted. Novelist Mark Twain once said that “if voting made a difference, they wouldn’t let us do it.” We are now suffering the maelstrom of electoral delirium.

    Today, the price of fuel is N145 because we erred. We can blame Jonathan all we want. But we must be careful not to wash ourselves clean.

    Now that we have to face the task of bringing our economy to a softer place, we must also keep vigil. We have to watch out for profiteers and cynics. But more importantly, we must understand where we are and how we ought to move from here.

    As the fuel price was raised, a few issues hit the nation’s jugular. One, it came as a surprise. Fuel stations had become limp lines of vehicular frustrations. Some were buying fuel at whatever price when they could afford it. They just wanted fuel. Whether at N180 or N120 per litre, they gulped the rare fluid. Others had no choice. They borrowed Job’s virtue and lingered on fuel stations for interminable hours. Some of them were not rewarded when the fuel stations dried up and they had to try their lucks elsewhere.

    The announcement of the fuel price hike was greeted with revulsion, and then many discovered that they no longer had to queue. They had relief, not joy. Relief can be more potent than happiness. To escape a doom may soothe the soul more than enjoying a boon. Many of us could not fill our tanks, but we had enough fuel to move around and hustle until we could afford another time at the fuel station.

    Nigerians understood the desperation, hence the call for strike had no emotional following. But the other snag was that the fuel was suddenly available. What does that tell us of the fuel marketers? They won. They browbeat the government to raise the price of fuel.

    Or shall we say they had to browbeat the federal government to do what they had to do. The federal government was spending over 70 percent of its foreign exchange to import fuel. It had about $800 million a month of forex, but spent about $600 million to import fuel. What was left for other urgent matters of state? Mere pittance.

    So, the marketers did not win, but they were crooked. I think the Buhari administration should have taken this decision long ago, very early in its administration. But something critical was lacking: communication skills.  The President lamented very early on that the Jonathan administration wrecked our purse and we had nothing. I wrote in this column that it was not his job to lament but to take action. We would have gotten over this matter of fuel adjustment long ago.

    The other issue is that the fuel price hike came with disconnects on a number of levels. There was little communication between the government and the people, between the government and labour and between labour and the Nigerian workers. This slew of disconnects reflected in the past week. Some asserted that the palliatives already existed in the budget, so was the hike premeditated? Why did the administration not dare into the fray rather than do it sneakily?

    The problem, I think, is that the government should not have used the term palliatives. Minister Lai Mohammed struggled to convey the logic in his rounds in the media because some coordination did not take place. He did not use the word palliatives and he, in fact, noted that it was not about palliatives but a decision the government was compelled to take in the light of a battered foreign reserve.

    The government already had a welfare plan in its budget, and it could have easily argued that the welfare package was in itself prescient because the administration anticipated the hurly-burly of the economy. The administration should have buoyed the fuel hike news with figures of how much it had saved and how the money saved would be ploughed into the economy. That is the definition of a psychological palliative. It’s like having a baby and losing one on the same day. It is expected, however, that President Buhari will unveil he figures in his May 29 broadcast.

    One of the headaches of the past year has been the budget delay and absence of implementation of government projects.

    Buhari should have deployed the administration’s bellwether Babatunde Fashola (SAN) into the fray. His ministry holds a critical key. It will do the works. That’s how economies come back to life. With projects unleashed, lots of money flow into the system, and many get jobs because many contracts are awarded. Franklyn Roosevelt did it in the Great Depression on the inspiration of the genius of economist John Maynard Keynes. Big works pull demands and fill them. It can happen here. Fashola has spent some of the past year articulating his plans on power and infrastructure, but absence of money has allowed a sort of ennui to creep into the Buhari mainstream. Other ministers, like Rotimi Amaechi, whose rail projects will open dams of money could have helped.

    Times of economic woes are not about actions alone, but also about inspired rhetoric. Roosevelt said during America’s worst economic times: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” It injected a tonic into the American psychological bloodstream. That is what we expect at this time. The Jonathan damage cannot be cured overnight. We voted him, so, we voted for our woes. We should be ready for the consequences. But, the Buhari administration must learn to embrace us and soothe us with not only steps of concrete action but also words that inspire. Good words are like medicine, says David in the Proverbs.

    John F. Kennedy did this in his time. He said: “The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word ‘crisis.’ One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger—but recognise the opportunity.” Words like these brought America from crisis to catharsis. We need them now.

  • Kachikwu: Of style and crisis management

    “You can’t control the fact that people will annoy you, what you can control is your reaction” – Buddha

    These are trying times for Nigeria and Nigerians. The times are even more trying for the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. Juxtaposed against the swagger that characterized the boisterous presidential campaign of the President’s All Progressive Congress party (APC), many will be wondering at the turn of events. The swagger is gone. All is now sober. For once, the arrogant posturing of some of his close allies has started to give way to sombre reality. If the contrary had been the case, one would have lost hope in the Nigeria project. As of today, his government is missing out miserably on some of the most fundamental metrics of his campaign notably, the price of fuel and the value of the naira.

    There is a consolation though. The fact is that these performance deficits do not necessarily stem from palpable inaction by the government.  Falling oil prices, poor revenues, sabotage of oil installations and renewed insurgency in various parts of the country have contrived to pressure the government far beyond what had been anticipated.

    Expectedly, Nigerians are angry, very angry indeed. That anger rose to flammable levels last Monday when Minister of State, Dr. Ibe Emmanuel kachikwu heeded the summons by the House of Representatives. His mission was to answer questions on the recent deregulation of fuel prices, an action that ought to have been taken a long time ago, if successive administrations had mustered the political will to do the needful.

    Like labour that had flown into a rage over the deregulation, some members of the House of Representatives came dangerously close to throwing decorum to the winds when they insisted that the minister, who was there specifically to answer their summons, literally stood him up, insisting that he should not be allowed in. The National Assembly does not have a reputation for showing such disrespect to ministers though one cannot forget in a hurry how the same House of Representatives had once shown utter disrespect to former minister of finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

    As we ponder the events of the past few weeks, it makes sense not to lose sight of some, or at least one, of the positive revelations of the fuel conundrum. It has to with the crisis management dexterity of Ibe Kachikwu. Not everyone, no matter how endowed, can absorb the barrage of criticisms from and, at times, outright sabotage by the various interest groups that sought to score political points by the crisis. But Kachikwu who until his appointment, first as Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) before being elevated to Minister of State, Petroleum, had not been known to operate within the public sector, rose to the challenge with resolute calmness and remarkable wisdom. That is why the astute handling of the fuel saga by the minister and his team will stand out as a case study in crisis management and social responsibility.

    It will be recalled that in the wake of the crisis, the minister had cleverly deflected the barrage of criticisms, some from unexpected quarters, most especially, his All Progressive Congress (APC) party. In time past, we have seen ministers in similar situations fly into a rage, some fingering all manner of detractors and adversaries. Kachikwu would have none of those. In the face of these provocations, he maintained a dignified silence; where he thought there was need to talk, he politely offered very candid replies steeped in knowledge and disarming elocution. Thus, he was able to take the wind from the sails of his critics.

    We can only speculate on the likely turn of events if, had he, on that fateful Monday, descended to the level of the lawmakers who disrespectfully stonewalled him as he arrived the National Assembly to defend the actions of the government. So many scenarios could have played out. In anger, he could have walked away. He could also have refused to co-operate with the lawmakers by hedging and ducking. He did none of these. Rather, he demonstrated extreme self control and methodically disarmed the Reps.

    Watching Kachikwu’s demeanour throughout the fuel saga, one will not be wrong to conclude that he is an exponent of Buddha’s maxim that, “You can’t control the fact that people will annoy you, what you can control is your reaction”. In the face of provocation, Kachikwu refused to be angry; he remained calm, respectful, methodical and focused. Reeling out empirical information to support the government’s decision, he struck at the patriotic instinct of the lawmakers. To him, the issues at stake were too fundamental to warrant any distractions. In the end, the government’s case was made.

    So persuasive and compelling was the government’s position, as presented by the minister, that the House promptly directed labour to sheath its sword and suspend its strike. Here, again, he proved the masters right. It was James Allen who asserted that: “Self control is strength. Right thought is mastery. Calmness is power”. Throughout this crisis, the minister of state, petroleum has exhibited a large dose of each of these virtues and for the first time, majority of Nigerians are beginning to jump into the deregulation bandwagon.

     

    • Bature, a policy analyst and business strategist wrote in from Abuja
  • ‘How to avert predecessor-successor crisis’

    ‘How to avert predecessor-successor crisis’

    Akwa Ibom State Governor Udom Emmanuel spoke with reporters in Lagos on his achievements and constraints, the agitation for state police and how to avert predecessor-successor crisis. Excerpts:

    How can Nigeria regain its lost glory?

    Nigeria is a blessed country in all the areas of human and material endeavour. but, we find out that our people are not getting the benefits of these endowments. That actually should call for concern. If we look at the G7, they are not just there because they have the guns or that they can do propaganda. When you hear the committee of G7 nations, it is those that have economic power. The question there is, do we not have better than what they have that made them that big? How come we are still where we are today? That is what is driving us as a state, starting from the basic housekeeping facilities. These housekeeping facilities to be very basic. How do we tell the outside world that we are just connecting villages to the national grid for electricity? The question is, through all the ages, does it mean they did not have light? But, that is the truth about Africa. They didn’t have. And to think that at this age we are still talking of providing potable water for our people. That is why we are putting serious attention on these housekeeping facilities

    We run a system in this country. If you think you can take care of your health offshore, wait until you are in trouble and a flight of 50 minutes seems like eternity. If in the flight from Uyo to Lagos the person is on ICU, tell me how he is going to make it abroad. That is why we have to have facilities that can take care of our health needs in this country.

    What are your achievements in the last one year?

    These are some of the things, within one year. we would put things up because we have started our planning, believe me. But these are real things on ground.

    Then, you talk about soft infrastructure that you can’t see, you can’t find. Take, for example, right now, I set up a target that Akwa- Ibom in the next seven years, if you have 11 players on the field, I must produce four to five first to 11th and I am working towards that.

    I am saying every athletic event in this country, I must have an Akwa Ibom there. That is why today, Eyom Ekem, a JSS student, is running for Nigeria 200meters, Commonwealth gold medal. We picked her from the village and trained her in our stadium.

    What we are doing is that, in 10 federal constituencies, we go, we see some secondary schools there, you see some normal football pitches that can compete anywhere in the world. What is the difference between Serena Williams and a girl from my village. it is her exposure to facilities. If they see fantastic tennis court to practise, they would do it. We just believe that human development does not really begin and end with First Class. A lot of people who had First Class today are still not doing better than Messi.

    In those days, we used to hear of Ekarika, Friday Ekpo, Ettim Essien. We don’t have to lose sight of those things. So, we are rolling these things back, most of these things, you won’t see them to read. So, in the next seven years, we are coming with something with say look and we want to catch them young.

    By September, we would start the Talent Hunt, at least, one of the centres is ready. The other ones would be ready before September. So in 10 Federal Constituencies, we would start that and nothing is stopping me.

    Even today, even the little we are doing, look at where we picked Akwa United from. They won the FA Cup. Even, you could see that even mentally, a mental alertness can change a lot the situation of things.

    How is your party resolving its leadership crisis?

    Let me say something. there must be some dissenting voices here and there, whether you like it or not. Even, between two brothers,  it doesn’t mean two of them must agree on certain things. That is why there is this word in the dictionary, the word they call moral suasion.

    Be that as it may, if you keep doing things the same way, you will keep getting the same result. But in politics, you should know that when you have the majority, you are home and dry, and today, we have the majority. What do we want? We want a solid and virile party that is united and that handle the problem of this country.

    I don’t have any other party. the only party I know in my state is the PDP. This is because that is the party that brought development. So, as far my people are concerned, that is the only thing they know. So, what we are telling people now is look, what do you want to achieve? Can we work from what we want to achieve? We must leave all those things, all those sentiments, biases and so on that we started from outside before we can determine where to go. So that is the new direction and that is why you see some of us in the frontline of repositioning our party. We would not allow the selfish ones and so on to derail what we are doing. That is what we are working on and we would succeed.

    How can predecessor/successor crisis be averted?

    You know one thing about human beings is how to manage fellow human beings. So, predecessor/successor’s relationship in Africa as a whole occurs because people don’t know how to relate.

    Two, you must put a round peg in a round hole. If I am a professional in politics, I must also know, if a professional in politics would succeed me to ensure there wouldn’t be problem. If I am a professional in politics and I go and look for a professional politician, there would be a problem in his own ideology and so on.

    Three, it also depends on what are you are looking for? Because that is question many people don’t bother to answer. What are you looking for? I am looking to set my dream and if you are also looking to set your dream, then, you must face that project. And if you are facing that project, there must be no problem. So, we have no complaints, our goal is to make Akwa Ibom a better place. So that goal actually unite our sense of direction and purpose.

    And also, there must be personal determination because they say determination is victory. If you are determined, the banana peel that others marched, you wouldn’t march it. Because it is a banana peel, we’ve just decided two of us won’t march it irrespective of the pressure.

    Some of the pressure is from the press because in Nigeria, people don’t believe that two people must work in harmony. If you work in harmony, they start looking for a name for you, because they expect you to quarrel” with your predecessor. That is what people expect and if they don’t see that happening, they say no, he is subservient to this one. You know it does work that way. We must learn to work with one another for this country to move forward because it is going to be a major distraction for you to leave what you are doing to be doing what does not benefit the common man. How does that bring food to the table of that poor girl inside a village that has never eaten since morning.

    So, I don’t pray that Nigeria should continue that way. People should also learn to know where they are going to and design their style of living and everything because, at the end of the day, what matters most is the people, the citizenry and we must be able to actually take them frm where they are to a better place.

    What are you doing about reconciliation in your state?

    We have only one project in Akwa Ibom and we should all join hands to come and work for Akwa Ibom. If you come to my government, there are a whole lot of people, they were those that were carrying brooms. So, immediately they left the broom, I embraced them because they are Akwa Ibom people.

    You see the day I won my election I said that was the year of campaign partisanship and that I have just settled for governance, and for governance, I go for quality not partisanship.

    But, you don’t just single out a human being out of 6.2 million people. We are building structures and those structures should be able to sustain and endure, even in my absence. So, that is why an open invitation shouldn’t revolves around one man, it revolve around an institution, anybody dropping, we are working with that person.

    What is your reaction to the agitation for state police?

    Unfortunately, I can’t say much on security. Every state governor would tell you the say thing. The little money we get today from the Federal Allocation, we spend a lot on security.

    The late MKO Abiola once said, if you think education is expensive, try ignorance. If a state is not paying attention to security, and say it is a waste of money, go and sleep and see whether you would sleep well. And there is something a lot of people don’t know. If government stops to work for one minute, you wouldn’t sit where you sit. So, government must work 24/7 before you sit where you are sitting.

    If you call me 2am, in most case. I must be somewhere doing night patrol with the security forces, even if I cannot shoot gun. Even mere driving, telling them let’s enter this side, they feel so excited that as a governor you are showing concern for them because they are human being like you too, they have family, they have children. That moral support goes a long way. Pick up phone and call them, where are you people going on patrol today, who is who? Let my ADC know and my CSO know. So at times they need a little support morally, you don’t just sit in the comfort of your room. Take it from me, governors spend a lot of time, enery, attention on security, not only in Africa, not only in Nigeria, but everywhere in the world. Security is a major issue and whatever you spend on security is an investment.

    What is your view on the restructuring of Nigeria?

    What is my take on the current structure of the Federation of Nigeria. I only concentrate on things I can change. Things I cannot change, I leave them for God. I cannot change this one. if you want to change this one, call a Sovereign National Conference. I will attend. My change mantra doesn’t extend to this one.

    Could you shed light on the invasion of the Akwa Ibom Government House?

    One thing I have to state here is that the bail of money you saw on the internet had been on google since 2011 or so. they just put the picture there. it didn’t come from the Government House. I was there.

    Two, I want to also commend the president because immediately those guys came, I picked up a phone and called Mr. President, and he answered and he called the NSA immediately. So, they didn’t see a dime not to even talk of the money. But, to me, I just see that as one of the challenges of a developing economy, when an economy is developing, it is like a child that is learning to walk. He would walk, he would fall, he would hit something, at times, he would walk and hit the glass and get some injuries. It is in the process of walking and by the time he starts now starts walking, he won’t make those mistakes again.

  • ‘Way out of power crisis’

    To tackle the problem of incessant power failure, an arm of Contec Global Group, Contec Power Systems, has introduced some power products such as inverters, UPS, batteries and solar power goods into the market.

    The Managing Director, Mr. Srinivas Ppilla, said it was imperative and cost-effective for Nigerians, especially those at the grassroots, to buy the products to enjoy their lives, adding that the products are unique in the industry.

    He said: “People in Nigeria are going through a challenging situation in terms of power crisis, the difficulty in managing their power supply and energy needs for residence and corporate requirements, thus affecting the common man and the corporate  bodies by and large. The costs associated with buying diesel or petrol to power your needs is increasing day by day, and affecting the economy of the country too.

    “Not only that, the constant use of diesel generators has affected the air increasing health-related problems due to pollution. It is time to change to a highly reliable source and reduce your recurring expenses on fuel bills. The solution is to reduce the dependency on the public power supply and generators by adapting to solar power and inverters. By installing solar panels and inverters, the dependency on the generators and fluctuating power supply is reduced. Even the air we breathe in will be less polluted’’.

    “Contec Power has solutions for both large corporate and residences. It aims at providing cost-effective power back up and renewable energy solutions to Nigerians and help them to make their lives more comfortable.”

    Also, the firm’s Head of Service, Mr Anil Pawar said: ‘’Contec Power is a differentor in power back solutions industry by offering high quality products backed by 24/7 after-sales services’’, lasts longer and if well-maintained, could last 25 years. Besides, he said the firm offers free site inspectors and one year warranty on its products.

  • ‘National Assembly leadership crisis not well handled’

    ‘National Assembly leadership crisis not well handled’

    Alhaji Tijani Musa Tunmsa was the Interim National Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In this interview with Tony Akowe, Tunmsa speaks on a number of issues affecting the party and other national issues. Excerpts

    In the next few days, the APC will be one year as a ruling party. How would you access the performance of the party so far?

    Normally, when you are trying to transform a system that has been there for a while, you find challenges. There is usually resistance to change and transformational things. This is not uncommon in the world stage of politics and so, I believe that by the time we cross this threshold of a year and the transformational programmes start to take place, the general public in Nigeria will understand what the party has been trying to put in place. Right now, it is getting to be a situation whereby an opposition party is transiting to governance. When that happens, there are some teething problems that normally occur and this is what we are seeing unfolding right now. However, I have every confidence that as the period extends, the opinion polls will begin to shift and they will rise in trajectory with the delivery of the party and its programmes.

    One of the areas people have tried to pick holes in the administration of the APC is economic management. People believe that not much was done in this area except for the anti corruption fight. What would you say has been the economic direction of the APC-led government in the last one year?

    You can see that the leakages have been blocked and with that, the economic balance has begun to hit base for a substantial progression, particularly on the issue of devaluation, which has been burning. I think that the government is on the right track by trying to maintain our currency the way it is so that it can grow in converse with how really the true picture of our economy is. Debasing our currency does not translate to economic growth. The singular product that we have for sale, which is oil, is not a sufficient reason to have your currency devalued, given the fact that a lot of people do not really depend on this foreign exchange and access to foreign currency. If you take the example of Argentina, Venezuela and Zimbabwe, if debasing the currency were to be the solution, these countries would have progressed tremendously. Certainly, devaluing the currency is not a solution.

    One of the cardinal principles of the Buhari government is the fight against corruption and we can attest to the fact that this is ongoing. But there are those who believe that the fight is only targeted at members of the PDP. What is your take on this?

    I think it is over blotted because what you have is a previous government structure that involved a lot of people in corruption. If we go forward and there is substantial period of time spent by the APC in governance and there are people who are corrupt, that will also be looked into. But as it is now, my understanding is that if you are in government in the previous years and you are involved in transactional misrepresentation or corruption, it is only fair that you get questioned for those things. Even as it is right now, it is not everybody that is being investigated yet. So, the basket is just too large and so, you have to pick those that come to mind immediately and begin to deal with it. Don’t forget that our capacity at law enforcement and investigating corruption has also been corrupted over the previous years. So, this is what has to happen now and when they say it is selective, it is a way of discrediting the exercise and put in people’s mind that it is truly selective. But of course, the corruption was also done selectively.

    You were the pioneer National Secretary of the APC. There is a lot of concern right now that the unity in the party is seriously shaken to the extent that some of the national officers are not allowed to perform their functions. What do you think is responsible for this?

    I have not been able to get a picture of what you just described. I do understand that there are party dynamics that happened whenever a coalition comes into being. As they say, there is a thesis, an antithesis and there is a synthesis. We are now getting into a synthesis where everybody will now be woven into one. Whatever comes out of this synthesis is the new APC.

    One issue that people felt was not well handled by the party after its inauguration last year was the emergence of leaders for the National Assembly. As a former Secretary of the party, what would you have done differently if you were in charge of the affairs of the party?

    I will not say that anything would have been particularly handled differently. I agree with you that the issue of the National Assembly was probably not well handled; it was not handled with the same thought process like it should have so that we avoid the crisis in the first place. I will decline to tell you if I would have handled it differently or not, given the fact that I don’t know what the particular situation was at that time. But it was obvious to everybody that it was not handled appropriately.

  • Southwest PDP crisis persists

    Southwest PDP crisis persists

    The crisis rocking the Southwest Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has persisted, following the lack of agreement among the chieftains on zoning.

    The camp of Chief Bode George has alleged that the Buruji camp decided to compromise the interest of the zone because it has the backing of some elders, including Chief Shuaib Oyedokun.

    In a statement in Lagos by Prof. Tejumade Akintoye-Rholes on behalf of ‘Lagos Collectives,’ the group advised the elders to stand by principle and refrain from relegating the interest of Yoruba to the background.

    Akintoye Rhodes said: “In an untoward outburst, Chief Shuaibu Oyedokun denounced the majority of the Yoruba leadership that insisted on justice and equity in the zoning of the PDP chairmanship. It is rather bizarre and downright sickening when an elderly man who ought to know better has chosen to diminish and subvert the interest of his people because of selfish and narrow promptings.

    “We are shocked and confounded that Chief Oyedokun is turning against the larger interest of Yorubaland when our leader like Chief Ebenezer Babatope, Dr. Bode Olajumoke, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, Honorable Mulikat Akande and others are fighting relentlessly to ensure that the Yorubaland is not treated unfairly in the scheme of things.”

    He added: “In a way, we are not surprised with the antics of Chief  Oyedokun. His behaviour was  overtly manifested in the debacle in the Cross Rivers PDP primaries last year when the old man who supposed to be a neutral arbiter disappeared into the winds, leaving chaos in his wake. Former President Jonathan, a usually mild mannered man, was so incensed over the incident.

    “The old man is gleefully turning against the larger interest of our people.”