The Nation Newspaper

Tag: intervention

  • Intervention funds for tertiary institutions hits N727b in four years

    THE Federal Government said it has spent N727 billion on tertiary institutions in four years.

    Minister of Education Adamu Adamu stated this during the sixth edition of the Ministerial Press Briefing with reporters in Abuja at the weekend.

    The minister said: “Our focus for today’s briefing is on Federal Government’s intervention in critical areas of tertiary education in the life of the Buhari administration in the last four years.

    “During the period under review, the Federal Government through the instrumentality of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) allocated a total of N727,225,862,128.86 worth of investment in critical areas of infrastructural development in our tertiary institutions, especially in physical infrastructure, project maintenance, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) support, Entrepreneurship, Library development and special high impact projects, Academic Staff Training and Development, and Research, among others.

    “The TETFund intervention is aside from other sources of funding tertiary education such as the NEEDS ASSESSMENT, internally generated revenues of these institutions among others.”

    A breakdown of government’s investment in tertiary education as released by the minister indicated that in 2015, the government allocated N24.93 billion to 74 universities.

    “In 2016, each public university was allocated N1billion. Multiplied by 74 institutions, it brings the total allocation to public universities to N74.7 billion for year 2016.

    “In 2017, each public university was allocated N659 million multiplied by 74 universities; you have the total allocation to public universities to N48.8 billion for 2017.

    “In 2018, each public university in the country was allocated N785.8 million. Multiplied by 74 universities, it gives the total allocation to public universities to N58 billion for year 2018,” he added.

    Adamu accused the management of some tertiary institutions, which he did not name, of mismanagement of funds.

    He said his ministry would soon set up visitation panels to probe the finances of the institutions.

  • Edo intensifies intervention in Ekpoma, Irrua, Uromi

    Following the completion of major audit of roads in Edo State, Governor Godwin Obaseki has intensified repair work on 109 roads across the state, including key roads in Edo Central Senatorial District.

    Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Communication Strategy, Mr. Crusoe Osagie, said work has reached appreciable stage on Mousco – Ukpenu Road, Ekpoma; Irrua – Uromi Road; Secretariat Road, Igueben; Union Bank Road, Igueben and Uwenlebo Road, Ekpoma, among others.

    He added that the ongoing work across roads in Edo Central Senatorial District include cutting, earthwork, stone base and asphalting.

    According to him, “We are concerned about the state of roads across the state and have ensured contractors are mobilised to undertake this remedial work during the dry season, as promised. This work will touch on all parts of the state. It is to ensure that the major roads are in good state, at the least.”

    In Benin City, he said the affected roads include Boundary Road and Commercial Avenue, as well as Ogbelaka/Evborhan, Yoruba Street and Dumez Road.

    Major reconstruction work is ongoing in parts of Government Reservation Area (GRA) in Benin City, including Etete Junction on Adesuwa Road, where rehabilitation of failed portions are ongoing.

    Workers handling rehabilitation of failed portions of Etete Junction on Adesuwa Road, are expected to be deployed to 1st and 2nd Ugbor as well as other roads in the axis.

  • A muddle on social intervention

    SIR: A concerted anti – poverty strategy has for long been absent in Nigeria. This was accentuated with the advent of the structural adjustment programme in 1985 when the now discarded “Washington Consensus” virtually saw concerted state interventions outside of a skewed definition of a “market based framework” as an anachronism. Mercifully, this perspective has now been jettisoned. The exemplary success of the social intervention programmes of the government of Ignacio Lula da Silva provided ample evidence that anti – poverty programmes could be conducted without dislocating the (prudential) fiscal balance. Instructively “Lula’s” programmes in Brazil successfully raised 40 million people out of poverty in eight years – an astonishing piece of social engineering.

    In spite of continuing economic uncertainties, the present federal government has to be commended for placing an anti-poverty thrust at the heart of its social and economic policies. The two are clearly interwoven. With alarming poverty figures and so many children stubbornly still out of school, it is the sensible course to take. Sadly as with everything else in a dysfunctional democracy, the absence of a national democratic agreement on these programmes will inevitably drag them into the cesspool of contrived partisan bickering. Providing a position for fine tuning is very much in order; however, a clarion call for disbanding the programmes wholesale is unacceptable. Much more so since not even the perfunctory outline of an alternative is on offer.

    The attack on the Vice – President Yemi Osinbajo in the National Assembly this week should not be just discarded as pre-election jitters. It portrays a dysfunctional interpretation of the duties of a government in a democracy. It also goes into the heart of the duties, responsibilities of the state as well as the workings of the social contract which ought to be the grundnorm for the operations of a functioning democracy. Without a clear alternative, there is every reason to question the motivation of the transducers of Vice President Osinbajo. The programmes being implemented are in the manifesto with which the vice president’s party contested and won the election. It will be a swindle to jettison the programme once ensconced in office; fundamentally the programmes are actually needed. In the absence of even a perfunctory alternative, it is clear, that there is a fear which dares not speak its real name. Obviously, in the absence of a national democratic agreement on anything, there is a fear that the incumbent has stumbled on an election deciding battering ram. The absurdity here is that a political party cannot anywhere be expected to discard a programme because it will confer an electoral advantage. This sort of self-immolation has no precedence in political history which is hardly surprising.

    In addition there is something profoundly disturbing entailed. There is a revelation here of the interpretation of both political economy and the social contract on the part of both the parliamentarians as well as the merchandisers of ethnic interests who have not surprisingly jumped into the fray in an election season. The interpretation of the motive is important. It will appear that government policy should not be in the interest of the overwhelming majority as opposed to the long established benefits of a select few. It is not uncharitable to bring up inconvenient propositions. For example, we are not aware of opposition from the same sources to what are in effect subsidies to the well connected through the now ubiquitous AMCON. Through these pervasive bailouts, roughly sums worth an entire federal government budget have been used to ameliorate what ought to be moral hazards which ought to have been borne by the defaulting fat cats. The list goes on. Nary a word of dissent has come from these quarters about sweetheart privatisation deals, import duty waivers which during a better forgotten interregnum, used to be dished out like confetti at a raucous wedding. This attitude reveals a lot about an utmost contempt for the rights of the majority.

    The opportunity costs of bailouts for pampered elite is huge. It translates into a crumbling, dilapidated social infrastructure. It clearly affects the security framework through the inducement into existence of a “dangerous class “, a social strata lacking the means as well as the skills necessary to compete let alone survive in today’s conditions. It is worth noting that Osun State where many of today’s social intervention programmes had been initially pioneered, also has one of the lowest poverty rates in the country

    The economic benefits in terms of fighting poverty and transiting people out of poverty is unambiguous. Nigeria has always had a problem with the financial inclusiveness necessary to empower the underbanked. This is a way of tackling it. The regional governments in the 50s and the early 60s attempted to tackle the lack of access to capital with the establishment of the cooperative banks in the regions. Hitherto, we have always had a problem with the structure of the Anglo- Saxon banking system bequeathed by the colonial incursion with its debilitating emphasis on a short term framework. It was not just a “third world” problem. In the United Kingdom itself, it has been problem affecting the country’s competitiveness. The effect of the establishment of the cooperative banking model was demonstrably beneficial. It allowed access to capital through cooperatives to small holder farmers and helped those in the burgeoning urban distributive trade. Sadly the unintended consequences of the Soludo reforms and the emergence of the “mega banks” has disrupted this model. What we are seeing through “Tradermoni” and other initiatives, is the beginning of a fight back; it should be supported.

    It is clear that two roads face us in this country. Either to stick with a political economy based on cronyism which the incomparable Fela Kuti described as “paddy, paddy” government or to pursue policies which will be of benefit to the overwhelming majority and their families. The vice president will be derelict in his duties to allow himself to be bullied out of supporting the largest social intervention programmes since independence. Imperfect as they are, they must be fine-tuned, deepened and defended.

     

    • Ademiluyi a former newspaper editor wrote in from Osogbo, Osun State.

  • Danjuma’s intervention

    •That his sentiments resonate well with many Nigerians shows something is wrong somewhere

    Ordinarily he should not be one to indict an organisation in which he had a lifelong career that saw him rising to the apex of his martial profession. But speaking at the maiden convocation of Taraba State University, Jalingo, on Saturday, a former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma (retd), offered a searing and scathing verdict on the role of the Nigerian Armed Forces in handling the protracted clashes between herdsmen and farmers in Taraba and some other states over the last three years. This continuing and escalating violence has claimed thousands of lives, displaced scores of communities and destroyed a lot of properties.

    In the general’s unsparing words on the occasion, “There is an attempt at ethnic cleansing in the state (Taraba) and of course some rural states in Nigeria, we must resist it. We must stop it. Every one of us must rise up. Our armed forces are not neutral. They collude with the bandits to kill people, kill Nigerians…If you are depending on the armed forces to stop the killings, you will all die one by one”. This is a virtual declaration of no-confidence in the military and a rousing call on affected Nigerians to defend themselves against the marauding killers or face extinction. Gen Danjuma is also a former Minister of Defence.

    The military has described Danjuma’s assertions as uncalled-for and an incitement to anarchy while reiterating its neutrality and professionalism. In particular, the Ministry of Defence has taken exception to the general’s call on Nigerians to defend themselves in the face of the military’s seeming impotence to do so, stressing that the authorities will clamp down on anybody found carrying illegal weapons. This is ironical since the military has so far been inexplicably incapacitated from apprehending, arresting and containing the rampaging herdsmen who are mostly the aggressors and are armed with sophisticated weapons, including AK47 assault rifles.

    How many of these bandits have been arrested and brought before the law? Are the victims then expected to watch helplessly as their lives are snuffed out by vandals that the state seems helpless to contain and neutralise? That a significant number of Nigerians share Danjuma’s sentiments is a reflection of the increasing breakdown of the social contract that binds the citizen and the state. The state’s primary raison detre is to protect the lives and property of its people and when it fails in this duty, it loses the trust and confidence of citizens.

    According to Amnesty International, these clashes claimed 549 lives in 2017 and another 168 lives thus far in 2018. The states affected include Taraba, Adamawa, Benue, Ondo, Kaduna, Enugu, Zamfara, Plateau, Nasarawa, Niger, Cross River, Katsina, Delta and Kogi. It is believed that more lives have been lost in these clashes since 2015 than the ebbing Boko Haram conflagration in the North East has consumed. Some have argued that Danjuma is not a disinterested party in the affair, being of Jukun extraction from Taraba State. That is immaterial. It does not detract from the essential validity of his contention.

    The military admitted on Monday that it has received reports of misconduct of soldiers deployed to handle the herdsmen and Fulani clashes and acted swiftly to discipline those indicted though it claimed no such petitions emanated from Taraba State. This kind of information with appropriate details should be routinely made available to the public to engender public trust.

    There are two sides to the dispute – herdsmen and farmers. What is important to us is that no life should be lost needlessly, especially through the current alarming failure of intelligence and avoidable military lethargy. If President Muhammadu Buhari’s military chiefs are failing him in this regard, it is his responsibility to urgently appoint fresh hands to inject new energy and ideas into the bid to make every inch of Nigeria safe for citizens.

  • CBN sustains intervention in forex market

    To guarantee liquidity in the market, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), injected  $355.43 million into the Retail Secondary Market Intervention Sales (SMIS) at the weekend.

    Figures obtained from the CBN over the weekend revealed that the figure was to meet requests in the agricultural, airlines, petroleum products and raw materials and machinery sectors.

    The Bank’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Mr. Isaac Okorafor confirmed the figures, reiterating that the CBN interventions in the market were aimed at sustaining liquidity in the market as well as boosting production and trade.

    He explained that with increasing accretion to the country’s reserve, the Bank is in a much better position to ensure liquidity in the inter-bank sector of the market and as such would continue to intervene in order to drive growth in the economy and guarantee stability in the market, particularly now that the economy had gained steam due to an upsurge in the non-oil sector.

    With the rates closing at N360/$1 last Friday, Okorafor, expressed confidence that the bank’s forex intervention underscored its determination to maintain the country’s external reserves in order to safeguard the international value of the Naira.

    It will be recalled that the CBN, in its last SMIS in February 2018, injected  $321.4 million into the interbank market, while also intervening in the inter-bank Foreign Exchange Market to the tune of $210,000,000, comprising $100million for the wholesale segment and $55 million for both the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and invisibles segment.

  • Timely intervention

    Timely intervention

    •CBN’s order to banks on dividend payments could not have come at a better time

    Worried by the tide of rising Non-Performing Loans (NPLs), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last week directed Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) and discount houses (DHs) with huge bad loans and low capital base to stop payment of dividends to shareholders.

    Part of the letter dated January 31, read: “Globally, retained earnings have been identified as an important source of growing an institution’s capital. Advantages of retained earnings include being a source of long-term finance; being easier and cheaper to raise than external finance; curtailment of financial risks; and improving liquidity and profitability.

    “However, it has been observed that rather than take advantage of this beneficial means of capital generation, some institutions pay out a greater proportion of their profits, irrespective of their risk profile and the need to build resilience through adequate capital buffers.”

    It added: “In order to facilitate sufficient and adequate capital build-up for banks in tandem with their risk appetite, the following directives will now apply:

    “Any Deposit Money Bank or discount house that does not meet the minimum capital adequacy ratio shall not be allowed to pay dividend.

    “The DMBs and DHs that have a Composite Risk Rating of ‘High’ or a non-performing loan ratio of above 10 per cent shall not be allowed to pay dividend.

    “The DMBs and DHs that meet the minimum capital adequacy ratio but have a CRR of ‘Above Average’ or an NPL ratio of more than five per cent but less than 10 per cent shall have dividend pay-out ratio of not more than 30 per cent.

    “The DMBs and the DHs that have capital adequacy ratios of at least three per cent above the minimum requirement, the CRR of ‘Low’ and the NPL ratio of more than five per cent but less than 10 per cent, shall have dividend pay-out ratio of not more than 75 per cent of profit after tax.”

    The directive, apart from being explicit, is certainly timely. Aside underscoring the seriousness that the apex bank attaches to the issue of rising cases of bad loans, it comes as an emphatic signal that the corporate derelictions which allowed the problem to fester would no longer be condoned. After all, to say that the situation is bad is to put things mildly. At a time the CBN’s prescribed minimum NPL threshold is five per cent for banks, the level of NPL had long hit 15.18 per cent as of September 2017 – a leap of 50 percent from N1.6tn in December 2016 to N2.4tn.

    Whereas the development ordinarily, should have stoked the alarm button, what we have instead are pretensions by lenders that things are looking up even when their financials present a different picture; a situation where poor performers are allowed to get away with blue murder – through outlandish management expenses, fat executive compensations and crass, opportunistic dividend pay-outs, even if it involves dragging the entire financial services industry perilously along.

    The directive therefore comes across as a necessary dual-edged sword – one meant to sift the wheat from the chaff, while offering a lifeline for marginal performers to shore up their capital bases.

    Understandably, there are those who would baulk at the idea of ‘punishing’ the hordes of investors for the poor credit decisions of the banks’ management. In other words, why go after the hapless investors while sparing the executives behind most of the poor credit decisions of the regulatory axe? While the question is no doubt legitimate, no less legitimate is whether the shareholders are themselves not complicit in their acquiescence to a number of the questionable decisions by the management of the institutions.

    This leads to the question of whether the CBN can afford to do nothing. The situation, as it appears, comes basically to the simple choice – between the festering cannibal rage on the ailing entities on the one hand, and denial of current earnings on investments to guarantee the entities a chance to thrive on the other. Between the former and the later, it should not be difficult to see which of the alternatives the lesser evil is.

  • NLC seeks divine intervention over workers’ welfare

    NLC seeks divine intervention over workers’ welfare

    •Congress marks 40th anniversary

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has taken the battle for the rights of the Nigerian workers to God, seeking divine intervention in efforts aimed at addressing the challenges facing them.

    Its President, Comrade Abubakar Wabba, who led other labour leaders, including veterans, to a thanksgiving service at Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Abuja, said it was part of activities marking NLC 40th anniversary as a Labour centre

    He said the state of the Nigerian worker and the insensitivity of employers, especially government, has made it more compelling for workers to seek divine intervention.

    Restating the need for decent work for Nigerians, Wabba said the clamour for improved welfare for Nigerian workers cannot be overemphasised, adding that “in the last 40 years, God has been so faithful to our movement”.

    “We have gone through a lot of travails; we have gone through a lot of successes. So, going forward is to thank God for where we are coming from. And definitely, the grace of God will be sufficient to carry the organisation forward.

    “Many organisations were not able to live up to the period we have lived and looking at their challenges, therefore today’s event is to thank God and going forward is certainly to continue to rely on Him.”

    Catholic Bishop of Uromi Diocese in Edo State Most Rev. Donatus Ogun, who presided over the thanksgiving service, hailed the NLC for their continued the struggle for better working conditions for workers.

  • Reps hail CBN’s intervention projects

    Reps hail CBN’s intervention projects

    The House of Representatives Committee on Banking and Currency yesterday applauded the intervention project of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) at the Administrative Staff College (ASCON), Topo, Badagry Lagos.

    Speaking during the oversight visit of the Committee to CBN intervention projects in the South West geo-political zone, the Committee Chairman, Hon. Jones Onyereri, who led other members of the Committee, said that the Committee was impressed with the progress made in delivering on the project and the use of Nigerian  contractors in the project “We are impressed because we didn’t think we can get this kind of outcome judging from our first visit which shows that it will be indeed nice to patronize Nigerian contractors”. 

    Hon. Onyereri also commended the quality of job done by the contractors and noted that the CBN interventions at ASCON would create a conducive environment for learning, stating that they are worthwhile.

    Also in the inspection team were CBN’s Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department, Isaac Okorafor, and the Deputy Director in charge of the Projects, Oluwole Owoeye.

  • Community without king seeks Ambode’s intervention

    Community without king seeks Ambode’s intervention

    Hundreds of residents including members of Olofin Royal Family of Isheri-Oke Church in Ikosi-Isheri Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Lagos on Wednesday stormed the Lagos House and House of Assembly to demand for immediate intervention in the prolong “obaship tussle” in the community.

    They said there had been vacuum since the demise of the former king about 18 years ago.

    Government, they said, is yet to install the heir-apparent to the stool despite several appeals and petitions.

    The protesters, led by Lekan Odunsi, accused some influential persons in the government of behind the delay.

    They carry placards, which reads, “All we are saying give us Olofin Chieftaincy,” “Isheri Oke Church deserve a king,” “Governor Ambode Please stop the injustice and give us our throne,” “Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, stop embarrassing Ambode’s government.”

    According to Odunsi, a prince in the community: “For 18 years, the government has consistently refused to listen or consider the yearnings of our people’s request for the approval of their chosen monarch notwithstanding judicial and historical facts presented to successive governments.

    “Our long sufferings and oppression became manifest and aggravated in recent time when the family’s Chieftaincy Declaration for the Obaship stool presented a name to the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs for the requisite approval.”

    Odunsi lamented that the vacuum had led to the under development of the area because no leader could present their cases before the government

    “We demand that Governor Ambode to use his Executive Fiat to settle the matter,” he said.

    Responding on behalf of Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Adebisi Yusuf, assured that the matter would be given speedy attention and appropriate action be taken.

    “I can assure you that we, lawmakers will be thorough in looking at this. The house will set up a panel to investigate the matter and appropriate recommendation will be made and we shall surely invite you back as soon we arrived at a decision,” Yusuf said.

  • PLWDs: Lagos to establish early intervention centre

    The lagos State Government will in 2018 establish an Early Intervention Centre to provide therapy and educational support services for infants and young children with special needs, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode yesterday said

    The centre, according to Ambode, will enable the government equip such children with skills to develop their potential, thereby overcoming identified developmental delays as far as possible.

    He spoke at the 2017 International Day of Persons Living with Disabilities (PLWDs) organised by the Office of Disability Affairs (LASODA).

    “As a government, we will continue to embark on initiatives to improve the quality of lives of our people. We will always work to develop the productive capacity of persons with disabilities and give them opportunities to play a role in socio-economic growth of our State,” he said.

    Restating the fact that there is ability in every disability, the Governor advised PLWDs not to allow any circumstance limit their progress and life aspirations, adding that they must strive to achieve the best in everything and command respect from people in the society.

    Ambode said it was important for the general public to refrain from looking down on PLWDs but rather look out for their good qualities.

    While reeling out some of the interventions of his administration, the Governor said a total of 250 PLWDs were recently employed into the State’s Civil Service, Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas, while more would be employed next year.

    “Similarly, 500 persons have also benefitted from the State government’s special empowerment programme drawn from the N500 million Special People’s Fund established by our administration, while various assistive technologies, mobility aids and financial grants were given to 2,000 persons living with disabilities and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) involved in taking care of such categories of people,” he said.

    The Governor, who recalled his promise to deliver an all-inclusive government in which no one would be left behind, said the event was another opportunity to reaffirm the policy of his administration, just as he assured that the welfare and well-being of PLWDs would always be a priority.

    At the event, awards were given to various caregivers and NGOs involved in disability affairs, while there were also performances by groups of disabled people including Divine Melody Makers Band, Down Syndrome Society and Wesley School for the Deaf and Hearing Impairment.