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Tag: government

  • Addressing tax evasion and compliance

    Addressing tax evasion and compliance

    Taxes are the enforced proportional contributions from persons and property, levied by the state by virtue of its sovereignty for the support of government and for all public needs. From the above definition it is seen that taxes are contributions to a common pool by the people for the use of the people. Governments all over the world need taxes in order to sustain their relevance and to provide for the needs of its citizenry.

    Features of a good tax system

    A tax system is expected to be fair and non-discriminatory. For a tax system to meet these requirements, it must have the following attributes.

    1. Neutral – A neutral tax must be unbiased across economic activities, and not overly penalise work in favour of leisure, nor tax income used for saving and investment more heavily than income used for consumption.

    2. Visibility – A very large segment of the population must be keenly awarethat government costs money, government spending should be held at levels at which its benefits match its costs. This is a critical factor in most developing countries, including Nigeria) where the citizenry believe that tax revenues are not beingexpeditiously administered.

    3. Fairness – This is often stated as making the rich pay higher share of their income in taxes than the poor. There should be some amount of income exempt from tax to shelter the poorest citizens.

    4. Simplicity–A tax system should be easy for the government to administer and enforce, and be easy and inexpensive for taxpayers to comply with. The elimination of multiple layers of tax would also create a system that is much simpler and easier to administer, enforce and comply with. These are critical issues in Nigeria tax systems that require urgent attention. Our tax laws are old and complex, given room for varied interpretations and applications.

    5. Convenience: A good tax system should be convenient in terms for time and mode of payment to the taxpayer.

    6. Administrative efficiency: The process of levying and collecting taxes must be administratively efficient, transparent and economical without any distortion.

    7. Productive: A tax system should be such that brings in sufficient revenue to the Government. Since tax payment involves the outflow of money from taxpayers, some Taxpayers have adopted many strategies to evade tax. Tax evasion is defined as “the wilful attempt to defeat or circumvent the tax law in order to legally reduce one’s tax liability”. Tax evasion is punishable by both civil and criminal penalties.

    Tax avoidance on the order hand, is defined as “the act of taking advantage of legally available tax planning opportunities in order to minimise one’s tax liability.While tax evasion is criminal tax avoidance is legal. This was aptly supported by the celebrated case of Ayrshir Pullman Motor Services & D.U. Ritche V.CIR (1929). The fact of the case and the judgment is as follows:

    The taxpayer changed the structure of its business from sole proprietorship to partnership with five of his children to minimise tax. He appealed to the Court of Session against an assessment which failed to recognise the change. Allowing the appeal, Lord Clyde held:

    No man in this country is under the smallest obligation, moral or other, to so arrange his legal relations to his business or property as to enable Revenue to put the largest possible shovel into his stores. TheInland Revenue is not slow… and quite rightly to take every advantage which is open to it under the taxing statutes for the purpose of depleting the taxpayer’s pocket. And the taxpayer in like manner is entitled to be astute to prevent, so far as he honestly can, the depletion of his means by the Revenue.

     

    Tax compliance tools

    In order to encourage taxpayers to continue to comply, and bring non-compliant taxpayers into the tax net, to increase the tax base and revenue, governments all over the world have put in place some compliance strategies backed by appropriate legislations.

    Section 26(1) of the Federal Inland Revenue Service Establishment Act (FIRSEA) 26(1) gives the Service to call for returns, books, documents and information.

    FIRSEA 27: Gives additional power to the Service to call for further returns and payment of tax due.

    FIRSEA 28: Requires every bank upon demand by the Service to provide quarterly returns specifying:

    (a) In the cases of an individual, all transactions involving N5 million and above

    (b) In the case of a body corporate, all transactions involving N10million and above, the names and address of all customers of the bank connected with the transactions and deliver the returns to the Service.

    (c) Section 28 (3): Provides sanction to any bank that contravenes above provisions.

    FIRSEA 29: Gives power to access lands, buildings, books and documents.

    FIRSEA 32: Gives power of addition for non-payment of tax and enforcement of payment.

    FIRSEA 33: Tax Investigation; this section empowers the Service to employ special purpose Tax officers to assist any relevant law enforcement agency in the investigation of any offence under this Act.

    FIRSEA 47: Gives the Service powers to prosecute any of the offences under this Act subject to the powers of the Attorney–General of the Federation.

     

    The role of tax audit

    In addition to all the tax provisions mentioned above, FIRSEA S:26(4) and S.60(4) CITA went further to state:

    •Nothing in any other provision of this Act shall be constructed as precluding the Service from verifying by tax audit or investigation into any matter relating to any return or entry in any book, document, accounts including those stored, on a computer, in digital, magnetic, optical or electronic media as may, from time to time, be specified in any guideline by the Service.”

    All the above provisions, among others, are compliance tools meant to ensure that a taxpayer does not pay less or more than what he is required to pay by law. This objective is achieved through tax audit.

    The purposes of tax audit are to:

    •To educate taxpayers

    •Maintain self assessment system

    •Collect taxes as imposed by the laws through the encouragement of voluntary compliance

    •Maintain public confidence in the integrity of tax system.

    •Provide deterrent effects on other taxpayers not yet audited, as they may quickly file their returns to avoid sanctions.

    Most taxpayers will be willing to pay their taxes as and when due, if government is transparent and accountable. It is the common experience in the developing countries that governments have not demonstrated enough commitment towards providing the citizenry with required facilities and infrastructure that would encourage an average taxpayer to be voluntarily compliant. Roads, electricity, education and health facilities are in short supply, facilities that are already in place are not properly maintained. There is growing apathy among the taxpayers about the commitment of government to use the taxes paid to provide for their needs. These are the issues that need to be addressed in order to improve the level of compliance. Both the government and the taxpayers must resolve to work in collaboration and meet mid-way for the society to develop and enjoy peace and security.

    A government must have the trust of its citizens.

    The government that cannot be trusted may not have moral the courage and determination to maximise its tax potential. Total tax revenue, which is the tax rate multiplied by the tax base, can be increased when government is physically present in every nook and cranny of the country by means of provision of social amenities.

    The citizenry is getting impatient and agitated. The time for the government to do the right thing is now. Tomorrow may be too late.

  • The role of government: to roll over the people?

    The role of government: to roll over the people?

    Where the light of evil pervades, the people suffer life in the deepest darkness.

     

    My first intention was to write on economic theory and I hope to honor fully that intention – next week. I would be remiss if I failed to analyze the past week in American politics. Even though the past two articles have been about America, it may be instructive to again follow the unwinding strands in American politics. If perceptive, you will see clues that might help resolve some of inner mysteries impeding the just development of this political economy.

    Two weeks ago, President Obama held trumpet in hand, blowing notes of political triumph. He had finessed hard-line Republicans over the federal government shutdown and the deficit ceiling. Fellow Democrats barely contained their glee; many gloated like a Cheshire cat happening upon a saucer of warm milk. They shouldn’t have grinned and cooed so much. Fate never remains loyal to those who take it for granted. Fate always repudiates those who believe they have so won its full favor. To believe you have mastered fate is to become its next victim. The surest way into a sticky predicament is loudly to boast you have resolved one.

    The music of victory was sonorous to Obama and fellow Democrats. Yet, they erred by ceding to the temptation of listening to it. Their séance with fleeting victory deafened them to the footsteps of political calamity at their door. Even if they heard the stalking ogre, they could not have avoided its reproach for they had invited it themselves. They had given it birth. It bore their name: Obamacare.

    The initiation of Obamacare has been disastrous. Inexplicably, yesterday’s technology was used to launch the website for the millions of citizens applying for insurance. This was like asking scores of people to walk simultaneously through a narrow portal barely suitable for the passage of one person. The result has been frustrated hugger-mugger. Making matters worse by eagerly snorting profit when more profit stands in poor taste, insurance companies have cancelled policies of tens of thousands, if not millions, of people. The costs of subsequent policies will rise.

    Leaked, as well as officially published, government documents reveal the Administration knew these troubles would beset the public. Yet senior officials, including the President himself, publicly dissembled the new law would usher in a period of rainbows and tulips for the sick and uninsured in the land of the free and home of the brave.

    Obama and his health officials have been place on the defensive. Their excuses for the law’s technological and substantive defects are limp and unconvincing. There is a sense of unease. It is as if someone everyone thought was an outstanding student failed to complete his homework, not because he forgot the assignment but because he proved incapable of it.

    The Republicans have pounced like vultures on carrion. They complain the law went a stride too far; it is too grand a government intrusion into health care which they deem a private matter better left to marketplace. My grouse is the law does not travel far enough. The Republican notion of health care as an ordinary private commercial transaction is inapposite. A person can shop and compare prices among different sellers when purchasing a car, a coat, or leasing a residence. One can negotiate with the sellers. Still, the consumer gets the short end of the stick because the seller almost always has greater leverage.

    A sick person does not even have this poor leverage. An ill person can’t venture from hospital to hospital, doctor to doctor comparing who will give appropriate attention at a more modest price. In other transactions, the buyer can threaten to walk from the deal or buy a reduced amount, say 2/3rds, of the goods in question. Yet, few sick people can defy a hospital or a doctor by protesting that costs are too high. Imagine a bleeding man bargaining that they should reduce costs because he has decided he only wants 2/3rds of the complete treatment or that he believes he is only 2/3s as injured as they say. Such a conversation would be nonsensical; it would go far toward convincing the physician that his recalcitrant patient may have a psychiatric ailment more severe than the physical one in question.

    The best fix would have been a single-payer system akin to what exists in most other developed nations. Government simply should pay for a decent minimum level of health care for all. Sadly, the Administration tried to assuage vested interests more so than it tried to provide health care for the entire public. The byproduct is a bureaucratic web rich in complexity, lackluster in results. The thing is both fish and fowl yet it may never be able to swim or fly.

    For the sake of ordinary Americans and of the president, I hope the plan recovers from this fretful start. If not, the already cumbersome American health care system will become an unintelligible heap. People will suffer. The president’s legacy will be brusquely escorted to the gallows. People will be relieved to return to the old way although that way is a burden unto them. Conservatives will be seen as rescuing the nation from reformer’s folly. The idea of government-led social reform in any context – poverty and economic justice, education, environment – will suffer caustic defeat that progressives will be forced to chew for decades as if trying to eat a plank of hardwood. The aftertaste will be even more acidic because the health care plan was not reform in the truest sense. The plan has many parts and is highly complex but none of the parts was intended to move the process very far. The plan is one of great lateral motion and minimal forward advantage. This is not major reform; it is an elaborate complexity resulting in piecemeal refinement. However, it was labeled reform and the label stuck. Now it is in danger of giving genuine reform an unwanted reputation.

    The conservatives now stick hot pokers in this wound, trying to make President Obama wince without respite. They also take him to task on other issues with vengeful eagerness. They are keen to mount a frontal assault on his presidency the likes of which have never been seen. The theme of their attack is slick and vile-hearted attempt to cast a new perception of Obama based on historic racial stereotypes.

    The wrongs Obama committed in trying to convince the public that his flawed health plan was nearly perfect have been no worse than the usual hyperbole employed by conventional politicians when promoting their wares. However, the Republican machine casts Obama’s statements as things vitally sinister. They expostulate that his statements demonstrate a singular incompetence or craven dishonesty on a grand scale. In this vein, they have revived their investigation into the Benghazi consulate tragedy. They hope to obtain testimony from mid-level intelligence operatives that the White House left the slain Embassy officials to their saturnine fate. Given that most mid-level operatives are of the highly conservative bent and disdain this president for what they believe his skin color represents, such testimony will likely be forthcoming. Add to this the Administration’s waffling over the revelations of the National Security Agency’s global eavesdropping.

    The central theme of conservative attack is becoming pronounced and visible. It is a more subtle racism than that normally deployed but racism all the same.

    They claim Obama is incompetent because he pleads ignorance over the details of many of the current policy controversies. They say his lack of knowledge reveals a lack of commitment to the actual gruel and tasks of governance. He lavishes the limelight and knows how to talk sweetly but shies from the pedestrian hard work essential to good governance. In other words, the conservatives paint Obama as a lazy executive with a gift of gab. Thus, he has used his verbal gifts to bamboozle the electorate into buying a fraudulent bill of goods called Obamacare. As such, he is nothing more than an elegant confidence man, a refined street hustler.

    This portrait Republicans work at feverish pace to complete. They have the 2014 congressional electoral calendar in mind. In 2014, all House of Representative seats and 1/3 of the Senate are up for election. The Republican grand strategy is not so much to contest and highlight their differences with the Democratic candidates in each individual congressional race. Their plan will be to run against Obama, particularly given the troubles with Obamacare and other policies. However, they will not just run against Obama’s perceived misdeeds. They will cast his errors and omissions as so ominous as to define him as too incompetent to remain in office. The Black man is too lazy, dumb and unfit to finish his term. In all they do, Republicans cast the suggestion of impeachment. Rarely do their strategists meet without impeachment on the menu and in their minds. Increasingly, Republican officeholders publicly raise the prospect.

    Removing Obama from office via impeachment is as unlikely an event as a tuxedoed aardvark directing traffic at busy urban intersection. However, reality and logic have little to do with this effort. This is about a mean element called political ambition teamed with an even darker emotion known as hatred. Republicans have a few short- and longer-term goals. They want to maintain control of the House. Incidentally, presidential impeachment proceedings are initiated by the House. The Republican rallying cry for the 2014 elections will be the need to vote for hardliners eager to tar Obama with the brush of impeachment. Impeachment cannot be achieved without the Senate where the Democrats hold a slim majority over the Republicans. A change in two-three seats can make the difference there.

    Thus, the Republican political machine will now work overtime to highlight Obama’s personal deficits. They seek to paint him as so reckless and insouciant as to be criminally negligent and unfit for office. They care not that they lack provable legal grounds for the attempt. Racial hatred provides ample political staging for the turbid undertaking. Their objective is not to remove Obama from office. His removal is the pot at the end of the rainbow. If they don’t get the pot, the emotion and fantasy elicited by chasing the rainbow will suffice.

    The Republicans want to maintain control of the house. By rousing the hard-line electoral base in this crusade against Obama, they believe they will spur a coalition of arch conservatives, Tea Partiers and fringe racists to the polls that Republicans will maintain their hold on the House. If they perform this task with sufficient aplomb, Republicans may steal one or two Senate slots, changing the partisan balance of power in the upper chamber to their favor. Also, Republicans want to permanently taint Obama as a failure. By embroiling his name in protracted discussion or even the formal initiation of impeachment proceedings, they believe they will forever scar him.

    (They tried something similar against President Clinton who actually committed an arguably impeachable offense. The ploy worked in the short-term. Clinton was wounded and disgraced. He was only rehabilitated when the Bush presidency became a fiasco and people started longing for the halcyon decade of the 1990s. Moreover, Clinton is more of a natural politician than Obama and Clinton never had to face the racist undercurrent that stymies Obama’s walk.)

    Mainstream media now joins the Republicans in attacking Obama. Several weeks ago, this column predicted the media would launch an increasing stream of opprobrium. Indeed, the lever has been turned. The canal of adverse commentary has opened. Obama-bashing will become the cardinal pastime of many journalists, just a few weeks removed, appeared friendly to his cause.

    While the particular facts are unique to America, this situation offers lessons for all. Reform in miniature is always dangerous and rarely works. Lukewarm, minor reformers also are an endangered species as leaders. They get pilloried by those who think they have gone too far and lambasted by those who don’t believe they have ventured far enough. Those who support them do so from pragmatic, short-term self interests. However, such support is never deep or resolute. It wanes with the first sign of rain or strong wind. If problems with Obamacare persist, much of his support will evaporate because it was never fully committed to an overarching political cause or humanitarian effort. His health care constituency was the sloppy cobbling of numerous constituencies many of whose self-interests contradict the interests of other members of this improvised procession.

    Obama and his team erred by yielding too much to short-term expedients without gauging the longer-term substantive effects of these steps. Serial compromises whittled down reform until it became a motley stew of stale bromides and not a cohesive plan. Next week, I will do the piece on economic theory as it relates to government fiscal policy. But will offer a bit of a primer now. Obamacare’s core flaw is the malady of the economic theory buttressing this unwieldy construct. Obama and team believed the federal government could become insolvent in dollars. This is no more plausible than belief in the Fountain of Youth. However, this belief is a fountain of folly from which significant ill-advised policies can spring.

    Because of this error, Obama and team never felt confident in making a case for serious reform such an expanding government-funded Medicare/Medicaid to all. Believing themselves handcuffed by fiscal constraints, they hamstrung themselves by believing that the current private insurance based system was inviolate. Thus, the alleged reform because a paean to the insurance industry by mandating that everyone purchase insurance instead of mandating that everyone is entitled to health care. These things seem synonymous but are not.

    In the end, the Obama Administration constructed a system whereby the insurance companies get higher profits from a higher volume of coerced business. Government will spend comparably the same on health care as before. The public will be forced to spend more on insurance at a moment when the wages of the common man are stagnate and most Americans are worse off now than at the advent of the historic 2008 recession.

    In effect, the health care reform is an indirect tax on the people by transferring more money to the insurance companies. The measure effectuates this transfer more so than it expands and improves public health care. In other words, Obamacare needs some critical surgery if it is to work well. That surgery is unlikely in the current environment because the president will be preoccupied with guarding his political flank from nasty Republican assaults. So busy keeping the wolves from his throat, he will not have time for much else in the foreseeable future. Most of this predicament can be distilled to an error in economic theory and how that theory shapes fiscal policy. Next week, we explore how better theory can lead to better policies helping those who really need it.

     

    08060340825 (sms only)

     

  • BASA: Airlines, experts praise Nigeria, Israel

    BASA: Airlines, experts praise Nigeria, Israel

    AIRLINES and experts have commended the Federal Government for signing of Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) with Israel, saying that this would reduce the cost of travelling to the Holy Land on pilgrimage and encourge indigenous airlines to operate on the lucrative route.

    The country’s major carrier, Arik Air, said it would be willing to operate on the route if given the nod. It added that it has passed the security audit by the Israeli authorities. This means it could fly into the Holy Land when allowed to do so.

    Also, MedView Airline, said it would be willing to operate into the country.

    Chief Executive Officer, BelujaneKonsult,Chris Aligbe, said with the agreement, it would become easier to travel to Israel because the route would more open, unlike in the past when airlines from Nigeria would have to make special requests before being allowed to land in Israel.

    He said with the opening of the route between the two countries, airlines may be designated to operate the route and this would make the fare to the Holy Land cheaper.

    He also pilgrims could travel to Israel anytime, unlike when the Christian community in Nigeria plans their trips only at certain periods of the year.

    At the diplomatic level, Aligbe, a former Corporate Affairs Manager of the defunct Nigeria Airways, said the deal was an indication that there is an improvement in the relations between both countries.

    “The BASA agreement between Nigeria and Israel showed that Israel is beginning to have more confidence in Nigeria, and there are a lot of bridge building between the two countries, which was not so in the past,” Aligbe said.

    Former President of Cabin Crew Association of Nigeria, Olu Fidel Ohunayo, gave kudos to the Federal Government for facilitating the deal. He described it as good, noting that it would lead to cheaper fares to Israel, adding that a scheduled and direct flight from Nigeria would be more convenient for travellers.

    He said the government should designate the airlines to the route, because Israeli authorities may not put a flight service to Nigeria, because the country does not like flying to African destinations.

    He cautioned that delay would be against the business opportunities offered by the agreement.

  • Cross River state gets film agency

    Cross River state gets film agency

    AS part of their contribution and efforts to position the state film industry beyond its usual physical structural representation, practitioners of the film industry based in Cross River State have taken the bull by the horns to unveil the strongest brand of a state film agency in Africa.

    The agency, named Cross River Film Agency (CRFA), will enjoy a grand unveiling in the Cross River State capital, Calabar, by November this year, launching the state as the first in Africa to take the bold step to position its film industry for the benefit of all subsectors of the industry.

    According to the agency’s director, Mr. Obaji Akpet, the body is aimed at keying into the current Cross River government to position the state entertainment industry as the second largest in Africa after the Nigerian Films.

    “CRFA is the film agency for Cross River to ensure that the economic, cultural and educational aspects of film production are effectively represented in the state. Our sole intent is to aid the structure of the film industry in the state,” according to the statement of appreciation addressed to the governor of Cross River and signed by the agency publicist, Solomon Asha.

    The unveiling ceremony, which was rescheduled from October 30th to November later this year, is expected to be a point of unification for both stakeholders and potential investors of the film industry, where the governor of Cross River, Senator Liyel Imoke, is expected to carry out the unveiling, while several practitioners in the Nigerian entertainment industry, including practitioners of international repute of Cross River descent, are expected to grace the event.

    Entertainment drivers expected at the event include Actors Guild President, Ibinabo Fiberisima; Producers Guild President, Zik Okafor; Directors Guild President, Andy Amenechi; The Nation newspaper Entertainment Editor, Victor Akande; popular presenter and founder of Ebony Life, Mo Abudu; International Film Festival’s Madu Chikwendu; veteran actor and producer, Lari Williams; Hollywood actor Nyambi Nyambi; Kate Henshaw; Shan George; Igoni Archibong; Eric Anderson; Bernard Khawaja. Music crooners Sunny Neji; Felade; Iyanya; Spiderman; AJ; Gziyoung; DizzBaby; Real P and a host of others.

    The establishment of CRFA in Cross River is another bold step to maintaining the state’s pace-setting role in the industry since it dedicated a physical structure to the Nigerian Films in 2005 at Tinapa, which has continued to recognise the state as headquarters of the Nigerian film industry. The state also plays a key role as the highest entertainment-paying state since it launched Africa’s biggest entertainment event, Christmas Calabar. It has also played a contributory role to the production of Nigerian high-budget films including Biyi Bandele’s Half of a Yellow Sun, Jetta Amata’s Amazing Grace; Street of Calabar; and the now renowned Cross River Movie Awards. And has remained the only state that welcomes and encourages initiatives by individual practitioners to push the state entertainment industry forward.

    The governor of the state, Senator Liyel Imoke, in his unveiling of this year’s Calabar Christmas festival theme, earlier this month, said the state’s vision remains making the state entertainment market as the second largest in Africa after the Nigerian entertainment industry.

    The unveiling of CRFA, which included the official unveiling of the agency website to the outside world, would serve as platform to deeper revelations to the state film industry potentials and expected to lunch a newer beginning for the industry.

  • Government and ASUU strike

    SIR: If anyone is still wondering why Nigeria is not working, then the person must read Malam Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai’s book titled ‘The Accidental Public Servant’. The quality of leadership is poor and this is traceable to the process through which these people evolve as leaders. If not, why would leaders supposedly elected allow Nigerian universities to be on strike for more than 100 days?

    The people who run government in Nigeria do not understand that the buck stops at their desk. Nigerians did not vote for them to keep our universities shut. These people, especially President Goodluck Jonathan, simply do not have what it takes to run a country. All that they concern themselves with is how to retain their positions for their personal benefit. Very soon, these same people will be campaigning, asking that we vote for them again. In other countries, the President and a number of people would have been sacked by now.

    To anyone who thinks President Jonathan’s recent remark that he would do everything possible to resolve all issues responsible for the strike by ASUU and National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) offers a ray of hope, El Rufai (Page 441, Lines 19 & 20) has this to say in his book ‘ …-never expect Jonathan to keep a promise, never expect him to reciprocate a kind gesture’. Isn’t that what is responsible for this strike in the first place? This government lacks integrity and depth. If not, why would it not implement an agreement that it signed on how to improve Nigerian universities. El-Rufai was right! His book is a collector’s item.

     

    • Olami Akanni

    Abuja, Nigeria

  • Fed Govt eyes $3b proceeds from PHCN sale

    Fed Govt eyes $3b proceeds from PHCN sale

    The Director General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), Mr. Benjamin Dikki, has said government is expecting over $3 billion proceeds from the sale of the 18 successor companies of the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN). He said this huge proceeds will make it the biggest privatisation in global history.

    Dikki who disclosed this in a keynote presentation to Nigeria Investors’ Summit held in New York, United States of America (USA), noted that the government has been consistent in its policy to open up its economy and create the enabling environment for the private sector to thrive.

    According to a press statement, the BPE chief added that the present administration has gone the extra mile in its efforts to create a conducive environment to attract private sector investments in infrastructure.

    He identified institution of sound policies; liberalisation by abrogation of monopoly laws; separation of the roles of policy formulation, regulation and operation; and institution of appropriate legal and regulatory frameworks;

    Others are setting up of independent regulatory agencies and limiting government to policy formulation, planning and technical regulation; and putting in place appropriate fiscal and tariff incentives.

    He noted that the reform initiatives that were implemented by the government had worked, urging prospective investors to take advantage of this.

    Dikki said the world is now waking up to Nigeria which he said is the most attractive investment haven in the world. He urged investors that had missed the last tranche of investment opportunities not to miss the coming opportunities.

    According to the BPE chief, the first in the long list of upcoming opportunities are in the telecommunications and the transport sectors, stating that NITEL and its frequencies are still available for sale in a guided liquidation process that will commence soon.

    In the transport sector, he said that the Railway Bill, National Inland Waterways Bill, Ports and Harbour Bill, and National Transport Commission Bill were ready and would soon be sent to the National Assembly for passage into law.

    Dikki revealed that the reforms in the housing sector had equally reached advanced stages, adding that with over 18 million housing deficit in the country, the Federal Government had made the reforms in that sector a priority.

    He said the BPE, in collaboration with key stakeholders, is currently reviewing the policies, legal and regulatory framework to attract private sector investments in the housing sector.

    He disclosed that the Abuja Commodities and Stock Exchange will provide another window of opportunity for investors.

    Dikki said: “We will harness the warehouses and silos all over the country and link them up to the trading platform for Warehouse Receipt Trading System. Once we make prices and buyers predictable, we have a mega boom in the making.”

    According to him, the planned reform in the Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) will commence with the privatisation of Bank of Industry (BoI) and Bank of Agriculture (BoA).

    On the reforms in the tourism sector, he said the BPE has started the review of the policy, legal and regulatory frameworks for the sector to attract private sector capital into the tourism gold mine.

    He alerted the investors interested in the Oil and Gas sector that when the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is passed, the Refineries will be available for privatization; adding that the network of oil and gas pipelines will also be available for concession.

     

  • Unveiling the new Tejuoso Market

    Unveiling the new Tejuoso Market

    About six years ago, fire razed the old Tejuoso Market, Yaba, Lagos Mainland. What agitated the minds of many traders and residents of the area then was whether the market would ever be rebuilt. This has been laid to rest, with the unveiling of the new structure built by the Lagos State government. But will the shops be affordable by the former owners? SEYI ODEWALE asks.

    When it was gutted by fire some years ago, traders lost billions of naira. But paramount to them then was the rebuilding of the razed Tejuoso Market on Ojuelegba/Yaba Road, Lagos State. Bemoaning their fate, they wondered if they would ever do business in the market again. Their fears appeared laid to rest last week with the unveiling of the market rebuilt by the Tejuosho Property Development Company (the firm responsible for the market’s rebirth).

    At its unveiling last Wednesday at Tejuosho, the firm’s Head of Sales and Marketing, Comfort Oluwadairo said the market would be delivered in December.

    She said the December date for its completion was not negotiable. “December date for the completion of the project is not negotiable,” Oluwadairo said.

    She assured that the firm would leave no stone unturned to ensure that the project is delivered on schedule, adding that spaces in the complex have almost sold out.

    “As you can see all around, we are putting finishing touches to the property and work is proceeding at a steady pace. We are satisfied with the progress. We are a wholly independent real estate development company and our agreement with the government is clear. We are to develop this property as a market and that is precisely our focus. Technology-assisted security will be available to shop owners by the end of the year,” she said.

    Reliving the memories of the old Tejuoso at the forum, stakeholders wondered if the new shops would be affordable by the occupants of the old market. Not only that, they expressed worry that the gigantic edifice would not have old spark the market radiated before its demise.

    The old market was the economic hub of Yaba, a buzzing community in the metropolis of Lagos. It was made up of shops of various sizes across the three floors. There were various sections of the market with each having its peculiar patrons. However, the complex became a nightmare of some sorts with shop owners going beyond the market’s space and displaying their wares on the road, thus obstructing human and vehicular traffic.

    Aside the unending nightmare occasioned by the activities of bureau de change operators, road side hawkers and touts made the area a place to go with caution. But what changed the face of the market was the fire that gutted it on December 18, 2007, a few months after Governor Babatunde Fashola’s inauguration.

    In the words of a source who pleaded anonymity, the incident was a disaster waiting to happen.

    “The whole area was a disaster waiting to happen and that was exactly what happened on December 18, 2007. A fire started at around 7.30pm due to an electrical fault. Traders were scrambling for their wares and three of them lost their lives along with two fire fighters trying to rescue people. It was a tragic incident that should never happen again in Lagos State.”

    The incident prompted the rebuilding of the market with emphasis on safety, space and shops with modern facilities to mitigate untoward incidence. To prevent a reoccurrence, the state government ensured that the stores built are adequate for the products intended; took measures to prevent sub-letting and discourage street trading. Free flow of people within the market is assured by the provision of adequate airspace around the market.

    With emphasis on these, work began on the construction of the 1,660 shops in the five-storey complex with adequate attention given to parking space for about 580 cars and basement parking lots.

    The new market has taken care of one of the major problems that caused the fire.

    “The fire fighters had difficulty getting their equipment into the market to put out the fire. But in the new market, there is fire fighting equipment installed and a fire service station within the complex,” a source close to the project said.

    Other facilities expected in the complex include a waste disposal system; security installation and police posts; adequate toilet facilities per floor and public toilets for tenants and visitors; provision of public address systems and Tejuosho Market Radio and TV station to disseminate information to occupants and visitors.

    Oluwadairo said: “The new Tejuosho ultra-modern market is a new landmark in the city of Lagos. The market is a re-development exercise of the old Tejuosho market which is geared at being a truly 21st century market, a first of its kind in this part of the world.

    “The market’s structure takes into consideration all the needs and requirements of the ideal modern market buildings and promises to adequately meet the needs of the buyer and sellers in terms of functionality, accessibility, ease of navigation and aesthetics.

    “Amenities include: Train Station; Basement Car Park; Police post; Crèche; Kee-Klamp; toilet facilities; delivery bay; fire station; roads; drainage; paved walkways; boundary fence; central power back up systems; waste disposal; central water supply; lifts; standby security guards and cleaners amongst others. Upon completion, the complex will house approximately over 1,660 lockup shops.”

    She said sale of the shops and stores are on-going and demand has been very impressive. Commenting on the purported litigation on the complex, she said her firm’s business is only on the construction of phase II of the complex and is not in any way involved with litigation. “Phase II of the market is not involved in any court proceedings or litigation that may slow it down or adversely affect shop owners. PTDC does not have any connection or relationship whatsoever with the Phase 1 or its developers. This project is exclusively financed by Zenith Bank and we have a great relationship with them. Even as the price of building materials, fuel and labour went up, Zenith Bank provided more financing so that the project would proceed without glitches,” she said.

    When asked if her firm would consider the former shop owners, who lost their goods in the inferno and were promised compensation by the Lagos State Government, Oluwadairo said the issue was between the state government and the shop owners and not her firm’s.

  • Government wades into Heartland’s crisis

    Government wades into Heartland’s crisis

    • Calls players for discussion

    Heartland of Owerri players have been admonished to go with high spirits to their next Matchday 33 Glo Premier League tie against ABS of Ilorin and then come back home to have their signing on fees and match bonuses issues resolved.

    A player of the Naze Millionaires confirmed that the players held an open protest shortly after they were held by 3SC of Ibadan in the league match played last Wednesday at the Dan Anyiam Stadium.

    He told SportingLife that they have shelved their planned strike action after the Imo State government assured them that something cogent would be done to their backlogs of arrears of signing on fees and match bonuses after they return from their trip to Ilorin.

    The source informed SportingLife that Heartland’s players have endured enough and would appreciate that the government return their gesture with favourable response after they had played most of the season with their contract dues unattended to.

    He said the players have heeded the counsel to go to Ilorin and face ABS tomorrow but he added that they would resist every intimidation to force them to play their next home tie next Wednesday against Sunshine Stars with some part of their arrears not seen to.

    “Yes I can confirm to you that we protested after our game against 3SC last Wednesday. We couldn’t just help it again after the Imo State government has remained insensitive to our plight all these while. They are interested in winning but our match bonuses and signing on fees are unattended to.

    “We initially wanted to embark on a strike ahead of this tie to Ilorin but soothing words from the government that we should go to Ilorin and come back for talks has quelled whatever plans we have. We shall go to Ilorin and be ready to meet them on Monday for fruitful deliberation.

    “We have an home match on Wednesday against Sunshine Stars. It is only adequate motivation that can make us to come all out. We shall review if we will be willing to honour the home tie after our meeting with the government.

    “We know we have been owed signing on fees which we are told is being worked on what of match bonuses that they still owe us?it is unheard of,” the player told SportingLife.

    Heartland are 9th on the log with 45 points from 32 matches and they are up against 18th placed ABS. The Ilorin side have 41 points from as many games.

  • Governance Islamica

    “What can we say of a man who fixes his eyes on the sun but does not see it? Instead, he sees a chorus of flaming seraphim announcing a paroxysm of despair”. That is the parable of the country called Nigeria. Like the Israelite of yore, Nigerians have become gypsies wandering aimlessly in the wilderness of despair and wallowing helplessly in abject poverty even in the midst of abundance. What else do we expect from Allah beyond the invaluable bounties with which He has blessed us? What is Nigeria not blessed with?

    Our resources

    We have land in abundance, not in terms of size alone but also in terms of agrarian soil, rich vegetation and exceptionally clement weather. At least over 77 million hectares of land is said to be arable in Nigeria. Out of this, only about 34 million was reportedly cultivated for various agricultural activities some years ago. This has now dwindled to less than 25 million square hectares as more and more youths are migrating to cities and towns in search of imaginary but unavailable greener pastures only to further aggravate the frightening insecurity in the land.

    We are blessed with rainfalls that water our crops from the sky and graze our animals to satisfaction. We are blessed with sunshine that photosynthesises our plants and balances our weather. We are endowed with a variety of nourishing foods that are enough to feed us from generation to generation without necessarily importing anything from anywhere. No country is more fitting to chapter 80 of the Qur’anic testimony to this than Nigeria: “Let man reflect on the food he eats; how ‘We’ pour down the rain in torrents and cleave the earth asunder; how ‘We’ bring forth the corn, the grapes, the fresh vegetation, the olive, the palm, the thickets, the fruit-trees and the green pasture for you and for your cattle to delight in…”. Allah’s favour is constant and manifest. We cannot deny it.

    Dedicated workforce

    In addition to the aforementioned, we have energetic and dedicated work force that is married to the farm land, plants and husbandry in Nigeria. We also have intellectual brains that are permanently engaged in research work to ensure Nigeria’s economic improvement especially in the agricultural sector. Yet, hunger, poverty and squalor are the profits of these endowments.

    Nigeria is not lacking in forest and savannah. She is rich in rivers and mountains all of which are great resources for people who are seeking reasonable comfort and are not self-deceptive.

    What we lack is a competent, responsible government that can manage all these resources with sincerity to the benefits of the citizenry and care about Nigeria’s foremost economic heritage which is agriculture. That food is becoming a luxury rather than necessity in Nigeria today after 53 years of independence is a misfortune successively engendered by the naivety and short-sightedness of those who claim to be in government especially at the federal level. Capitalising on the docility of Nigerians, the Federal Government keeps squeezing the citizenry in the Machiavellian belief that peoples’ impoverishment is a major instrument of perpetual rule over them by those in government.

     

    Margaret Thatcher’s wish

    A former Prime Minister of Britain, Margaret Thatcher, alluded to Nigeria’s precarious situation in a press interview some years back when she was celebrating her 80th birthday. She was casually asked by journalists to indicate where she would want to live if she had opportunity of coming back to this world. In her response to that question she said she would like to come back into the world as a Nigerian ruler an answer that threw the interviewers into sarcastic laughter. And when asked to explain what she actually meant the Iron Lady said: “Nigeria is the only country in the world where people can be pushed to the wall and they would rather enter the wall than turn back to confront their rulers”. Thatcher’s statement here may sound like an impetus to a parochial government, but any reasonable person will know that elasticity has limit.

     

    Parable of governance

    Governance in Islam is like pregnancy in the womb of a woman. Its duration is naturally defined barring any anomaly or aberration. Its delivery depends on the safety of its carrier and the circumstances of her well being. And, after delivery, the baby is claimed, not by the pregnancy carrier but by the impregnator.

    There is no pregnancy without semen firmly planted in the womb of a woman. And the semen planter is a man who will eventually be called the father. For this reason, children bear the names of their fathers rather than those of their mothers as surnames.

    By analogy, one can compare the government to a pregnant woman who could not have become pregnant without an impregnator. The impregnator in this case is the populace that gave those in government the mandate to rule them. And just as the product of the womb (the child) belongs to the impregnator as a matter of legitimacy so should dividend of governance be the property of the populace. A child who bears his mother’s name as surname is nothing but a bastard.

    After life, security, law and justice, nothing else is held more sacrosanct in Islam than governance which can be compared to a magnificent umbrella under which the people are supposed to take cover during torrential rains or burning sun. In a democratic setting, such umbrella is owned by the citizenry. Its bearer is just a servant holding it in trust for the people. Perhaps that was why the late President Umar Musa Yar’Adua called himself a servant leader on his assumption of office in May 2007.

    Advising the Federal Government to learn from the experience of countries like Saudi Arabia and Japan may be quite irrelevant here since such advice has no meaning to those in government. After all, the same advice had been given severally in the past without any sensible response. You can’t give what you do not have.

     

    The Saudi example

    In Saudi Arabia, education is totally free from primary school to the University. Everything including tuition, hostel accommodation, books, feeding and transportation is provided free by the government. In addition, all students are paid monthly stipends to solve personal problems that can divert their attention from studies. And, in summer, all foreign students on scholarship are issued free tickets to travel to their home countries on holidays.

    What it takes to enjoy all these is to be qualified for admission and every other thing follows automatically. Yours sincerely knows this much because I was a beneficiary. My first degree was obtained from King’s University, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. And if I was not fortunate to benefit from that great opportunity I, probably, would not have had the opportunity of university education because of my modest background to which Nigerian government was indifferent despite the obvious talent in me and many other Nigerians in my shoes. If all these could be done for students in that country, research facilities for lecturers can be taken for granted.

    Today, Saudi Arabia has taken her wealth beyond oil and other mineral resources. The two gigantic industrial cities of Yambu’ and Jubail alone with more than four thousand industries including petrochemicals which she established in the early 1980s are enough to see her through the future in the absence of oil. And what is more, that country does not depend on oil for survival anymore despite her position as number one oil exporter in the world.

    Besides, there is no aspect of human development and material investment eluding Saudi Arabian attention in all parts of the world today, including agriculture, shipping aviation, textile and electronics. And most of these are public owned without any dubious deregulation and deceptive ‘blind trust’ privatisation.

     

    Japan’s experience

    Japan, on the other hand, is an exclusive island delicately resting on a vast array of waters. Her natural farm land is very limited. Yet, she shares that water with some neighbouring countries in accordance with international law of water boundaries.

    To manage her national economy therefore, Japan had identified human brain as her strongest economic resource. She knew that without human resources there could be no effective economic management hence her concentration on human training. And, today, the result is manifest. Contrarily, at the commencement of every new regime in Nigeria, a newly sworn in President would deceptively promise manna and salwa knowing very well that such promise is a mere deception just to attract momentary applause. The greatest misfortune confronting this so-called giant of Africa is in entrusting the management of the country to mere mediocre who see governance as a sheer opportunity to amass wealth and wield political power against opponents.

    Managing a national economy is neither by wishful thinking nor by chanting slogans. It is rather a serious business that cannot be left in the hands of charlatans.

     

    Why USSR failed

    In her vainglorious days, the defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) had indulged is similar self-deception by toying with all sorts of meaningless economic theories jumping from socialism to communism only to finally collapse upon her own face like a pack of cards after about 74 years of catastrophic experiments.

    Today, the greatest bane of Nigerian economy is not just the elimination of the middle class but also the extremely high cost of running the government by the greedy self-centered elements at the helm of national affairs. This fact has been emphasized many times privately and through the media in the past but the lotus eaters will rather die eating the intoxicating lotus than heed the voice of reason. And, unless this situation is changed positively, Nigeria may continue to wander aimlessly, in economic wilderness, for many, many years to come. We hope that the current seeming ‘undertakers’ will not pilot Nigeria to Siberia.

     

    Nigeria’s federal might

    Shortly after the Nigerian Southwest governors assumed office in 1999, yours sincerely wrote an open letter to them, which was published in Vanguard where I was then the Deputy Chairman of the Editorial Board. In the letter, I suggested three major areas of economic success with which they could sustain the pace-setting of that region.

    First was a regional power generating center with which to permanently stabilize electricity supply. With this, I argued that not only would industrialization take a sound footing but also that most unemployed young men and women would become self-employed to the greatest relief of those governments.

    Second was a regional railway system that could serve not just as a mass transit for the commuters but also as a cargo courier for all the goods in the region. With such a regional railway in place, the region would have become the doyen of commerce in the country and every able hand would have been effectively engaged without bothering the governments.

    Third was the establishment of a common refinery that could fill the vacuum created by constant non-availability of oil products and incessant arbitrary increase of their prices. Each of these projects could be jointly put in place by the six South-West states since they were all on the concurrent list.

    If the then Southwest governors had not been prevented from implementing those suggestions by the then vicious government at the centre, perhaps the situation in the region would have been different today and the other regions would have followed suit in a new progressive economic competition. That was the kind of competition that put the Asian tiger states (Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore) ahead of Africa. An inept federal government in Nigeria can only hold the rein of power for the purpose of self-enrichment and never for the benefit of growth and development. The experience of Lagos State’s innovative investment in electricity which was thwarted by the federal government can still be vividly recalled.

     

    The missing link

    In modern economic management, there can be no place for the middle class in the absence of such infrastructures as mentioned above. And without the middle class which is conspicuously missing in Nigeria, no economy can thrive to the benefit of the populace. That is why the multinational companies in Nigeria are leaving the country in droves for some other African countries.

    The current lopsided situation which deliberately puts over 97 per cent of the national wealth in the hands of about three percent of the idle populace is not only ungodly but also prone to unpredictable future consequences. We have begun to see such traces. It is therefore, not in the interest of those who are now basking in the euphoria of being in power to continue to drag the dead body of this country towards political murky water.

     

    Oil as lotus

    If it takes less than 10 dollars to produce one barrel of oil and the same one barrel of oil is sold for well over 100 dollars in the international market, what prevents a responsible government from building and maintaining functional refineries to the comfort of all and sundry? As the sixth largest oil producer, should Nigeria, an OPEC country, be exporting crude oil only to import refined one for domestic consumption? And yet, the populace is being forced to pay for the ineptitude of a tendentious clique holding tenaciously to the power at the centre with nothing to show for it. After 53 years of independence in this age of high technology, should any country without electricity, refineries, functional rail system, befitting industries and effective shipping and airlines that could create mass employment for the youth claim to be in existence? Yet, here in Nigeria where this situation prevails some people are still shamelessly claiming to be in government and in power. Isn’t that insane?

     

    Forced Diaspora

    Today, Nigerians are not only subjugated internally, they are also humiliated status wise internationally as they are forced to prefer living in other countries to theirs. Days and nights, Nigerians are found at the entrance gates of foreign embassies seeking to obtain visa and coping with stringent conditions of those embassies willy nilly even as our very best brains are the forces behind the development of other countries. If there is anything that has not been privatized in this country it is governance.

    Never has the government come out to tell Nigerians how much it costs to produce a barrel of oil. What we have always been told is that the government subsidizes the local consumption price of every litre of oil. That was the callous theory in which the obnoxious pioneer regime of this republic regaled for eight agonizing years. And that has now been inherited as a political culture. The question now is this: who actually owns the oil; the government or the people? And even if there is any subsidy at all, as often claimed by our rulers, shouldn’t Nigerians, who are supposed to own the oil by constitutional right, be entitled to such subsidy? The posture of owner and seller of petroleum products assumed locally by the federal government is not only criminal but also a flagrant betrayal of people’s trust.

    As a matter of fact, the populace has lost total confidence in the federal government following years of deception and inhuman policies which continue to keep people in abject and perpetual poverty. Those are the same policies that engendered ethnic conflicts and religious dichotomy which led to the emergence of youth restiveness in various parts of the country.

     

    Candid advice

    Now, rather than celebrating mediocrity in the name of democracy as often done on the 29th of May every year since year 2000, what the current administration should spend its remaining two years doing is true and sincere reformation which should henceforth take the front burner of governance if only to restore the missing confidence in the people and reassure that Nigeria can still become a nation after all despite years of economic devastation. If those in government are not ashamed of ruling a country in perpetual cycle of despair, some of us, the ruled are.

    Celebrating anything called democracy in this situation is not just a sham but also an additional injury to the bleeding hearts of the citizenry. While the intra-party rancour surges ahead, it is necessary to hint here again that only a forthright economic clemency can serve as a panacea for Nigeria’s chronic ailment called ‘the government’. God heal Nigeria.

     

     

     

  • ‘The problem with Southsouth’s local govts’

    ‘The problem with Southsouth’s local govts’

    It was the drama that said it all. The audience watched students of history at the Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island as they demonstrated the rots in various local government areas in the Southsouth. One theme stood out from the literary piece: Local government areas have betrayed their constitutional responsibilities.

    The venue was the Banquet Hall, Yenagoa. The event was the first Southsouth Zonal Conference of the Historical Society of Nigeria (HSN).

    Worried about lack of development in the grassroots despite huge revenue allocations accruing to local government areas, HSN chose ‘Local Government Administration and Development in the Southsouth: Landmark, problems and prospects’, as the theme of its maiden zonal conference. A renowned Professor of History, Joe Alagoa, was the chairman of the event.

    An Associate Professor of History and International Relations and Diplomacy, at the University of Benin, Dr. Eddy Erhagbe, who delivered the keynote address, used the occasion to highlight the functions of local government areas as spelt out in the Fourth Schedule Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution.

    He observed that the local government system in the region was guilty of violating one of the major democratic principles. He said most of the operators of local government councils were not elected.

    “Like in most parts of Nigeria, the local government councils were or are being run by appointed care-taker committees, even some states have not held elections for their local councils for as long as eight years”, he said.

    Identifying dangers in imposing leaders on the people at the grassroots, he said: “The fact remains therefore that abinitio these unelected council administrations are un-democratic, since their operators have been answerable more to those that appointed them than those they were expected to serve.

    “The direct implication of this has been that accountability couldn’t be expected or pursued. Closely tied to the failure to hold elections has been the manner of the dissolution of council administrations, especially the removal of council chairmen.”

    The lecturer also took a swipe at the conducts of local government leaders. He accused some of the leaders of financial recklessness, noting that in some local councils, such leaders were only seen in their offices when it was time to share the revenue allocated to their councils.

    He referred to such leaders as the chairmen of “share the money” and “carry go” adding that their attitude had endorsed absenteeism among workers in the councils.

    He was also angry that most local councils in the region had failed to discharge their smaller statutory responsibilities. He said: “In most areas while projects were declared to have been executed they were only done on paper.

    “Roads, boreholes, health centers and classrooms were built and constructed on paper and in the media but definitely not on ground. It has been argued that but for the first line charge for primary school teachers’ salaries from the local councils allocations many would have been without salaries.

    “Thus the local government councils have not been the veritable instrument for the transformation and development of the local communities/ rural areas that they were envisaged to be.”

    He recalled that the abysmal nature of local councils compelled the former President Olusegun Obasanjo to tinker with the idea of abolishing the system. But he said the idea was dropped after series of arguments that even states and federal government were to some extent guilty of the sins of local government areas.

    The don kicked against total autonomy for local governments, stressing that allowing complete autonomy would promote the whims and caprices of local government administrators.

    He, however, advocated limited or controlled autonomy for local government areas. He observed that with some control of the system, local government areas in Edo, Bayelsa and Rivers states have distinguished themselves in terms of performance.

    He said: “It will be most a historical to give the impression that the performance of local governments in the Southsouth has been one of abysmal failure, and the situation has been static.

    “As a matter of fact if there is greater monitoring of the performance of governments at the other levels of governance in Nigeria, Nigerians will get to enjoy more the benefits of democracy.”

    Governor Seriake Dickson said the state believes in local government autonomy. He said the government had laid foundations to ensure that the local government areas maintained their independence within the provisions of the constitution.

    As part of steps to guarantee the autonomy, he said the government ensures that the councils receive their full monthly revenue allocations.

    He said the state government also supports the councils in the payment of the primary school teachers’ salaries.

    According to him, the government pays up to 60 per cent of the salaries adding that the culture of transparency and accountability had been entrenched in the councils.

    He said the councils were being compelled to identify with some laudable programmes of the government.

    For example, he said local councils had already keyed into the housing programme of the state adding that each local government area was expected to build 10 housing units.

    Earlier in his opening address, the Vice-President, HSN, Southsouth, Dr. Steve Olali, said the conference was aimed at identifying the problems that were inimical to the sustenance of the local government.

    Olali, who is also the Chief Historian and Archivist of Bayelsa State, said the conference was the first to be organised in the Southsouth zone of HSN.