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Tag: hope

  • Keep hope alive, Ademowo charges

    The Diocesan Bishop of Lagos and Dean Emeritus, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Reverend (Dr) Ephraim Ademowo has called on Nigerians to keep hope alive despite the nagging economic downturns.

    Ademowo, in his Easter message, said the nation will bounce back from recession with collective will and zeal.

    He called on government to explore viable options that will take the nation out of the wood, calling for political will to fight corruption.

    Extolling the importance of Easter, the cleric said it is very clear that no accomplishment can ever rival the victory of Easter.

    He urged Christians to remain steadfast in their service to Christ with the assurance that death is not the end.

    “Christ resurrection is the model and source of our future resurrection because Christ has been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. Christ resurrection is our resurrection,” Ademowo said.

    The Ademowo also advised government to douse tension on the re-occurring xenophobic attacks to Nigerians in on all fronts.

    According to him: “The failure of governance to create an inclusive economy in Nigeria should be blamed for the fate of economic migrants to South Africa and other countries from where they are being deported and victimised every day.

    “The primary assignment of the government is to provide welfare and security of its citizenry.”

    The cleric, who urged Nigerians and Christians as we celebrate Easter to accede to the principles of which Christ died, rose and ascended.

    “The victory of Easter should lead us to the face of perplexities of life with fortitude holding up our banner with the assurance that because Christ lives, we too shall live,” said Ademowo.

  • FAO-supported farmers hope for good harvest

    FAO-supported farmers hope for good harvest

    Farmers supported by Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) in Northeast are looking forward to good harvest, going by the quantity and quality of crops they have gathered so far from their fields.

    A monitoring and evaluation officer at Community Based Agricultural and Rural Development Programme (CBARDP), the FAO implementing partner in Borno State, Salisu Bukar Mohammed Ngulde, said: “Most of the crops are grown by women who make up 40 per cent of the project”.

    They have already started harvesting their crops from the dry season interventions and have food for their families for some time to come while they sell part of their produce to make some money. They are now able to get income, save feeding costs and have surplus at home to take care of other basic needs for a few months. The FAO is collaborating with the governments of Belgium, Ireland and Japan to support these farmers.

    He described the intervention as very successful, hoping that more funds would be made available to take care of the larger number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), returnees, female-headed households, youths and the host community, who are in dire need of support.

    Abba Mursi, one of the beneficiaries of the interventions, recounted how he fled his community in Bama after an attack two and half years ago and then took refuge in Gongulong Bulamari village in the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital in Jere Local Government Area, some 75  kilometres away from Bama. “I fled from Bama on foot and left everything behind, everything,” he said.

    Mursi’s desire of returning to productive life was nurtured by the FAO. His carrot plot is doing well, less than three months after he received seedlings and fertilizers from the FAO. “I got assistance of assorted seeds and fertilizer from the FAO. I started farming with the seeds when they were distributed in January 2017. It is from the farm that I have harvested these fresh carrots you see. The fertilizer and seed helped me to carry out farming in the dry season. My group is also thankful for the borehole provided by the FAO.” He is grateful to the Gongulong Bulamari people for accepting him and giving him access to a farmland where he hopes to eke out a living.

    Mele Muktar has a similar story. Originally from Koshabe, in Mafa Local Government Area, over 50 kilometers away, he settled in Gongulong about two years ago.

    He has only been on the FAO-supported farm for one month. His seedling beds are doing well. He hopes to transfer them to the main site in days to come and is already looking to a good harvest. “What I received was a complete package from the FAO. We get food support from a number of organisations, but this agricultural assistance means everything to me,” he said.

    As part of its dry season interventions in support to IDPs, returnees and vulnerable host families in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states, the FAO provided farmers with capacity-building and skills, vegetable seeds, fertilizers and irrigation support for the dry season.

    Mursi and Muktar are some of the farmers, who embraced the project with great enthusiasm and less than two months into the programme, the enthusiasm has started paying off. The farmers, mostly youths and women, are already looking to a good harvest. The early signs of a potentially good harvest are evident by the crisps and fresh carrots, huge cabbages and other vegetables being gathered from the fields.

    Vegetable seedlings covering carrot, okra, amaranths, sorrel/roselle, onions, tomatoes, pepper, watermelon and cabbage were given to each farmer in a master kit for food security, nutrition and livelihoods as well as incomes.

    “The FAO with partners’ support will provide the greatly desired livelihoods to IDPs, returnees and host communities where men, and especially women and youth, will be provided with food security, nutrition and livelihoods for both the dry and rainy seasons in the northeastern states of Borno, Adamawa and Yobe on a sustainable basis to recovery from many years of hardship.”

  • Fashola raises hope on housing scheme

    Fashola raises hope on housing scheme

    Nigerians’ hope of owning  homes is looking up. This is because houses built under the Federal Housing Scheme will be allocated to all Nigerians, irrespective of their states of origin.

    The Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, gave the assurance shortly after completing a tour of federal projects in Maiduguri, Borno State.

    “I prefer to use the word residents to indicate people who live or work in the states where the houses are built, rather than those who are indigenous to the state,’’ Fashola said, adding that the ultimate beneficiaries of the houses will be residents of the states in which the houses are built.

    He said the objective of the scheme is to deliver affordable houses to workers based on the National Housing Policy.

    “There is a National Housing Policy in place aimed at providing affordable housing, but there has been no programme in place to deliver the houses. That is what this programme is all about,” he said.

    The National Housing programme is built on a foundation that requires consulting stakeholders, by conducting, surveys so the stakeholders can take ownership of it. This, he explained, is why the ministry is consulting, in the hope that it will be able to carry along the stakeholders so that they can take ownership of the scheme.

    He said it is after this stage that the ministry can talk about affordability, pointing out that the housing scheme was also part of government multi-facet approach to economic development.

    “The programme is part of government efforts to create value chain economic activities, aimed at empowering Nigerians all over the country. Workers will be happy on site getting paid from contractors to take care of their families and patronising food and others,” he said.

    The minister also said the ministry was training artisans such as carpenters and bricklayers, among others, to be relevant technically.

  • There is hope for Nigeria, says cleric

    The General Overseer of the Word Bible Church, Prophet Julius Babatunde Kumoluyi, has assured Nigerians that God will restore the country and rescue it from recession.

    Speaking at the launch of his church’s annual prophetic annointing programme, tagged: ‘Annointing for Complete Restoration”, scheduled to hold on Sunday at the church’s branch in Igbara-Odo-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Kumoluyi said: “People should not lose hope. Nigeria is God’s project and the Almighty God cannot start a project and not complete it. All we need to do is seek His face in prayers and fasting. He once assured the children of Israel that the Red Sea they see, they will see it no more. And indeed, the Israelites were delivered by God through Moses, while their enemies, the Egypitians, perished in the Red Sea.

    “Our present economic challenges and its attendant widespread poverty represent our Red Sea, but just as the Lord told the Israelites through Moses that they will not see the Red Sea again; I prophesise that Nigeria will not see this Red Sea again in Jesus’ name, amen.”

    The cleric, who said God has promised to bless those who attend the programme with salvation, healing, breakthrough, deliverance, victory, spiritual counselling, glorification, holy spirit visitation, miracles, among others, advised people who desire restoration for themselves and the nation to be part of it.

  • Glimmers of hope

    •New thinking on education and development among northern elite is heart-warming

    The vast majority of the population of a large swathe of the north has unquestionably been the worst hit by the unsavoury manifestations of Nigeria’s protracted economic crisis: hunger, malnutrition, endemic disease, joblessness, crass inequality, mass ignorance and assorted forms of violence. At the root of the now thankfully ebbing Boko Haram insurgency that laid much of the north prostrate and vividly illustrated the deterioration of the ‘northern question’, for instance, was the combustible combination of both growing poverty and inequality in the area that was substantially a function of gross elite failure over the years.

    However, the growing willingness of both the traditional and modern elite of the north to introspect and diagnose the problems of the region, and offering bold, sometimes unorthodox, prognosis provide glimmers of hope as regards the future possibilities of the otherwise hugely endowed region. A major pointer in the new direction was the meeting in Kaduna on January 24, of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council (NTRC) and the Northern State Governors Forum (NSGF), which sought to map the outlines of a new developmental agenda for the territory as evident particularly in the speeches on the occasion of the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar III as well as the Chairman of the NSGF and Borno State Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima.

    Continuing on this redemptive course, the Emir of Kano, Muhammadu Sanusi II, recently reiterated emphatically the case for a veritable revolution in education in the north as an inevitable condition for achieving regional resurgence and sustainable transformation. It is noteworthy that the emir spoke during the graduation at the Government House, Kano, of about 2,500 newly trained teachers who had obtained postgraduate diplomas as well as the Nigeria Certificate in Education (NCE). In Sanusi’s words on the occasion, “Any northern governor who refuses at this critical time of our educational backwardness, to fully concentrate on reviving education in the north is nothing but anti-people and the region”.

    Obviously thinking audaciously and outside the box, Sanusi advocated what he described as the Morocco model whereby mosques in the north would also serve as primary schools, particularly in the villages. Recounting his experience during a visit to Morocco, Sanusi said he was taken to mosques “where I saw each serving as classrooms for teaching Computer Sciences and other courses”. Apart from helping to conserve money in this recessionary period, Sanusi said this innovation would help identify religion with the cause of learning and enlightenment.

    Another idea that may not be out of place in this regard is for traditional rulers with expansive residential spaces to also consider the construction of school structures within their premises so that the tremendous influence of the traditional institution among the people can also be tapped for educational progress.

    It is, of course, natural that this kind of novel and radical idea will elicit some opposition in a traditional and conservative environment. The important thing is to debate policy options openly and honestly with a view to adopting best practices for the public good. What we consider heart-warming are the increasing instances of renewed commitment to modernisation through education in the north, particularly the provision by some state governments of free and compulsory education, free school feeding, aggressive pursuit of education for the girl child and the almajiris as well as training of teachers, upgrading of infrastructure and supply of equipment.

    This surely is the path to chart not just to regain the developmental legacies of the immediate post-independence leadership of the north, but for the present leadership elite in the region to galvanise their people to attain higher pedestals of radical social, cultural, political and economic transformation.

  • A Continent of Hope

    SIR: Far too often, the world views Africa through the prism of problems.  When I look to Africa, I see a continent of hope, promise and vast potential.

    I am committed to building on those strengths and establishing a higher platform of cooperation between the United Nations and the leaders and people of Africa.  This is essential to advancing inclusive and sustainable development and deepening cooperation for peace and security.

    That is the message I carried to the recent African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — my first major mission as United Nations Secretary-General.

    Above all, I came in a spirit of profound solidarity and respect.  I am convinced that the world has much to gain from African wisdom, ideas and solutions.

    I also brought with me a deep sense of gratitude. Africa provides the majority of United Nations peacekeepers around the world.  African nations are among the world’s largest and most generous hosts of refugees.  Africa includes some of the world’s fastest growing economies.

    The recent resolution of the political crisis in the Gambia once again demonstrated the power of African leadership and unity to overcome governance challenges and uphold democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

    I left the Summit more convinced than ever that all of humanity will benefit by listening, learning and working with the people of Africa.

    We have the plans in place to build a better future. The international community has entered the second year of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an all-out effort to tackle global poverty, inequality, instability and injustice.  Africa has adopted its own complementary and ambitious plan: Agenda 2063.

    For the people of Africa to fully benefit from these important efforts, these two agendas need to be strategically aligned.

    It starts with prevention. Our world needs to move from managing crises to preventing them in the first place. We need to break the cycle of responding too late and too little.

    Most of today’s conflicts are internal, triggered by competition for power and resources, inequality, marginalization and sectarian divides. Often, they are inflamed by violent extremism or provide the fuel for it.

    The United Nations is committed to working hand-in-hand with partners wherever conflict or the threat of conflict endangers stability and well-being.

    But prevention goes far beyond focusing solely on conflict. The best means of prevention and the surest path to durable peace is inclusive and sustainable development.

    We can speed progress by doing more to provide opportunities and hope to young people. More than three out of five Africans are under 35 years of age.  Making the most of this tremendous asset means more investment in education, training, decent work, and engaging young people in shaping their future.

    We must also do our utmost to empower women so they can play a full role in sustainable development and sustainable peace.  I am pleased that the African Union has consistently placed a special focus on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

    I have seen it again and again:  When we empower women, we empower the world.

    I travelled to Africa as a partner, friend and committed advocate for changing the narrative about this diverse and vital continent.  Crises represent at best a partial view.  But from a higher platform of cooperation, we can see the whole picture – one that spotlights the enormous potential and remarkable success stories in every corner of the African continent.  With that perspective, I have no doubt we can win the battle for sustainable and inclusive development which are also the best weapons to prevent conflict and suffering, allowing Africa to shine even more vibrantly and inspire the world.

     

    • António Guterres,

    Secretary General, United Nations.

  • Africa: A Continent of Hope- UN Secretary

    Africa: A Continent of Hope- UN Secretary

    Far too often, the world views Africa through the prism of problems. When I look to Africa, I see a continent of hope, promise and vast potential.

    I am committed to building on those strengths and establishing a higher platform of cooperation between the United Nations and the leaders and people of Africa. This is essential to advancing inclusive and sustainable development and deepening cooperation for peace and security.

    That is the message I carried to the recent African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia — my first major mission as United Nations Secretary-General.

    Above all, I came in a spirit of profound solidarity and respect. I am convinced that the world has much to gain from African wisdom, ideas and solutions.

    I also brought with me a deep sense of gratitude. Africa provides the majority of United Nations peacekeepers around the world. African nations are among the world’s largest and most generous hosts of refugees. Africa includes some of the world’s fastest growing economies.

    The recent resolution of the political crisis in the Gambia once again demonstrated the power of African leadership and unity to overcome governance challenges and uphold democracy, human rights and the rule of law.

    I left the Summit more convinced than ever that all of humanity will benefit by listening, learning and working with the people of Africa.

    We have the plans in place to build a better future. The international community has entered the second year of implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, an all-out effort to tackle global poverty, inequality, instability and injustice. Africa has adopted its own complementary and ambitious plan: Agenda 2063.

    For the people of Africa to fully benefit from these important efforts, these two agendas need to be strategically aligned.

    It starts with prevention. Our world needs to move from managing crises to preventing them in the first place. We need to break the cycle of responding too late and too little.

    Most of today’s conflicts are internal, triggered by competition for power and resources, inequality, marginalization and sectarian divides. Often, they are inflamed by violent extremism or provide the fuel for it.

    The United Nations is committed to working hand-in-hand with partners wherever conflict or the threat of conflict endangers stability and well-being.

    But prevention goes far beyond focusing solely on conflict. The best means of prevention and the surest path to durable peace is inclusive and sustainable development.

    We can speed progress by doing more to provide opportunities and hope to young people. More than three out of five Africans are under 35 years of age. Making the most of this tremendous asset means more investment in education, training, decent work, and engaging young people in shaping their future.

    We must also do our utmost to empower women so they can play a full role in sustainable development and sustainable peace. I am pleased that the African Union has consistently placed a special focus on gender equality and women’s empowerment.

    I have seen it again and again: When we empower women, we empower the world.

    I travelled to Africa as a partner, friend and committed advocate for changing the narrative about this diverse and vital continent. Crises represent at best a partial view. But from a higher platform of cooperation, we can see the whole picture – one that spotlights the enormous potential and remarkable success stories in every corner of the African continent.

    With that perspective, I have no doubt we can win the battle for sustainable and inclusive development which are also the best weapons to prevent conflict and suffering, allowing Africa to shine even more vibrantly and inspire the world.

    António Guterres is Secretary-General of the United Nations

  • Senate hearing on NDBN bill rekindles NERFUND’s workers’ hope

    Senate Committee on Banks, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions held a public hearing on the bill to establish the National Development Bank of Nigeria (NDBN). Some stakeholders say the proposal is timely, reports JOHN OFIKHENUA.

    The deliberations on the bill proposing to establish the National Development Bank of Nigeria (NDB) has revived the dying hope of staff and management of the National Economic Reconstruction Fund (NERFUND), whose faith has been hanging in the balance since 2000. Soon after the hearing on December 5 in Abuja, some of the staff cheered,, saying that they see light at the end of the tunnel. They said the public hearing has reawakened the hope that should the bill scale through, at the very minimum, their jobs will be secured.  One of them who asked not to be named, said: “We are very elated. At the end of the day our cries have been heard and our sufferings will now be assuaged by the legislative action. We, in  NERFUND are of the opinion that if it is passed, it will help to safeguard their jobs. We have  been waiting for this day,” they said.

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2001, merged the Bank of Industry (BoI), the Nigeria Industrial Development Bank (NIDB) and NERFUND to form the Bank of Industry, but along the line, the merger wasn’t consummated. However what only took place was the amendment of the Memoranda and Articles of Association of NIDB in order to absolve the assets of NBCI. The ploy made the merger cumbersome and encumbered till this day. This new bill wants to sanitise this whole exercise by repealing the NERFUND Act, dissolve the Bank of Industry and establish a National Development Bank (NDB).

    During the Public Hearing, the Chairman, Senate Committee on Banks, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI ), Senator Rafiu Ibrahim said that he was aware that vested interests did not allow the merger to happen as the Federal Government directed, saying he is aware that BoI is claiming that it has today merged with NIDC and NBCI to become the  Bank of Industry. But he is aware that the management of the Bank of Industry did not resolve and settle the staff of NBCI, but simply took over the asset of NBCI and allowed the staff to go away disgruntled. They were never severed even though they were qualified to be absolved. They are still there angry and they are writing petitions every day. NERFUND has been under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Finance, hence its insulation from the fate of NBCI.

    Although NERFUND has not been through the NBCI journey, it has its own history of neglect and near abandonment. The last board of NERFUND was dissolved in 1993, and since then, the Federal Ministry of Finance has not constituted another board. Instead it created an Interim Management Committee (IMC) chaired by the Minister/Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance. Consequently, the ministry has been nominating acting Managing Directors of NERFUND from 2000 till date.  An industry source who made this known to The Nation on the condition of anonymity, said the situation has plunged the FUND into limbo, culminating in its poor performance.

    The source said due the absence of a substantive leadership, “ NERFUND began to do what DFIs should not do. It started funding political projects which may not have met the minimum eligibility for funding. But because they are coming from some politicians or politically exposed individuals, they will just collect notes and give them the money.”

    The bill is now seeking to  repeal the NERFUND Act and also dissolve the Bank of Industry (BOI) , and as well repeal the Act establishing the Nigerian Bank of Commerce and Industry (NBCI).

    In his memorandum at the hearing, the National President, National Association of Small Scale Industries (NASSI),  Ezekiel Essien pointed out that the association was pleased that the Federal Government has decided to float the NDB, expressing the hope that it’s establishment would deepen diversity in the sub sector and not otherwise.

    Making case for the establishment of the new bank, he said despite the popular notion that it is more desirable to have one single Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), for the whole country to service over 180 million population, it is clearly not the usual practice in other countries across the world. For instance, while Nigeria has only five DFIs, South Africa has 12.”

  • Hope rises for economy as Nigeria, others get OPEC relief

    Hope rises for economy as Nigeria, others get OPEC relief

    The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) OPEC stunned the business world at its 171st Conference last Wednesday. The cartel announced that its members will cut production by 1.2 million barrels daily. Nigeria, Libya and Iran were exempted. Assistant Editor NDUKA CHIEJINA, who was in Vienna, the Austrian capital, venue of the conference writes that the planned cut remains the most significant business decision taken by the cartel in a decade.

    After some failed attempts, the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has taken a step to protect its members’ pot of cash. Skeptics were confounded last Wednesday when members of the cartel agreed in Vienna, the Austrian capital, to cut supply as outlined in Algiers two months ago.

    The cartel agreed to cut production by about 1.2 million barrels a day to 32.5 million. It also secured a commitment from Russia to reduce its output by 300,000 next year. Non-OPEC members were also convinced to key into the deal.

    It was OPEC’s first production cut  in eight years and a move intended to reduce the global oil stockpiles which have grown to unmanageable levels as well as boost the revenue of member-countries, many of whom have slid into financial crises.

    The journey to the historic cut was not without intrigues, petro-diplomacy and stiff opposition. Those opposed to the deal were allowed to part ways with the organisation if it sailed through.  The ‘Algiers Accord’ first move to cut production, was reached in September. A high-level committee on the implementation of the ‘Algiers Accord’ was raised and mandated to form a consensus among OPEC members on the basis of a proposal put forward by Algeria to implement a new range of targeted production levels.

    After the accord came the petro-diplomacy of OPEC’s Secretary-General, Mohammed Barkindo. The shuttle diplomacy saw the Nigerian-born Barkindo visiting Iran, Iraq, Russia, Saudi Arabia. He was invited by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in October for assurances that the cartel would find a solution to the ‘run-away’ price of crude oil. Beyond the trips, Barkindo used other approaches, including phone calls. It was learnt that he exchange messages with oil ministers’ of OPEC and non-OPEC member-countries on WhatsApp platforms, all in a bid to drum up support for the decision.

    “I had to go to Baghdad and Tehran to meet their leaderships, because at some points, the issues became more political than the issues on the ground, and therefore necessitated the need to meet with their leaderships to seek for their understanding, supports and to facilitate dialogue within the group”, Barkindo told The Nation in Vienna last week.

    At OPEC’s 171st Conference, the cartel’s President, who doubles  as the Energy & Industry Minister of the State of Qatar, Dr. Mohammed Bin Saleh Al-Sada, said member-countries “in line with recommendations from the high-level committee of the ‘Algiers Accord’, agreed to institutionalise a framework for cooperation between OPEC and non-OPEC producing countries on a regular and sustainable basis. The conference underscored the importance of other producing countries joining the agreement.

    “Russia was engaged on this and with the help and assurances from Saudi that OPEC members would agree to production cut in support of Russia’s assistance to get non-OPEC members to also agree to some measure of cuts to help raise the price of crude.”

    Barkindo told reporters that “bigger volumes of oil in storage mean lower prices, but the agreement of last Wednesday to cut production will accelerate the decline of global stockpiles.”

    Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio del Pino at the end of the conference told Bloomberg that “within nine months, OPEC’s deal should bring inventories closer to normal levels and potentially lift crude prices as high as $70 a barrel.”

    Barely days after the production cut announcement, the price of crude oil has crossed the $50 per barrel border with Brent reaching its highest level in more than a year. The deal is expected to bring global oil supply and demand back into balance early next year, faster than previously expected.

    Not a smooth sail all through

    But it was not a smooth sail. Indonesia, which only returned to OPEC last year after a seven-year absence threw spanner in the works as the deal inched towards completion. The returnee OPEC member was however sacrificed to see the deal through.

    Indonesia, which has been buying more oil than its production was sacrificed.  So, its objection to the planned cut at the minister’s’ meeting was a view the cartel could not entertain. The Asian country was therefore obliged to suspend itself again from the cartel.

    According to Bloomberg whose contact was privy to pre-decision negotiations at the ministers’ meeting, “the terms of the agreement obliged the Asian country to cut output by 34,000 barrels a day, yet its delegation was permitted to authorise a reduction of just 5,000. The difference – a minuscule 0.03 per cent of global output – was about to derail the biggest oil-market accord in years. A harsh solution was chosen: for a second time, Indonesia’s membership was to be suspended.”

    In his capacity as OPEC president, Al-Sada announced that Indonesia’s quota cut would be spread among other members in order to keep production from getting out of control.

    No cut for Nigeria, Libya, Iran

    Another issue that generated a lot of talk after the conference was the exclusion of Nigeria, Libya and Iran from the implementation of the production cut.

    Libya was exempted because of the ongoing crisis in the country since the death of its former leader Mohammed Ghadafi.

    The  grace was extended to Nigeria because of the activities of Niger Delta militants, who have consistently attacked oil infrastructure. The attendant effect of pipeline vandalism (which has not allowed the country to meet it daily production quota) on the economy, informed OPEC’s decision to leave out Nigeria.

    Barkindo said on the decision: “Nigeria is a very important member of OPEC. It has always been a leading advocate of market stability. What OPEC did in drafting the Algiers accord, if you recall, is to take into account the special circumstances of Nigeria plus Iran and Libya, to allow these other countries to restore their production capacity and capabilities before they can participate in any supply management.”

    Nigeria, whose output has been crippled by militant attacks on its oil facilities could see production rise to 1.65 million barrels a day next year from 1.57 million a day in October, Deutsche Bank AG analysts said in a report.

    “One of the key things, and potentially the deal breaker, will be what happens if Nigeria or Libya recovers some of their production,” said Spencer Welch, a director at consultants IHS Energy. “Will OPEC stick to the 32.5 million maximum, and if so, who will provide the extra cuts?”

    Task before Fed Govt

    To leverage on Nigeria’s exemption, the Federal Government  must find a way stop the militants in the Niger Delta from bombing oil facilities by adopting a peaceful solution, rather applying military force to solve the problem.

    By peacefully securing the goodwill of the militants to stop the attacks, the government will make gains from accruing revenue from crude oil sale and at a reasonable price.

    However, time is of the essence. The six months of assessing the agreement would soon expire and should the government and the militants failed to strike a deal, the exemption would be of no significant benefit to Nigeria and its economy, which is already in recession, will be the worse for it.

    But, there are concerns that “even if countries stick to their output caps, those that were granted exemptions could make the collective target unreachable if they boost production. The difficulty of monitoring non-OPEC cuts adds a further layer of uncertainty.”

    Olivier Jakob, managing director of Zug, Switzerland-based consultants Petromatrix GmbH lamented: “You do have a problem with production compliance for sure. Rising output from Libya and Nigeria – both exempt from cuts – will push OPEC production beyond the quota next quarter, while it will be very difficult to get 100 percent compliance from non-OPEC countries.”

    Financial giant and keen market watcher Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said in its analysis: “Focus will now shift to implementation. Evidence of compliance could add $6 a barrel to its oil-price outlook.”

    Another oil market analyst, Jefferies Group LLC, said: “OPEC’s adherence to the agreement will be critical and its track record is poor, while compliance by non-OPEC producers is even more tenuous.”

  • Hope rising for Southwest

    Hope rising for Southwest

    My heart is full of joy today. No, I did not win a lottery and nothing has changed in my personal circumstance. Indeed, given the uncertainties of life following the general election in my adopted and beloved country, there is plenty to worry a reflective mind. But with the one who can take control of everything and calm the tide and turbulence of life in charge, worrying is unwarranted.

    I have joy in my heart because something great and desirable is finally happening in my native land as hope rises for the West. “It is God’s doing and it is marvellous in our eyes.”

    Between October 7 and October 21, 2016 I did a three-part series on “Rethinking Southwest priorities.” In the second part, I argued that our political leaders, who have been favoured by providence as the Joshuas of our time, must lead our people with vision to the Promised Land. The best way to do so, I observed, is to remove the artificial boundaries that stand in the way of regional development. I submitted as follows:

    “It was because I believe strongly that we must find a creative way of blurring the sharp and dangerous edges that the artificial boundaries between states have created, and remove the wedges that had effectively blocked the development of the entire region that I and other well-meaning citizens welcomed the emergence of the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) a bold initiative of the Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) a few years ago.

    For no matter the divisions, the people of Southwest are one and their leaders, no matter what the temptations are, must refrain from putting them asunder. States are supposedly created for administrative purposes. They must not be used in a way that retards growth or limit the opportunities for the people, and certainly never in a way that tears apart the fabric of the Yoruba nation.

    In the light of the difference between the past and the present Southwest in terms of the transition from one region to six states, what adjustments need to be made to ensure that the people still matter and their social and economic interests are enhanced?

    Voluntary regional integration must be the policy objective of the leaders of the states and region and party affiliation must not stand in the way of this important ideal. Years ago, I made this point in a keynote address to Egbe Omo Yoruba National Convention that took place in Baltimore, Maryland. It was also part of my submission when I gave the Bola Ige Memorial Lecture a few years ago. DAWN had not been established in those days, and the partisan war over rigged elections was still very much fierce. The challenge was for victims to accept the leadership of those who stole their mandate and work with them for the integration of the region. Happily, that war is over and political enemies of the past now wine and dine together on the same political table. 

    What needs to be overcome now is fiefdom mentality and leadership temptation to resist cross-fertilisation of ideas and practices across territorial boundaries.”

    I never doubted the leadership credentials of our governors and political leaders. Neither did I question their patriotic fervour. The joy in my heart today is that my assumptions have been proved true and my argument in the series has been determined to be valid and sound.

    I had challenged our political leaders on the general issue of regional integration for economic development.  I also challenged my dynamic governors Ajimobi and Aregbesola of Oyo and Osun states respectively on the LAUTECH crisis. A week later, I read about their meeting which resolved the crisis with an affirmation of the joint ownership of the institution by their two states. I sent both congratulatory messages in appreciation of their mature leadership. That was another excellent example of responsive governance.

    On the general issue of regional integration, I have always been aware of the strong commitment of our leaders to the concept. The challenge has been the frustrating combination of a willing spirit and a weak body. Yet the real solution for finding strength for the weakness of the body has ironically been to take the plunge and challenge the body. That is what has just occurred, thanks again to the recognition by the governors that a desperate time such as this needs a desperate solution.

    As I browse gleefully through the communique issued at the end of their conference on November 21, 2016, I could not resist calling our leader, Chief Adebisi Akande, to share my ecstatic state of mind with him. I was particularly thrilled that the governors affirmed the principle championed by Chief Obafemi Awolowo that the sole purpose of government is the welfare of the people. This is expressed brilliantly as the first item on the communique: “That the optimum interest of the Yoruba people should be the prime focus of the six state governments at all times, and that all politics within the region must henceforth be guided by the philosophy of politics of development.”

    Governor Ajimobi’s welcome statement set the ball rolling: “Let’s face it. We cannot continue to pretend that we can deal with the issues confronting our region and her people on a case-by-case, insular State basis. It will not work…State by state solutions, desirable as they might seem, are no longer enough. The capacity to optimise the space for development lies in collective thinking and actions, as well as effective collaborative governance.”

    Other resolutions in the communique are equally noteworthy and praiseworthy:

    “That regional cooperation, synergy and economies of scale are critical to the development of the region.

    “That good intentions are not enough unless backed by sincerity of purpose and commitment to action.

    “That the prosperity of any constituent part of the region is ultimately negated if other parts are not similarly prosperous.

    “That political difference should no longer be a barrier to the economic development of the region where the aggregate welfare of Yoruba people is concerned. All the states consequently agreed to work together within the framework of a people-centred development strategy.

     

    “A regime of continuity, regularity and urgency of interaction was canvassed and agreed upon by the meeting. The present crop of governors therefore agreed to bequeath to their people a good legacy reflective of the visions of our founding fathers and common ancestors.

    “The states also agreed to jointly embark on collaborative programmes in areas of common interest that require immediate action in the region. These include security, education, transportation infrastructure (roads, rail and water transportation), trade, commerce, agriculture and sports.

    “That the DAWN Commission (the regional development agency for pursuing the regional integration agenda of the states of Western Nigeria, comprising Ekiti, Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Osun and Oyo) should be vigorously strengthened to coordinate the regional development process.

    “That the current Chairman of the Southwest Governors’ Forum, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, should also serve as the chairman of the commission.

    “DAWN Commission shall consequently develop programmes and activities along the identified areas of cooperation and bring them up for cooperative implementation.”

    In a clear message of deviance to agents of destabilisation, and a courageous stand on the unity of the West, the governors boldly declared that “politics and external influence will not divide us.” What blood and historical ties have joined together, let no one attempt to put asunder.

    This is what progressives have urged since the beginning of the Fourth Republic. That Governor Fayose saw it fit and morally obligatory to sit with his peers in the All Progressive Congress, and that Governor Mimiko, despite the partisan bickering that fills the air of Ondo can send his SSG to meet with his political opponents because they all recognise their blood ties and place a premium on the welfare of our people, must go down as the beginning of another glorious era of the Southwest.

    I hope and pray that the new spirit of unity is sustained for the sake of the masses of our people whose lives would be positively impacted. The ball is now in the court of DAWN!

    HAPPY THANKSGIVING!