The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Inexcusable

  • Inexcusable!

    •It is inconceivable that instead of sending budget to NASS, FG is giving excuses for delay

    IT is indeed scandalous and no excuse seems tenable. The presidency and the entire executive arm of government must accept responsibility for holding on to the Appropriation Bill for 2019 up to this moment.

    The last quarter of 2018 is almost ended and the news emanating from the Presidency is a mere excuse why next year’s budget has not been transmitted to the National Assembly (NASS).

    Speaking last week, Solomon Ita-Enang, adviser to the president on National Assembly matters noted that the Presidency has not presented the 2019 budget because the Medium Term Expenditure Framework/Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP) is yet to be passed by the legislature. Ita-Enang was apparently reacting to the growing disquiet the non-presentation of next year’s budget to the Senate till date is causing. We consider this a flimsy excuse, to put it mildly.

    The federal budget has been coming progressively late since the Muhammadu Buhari administration came on board in 2015. The 2016 budget which marked the first spending estimates prepared by the administration was transmitted to the legislature December 21, 2015. It was passed by NASS in March 2016, and was not assented to by the president until May of the same year.

    The 2017 budget was presented to the assembly mid-December 2016 and was signed into law by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo in June 2017; while President Buhari presented the 2018 proposals in November, 2017 and signed it only last June.

    It wasn’t that previous governments met the stipulated January date of every year for public presentation of the signed Appropriation Act by the president, but delays were never this lax and consistent. Suddenly there seems to be a total lack of coordination in the budgeting process while it seems there is no attempt to normalise the budget cycle.

    The first appropriation bill by the administration (2016) was so fraught with discrepancies that the director-general of the Budget Office, Yahaya Gusau, had to be eased out. Sloppiness also seems to pork-mark the document yearly, necessitating recall sometimes and of course, causing delay.

    Lately too, ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) have exhibited unacceptable reluctance to forward their appropriation documents to the NASS. For instance, during the consideration of the 2018 proposals, many MDAs would not present their estimates and when they eventuallydid, some were decidedly unworthy of consideration.

    In many cases, heads of such MDAs shunned the invitation of the NASS. This is a major cause of delay of the annual federal budget.

    Though these days the appropriation documents are already late before they arrive the NASS, the legislators also compound a bad situation by seeming to filibuster and play politics with what is supposed to be a most crucial task.

    In the midst of reviewing the current budget, the NASS had to abandon it and proceed on a long recess. It is expected that since the budget comes in late, the lawmakers would expedite action upon it, even if it means postponing their break for a couple of weeks.

    On the contrary, the legislature has not accorded the appropriation bill the urgency it requires. It is always as if they do not understand the importance and magnitude of this singular bill.

    We urge the executive branch to make conscious effort to return the budgeting process to its normal cycle of January to December. This is not an impossible task. Between the Budget Office and the Federal Ministry of Finance, they have 12 months to work on the appropriation bill each year.

    There usually should be very little variances between the subsisting budget and the next one. Recurrent expenditures are basically the same or would require only slight adjustments while proposed capital spending would be affected mainly by expected revenues, size of deficits and government’s ambition.

    Since there is already a template requiring slight adjustments, we wonder why budget estimates cannot be transmitted to the National Assembly in the first quarter of every year After all, it’s only a proposal.

  • Inexcusable mess

    Evidently, the planned payment of the entitlements of ex-Nigeria Airways workers needs better planning.  Over 4,000 ex-workers of the defunct national carrier were expected to be verified for payment of their retirement and severance packages, following an announcement that the Federal Government had approved N22.68bn out of the N45bn owed them.

    The Ministry of Finance had issued a statement saying bio-metric data of the beneficiaries would be captured before the payment. The exercise was scheduled to start on October 15.  But, according to reports, the Lagos centre, Sky-Power Catering, Murtala Muhammed Airport, has been a scene of disorder since the verification began.

    One of the retirees was quoted as saying:  “The whole arrangement is chaotic and logistics is very poor and traumatising. Most of the people here are over 70 years old, so you can imagine subjecting them to this kind of situation. On Monday, nothing could happen; people spent the whole of the day here but there was no power back-up for whatever they were doing; they claimed that the server was not working.”

    The complaint continued: “Today (Tuesday), they are claiming that the printers are not working when there is so much to do. They are not attending to people and many people are becoming restive and unruly.”

    The exercise is scheduled to end on October 21. The reported disorderliness doesn’t help matters. For the retirees, it has been an agonising wait for the payment of their entitlements since the then President Olusegun Obasanjo liquidated the national carrier in 2004.

    From the look of things, the long wait is not over. Apart from the complication of the disorganised verification, there is no information about when the payment would begin. One of the ex-workers was quoted as saying:  “We don’t know when the actual payment is going to start; there is no statement from anywhere.”

    This is not how to plan a long-overdue payment. A process that should be a relief to those who have been waiting for their terminal benefits has only compounded their distress. The mess is inexcusable.

  • Inexcusable violence

    •It is high time federal and Kaduna state governments stanched the bloodshed in southern Kaduna

    The spate of violence in Southern Kaduna has brought to the front burner the contagion of death and destruction across the country. Recently, hordes of Fulani herdsmen attacked communities in Southern Kaduna and killed about 40 citizens with many homes destroyed in another chapter of sadism in contemporary Nigeria.

    The killings in Kaduna State were put in perspective by the president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Dr. Samson Ayokunle, amidst representatives of 25 villages caught in the spasms of violence. The CAN president reported that 102 persons have been killed, 215 injured and about 50,000 homes burnt within six months by the band of bandits.

    The motives of the slaughter have generated controversy in the past week with the CAN president and the Kaduna State governor propounding contradictory notions. The CAN president calls it genocide, ethnic and religious cleansing. He said the Christian communities of Godogodo and Gidan Waya in the Jema’ah local government area are facing dangers of extinction and genocide. “Is this not Boko Haram in another colour?” he posed.

    In his reaction, Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State lashed back, saying that the wanton killings were motivated by mere criminality and banditry.  He linked the murders in his state to the attacks on the Fulanis of Zamfara State.

    Hear him: “The perpetrators of the attacks in both Southern Kaduna and Zamfara State are just criminals; their ethnicity and religion do not matter.” He said he had set up a committee to look into the killings and the findings of the General Martin Luther Agwai panel traced the rage to the 2011 post-elections killings of the Fulanis from Cameroon and Niger Republic.

    “It was a small problem that started in Ninte, Godogodo that could have been handled better by both Fulani and community elders,” he said.

    Two questions come out of this assertion from Governor El Rufai. One, there have not been records of arrest till date and the killers are still at large and lurking with menace. We need the culprits tried in public so we can ascertain their motives. Two, if the matter began in Southern Kaduna and it was a revenge action, why are they wreaking mayhem in relatively distant Zamfara and not even in northern or other parts of Kaduna? The use of the phrase, “Fulani and community elders” reflects a dodgy pose, avoiding specifying the “community” elders.

    The northern leaders as well as President Muhammadu Buhari have constantly blamed the killings on foreigners. This is an old song. If they come from outside the country, is it not high time the security forces came to the bottom of the matter? The civil society has not been as vulnerable as it has been in the past year, and we cannot survive on excuses and recriminations.

    Southern Kaduna citizens deserve peace, whether the mayhem is actuated by insular ideas or mere criminality. In the past half year, about 10,000 persons have been displaced and 30,000 hectares of land destroyed. Solomon Musa, the chairman of the Southern Kaduna People’s Union, said, “it has now become abundantly clear to even the worst sceptics that southern Kaduna has become a killing field, where genocide is taking place unabated.”

    Twenty-five villages constitute a vast territory, both in real estate and human activities. For a few blood hounds to hold it to ransom belittles our security apparatus, including our secret service.

    As Ayokunle noted, “this is a moment of truth. It is not of politics, religion or ethnicity.” And as Governor El Rufai urged: “Let’s fight the problem” without sentiments.

  • Inexcusable hunger

    Inexcusable hunger

    •The Federal Government should rise to the needs of IDPs

    When Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have their situation compounded by hunger, it is easy for them to explode out of anger. Therefore, the disruptive August 25 protest by IDPs in Maiduguri, Borno State, was perhaps understandable. The protesters reportedly chanted:   ”We’re hungry and we don’t want any feeding committee again because they aren’t giving us quality food. Give us our foods directly.”

    A report captured the scale of the disruption: “Hundreds of the displaced persons, the majority of whom are women, took to the streets between 9am and 1pm on Thursday, barricading the Maiduguri-Kano/Jos Road, the major road leading into the town, to protest what they claimed was shortage of food supply at the Arabic Teachers College camp in the state capital. The protesters obstructed vehicular movement and grounded business activities in the town as commuters were unable to pass.”

    Ironically, the agency expected to ensure that the refugee crisis is well managed has been accused of mismanaging it. The accusation was pointed enough. The state’s commissioner for local government and emirate affairs, Alhaji Usman Zannah, was quoted as saying: “Thursday’s protests of IDPs over poor feeding was caused by inadequate supply of food items from National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). In the last three months, NEMA has failed to live up to its expectation of providing food items to IDPs in Borno, despite Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which stipulated that the state government provides condiments, while NEMA provides food items to IDPs.”

    No doubt, this picture of NEMA’s alleged failure is bad for the agency’s image, considering that it should normally be rated based on the effectiveness of its emergency response. In this case, it is tragic that the tragedy of displacement by terrorism seems to have been deepened by an organisation established to provide succour to the displaced.

    It is disturbing that camps for IDPs have become camps of hunger and anger. In July, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said that nearly 250,000 children were suffering from “severe acute malnutrition” in Borno State as a result of acts of terrorism by Boko Haram.  UNICEF Nigeria Representative Jean Gough was quoted as saying: “Unless we reach these children with treatment, one in five of them will die.”

    Also in the same month, the Federal Government declared a nutrition emergency in Borno State following an emergency meeting with the state government on the malnutrition crisis. The conflict in the country’s north-eastern region has reportedly displaced 2.4 million people and has stretched food insecurity and malnutrition to emergency levels. Over half a million people require immediate food assistance, and the majority of them are either displaced by the conflict or members of the communities hosting the displaced.

    There is no room for ineffective intervention. It is lamentable that the country’s terrorism-related internal refugees are hungry and dying allegedly as a result of inexcusably inept emergency management – or is it better described as emergency mismanagement?

    What provoked the Maiduguri protest was not only serious enough to trigger a complaint by IDPs; it was also serious enough to require the intervention of the Borno State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Usman Durkwa, before normality was restored. Durkwa reportedly granted the wish of the protesters and “announced the immediate suspension of the central feeding committee at the camp and the introduction of household feeding.”

    The situation calls for all hands on deck. Those who are displaced are also distressed, and they deserve help. It is inexcusable that IDPs are allowed to further suffer as a result of hunger. Internal displacement should not mean eternal suffering. The authorities should take urgent action to tackle an urgent situation.

  • Apapa’s inexcusable neglect

    Apapa’s inexcusable neglect

    •The Federal Government should step in urgently to free the most important port

    As a result of its clement climate, expansive beach and unique topography, Apapa was, once upon a time, one of the most serene and liveable parts of Lagos. Today, the story has turned tragic. Apapa has degenerated into a pitiable sight of perennial traffic congestion, environmental pollution, security vulnerability and abysmal infrastructural decay through inexcusable neglect, especially by the Federal Government. Apapa is one of the major reasons why Lagos is the industrial hub, commercial nerve-centre and economic capital of Nigeria.

    It is so easy to see why Apapa is a key pillar of the Nigerian economy. This area is one of the country’s most prominent industrial districts. It hosts the economically critical and strategic Apapa Quay as well as Tin Can Island Ports. As a result of its sea port, Apapa is an important centre for naval activities critical to the security of the nation. Major Federal Government establishments, including the Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian Maritime Safety Agency (NIMASA) and military installations are located in Apapa.

    The NPA, NIMASA and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) generate billions of Naira to the national treasury from the Apapa ports. It is estimated, for instance, that the NCS alone contributes no less than N35 billion monthly to the national coffers from the ports at Apapa. Imported petroleum products are lifted and distributed to all parts of the country from Apapa. Similarly, goods are imported and transported to all parts of the country and even neighbouring African countries through the Apapa ports.

    Given its importance to the country’s economic well- being, we find it difficult to understand why, despite several unfulfilled promises, the Federal Government has completely neglected the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway, which is the major route to Apapa. As a result of the deplorable condition of the road, living or working in Apapa has become a veritable hell.

    Several man hours are lost to daily protracted traffic congestions on this route, with damaging implications for the economy. This diminishes national productivity considerably. Exhaust fumes from vehicles trapped for hours in traffic gridlock worsen the challenge of environmental pollution. Of course, this inevitably impacts negatively on the health of the citizenry. Apart from inhaling polluted air, spending several frustrating hours in traffic will increase the stress levels of commuters with serious implications for their life span. The difficulty in accessing Apapa is a disincentive to working or living there. Inevitably, many businesses have relocated from Apapa to more conducive environments, the productivity and profitability of industries operating in the area is badly affected and the value of real estate has depreciated.

    The problem of Apapa is compounded by the indiscriminate issuance of tank farm licences to oil firms reportedly without consultation either with the Lagos State government or the Apapa Local Government. These tank farms increase the population pressure on Apapa and have created the menace of hundreds of petrol tankers parking indiscriminately on and blocking the highway as they await their turn to lift petroleum products to different parts of the country. These trucks conveying highly inflammable products make Apapa vulnerable to major fire disasters in a country with a poor record of effective response to emergencies.

    Again, the heavy traffic of thousands of articulated trucks and petroleum tankers moving to and from the Apapa ports takes a heavy toll on Lagos roads. We call on the Federal Government to urgently live up to its responsibility of fixing the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway as well as sanitising the licensing and functioning of tank farms in Apapa. Beyond this, since the Federal Government reaps such huge revenues from Lagos, particularly the Apapa ports, it is only just that the state be paid a reasonable percentage as derivation compensation to enable her effectively maintain the infrastructure and services from which the entire nation benefits.

  • Inexcusable negligence

    Inexcusable negligence

    Festive occasions such as Christmas and the transition to a new year are times when responsible organisations – public and private – do everything to ensure that they do not default on their obligation to promptly pay their workers’ salaries and allowances. This is to enable the employees meet their responsibilities to their families and participate in the joyous spirit of the season.

    It is thus scandalous that thousands of federal civil servants reportedly spent the last Christmas period and New Year in distress and deprivation because of the non-payment of their December salaries. To worsen matters, they also said they are being owed outstanding emoluments since July 2013. This clearly inexcusable situation has prompted the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) to call on the Federal Government to redeem its obligation to its members or face industrial action.

    Of course, the duty of an organisation to pay the salaries and allowances of its workers is not limited to festive periods. It is a legal obligation, which must be met at all times once the workforce fulfils its own part of the bargain. The ASCSN is thus in order when it asked the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to explain why the Federal Government could not pay salaries to its workers as and when due, especially since she has consistently maintained that the country is not broke.

    We can understand the agitation of the association when it asserts that “if federal civil servants are not paid their December 2013 salaries and arrears outstanding since July 2013 immediately, the entire Federal Civil Service will be shut down shortly”. The ASCSN can also not be faulted when it contends that “It is difficult to understand why civil servants cannot be paid their paltry salaries in an economy where the political elite are carting away millions of Naira monthly as remunerations while billions of public funds are being looted without qualms and those involved in the stealing spree are not being brought to book”.

    We find the response of the Federal Ministry of Finance to this brewing crisis rather tepid and unconvincing. The ministry gives the impression that it is unaware of the non-payment of the December, 2013, salaries as well as six months emoluments of the aggrieved civil servants. If so, this is nothing but inexcusable negligence. Again, the finance ministry claims that the feedback it got from many civil servants is that they had been paid and the problem is not thus a generalised one. It is our position that there is no excuse for owing even one worker his or her legitimate earnings.

    It is also a weak excuse for the ministry to attribute what it calls ‘few delays’ in payment to the alleged failure of individual civil servants and their ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) to update their accounts to meet the requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). The ministry has the responsibility to sensitise and pressurise the affected MDAs to meet their statutory requirement in this regard. In any case, if the problem is not more widespread than the ministry suggests, it is unlikely that the threat of a nationwide strike by federal civil servants would today loom over the nation over this matter.

    We join the ASCSN in calling on President Goodluck Jonathan to intervene urgently and ensure that the grievances of the workers are speedily addressed before the situation degenerates. Incessant strikes by workers in diverse sectors of the economy have done so much harm already; another industrial action by federal civil servants will be one too many.