The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Local

  • Preference for foreign goods threatens local brands’

    Preference for foreign goods threatens local brands’

    Experts and operators in the manufacturing sector have identified consumers’ lack of confidence in local items as being responsible for the sector’s poor growth.

    The Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), Mr. Muda Yusuf, lamented that the challenges of indigenous manufacturers who are competing unfavourably with imported products arose because Nigerians prefer imported products more than locally made ones though they are of the same quality.

    “This has made local manufacturers resort to engraving foreign labels on their products to satisfy the local consumers who just love products with foreign labels,” he said.

    Also, Chairman, MOMAS Electric Meters Manufacturing Company Limited, Kola Balogun, regretted that Nigeria’s preoccupation with importation was doing a lot of harm to the local manufacturing sector.

    Balogun, who declared that the company is a strong believer in the local content policy of the Federal Government, said that Nigeria can no longer be dependent on other countries for its technological requirement and should, through a systematic approach and strong belief in the ability of Nigerians to develop and create value, come up with appropriate policies to encourage indigenous companies.

    He revealed that his firm is almost 100 per cent local content in human resources and materials, by employing young and enterprising Nigerians and equipping them adequately with requisite training locally and internationally.

    “We have invested a lot of resources in our people through training and retraining. Some of our engineers have been trained in India and in the US to ensure they compete favourably with their counterparts anywhere in the world,” Balogun said

    He said that with tenacity of purpose and appropriate technology, including smart technology and ruggedness, the company has become the manufacture of integrated circuit and silicon conductors. Noting that it is a bold step in the sector for an indigenous company because of its high technology value, he expressed concerns that the country was too comfortable importing items while the zeal to support local industry was waning.

    He said his company had developed world-class products to provide post-paid and prepaid electricity meters using the latest technologies in design and production. According to him, all the raw materials and personnel were locally sourced while young Nigerians were employed and trained to handle sensitive operations in the metering company.

    “We have invested a lot of resources in our people through training and retraining. Some of our engineers have been trained in India and the United States to ensure that they compete favourably with their counterparts anywhere in the world,” Balogun said, noting that it remains a challenge competing with foreign firms who had been given the necessary support by their home governments.

    He said: “We find it hard to compete favourably in the area of pricing if we have to go by international pricing index. When it comes to exports, most countries subsidise most companies that export products from their countries but we have a peculiar case in Nigeria.

    “If electricity passing through this area is used on our equipment, most of them will be damaged. So, we don’t depend on public power supply. We spend a lot generating power and that adds to the cost of production. The devaluation of the naira has also made it impossible for us to be at par with our foreign counterparts in terms of pricing.”

    He said what needs to be defined in the Local Content Act is that priority should be given to Nigerian companies that are good.

    Group Managing Director, Western Metal Products Company Limited, Robert Tung called for increased tariff on imported products as a way of discouraging imports and also protecting local content. Tung, who said his company had been in existence in Nigeria for the past 50 years, added that his products are of the highest quality but distributors usually insist that he puts foreign names on them.

    Tung urged Nigerians to be proud of goods manufactured locally, advising the government to discourage people from always looking for imported goods, as some of the imported items are of low quality. He also charged the  government to embark on an advocacy campaign that emphasises the ‘made-in-Nigeria’ brand.

    Tung, whose company produces high quality tiles, wire rods and all sizes of nails, said the former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, had insisted on writing “made- in-Ogun State, Nigeria” on bags containing nails. But some Nigerians did not like that, so he added some Chinese inscriptions on the bags.

    Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, also frowned on the practice of Nigerians who are obsessed with foreign products. He attributed the attitude to inferiority complex, saying, “I think we need to get over this inferiority complex among our citizens. A product that is made in Nigeria to the highest standard should make us proud, as opposed to longing for a made in China product.

    “It is an orientation that we need to change and I am hopeful that as more and more companies begin to try some of these products and realise that they are made in Nigeria, more and more people will feel comfortable.”

  • 152 local languages may die soon

    Head of Languages, Federal Ministry of Education, Rev Anota Ademola, has said that Nigeria may lose 152 local languages which are hardly spoken any more.

    He warned that more may disappear if greater attention is not paid to the estimated 400 languages spoken in Nigeria.

    Rev Ademola, spoke at the launch of a multimedia product created by Mrs Kofoworola Odeleye to teach indigenous languages to children at the Terra Kulture, Victoria Island, Lagos.

    He lamented that due to insufficient attention, the country’s estimated 400 indigenous languages have become greatly endangered. He added that the greater concern is that local languages are not being handed over to the children in their homes.

    “Some languages are already extinct, and about 152 are on the verge of extinction.  Numerous researches show that on the average 25 per cent of children below 11 years are unable to speak their indigenous language. If this trend is not checked and reversed, many Nigerian languages would have died out in two to three generations.  Everything necessary should be done to draw our youths to the face that their mother tongue is their identity,” he said.

    Ademola, who represented the Minister of Education, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau, praised Mrs Odeleye and her team for promoting the development of Nigerian languages among young ones.

    The animated multimedia product, called the Anilingo series, is designed to make teaching and learning of Nigerian languages easy for the younger generation.

    Mrs Odeleye of Iyin Creative, said she was inspired to create animated content that teaches children Nigerian languages from a cartoon, Dora the Explorer, which taught her child to speak some Spanish language.

    She said the aim is to promote and preserve Nigeria’s cultural identity and diversity by using indigenous content to entertain and educate children at home or in the classroom.

    However, Kofo said the plan to produce the cartoons in all Nigerian languages could not be fulfilled for lack of funds.  So, she decided to stick with the three major languages.

    “We approached a number of state governments to help finance but they did not respond.  I applied for the Youwin women’s programme in 2013 where I won a grant of N7.5million, although my budget was N15 million. To complete the money, I organised an animated summer camp for children,” she said.

     

  • Why Nigerian companies remain ‘local champions’

    Why Nigerian companies remain ‘local champions’

    Integrity in business is an issue that is key to companies becoming global brands. This virtue is believed to be in short supply in Nigeria’s business landscape. Experts believe there must be a paradigm shift if companies seek to become international brands, reports Assist. Editor Chikodi Okereocha

    The  World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report’ for 2014/2015 period ranked Nigeria 127 of 147 countries. The country did not fare well on the issue of diversion of public fund. The country only performed better than two countries: Venezuela and Argentina at 142nd position.

    This was a major source of concern for the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms. Arunma Oteh, when she spoke at he 2nd Christopher Kolade Lecture series on business integrity, and the theme of the lecture, ‘The Business Case for Business Integrity’.

    Ms Oteh, a former employee of the African Development Bank (AfDB), examined the ethical foundations businesses in Nigeria need to put in place to ensure that the net effect on all their stakeholders, including shareholders, government, regulators, business partners, communities of interest and the general public, is a positive one.

    In her presentation, the Amazon of SEC said Nigerian firms ranked low on ethical behaviours. For instance, Nigeria, she disclosed, ranked 132, of 144 countries, on a study on ethical behaviour of firms. While South Africa ranked 35, China ranked 55, leaving India and Brazil with 58 and 107.

    Ms Oteh said “We must focus on bringing about a paradigm shift in our country when it comes to proper conduct. To become competitive and remain relevant in today’s global economy, our companies and public institutions must not only imbibe international best practices, but exceed them by setting the highest standards of conduct.”

    She added that this has become imperative for many reasons. First, integrity, she pointed out, is an enabler of sustainable profitability. She observed that businesses that act with integrity are long term sustainable businesses while those that do not– for the purpose of short term gains–will eventually run out of business. “There are several studies showing companies that pay greater attention to integrity actually having better financial performance even in the short run than companies who do not. It should not be a choice to be ethical or be profitable. There is no question that businesses can and must be both,” she said, stressing that integrity is absolutely critical in business, and is as important as the quality of a company’s products and services in shaping its reputation.

    Secondly, integrity is valued by all categories of stakeholders of a business.

    She said: “Shareholders clearly want their business to be properly governed, investors place a premium on companies that set and maintain the highest standards, the best talents want to work for ethically sound companies that they can trust, the government, regulators and civil society also appreciate and reward integrity in business. Above all, the customer who businesses aim to please values how a company conducts itself. When a company successfully builds a reputation of integrity the benefits flow from across the spectrum of stakeholders. It can enjoy customer preference when other companies’ products or services are available at a similar cost and quality. It can charge a premium for its products and services; count on support from stakeholders in times of controversies; and reap value appreciation in the financial markets.”

    The SEC boss said integrity helps build up ‘reputational capital’ which is an important component of an organisation’s value. According to her, there is a growing list of empirical evidence proving that integrity, embedded in sound governance, is a game-changer for businesses. “An analysis of 1,600 top companies in the MSCI World Index found that well-governed companies who pay attention to integrity tended to outperform poorly governed companies by an average of 30 basis points per month between 2008 and 2013. Another recent study published on the Harvard Corporate Governance blog found that high levels of integrity in an organisation are positively correlated with good outcomes, in terms of higher productivity, profitability, better industrial relations, and higher levels of attractiveness to prospective job applicants.”

    Ms Oteh believes that given Nigeria’s robust economic growth, large population, and rich human and material resources, companies can carve a niche for themselves by building corporate reputations anchored on integrity and adherence to international best practices. She observed, for instance, that apart from Nigerian companies being regional leaders operating in Africa’s largest economy and the world’s most promising region, there has never been a better time to be in business within the Nigerian economy that has enjoyed over 13 years of robust economic growth above seven per cent per annum. Also, Nigeria, she said, is home to Africa’s largest population with over 170 million people.

    She explained further: “We have very promising demographics where the median age is just 18 and over 70 per cent of the population is below the age of 30. Nigerians are exceptionally enterprising and more than half of the population now lives in the cities. We have a growing middle class currently estimated at 23 per cent of the population – 39 million people. With the rich natural and human endowments at our disposal, our country has been listed among the Next-11 and the MINT (Mexico, Indonesia, Nigeria and Turkey) nations.

    “Nigeria is projected to have a nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $4 trillion by 2050, overtaking countries like Italy, Spain and Canada. Government reforms have engendered a macroeconomic stability, which is supportive of robust economic growth. Inflation has remained in single digits for over two years now, fiscal prudence is maintaining enviable debt-to-GDP and budget deficit levels, while buffers have been built to support a more stable exchange rate for the Naira.”

    Despite these intimidating credentials that are capable of boosting Nigeria’s competitiveness provided businesses are built on sound integrity, Oteh expressed regrets that corruption and illicit financial flows remain two issues hindering the nation’s progress. “Corruption has been identified as the second most problematic factor to doing business in Nigeria ahead of factors including access to finance and terrorism. This year, the G-20 is focusing on combating illicit financial flows especially considering the fact that poor countries (Nigeria inclusive) are losing over $1 trillion every year to such illegal activities as money laundering, tax evasion, transfer pricing and embezzlement,” she said.

    While lamenting that this is money desperately needed for the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), as it could prevent as much as 3.6 million deaths annually in the world’s poorest countries, she said Nigeria has lost more to illicit financial flows than any other African country between 2002 and 2011, even being listed in the top 10 globally. She disclosed that while Nigeria needs an estimated $50 billion investment to ensure stable electricity, the country lost over $140 billion to illicit financial flows within a period of nine years.

    “A lot of it was lost through the illicit commercial activities of multinational companies. We now have a situation where these illicit outflows are not only depriving our country of desperately needed capital but are also being used to finance terrorism abroad and within our shores,” she disclosed, adding some pieces of intelligence from a security expert who recently trained her staff at SEC indicate that the dreaded Islamic sect Boko Haram received over $70 million between 2006 and 2011 through shady activities like money laundering, oil bunkering, kidnapping and dealing in drugs.

    The intelligence also listed Boko Haram as the 7th richest terrorist organisation in the world. Oteh however, said efforts have been made to strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime in Nigeria. She added that to correct the reputational deficit, which Nigeria suffers as a result of lack of integrity in doing business, “We must make the cost of doing the wrong thing high.”

    While participants at the forum expressed divergent views on how to advance business integrity, a common thread that ran through their presentations was that integrity in business is an idea whose time has come, and that it is non-negotiable. For instance, while the Company Secretary/Chief Compliance Officer of Oando Plc, Ms. Ayotola Jagun, during the panel discussions, said that Nigerian businesses that performed well should be rewarded and given incentives like preferred supplier status, Vice-Chancellor of Pan-Atlantic University, Prof Juan Elegido, said such approach only reinforces the love for incentives and not necessarily the love for integrity.

    The Managing Director of Siemens Nigeria, Mr. Michael Lakota, said  organisations must be able to reinvent themselves. He said Siemens corporation has adopted  sound corporate governance practices. He said such practices have been recognised, as Siemens came first for the fourth year running on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

    But can firms in Nigeria imbibe the culture of integrity in business and leverage the country’s abundant human resources and natural endowment to play a dominant in the global economic arena? Ms Oteh says “yes.”

    Her recommendation: “Regulation and adequate enforcement are proven ways to make people to do the right thing. In addition, we need an overhaul of the justice system because an assurance of speedy justice goes a long way in instilling discipline. I also strongly believe we need a vibrant civil society that is willing to ask the tough questions and hold the feet of politicians and institutions to the fire. We equally need strong social and religious institutions to bring in more clarity on the sometimes vague issue of integrity.”

    She also suggested that there is need to focus on the family and go back to the homes from where a person’s character is molded.

    “My personal story validates the importance of an early foundation. If today I am considered as a principled and disciplined person because of my stance for what is right and proper no matter the costs, I attribute this reputation to the early foundation laid by my parents,” she said, adding that focusing on molding the character of young people is certainly a powerful investment for the future that will help Nigeria tackle present day challenges of social cohesion, insecurity and inclusive growth. It will be a game changer capable of reversing the reputational deficit our country suffers from.”

    Organised by Convention on Business Integrity (CBi), a company limited by guarantee, the lecture was attended by industry leaders/operators, regulators, and the academia. Soji Apampa, Executive director of CBi, explained that it was named after Kolade because he exemplified business integrity as practiced throughout his distinguished career in the private and public sectors. He said the outcomes for this year will provide a springboard for the discourse for the third instalment next year.

  • ‘Abia gov’s sack of local govt officials illegal‘

    ‘Abia gov’s sack of local govt officials illegal‘

    This is an appeal from the judgment of the Court of Appeal, Owerri Division delivered on the 23rd day of April, 2010. The Appellants were elected by the people of Abia State to serve as Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen and Councilors in the State’s Local Government Councils. The tenure was for a fixed term of three years (3 years). The Appellants assumed office and commenced the work for which they were elected. On the 16th day of June, 2000 the Governor (1st Respondent) dissolved all the Local Government Councils and appointed Caretaker Committees. As at the date of dissolution of the Local Government Councils in Abia State by the 1st Respondent, the Appellants had a residue of 23 (twenty-three) months of tenure as the Appellants were running a 3 (three) years tenure. The Appellants as Plaintiffs aggrieved, on the 12th day of September, 2000 sued the Respondents as Defendants on an Originating Summons claiming amongst others an order compelling, the 1st Defendant/Respondent to reinstate the Plaintiffs as Councilors of Aba South Local Government Council to complete the residues of their respectively tenures. After considering written addresses filed by both sides, the learned trial judge delivered a considered judgment on the 10th of October, 2002 wherein he refused to reinstate the Appellants because their tenure had lapsed by effluxion of time but however, ordered that the Plaintiffs be paid salaries and allowances as Councilors for the unexpired tenure of their office as Councilors. Dissatisfied with the judgment the Plaintiffs/Appellants appealed to the Court of Appeal.

    The Court of Appeal found that the Governor of Abia State (the 1st Respondent) was wrong to remove democratically elected Local Government Chairmen and Councilors and replace them with unelected Chairmen and Councilors, and the Chairmen and Councilors removed by the 1st Respondent still had 23 months left to complete their tenure at the time they were removed from office. The Court of Appeal granted all the reliefs of the Appellants except for the relief asking the Court for an order compelling the 1st Defendant/Respondent to reinstate the Plaintiffs/Appellants as Councilors of Aba South Local Government Council to complete the residues of their respectively tenures. The Court of Appeal refused to grant the relief on the ground that it was now impossible to grant as the Appellants said tenure had lapsed by effluxion of time. The Appellants still aggrieved with the decision appealed to the Supreme Court. The sole issue for consideration formulated by the Appellants is:

    Whether the lower court was not in error when it failed to make a consequential order, directing, the payment of salaries and allowances to the Appellants, after granting all the Appellants reliefs except relief No. 8, which sought to reinstate them to their offices.

    Learned counsel for the Respondents’ adopted the sole issue formulated by the Appellants.

    Arguing the appeal, learned counsel for the Appellants observed that it is futile to grant all the declarations in favour of the Appellants without granting any consequential order that would be of benefit to them, since they won the case. He argued that the Court can grant a relief that is incidental necessary to the relief claimed even if such incidental relief had not been expressly claimed. Reliance was placed on Nneji v. Chukwu (1988) 3 NWLR (Pt. 81) 184, (1988) LPELR-2058(SC). Concluding learned counsel urged the Court to make a mandatory order directing the 1st Defendant/Respondent to pay the Appellants 10,451,989.00 (Ten Million, Four Hundred and Fifty-One Thousand, Nine Hundred and Eighty-Nine Naira per year to each of the Appellants in lieu of their reinstatement into office to complete the residue of 23 months of tenure, being their salaries and allowances for the period.

    Learned counsel for the Respondent contended that it is misconceived for the Court to order payment and allowances to the Appellants since there is no power in the Courts to grant unclaimed reliefs. He observed that the Court and the court below are not Father Christmas that dole out unclaimed reliefs. Relying Awoniyi v. Amorc (2000) 6 SC (Pt. 1) 103, (2000) LPELR-655(SC); and Akinbobola v. Plisson Fisko (1991) 1 NWLR (Pt. 167) 270, (1991) LPELR-343(SC). Learned counsel observed that since the Court held that the claim of the Appellants had elapsed by effluxion of time the only remedy is to strike out the appeal as monetary compensation cannot possibly follow consequentially from a suit that is academic and spent. He urged the Court to discountenance the Appellants’ arguments in this issue.

    First the Court noted that the findings of the Court of Appeal which remain inviolate in the absence of a cross-appeal by the Respondents is that the Governor of Abia State (the 1st respondent) was wrong to remove democratically elected Local Government Chairmen and Councilors and replace them with unelected Chairmen and Councilors, and the Chairmen and Councilors removed by the 1st Respondent still had 23 months left to complete their tenure at the time they were removed from office.

    In determining the appeal, the Court held that on a careful reading of Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria it becomes clear that it is the duty of the Governor to ensure that the system of Local Government continues unhindered. The Court further held that dissolving Local Government Councils and replacing them with Caretaker Committee amounts to the Governor acting on his whim and fancies, unknown to our laws, clearly illegal. The Court stated that it is the duty of the Governor to ensure their existence rather than being responsible for destroying them. The Court held that it amounts to Executive recklessness for the 1st Respondent to remove from office democratically elected Chairmen, and Councilors and replace them with unelected Chairmen and Councilors under whatever guise. The Court found the findings of the Court of Appeal to be correct and that such an act by the 1st Respondent should on no account be ever contemplated. That it is illegal, and wrong.

    The Court went further to consider whether the Appellants are entitled to be paid their salaries and allowance etc. On this the Court noted that all Courts in the land are courts of Law and Equity. The Court stated further that elected persons for a fixed term of years can only be removed from office if found to be in breach of the rules governing the office or for infamous conduct and if such a person is removed from office in a manner the Court finds to be wrong he shall be entitled to all his entitlement, to wit: salaries, allowances etc. The Court stated that the Court of equity will not allow the executive to get away with wrongful acts rather it would call the executive to order and ensure that justice is not only done but seen to be done.

    The Court finally considered the question whether the Court can give a consequential order that the Appellant’s entitlements be paid?

    In deciding this question, the Court stated that consequential means following as a result of inference, following or resulting indirectly. A consequential order the Court stated is an order that gives effect to a judgment. It gives meaning to the judgment. It is traceable or following from the judgment prayed for and made consequent upon the reliefs claimed by the plaintiff. The Court stated further that a consequential order must be incidental and flow directly and naturally from reliefs claimed. That it is an offshoot of the main claim and it owes its existence to the main claim. It gives effect to the judgment already given. See Obayabona v. Obazee (1972) 5 SC p. 247, (1972) LPELR-2159(SC).

    In this case the Court stated that the Appellants’ salaries flows naturally from the relief which sought reinstatement as a result of wrongful termination and that a consequential order can in the circumstances of this case be made to order the payment of the Appellants’ salaries for the residue of 23 months. The Court cited Section 22 of the Supreme Court Act which reveals unlimited power available to the Court to do substantial justice in deserving cases. The Court held that a consequential relief can be granted by the Court in the interest of justice even where such has not been specifically claimed. The Court stated that equity regards as done that which ought to have been done and since they were illegally removed as elected officials of the Local Government Councils, their entitlements should be paid to them.

    On the whole, the Court held that in the absence of a cross-appeal from the decision of the Court of Appeal that the appellants were wrongly removed from office, the Appellants are entitled to be paid all their outstanding salaries, allowances etc for 23 months. For the avoidance of doubt it was ordered that the 1st Respondent pays immediately to all the Appellants’ their Salaries, allowances for 23 months. The appeal was allowed.

     

    •Edited by LawPavilion

    LawPavilion Citation: (2014) LPELR-23276(SC)

     

  • Administrative stalemate in Ondo local govts

    Local government, the third tier of government after Federal and State governments is going through trying time in Ondo State.

    As the government closest to the grassroots where the bulk of the populace reside, the constitution designed the local government to be independent of the other tiers but that has regrettably not been the case for some time now in the Sunshine state as the councils administration are more or less being run by the state government through state appointed caretaker chairmen.

    Not too long ago, the State House of Assembly again extended the tenure of caretaker chairmen in all the 18 local government areas of the state for another six months. The lawmakers gave the directive at their plenary sitting in Akure, the state capital.

    This is the fourth time the tenure of the caretaker chairmen would be extended by the assembly since the inception of the Dr Olusegun Mimiko administration.

    The Labour Party (LP) administration in the state has not conducted local government election in the almost five years due to protracted legal battle.

    The decision of Governor Mimiko on the legal tussle attracted scathing criticisms from observers who have roundly condemned the extension that has completely stalled developments in the councils.

    During the administration of late Dr. Olusegun Agagu, there was complete autonomy for local government chairmen to develop at their own pace as there was no interference from any quarters.

    The local government councils had executive chairmen, unlike in the past five years when council administrators have remained figure heads taking order from above.

    Gone are the days when council chairmen executed laudable projects even to the extent of tarring some kilometers of roads and met up with many other obligations with their meagre monthly allocations.

    Local Government elections have been on hold in the state following the suit filed in 2009 by the Association of Local Government Chairmen of Nigeria (ALGON) then headed by the former Chairman, Akure South Local Government Chairman, Mr Adedayo Omolafe against the state government.

    Mimiko dissolved the then Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) structure in the local government shortly after his victory at the Appeal Court, Benin, Edo State on February 23, 2009 which forced the council chairmen to seek legal redress which is still pending more than four years after.

    The present caretaker chairmen in the 18 local governments are mere stooges in the local councils, as they cannot take decisions on their own because they are tied to the apron of the State Executive Council hence the slow pace of development in the towns and villages.

    Apart from this, there is no peace among the workers of the local government councils under the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE).

    The problem was the fall-out of its recent election won by Mr Bunmi Eniayewun who has not been allowed to resume work since, thereby paralysing all activities in NULGE and the local government councils.

    It was alleged that the state government was interested in the said election, but failed to have its candidate emerge, hence the crack in the rank of the local government workers.

    This led to the formation of a splinter group ‘Association of Local Government Workers (AOLW) led by Mr Isaac Fasina that eventually pulled out of its parent Union, NULGE.

    All the aggrieved members who were against the emergence of the new NULGE boss refused to pay their check off dues being used to run the affairs of the association.

    Unfortunately, Eniayewu and some top officials at the local government councils are on interdiction for about seven months now instead of the constitutional three months over allegation of fraud in the local government councils.

    This according to sources was the fall out of the screening exercise conducted in the local councils by the state government which eventually led to the disengagement of over 10,000 described as ‘ghost workers’

    When The Nation visited NULGE secretariat, opposite Ilesa Garage, Akure, the whole building was desolate, tables and chairs were dusty, an indication of long holidays.

    The embattled chairman, Eniayewu in a chat urged the appropriate body to come out with its findings on the probe to bail him out of his present predicament stressing that he was not guilty of the allegation leveled against him.

    He denied committing any fraud, lamenting that the interdiction placed on him should not be more than three months, but now going to seven months when he has been placed on half month salary without committing any offence.

    Many observers who spoke with our reporter decried the situation at the local government councils in the state, stressing that reasonable number of local government have not received their salaries in the past three or four months.

    According to them, the on-going Christmas and New Year festive period will be bleak for majority of council workers in the state.

     

  • ‘Proper local govt elections’ll be conducted in Cross River’

    ‘Proper local govt elections’ll be conducted in Cross River’

    What are your thoughts on last Saturday’s local government election in Cross River State?

    For me, there was no election because it is either we live by the rule of law or by the rule of the jungle and when I signed up to do politics and join in the leadership engineering of our community, I didn’t signed up to conduct my affairs within the precinct of the rule of the jungle.

    On Friday, there was a court ruling and the Attorney-General of the state, who inexplicably led the defence team for CROSIEC, was in court when the judge, Justice Ofem Ikpi, delivered his ruling on the matter that we took to court against CROSIEC. One of the things that Justice Ofem Ikoi said was that the APC is a political party and political parties are not excluded from elections and so one would have thought that the AG would have advised the governor and the CROSIEC chairman whom he represented in court to stay action until the substantive matter is determined.

    Unfortunately, they went ahead to conduct what is best described as a sham. But in all of that what has come to give us hope, is that people completely abandoned the process. We had set a monitoring team to see the reaction of the people. From Obanliku to Bakassi, the people stayed away. Whatever result that they are announcing is a figment of their imagination.

    So, what is the next step for you?

    It was very exciting and enticing to tell our people to take the laws into their hands, after all we have had a short shift from the judiciary, police and government. But being a lawful and law abiding party, a party that is waiting in the wings to take over government, we can only do what is lawful and what is right and that is to seek redress in court. We are going back to court to lay bare the impunity of the defendants in that for the judiciary to see if indeed we must descend to that level of animalism. That is what we would do, as we have always done to seek redress and make sure the proper election is conducted for the people of Cross River State.

    They are some different angles to the issue now. We know that one of the commonest grounds for the cancellation of elections is exclusion. We are a political party. The manager of elections cannot exclude us from elections. It is only a competent court of law that can suspend or prevent anyone from running elections in Nigeria. Our candidates may ask the courts to determine whether it is right for a manager of an election to have excluded them from the process.

    So, there are so many angles, but the ones that we are already pursuing, of course we would take them to their logical conclusion. So, CROSIEC should await our various cases.

    CROSIEC is not constitutionally positioned. It is not legally empowered to say so. That may be a subject of litigation between parties contesting elections. But it is not the position of the manager of the elections to say to because that would me the interpretation of the laws of Nigeria.

    Remember that three weeks before 21 of September there was a by-election in Offa in Kwara State and the KWASIEC who saw themselves only as manager of elections did not bother themselves with 90 days or no 90 days because they knew it was only the court of law under the laws of Nigeria that determine who or not is qualified to run elections in Nigeria. This is our position. CROSIEC is giving itself powers it does not have and cannot have.

    Are you confident in the judiciary?

    We are not confident of the judiciary in Nigeria. We know that even within the judiciary, we have very few justices who are men of honour and integrity and we always pray that God orchestrates those kinds of men to be in charge of our cases. That does not in itself mean that I have confidence in the judiciary of Cross River State. If they give us judgment it would surprise me, if they don’t then I would not be disappointed. We know that the ACN, CPC and ANPP merged, but long before that, the PDP had merged with the judiciary, the police and other arms of the coercive forces of state.

    I have been asked why opposition doesn’t campaign and all of that and I told them that look it is not what you see on TV and radio that is campaign. The greatest campaign that you do is register yourself on the minds of the people. Most politicians even those of the PDP hue know those parties that have been registered in the minds of Cross Riverians. That is why one of the reasons APC has been excluded of course illegally is because they are aware that the APC is registered on the minds of Cross Riverians and Cross Riverians would have spoken and they are waiting to speak and they will speak because we entertain no fear that a proper local government elections will be conducted in Cross River State.

     

  • Cross River to invest in local content

    The Cross River State Government is set to invest in local content development through skill acquisition and vocational training, the Economic Adviser to the Cross River State Government, Prof. Ndem Ayara, has said.

    He spoke at The Bridge Leadership Foundation (TBLF) Career & Founder’s Day in Calabar.

    The government, he said, would support youths in entrepreneurship, pointing out that so far, 10 investors plan to invest in construction, manufacturing, oil and gas, energy and power and agro processing in the state.

    He presented an industry survey by the state to ascertain areas of skill dearth, employers’ needs and the human resource to meet them.

    Ayara highlighted the areas where skilled manpower are needed and the potentials of the service industry to provide auxiliary services.

    Earlier, Acting Director/Consultant of the Foundation Mrs Ini Onuk said: “Our theme for this year is intended to challenge the mindset of young people who mostly blame the government, their parents or relatives for their circumstances but forget the role that personal leadership plays in shaping one’s life and destiny.

    She said: “Today, we bring practical examples of people who have made decisions to better their lives, young people who have risen above the challenges that life threw at them.”

    Chief Executive Officer of Flying Doctors Nigeria, Dr. Ola Orekunrin, who spoke on Social entrepreneurship: Finding solutions and making impact, urged young people to find their paths, contribute to solutions to the state and country through social entrepreneurship.

    The speakers urged participants to be prepared to identify and take up opportunities.

    Participants also took part in an ‘Elevator pitch’ contest, where many prizes were won.

    The winners, who emerged are Raymond Ukwa who from Abia State, Charles Nzan and Godwin Offiong who carted away book prizes.

     

     

  • ‘Local banks can fund power projects’

    ‘Local banks can fund power projects’

    There are some businesses which require high stakes. One of them is power. Since it is in the big league, it requires those with financial muscle to play in it. In the past, those in the business sought funding from financial institutions abroad. They no longer need to do so to participate in the ongoing privatisation of the sector. Nigerian banks, says Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Skye Bank, Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti, can take up the challenge. He spoke with Group Business Editor AYODELE AMINU.

     

    What is your forecast for the money and capital markets this year?

    For the banking industry, I think what you will get in 2013, is more of what happened in 2012. We expect to see more consolidation of the banks. The banks are behaving well, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regime is strong in terms of supervision and corporate governance and risk management practices in all the banks are good. So, we don’t expect any shock this year. For the stock market, we saw a trend in the last quarter of the year. Between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), there are lots of initiatives they are taking to deepen the market and they are quite novel. They are doing a lot to make the market robust. The inclusion on the JP Morgan index has helped, though what you have there is ‘hot money,’ a lot of short-term money that can go as quickly as they come, depending on how good or bad the economy is, and there is no how you won’t have some bad news that can affect their behaviour. Some of them, based on certain news, may take their money out. But we feel that 2013, for the stock market, should be more of what we had in 2012.

    The CBN has deferred the implementation of the cash-less policy in other states and one of the reasons given was that some banks are not making enough investment in Point of Sale (PoS) terminals and other alternative channels. With that, do you see the policy as a failure?

    I think the cash-less policy is laudable. This is something the Bankers’Committee of which I am a member supported. We discussed this at the Bankers’ Committee. If you look at the time the PoS started, they were probably less than 10,000 machines, but as at October, we had over 200,000 machines. That is a phenomenal growth. There are challenges, the biggest of which is communication and infrastructure, just like our telephones and the CBN and the Bankers’ Committee have done a lot of work trying to overcome these challenges, but as we see, with our telephones, these challenges have been with us for a while. Like other things, such as Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) and Information Technology (IT) in general, infrastructure is always a challenge, but we always invest a lot more to get the required service delivery. Why it is difficult here is because the service delivery is with individual merchants, not banks. ATMs are managed by banks, so you can make sure that the installation works. But if a PoS, which is with the merchant doesn’t work, it’s discouraging. Some banks have embraced it. If you are a bank that is focused on retail, if you are a large money-centred bank, you focus on it, if you are a niche bank that has a few branches and is not focused on retail; you are not focused on PoS. So, some banks have so many PoS while others have very few. But it is out of choice. That is competition and nobody is forced to do it. Really, it is due to your appetite and interest.

    Do you foresee the cash-less policy assuming a national spread this year?

    The plan was to do Lagos and then roll out to five major cities across the country. The performance of these only was to determine how many more to follow in the remaining parts of Nigeria. The limited success and the issues encountered have called for more introspection and a review of what we have done so far, and that has slowed down the pace of rollout. Twice we wanted to move ahead to new cities, but we felt that we should take a look again. So, there are learning points and we are looking at how best to approach other cities that we want to go into. So, the Central Bank, along with the banks is looking at these things. I am sure that, in due course, we would determine what to do. Whether we would be able to take on the whole of Nigeria in 2013, I am not sure if we would achieve that with the level of caution that is being employed now. But I feel that we would take on quite a few more cities and locations in this year.

    The power sector privatisation is on and we understand that some of the preferred bidders are negotiating with the banks. Do you think that Nigerian banks have the financial muscle to finance the acquisition of the power assets?

    Definitely, our banks have the capacity and capability to fund power projects. Already, banks are funding multi-billion dollar projects either through syndications or club deals. Both local and international banks are doing that in other sectors. So, the power sector is going to get a lot of investments from banks and other investors that are non-banks would put money in equity. So, the banks in Nigeria have the capacity to fund the power sector adequately.

    So, how many of the firms is Skye Bank negotiating with?

    Well, we are talking to two of the winners. We would participate in the programme. We are leading a syndicate and other banks have shown interest also because there is a lot of values added in the sector.

    How will you assess economic performance in 2012?

    2012 was an interesting year both for country and the economy. For the country; the Federal Government settled down to work. Key areas, such as power, agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure were addressed and, at the end of the year, privatisation took place in the power sector and the process is ongoing and we feel that with a lot of investment in power, production will go up in 2013. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) got involved in agriculture few years ago and the Minister of Agriculture has stepped up and done a miraculous work.

    Bank lending to agriculture has increased from one to three per cent and the target for 2017 is 10 per cent of aggregate lending. We are involved in new initiatives in lending to agriculture. We are trying to make it more bankable. You would see that agricultural production went up in 2012 and this should continue in 2013. Banks were involved in cropping, animal husbandry and processing in 2012, and there were direct initiatives in fertiliser and seeds financing. So, you see fertilisers getting to the end users much more and also better quality seed is being distributed at affordable prices to farmers. So, that has helped production a lot and we should see that improving in 2013. On infrastructure, we have seen the airport and we have seen a lot of road contracts taking place. The states and the Federal Government are doing a lot on infrastructure.

    Security, however, is still of concern, but it is fairly under control. A lot more still has to be done. I believe that the assistance of the international community where you could get better technological assistance would be of great help in resolving a lot in security. In banking, I think 2012 was a year of realisation of the efforts of the industry. With the support of the CBN, the Asset Management Corporation reported ground breaking profits. The banks are relatively sound and are all behaving responsibly and ready to support the growth of the economy. There are good signs for the banking industry today as competition is back. We have seen relatively stable interest rates with inflation at 12 per cent, still high, but stable. Interest rates are still a bit high, but that was necessitated by the fact that government borrowing is still high and also due to the need to stabilise exchange rates. So, the tightening of money supply pushes the rates up. But we feel that 2013, interest rates should slide a bit. One of the things still holding interest rates where they are is the need to maintain exchange rate. So, the tightening would continue and the CBN would continue to maintain that stance as long as there are signs that the exchange rate may go out of control. The stability in the exchange rate has enabled banks and companies to plan and has created a platform for us to work

    What is the market share of Skye Bank and how does the bank intend to grow?It is believed that Skye Bank is public sector biased. Is that true?

    The market share of Skye Bank is about 4.5 per cent of the industry and we have about 270 offices all over the country. We believe that we have a decent market share as we are a mid-sized bank. We believe that we have the ability to compete with all the banks and we do compete with all the banks in all lines of business. In terms of growth, our strategy is to grow organically and in growing organically, we shall do so in tandem with the growth in the industry. But we would also look at opportunities to acquire or merge with other banks as the opportunities arise. You know, in this environment, merger and acquisition is not a common thing like abroad where you can approach a bank and you guys would just marry each other. So, when the opportunity arises, we would look at the situation and see what is possible to decide on what to do. Really, merger and acquisition is not the answer because it is not the size of the bank that is critical, but the level of efficiency, the strength of the capital, and the quality of its loan which all translate to efficiency. We believe that you must be have the sizeable and we believe that Skye Bank has this as we have a N1.3 trillion balance sheet and we feel that at that size, we can take up 80-90 per cent of the transactions in the industry by ourselves and we can syndicate or arrange funding where necessary. We have taken up many sizeable projects and we have seen a lot of leadership, innovation and have carried out landmark transactions in the economy. So, we believe that we also want to do the right things at the right time. We believe that as an institution, with bias for prudence, probity and the core values that we have in the way we do our business, our bank would sustain growth over time. The bank plays in all sectors; we do not discriminate and public sector is the largest spender in Nigeria. So, we have to focus on public sector and we add a lot of value to public sector. But likewise, we do more business with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and other areas of the economy such as manufacturing, oil and gas. On the single obligor limit, I think it is okay. It cannot be reviewed upwards; at best it can be reviewed downwards because as banks grow in size, the obligor limit can only go one way-downwards. But I think for now, it is okay.

    Talking about growth and opportunities, the process for the sale of the three banks wholly owned by AMCON will start this year. Which of them will Skye Bank consider for possible acquisition?

    That would be pre-mature. But we would look at them; we cannot say which one we would go for, because we do not know what is in there. But we would look at all of them when the time comes.

    Given the number of banks that we have at present, will you say the country is under banked or over banked?

    Well, it is not the number of banks that determines whether you are under banked or over banked. It is the level of penetration that determines that. The kind of environment also can determine the number of banks you can have. Like in the United States, we have over 10,000 banks, in some countries you have about four banks and in others, a few hundred. I think that our culture, our diversity, and our varied interests determine the number of banks that we have. At one point, we had almost 130 banks and, today, we have about 24 plus another two coming up, and over the next few years, maybe more would come. Some people say it is not sustainable, but what I say is that it is really the penetration that matters. Banks are all able to carve a niche, there is a lot of money in Nigeria. There is a lot of interest. Nigeria is diverse and there are lots of interests. So, banks can create niches for themselves and are able to play as niche players. You can’t have so many big banks. I think that is where the confusion is, because every bank is looked at to attain a big size. So, really, it is more of the penetration because if you look at it, in urban areas, they say we have as much as 80 per cent penetration within the adults and in rural areas, only about 30 per cent. Really, we are still very far from what we can attain. Also, the government is the biggest player in business and if a lot of government businesses are privatised, what that does is that it grows the wallets of the banks. Also, if a lot of the accounts that are being lodged with the CBN are taken out of its domain that would increase the wallet for banks. Then, there is so much cash outside the banks. So, really, what would determine a lot of all these factors is the size of the market and how the players would play. I believe that our level of diversity and the depth of the economy can sustain the number of banks we have.

    Fingers are being pointed at the banks and bureaux de change over the rising cash trafficking these days. What is your take on that?

    Well, the bureaux de change have done nothing wrong. If you want to take money out of the country, you declare it. And dollar is not under cash-less, so you can go and buy dollar from the banks or the bureau de change in any quantity you like. There is nothing wrong, but if you want to take dollars out of the country, you declare it. That is all. So, there is no law that has been violated in the ordinary way.

    The House of Representatives says it intends to push for a legislation that would strip the CBN of its banking supervisory power and create an independent body to regulate he banks. Do you support the idea?

    I read it in the newspapers and was surprised. You know it is difficult to have an opinion. But what I can refer to is that in the United Kingdom, years ago, they took out the supervisory arm from the Central Bank and created the Financial Services Authority (FSA). After the crisis, they said the FSA did not do a good job and so they want to return that function to the Central Bank. But we are thinking the opposite. So, there is no one that is right and there is no one that is wrong.

    But the question I would ask is what is motivating them to do that? What is their motivation? The CBN has done a very good job in sorting out the banking crisis and they are supervising banks much better than before. I think it is more of the focus and the leadership that drive the result as opposed to the structure. Either structure could work; that is my take.

    Is the $79 per barrel oil benchmark sustainable?

    On the oil price benchmark, I like to be a bit more conservative. I will favour more of the $75 per barrel. Really, I think it is slightly political and also to try and maximise cash into the budget, that is why we have the $79 per barrel. Now, the issue of oil price today in Nigeria, in the short-run, it may be sustainable. You have every West African country producing oil, even East Africa, but in five to eight years, the oil will not add up to something significant and if the United States is not importing oil again because they are almost self sufficient, the oil price would even be half of that. That is a bigger worry for us as a country. If we do not get our act together within the next five to eight years, we would be in trouble as a country. So, I think the next five to eight years is extremely critical to us as a country. We need to diversify, we need to invest in infrastructure, we need to take care of security, we need to sort out all our problems and become a wealthy, up and coming country.

    We understand Basel 111 implementation has been shifted forward. What is the level of implementation of Basel 111 by Nigerian banks?

    For Basel 11, you know Basel in itself is more applicable to international banks while Basel 111 takes care more of capital requirements. So for Basel 11, the aspect of it that relates to us is being implemented and we believe that in the course of 2013, we would have full implementation of the aspects that relate to banks.

     

  • Can local council get autonomy?

    Can local council get autonomy?

    As the National Assembly is set to review the 1999 Constitution, local government employees are agitating for autonomy for the councils. But governors are kicking against it on the ground that there is no third tier in federalism. Assistant Editor DADA ALADELOKUN examines the issues.

    Local government autonomy is a critical issue that has polarised the polity, since the begining of the constitution review process. Council chairmen and employees are clamouring for the independence of the grassroots government. However, the governors have objected to the clamour, saying that there is no third tier in federalism. The governors are using the platform of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum to articulate their views and resisit the push for constitutional autonomy for the fledgling councils.

    Right from the days of the colonialists, apostles of local government administration had seen it as an enviable means of getting the dividends of governance to the doorsteps of locals. To them, both the federal and state government administrations lacked the structural capacity to satisfy the yearnings of the grassroots inhabitants without ado. Therefore, all through the past years to the days of Ibadan District Council, which came into being in 1954, to the era of the Ibadan Municipal Government (1957 – 1979), which showcased impressive grassroots administrations, especially in the Southwest, it was hearty applause for the tier.

    Perhaps for the time-tested importance of the tier of government, spirited efforts were made to revitalise it at various times in the course of the nation’s chequered history. Outstanding among such attempts was the famous 1976 Local Government Reform.

    The same conviction gave birth to the Political Bureau instituted in 1986 to, among other things, make the local government system deliver its anticipated inherent goodies. Before then, there existed the Dasuki Committee on Local Administration in Nigeria. Its sole aim was how to make the system effectual through improved finance and unbridled autonomy.

    Convinced beyond doubt that the local government system was the surest purveyor of the dividends of government efforts to local inhabitants, the Ibrahim Babangida-led administration moved to consolidate it. Between May 1989 and September 1991, it created additional councils, raising the tally from 301 to 589.

    Eight years later, the number rose to 774, including the six Area Councils at the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). They have since been listed in the contentious 1999 Constitution currently undergoing overhaul.

    A die-hard apostle of true federalism, former Lagos State Governor and national leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Senator Bola Tinubu, actualised his belief in the efficacy of grassroots governance during his eight-year reign in the state. How? Enabled by Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution, he created 37 Local Government Development Areas (LCDAs) to further take the fruits of governance to the doorsteps of the grassroots people. Though former President Olusegun Obasanjo did the titanic to scuttle the development, he failed to have a good dance. Till today, the LCDAs carved out of the original 20 councils are still waxing strong, springing forth appreciable service delivery.

    Senator Smart Adeyemi averred last weekend that the opponents of local government administration in the country “are enemies of development.”

    Oba Abdulfatai Oyeyinka Aromire, the Ojora of Ijoraland in Lagos State, lent his voice in support of Tinubu’s effort when he told The Nation: “Before Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu came into office, Lagos was at a standstill, but when he got there, he created more Local Council Development Authorities that have really helped Governor Babatunde Fashola to move the state forward.”

    However, if asked for their candid verdict on the councils and their performance nationwide, most Nigerians – except perhaps the few beneficiaries of the perceived rots in the system – will score them abysmally low masks. For a medley of reasons, the critical roles assigned to the tier of government by the Fourth Schedule of the 1999 Constitution have not been well attended to.

    While the office holders at the level are always quick to implicate inordinate control by the states and lack of adequate funds to effectively run the system, analysts would differ a bit. To majority of them, who often accuse the grassroots administrators of ineptitude and offensive misuse of resources, they also see them as being bereft of the sense of purpose, honesty and patriotism needed to run the affairs of Nigerians at the level to fructification.

    With all these, it is not surprising that calls for either scrap or strengthen the local government system stood out among people’s demands when recently, consultations were made nationwide with the people by members of the Lower Chamber of the National Assembly in the constituencies.

    Specifically, The Senate and House of Representatives had respectively set up committees to review the 1999 Constitution. Senate President David Mark, while setting up the 47-member Senate committee, had posed a number of questions thus: “How effective are the local government? Should they be made to function independently to the states? Is the Joint State/Local Government Account still necessary?

    One of the stakeholders who expressed worry over the fate of the local government system,Dr. Ifeoluwa Arowosoge, is a member of the House of Representatives standing in for Ekiti South West, Ikere and Ise/Orun Federal Constituency. He had served as an elected chairman of the old Ekiti Southwest Council between 1991 and 1993.

    The legislator bemoaned the ill-fate of the troubled tier in a chat with The Nation. “We cannot but review the constitution for the sake of our councils. They are now nothing but mere appendages of their various states to the detriment of grassroots people,” he said.

    Underpinning his position, Arowosoge recalled his experience: “During our time, under Ibrahim Babangida, we enjoyed considerable autonomy and we had the free hand to appoint capable hands to work with us and for that, we made remarkable impacts on our people. Today, our councils have lost their so-called autonomy both economically, administratively as if the constitution is lame. Secondary school drop-outs are now councillors, and the councils now lack the wherewithal to embark on projects since the paltry sums they get from the states are barely sufficient to pay monthly staff emoluments let alone run the councils. Unless the constitution is amended to rescue the councils from the current shackles of bondage, the council will remain dysfunctional. I thank God it is under consideration in the current attempt to redeem the constitution.”

    However, to Nwabueze Okafor, National President, Association of Local Government of Nigeria (ALGON), all the new constitution under re-reconstruction needs to do is to ensure the autonomy of the their tier of government.

    “The major problem of the local government system in the country is about the erosion of its autonomy. If the new constitution can make the local government autonomy an inviolate feature, the tier will be alive to it’s statutorily responsibility again,” Okafor said.

    The rumour has been rife across the country that in the northern part of the country, the councils’ helmsmen only go to office on pay-day, share their allocations, go back home only to return for the unholy ritual the next month. This reporter drew the attention of a former governor of Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, to the insinuation. He was also asked to bare his mind on how he felt the ensuing new constitution should address the issue.

    His reaction was vehement as he described the impression about the northern council bosses as erroneous. He explained: “It is completely wrong and unfair to say that it is only the northern council helmsmen that revel in sharing people’s resources at the level; it is a national problem. Across the whole country today, it is a story of stealing and non-performance at the local government level. It is the same sorry situation across councils in the country; no exception.”

    “The main problem lies in the fact that the state governors have never given the operators of the local government system the free hand to perform in line with the provisions of the constitution. We are now faced with a situation whereby it is the governor that influences who become the chairmen of the councils, what to give them and how they are being run. This has not helped the system and its would-be beneficiaries. Therefore, we must see to a workable arrangement whereby the executives at the level are given the leeway to work within the purview of their statutory expectations,” Musa, who is also the national chairman of Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP), added.

    To Chief Jide Awe, the chairman of ACN in Ekiti State, the new constitution being constructed must ensure the strengthening of the supervision of the local government system. Though my party has a stand on the issue, I have a personal opinion. My conviction is that no system is bad, but the operators’ disposition. Their attitude brought about people’s impression about the system. From the local government through the state to the federal government, there is no problem with the system at each level, it is the operators who often misbehave and mismanage the system.

    “It is really disheartening the local government today has become a sharing centre of public funds. It is equally sad that both the political class at the local government level and the administrative staff are of the irritating opinion that the system offers them the opportunity to have their own share of the national cake. All that is done there is for them to share among themselves the resources that should be ploughed into providing basic amenities like water for the grassroots people because ideally, being the closest to the common people, the local government is supposed to cater for their basic needs. But the opposite is now the case.”

    Tunde Buraimoh, a lawyer and former Chairman, Ojodu Local Government, Lagos State, is also of the view that the local government system deserves urgent turnaround across the country. “I was once in the saddle at the level and I know how it feels, not only as a ‘governor’ at the level but also as a resident. Therefore, I strongly feel that no stone should be left unturned in efforts to revamp the vital system. It is the tier of governance that feels the pulse of the commoners directly. It therefore goes without saying that the system must remain in sound health in all ramifications,” Buraimoh said.

    Now, the question remains: will the new constitution bring sanity to the ailing grassroots administration in the country? Time will tell.

  • Local govt tackles poverty

    The Eti-Osa Local Government Area in Lagos State last week distributed various items some residents of the council as part of its efforts to eradicate poverty.

    The programme which is held quarterly, took place at the council secretariat, Igbo Efon in Lekki. Lucky residents were given items such as deep freezers, microwave ovens, hair dryers, sewing machines and digital cameras.

    Delivering the keynote address, the chairman, Hon. Anofiu Olanrewaju Elegushi said the beneficiaries went through a screening process before the finial list was realised. He said further that the process of selection was devoid of any political or ethnic consideration.

    “The gesture behind this initiative is to distribute materials to fish rather than giving people the fish itself. Though the event is not flamboyant, its motive is to assist those that are in need within the community.

    “We have come up with a list of most needy and deserving people for this first batch of beneficiaries. This implies that other batches will follow at the appropriate time,” he said.

    Elegushi advised participants to make proper use of the materials especially those who received cash assistance. He also encouraged participants to carry out their duties as citizens by paying their taxes.