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Tag: free

  • 50 get free JAMB forms

    member of the Lagos State House of Assembly Rasheed Makinde has given out about 50 Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) forms to pupils in his constituency.

    Makinde, representing Ifako-Ijaiye Constituency II, said the gesture was to help the less privileged.

    The gesture, he said, was borne out of his passion for qualitative education and youth development.

    “I am seeing great men and women of tomorrow here who will soon be making waves all over the world. It is my own way of contributing to the society and development of education,” he said.

    Makinde said he had facilitated employment for over 80 indigent people from his constituency.

    The council’s All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman, Prince Adewale Bello hailed the lawmaker’s gesture.

    “The best investment anybody can make is to educate children, to secure a future for them. We appreciate our lawmaker, we want more of this. We need people like this in the corridor of power. It is nice, I am happy, he is doing well,” he said.

  • Youths urge free, fair party primary

    Youths urge free, fair party primary

    A chieftain of the Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya has urged leaders of Oshodi Local Government Area, Lagos not to impose candidates on the electorate during the party’s primary for the forthcoming local government election.

    He said the party did not field some popular aspirants in the 2015 elections which led to the emergence of the candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the House of Representatives and Lagos State House of Assembly.

    He noted that Oshodi is one of the major communities in Lagos State that contributes to the overall development of the state, stressing that it is the stronghold of the APC.

    “The local government election that is on the way and with reference to Oshodi LGA, which is one of the popular areas in Lagos, has been in the news for the good, bad and ugly.

    “We that are residents of Oshodi understand the intrigues of the council. We are aware of what is happening and wish to use this medium to tell Governor Akinwunmi Ambode that he should prevail on the elders of the council not to impose any candidate on the electorate in the forthcoming election.

    “We saw hell in the 2015 elections due to the invasion of Oshodi by the opposition. They were supported by federal might and used all sorts of obnoxious acts to undermine the election process.

    “I want the government to create a level playing ground that will ensure that only a popular candidate is allowed to fly the ticket of the APC. We should avoid the mistakes of the past, which gave the opposition the opportunity to encroach on the APC stronghold in the last election.”

    Akinsanya further explained that the youth were fully ready for the council polls, noting that he would mobilise them for a successful outing during the election.

    “Oshodi is a great council in Lagos State and would not be fair to allow the opposition party to encroach into it because they have nothing to offer the people. Our elders should be prevailed upon to support the popular candidates in the coming elections.

    “The residents are ready for the election and they are going to support only the popular candidate to win the election for APC.

    “Former President Goodluck Jonathan never gave us peace during the 2015 elections. We were running for our dear lives. They used soldiers, thugs and all manner of people to terrorise us. I had to escape from the country through Cotonou, Republic of Benin to Saudi Arabia.

    “The only caution ahead is for the APC to produce a popular candidate during its primary. There should not be any form of imposition of candidate by leaders in Oshodi LGA, so that what happened in the past does not happen again.

    “Again, I am confident that the APC has learnt its lessons. I believe it will organise a free and fair primary which the people will be proud to support,” he said.

  • Free medical service for Lagos community

    Free medical service for Lagos community

    In its resolve to ensure the well-being of residents of the area, the Lagos Island East Local Council Development Area has begun medical mission. It was aimed at providing free medical advice, check-up, treatment and minor surgery for members of the community.

    The free medical mission that was organised by the Sole Administrator, Lagos Island East Local Council Development Area, Mr. Bashir Aare in collaboration with Association of Nigerian Physicians in America (ANPA) took place at the Freedom Park, Broad Street, Lagos.

    Speaking during the inauguration of the event, the council chief said he was able to partner with the organisation because he is a foundation member of the Nigeria in the Diaspora Organisation America and has a affable relationship with the medical chapter.

    Mr Aare said the initiative became necessary because few people have access to health care given our population and meagre available resources.  He reiterated that the objective was to ensure a healthy community using the Local Council Development Area as a focal point for mobilisation of community members to come for treatment.

    Also addressing some of the beneficiaries, the leader of the team Dr. Adeyanju Johnson said immediate diagnosis and treatment will serve as immediate prevention for some diseases.  Dr. Adeyanju encouraged the people to come out for the treatment of their ailments while others whose cases require immediate but minor surgery would be attended to.

    Two of the beneficiaries, Mr. Habeeb Abbas and Madam Maria Adeyanju appreciated the initiative and thanked the Sole Administrator for arranging the event that will bring succour to those who have some health challenges in the community.

  • Free management training for Lagos community

    Free management training for Lagos community

    The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Province 58 Ginti-Ikorodu has organised free project management training for members of the church and the public.

    The province Pastor, Godwin Obadan said the training was initiated by the spiritual head of the church, Pastor Enoch Adeboye to meet the needs of people of the community where the church operates.

    “This programme was at fulfilling one of our cardinal missions, which is to affect members of our host community positively, to be a blessing to our community which is a directive from our spiritual head, Daddy Adeboye. As a church, we must not only impact on them spiritually; we should also impact on them physically.

    “That was why we felt we should organise a programme that will improve the well-being of members of our host community,” he said.

    Speaking further on what motivated the church to organise the seminar, Obadan said: “We discovered that most people don’t know how to manage what they have and everything about life is a project. So, your ability to manage yourself will always rub off on your ability to manage minute unit of project in your life.”

    Explaining why he chose project management training for the church and the public, he said: “Everything about life is a project, so, once you learn about project management, you can manage business, you can manage your life and you can manage your community. So, we feel that way we will improve life and improve our society.

    “Last year, we organised skill acquisition programme in which about 800 people participated. The participants were Muslims, Christians and non-believers. Those who were empowered then have become employers of labour.

    “But this time, we are thinking of having it when students would be on vacation, so that they can participate.”

    About 400 people participated in the project management programme.

    The Managing Partner of Oak Interlink Company Limited, a project management firm, Seye Kolawole said: “I think they’ve received sufficient knowledge about project management. They’ve gained some useful project management skills that they can immediately deploy on their businesses.”

    A participant Fumilola Dan-Agboola thanked the organisers for giving her the opportunity to get the knowledge of what project management is all about.

    On what she gained at the seminar, Dan-Agboola said: “I may not be a project management expert but I am sure I can now stand by an expert and talk about project management. There are five processes in project management; namely initiating, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling.”

    The convener of the programme, Deacon Tosin Akande said the response and turnout shows that people are willing to learn, adding that they only need the opportunity and information to learn. Deacon Akande, who is also the church choir coordinator said: “We create much awareness about the programme and that is why you can see this huge crowd. We went on social media, distributed handbills, media publication and sustained announcement during our church services.

  • Community gets free treated mosquito nets

    Residents of Ilasamaja and its environs last weekend gathered at the palace of their Baale to get free insecticide-treated nets. Among them were women, expectant mothers, nursing mothers, children and men, who benefitted from the gesture meant to commemorate the 10th year coronation anniversary of the Baale of Ilasamaja. The donation was sponsored by a community leader of ward F2 in the community, Hon Adeolu Diyaolu.

    According to Diyaolu, the initiative was to reduce and prevent the rate at which residents were being exposed to malaria sickness. The programme tagged: “Roll back malaria” was also coming at the heel of Malaria World Day.

    “I initiated this programmed so that we can eradicate malaria in my community. This is because prevention is better than cure. We equally are attending to confirmed cases of malaria in our people,” said Hon Diyaolu.

    “This program is not being done in our local government alone, it is being done all over Lagos state and Nigeria as a whole and so far over five hundred people have benefited from this program.  We are also screening people for malaria symptoms to know who has malaria already so they can get anti-malaria drugs which will be given to them free of charge,” said Honorable Diyaolu

    The Baale of Ilasamaja, Abdul Fatai Alani Abereijo thanked the honorable for the programme. He described him as a man who has the love of his people at heart.

    “Hon. Diyaolu Olaolu is a man, who has the love of his people at heart and that prompted him to do this. We all know of the scourge we have in the country prompted by malaria. We are nearing the raining season, and malaria is the most prominent and the most common of all the sicknesses during this season.

    “From the health talks, we are reminded to clean our environment so no mosquito,  which is the carrier of malaria, will have a breeding place. Malaria is deadlier than HIV. So, for someone to come out with this kind of programme to eradicate or reduce the level of sickness among his people, I think we have to commend that kind of person. We need to encourage him more and we need to also support him in furtherance to what he is doing right now so that the whole thing can spread to other parts of the community,” said Baale Abereijo.

    “I thank him a lot and also on behalf of the people of Ilasamaja I also thank him for coming to our aid,” he said.

  • Imperative of free public education, recession or no recession (2)

    The teaching profession is now much more complex than it was before the Nigeria/Biafra Civil War.

    In the first part of this article last week, we concluded that John Tosho’s verdict that provision of free and compulsory public education is one of the constitutional duties of governments could not have come at a better time. For far too long, many states had paid inadequate attention to provision of free education, just as many parents, particularly in the northern part of the country had hidden under the excuse that nobody could sanction them for not sending their children and wards to school. These attitudes had made it easy for children of school age to work as street traders in urban areas, instead of being in the classroom as should have been the case in a country that seeks to join the world of development. The outcomes have been existence in the 21st century of millions of totally illiterate children and, perhaps, of more millions without functional literacy in states where free education was provided half-heartedly by governments that could not politically afford not to provide free education but could get away with not enforcing compulsory education. The overall effect of decades of half-hearted free education has been under-preparation of young people for the challenges of living in the 21st century. Today’s column is about what needs to be done by governments and parents to ensure that investment in free and compulsory public primary education bring required benefits to the country.

    As important to citizens as ability to read and write is as one of the outcomes of public education, focus today will not be just on literacy per se but on functional literacy. When the Emir of Kano at a lecture at Oxford University recently raised the importance of literacy of millions of Nigerians in Arabic language, he was concerned with literacy per se, as ability to read and write in any language. But there is no doubt that literacy in Arabic in a country that conducts its life in Arabic is more functional than literacy in Arabic by someone who lives in a country where Arabic is not the lingua franca and only serves the purpose of religious education. While millions of Nigerians who can read and write Arabic  are theoretically literate, in functional terms, they may not be literate in Nigeria where the language of governance and business is English. Such people will, however, increase the number of literate men and women in northern Nigeria if the country adds Arabic to its official language or if any state in Nigeria declares Arabic as one of its official languages, the way English and Hausa are today in most states in the north and English and Yoruba are in the Southwest. But this is a digression that is handy to illustrate the difference between literacy qua literacy and functional literacy, i.e. form of basic education that, according to UNESCO, “stresses the acquisition of appropriate verbal, cognitive, and computational skills to accomplish practical ends in culturally specific settings.”

    Now that more parents will send their children to school to avoid being sanctioned for violating the constitution of the land, governments’ funding of education has to respond to UNESCO’s recommendation of percentage of budget required for developing countries. threshold for developing countries. School enrollment should be expected to rise by at least 25%, thus requiring more teachers, more classrooms, furniture, mouths to feed at lunchtime, and modern teaching/learning tools. Governments need to ensure that the learning environment is modern and pleasing to behold by teachers and learners. All public schools need to be conducive to learning. Using recession as excuse for not increasing allocations to primary education may no longer be good enough to explain why children of school age are vendors of local and imported or pirated commodities along highways.

    With respect to appropriate pedagogy, rote learning may no longer be useful for the new global civilisation of creative and critical use of information. Interactive, dialogical learning requires more capital-intensive teaching tools than blackboard and chalk. It requires, as has been demonstrated in more advanced countries, supply of technology-assisted teaching/learning tools, something that cannot be optimised without guaranteed access to electricity. It is risky to wait for the megawatts that had been on the list of government’s to-do programmes from Obasanjo to Buhari. There is thus a need for solar-powered schools and solar-powered laptops for students and teachers.

    Furthermore, curriculum planning requires new thinking. Apart from teaching of English and mathematics, other subjects offered should emphasise local issues: geography, history, natural science, and civics. The language of instruction in the first six years of schooling should be in children’s mother tongues while the language that holds the country together, English, is taught as a subject at every term in the six years of primary education. Mathematics must also be taught at every stage. Any state that desires to add Arabic to its curriculum may do this as optional language for students while states that share borders with Francophone countries and believe that French will be an enhancer of multicultural literacy may add French to their curriculum in the last year of primary school.

    Like everything else in life, excuses for not doing the right thing do not lead to positive transformation of any aspect of life. In general, our country and many northern states had given avalanche of excuses for not giving adequate attention to public education. This is despite governments’ preference to ignore evidence of outlandish consumption of public resources by political officers and top bureaucrats. We cannot ignore the fact that the rest of the world is leaving Nigeria behind, faster than it did at Independence and in spite of Nigeria’s great wealth from petroleum for decades. It is in recognition of the yawning gap between Nigeria and other countries that parents and politicians with deep pockets in our country send their children overseas for education.

    One level of education that has been ignored, even in states with over half-a-century of free education, is pre-school education. At present, this is being provided by entrepreneurs, who understandably make pre-school learning prohibitive for the average citizen. Given research findings that pre-school education is a major cognitive and social enhancer for children between 3 and 5 years of age, it is necessary for states to commit to providing access to pre-school learning to citizens. All advanced countries are already doing this, to remain competitive in a global market.

    Finally, regulation of private schools must be an important part of the functions of governments, especially local government. Most successful countries have moved away from the philosophy of education, curriculum, and pedagogy bequeathed by colonial governments. The teaching profession is now much more complex than it was before the Nigeria/Biafra Civil War. It is about time that National Certificate in Education was replaced by four-year degree programme in education. Our policymakers in the ministry of education may need to visit Scotland, Finland, South Korea, and Singapore, to find out why these places are global leaders in primary and secondary education.

  • When truth can’t set you free

    He broke my heart but I did not cry. Why should I cry? I am a Nigerian.  We are hardly shocked.  Here, our elites deprive the people of the opportunity to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Here, contracts are awarded on paper, money approved and taken but nothing to show for it. Here, money that could build a whole country or countries, from scratch, is stolen by one person who obviously suffers from psychiatric disorder. In my language, we call such people were alaso.

    Here, we sell nonsense as sense. Here, our leaders treat us as if we do not matter. Here, projects are completed on paper, yet the reality is walls apart. Here, projects that have not started at all have been paid for and will never be done. Here, we accept the absurd as our ways of doing things. After all, this is Naija, we are quick to tell ourselves.

    These shocking facts were expounded by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo and he broke my heart. Not because he spoke the truth, but because the truth will still not set free the people of Niger Delta on whose soil he spoke on Monday in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

    Osinbajo said we must find a way out. When he said this, what came to my mind was President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that “we must kill corruption if we don’t want corruption to kill us”. For a region rich in resources, but with some of the poorest people this side of the globe, the Niger Delta situation is pathetic.

    As he tours the Niger Delta, he has expounded these truths. From Rivers to Bayelsa to Akwa Ibom and Edo, Osinbajo has not failed to bare it all. Still, the people are helpless. No thanks to poverty, they still pander to the whims of their oppressors who even give them guns to kill one another during elections.

    The mess the Niger Delta has found itself started in Oloibiri in 1956. The people were happy– thinking their town would soon become London. Any voice of dissent, any voice of reasoning was shut down. And years down the line, they felt they had listened.

    The Oloibiri story resonates all over the Niger Delta, which extends to over 70,000 square kilometres and constitutes about 7.5 per cent of Nigeria’s land mass. The densely populated area comprises Bayelsa, Cross River, Delta, Edo; Akwa Ibom and Rivers states. It extends to parts of Ondo, Imo and Abia states.

    This troubled region is home to over 31 million people and is the oil and gas-producing belt. Since the discovery of oil in commercial quantity in Oloibiri, the region has been embroiled in controversies, agitation and protests over the attendant oil spills, devastating pollution of fishing zones and sources of potable water and ecological degradation.

    Over the years, the people have lived in conditions that are intolerable. From time to time, gross neglect and under-development snowballs into pockets of protests and agitation for resource control because successive administrations at the centre and in some states glossed over sustainable development of the region.

    While other regions were being developed in infrastructure and human capital, the reverse was the case in the Niger Delta. No wonder there has been a debate on whether oil exploration is a curse or a blessing to the region.

    Bottled resentment as a result of the status quo has been blamed for vandalism of oil and gas pipelines and kidnappings for ransom. As can be seen in the film Oloibiri, the youths thought violence could help and before they knew it, they became killers, spilling blood here and there.

    The enactment of the Mineral Ordinance by Nigeria’s first Governor-General Sir Frederick Luggard in 1914 signalled the exploration and exploitation of the country’s mineral resources, especially oil and gas.

    In 1937, the British colonial government gave the exclusive rights of exploration and exploitation to Shell D’Arcy, which could not actualise this mandate because of the Second World War. In 1938, Shell entered into collaboration with British Petroleum (formerly Anglo-Persian Oil Company) for oil prospection in Nigeria.

    Their early efforts yielded 450 barrels of crude oil in Akata I Well, in 1951. Further successes were made in Oloibiri in 1956 and Bomu Oil Field in 1958 when oil was struck in commercial quantity.

    Many major players in the global oil sector were later granted prospecting licences. Such players include Socony Vacuum (now Mobil) in 1955, Tennessee (later Tennenco) in 1960, Gulf Oil (now Chevron) in 1961, American Overseas (later Amoseas) in 1961, Agip Oil in 1962, Safrap (now ELF Phillips) in 1965 and Esso in 1965.

    Shell, Mobil, Chevron, ELF, Agip and Texaco were major players in the oil sector. Others, such as Ashland, Deminex, Pan Ocean, British Gas, Sun Oil, Conoco, Statoil, BP and Chemical Oil Company (now Conoil), played minimal roles.

    In collaboration with Shell, the Federal Government set up the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas Limited (NLNG) with a plant at Finima, Bonny Island to enable it maximise its revenue from oil prospecting and reduce gas flaring. The country has earned several millions of dollars in revenue from the NLNG.

    In spite of these efforts to increase the extraction of both oil and gas from wells and fields located in the region and consequently shore up gross revenue earnings, the peoples of the Niger Delta have tales of deprivation and neglect to tell.

    A large proportion of the country’s poor lives in the Niger Delta where the exploration and exploitation of oil and gas has created sorry sites and sights of oil spills and distorted bio-diversity.

    The situation has often given rise to non-violent and violent protestations. These include the initial 12-Day Revolution in the Creeks in 1967, which was championed by the trio of Isaac Adaka Boro, Samuel Owonaru and Nothingham Dick, in a failed bid to secede from Nigeria.

    There were other protests and agitations by groups, such as the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni People (MOSOP), led by the late Ken Saro-Wiwa who was killed by the Gen. Sani Abacha Administration and activities of groups, such as the Ogba Solidarity, the Urhobo Progressive Union, the Niger Delta Environmental Forum, the Chikoko Movement, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth, the Ijaw National Congress, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force led by Mujahid Asari Dokubo.

    As a result of the recommendations of the Henry Willink Commission of Inquiry set up by the British colonial government on September 26, 1957 that the Niger Delta people were “poor, backward and neglected” and should be on the concurrent list as a “special area” needing special attention, the government established the Niger Delta Development Board (NDDB).

    The board was assigned the responsibility of managing the challenges and the socio-economic development of the new special areas of Yenagoa Province, Degema Province, Ogoni Division of Port Harcourt Province and the Western Ijaw Division of Delta Province.

    It existed for seven years  between 1960 and 1967 until it was replaced by a Presidential Task Force Committee that was set up by the then President Shehu Shagari in 1980.

    Another major attempt to address the issues challenging the development of the Niger Delta was the constitution of the Oil Mineral-Producing Areas Development Commission (OMPADEC) in 1992 by the Gen. Ibrahim Babangida Administration.

    Other interventions came in forms of panels, until December 21, 2000 when the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) was set up by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo to “offer a lasting solution to the socio-economic difficulties of the Niger Delta” and further facilitate the “rapid, even and sustainable development of the Niger Delta that is economically prosperous, socially stable, economically regenerative and politically peaceful.”

    So far, the interventionist agency has made some strides in the areas of infrastructure development and human capital development. But, at many points, its affairs have been dogged by internal feuds and opposing blocs of influence over control of its operation. Many of those who are statutorily meant to give it money to lessen the region’s burden are failing in their responsibility.

    My final take: Going by the Bible, the truth should set people free once known. The people of the Niger Delta know the truth but unfortunately it has not set them free. Poverty has ensured they worship their tormentors; poverty has ensured they beg for crumbs from those stealing their commonwealth; poverty has turned them to beggars; and like true beggars, they seem to have no choice.

  • Smile offers 200 minutes free calls

    Smile offers 200 minutes free calls

    4GLTE service provider, Smile Communications has announced the commencement of ‘SuperTalk’ promo which offers customers on its network up to 200 minutes free calls to all networks in the country.

    Applauded by industry watchers as a worthwhile Yuletide bonanza, customers on the network will recharge and enjoy incremental voice minutes based on their preferred data plan.  A customer who purchases a 1GB data plan will get 10 minutes free calls with a validity period of 15 days.  The purchase of 2GB data plan offers 20 minutes free calls also with 15 days validity period. Purchase of 3GB data plan offers 30 minutes free calls with 30days validity period.  The 5GB and 7GB data plans offers 60 minutes free calls with 30 days validity period, while the UnlimitedLite, 10GB, 15GB and 20GB offers the customer 120 minutes free calls and 30 days validity period.  The UnlimitedPremium, 50GB, 100GB and 200GB offers an unprecedented 200 minutes free calls time with 30 days validity period.

    A statement by the company indicated that the promo is one of the many ways the company has designed to richly reward customers for their loyalty.  The statement enjoins customers of Smile as well as prospects to take advantage of the offer to maximise their call time to families and friends especially at this Yuletide.  It emphasised that customers stand to benefit from ‘SuperTalk’ only to the extent of the renewal of their preferred data plan. On what informed this customer-centric initiative, the statement avowed that the offer remains a veritable tool to achieving the objective of providing Smile customers with affordable but high-end communication services.

  • AD calls for free poll

    AD calls for free poll

    The Alliance for Democracy (AD) has urged the federal government play by the rule of the game in the Ondo State election.

    The Director-General of the Olusola Oke Governorship Campaign Organisation, Hon. Bola Ilori, said the state deserved a free exercise.

    In a statement, Ilori said: “The organisation is aware of undemocratic and diversionary tactics employed by the Aso Rock sparrows and Presidential cabal in the Southwest led by former Governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi and Ogun State Governor, Ibikunle Amosun to destabilize the existing peace and communal brotherhood in Ondo State by the repeated, persistent orders they have issued to the State Security Services (SSS),  police and intelligence agencies to arrest notable leaders and frontliners of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Ondo state including but not limited to the director general of the Olusola Oke gubernatorial campaign organization.

    He added: “The sad experience of the aftermath of 1983 governorship election in the then Ondo state brings to fore the divisive and violent tendencies been orchestrated by APC, we however issue a passionate appeal to all Nigerians to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari to give free and fair playing ground to the citizens and residents of Ondo state to elect their governor and desist from intentions and motives capable of re-echoing the ugly phrase, “Wild wild West”

    He added: “The problems bedevilling the current administration spring from insurgency to terrorism, restiveness and militancy, kidnapping, infrastructure deficit,  recession, poor educational standards and the baggage of unfulfilled electoral promises which is enough task worth the attention, need government commitment and concentration.”

  • Whither Nigeria’s Free Trade Zone scheme?

    For many years, Nigerian leaders have paid lip-service to the diversification of the economy; instead, there has been a near-total reliance on oil to finance the country’s development needs. Some have argued for more consistent investment in the agricultural sector, which is achievable because of the country’s agricultural potentials. In the years before and immediately after independence, the three regions relied heavily on agriculture to finance their development projects. The famous groundnut pyramids in the North, the cocoa plantations in the West and the oil palm plantations in the East provided the necessary funds for giant strides recorded by the leaders of the three regions in various sectors.

    But oil came and everybody went berserk. The impact of Nigeria’s near-total reliance on the black gold was tremendous and catastrophic for the economy. The farms were no longer lucrative because oil money came easy. It was not long before every other productive sector, including manufacturing, was abandoned in favour of oil wells and the unimaginable wealth that came with them. Successive governments behaved as if oil and its enormous wealth would be there forever, and that other needs of Nigerians, including food and manufactured goods would continue to be imported from countries that ordinarily are less endowed in natural resources.

    From the experience of past years, Nigerians often clamor for diversification of the economy in times of economic downturn only for their voices to peter out at the first signs of bloom. That appears to be the fate of the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, NEPZA, which was established by the military government, November 19, 1992, with the aim of accelerating the pace of economic growth in the country. On March 29, 1996, the federal government also established the Oil and Gas Free Zone at Onne. Clay-footed from the onset, it took another nine years before the Calabar Export Processing Zone was commissioned in 2001.Thereafter, everybody, including policy makers and implementers of the scheme went to sleep.

    Is it not ridiculous that more than 23 years after the scheme was established, very little is known about its operations? There has been very little effort at producing enough literature to guide stakeholders, prospective investors, policy makers and implementers on the viability or otherwise of the scheme. I was therefore surprised to chance on a book, A Review of Nigeria’s Free Trade Zone Scheme, which was co-authored by Chidi Nzerem and Oche Obe. The book highlights the potential benefits of the free trade zone scheme and reviews the various efforts made by the federal government and other agencies to reform it.

    The free trade zone scheme was designed to attract foreign direct investment, generate employment, enhance trade and industrialization, promote exports, enhance foreign exchange earnings, encourage transfer of technical know-how to Nigerians and contribute to the economic growth and development of Nigeria. In their analysis of key data on the impact of Nigeria’s Free Trade Zone Scheme covering 1996 to 2012, the authors noted that the overall performance fell below expectations. On foreign direct investment, for instance, the book highlights conflicting figures: whereas the Ministerial Committee for the Reform of Free Trade/Export Processing Zones claims an annual average of $200 million foreign direct investment inflow into the country, the International Labour Organization, ILO, claims that only $1.2 million trickled into the country in 2007.

    The book also shows that domestic involvement in the scheme has been disappointing. Eleven out of the 30 free trade zones already licensed are still inactive. On the stated objective of promoting exports, the authors concluded that “the free trade zone programme is presently not contributing in any significant way to exports from the country”. The free trade zones earned a paltry $8.3 million in foreign exchange and contributed only N58.4 million annually to government coffers through fees charged by the Free Export Zones and the Nigeria Immigration Service. On job creation, the free trade zones accounted for only 40, 000 out of the 148, 363 jobs created in 2012, just as only 250 companies, at the rate of 10 in each zone, were operational in the free trade zones.

    It must be stressed that the story of the scheme is not all about under-performance. Despite the dearth of relevant data, the authors established the “existence of a substantial number of Nigerians in top management positions in Free Zone Developers, Free Zone Managers and Free Zone Enterprises”, just as host communities are tapping into the positive sides of the programme. The salutary elevation of Onne, host community of the Oil and Gas Free Zone, from a sleepy fishing village to a semi-urban centre is one of the success stories highlighted in the book.

    Among other recommendations for streamlining the free trade zones to stimulate the economy is the need to establish a commission, which the authors believe will be in a position to “supervise a large number of free trade zone enclaves”. The authors anchored the entire work on the conviction that the free trade zones scheme will “enhance the economic growth and development (of Nigeria) through the creation of jobs and …benefit from other spillovers of the scheme”.

    With the current economic woes facing the country, the government should treat the Nigerian free trade zones scheme with the seriousness it deserves so that it could consciously accelerate the pace of economic growth and the development of export-oriented manufacturing in the non-oil sector of the economy. Economic indices of the past decade should have told us that reliance on oil to finance the country’s development projects is becoming increasingly old-fashioned and suicidal just as reliance on foreign loans to fund development projects in Nigeria has become unrealistic. Rather than seek loans from a country like China to finance development projects, Nigeria should learn how to catch the proverbial free trade zones scheme fish from that country. Indeed, China’s romance with the free trade zones scheme has had salutary impacts on its phenomenal strides in the manufacturing sector. China’s elegant journey from an agriculture-driven economy to the world’s factory and second largest economy in the world within a period of 30 years is attributable to the creation of Special Economic Zones.

    The era of paying lip service to the diversification of the economy should be over. Now is the time for policy makers to insist on deliberate efforts aimed at repositioning other contributors to the national economy that have suffered neglect over the years because of ‘the curse of the black gold’. Current efforts to revitalize agriculture, mining of solid minerals and manufacturing would attract the attention they deserve if Nigeria’s Free Trade Zones Scheme is accorded its rightful position.