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Tag: Development

  • Infrastructure Bank: Nigeria’s path to sustainable development

    Infrastructure Bank: Nigeria’s path to sustainable development

    By J. Dare

    As the world adjusts to the so-called ‘new normal’ for daily crude prices, the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has the challenge of balancing the geopolitics of oil with the global economics of oil.  For petrodollar economies with looming recessions and systemic vulnerabilities, this is one of the biggest tests of leadership and vision. In relative terms, some petrodollar countries like the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Qatar, and Russia have long diversified their economies despite the importance of crude revenues — the UAE’s Dubai is more known for tourist attractions, world’s tallest buildings, and daring investments than her important oil industry. For Africa’s largest oil producer, Nigeria, deep systemic vulnerabilities to crude prices implies diversification is no longer an option, but an imperative course. More importantly, the bedrock of all transformative and impactful diversification strategy as seen in Dubai, United States, China and others is infrastructure. The challenge for Nigeria is not her well-documented infrastructure deficit but how to develop in the ‘new normal’!

    On April 25th, Saudi Arabia’s 30-year-old Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, unveiled a bold 15-year plan to restructure Saudi’s economy. The bold ambition includes the creation of a US$ 2Trillion Sovereign Wealth Fund, partial public offering of Aramco, and large privatization of state-assets. These ambitious plans by the world’s top oil producer underscore the urgency of diversification and global shift in ‘petrodollar economics’. Perhaps, the Saudi government was motivated by a new precedence: the world’s largest and much diversified economy, the United States, was the largest oil producer and consumer in 2014[1]—an unprecedented influence by an already powerful nation. Across the ocean in vibrant cities of Accra, Lagos, Kampala, and Nairobi, countless 20-something Africans carry iPhones to connect with friends and family on Facebook. Yet, the combined market capitalization of Apple and Facebook is approximately US$ 825Billion (as of April 28, 2016) – an astounding 47% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s total Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The world has changed!

    For Nigeria, what do these fast-evolving and global events mean?

    Firstly, it means being Africa’s largest economy in GDP terms only is merely symbolic without strong diversification, economic sophistication, and widely-accessible infrastructure; deeper reflections and systemic changes are required for inclusive and sustainable economic growth—emphasis on inclusiveness and sustainable growth. For example, Nigeria still trails South Africa in key infrastructure, GNI per capita, and quality investments —few indicators that make South Africa an upper-middle-income economy. Nigeria must embrace ‘new-thinking’ for the benchmarks of economic success by solving complex socioeconomic issues like affordable housing, modern public transportation system, high-quality healthcare, and an equitable justice system etc.  For a start, Nigeria must support and deepen the Buhari Administration’s ongoing and commendable multilayered restructuring: hard and simultaneous efforts to redefine Nigeria’s image on the international stage and economic restructuring. The biggest lift will come from bold policies and ideas that foster local innovations and Nigerian-led investments of large infrastructure.

    The Buhari administration has undoubtedly shown tremendous fortitude to navigate the multifaceted socioeconomic and sociopolitical challenges that fiercely vie for dwindling oil revenues. The unbundling efforts of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), systemic realignments of the power sector (e.g., power mix, gas master plan, and infrastructure), and recently signed US$ 6B Chinese loan agreements are important milestones. These achievements reinforce the mindset of an administration that is solution-driven and eager to apply bold ideas to unprecedented problems. Yet, there is no bolder idea than to tackle Nigeria’s infrastructure deficit head-on. And for this bold action, Nigeria is unlikely to deliver impactful and broad infrastructure solely from public spending; private infrastructure investments (i.e., infrastructure investments by the private sector) co-led by an infrastructure bank is essential to coordinate global capital inflows and technical expertise.

    Why an infrastructure bank?

    Today, there are few and fragmented institutions that facilitate private infrastructure investments, but Nigeria is in dire need of an integrated, impactful, and well-capitalized infrastructure bank with semblance to a Development Financial Institution (DFI). The country needs a world-class infrastructure bank to: (1) Lead early-stage investments and development in private infrastructure (e.g., expedite project development cycles), (2) Lead, co-lead or structure infrastructure finance and credit enhancements, (3) Pioneer new ‘exit platforms’ and post-development frameworks. These three (3) starting goals should enormously streamline the systemic challenges of private infrastructure investments and complement government spending.

    Infrastructure—soft and hard—in macroeconomic terms represents the physical structures and institutions that form a nation and shape the economy. But in the 21st century, infrastructure is more than an economic indicator on fancy DFI reports or eloquent talking points at London or Washington summits—in this century, modern infrastructure is imperative for global competitiveness, economic growth and power, and public safety.  Hard infrastructure should still be about Nigeria’s plan on modern rail networks that link Lagos to the heart of the country; Lagos’ impressive infrastructure plans;12-lane interstate highways from Ogun to the East and North; affordable and clean tap-water in small-towns of the Middle-Belt; modern and safe aviation; and a vast pipeline network for gas-to-power and LPG, to name a few. Soft infrastructure is about access to modern and efficient institutions like nationwide healthcare systems, an equitable justice system for civil and criminal litigations, a transparent and sophisticated financial system, an educational system that nurtures bright minds; and broad efficient deliveries of government services.

    On funding the aforementioned infrastructure, public spending and Public-Private Partnership (P3) models have proven susceptible to politics in the past than common-sense economics. Direct loans or Aid by foreign governments are inherently driven by national interests, and the plethora of global Funds with keen interests in African infrastructure are not interested in development finance.

    In what seems like a paradox, the long and rigid development cycles for private infrastructure investments are often due to lack of infrastructure and reliable data. For example, Nigeria’s power opportunities are massive but project-sponsors have to spend considerable time, planning, and capital on systemic challenges. For new power-generation developers, a key systemic issue is contending with the availability of gas infrastructure (e.g., gas availability and processing, supply agreements, pipelines) to the power plants. For private investments in rail networks, there is no precedence in Nigeria for eminent domain, interstate concessions, and financial returns. Therefore, in raising capital, additional thresholds to the project plan may include local currency guarantees, strict credit guarantees or the participation of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) to name a few – although, systemic problems for ‘power investments’ are being vigorously tackled by the Ministry of Power—the old perceptions linger. All these milestones are incredibly expensive and time-consuming for project developers; as everyday Nigerians hope for breakthroughs. Other infrastructure such as transportation, water, healthcare, and social infrastructure have similar systemic hurdles—including the high cost of capital from local commercial banks skewed to short-term funds—a mismatch funding model for infrastructure development.

    Subsequently, a bold initiative like a well-established, managed, and funded “Infrastructure Bank” potentially has the capacity to bridge the gap: State-interests, DFI interests, and private capital requirements. The bank’s strategic participation should also bridge gaps through local liaisons with stakeholders, development finance, and local knowledge expertise.

    Bankable Chart
    Bankable Chart

     

     

    Only Nigerian-led efforts, not foreign interests, will lead sustainable developments

    There is broad consensus by politicians, academia, business class, and mainstream Nigerians that infrastructure development is the key to unlocking the nation’s potentials; however, the rancor has always been the ‘how-question’? Depending on the countless reports you may have read on infrastructure or by whom, Africa’s annual infrastructure gap is estimated to be approximately US$ 93B; the decades-old playbook of how to attract “foreign direct investments” from Europe and North America through lavish dinners, summits, and incentive-speeches are so foreign in a fast-changing environment—private investors are driven by returns and not social developments. The Dangote Group, Heirs Holdings, BUA Group, and Mike Adenuga’s companies among others have probably led more Nigerian investments than any single foreign investor in recent years. New serious and local consortia with proven capacity should be engaged and encouraged, as they are likely to exemplify longer term commitments than foreign interests.

    Housing alone is potentially bigger than oil

    According to industry reports, there are at least 16million housing deficits in Nigeria.  At a conservative average cost of N 5M per unit with 10% yearly target, Nigeria needs an annual investment of N 8Trillion (US$40B[2]) – a figure that is larger than Nigeria’s projected average oil revenues of US$ 19.4B[3] in 2016. Yet, if two of America’s leading Global Asset Managers with combined assets under management (AUM) of US$ 517B were to invest in housing this year, there would be systemic challenges in this fragmented industry. For example, if an investment group chooses to invest US$ 2B in affordable housing, it will still be difficult without a secondary mortgage market for average Nigerians to purchase homes in big cities; however, mortgage securitization, investments from institutional investors, and market consolidation can foster continuous liquidity through an infrastructure bank.

    There are several other viable and impactful ideas with proven capacity to create millions of good-paying jobs for middle-class Nigerians; however, these projects are stuck in local bureaucracy (e.g., States) or in very rigid investment processes of American and European investors: a bloc that is still the largest source of private infrastructure investments in Africa. Several of these ‘Western investors’ with valid justifications, implicitly operate with longer development cycles for large infrastructure funding in Africa—cycles that conflict with most investment exit-cycles.  That simply means: without the resources of Aliko Dangote or his ilk with access to DFIs, qualified and competent project developers of power or 20km rail projects should expect to reach financial close in 2021 or 2023. In 5years, the fundamentals of any project can drastically change.

    Development Cycle
    Development Cycle

    Figure 1: High overview of development milestones

    Cenpower, Ghana’s first Greenfield Independent Power Plant (IPP) received wide acclaim for an unprecedented US$ 900M financial close; yet, the journey to the celebratory headlines was long and must have required sheer fortitude to endure the painstaking process to financial close. Supposedly, an early-stage and independent investor officially began the development phase for Cenpower in 2005; the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) took over in 2010 and the project closed in 2014. For some context, London’s impressive £14.8B 42km Crossrail project will commence operations on an 11-year development cycle—a 9-year project development cycle to financial close for much-needed power-generation deals is an unsustainable path for Africa’s development future!

    As Nigeria embarks on the largest infrastructure development in over a decade, the private-sector’s deep expertise and networks should be fully engaged for maximum results. The Nigerian government should earmark public funds to ‘de-risk’ and facilitate large private deals through a new ‘infrastructure bank’.

    With the creation of an infrastructure bank that partners with key global stakeholders (e.g., IFC, ICBC, OPIC, PIDG, and Wall Street); the new infrastructure bank can use its balance sheet, credibility, and scale to lead early-stage investments to significantly cut project development cycles. The bank could co-invest equity and structure guarantees for Greenfields with no African precedence. The bank can pay for broad and expensive studies on rail infrastructure, water, housing; and partner with large debt providers to reduce inherent project risk for investors.

    Notably, Asian emerging economies, mainly China, built large infrastructure by looking inward and betting big with less reliance on rigid foreign investment frameworks. The formation of strategic entities such as the China Development Bank, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), and engineering counterparts have fostered China’s rise. Nigeria can do the same.

    In Conclusion

    Africa’s future is very bright, and no country is best positioned to lead that great future than Nigeria. During America’s Great Depression of the 1930s, President Franklin D. Roosevelt took a bold and ambitious step to rebuild through the Work Progress Administration (WPA) initiative.  “The WPA built, improved or renovated 39,370 schools; 2,550 hospitals; 1,074 libraries; 2,700 firehouses; 15,100 auditoriums, gymnasiums and recreational buildings; 1,050 airports, 500 water treatment plants, 12,800 playgrounds, 900 swimming pools; 1,200 skating rinks, plus many other structures. It also dug more than 1,000 tunnels; surfaced 639,000 miles of roads and installed nearly 1 million miles of sidewalks, curbs and street lighting, in addition to tens of thousands of viaducts, culverts and roadside drainage ditches” (Stone, 2014).

    This is the defining moment for our country and our people – our time to rebuild. Our people with sheer creativity and not oil rigs, built Nollywood that shines brightly into millions of homes in Europe, America, and Africa. Our people, whose determination puts a Nigerian in every part of the world with remittances that rival foreign aid; our industrious people, whose resilience and hope amidst seemingly hopeless life events have raised world-class Lawyers, Doctors, Nobel Laureates, and business moguls. Our incredible people have built over one million homes in Lagos without mortgages. Our people, whose hustle and street-smarts have built historic Balogun market, Alaba, Onitsha, and Kaduna commodities centers without oil. For it is one of our people, Aliko Dangote, who first became Africa’s richest man without a producing oil block.

    The tremendous achievements of Nigerians in the diaspora: in business, civic society, politics, and healthcare, reinforce the notion of Nigerian resilience and hard work. With access to developed infrastructure, Nigerians can achieve any ambition with collective efforts and common purpose. For our common purpose and shared values are far greater than our subtle differences.

    Let this time and defining moment be our time – the time we finally solved the complex socioeconomic problems that have long beleaguered a generation. Let this be the time that Nigerians of all walks of life went to work with shared responsibility to build our own chains of organized retail; our own world-class medical centers and theme parks; our own modern rail networks and skyscrapers that line the skies of Port Harcourt through Calabar to Lagos; and let this be the time, we finally solve the problems of systemic corruption, government that works for all, and create uninterrupted power!

    Let this be the moment we end the strife of ethnic and religious divides – and the moment we will finally rise to become Africa’s giant through bold and giant strides! Before oil, Nigeria led Africa with prestige and dignity; let us lead again with lasting foundations of infrastructure to maximize our highest potential.

    Dare J. is a Principal of an infrastructure finance and development Co. contact info: Djoincorp@gmail.com

     

    References

    U.S. Energy Information Administration. (2014). Total Petroleum and Other Liquids Production – 2014. Retrieved from http://www.eia.gov/beta/international/

    The World Bank. (2016). Sub-Saharan Africa (developing only). Retrieved from   http://data.worldbank.org/region/SSA

    Stone, Andrea. (2014). When America Invested in Infrastructure, These Beautiful Landmarks Were the Result. The Smithsonian. Retrieved from http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/when-america-invested-infrastructure-these-beautiful-landmarks-were-result-180953570/?no-ist

    [1]  According to 2014 U.S. Energy Information Administration

    [2] Exchange at the official rate of 199/$1

    [3] Figure based on projected average 2016 oil price of $34; 260 calendar production days, and daily production of 2.2M.

     

  • How rural development can transform economy, by don

    For Nigeria to attain national development, it should prioritise rural development because the rural people are a reservoir of untapped talents, Prof Kolawole Adebayo of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abe-okuta (FUNAAB) has said.

    He spoke at the 52nd Inaugural Lecture of the institution titled: Mercenaries and merchants: The dialectics of rural development in Nigeria, where he was lecturer.

    The professor of Rural Development Communication at the Department of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development, College of Agricultural Management and Rural Development (COLAMRUD), described a mercenary as a soldier, who traverses the earth in search of its treasures and greedily accumulates as much as possible through whatever means.

    He added that in doing so, and if there were any unexpected good, the mercenary usually claims the glory for providing that; but cares less and would do anything to amass wealth.

    Adebayo pointed out that while the mercenaries, who enabled rural development many centuries ago could claim glory for the unintended or accidental results of their efforts, the shape and notion of rural development that followed  was intentional and for selfish motives.

    Defining a merchant as a business person who trades in commodities produced by others to earn a profit, the don said, a ‘merchant’is some one with a profit motive.

    He listed the merchants in this context to include the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), also known as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), as well as small regional development banks, such as African Development Bank (AfDB), Asia Development Bank (ASDB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), and Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

    To improve productivity and living standards of the  rural people, Adebayo urged the government  to boost the availability of  credit and banking facilities to enable rural dwellers embark on productive ventures  and  employ more labour. This, he added, would  take a lot of Nigerians out of the strangle-hold of poverty.

    While the economy has witnessed the emergence of rural development merchants in the mode of commercial banks and specialised agricultural banks, Adebayo  also called on  microfinance banks to  take advantage of the enormous market potential.

    Acknowledging the efforts to build the capacities of microfi-nance practitioners undertaken by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), the don, however, implored the institutions  to  extended it  to the Board of Directors of the banks.

  • Economist charts course for Africa’s development

    To develop Africa’s economies, the continent’s traders must embrace the real sector, a development economist, Mr Hasvoon Chang, has said.

    According to him, the manufacturing industry’s interconnection with other industries and its capacity to boost complementary industries makes it key.

    Chang spoke at the Second Annual Adebayo Adedeji Lecture during the Africa Development Week at the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) headquarters in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

    He warned against neglecting exports as “economic development requires export success”.

    Chang, known for his refreshing ideas on development theories, noted that although several ways to development and industrialisation exist, “Countries can decide their development path. Countries become good at things because they want to excel at making those particular things.”

    Citing South Korea  an industrialisation success, Chang declared that history is replete with examples of countries forging a different path than the one they were advised to follow by international institutions.

    “Most developed economies have succeeded in growing their economies because of the infant industry,” Chang argued, pointing out that the strategy of this policy is to develop skills and protect the domestic market until such a time they can be mature.

    He said: “Infant industry protection creates the ‘space’ for improvement in productive capabilities, but does not automatically lead to productivity increase.” Chang explained that countries make the common error of not investing in productivity growth such as machines, research & development and skills.’’

    Noting that countries often fail to upgrade or add value to their products, the Development Economist declared that in order not to lose the benefits made from initial investments in industrialisation, countries must upgrade their industries and create their own value chains to be globally competitive.

    For African economies to develop, Chang believes that countries can utilise a strategic combination of an export-based economy and an infant industry. He thinks that the shrinking policy space, which states often bemoan, has not made industrial policy impossible to use.

    ECA Executive Secretary Mr. Carlos Lopes explained that much of ECA’s inspiration on work on industrialisation comes from Dr. Chang.

    “He (Chang) provides an excellent mix of history and economics by bringing to us the experience other countries have gone through in their development experience,

  • Campus cultism and educational development

    SIR: As a nation, we know where we are headed, we know where we are. It is however pertinent that we pause, and take stock of various happenings in our institutions of higher learning and the distance we have to go in order to correct certain prevailing situations. Why must we expect a high moral standard from a generation to which we have bequeathed to insecurity, bitterness, hardship, frustration and, worst of all, disunity and corruption? My candid answer to the aforementioned question is simply and squarely a failure of leadership.

    Cultism in our campuses is all about youths rebelling against present conditions. We are all clamouring to know the cause, not truly knowing why it is rebelling. There is a need to go beyond information and understand the cause through inner knowledge.  Youths of our great nation want basic knowledge which will satisfy its idealism and give it the truth not a clouded truth in meaningless word but a truth that can be dynamically proven scientifically. Young people are questioning by their naïve acts, why we have confusion and discrimination in this blessed nation, one chaos after another in the political arena. They do not see our nation growing better after 55 and half years of independence. We are not living in a happy and peaceful nation. More than half of the nation is at war, hungry, imprisoned, or dying. Every day in this country we see and hear stories of divorce, crimes, kidnappings, suicides, insurgency and other tragedies which greatly add to our personal fears and tension. Little wonder, the youths are confused.

    It is, therefore, very unfortunate when the very people who help the larger society keep to the straight path become enamored with those traits they condemn and rule against. In Nigeria today, cultism has become a very serious and endemic problem which is capable of crippling the entire generation of the nation’s youth and thus frustrating the purpose of God for our great nation. It is also worth knowing that, the tag student has nearly become a demeaning pseudonym for armed robbery, hired assassins, murderers or societal scum. All these would not have happened barring the action or inaction of the government, school managements and the larger society. These three together form the lethal triangle that has continued to encourage and support the existence of the monster called campus cultism in our higher educational system.

     

    • Comrade Emma Ogor,

    emmaubec2023@yahoo.com.

  • Osun: New vista for rural development

    Osun: New vista for rural development

    If the concept of Master Plan of Action (MAP) for local government areas in Osun State becomes a reality, it  may be the tonic needed to turn the state around in terms of rural development and  social integration, reports SINA FADARE

    There is no part of the country with all the basic features of a model community. What is referred to as development is a far cry from the much-needed sustainable human development, which, in itself, is the ultimate objective of growth.

    In the past have been paying lip service to this all-important need. None could step up action that will ensure real and sustainable community development.

    Attempts at rural development in the past have been “top-bottom”, with no consideration for the participation of the beneficiaries of such interventions in the development process. The result is the abandonment of such development projects and a colossal waste of public funds.

    A fresh global awareness on the importance of the “bottom-up” approach to development is buttressed by the fact that man, the direct beneficiary of every development intervention, should be recognised as an indispensable agent of sustainable development if efforts injected into the process will not be futile.

    This claim is also supported by the fact that the real wealth of a nation is its people, making it imperative to ensure their participation in the process to give them a sense of ownership, belonging and sustainability.

    At present, Osun State, under the leadership of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has become the leading light in the “bottom-up” approach to development. The governor is indubitably committed to ensuring the development of all communities in the state. He is exemplifying how to turn around communities with active participation of the people towards fast-tracking sustainable development improved standard of living and subsequently halt rural-urban drift.

    Buoyed by his desire to improve the lot of the people and despite the precarious financial situation of the state, the governor has come up with a master plan of action for the development of all communities in the 30 local government areas. He not only committed funds to this exercise, but also directed the Ministry of Water Resources, Rural Development and Community Affairs not to leave out any community in the development gale blowing through the state.

    Consequently, the ministry commenced a workshop on Packaging of Master Plan of Action (MPA) for the 30 local governments and the Area office in December last year. The workshop was aimed at engendering community-driven document that will fast-track holistic development of the state, while the objectives are to improve the understanding of the participants on the concept of Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) and Community Plan of Action (CPA) in order to equip participants with the relevant skills to conduct PRA and CPA and to enable them to appreciate the need for the MPA as development strategy for the state.

    At the end of the workshop, not less than 2,288 participants; made up of officials from the line ministries, local governments and OYES Cadets drawn from the three senatorial districts in the state, would have been trained in the conduct of PRA and CPA; the two major processes that will birth the Master Plan of Action for development in the state.

    Participants from Osun East, Osun West and Osun Central Senatorial Districts have been trained and are already in their assigned communities for the conduct of the PRA and CPA. They have been sent out to all communities to interact with the people and find out their challenges and potential.

    The information gathered will form the nucleus of the MPA which will, in turn, make government interventions in such communities easier and better appreciated. With the MPA, any local government chairman who assumes office will have a working document which contains the needs of all communities in his council as agreed by the people of the communities.

    All the council chief needs to do is to pick the felt needs one by one and provide them for the communities as demanded.

    Another beauty of the MPA is that it will form the basis for assessing the performance of the council chairmen during their tenures, while it will also make budget preparation easier for the councils. Apart from these, the document will also provide opportunity for communities to access development partners’ assistance.

     

  • ‘Ogun development plan on course’

    The Ogun State government has assured the people that its developmental agenda on land administration is still on course.

    It said it would do everything necessary to make the state habitable.

    The Director–General, Bureau of Lands and Survey, Olubiyi Ismail, spoke during the Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors and Valuers (NIESV) Week and Awards ceremony tagged: “Celebration of Achievers” in Abeokuta, the state capital, at the weekend.

    He said: “We are change agents of the government. So, let us go out there and sensitise the citizens on the achievement and developmental agenda of this administration. Let us change their perceptions about land matters and tell them the proper way of buying land without getting into trouble.”

  • Aregbesola and challenges of development in Osun

    Becoming governor was not, for Rauf Aregbesola, the fulfilment of an ambition. It was for him, the beginning of a mission: a mission to transform his beloved state, Osun. Prior to his assumption of office on November 27, 2010, the scandalous performance of successive governments, with the rare exception of the Bisi Akande administration is better imagined than real. As a result of poor governance by successive governments, the state infrastructures were in a terrible state of decay. The level of rot, particularly, the degree of moral decadence he met on ground was totally unacceptable to him. Consequently, he embarked on far –reaching reforms to make the state measure up to the standard of what a modern society should be and put it on the path of irreversible posterity. The arrested development of the state explains why Aregbesola was in a hurry to develop the 25 year old state when he came on board in 2010, and was consequently spending up to 80 percent of the state’s resources on capital projects.

    Corrupt public officials and beneficiaries of the old order were not happy with him, because after devoting such a humongous sum to the execution of capital projects, there was little or nothing to steal coupled with the fact that he also blocked all areas of leakages. The foregoing made him unpopular amongst the elites and thieving public officials who have been feasting like vultures on the meagre resources of the state. But to the commoners, the toiling masses and the vulnerable who are in the majority, the anti-corruption and attitudinal change crusade of Aregbesola is a welcome development. In any existing economic or political system, there are those who would naturally oppose the emergence of ideas formulated towards endowing a progressive society. These are those that have been recently uncovered and referred to as a “cabal” opposed to the provision of the people of the state of Osun with the right kind of leadership as symbolized in the pragmatic and quality style of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. They are those who have gone to town, with wild, despicable allegations and malicious propaganda to paint Ogbeni Aregbesola in bad light, cause mischief, misinform and disrupt the existing good relationship between Aregbesola and the appreciative people of Osun.  Like Winston Churchill, Aregbesola might be vilified for his principled position, but no one can fault the altruistic and patriotic motivations for his actions. Like the saying goes, “Diamonds are forever”. Changing global reality in our new world is making leaders that have vision look like narrow-minded, satanic, heartless and wicked while making those without vision look like saints.

    I have watched with a sense of bewilderment, the unrelenting smear campaign against Aregbesola administration and his person.  It is as if Osun is the only state in Nigeria owing its workers salary arrears due to dwindling allocation from the federation account. The opposition, a section of the media on its payroll and the “lynch mob” have found an opportunity in the current economic recession affecting the whole world to vent their spleen on the governor for the sole purpose of deflecting attention from their uncomplimentary activities of their days in power, partly responsible for our present economic woes.

    In just three years, Aregbesola has been able to prove that something good can, indeed come out of Nazareth. He has pulled Osun from the backwaters of underdevelopment, illiteracy, ignorance and disease, to a state that is on irreversible path to prosperity. To realize his vision, the governor had, on assuming office, initiated a strategy of building up reserve of funds with which it could leverage for the projects it has planned to do. His government did two things that nobody thought he could do. By November, 2010, when it assumed office, the state had borrowed a whopping N1 billion to pay salaries. Yet, this did not stop the new administration from recruiting 20,000 OYES members! It was that same period that the state paid bonus to its workers. The abiding question is: How did the Aregbesola do it? By March of the following year, Aregbesola had restructured the state finances to the extent that the state was no longer in any precarious financial condition. The state has stopped borrowing money to pay salaries; it never failed to pay N200 million monthly allowance to OYES volunteers. In less than three years of his first four year- tenure, chroniclers of history would establish Aregbesola’s massive interventions in hitherto rotten and neglected sectors such as education, environment, agriculture, infrastructure, tourism, health and security. From better –developed education system, to well- equipped hospitals, to empowered people; to policies geared towards empowerment, poverty alleviation and a social security programme that protects the vulnerable.

    The state of Osun’s experience in the spheres of infrastructure and human capital development is also worthy of commendation when compared to what the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola met on ground and how he has been able to transform Osun in less than three years. The current economic recession affecting the state, nay Nigeria notwithstanding, Aregbesola has so far demonstrated that, with great determination, Osun State could become the envy of many and the pride of her citizens at home and in the Diaspora. Osun State infrastructural facilities, though yet to be completed due to the economic meltdown, is the symbolic representation of Aregbesola’s government’s  resolve to eradicate the decadence of the past and link the state and subsequently, the people with the future.

    Aregbesola’s efforts at repositioning Osun State have not gone unnoticed. The World back in conjunction with 14 states in Nigeria have replicated the OYES initiative in those states. Aregbesola was invited to address the UK parliament on the Schools Feeding Programme and on his innovative tablet of knowledge, “Opon Imo”. Even the Muhammadu Buhari-led APC federal government has incorporated some of his programme, especially the School Feeding Programme and the N5000 stipend for the unemployed graduates into its programme.

    Aregbesola has within three years in office pioneered changes geared towards the achievement, improvement and sustenance of good quality of life for the citizens of the state. He has within so short a time in office demonstrated that where there is a will, there is always a way. Surely, the good that Aregbesola has started in Osun State, though, temporarily hindered by the current economic recession, will outlast him; it will live long after he would have passed on. Since he meant well for the state, he deserves the support of people. In this historic battle of repositioning the state, he needs to be encouraged, not scared. And since this battle is collective, not personal, he deserves solidarity, not brickbats.

     

    • Aminu is National Coordinator, Oodua Youth for Good Governance .

  • Civil society group advises Usani on Niger/Delta’s development

    The Niger Delta Affairs Minister, Pastor Uguru Usani, has been urged to pursue the comprehensive implementation of the Niger Delta master plan for the area  to experience meaningful and deserved development.

    The Director of the Development and Leadership Institute, Mr. Olaoshebikan Clement, said this at a forum in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    He said this could be realised if the leadership in the region, led by the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, pursued the resolution of several policy issues that have remained unresolved in the region.

    He said: “As a matter of urgency, the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Pastor Usani, should begin the process of achieving real development in the Niger Delta by focusing on resolving the implementation of the four key policy issues, which have for a long time remained a sore thumb in the region.”

    Clement said with the election of the President Muhammadu Buhari  and his change mantra, expectations are high in the region. “Leadership of the ministry must therefore, move away from the failure of the past and sincerely focus on implementation rather than the formulation of new policies,” he said.

  • Forex policy stifling ICT development, says Spectranet chief

    The foreign exchange (forex) policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has taken its toll on the information communications technology (ICT) sector.

    It has not only stifled efforts to expand capacity but has turned operators into debtors as they cannot get dollars to pay for equipment imported into the country, the Chief Executive Officer, Spectranet, David Venn said yesterday in Lagos.

    Speaking with ICT reporters in what the firm tagged: Town Hall Meeting, he lamented that the policy has put spanners in the wheel of the plans of entrepreneurs who depend on imported equipment such as Base Transceiver Stations (BTS) to offer high quality services to customers in the country.

    Spectranet is a firm that offers high speed internet services, using the latest technology which is 4G.

    He said the major challenge with the dollar drought is that the technology firm has the cash in naira but cannot get dollar to buy to pay for goods and services. According to him, international bandwidth requisite for the delivery of super fast broadband internet services and equipment are sourced from outside the country in dollars, lamenting that the forex squeeze has disorganised the capacity expansion plans of the firm.

  • Wike promises even development

    Wike promises even development

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has promised even development of communities.

    The governor, who noted that since his January 27 victory at the Supreme Court, the security situation has improved, spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt while addressing Ikwerre Chiefs and Elders Forum.

    He called on leaders of communities to promote peace for enhanced growth.

    Wike said: “Since the Supreme Court judgment, the security situation in communities has improved. Community leaders should continue to cooperate with security agencies to enhance peace for sustainable development.

    “As your son, I will make you proud. Rivers State is my constituency and I will touch every community. We will carry good governance to every community.”