The Nation Newspaper

Tag: good

  • Good for labour

    •Birth of United Labour Congress welcome, but …

    Perhaps there was good reason for the decision of the Muhammed/Obasanjo administration, a military government, to create a centralised umbrella organisation, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), for Nigerian workers in 1976. Before then, there were nearly 300 labour unions, which were merged to form eight organisations under the banner of the NLC.

    True, extreme fragmentation of labour was chaotic and unproductive. But excessive concentration of the labour movement has proven neither desirable nor sustainable. Thus, with time, the Trade Union Congress (TUC), inevitably broke away from, and emerged as the second umbrella body for labour unions affiliated with it.

    On December 16, last year, another umbrella body, the United Labour Congress (ULC) was unveiled, following the protracted leadership crisis that followed the disputed outcome of the March 2015 National Delegates Conference (NDC) of the NLC in Abuja. Things fell apart in the congress because a factional leader of the organisation, Mr Joe Ajaero, refused to step down for Mr Ayuba Wabba of the contending faction, hence the birth of the ULC.

    We believe this is a positive development although there are those who argue that it is best to have one apex umbrella body for Nigerian workers. A divided labour house, they argue, is weakened in its capacity to protect workers against oppressive employers and respond effectively to critical issues such as minimum wage, rising inflation and job losses. They may have a point. But excessive centralisation, it has been demonstrated, creates its own problems, which also weaken the capacity of the labour leadership to defend workers and creates crises that necessarily result in the kind of schism that led to the birth of the ULC.

    The fewer the number of centralised labour unions, the greater the humongous funds available for a more concentrated and fewer labour leadership to spend through compulsory check-off dues. Thus, the fierce NLC leadership crisis that resulted in the birth of the ULC was fuelled largely by a desire to control the huge amount of wealth and thus power available to those in control of workers’ check-off dues and the organisation’s other investments. A wide gap has consequently developed between an opulent and ostentatious labour leadership that has abandoned its core values and mission of defending workers, particularly at a time of great economic hardship like this, and the vast majority of pauperised Nigerian workers.

    It is therefore only reasonable to conclude that the more the number of central unions with which workers can freely and democratically affiliate, the greater will be the competition among them to attract individual unions. This should in turn exert pressure on competing central union leaderships to demonstrate transparency, accountability and respect for democratic values in order to attract more affiliates.

    There is no doubt that the ULC cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand. Its membership includes the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE), National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE). These cover key sectors of the economy such as petroleum, industry, power, finance, aviation, education, manufacturing and telecommunication, among others.

    But the ULC is led by the same leadership that left the NLC, not on matters of high principles or moral values, but due to struggle for power and probably wealth. Can it therefore be born again? Time will tell.

  • Dickson: I want to leave good legacy behind

    Dickson: I want to leave good legacy behind

    Governor Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State spoke to reporters in Yenagoa, the state capital, on his plan to transform the state in his second term in office. The governor also spoke about some of the key proposals in the state’s 2017 budget. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE was there.

    What is the N14.5 billion recently given to the state by the Federal Government meant for?

    It is a refund from excess deductions on account of World Bank and Paris Club and other loans that the Federal Government took and repaid. Our federation is a very wonderful one, where as state governors, you just wait and at the end of the month they come up with whatever figures and throw them at you at the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting. It was discovered that most of what they did at that time was not proper; they repaid with states and local government funds and governors came together to fight for what rightly belonged to their states. This N14.5 billion was not given to Bayelsa only, but to almost all states of the federation. We have put out the figure as a result of our transparency policy. The civil servants have been very understanding; in the last one year, we had to manage a very tough situation concerning our revenues.

    Why is the 2017 budget christened Budget for Repositioning for Consolidation?

    It is so-called because in the last five years or so, we have embarked upon an aggressive and ambitious programme of infrastructural development, to expand the economy of the state. Now, we are repositioning to consolidate, because in this budget, so much will be done and so many of these projects and ideas that were started will come to fruition. Thus, if we faithfully implement the policies and the principles behind this budget, at the end of the year, there will be a fundamental and almost irreversible paradigm shift in a lot of things. In this budget, so much will be done. Already so many projects have been completed. For example, in the health care sector, the diagnostics centre and the Government House Hospital, which has a public and an executive wing, have been completed. We also have the referral hospitals in the local government areas. So much is happening in education too; we have the boarding schools that will start soon and the constituency boarding schools that we will be completed within the year. So much is happening in the field of agriculture as well; we can see the massive cassava farms that will be kick-started in this budget year. That is why we say the aim of this budget is to finish up all of these. Also we will position the state sector by sector in such a way that Bayelsa will be ready to take off. Take for example the issues that I raised in the budget, the fundamental principles in the budget, the issue of increased revenue drive is critical. In this new year, Bayelsa will accelerate her IGR drive. In the housing sector. You are going to see a lot of estates. In sports-tourism, you will see the golf course and estate, the polo field coming up. The sports academy will also open for business.

    I also raised other fundamental issues in this budget. For instance, Bayelsans are going to make a giant leap forward this budget year, by way of breaking this attitude of not engaging in business. That is critical to the economic future of the state and so in this budget we have provided for a N10 billion entrepreneurship development fund. We aim to provide N5 billion direct contribution to that fund. Then, we will work with our partners, the Bank of Industry, the Bank of Agriculture and other commercial banks that are already indicating interest to work with us to contribute to that fund, so that Bayelsa business men and women will be trained and educated in the businesses and enterprises that they want to be engaged in. We will train them and put them in the industrial park; we will create a farm settlement where they will reside and do business. That fund will be utilised to settle them in those businesses. They will be mentored, monitored and supervised. And it is our hope that from this intervention fund, so many young people who are currently unemployed will not just employ themselves but will become employers of labour.

    The policy of subvention to tertiary institution is also being re-worked. Because of the way the state came into existence and the political upheavals with no governor completing two terms and staying for eight years, to follow through with any real programme of development, we have had a situation where state-owned universities and other tertiary institutions behave as if they are entities that can only be there to be cost centres. We want them to look within, generate revenue, supporting government in a more strategic sense beyond paying salaries, because the current system is such that every month we pay about N500 million as salaries of the Niger Delta University (NDU) lecturers for example. We have said as a government that every tertiary institution will only be entitled to subvention. So, lecturers and university administrators should begin from now to put on their thinking caps. But we are also giving them a soft landing in this budget, with a special intervention fund for tertiary education, which is meant to fund not just the payment of salaries, but also to put something aside to build many facilities and modernise existing ones. So for the NDU’s College of Education, the College of Health Technology Otuogidi, and the BYCAS, there is good news in this budget year for them.

    Considering the scope of the ongoing development projects, do you think the amount appropriated to the Ministry of Works and Infrastructure will be enough to sustain the tempo?

    We have major infrastructural deficit and challenges. We have tried in the last couple of years to see what we can do, but because the funding situation has become very harsh, on account of the recession, you can see that a number of these projects have been stalled for some time. For example, the dualization of Isaac Boro Road, which is our flagship road almost cutting through the entire length of Yenagoa. It is very easy to forget how that road was before we came into office, because human memory is very short. This budget is about completion of such projects. The amount we have appropriated for infrastructural development is not as robust as we will like it to be, but a budget is a product of what you expect. For example, last year, we expected we will get so much, but we ended up with only about 46 per cent of the anticipated revenue. So, if you look at it from that perspective, you would understand why we did not achieve much. For example, you see the Igbogene bypass, that road has been in existence for over 20 years. But you have seen the beautiful dualized roads we have made like the Opolo-Elebele Road. That is why we give them to Dantata and Sowee, CCECC and Julius Berger and the like. I wish we have more resources for infrastructure, but given the economic environment this is the best we can do.

    In 2016, the government proposed N191b and in 2017 the proposal is N221b. Given the current economic realities, what informed this increase?

    The sectoral performance report will be given by the commissioners and the media and finance team. They will begin to analyse the budget performance. But, I have already said that we received only 46 per cent of the budgeted revenue for the outgoing year and that should let you have an idea. But, if we did not receive the money we anticipated, then, it goes without saying that government didn’t have enough money to do quite a number of things. That is why I am talking about the delay in the critical projects like the dualization of the Isaac Boro Road and the stopping of work at Oporoma and so on. But all of these we intend to kick-off.

    To your next question of why our expected revenue is slightly higher this year, I talked about the fundamental principles underlying this year’s budget, which we must all understand properly and collaborate to achieve. The first one is the increased revenue drive. There are states that get between N10b and N20b IGR. Some are even approaching N30b. In those states, if you own a property, you pay tenement rate, property tax etc. You pay for permit to build a house. This is how modern states and economies are run. We have assessed our possibilities and worked with the other arms of government to collaborate on redesigning the mechanism that will deliver on increased IGR for the state. For example, a lot of legislations that were not there to create a legal framework under which people will now go and then do most of this services. The judiciary is setting up a revenue court; we already have the tribunal that will handle cases from urban and regional planning board. These are all mechanisms that will increase IGR. We have blocked leakages, and will continue to do so, particularly with regards to the collection and management of tax revenue. Already, all revenues generated are channelled to a single account and we see it on the platform. All my key officials have the details and I monitor it too. So with a combination of all of these and with the cooperation of the people we intend to be able to raise money. We have the capacity. This state is very well endowed. This is one of the most blessed states in the country and anywhere in the world. It is just a question of laying the right foundation. We are trying to redesign the foundations.

    What plans do you have for rural development in your budget?

    Your question on community development is very important. When in the course of electioneering campaigns, I went round this state, I did so not just because I was soliciting for votes, but that opened my eyes to the realities of rural life and the challenges and the potentials and so. In this current year, the Ministry of Community Development, which we have created just to address these issues will be very active. Almost all communities will be touched. Teams will go round to assess the real needs of the communities, starting from the small ones to the big ones. For Azika, we will have you and other rural dwellers in our mind. We will give you attention. Concerning the Biseni road that you talked about; there are two roads that are critical that we want to do. My predecessor started the road that will link to Onopa, but that road has a lot of stories including people who ran away with billions of naira. But as our resources permit, we will address all of those roads.

    What measures have you put in place to check the growing cases of cattle destroying crops and prevent clashes between farmers and herdsmen?

    We have been taking a lot of measures to prevent clashes from occurring. Let me say we condemn the attitude of herdsmen who come into this state and carry their cattle to people’s farms and destroy them and attack farmers and villagers. But part of what we have been doing quietly is to work with the security officials and the leaders of the herdsmen and a lot of progress is being made. I am aware of those instances and I want to say that people should not take the law into their hands. We will not allow herdsmen to intimidate Bayelsa people. That will not happen under my watch; you can be sure of that. Any herdsman who is armed with any dangerous weapon will be promptly dealt with according to the law. We have decided that we will open up ranches where people will be engaged in animal husbandry.

  • ‘Good leaders must be audacious’

    ‘Good leaders must be audacious’

    Strategic Leadership Academy, a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), in conjunction with Scripture Communication Network has organised a leadership summit for students of Benson Idahosa University (BIU) in Edo State.

    The event with the theme: Audacity of leadership had top-rated leadership experts as speakers. The convener, Mr Mark Ighile, said the event was held to equip participants with attitude and qualities of progressive leadership.

    He said: “We are in a society where leaders know what to do but they don’t know how to do it. Many so-called leaders don’t act in true spirit of leadership.”

    He said boldness and consistency are part of the values a good leader must have to achieve great things, adding that only audacious leaders could live their dreams.

    The Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof Sam Guobadia, who spoke on Taking bold economic steps through audacity of leadership, said the country must seek inclusive growth, which he said, would uplift the people and reduce poverty. He said government’s economic policies remain crucial to the development of the nation.

    President of the university, Bishop Faith Idahosa, said leadership would be useless without audacity and courage to pursue goals. He said, having strong sense of conviction about possibility of set goals would help good leaders to achieve their objectives.

    Zonal coordinator of Church of God Mission, Wale Ajayi, urged members of the audience to display courage, describing courage as ingredient for a successful and impactful leadership.

    The Vice-Chancellor of Igbinedion University in Okada, Prof Eghosa Osaghae, urged the participants not to give up on their daily struggles, observing that audacity could come from ability to see tomorrow. The VC said people in leadership must be audacious in taking decision that could bring about positive change, especially on economic matters.

  • Peterside suggests careful planning for good maritime security

    Peterside suggests careful planning for good maritime security

    The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, has said that good security in the maritime industry requires careful planning and strict implementation.

    Peterside stated this at the closing ceremony of a five-day training programme tagged “Train the Trainers’’, facilitated by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) and NIMASA on ISPS Code Compliance in Lagos.

    He said that the agency was committed to improving the fortunes of Nigeria by creating an enabling environment for a business-friendly and secured environment for stakeholders in the industry.

    The director-general said that the training was predicated on the premise that a fact -finding team was in Nigeria earlier in the year to conduct a Needs Assessment where a number of gaps were identified.

    According to Peterside, this necessitated the training, with a view to addressing some of the gaps identified.

    “I guess that in the course of this exercise, we have learnt that good security requires planning and stringent implementation.

    “I know that in the course of this training, the seed of co-operation and collaboration between NIMASA as Designated Authority (DA) for ISPS Code Implementation in Nigeria, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and the Federal Ministry of Transportation has been planted.

    “My expectation and desire of the leadership of these Agencies is that it will grow and blossom in a tripartite series of planned training programmes.

    “This is expected to culminate with the lead auditors training, which will place you the drivers of the system at the cutting edge of professionalism in ISPS code implementation,’’ the director-general said.

    He thanked the Minister of Transportation, Mr Rotimi Amaechi, for his support and enduring commitment to the imperatives of NIMASA’s DA status and indeed all matters pertaining to the maritime industry in Nigeria.

    Peterside urged participants to bring to bear the knowledge acquired during the five-day training programme, adding that this would enhance security at the nation’s ports.

  • The good cop who lost it

    The good cop who lost it

    Many Rivers State policemen are unlikely to forget February 11,2014 . That was the day they gathered at the expansive Command Headquarters in Port Harcourt to “pull out”   a chief some of them hailed as a damn good officer and a kind man.

    In the city, there was joy that the curtain had been drawn on an era of anxiety and confusion, when the line between policing and politicking became indecipherable.

    It was a mixed farewell indeed for Mbu Joseph Mbu, the former Commissioner of Police whose tenure had the distinction of being the most controversial ever in the history of the state.

    A master of drama, he can never be caught being sober. He does not pretend to be imbued with the reflective ability of a philosopher. Nor is he capable of expounding a progressive vision of a leader who knows the delicate nature of his job – in the eyes of many who were confronted with the ambivalence of an officer loved by his men and despised by many of those he was paid to protect.

    Presumptive and cocky, he huffs and puffs like an elephant in the jungle. He is boisterous and easily excited. Not for him the finesse and refinement of an officer who is proud of his epaulettes. He is proud and excessively discourteous, always willing to pick up a quarrel, ignite a fight and slug it out like a motor park tout. Cantankerous.

    But all that have changed – courtesy of last week’s tremor that hit the police, a momentous event that passed quietly like an orphan’s birthday, except for the whimpering of some officers who alleged that they were unfairly treated. A generation of Assistant Inspectors-General of Police – 21 in all – got the push to pave the way for Acting Inspector-General  Ibrahim Idris’ ascension to the seat.

    Among them is Mbu – I am sure you remember him – who long  after dropping the rank of Commissioner of Police for Assistant Inspector-General was still widely described with his old beat as former Rivers State Commissioner of Police.

    Deliberate inexactitude? Mischief? It is neither here nor there. But Mbu’s tour of duty in Rivers State will take a long while to forget, especially by those who were at the receiving end of his belligerence.

    He got caught up in – some insisted that he actually joined willingly to feather his own nest – the bitter struggle for power between the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the ruling party at the centre. Mbu would not tolerate any opposition to the PDP –led Federal Government, which was desperate to “capture” the state. When the Save Rivers Movement, a group backing then Governor Rotimi Amaechi organised a rally, Mbu sent his men to smash the gathering. When the protesters stood their ground, his men fired rubber bullets at them. Many were injured. Among them was Senator Magnus Abe, who was flown to Britain for treatment.

    When eight lawmakers in a 32-man House of Assembly launched a seditious attempt to impeach Amaechi, their hands were strengthened by the police. A fight broke out. Heads were smashed. By the time it was all over, those who failed in their nefarious bid to torpedo the governor became the complainant as the police grabbed those who foiled the bid.

    In no time, the political crisis in Rivers State dissolved into a battle over Mbu’s future. Amaechi and his sympathisers insisted that he must go. The then aspirant and now Governor Nyesom Wike led the touch-not-Mbu crowd. Rallies jammed rallies. Cudgel-for-cudgel, both sides battled to outdo each other.  The Senate deliberated on the matter and set up a committee that visited Rivers State. Mbu told them that he was just doing his job professionally.

    Then fate supervened. The tension could not be contained any longer. Mbu was moved to Abuja. He, however, remained cloaked in controversy. The leopard won’t just change its spots. He banned public rallies and dared the Bring BackOurGirls protesters campaigning for the rescue of the Chibok girls to march on the Presidential Villa. “My death threat worked,” he said gleefully after a blistering criticism of his threat.

    Nor were reporters spared of his maniacal tendencies. He invited an AIT reporter, Amaechi Anakwe (no relation of the Minister of Transportation), for describing him as “controversial”. The poor fellow was detained and charged to court even as many felt he was charitable to have described Mbu as “controversial”. He was that and more – going by his conduct – they insisted.

    As the last general elections drew close, the police – apparently in connivance with the Dr Goodluck Jonathan Villa – moved some officers round. Mbu was posted to Zone II, comprising Lagos and Ogun states. Reason: the PDP was eager to add Lagos to its shelf of trophies in an ambitious move to strengthen its vacuous claim to being Africa’s biggest party, as if size – not sense is all that matters.

    On arrival at his new posting, Mbu served notice that an interesting season was on the way. He said if a policeman was killed in the line of duty, he would ensure that 20 persons got killed in vengeance.

    Apparently in love with obfuscation, Mbu mixed up his concept of discipline with his belief in the Mosaic law of an eye for an eye. He told Ogun State Command officers: “If you love this job, the number one commandment is discipline. That’s why I said ‘don’t touch my policeman’. If you shoot my policeman, I will shoot 20 of you. I will shoot a hundred of you.”

    He preached hatred and spiced it up with violence. His messages were blood curdling . “Anybody who fires you, fire back in self-defence,” Mbu told his men, adding: “But don’t fire first.”

    Mbu later claimed to have been misquoted. He said he was simply advising his men not to be cowardly but to be guided by the Force Order 28 on the use of firearms. So much for honesty and integrity.

    To many, Mbu was vaulted onto that hubristic pedestal by sheer ambition. He would have loved to become the Inspector-General of Police. In that grim encounter with the Ogun State Command officers, he spoke of “being in a critical period, a period that this (sic) all our ranks are now shaky; either you’re promoted or you retain it or you’re demoted or you’re dismissed.” “So, it’s left for you to choose which one is better for you. For me, I want to maintain my rank and I want my rank to be increased (sic). I want to go up and be at the top.”

    Poor man. Now he must have realised the futility of a blind ambition, pursued blindly and lost blindly; never to be attained. What manner of IGP would Mbu have been?

    Mbu’s transfer to Abuja did not soften his stand on Amaechi. He told the man who took over from him at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) of how he, a lion, tamed the leopard of Port Harcourt. In his usually obfuscatory manner, he said: “I advise you to carry the senior officers along in your administration.” But that was not his thought as he went on to say: “It is only a lion that can tame a leopard. I tamed the leopard in Port Harcourt. Each time he remembers my face, he would remember I tamed him.”

    To Amaechi, the innuendo was as clear as daylight. Not one to run away from a fight, Amaechi replied Mbu, calling him “a puppet who completely lacks the steel and strength of a character of a lion, and is rather a shameless, corrupt puppet and toothless attack dog of a woman”. No prize for guessing who the woman puppeteer was, dear reader.

    The likes of Mbu have given room to the police being the subject of deriding jokes, such as this that once appeared on this page:   “In an effort to determine the top crime fighting agency in Nigeria, the President narrowed the field to three finalists: DSS, Army and Police. The three contenders were given the task of catching a rabbit that was released into the forest. The SSS went in, placing informants all over the place. They questioned all plants and mineral witnesses. After three months of extensive investigation, the DSS concluded that rabbits do not exist. The army went into the forest. After two weeks without a capture, they burnt the forest, killing everything in it, including the rabbit. They made no apologies. The rabbit deserved it.

    “The police went into the forest. They came out two hours later with a badly beaten hyena. The hyena was yelling: `Okay, okay; I agree! I’m a rabbit! I’m a rabbit!`”

    Mbu should put all behind him and settle down to write his memoirs. Among others, he should try as he has always done to debunk the allegation that he deployed what his admirers described as his remarkable skills of a “grade one officer” in the selfish service of greedy politicians and their pompous wives. How about this for a title: “The good policeman who lost his way.”

  • For the good of the blind

    For the good of the blind

    Ekiti State indigenes resident in Republic of Ireland, otherwise known as Ekitiparapo Ireland, have brought smiles to the faces of pupils of the Government Special School for the Blind in Ikere Ekiti. ODUNAYO OGUNMOLA reports

    Students of the Government Special School for the Blind are now filled with joy as two key facilities which were hitherto in deplorable conditions are now wearing new look courtesy of help from an unexpected quarter.

    A group of professionals who are indigenes of Ekiti State but resident in Republic of Ireland otherwise known as Ekitiparapo Ireland took the initiative to assist the school which has students who are blind and some deaf students.

    Ekitiparapo Ireland was established in 2011 by group of men and women of Ekiti descent residing in the European nation and the group started charity work in its host community in 2015 when it donated cash to four charity homes in the country with the donation made possible by voluntary contribution by members.

    Apart from the students, the staffs of the school are also happy with the gesture which they believe would go a long way in making the environment conducive to learning.

    The school which has 187 students from Primary 1 to SS3 serves as s a centre for rehabilitation and training on how to read with Braille and use computers specially designed for the blind.

    The principal of the school, Mr. Sanmi Omotoye, expressed joy with the humanitarian gesture of Ekitiparapo Ireland which has brought relief to the staff and students describing the renovation of the facilities as “fantastic.”

    Omotoye explained that before the renovation was carried out, “the case of the toilet was so devastating that the sceptic tank had filled up and the roof had decayed to the extent that it could not be used during rain and even if it was sunny, the heat was unbearable.”

    He disclosed that the Ekitiparapo Ireland assisted in evacuating faeces from the sceptic tank, carried out a massive renovation, changed the doors and painted the building to make it look modern. Steps and railings were also constructed to assist the blind students to walk freely.

    Speaking on the dining hall renovation, Omotoye revealed that the derelict doors were removed and replaced with modern iron doors while the broken ceilings and windows were replaced with new ones.

    Apart from the renovation and purchase of new facilities, Omotoye explained that the association also purchased ten new dining tables and twenty chairs for use at the hall apart from the hall painting and landscaping of the environment.

    Omotoye said: “We gave them guide according to our needs and a member of Ekitiparapo helped us to supervise it according to the needs of the school. I want to say that our students are happy with this gesture and it has boosted their morale.

    “With this gesture of  Ekitiparapo Ireland, our students feel recognized and wanted. I was so happy with the speed and the rate of work, it started and within three months, the work was done.

    “I kept informing the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Jide Egunjobi and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry because they must be carried along on anything going on here and the Commissioner was happy to come here and inaugurate the projects.

    “I thank Ekiti State government; the government is trying for us within the limited resources available to it in the areas feeding and accommodation of the students. I want to thank the state government under the leadership of Governor Ayo Fayose.”

    Omotoye appealed to well-meaning individuals, philanthropists, interest groups, faith-based organizations, non-governmental organizations and corporate bodies to emulate the gesture of Ekitiparapo Ireland because “government cannot do it alone.”

    The school boss stressed that education for the blind is very expensive because the equipment with which they are trained are “costly to buy and not easy to come by.”

    He said further: “We are in dire need of musical instruments because many of our students are talented in the area of music and it is not everybody that can do white collar jobs.

    “We need musical instruments like guitars, organs, drums, violins, amplifiers, among others. We need an ultramodern library since we are in computer age. The Federal Government gave us 20 solar-powered computers but we need more because if all our students have computers, it will motivate them.

    “The materials needed by the blind are very costly, they cannot be purchased in Ado or Ikere, they are very expensive and we need people to assist us to buy them because government cannot do it alone. Thermophone machines are very costly and you can see them only in places like Lagos and Jos.

    “Our bus is not in good condition, the engine is not in good condition . We need vehicles at all times to aid the mobility of deaf students to Amoye Grammar School where we have specialist teachers. Some of our buildings had their roofs blown off.”

    A JSS 3 student of the school, Oladipo Sosanya, said the students are happy with the renovation of their dining hall and toilet.

    Sosanya said: “The dining hall is now good because of the facilities provided, we now have new tables and chairs. The place used to be abandoned but now all of us are happy to eat and drink there.

    “Before now, the toilet was very horrible and it was a no-go area during rain and Ekitiparapo gave it the best of touch. We are grateful for this because this shows that we have some people who love us.

    “We the blind are human beings like others, they should see us as their brothers and sisters. We have those among us who are talented and people do invite us from outside to perform in musical shows.

    “We need musical instruments to develop our talents and we also need special teachers.”

    In an online chat with Southwest Report, president of Ekitiparapo Ireland, Mr. Ayo Ayeni, the gesture was a means of giving back to their homeland and to assist the less-privileged and the vulnerable.

    According to him, the group sent a delegation to Ekiti State to look at the needs of existing Schools for Special Needs and identified two existing ones in Ido Ekiti and Ikere Ekiti but the latter was chosen because of its proximity to Ado Ekiti, the state capital and for logistics reasons.

    Ayeni said: “Like I said earlier, Ekitiparapo members are originally from different towns and villages in Ekiti State. We are currently working and living in Republic of Ireland; our mission of coming together as a group is to give back to our community.

    “We started charity works in our host community in Ireland and now is the time to take charity works back home. Like the saying goes, ‘charity begins at home.’ In this scenario, charity begins abroad and finally landed home in Ekiti. Our motto is “Ule labo simi oko” meaning wherever you go to work, you must come back home to rest.

    “School for the blind in Ikere Ekiti was chosen among various competing needs for attention of our people back home because we see ourselves as advocates of the most vulnerable in our society or call it “special needs advocate” for the rights of people with social needs in Ekiti State.

    “We use the project as a pilot scheme to draw attention of the privileged citizens to difficulties facing citizens with social needs in our society. This may act as a catalyst to philanthropists to do more for special citizens in our society as government alone cannot do it all.”

    He explained further: “At the moment, we are focusing on the citizens with special needs in our society. We are looking at the vulnerable people in our society like children  and women. These are the citizens with no voice in our society.

    “We proposed to the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Hon. Jide Egunjobi during the commissioning of our project at the School of the Blind, Ikere Ekiti that government should forward a bill to the House of Assembly with the main objective of looking after the social needs of disabled citizens.

    “For example, we expect all government buildings in the state to make provision for disabled people’s access as practised in developed countries like Ireland. We expect a quota of state employment to citizens with social needs and we expect a separate ministry of special needs in the state.

    “Our intervention at the School of the Blind is just the beginning of the conversation on the neglect of special needs citizens in the state. This is by no far the end of this national discourse.”

  • Where are all the good men?

    Where are all the good men?

    Men, men, men!!! We can’t live with them, we can’t live without them. Picture this, boy meets girl, boy asks girl out, girl does small shakara but eventually agrees. Just when girl starts to fall in love, boy dumps her and moves on to the next target. It’s a classic scenario.  You could have met a guy that likes you, but once you start showing even a hint of affection, he gets scared and runs away.

    He might start missing your call and never call back; he might get so busy you never spend time together anymore. He might even give you a sob story; he just realized he’s not ready for a relationship. It’s him not you (yeah right)! And then it hits you. You’ve been stringed along again.

    Why are guys like that though?  I admit there are still some good guys left, but my question is; where have all the good guys gone? And by “good” guy, I mean a confident and trustworthy man. He respects and adores his woman. He loves her in spite of her flaws and  is sincere and God fearing. In short, a good man treats his woman like a Queen because he wants to be her King.

    Forget about fairy tale stories of Prince charming on a white horse. I think most women will prefer a regular guy that doesn’t play games with her or toy with her feelings. A regular good guy. I have to say that it is very frustrating being a single girl in Lagos. I wonder if it’s as tough in other states. You’re constantly bombarded with images and stories of supposedly happy couples and you wonder when you’ll have your own happy ending. It’s tough because sometimes you think you’ve finally met “The One” but then he goes out of his way to prove to you that he’s not for you. How hard can it be to show care and give attention?

    Also, it seems loyalty and monogamy is alien to men nowadays. Having side chics or piece or whatever they call it has become some sort of norm. In fact, even wives and girlfriends have accepted their fates and they console themselves by saying: it’s just sex, he loves me, not her, and he comes back home to me and things like that. I could scream!!!!

    But I refuse. I refuse to accept that fidelity is a thing of the past. I refuse to believe that cheating should be expected in a relationship. I refuse to share my man with another woman and I refuse to lower my standards. But my question still remains.

    If there are still good men out there, then where have they gone? Are they like the beautiful ones and they’ve not been born? If that is the case, finding a soulmate in this lifetime is not certain. Are they all married or in serious about-to- wed relationships? I didn’t receive the memo that advertised good men searching for suitable wives. Are they in another country entirely? I am seriously considering migrating. Lol

    Where have all the good men gone? My very own JAMB question!!!

  • Reps’ good gesture

    •Superlative student Ayodele Dada is given due recognition

    The reception held by the House of Representatives for Mr. Ayodele Dada, the record-breaking Psychology graduate of the University of Lagos (Unilag), is a commendable effort to restore hard work and intellectual achievement to their pride of place in Nigeria.

    It is difficult to fully estimate Dada’s accomplishment. In spite of all the difficulties and obstacles inherent in pursuing a tertiary education in present-day Nigeria, he graduated with an unsurpassable 5.0 Grade Point Average (GPA), scoring “A” grades in all of the courses he offered without exception.

    Like other university students, he endured the privations of power outages and water shortages, the frustrations of inadequate facilities and below-par equipment, the strikes, stoppages, protests and other truncations that characterise the country’s education system.

    Dada attempted the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) twice, his first attempt resulting in withheld results. He got admission to Unilag’s Diploma programme, where he was required to demonstrate his ability to undertake substantive undergraduate degree work. His ability to overcome these difficulties and attain spectacular academic heights is a testimony to his personal qualities of endurance, consistency and commitment to excellence.

    These are the qualities that the House of Representatives has fittingly recognised and honoured by holding a formal reception for the Unilag genius. It is a welcome departure from the cynical politicking and blatant greed that have too often disfigured the activities of the National Assembly.

    By this action, the House has sent the unmistakable message that intellectual achievement and academic brilliance will no longer be relegated to the back bench in favour of money, musical and sporting ability, or birth, as has sadly been the case.

    Dada’s achievement does not spring from his ethnicity or his religion. He did not purchase his success; he did not secure his achievements through dubious connections. Recognising him in the manner the House has done will help to downplay the primordial sentiments that have continued to prevent Nigeria from becoming the truly great nation that it could be.

    Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, must take a great deal of the credit for the reception. He was one of the first prominent individuals to underline the significance of Dada’s achievement and point out its implications for national regeneration and development. In an era where politicians often prefer to be seen with musical and sports stars, reality-show celebrities and billionaires, Gbajabiamila’s understanding of the need to restore intellectual ability to its pride of place cannot be downplayed.

    In spite of the enormity of his achievement, Ayodele Dada is happily not an exception to the rule. Nigeria has many geniuses of similar ability who only require a modicum of encouragement to be able to achieve their full potential to the benefit of themselves and the nation. This is what the country’s government and institutions must now turn their attention to.

    One way to do this would be to ease the acquisition of scholarships. Far too many potentially-great students are unable to pursue their dreams because of financial inability. The experience of other countries has shown that an equitable scholarship system, especially at the tertiary education level, will help to produce the human resource base that expands economies and improves lives.

    It is also important to establish a system of monitoring the educational development of outstanding citizens such as Dada in order to ensure that the nation benefits maximally from their capabilities. Those who wish to pursue further educational opportunities must be fully empowered to do so; Dada, for instance, hopes to meet with globally-renowned psychologists and learn from them. Celebrating geniuses without helping them to fully realise their potential would amount to a waste of time.

    Ayodele Dada is the living symbol of the huge promise that is inherent in Nigeria. The House of Representatives has done well to give him the acknowledgement that he so richly deserves.

  • Speed is good, but order is better

    SIR: “Grain by grain, a loaf; stone by stone a castle”, says a Yugoslavian proverb. Haile Gebrselassie is one of the word’s legends in marathon racing. Usain Bolt is the King of the legends of sprint racing – 100m and 200m dashes. Haile is good at sprint, so also Usain can make a good attempt at long distance running. But neither can be king in the other’s forte.

    Why? Because marathon and sprint are two different kinds of races with different requirements for excelling in either. The short and quick trip of a sprint requires expending more energy and swift speed than the long, onerous and systematic race of a marathon.

    Getting Nigeria back on track – revitalizing a moribund economy perfidiously left in shambles; securing Nigerians from insurgents and common criminals; uprooting corruption from the many nooks and crannies it has made home – will not be achieved in the wink of an eye.

    Nobel Laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka says, and aptly so: “The economic condition of the nation of the people does not deteriorate overnight … A prolonged and unchecked process of attrition which was neglected in the past is now knocking on the door.”

    President Muhammadu Buhari has since resumption of office picked pace, step by step; starting systematically with the revival of the EFCC for his anti-graft fight. Thus setting the foundation for any work he will seek to achieve in office. It resonates with the indispensable fact that corruption cannot subsist with any development agenda that any government may seek to put in place.

    The full implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) set the ball rolling for all round accountability, consolidation of government revenue and in effect curbing the systemic corruption of government agencies in remitting revenue back to government purse.

    The rejuvenation of our institutions bespeaks the reality of a system responding to the gradual process of change: all of a sudden, the EFCC sat up, so did the NCC and the CBN; the Custom Service had a revenue boost in its short period of changed leadership. As gradual and tardy as this change may seem, it is taking shape, form and setting the ground for soon coming results.

    The moral imperative of patience must be summoned for the months to come.

    Beyond the rhetoric and exuberance of transient hashtags reflecting an understandable desire from Nigerians for quick results and magic-wand change, President Buhari is laying a solid foundation for a robust, sustainable and revolutionary change agenda.

    Diversification of the economy – through exploiting the potentials of the agriculture, power, mining, technology and manufacturing sectors – is President Buhari’s economic roadmap to solving our current economic downturn, occasioned by our fixated over-reliance on oil which forms over 80% of our earnings that has now dropped to a record low of below $40 per barrel.

    Investments in these sectors will come from around the world. President Buhari’s trips to strategic events, countries and power states are well schemed to seeking critical assistance for this times.

    Has every tactical move, piece by piece produced results? My answer is a resounding Yes!

    Each of his trips has sought to build relationships that foster partnerships for solutions to Nigeria’s current myriad of problems.

    The foremost principle of international diplomacy is that no country should exist as an island on its own. It is more necessary than ever for Nigeria – in our dire and dicey mire – to hold hands even more tightly with our brothers in the international community as we seek their help to bringing solutions to the problems we face.

    For Nigeria: globalization and strengthened international relations at this time has the potentials for increased flow of trade, investment and technology – and that means, more jobs and improved living standards.

    As we run this marathon of change with the fortitude typical of the Nigerian people, let us hold on to the wisdom of these words: You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.

     

    • Johannes Tobi Wojuola,

    Abuja.

  • Good start, shaky end

    Good start, shaky end

    Marketing communication industry players hit it big during the elections. But after the polls, they started feeling the pains of the economic downtown, accentuated by falling oil prices. ADEDEJI ADEMIGBUJI writes.

    The year 2015 ended yesterday. Many players in the marketing communication industry appear happy that at least the year which started on a good note but ended poorly is over. For players in the public relations, advertising, media buying and experiential business, last year’s elections was a buffer for an industry that carried over the economic challenges the previous year on its shoulders.

    There were fears over dwindling marketing budget which was expected to affect the entire value chains of the industry such as newspaper, TV, outdoor, PR, experiential and advertising agencies. But the volume of political advertising turned the tide for the industry.

    According to the Group Managing Director, Prima Garnet Africa, Mr. Lolu Akinwunmi, major challenges of the year were related to the larger economy.

    He said: “The economy slumped as a result of declining demand for our oil in spite of the falling price. As a result, government was not making enough money and as the biggest spender, it could not finance the economy. This also affected the other sectors. Because of the huge cost of production and falling demands, many companies and service providers operated under capacity utilisation and at high costs that eroded their margins.”

    Noting that the advertising industry is not immune to the effects of economy realities, he said many clients cut down their budgets. “In a situation like this, the demand for advertising services slumped. Many clients cut back on plans and budgets. Many started buying media and other services directly. Several others began to owe their agencies. Agencies also started retrenching. Liquidity became a serious issue,” he said.

    Also, the Managing Director of The Quadrant Company (TQC), Mr. Bolaji Okusaga, said the year was strained as a result of macroeconomic realities. “The system is strained at the moment because of macroeconomic factors,” he said.

     

    Advertising regulation

    One of the areas that attracted so much attention was regulation. As a result of the elections, the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON), Nigerian Institute of Public Relations (NIPR), among other communication regulatory agencies, could not curtail the excesses of players during 2015 elections. There were flagrant disregard for both self-regulation and government regulation. Though they were irked by some of the political advertising campaigns, APCON, Public Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN), Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAN) were helpless  even when it was clear that their members had violated their code of practice.

     

    Winners, losers

    After the boom occasioned by the general election, some agencies lost marketing businesses while some won new businesses. Chain Reactions, a top PR agency based in Lagos won a competitive public relations multimillion naira PR business. The PR agency, which moved its office to expansive space in Ikeja GRA,  from its former location at a street off Allen also in Ikeja, clinched the account with convincing strategies to handle the account. Chain Reactions, led by Israel Opayemi, took over the account from TQC after pitch among five top agencies -Chain Reactions, Xlr8, MediaCraft, The Quadrant Company and C and F Potter Novelli  Also, Brooks & Blakes, DKK smiled during the year after winning the juicy account of MTN, which has domiciled in Marketing Mix for over eight years.

     

    Treasury single account

    Earlier in February, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued a circular directing all deposit money banks to implement the Remita e-Collection Platform. The Remita e-Collection is a technology platform deployed by the Federal Government to support the collection and remittance of all government revenue to the Consolidated Account domiciled with the CBN. This marked the beginning of the full implementation of Treasury Single Account (TSA) scheme in Nigeria.

    Despite the advantages of the system in curbing corruption in public sector in particular, most players handling government PR and advertising businesses complained about it affected their cash flows. Industry players, who confided in The Nation, said they could not meet some of their financial obligations as a result of the implemention of TSA.

     

    Expectation in 2016

    With tough business environment in 2015, there are fears that businesses will be tougher in the New Year despite the proposed 2016 budget which is expected to ease the burden. According to Okusaga, in 2016, clients will be shopping for value with “spend less, get more” becoming the mantra.

    “Agencies will have to not only become more creative but also more cost efficient,” he said.

    He however said players should not rejoice yet over the proposed budget as many factors would determine whether the good times are here or not. He said: “2016 budget is still pretty much a wish as opposed to a planning document. How realistic is the crude oil benchmark at $38 a barrel with oil projected to hit $20 in 2016? Where are we going to be be able to raise about N3 trillion in non oil revenues from? If government is proposing to borrow N2.2 trillion with domestic debt accounting for N900 billion of this, how will government debt instrument be priced? What is the implication of that on interest rates? We need to answer these questions before declaring the 2016 budget a “buffer”.

    On the other hand, Akinwunmi said for 2016 a lot will depend on the new government’s economic plan. The draft budget with the National Assembly, he believes, will rejuvenate the industry.

    “From all indications, the government plans to run a big budget of about N6 trillion. Nearly N2 trillion will be deficit financing. The key objective of the budget is to reflate the economy and kick start activities. This is good for advertising because when the economy is reflated then commercial activities and production should be revived. This scenario will require advertising and marketing services. This should be good for the agencies. Overall, the prognosis for the ad industry in 2016 looks good,” said Akunwunmi.