The Nation Newspaper

Tag: deepening

  • Deepening our democratic culture

    It would not have been within the contemplation of any rational thinking Nigerian that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) could have continued to preside over the affairs of Nigeria in the build-up to the 2015 Presidential and Parliamentary elections.   The State had relapsed into  such confusion and lawlessness that any person from obscurity fielded by any political party with any measure of seriousness would have defeated the PDP candidate fair and square. It was a little wonder then that All Progressive Congress (APC) that was hurriedly tinkered together swept victory at the polls.  There was therefore great expectation that APC-led government was going to bring about noticeable change in all ramifications but that was not to be.

    Before the euphoria of victory ebbed, it became obvious that the APC could not manage its success and victory as it failed the first test over   the leadership of the National Assembly.  The party has still not recovered from those faltering steps.  From the beginning, individuals and groups within the party started acting out their personal and factional ambitions as against group interest.  This exposed the party as a coalition of strange bedfellows lacking in discipline and party loyalty without cohesion.  This further exposed the party as lacking a charismatic leadership that could husband personal ambitions without massaging the ego of any person.

    The members of the National Assembly have never hidden the fact by their acts and omission that they do not represent the yearning of the people that elected them to make laws for the good of the nation and the citizenry.  The quality of representation since inception of the 8th National Assembly has been an unmitigated disaster.  The reason is not unconnected with the quality and competence of members who do not have any ideological persuasion of altruistic act and understanding of democratic nuances. They are mere political jobbers and merchants who see their position as employment to earn a living above everyone else.

    Anything that appears to conflict with their personal interest, pay and allowances are perceived as feud against the National Assembly as an organ of government.  They also see the National Assembly as a seal of authority and immunity for acts of malfeasance by individual members.  Rather than engage the Federal Executive Council to deliver on key democratic dividends like creating jobs, improving on infrastructure like road and electricity, they are fighting for Principal Officers of the National Assembly to become members of National Council of State.  The 8th assembly has become only self-serving and self-protective to the annoyance of right thinking members of the public as shown when the leadership of the Senate in a derogatory manner insinuated that the move to recall a certain senator would not see the light of day before the House.

    The histrionics of our lawmakers came to a level of absurdity when the acting President sent some nominees for confirmation.  The colour and temper of members of the Senate came to the fore when one of them rose up on a point of order that the Federal Executive Council having refused to drop the name of Ibrahim Magu as the chair of EFCC having been rejected by the Senate should not consider further screening of nominees from the executive. The same element went further that indeed, any person summoned by the EFCC should not honour such invitation.  That was a lawmaker; infantile and puerile to the ovation of his colleagues to our misfortune as giants of Africa.

    The President and indeed the Federal Executive Council may have given the jesters in the National Assembly ammunition in the manner it has gone about the Magu’s nomination and confirmation brouhaha.  The problem of APC started when the President preferred a kitchen cabinet without reflection as to national unity and the demand of the time.   It is no wonder therefore that even agencies of government and extra-ministerial departments and their leadership are not on the same page with their principal.  This is the reason why the Directorate of State Services acted like a parallel government and could not compare or share note with the Presidency before writing to the Senate indicting the President’s nominee for an office.  If the party and indeed the government is sure-footed, all the individuals involved in such act of sabotage should have been shown the way out.

    I am not sure we are looking for a saint in the chair of the EFCC but I know we need someone with tolerable baggage that can reinvigorate the fight against corruption. Like many other issues before it, the National Assembly has acted in a manner to show personal interest in the confirmation drama of Magu; period.

    The situation in Nigeria to a keen observer is worrisome; whether it is the economy and purchasing power of the people or security.  This is not to mention statistics of unemployment and decrepit infrastructure that is collapsing on our heads as we watch helplessly while we are fed with propaganda that is in contradistinction to the reality on ground. In the face of the challenging situations and struggle to eke out a living, our elected representatives are fighting over huge allowances and budget to buy SUV in this biting recession that refuses to go away.   If we are able to get to 2019, it is going to be a greater dilemma as the electorate still find it difficult to make their votes count; no thanks to electoral manipulation and violence by the gladiators.  The task facing Nigerian today is our inability to zero on the National Assembly and make demand on deliverance of democratic dividend.  I am yet to see one distinguished honourable member of the National Assembly that has displayed the temper and candour of a statesman in words and in deed that would help deepen our democratic culture.  The people should wake up and take up their gauntlet and begin to set agenda for 2019.

     

    • Kebonkwu Esq writes from Abuja.

  • Deepening potential in mining

    Nigeria has the capacity to generate at least N5 trillion yearly from the mining sector and export of its vast solid mineral deposits. Stanbic IBTC Bank is focusing on how to deepen the sector, which creates jobs and social infrastructure needed for national development, writes COLLINS NWEZE.

    Mining remains one of the most promising sectors of the economy with the potential to generate over N5 trillion yearly for government, especially from exporting its solid mineral deposits.

    Banks with foresight and passion to improve the lots of the economy are targeting the huge funding potential in the mining sector and helping government realise its economy diversification plans. The Stanbic IBTC Bank Iron and Steel Business Session was organised by the lender to jumpstart sustained interface between the private sector and government with a view to developing a robust mining sector through the public private partnership model.

    This has become necessary because the economic downturn, triggered by falling global oil prices, is yet another eye-opener for Nigeria to re-examine its economic bearing. It is an opportunity to shift from a mono-economy and lay a foundation that promotes sustainable growth and development.

    One route that has consistently resonated at various fora is diversification, with agriculture as its pivot. Agriculture represents an opportunity sector, with huge economic potential and remains largely untapped.

    Nigeria earns over 80 per cent of her revenue from the petroleum industry, according to several reports, but the sector actually accounts for less than 14 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), whereas agriculture commands about 22 per cent of GDP and generates two-thirds of employment nationwide.

    About 90 per cent of Nigeria’s food requirement is produced by small-scale farmers, who ironically, constitute the majority of the nation’s poor.

    A myriad of factors have been blamed for this miserly condition, both natural and man-made. Key is the lack of access to finance and the resultant inability to invest in basic farming inputs, such as seedlings, fertilisers, implements, irrigation as well as poor access to finance. These have led to low  yields and unmet economic expectations and aspirations.

    Expectedly, Nigeria’s vast natural resources and huge consumer market will drive strong growth and attract investments to other critical sectors of the economy, including energy, mining and solid minerals, infrastructure and tourism.

    Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Sola David-Borha said the event was to boost the economic diversification agenda of the current administration and create a win-win situation for all stakeholders.

    “The Stanbic IBTC Iron and Steel Business conference was conceived to tap into the economic diversification drive of government by bringing together stakeholders from both the public and private sectors to share deep insights into the opportunities in the solid minerals sector, which has the potential to rival the petroleum sector in revenue generation,” David-Borha, said, adding: “As a developmental partner, Stanbic IBTC will continue to take the lead in identifying opportunities that could be tapped into for growth through public private partnerships.”

    For the Minister for Solid Minerals Development, Dr Kayode Fayemi, solid minerals industry is the country’s next opportunity for development. This is backed by the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) and the Fiscal Strategy Paper (FSP). At the recent executive business session organised by Stanbic IBTC, tagged: Iron and Steel in Nigeria…Prospects, Partnerships and Progression, he reiterated the Federal Government’s plan to drive industrialisation with industrial mineral endowment.

    With natural resource portfolio of at least 44 known mineral assets that include precious minerals, base metals, bulk minerals and rare earth minerals, Fayemi identified the country’s most promising mineral assets to include gold, iron ore, barite, bitumen, lead, zinc, tin and coal.

    “We believe the available data of our reserves understate what our country is endowed with. For one thing, some of the geosciences data collected 50 years ago or earlier, have not been updated. So, we are cautiously optimistic that our mineral endowments actually exceed what is currently stated,” he said.

    The solid minerals sector has been operating below capacity, with many mining operations manned by small scale artisanal miners, as opposed to the large scale actors. The Minister said Nigeria can generate at least N5 trillion annually from mining and exporting of its vast solid mineral deposits, with several multiplier effects on job creation, state  development and social infrastructure that could position the solid minerals sector as the main catalyst for national development.

    Also, solid minerals account for about nine per cent of South Africa’s GDP, while mineral revenues are projected to account for 34.4 per cent of Botswana’s total revenue in 2015/2016, and about 30 per cent of GDP, Fayemi noted.

    Head of Mining at Standard Bank, Anders Alfredson, listed import substitution opportunity, potential to develop  domestic iron   ore and other steel raw material resources, and abundance of attractively-priced energy sources available locally, among others as reasons to invest in the mining sector.

    Future demand growth, he said, has created opportunity to develop the domestic industry, with support from Standard Bank’s strong mining franchise, which would through Stanbic IBTC, partner local players to develop and deploy its global network to attract investment into the country.

    “Standard Bank, through Stanbic IBTC, is open to work with its existing in-country client base on potential opportunities to develop an integrated iron ore to steel player. Standard Bank would be able to leverage its global network to identify potential candidates for strategic investment into Nigeria,” Alfredson said.

    Besides, in Nigeria, the public sector has historically designed, funded, and executed development projects. But these projects, characterised by inefficiencies, have consistently failed to deliver optimum benefits, leading to severe drawbacks for business and the economy.

    The result is stagnant economic growth and grinding poverty among Nigerians. However, with the gradual diversification of the economy, which the private sector is expected to drive, opportunities would be created and if taken, would subsequently accelerate economic recovery and growth.

    With supportive regulatory framework, private sector participation is expected, in the same manner that it has transformed telecoms, petroleum products’ distribution, and financial services, among others, to help unlock Nigeria’s largely untapped solid minerals industry.

    It is in this regard that Nigerian banks, just as Stanbic IBTC Bank has indicated, should demonstrate their capacity to finance major development initiatives that have the potential to engender rapid economic transformation.

  • Deepening remittances through sport

    Were you at Campos mini stadium in Lagos when Peter Rufai former Super Eagles former goalie and captain rolled back the years and stopped some penalty kicks? If you were not there, you have missed vintage Rufai. I am sure during his active years he did not show so much enthusiasm! May be because the environment was relax and friendly.

    Rufai actually stopped several penalty kicks which were taken by veterans of the game of football. I strategically declined against taking a penalty kick. Why? I would have scored and Rufai is a friend. It was not a joke. It was a family football fanfare organised by Systemspecs Limited under the Remita Corporate Champions Cup (RC3) football initiative to keep corporate employees in top physical condition.

    Kids watched as their fathers took a tumble on the pitch. Wives sheered as their husband celebrated a goal. Friends and ardent football fans exchanged banters as radio deadliest football personalities, Femi and the Gang from Nigeria Info ran commentaries to add verve to the final between UBA and Nestle. Sorry, guys, UBA lost. Nestle won. However, the initiative was a melting pot of activities for employees and employers from different organisations across several industries. Remita removed restricted boundaries. CEOs and floor managers let down their hairs on a Sunday evening with no deadline starring at you.

    Management of UBA, Etisalat, MTN, Nestle, Leadway Assurance, employees and their families were enthusiastic about the tournament which lasted three weeks. However, some corporate organisations have engaged in sporting activity. The flip side is that it is confined to their four walls. Access Bank, First Bank, Fidelity Bank, GTBank and Lagos Business School have similar healthy routines. On the other hand, Remita – an electronic payment platform that helps you to move and receive payment easily – has extended the frontiers of promoting healthy living beyond the office walls.

    Through RC3, the sports-oriented electronic payment platform is designed to encourage a healthier lifestyle while increasing interaction between employees of different organisations in a fun atmosphere. Remita platform has attracted the involvement of about 15 corporate giants from different sectors of the economy.

    John Obaro, CEO, who by the way scored his penalty kick, explained that Remita is at the forefront of promoting a healthy work-life balance and cross-industry relationships among professionals through sports. “We want people to exercise and have fun without stress”. I am not sure if the Executive Director, ‘Deremi Atanda, score his penalty kick but he explained that work-life balance is about people feeling satisfied with the way they divide their time and energy between paid work and other things they need and want to do.

    Remita harnesses the potentials of football to reach the public, especially corporate Nigeria. While I watch the game of football at the Campos mini stadium, I realised that it is important for corporate executives to live healthy lifestyles as it would enable them to lead healthy organisations. I also reckoned that is why Remita used sport as a powerful unifying force within the society.

    According to report, Remita moves over $2.5 billion monthly as the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) payment gateway. In its own way of deepening remittances through sport, Remita platform works with the public and private organisations of different sizes. It makes receiving and making payments easy.

    Developed 100 per cent in Nigeria, Remita empowers SMEs, multinationals, states, MDAs, NGOs etc to receive payments from their customers through a wide range of convenient payment channels such as their website, internet banking, mobile wallet, PoS or any bank branch.  As an individual, you can make remittance through Remita for direct debit or standing order such as your pay TV subscription so that you can watch as Peter Rufai saves some penalty kicks.

  • The deepening chaos in Libya

    The deepening chaos in Libya

    • Tripoli remains a battlefield years after Gaddafi’s fall

    When Colonel Muammer Gaddafi was toppled by a Nato-led military operation in October 2011, Britain, France and the US declared that Libya had a chance to move towards a peaceful democratic future. But for the past two and a half years the country has been mired in chaos – raising doubts in some minds about whether the west’s support for the Libyan revolution was justified.

    Libya is an oil-rich nation of just 6m people that ought to be one of the most prosperous in north Africa. Yet successive elected governments in Tripoli have found it impossible to stabilise the country and capitalise on its oil wealth.

    The main reason for this is that hundreds of militias – numbering about 250,000 men in all – have arisen across the country, using weapons that were seized from Gaddafi’s arms dumps after his fall. The authorities in Tripoli have continually caved in to the demands of these groups for cash – and failed to overcome those who control crucial parts of Libya’s oil infrastructure.

    Now, a new set of actors is trying to take charge of this chaotic landscape. A group of former and current officers from the Gaddafi era, including a retired general, Khalifa Haftar, have attacked government buildings in Tripoli. With strong backing from liberal politicians, they are trying to topple the elected Islamist-leaning government that is supported by Libya’s Muslim Brotherhood.

    The temptation of some will be to see this attempted coup as a copycat version of last year’s toppling of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. But the success of the Libyan version is far from assured, not least because a number of Islamist militias may be capable of defeating the insurrection.

    Surveying these events, western governments will want to tread carefully. Mr Haftar’s move is popular with Libyans who are unhappy at the way the current government has failed to dissolve the Islamist militias. It may also appeal to those in the US who see the Brotherhood everywhere as an incubator of jihadist ideology.

    However, western governments cannot ignore that Libya has a democratically elected government. At the very least, the west should therefore call on both sides to avoid this stand-off descending into an all-out conflict between liberal and Islamist forces.

    The latest Libyan upheaval will again prompt debate on whether the 2011 operation, led by Britain and France, was justified. It was right to topple Gaddafi. He would almost certainly have plunged his country further into civil war following the uprising against his rule in Benghazi.

    But after he was killed, the UK, France and US failed to take the necessary measures to make Libya governable. Gaddafi’s rule left behind a complete institutional wasteland. The west’s determination not to put any military boots on the ground in Libya meant that a security structure could not be implanted across the country, leaving the regime’s arms depots to be raided by the militias.

    Whatever happens now, the west should not ignore Libya. It ought once again to become a leading oil supplier to the west, something essential given the growing uncertainty over the reliability of Russia as a source. But internal unrest has left the country pumping out only 300,000 barrels a day compared with a peak of 1.6m just before the end of Gaddafi’s rule. If instability lasts, there is also a risk of migration flows from Africa to Europe across Libya’s Mediterranean coastline.

    In most discussion over the failure of western intervention in this century the focus of attention has been on Iraq and Afghanistan. The casualties in Libya have not been on the scale seen in those conflicts. But the lack of strategic vision and political follow-through have been highly damaging to the west’s interests.

    – Financial Times

  • Rivers deepening judiciary crisis

    Rivers deepening judiciary crisis

    The Rivers State Government, through the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Worgu Boms, however, insisted that Agumagu remains the substantive chief judge of the state, describing his purported suspension by the NJC as illegal and unconstitutional.

    The Rivers chief judge also filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Abuja, to challenge his suspension by the NJC.

    It must be borne in mind that when the NJC recommended to President Goodluck Jonathan for suspension, a former President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Isa Ayo Salami, it was immediately effected, but when the council later asked President Jonathan to reinstate Salami, the advice was ignored, until the retirement of the eminent jurist, while the NJC now wants to force Daisy on Amaechi. A clear case of double standard.

    An ally of the Rivers governor, Ezemonye Ezekiel-Amadi, declared that Daisy would never be the chief judge of Rivers state, except if another governor would appoint her.

    Ezekiel-Amadi, a lawyer, who is also Rivers Commissioner for Land and Survey, declared that the Secretary of the NJC, Danladi Haliru, was being used as a point-man by OCJ to do dirty jobs in the council, thereby attempting to force Daisy on Rivers people as the substantive chief judge.

    The ally of the NGF chairman stated that no amount of pressure from the NJC would make Daisy to become the chief judge of Rivers state.

    He noted that Daisy was rejected at every point her name came up for appointment as Rivers chief judge, maintaining that lobbying by some persons in the NJC would never make her the state’s chief judge.

    Ezekiel-Amadi said: “Daisy Okocha will not be Chief Judge of Rivers State. Not during the administration of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. Maybe the Governor after Rt. Hon. Amaechi, in May next year, will appoint her, but under Governor Amaechi, she will not be Chief Judge.

    “It is not an issue of anyone being afraid of her. It is that nobody wants her. She is being rejected everywhere. The four branches of the NBA in Rivers State, that time, in making their recommendations to the Rivers State Judicial Service Commission, rejected Daisy Okocha.

    “I challenge them to make public, the report written by the immediate past Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Iche Ndu, to the NJC. In his report, he (Ndu) too rejected Daisy Okocha. OCJ Okocha and his cohorts still went ahead to put her name forward through the back door.

    “Danladi Haliru, the Secretary of the NJC, is OCJ Okocha’s classmate, not call-mate. The Secretary of the NJC is OCJ Okocha’s point-man. That is the man he is using to do his dirty jobs in the NJC.”

    OCJ, a former Rivers Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice (1990-1992) and the Chairman of the Council of Legal Education in Nigeria, however, insisted that the allegations levelled against him were absolute balderdash, hogwash, nonsense, falsehood and totally irresponsible.

    The former president of the NBA (OCJ), who is a Port Harcourt-based lawyer, said: “As at the time when in July 2013, NJC met and took a decision to recommend Justice Okocha (Daisy) over Justice Agumagu, I was not in the meeting. I had to excuse myself.

    “Everybody knows that in keeping with due process, if you have a personal interest in a matter and of course, the personal relationship is enough to indicate that OCJ Okocha must have a personal interest. So, I left the room.

    “The allegation by the Rivers State Government that the NJC has been hijacked by political jobbers for selfish interest is absolute balderdash, hogwash and absolute nonsense. NJC is constituted by the most eminent judges in this country. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, (Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar) is the Chairman.

    “If they are accusing the entire NJC of being politicised, let them point to the particular member that is believed is a politician or being influenced by politicians. It is absolute falsehood and a totally irresponsible statement.

    “Agumagu is now being investigated. While his investigation is going on, it is only fair and right that he has to step aside, to allow for due process to be carried out. Agumagu is being investigated for what the NJC considers to be a bridge of his oath of office and a bridge of the code of conduct of a judicial officer. He has been asked to step aside and I hope that at the end of the day, we will all hear the outcome.”

    A governorship aspirant on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Nimi Walson-Jack, who is also a former National Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), insisted that the judge to be appointed as Rivers chief judge must be recommended by the NJC, maintaining that Agumagu was not recommended by the council, before his inauguration by Amaechi.

    A Lagos lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, however, described Agumagu’s suspension by the NJC as judicial lawlessness, while calling on the council to withdraw the query it issued to him, insisting that the action of the NJC was offensive, uncalled for and an attempt to intimidate, stressing that a body of eminent jurists should not be behaving like that.

    Aturu said: “The NJC has not appealed the judgment of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, but now using its weight to suspend Agumagu, issuing him query. The NJC is abusing its office. That is trampling on the rule of law.

    “It is wrong, because if the NJC does that, it is going to create a reign of judicial anarchy and lawlessness. It is very disappointing. All you require to become a chief judge is just to be a practising lawyer for ten years.”

    The Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, however, stated that the NJC acted in error over Agumagu’s suspension, which he said would not stand, in view of the pending suit at the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, filed by Daisy.

    Chief of Staff also noted that the NJC should have waited for the decision of the appellate court, accusing the council of taking sides.

    The Rivers Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, described the NJC as clearly partisan, self-interested and self serving, over its suspension of Agumagu, while also accusing the council of highhandedness and intolerance, unacceptable for a body charged with the responsibility of protecting the integrity of the judiciary.

    Semenitari declared that the NJC had chosen the path of unconstitutional bullying, lawlessness and injudicious racketeering, while accusing OCJ of influencing the council’s decision.

    Amaechi, while inaugurating Agumagu as the substantive chief judge, urged him to be dedicated in the official discharge of his responsibilities.

    Recalling that Agumagu was inaugurated after series of legal battles, the NGF chairman pleaded with the new chief judge to see beyond the contest and be fair and treat everybody equally.

    The Rivers governor said: “My Lord, let me congratulate you on this your appointment. The actual phrase would be ‘at last’ and to say that I was a bit worried with the way people in the judiciary fought over who would be the Chief Judge of the State.

    “I was more than worried when there was an attempt to take away the power of the governor to appoint a Chief Judge and rest it somewhere else and I was wondering if there was no need to ask for the interpretation of the constitution.

    “Today (March 18), we recognise and accept in total, the judgement of the Federal High Court of Nigeria and we say to you congratulations.

    “Do not forget that in every office in Nigeria, virtually every office in Nigeria, not even a bishop is appointed without a contest. So, I hope that you would see what happened as a mere contest and treat everybody equally and be fair and ensure that you remain as dedicated as you have always been”.

    Amaechi also lauded the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt for ensuring that justice was done on the matter.

    Agumagu promised to ensure that justice delivery would be given its pride of place.

    The new chief judge said: “My agenda for the judiciary is to see a better judiciary, to make sure that justice delivery is given the pride of place and also to make sure that all staff of the judiciary get the best during my tenure.”

    Many Rivers stakeholders, especially the leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), described the suspension of Agumagu as the latest action in the face-off involving President Goodluck Jonathan; his wife, Dame Patience; Amaechi and the Supervising Minister of Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, a Rivers indigene, who is scheming to be governor in 2015.

    Shortly after Agumagu’s inauguration, the APC, Rivers chapter, asked all the persons who were opposed to his appointment to sheathe their swords.

    Rivers APC, through its Interim Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, said: “What Hon. Justice Agumagu needs is not further distraction, but the cooperation of all, to ensure speedy and effective dispensation of justice in Rivers State. Those opposed to his appointment should respect the right of the Rivers governor to appoint a Chief Judge for the state.

    Rivers attorney-general further said: “The position of the NJC, which is very unfortunate, gives equally unfortunate and misleading impression to the public that the appointment of the Hon. Justice PNC Agumagu as Chief Judge of Rivers State occurred in nibubus (from the skies) and with no contribution of the NJC to it or that there is no history behind it.”

    Boms also stated that Agumagu was senior at the Bar and on the Bench to Okocha, adding that what the NJC did to Agumagu was an usurpation of judicial powers and functions.