The Nation Newspaper

Tag: governments

  • Need for scrutiny of subnational governments

    Need for scrutiny of subnational governments

    Sir: The three tiers of government which consist of the federal, state and local governments have roles attached to each of them which are found in the second and fourth schedules of the 1999 constitution. However, the local governments have been practically encumbered in the discharge of their basic functions and reduced to appendages of state governments through the instrumentality of the state/local government joint account. Recent intervention by the current administration gave a glimmer of hope for their autonomy. Though, they still remain hobbled.

    Despite substantial resources, remarkable improvements on the material conditions of the people remain elusive. The state governments have practically elevated power over good governance which has affected the quality of governance, level of fiscal transparency and accountability. Their power is such that they are major deciding factors of election outcomes.

    For the most part, public resources are deployed as veritable vehicle for trampling on the will of the people. The constitutional check on the activities of states is completely debilitated. It easily explains the reason for the shambolic state of public services and infrastructure since they can indulge their whims with reckless abandon.

    When the federal monthly allocation tapered off during the past administration due to shock in oil prices, massive borrowings became the soft option instead of having recourse to the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR). 

    The monthly allocation remains the be all and end all for some states. Little imagination is hardly brought in, to improve IGR. Pathetically, inefficiency, incompetence and corruption are in full parade.

    The monthly federal allocation has remarkably improved from around N9 billion during the past administration to an average of N1.6 trillion in the last two years according to a report. 

    Read Also: Nigeria, Brazil to seal deals in  aviation, livestock, other sectors

    However, a recent report by the Nigeria Extractive industries  Transparency Initiative titled, “Beyond Federal Allocations:  The Cost of Borrowings and Debt Servicing at State Level in Nigeria” revealed the negative impact of borrowings  on state government ability to  carry out their responsibilities of ensuring the  provision of  public  services, infrastructure and initiatives for amelioration of poverty and hunger. According to the report, between 10 and 30 percent of the states’ federal allocation are deducted at source for debt servicing.

    The profligate spending and poor priorities are evident by the decision of many to execute vanity projects in the face of hunger and privation at staggering cost. It was echoed by the comment by the United States embassy in Nigeria: “Nigeria’s ruling class splashes billions on government houses.”

    While citizens are asked to adjust to the present realities, the ruling class continue to carry on heedlessly. They lack plans to deal with the challenges of huge out of school children, potable drinking water, rumbling healthcare facilities and classrooms etc.

    There’s need for citizens’ participation in interrogating the activities at the subnational level. It means proper enlightenment on their functions and place in the nation’s development. Equal amount of fervour in the scrutiny and demand for accountability on the federal government needs to be directed to the authorities at the subnational. A proper oversight is needed over their activities to engender good governance, fiscal transparency and accountability.

    As things stand, the state of affairs of most of the Houses of Assembly is a travesty, which calls for financial independence and freedom from the clutch of governors for effectiveness in carrying out their responsibilities as enshrined in section 128 of the constitution.

    •Abachi Ungbo, abachi007@yahoo.com

  • Challenges of local governments

    Challenges of local governments

    • By Dr Goodluck F.T. Uguoji

    Sir: The local government administration was a colonial creation. It served the colonial masters and their indigenous successors in the political administration of Nigeria very well indeed. It has undergone several changes since Nigeria became independent of British colonial rule almost 63 years ago.

    With an executive and a legislative arm, the local government is all but local in name. It has become a modern government in a rural setting. It has been refined by the natives themselves to make it fit into the modern concept of government.

    The local government for Nigerians is more than a convenient administrative unit. It is the locus of local political power. And everyone wants to be a part of it. The government is people in flesh and blood. The government is the next-door neighbour or the man further down the road. If the government must touch the lives of everything and everybody in the country, then it must have the means of touching people. It could have its agents even at the grassroots level. But if people must be involved in government, then they must be familiar with the workings of government.

    The local government system brings the workings of government closer to the people than anything else. It is the running of a progressive and dynamic government at the local level. The whole idea is to encourage the practice of democracy at the grassroots. The concept itself is so attractive that it is pretty unlikely that Nigerians would be opposed to any number of local governments.

    Presently, Nigeria has 774 local government areas. But unlike what obtains at the federal and state levels, local governments have expenditure limits and are supposed to be autonomous and free from the control of the state government.

    So, we can say that local government autonomy is not total as some state governments intercept the federal government subvention. And no local government can survive without allocations from the federation account. Thus heavy dependence on the federal government financially is a big minus for local government autonomy.

    Under the present system of local government administration, the executive power is vested in the chairman who may exercise it personally or delegate it to the vice-chairman. Both, together with the supervisors and the secretary, who are appointed by the chairman, form the executive arm. The elected councillors form the local government legislature. The legislators must elect, from among themselves, one councillor, usually from the majority party, as leader of the council. He plays roles similar to that of the speaker in the state house of assembly.

    Indeed, they call him a speaker rather than the leader of the council. The secretary acts as the chief administrative adviser to the administrative arm and keeps proper records of local government. There is also a head of personnel management department, designated as the clerk of the legislative council. He keeps records of the proceedings of the council meetings. The clerk also liaises with the secretary of the local government for the smooth-running of the administration of the local government.

    Read Also: Emulate Chinese approach in tackling Japa syndrome, US group tells FG

    In other words, the local government is necessary to enable the people at the grassroots to enjoy speedy developments. The local government council is also empowered to vet and monitor the implementation of projects and programmes in the council’s yearly budget as well as examine and debate monthly statements of income and expenditure rendered to it by the executive arm.

    Some of the noticeable problems of the system include the fact that most of the legislative councils, which are expected to meet at least once or twice a month, are usually idle. The majority of them do not even know what to do except to turn the council into a court of inquisition against the executive. Local councils also lack good libraries and competent legal draftsmen to guide in the preparation of bylaws. In other words, they lack standard procedure. There is also the issue of lack of imprest to run the council and unavailability of vehicles for council members to visit project sites.

    Another obstacle to the effective functioning of the council is the calibre of people constituting it. Another visible problem is the patent ignorance among majority of councillors across the country. Also noted is state excessive interference in the affairs of the local governments. Lack of total autonomy and state interception of federal government subvention is another noticeable problem of the local government administration. There are also increasing cases of inexperience on the part of the councillors about their job.     

    •Dr Goodluck F.T. Uguoji,

    Akute, Ogun State. 

  • Do governments have, or have not, business in business?

    Do governments have, or have not, business in business?

    • By Andrew A. Erakhrumen

    Do governments have, or have not, business in business? There are contending perspectival answers to this question. Irrespective of the merits and/or demerits of any of those views, it is constantly said in the public domain that the main purpose of having a government – whatever way it is looked at – is for the security and welfare of the human beings that such government is set up to superintend over. It may, therefore, be assumed that the civil and human rights including legally allowed properties of those people, being so governed, should also be protected.

     In answering the question asked earlier, there is the tendency to take the approaches by the legalists or moralists and/or a blend of both! After all, we are simply talking about humans, here; this is where the issues are, worldwide! What are we trying to say here? As an example, let us use the investments of public resources by the state (we mean government) in business. In Nigeria, what became of such initially-flourishing investments, over succeeding years, are progressively progressive ruination while there are still such similar investments, by the state in some other climes, currently waxing stronger in productivity. As earlier-said, we are talking about human beings, here; same Homo sapiens sapiens.

    It is important that we clarify that every society has its history, and current realities, influenced by past experiences and current priorities. We will not digress far into the roles of followers and leadership types in the whole mix. Simplistically, there are many countries where public assets and investments are perceived as nobody’s and without reliable organic institutional framework/capacity to ensure their future survival. In such countries, the narrative “governments have no business in business” will appear logical, convincing and as an easy-way-out solution, when the cause of the problem (if it is seen as such) is deliberately shied away from. Consequently, several ideologies that clearly point to, and encourage, private acquisitions of public assets and investments, as the solutions to the ruins, we earlier alluded to, are advanced, mostly with inconsideratedness. This is unminding the risks of these acquisitions benefiting only a few; although, some of these ideologies have been positively exploited by countries with the ability to build enduring institutional capacities for protecting their people against an ever-increasing voraciousness for private wealth accumulation.

    To be fair to the capitalists, who are mostly legalists, all they see is statistics and how that is turned to (private) wealth. That is how they are wired or rewired; moralists may fault this attribute. Basically, a moralist tends to be a socialist.

    It is, therefore, a collective responsibility of the people to get their priorities right and work towards ensuring enactment of enforceable laws, be part of, and insist on, supportive systems that entrench moral rectitude without losing sight of the need to encourage and sustainably sustain the protection of public and private properties and investments. These properties and investments (including those resulting from public-private partnerships) are necessary for a forward-looking society that is interested in the security, welfare and development of its members.

    Read Also: Why banks should follow rules in granting loans to governments

    Unfortunately, this capacity is currently lacking in Nigeria not only because of “corruption” but also “poverty”. We do not want to engage in the arguments concerning which of the two is a causative factor of the other. However, we believe that both factors are important for solution-seeking in politico-economic discussions. Of course, the leadership cadre that is very much likely to support and power policies that benefit the majority is the one that is populated or firmly controlled by ‘statesmen/women’ rather than gluttonous politicians only interested in their stomach! As it is commonly said ‘statesmen/women’ think of the next generation while most present-day politicians in Nigeria think of the next election. The latter are strictly into ‘business’; Nigeria’s future does not matter to them! To prevent ambiguity in the use of qualifying terms, statesmen/women – as used here – are also politicians but they think about the possibility of making life better for the next and unborn generations.

    Those in government are most likely a reflection of the society within which they operate; although, that may not be the whole story because the followers may be victims of state capture by those few. These victims may yearn for better living conditions, but without positive actions, that is where it ends! Talk is cheap.

    Now, back to the question earlier asked. It is the experience (even in those countries considered “developed”) that once public assets and investments are left without strong and constantly strengthened sustainable organic institutions that protect them, they are collapsed and ruined! Why will you blame those who come forward to acquire (legally) these ruined inheritances cheaply? Business is business! Well, in many of the ‘deals’ (like the current shameless politics being played in the country), laws and morals do not seem to have intersection, unfortunately! The institutions that are to protect public assets and investments, if available, do get deliberately weakened by successive crooks in public offices and eventually (through their cronies and fronts) they become beneficiaries of the resulting collapse and ruins we have just made allusion to. This is a sad reality! Once the people fail, or allow themselves to be incapacitated in order to be unable, to protect their good inheritances, then the argument “governments have no business in business” will be difficult to defeat! Moralists should take note of this! Nonetheless, “governments do have business in business” – in some ways – even in capitalistic countries!

    For instance, governments in the United States subsidise agriculture and energy in that country. However instead of tackling the massive “corruption” in its petroleum “subsidy” regime, the Nigerian federal government removed it abruptly in May. Who says “corruption” has now stopped as a result of local increases in prices of imported refined petroleum products? To us, it is all about increasing the price! It is now being insinuated that something like “subsidy” on petrol is back through the ‘backdoor’ in Nigeria as a result of the recent unpredictable but never-to-be-unexpected volatility in international crude oil prices! Where are those fictitious “market forces” being talked about in Nigeria? Is there the enabling environment for investments in local refining capacities by private entities? This is about the only crude oil exporting country without any working local refinery, thereby, importing refined petroleum products for its local consumption! This absurdity is supposed to be senseless; but this is Nigeria, a confused contraption, led over the years by groups of people with rentier mentality!

    Sensible Nigerians should be ashamed! We hope that the ongoing Israel-Hamas (Palestine) war will not worsen the current local challenges regarding stability in prices of petroleum products for local consumption. Whichever side anyone belongs to, in this kind of discussion, it should be noted that politics influences the economy. So, if good living conditions are desired by the majority, then their politics must be fixed to achieve this aim.

    • Erakhrumen currently teaches at the University of Benin.
  • ‘Government’s policies need to be properly communicated’

    ‘Government’s policies need to be properly communicated’

    Mr. Joe Anatune is the chairman/chief executive, b3 Communications Ltd, a leading public relations and advertising firm that has managed several issues and campaigns for business owners and public officials. In this interview with Assistant Editor Bola Olajuwon he attempts an assessment of the socio-economic policies of the current administration. Excerpts: 

    The government has alleged that the country’s financial state is bad. Don’t you think that this will affect the level at which the government will deliver as well as its image before the people?

    Money has always been in a short supply to any person and any organisation. Even the United States will tell you that they don’t have enough money to do all the things they want to do. The richest of countries still battle with scarce resources. The fundamental issue that concerns economy is the issue of managing scarce resources. For whatever it takes, government should sit down and plan with whatever is available. They need to bring hope into the system because once people lose hope in a system, any other thing they do won’t be believed in. In our various families, even when things are bad, we don’t go communicating to our children and our wives that there is no money. We give them hope that today may not be as wonderful, but tomorrow can be better. But even as they are being told, effort is made to put food on the table so that they won’t die of hunger.

    How do you think the government can measure up with the terrible state of affairs?

    To be very frank, I’m not a Jonathan apologist, but I do believe that even before the election, the politicians who wanted power knew that the country was not in the best of shapes and I believe that, that is what they came to tell Nigerians, that things were not walking pretty well and they wanted people to go for them because they have the capacity to turn things around and that is why we voted them in power. For me, I think it is time for us to forget about what happened and concentrate on moving Nigeria forward. The critical point is that Nigeria is not on its knees, so to say. The more we keep talking about this and that, the more it takes our energy away from facing the reality of the day and that reality of the day is what personally would want the government to face and it is important for the government because if they don’t do that, from my point of view, as a marketing communication expert, sooner than later, Nigerians would start to wonder whether they have actually done the right thing. Whatever that needs to be done has to be done and time is not in anybody’s hand.

    As an image expert, do you think the revelations may affect the interest of investors in Nigeria?

    There are two aspects to it. One aspect is the fact that the current government is interested in putting things in proper perspective. To that extent and depending on how you communicate it, it will give a signal to investors – whether local or foreign – that this government is serious about doing things the proper way. But if not done very well, it could also be the other way round. The point of the matter is that the investor is interested in a system where he can put his money and get a return and that return is guaranteed. This is a society where things can be done in line with the rule of law. If you communicate it from the point of view where you are using it to start chasing your enemies, it gets a negative effect. If you communicate it from the point, where you are sending the right signal and making efforts to put things right, it has its own very positive value for people to get the right message. For me, moving forward is key, in the sense that, while we are spending the energy on what happened in the past, we will also have the means to be able to start communicating to the citizens about the need not to be doing those things that we are spending a lot of energy trying to investigate because if we can prevent future leakages, I can tell you that in one or two years, we would find out that even with the dwindling oil prices, there are still  a lot of money to do most of the things that old government had not been able to do. From news reports, if most of the funds stolen had gone into building schools, industries and the likes, by now, definitely, we would have a different Nigeria and we would be happy and most of our people outside the country would also be coming back. The choices are there and it is my hope that the present government would make the right choices and follow the proper routes and that would be good for every Nigerian.

    Do you think the government is communicating situation of things to Nigerians in proper perspective?

    There is a theory that says that investment is more of psychology than rational. When investors start having some level of optimism, they will invest more. If people start to feel better that there is a brighter tomorrow, they will invest more. The action government is taking in terms of ensuring that people, who committed a lot of atrocities, people who work against the people, you can still communicate it to bring hope into the system. I think those in government need the service of experts to show them how this can be done, but truly I am not saying that they are not doing a good job at  that, but I think that there is a lot more to be done.

    The point being communicated is that government is trying to strengthen things, it’s not that government is trying to put anybody to jail, government is trying to ensure that things are done the way it should be done – what some people may call global best practices. And if getting people to use them to set those examples is part of those efforts, it should be communicated from that point and when it is taken from that point, it won’t make people start to look at it as government language. People will start to say that, yes, this people are on the right path. People, who want to do things the proper way, should come out and take advantage. People, who want to compete, should come out and take advantage. A situation where like Bola Ige says “sit down de look”, it’s not the best for our country. Government has good intention, but the communication has to be proper.

    How can the communication be proper?

    We must sell hope that bad practices, bad boys and bad girls are being removed from the system. Let the good people take control and do things the proper way. These bad boys we want to put them out of the system, so that young men, old men, middle-age people – whoever you are and Nigerians in Diaspora that have  good plans for the country, there is a level-playing ground being created for the people. We don’t need to know who you are before you can make progress here, provided you have something to offer, come up and help in nation-building. That I think would be the best. If we are talking about change, change would have to be tangible. We have to see the components, we have to see the substance and once we start to see the substance and substance may also have to be the fact that, some of those players that are causing trouble are being put out. We also want to see the new players who can come and start doing the right thing. For me, that solves the whole thing.

    How can this change manifest according to your expectations and that of Nigerians?

    We are not expecting too much, even little incremental changes would excite Nigerians. Like I said before, when Nigerians started observing that electricity supply was getting better, people started to clap for the government, even then, the government was still not in its very formative stage, they never bothered how the increase in energy supply was happening. The clear point to them was that, they are getting maybe 10 hours as against the two hours they were getting before and they were quite happy. The critical point for me is that, Nigerians are not expecting so much just that they want to see something happening, no matter how small.

    What areas do you think Nigerians are expecting more or much from the government?

    One major area, and I think that government is also working pretty hard on is the issue of everyone wants to feel free to move about, everybody wants to see his family safe, everybody wants to travel from one place to the other without being molested or even being killed, so security is key. People also want to be able to have something they can do, they want to be gainfully employed, they want to be busy with their lives, and they want to be able to put the bread on the table of their families. Social infrastructure? I don’t think that Nigerians are expecting that all of them must happen in one day, but Nigerians want to see an improvement. That is why I said that there has to be something that is happening in a short term. If for instance, the previous government stopped at point A, Nigerians wants to see this government moving to point B – they want to see a little movement upward. Nigerians would be happy because over the years, we have not been blessed with super achieving government. So, any government, which comes in and start doing something minimal is applauded, even the government is paying salaries, people are clapping.

  • Do our governments want us dead?

    SIR: I have had reasons to wonder why our government does not care much about us; why do they not give a damn about our well-being. This is not because of the recent fuel pump price increase. No; not at all. I happened to read George Orwell’s ‘’1984’’ recently, and was appalled by one of his accusations against government. He claims that the government uses war and death to cut down the population of its citizens. In other words, Orwell tried to say that the governments are actually happier when its citizens die in numbers.

    Does the government care about what we eat? In every parts of Lagos,  I see people frying buns, yams, meat with oil, and even coking soup on the dusty roads. But interestingly nobody care about how safe such foods are. In fact, government agents are sometimes seen giving ticket or collecting taxes from them. Though I am not a science student, but my little kitchen experience tells me that oil traps dust. Are the foods cooked in those conditions safe for consumption? Who cares!

    When cell phones came into Nigeria few years ago while we were still in the village, people were so cautious about its handling. I remember phone users were advised then to use protective plastic to shield the ray from the phones getting into their exposed skin directly. But today who cares. I see everybody going about with enlarged phones, cell phones as wide as the 1980s television screens. When these phone users slap their cheek with these phones while making or receiving call, doesn’t anything interact with their skin? Like I said earlier, sir, I am not a scientist, just a concerned Nigerian.

    Lastly, sometimes this week I was at Ikotun-Igando junction/ roundabout buying something for my family, suddenly there was a spark from the nearby transformer. People screamed as sparks of light went up. I was scared. I tried to run, but I looked up to see where the light came from, and where to run if there was need to do so. What I discovered was that high tension wires were directly on top of our heads. If a pole falls, or one of the high tension wires caved in, hundreds of people would be dead and more injured. My questions are do our governments travel the same roads with us? Do they actually know what we face? Do they eat what we eat? If yes, then they actually want us dead.

     

    • Ohimai Daniel,

    Lagos.

  • Urgent tasks for S/west leaders and governments

    Since the brutal attack by Fulani cattle herders on one of the most important fathers of the Yoruba nation, Chief Olu Falae, most Yoruba people have been, at last, waking up to a realization of the dangers that threaten their Yoruba nation in Nigeria. The signs of the shock, and the growing anger and outrage, are spreading in all directions among Yoruba people. A Yoruba leaders’ summit meeting even threatened secession from Nigeria on account of the incident – although many other Yoruba have denounced that threat, rightly insisting that, for a large and prestigious nation like the Yoruba, talk of secession ought to be over much more substantial and structural issues, and ought to be arrived at through very thorough considerations.

    Virtually all Yoruba are agreed, however, that the attack on Chief Falae represents a warning alarm to all Yoruba people and their leaders to brace themselves for the protection of their nation, and their nation’s interests and integrity, in Nigeria. When different nationalities, each living in its own homeland, different in culture and religion, are forced together into one country, dark forces of rivalry, envy, fear, ill-will, hatred, and primitive ambitions by some to dominate or even eliminate others, can sometimes be generated in the hearts of some of the nationalities against others. That is what happened in Yugoslavia, producing the horror of genocidal brutalities when that country disintegrated in the early 1990s. It has happened in many Black African countries too. It is the duty of the leaders of each nationality to ensure protection for their people in such a setting.

    Signs of these dark forces are strong in Nigeria. Some nationalities harbour ambitions to dominate others or even to dominate all. Some nations are trying to seize the homelands of the smaller nations. Some nations disrespect and try to destroy the traditional farming economy of other peoples. Some nationalities compulsively behave in unruly and disruptive ways in the homelands of others. Some try to use violence to force their brand of religion on others.

    If Nigeria is to be able to live down these fault-lines and become a stable and prosperous country, then Nigeria would need to be much better structured, and much better governed, than has been the case since independence. Also, much will depend on how much Nigerian nationalities respect one another. Those who migrate to other peoples’ homelands and choose to be disrespectful of their hosts, and to indulge in aggressive and unruly claims and behaviour against their hosts, and those who seek to dominate others or to destroy the economies of others, must know that they are essentially making Nigeria impossible to hold together.

    But also, very importantly, the leaders and rulers of each Nigerian nationality owe the duty of ensuring that inter-ethnic relationships in their own homeland shall develop in an orderly and healthy manner. For instance, nearly all Nigerians relocating from their ethnic homelands today are heading to the Yoruba South-west. Already, the coming of many of them is disorderly and unhealthy, and manifestly brewing conflict and confusion. Yoruba leaders, and Yoruba state governments, are doing little or nothing to respond to this growing crisis in their homeland. They are thus preparing the ground for big trouble in the Yoruba homeland – since it is impossible that the masses of common Yoruba people will forever tolerate being insulted and trampled underfoot, and having their means of livelihood destroyed, by immigrants from other parts of Nigeria. No matter how much Yoruba political leaders may be committed to Nigeria, the masses of Yoruba people are likely to react someday to these provocations.

    Hospitality to strangers is a well-established icon of Yoruba culture. Moreover, welcoming people from other lands is something that can add greatly to prosperity in Yorubaland over time.  However, the large-scale immigration into Yorubaland today creates many serious problems – problems that Yoruba people, Yoruba leaders, and especially Yoruba state governors and legislatures need to find answers to.  Yoruba leaders should establish some modicum of unity in their own ranks, at least for the purpose of facing these serious problems together. The six governments of the Yoruba South-west should put heads together to find and implement answers to these problems.

    The problems are many and complex, but they are soluble if seriously confronted. The leading problem is that the Yoruba South-west is not generating enough economic development, and enough jobs, for its burgeoning population of indigenes and immigrants. Among the Yoruba people themselves, in spite of their solid education, enough businesses are not emerging – largely because the governments are not guiding their people to develop a modern entrepreneurial culture. As a result, most educated Yoruba youths are unemployed, and most of the immigrants are unemployed too. Huge numbers of the immigrants, and many of the Yoruba youths, take to petty peddling of merchandise on the streets, which is a classic example of “under-employment”.

    The state governments must arise to this situation. The governments must create programmes of human development – improved basic education, job-skills education, entrepreneurial development and promotion, small business promotion, modern farmers’ programmes, and well-managed micro-credit systems, for all (indigenes and immigrants alike). The objective must be to achieve the purpose of the old Yoruba adage – “that the owners of the home and the strangers in the home may all have plenty to eat”.

    Another problem is the serious shortage of shopping centres in Yoruba towns. The old marketplaces are still offering great service, but more modern shopping centres and malls are urgently needed. Also needed are proper licensing of traders and stores, introduction of sales taxes, proper urban zoning, and proper control and management of street peddling. Laws should also be made to prohibit the existence of exclusive “tribal” marketplaces or shopping centres, so that all marketplaces and shopping centres shall be the common property of the community, equally open to all. Serious provisions also need to be made for the proper enforcement of law in business competition in Yorubaland, as well as for the prohibition of ethnic-based, or other, monopoly or cartel practices – including illegal or violent acts aimed at eliminating business rivals.

    Yet another problem is that, though Nigeria’s laws vest the management of the land of every state in the state government, most Yoruba states have evolved no land policies and no clear land transfer systems, and the states that have evolved such laws are not properly enforcing them. Therefore, land acquisitions and land transfers are occurring on a massively chaotic scale in all parts of the Yoruba South-west – obviously threatening the interests of indigenes and immigrants alike. The state governments need to deal urgently with these matters.

    Moreover, it is time to eliminate cattle herding in the Yoruba South-west, and the dangers that it brings to Yoruba farmers and urban dwellers alike. There is really no place for unrestrained cattle herding in a country like Yorubaland where there are cities and towns at short distances from one another all over, and where most of the rural folks live on peasant farming. The answer, undoubtedly, is that the Yoruba state governments should speedily promote modern cattle ranching in the Yoruba grasslands in the northern parts of most Yoruba states, encourage and assist Yoruba people to become ranchers there, and establish modern abattoirs for the slaughter and distribution of beef. All of these will discourage and ultimately eliminate unrestrained cattle rearing.

    In short, the impression must be eliminated that the Yoruba homeland is a “no-man’s-land”, a land without rules or order or leadership, where people from other parts of Nigeria can come and do as they wish. The Yoruba people can, and must, change all that – for their own good, and for the good of all residents in Yorubaland.

  • Government’s Nonchalant Attitude To Health Workers’ Strike

    The general elections coming up next month seem to   have taken the attention of almost everybody away  from a fundamental issue; an issue that’s very germane, if not the most germane as far as human existence is concerned.

    For the past three and a half months now health workers under the aegis of Joint Health Workers Union (JOHESU) have gone on an indefinite strike owing to non-implementation of the agreement the Federal government reached with them. This strike has paralised our health sector with dire consequences for us as people are dying daily for lack of medical attention.

    As pathetic as this situation is the government appears so unconcerned about the crisis in this critical sector as Mr. President and other key government officials are deeply sunk in the campaign for  the February general elections. For Mr. President and and his supporters all that matters to them now is the re-election of Jonathan as president. This is at the expense of this most important sector.

    But to say that only the government in power is guilty of this nonchalance appertaining to the health workers’ strike is to be economical with the truth. The opposition too is guilty as they are also not talking about the strike. The civil society groups too cannot be said to be showing the expected concern while at the level of the media little are we on the neck of the government to urgently address this situation. Everyone’s focus is on the coming elections.

    Much as the February general election is crucial to our survival as a nation, to neglect the health sector because of the election is, to me, the most preposterous thing to do especially during this period when all sorts of strange deadly diseases are springing up and spreading fast across the continent.

    The nonchalant attitude of the government to the health workers’ strike has further exposed the insensitive and irresponsible nature of the government of the day. Indisputably this ‘I don’t care attitude’ on the part of the government is completely detrimental to public health. No reasonable government will neglect a critical sector like health because of election. This is absolutely illogical and it portrays the government as grossly irresponsible.

    Axiomatically health is wealth. Let the government of president Jonathan know that it’s only those who are alive and healthy that can go out to vote on election day. A sick person who has been denied medical attention cannot go out to vote. Neither will his/her family members that have become psychologically depressed and unstable due to the ill health of their relation, and whose condition has been made worse by the strike action also think of voting.

    Honestly, I have never seen a democratically elected government that has been more irresponsible and nonchalant than that of president Jonathan. And I don’t have apology for saying this. When a government turns a deaf ear to the demand of its health workers to the extent that strike is allowed to become the instrument of negotiation and when the strike is further allowed to linger indefinitely then such a government is a wicked one that doesn’t deserve to be re-elected.

    For God’s sake why would a government has so much penchant for nonchalance? It’s quite worrisome! Jonathan’s administration has become notorious for neglecting the plight of members of this critical sector. And for me this is the height of irresponsibility. I continue to wonder what sorts of advice Mr. President receive from his advisers and whether he himself even takes time to talk to himself.

    This same ‘I don’t care attitude’ was shown to doctors’ strike last year. The government even went as far as sacking the resident doctors during that strike while it threatened fire and brimstone against the doctors. If not for much public outcry that forced the government to rescind that harsh decision it would have been a disaster writ large for our health sector.

    But that strike didn’t go without its accompanying damage as it resulted in many lives being lost while we also lost some of our doctors to foreign countries that are ever ready to hire Nigerian doctors for better treatment. One would therefore have expected a responsible government to avert another strike in the health sector soon after the doctors’ strike. This only goes to show the level of unseriousness of this government about the plight of the people especially as it concerns public health.

    Even if for political reason should government not address the demand of these health workers? This to-hell-with-them posturing shows how insensitive this government is. And this is a government that is seeking re-election! For the electorate that are members of JOHESU will they want this government to come back? Will they vote for a government that has turned a deaf ear to their demand?

    Of course answers to the above questions will be capital No. Thus President GEJ and his PDP should just forget the votes of this constituency unless he quickly addresses their demand. Even if he does, I doubt if they will still feel comfortable to give him their votes. I think he has given them enough maltreatment to lose the votes of that constituency.

    President GEJ must address the demand of JOHESU now without further delay. I have looked at their demand and I sincerely believe that they are not asking for too much. This avoidable strike has been allowed to linger for more than necessary. To avoid further loss of lives and total collapse of the health sector government must respond to health workers now, and positively too. Enough is enough to untimely deaths being recorded daily due to this strike.

  • Attitude of governments, philanthropists and relevant institutions not helping matters

    While people in the sports and entertainment industries are smiling to the banks and taking possession of properties donated by people from different walks of life, there are people; citizens of this same country who although they share in the glory coming from these sectors , people who appreciate the blood pressure lowering jokes and drama these groups produce. These humble citizens are happy that success attended the efforts sportsmen and women put into their legitimate activities. However, there are issues, feelings of injustice, disregard and neglect, which can translate to negative reinforcement on the people who by their training are not expected to give vent to these bottled up feelings.

    Members of the Medical and allied health profession whether in training including post graduate Medical training spend day time hours working to save lives, and at nights sleep with one eye open, ever ready to be called out even in dangerous hours of the night . Unlike before and contrary to what obtains in the civilized countries we seem to copy , this sector of the Nigerian society are completely abandoned. They have become the invincible class. People who care to listen to them assure them that like teachers, they will be rewarded after death. They have no houses of their own , drive rickety vehicles, and carry stress levels three times what non medical people of same age and sex will carry, and yet they watch and listen helplessly how millions and billions are showered on fellow citizens. The general feeling is that if so much can be released so quickly for some people, others should never be made to wait before they get theirs, indeed the cry is that it is human to ask for equity , fairness and justice

    One billion naira given to Federal Government owned Universities to build Research Labs will alleviate the sufferings of Students and Lectures , who are disabled from exploring into some areas .

    When during planting seasons a farmer puts much into Grains and abandons Tubers, he should not expect to harvest Yams and Cassava. In terms of Nationalism and patriotism no one can actually quantify the cost of saving lives, reducing the burden of disease, illness and absence from work ? will any one talk about economy if more people stay away from work , or fail to resume due to illness, impairment and disabilities? Or perhaps surgical teams should now go on television to perform Caesarian sections before panels of judges so people will no they are wonderful and deserve to be rewarded

    Where will the drive , the perseverance and the will to continue the struggle for emancipation come from if certain groups are begged to come collect millions and billions while those who in agreement with God make it possible for their fellow citizens to sleep , wake and go to work are treated as if they don’t exist?

    The internet has now made it very easy for basic personal information concerning any fairly well known person to be assessed. The media have also from time to time made public the financial standings of people ,such that when such well known individuals as a group are being begged to come and collect more money , in a country where others have for over a decade been embarking on strike actions to press home their demands for what is actually due to them, then something has terribly gone wrong. We must be seen by the rest of the world to be proactive

    On the other hand, there are medically qualified lecturers in universities and other higher institutions , they are equally faced with the challenge that they either publish or perish ;again what is very clear but not recognized is that research is costly ,and when completed publishing costs money. Costs of publishing journal articles are denominated in foreign currency. In all these, the problems are enormous and people take glory in criticizing the present level of technological inferiority, and the educational system without doing something. As Europe and America now facing economic challenges of their own, reliance on donor agencies will be fruitless and so organizations , Governments , Governors and individuals who have access to funds should feel challenged to come to the rescue

    Perhaps, Doctors are not crying loud enough. Is housing scheme for civil servants out of place ? It could also be that those they have elected or appointed to speak on these and other issues are unable to get their list of grievances to make the list of public agenda.

    With the heart rending morbidity and mortality indices coming out from various organizations , those at the helm of affairs should worry if these are warnings are not enough, because awareness is getting higher every day and very soon, the young ones will find ways and means to express their grievances, and when that happens, ordinary people will see Medical Doctors all over the place with their ward coats and stethoscope , and yet can not afford to hear a word from any of them not to talk about sitting down to be examined properly. Such a time is staring us in the face when people will need to go to India to have pus drained from a finger or take treatment for typhoid

    At the time of writing, the doctor population ratio is one medical doctor to 10000 persons in the population. Literacy level has dropped and in some states of the federation HIV/AIDS prevalence is higher than the National average . In rural areas, the situation is and you may have one Doctor available to care for over twenty thousand people,

    The events as narrated under will serve as an index to what is about to characterize the Health care system;

    In the Accidents and Emergency unit of a Teaching Hospital, a Consultant Physician exclaimed in frustration that she had gone round the Hospital and there was not a single Consultant present in any of the departments . A few minutes past mid day it was a working day and a few minutes after mid day. Imagine a lorry load of victims of RTA being driven to into the Hospital within that period ,how would the few Doctors on duty have coped? What with the agonizingly unreliable mobile communication services operating in this country she added in palpable frustration and annoyance?