The Nation Newspaper

Tag: manifesto

  • Educationist hails Sanwo-Olu’s education manifesto

    A Lagos-based educationist and social critic Orisadare Bilkis Wonuola, has hailed the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress, (APC) governorship candidate Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu as regards education.

    Wonuola said it takes an administrator with foresight, competence and integrity to drive the development of education in Lagos to a higher height.

    She said: “One distinguished personality that has these attributes is Babajide Sanwo-Olu. He is capable, and forward-thinking. He is knowledgeable and reliable. It is not a surprise at all that APC fields him as the party gubernatorial candidate for Lagos State.

    She said there was no doubt that Sanwo-Olu’s government, when elected, would adopt a globally recognised modern STEM (Sceince, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), a system of education in its curriculum.

    “This is the best way to facilitate practical education and develop students’ talents and potentials. STEM teachers, I am sure will be employed across the state and will be equipped with adequate teaching materials.”

    “He also plans to establish After-School-Study-Halls across the state where volunteer tutors will prepare students for major exams. What else could be more practical than this gesture, she said.

    “It is therefore, also not surprising that his education policy also includes facilitating school rehabilitation programs to revive dilapidated schools and provide necessary learning tools for the public schools in Lagos.”

  • Industrial manifesto for Africa

    Monday November 20  marked 2017 Africa Industrialization Day (AID). Declared by United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), it is  an annual  platform for  governments, businesses and organized labour  linked to industrial development to examine ways and means to stimulate Africa’s industrialization process. Given the impact on national development, employment, climate and living standard of the citizens,  industrialization and industrial policies are too important to be left to governments and businesses alone.

    Industrial global union organizes 50 million manufacturing workers along the global value chains in 140 countries including Africa and in over 650 trade unions. The global union has over a million members in Africa including six sectors in Nigeria, namely textile, petroleum  and gas, automobile, mines and solid minerals, energy and chemical and allied products. Sustainable  industrial policy is one of the five critical success goals of the global union. The global union has resolved   to constructively engage with African governments, businesses, investors and employers as well as development institutions central banks,  Bank of Industry, UNIDO on all issues aimed at promoting industrialization and beneficiation in Africa.

    Industry is a key driver of sustainable jobs and development for national economies and the foundation of good living standards.. It does not matter whether it is first industrial revolution, (Industry 1.0), Second Industrial Revolution (2.0) Third Industrial Revolution (Industry 3.0) or the Fourth Industrial Revolution (Industry 4.0), Africans must make what we wear (gold, rings and necklaces, clothes and textile), what we ride, (automobiles), what fuel our cars (petroleum products) what we build with (iron and steel), soaps we bath with (chemicals and allied products) and generate energy we consume. Africa must stop exporting raw cottons, crude oil, mineral resources, gold and diamond only to be importing finished goods from China, Europe and America. Either large small or medium scale enterprises, Africa must consume products it produces scale down or halt wholesale importation or smuggling as it is the case in Nigeria. United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) had over the years shown  that manufacturing industry in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) lags behind other developing regions of the world. There  are three leading economies in Africa namely Nigeria which is worth some $406 billion,  Egypt $332.3 billion and South Africa  $294.1billion. Nigeria only leads in quantity GDP not quality in terms of manufacturing value added. Indeed  South Africa at 25 per cent is the highest, followed by  Egypt at 20 per cent and  Nigeria with less than five per cent. Ghana is even more industrialized at six per cent manufacturing value added (MVA). In  2015 Africa had as many as 1.2 billion population.  Millions of youths join the labour market annually without jobs making them voluntary slaves to Europe and America three hundred years after their forefathers gallantly fought against forced slavery by human predators in Europe and America. The cause of serial deaths on the  Mediterranean Sea  is wholesale de-industrialization of Africa. Only   industry can provide sustainable jobs and living wages and necessary revenues for government to provide the needed infrastructure for development. For  Africa to meet Sustainable Development Goal 2030, especially SDG 9 dealing with industry and innovation,  the continent must innovate and  industrialize.  Africa must copy China’s industrialization drive which has within 20 years moved over 250 million people out of poverty through manufacturing and industrialization. Africa must make what it consumes, otherwise it will be consumed by the rest of the world. Many African countries have commendably  put in place robust documents and policies on industrialization and diversification, but capacity utilization is still very low with  few existing industries closing down with mass job losses. It’s time South Africa, Nigeria, Senegal, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Sudan walked/worked the policies and added value to the continent’s abundant raw materials.

    I acknowledge and commend the Federal Government of Nigeria for launching the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). Together with the existing National Industrial Revolution Plan, the plan can promote revival of industries and creation of mass decent jobs. But it must be within an overall vision for development not just feverish “diversification plan’ on the heel of defending collapse of crude oil prices.  A number of  commendable initiatives  by African governments in promoting wealth generation and reviving the industry, include Buy-Africa campaign in South Africa and Buy Made-in-Nigeria campaign. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has signed three unprecedented Executive Orders mandating government agencies to spend more of their budgets on locally produced goods and services. These orders would help in the recovery of many factories in Nigeria, if they are not undermined by pressures from smuggling and  imports. There are also some commendable sub-national initiatives such as the industrial parks of Ethiopia and Nigeria’s Edo State under Governor Godwin Obaseki. There certainly cannot  be industrialization without electrification. Nigeria must stop any action plan that will further give scarce public monies to non-performing privatized electricity distribution companies (Discos). African governments must  massively invest in energy mix of hydro, solar and nuclear to drive industrialization. It is remarkable that  ERGP sets  the target of reducing petroleum products imports in Nigeria by 80 per cent in 2018. That’s the way to create jobs, decent and sustainable jobs in the petroleum sector. With smart manufacturing or the so-called fourth industrial revolution, Africa has all the options to further add value to raw materials in place of extractions. But there must be just transition such that   Digitalization and Industry 4.0 is sensitive to the much needed social justice for  workers affected by the new technology in production. The   benefits of industrialization should not be privatized while  the costs are socialized. Whatever forms of industrialization, (1st or fourth industrial revolution) there must be decent sustainable jobs for the workers with job security, living wages and living pensions. Yes, technology makes work easier, but they also could lead to job losses. For there to be JUST transition to 4th Industrial revolution, there should be education and re-training for the workers. Employers and governments should not criminalize skill gabs as a result of digitalization of production. On the contrary, the  Fourth Industrial Revolution calls for the need to develop skills and know-how by workers to work with digital technologies.

     

    • Aremu, mni is vice president, Industriall Glo Union.
  • Minister’s manifesto for education and health

    Minister’s manifesto for education and health

    SIR: Outgoing Vice Chancellor of the Premier University, University of Ibadan, Professor Isaac Folorunso Adewole’s brilliant articulation of his thoughts while responding to the questions by Senators has left to one in doubt that President Muhammadu Buhari has not made a mistake by seeking out the Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology to be part of his change agents. It was a revealing engagement between the nominee (now confirmed) and members of the senate as the education and health sectors were dissected.  Adewole did not only show the magnitude of the problem, but as a scientist, he offered what needed to be done to bring the nation out of the current peculiar mess. His over an hour embodied not only the problems but ways of addressing the identified gaps in our education and health sectors. His narratives painted the picture of a nation with leadership that abdicates responsibilities to her people. Coming to serve in a government that made him ‘fly out’ of the country when he led a nationwide strike in the health sector 30 years ago, Adewole submitted that ‘I must regrettably say that not much has changed but we can better the situation, we can work together and there is a ray of hope in the horizon’.

    The problem of chronic under-funding of the education sector was discussed by the award-winning university administrator. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had embarked on a strike in 2013 to protest infrastructural decay, harsh working environment, and ill-motivated staff among others. Major issues on health at the screening revolved around abortion, inter-professional rivalry in the health sector and what Professor Adewole described as looming danger in cancer epidemic owing to the demographic transition and almost inactive lifestyle of Nigerians. Senators competed to ask questions on cancer. They got more than what they wanted and should now resolve to put money in health for the building of national cancer centre and revitalization of the Health system.

    It is obvious that so many things have been deliberately neglected by previous governments in health and education sectors. Health tourism is growing and people are losing confidence in our educational system. The Senate should go beyond saying Professor Adewole is a qualified man for the job but must play their part by voting 26 percent UNESCO benchmark for funding education. It is a disservice to the nation if National Assembly members and the leadership do not consume our education and/or jet-out for treatment in a country that cares for her people due to the distrust they have in the two sectors. While I have no doubt that Professor Adewole will deliver in either health or education ministry, he needs to be given all the necessary support (financial, environment, political etc) to work for Nigerians particularly the masses who are usually the victims of bad governance.

    • Dr Oludayo Tade,

    University of Ibadan.

     

  • Kogi polls: Bello unfolds manifesto

    Kogi polls: Bello unfolds manifesto

    Kogi State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant Yahaya Bello has unfolded his manifesto at a party meeting in Lokoja, the state capital, urging the people to vote for power shift.

    He told party followers that Kogi can only move forward, if it is led by a progressive governor.

    Bello lamented that the state remained poor because its resources are not fully tapped.

    He said: “Created in 1991, Kogi State boasts about 29 of the 34 internationally recognised mineral resources in Nigeria. But what do we have to show for this rich natural endowment? Absolutely nothing! Kogi State is, sadly enough, one of the poorest in Nigeria.”

    Bello said the next APC government will break the shackles of retardation, retrogression, stagnation, and underdevelopment., if the people vote for change.

    Bello will fight for the APC ticket at the primaries along with Prince Abubakar Audu, Alhaji Yakubu Mohammed and Senator Abatemi-Usman.

    Bello began his career in 2001 at the Revenue Mobilization Allocation and Fiscal Commission as a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member. He rose to the position of Chief Accounting Officer. He ventured into stock trading with portfolio spanning oil and gas, and finance. He explained that he entered the race to salvage the Northcentral state.

    Unfolding his five-point agenda, he said:  “Education is not a luxury but a right. There will be education for all. I will overhaul the health system. I will create jobs, develop infrastructure and reform the pension system.

    He said: “Education equips people with the required skills to become self-reliant and therefore, rescue themselves from poverty. We will give conditional cash grants to indigent students, school meal vouchers, full and partial scholarships. We will foster early childhood/youth leadership development, school-based child health intervention, including free and subsidized healthcare. We will provide new school infrastructures and educational aids and materials, teaching resources, incentives for vocational and apprenticeship schemes, and continuous training of teachers.”

    He added: “An idle hand is the devils tool and idle minds his workshop. The battle against unemployment will be waged through strategies to enhance both employability and employment opportunities for the people of Kogi State. I feel the pains of my fellow Kogi youths who cannot find gainful employment.”

    Bello promised “industry-specific training schemes that will work hand-in-hand with our proposed incentivized vocational and apprenticeship schemes under our educational action plans.” He said, without formal education, every Kogi youth will have the opportunity to get into a profitable venture through “training and support that will guarantee a decent livelihood.”

    He said: “Opportunities will be created in agriculture, mining, trade and commerce, artisanship.”

    On tourism, he said: “A vibrant tourism industry is a sine-quanon for a revitalised Kogi State in view of its historical and strategic vantage position as a meeting point of the diverse cultural heritage of the rich nation of Nigeria. Specifically, amusement parks, horticultural gardens, zoos, arcades, boat regattas, festival and cultural venues, among many more, are in the work.”

    He added: “”Kogi State is the solid minerals capital of Nigeria. The most strategic minerals are buried in the bowels of our dear state, but the lackluster successive administrations have been blind to these jewels of nature all around us. Of the thirty-four (34) most important minerals in Nigeria, 29 are in Kogi State. We have a master-plan to partner with the Federal Government and ensure that these blessings no longer lie fallow in our land while our people go hungry and unemployed”.

    Bello promised to develop agriculture, adding that “by the time we are two years in office, the sector would be employing at least 100,000 Kogi indigenes in diverse capacities.”

    He also promised to defend the health sector by refurbishing and equipping existing health facilities to international standards.

    Reiterating his determination to fight infrastructure battle, he said: “Investors are generally drawn to developing the economy when there is availability of basic infrastructure and an enabling environment such as accessibility through a good road network, power, piped water and other utilities. We intend to open up our economic space by focusing on revenue-generating infrastructure ranging from rural roads, water supply by extending the reach of the Greater Lokoja Water works to adjoining towns while building from the scratch many independent rural water projects.”

  • Implications of Change Manifesto (1)

    Implications of Change Manifesto (1)

    What is billed for change is not diagnosis of Nigeria’s ailments but the efficacy of the treatment of such ailments

    While the history of the decline of the PDP as the largest political party in Africa, particularly the reasons why the party lost to the APC in all the elections waits to be written, the belief in many quarters—elite and folk— is that majority of voters who chose the APC over PDP in all the elections did so because of the promise of change by General Buhari and the APC. Just as the president-elect has started to inform citizens about policies he would introduce to herald change, so are many politicians and even public servants acting and talking in a way to suggest that they do not understand what a manifesto of change means. Even after most Nigerians have opted for a new ideology of governance, many of those who have benefited over the years from a government that has little attention for citizens’ welfare still behave as if Buhari’s change manifesto is mere rhetoric.

    It is clear to the average observer that the most appealing aspect of Buhari/APC campaign is not as much the focus on issues (as distinct from the preoccupation of the ruling party with smear campaign) as it is the desire of most Nigerians for change. Nigerians were fed up with a governance ideology and style that had failed and wanted to have a socio-economic experience that is different from what had obtained for the past sixteen years in general and the past six years in particular.In effect, Nigerian’s desire for change and Buhari’s promise of a socio-political experience that is different from the socio-economic menu of the past sixteen years coalesced to bring what used to be the opposition party to power.

    It is, therefore, not surprising that the President-elect has since March 30 been introducing doses of policy change that is expected to move away from the traditional way of governing the country. Even after General Buhari has said that anyone interested in becoming a minister in his government must be prepared to declare his or her asset, those who have been poster-boys and girls for corruption in government are very loud in announcing their desire to work with Buhari. Individuals who are running away from the laws in other lands and those who should be in court answering to EFCC charges are in the forefront of those advertising their support and selling their expertise toBuhari, as if change is only about content with no connection to form.

    Many of the dimensions of governance that Buhari and APC have promised to change have been part of the rhetoric of government in the last sixteen years: corruption, poverty, infrastructure, education, health, national security, and the country’s political structure and culture, to name a few. What is billed for change is not diagnosis of Nigeria’s ailments but the efficacy of the treatment of such ailments. In other words, Buhari and his party want to move away from rhetoric to praxis. In doing so, it is obvious that it is not just content that should require the attention of the new president but also form.

    As today’s piece promises to be one of many on the implications of Change Manifesto, the rest of today’s column will focus on what should be changed about the fight against corruption. Fighting corruption requires the integrity of a leader who himself or herself is averse to corruption. What is known and propagated about General Buhari is encouraging for the reason that he is the kind of leader that is favorably placed to take the fight against corruption from its present highly rhetorical level to a noticeably practical level. As it is with any desperate problem that requires desperate solution, corruption has both cause and effect.

    The effect is often material or tangible and thus identifiable. For example, having a candidate for governorship or ministerial appointment declare his assets is capable of addressing the material aspect of corruption, especially if such candidate is unable to prove the source of the pre-engagement income he has declared or if at the end of his time in office, he is unable to explain changes in his income at the point of exit from office. Secondly, character flaw can help to facilitate corrupt behavior on the part of office holders. Individuals with moral weakness and poor ethical standards are more likely to be more corrupt than disciplined and morally upright persons in positions of power. So, making sure that only individuals with high ethical standards are appointed as ministers and into other positions can assist the fight against corruption.

    But the cause of corruption deserves as much attention as its effect. Strong institutions and a political system that is not designed to facilitate corrupt behavior are matters that should be of concern to the Buhari administration. Without mincing words, the distribution of power and responsibility between the central and state governments over the years has contributed to the growth of the culture of corruption in the country in the last forty or more years. The rise of political and bureaucratic corruption that has earned the country the stigma of  being one of the most corrupt countries on earth in the last thirty years has links with the descent of the country into a modern form of hunting and gathering culture that has been in vogue in the last forty or more years. What is often referred to in modern political and economic vocabulary as rent collection from petroleum sale is a modern variant of hunting and gathering as sources of livelihood.

    By replacing the relative productive sector in place in the early part of the postcolonial phase with rent collection from petroleum, Nigeria created a socio-economic and political culture that fostered alienation of the citizenry from the country’s rulers. Under a system that is characterized by running both national and subnational governments on allocations from rents collected from petroleum, citizens’ efficacy was eroded. Citizens ceased to be actors (tax payers) and became consumers of what is passed down to the states from the federation account.  Overloading the central government with powers and functions that do not have to be performed principally because of the absence of strong institutions and primacy of the rule of law, those charged with the power to run the country have had so much pork to use to bribe or silence citizens, and to cripple dissent. Impunity consequently grew to an endemic level at the centre, just as it also became part of the culture in states, especially those that are governed by the same party in power at the center. There are many telling examples all around us till today.

    The culture of ruling with impunity and consuming with recklessness on the part of those in power became part of the economic and political culture of the country, to the extent that finding honesty in public and also private sectors has become like finding a needle in a hay-sack. The effect is the penetration of corruption to every level and aspect of life in the country.It is, therefore, salutary that INEC has helped to bring the first corrective step to the culture of impunity and corruption in the country. Having a free, fair, and credible election that made it possible to make citizens’ ballots count to the point of replacing the political party in power with the opposition party for the first time in over sixty years is a remarkable boost in citizens’ political efficacy. It is therefore appropriate that the President-elect has chosen to focus on fighting corruption. But the first step in doing this effectively is to return the country to a productive economy that shuns the dependence on fossil energy. Easy flow of petroleum dollars has also made it easy for states to become fiefdoms that also depend on manna from the federation account, rather than the productive centres that the regions were up till the end of the civil war.

    Cutting recurrent expenditures must include creating a budget that does not need revenue garnered from selling of petroleum. Whatever money accrues to the country from petroleum can be devoted to infrastructure building and renewal, rather than allowing revenue from petroleum to provide resources for the running of our government at the national and subnational levels and the interminable ballooning of recurrent expenditures fomented by those who see political appointments as license for infinite acquisition.

    To be continued

  • Kano 2015: Takai’s tacky manifesto

    It was the late former governor of Kano State, Senator Sabo Bakinzuwo, who once revealed that one of the foci of his party’s manifesto was banning the use of helmet by motorcyclists. “Helmet is bad”, he told his interviewer on Radio Kano in the early 80’s, “because it causes accident frequently. If motorcyclist wears helmet, he does not hear when you blare horn, and when a taxi driver hit him, the helmet will eventually strangle him”.

    As funny as this political skit may sound today, the late politician’s policy is, by default, still in effect in Nigeria. Indiscipline is so prevalent and widespread that government cannot enforce even the use of helmet today to minimize danger.

    But PDP governorship candidate in Kano State, Salihu Sagir Takai is taking us on a nostalgic voyage to 80’s, telling the people of Kano State that if elected, he will allow the use of commercial motorcycle (Achaba/Okada). In an innuendo-laden jingle placed on local radio stations, the candidate is also accusing the present administration of “dakile Allazi wahidun” (banning begging).

    Kwankwaso banned the use of commercial motorcycles in January 2013 in the wake of incessant attacks and killings by bike-riding gunmen.

    In a recent article contributed by this writer to justify the decision, I had explained thus: “Apart from being antithetical to ideal city transport system, the environmental hazards and dangers the trade poses to the health of the rider and the passenger, the bike is now used by hoodlums — given its runaway pliability — to kill innocent people.

    But Nigerians seem to be at home with the country’s underdevelopment. We loathe changes but love development. We seem so averse to progressive changes, yet we always yearn for changes. We are good at making comparison with advanced countries on issues of development or sanity, yet any attempt by leaders to bring sanity into the system is criticized by the same critics of underdevelopment.

    Any leader who is not progressive in his approach in this age, he is, obviously, doomed for failure. Our social system is ailing. It is the responsibility of a leader to provide the antidote or required pills needed to relieve the indisposed system — however bitter the pills may taste.

    While some people wrongly argue that Kano State government is alienating the people’s “rights to movement” (as if government has banned motorcycles completely) as ‘guaranteed’ by the constitution, they blink over the fact that the right to life is also guaranteed under section 33 (1) of the 1999 constitution. “Every person,” says the 1999 constitution, “has a right to life and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life save in the execution of a sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria”.

    That aside, the responsibility of securing the life and welfare of the citizenry rests squarely on the government. This truism is boldly highlighted by section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 constitution which states: “The security and welfare of the people shall be the PRIMARY purpose of government”. (Emphasis mine).

    Now, how will you score a leader who makes no effort to discharge his PRIMARY purpose? In a serious clime, failure to do this can spark impeachment sessions in the legislative chambers.

    Until the late 80s (some say early 90s), Nigerians never knew achaba/okada, and the transport system was less or not chaotic as it is today. We boarded taxis and buses in those days and nothing happened to us. Where, in any advanced society, is achaba/okada operating? It is a sign of chronic underdevelopment.

    Statistics at the emergency units of our hospitals however shows that most of their patients are either the commercial motorcyclists or their passengers. In just Murtala Mohammed Hospital, a total of 8,428 cases of male accident victims related to motorcycles were recorded from January to December 2012. Within the same period, 2,367 female sustained injuries through motorcycle-related accidents. And now the sad story: a total of 2,018 people lost their lives last year (2012) through road accidents —90 percent related to motorcycles— in just one hospital!”

    Should we go back to this chaotic past again? Certainly NO. Kano deserves better.

    When BBC reporter asked Kwankwaso in London about the time Achaba service will be restored in Kano, the governor curtly answered: “When London started Achaba. If it is a good, it would have been operational here”.

    In terms of ideas, PDP’s candidate in Kano always sounds primitive. He just wants to be governor. No plans. No ideas. No clout. And no manifesto that can have a synonym in the 21st century development thesaurus. His catch-phrase is just “continue where Malam (Shekarau) stopped”! Where did Shekarau stop? What is Shekarau’s legacy? Shekarau spent eight years as governor and left Kano in rubble, with decaying infrastructure, empty treasury, debt burden, thousands ghost workers, striking teachers, among others. In one fell swoop, the Shekarau administration siphoned N11 billion under what he called “reciprocal arrangement”, with no distinct recipient to justify the reciprocity.

    It requires determination and uneven willpower to ban begging in the streets of Kano. Successive administrations have attempted and fail. But Kwankwaso, like a spirited matador, took the bull by the horn and succeeded in clearing the streets of Kano from beggars. This, according to the PDP candidate, is wrong.

    Another medieval policy of the candidate is to disband Kano Road Traffic Agency (KAROTA), which employs 1,600 youths that bring sanity to the chaotic traffic system of Kano State.

    School feeding and free uniform programmes, which motivate pupils to enroll into primary schools will also be abolished. Due to these programmes, school enrollment had tripled in the last three years.

    May leaders that will take Kano to the primitive days of Achaba, corruption and fake religious demagoguery never come to pass.

    • Jaafar writes from Kano
  • APC to ratify six-point manifesto at convention

    APC to ratify six-point manifesto at convention

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has streamlined its manifesto to six broad areas for the 2015 general elections.

    The party also said at the weekend that it is poised to present a candidate who will be a Nigerian president when elected, from among its aspirants.

    According to a statement yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Muhammed, the APC will hold an extraordinary national convention on Wednesday in Abuja to approve amendments to  the constitution of the party and also adopt its manifesto for the general elections.

    The party said the proposed amendments when approved at the national convention, will align  the party’s constitution better with the Electoral Act and also allow  the APC to function more efficiently.

    It also said the convention would adopt the six-point manifesto that has been extracted from the one submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) earlier.

    ‘’The manifesto to be adopted at the extraordinary convention of our party is specifically for the 2015 general elections. Because of shifting priorities, we do not believe that a party manifesto should be one for all time but a document that will adjust to the changing needs of the people.

    ‘’In this regard, we have conducted a survey to find out what Nigerians urgently need at the moment to raise their standard of living and ensure their security and welfare, which is the raison d’etre of any government. Based on the outcome of the survey, we have come up with a six-point manifesto.

    ‘’The six broad priority areas for the APC ahead of the 2015 general elections are National Security, Good Governance, Human Capital Development, Economic Development, Land and Natural Resources as well as Foreign Policy. The issue of job creation, fight against corruption, infrastructural development, health, qualitative education, regular power supply, etc are subsumed under these broad priority areas,’’ APC said.

    The party said when the manifesto is adopted, it will be made available to all Nigerians, complete with the full details, in many languages.

    National Secretary of the party Alhaji Mai Mala Buni expressed optimism it would produce a candidate acceptable to all Nigerians.

    Alhaji Buni told reporters at the party’s national secretariat that the level of poverty and degradation in the country has no boundary of south or north, Christian or Muslim, saying what the nation wants at this point is a president who can fight insecurity and restore the peace, harmony and tranquility in all communities.

    “It is not about producing a northern or southern president. We want to produce a Nigerian President. We want to produce a president who will work for the country, sacrifice himself for the country and be selfless in discharging his responsibilities to the country and who will be acceptable to every Nigerian as an upright person who can fight corruption and bring development to the country.

    “That is what we want and not about south or north. Let me tell you that the level of poverty and degradation and impoverishment in this country has no boundary of south or north, Christian or Muslim.

    “We are all suffering and nobody is left out. Everybody is desirous of change and that is why the APC is poised to produce the best President for this country. We want to have somebody who will fight corruption because it is the major dent of this country that is under developing the country.

    “We want somebody who can fight the insecurity and restore the peace, harmony and tranquility in all communities. This is our hope and I don’t think we will now restrict this to either south or north. These are political boundaries.

    “APC is poised to give the best President who will be read to address the problem militating against the development of Nigeria. This is our common problem and it is our common challenge. So, it is not about where the person comes from”.

    He described the merger of the opposition parties as a major milestone in the nation’s political history, saying: “There used to be alliances which often collapse. But for political parties to merge and form one single formidable opposition party has never happened until the merger that gave birth to the APC. So, when you look at it carefully, you will not be surprised about the defection of the seating governor from the PDP the APC.

    “That goes to tell you how the country is suffering. If things are going well, how can sitting governors defect to opposition party to fight the ruling party to form government?”

     

  • The Nigerian Civil Service: A Reformer’s Manifesto (1)

    In what can rightly be described as his ‘last testament’ shortly before his death, titled: There Was A Country, Africa’s pre-eminent novelist, Chinua Achebe, graphically paints a picture of a colonial Nigeria. Then, there were qualitative service delivery, the school system functioned and could compare favourably with the best in the world, public infrastructure, such as roads and electricity, were functional and efficient and there was safety of lives and property.

    While not necessarily romanticising colonialism or denying its essentially exploitative essence, Achebe was intellectually honest enough to acknowledge and demonstrate through the experiences of his generation that the colonial administration functioned, largely, in a purposeful, meaningful and predictable manner. Even the most ardent patriot would find it difficult to deny that, following a brief flowering of progress and development in the immediate post-independence era, the quality of governance in Nigeria at all levels and in all sectors has steadily deteriorated under successive military and civil dispensations since the attainment of ‘flag independence’ in 1960.

    What role has the steady and systematic erosion of the values of efficiency, integrity, proficiency, meritocracy and professionalism in Nigeria’s Civil or Public Service played in the pathetic deepening of underdevelopment in an otherwise richly endowed country over the last five decades? Why have persistent efforts to promote reforms in the Civil Service and restore its capacity to act effectively as a catalyst of development failed abysmally in the humiliating story of post-independence Nigeria? What lessons can the country learn from the abject past and current failings of the Public Service and how can the institution be best re-positioned to help actualise the immense but chained potentials of the Nigerian nation? These are the central questions to which Dr TunjiOlaopa, one of the country’s foremost public administrators, theoreticians of public sector governance and experts on public sector reforms seeks to proffer answers in his seminal new book entitled The Nigerian Civil Service of the Future: A Prospective Analysis.

    In a little under 400 pages spanning 18 mostly concise and incisive chapters, this book published by BookKraftin Ibadan, will most certainly become an indispensable handbook, a veritable theoretical and practical manifesto to guide the much needed change that can liberate the developmental potentials of the Nigerian Public Service as a vehicle for achieving meaningful national transformation. Of course, hardly anyone is better placed than Dr Olaopa to undertake this ambitious intellectual venture. He holds first and second degrees in Political Science and Political Theory, from the University of Ibadan and a doctorate degree in Public Administration. Erected upon this sound theoretical grounding is a rich public service career that has seen him rise to the position of Permanent Secretary in the Federal Public Service over the last two and a half decades.

    Dr Olaopa has written at least three other major books on various aspects of public service administration and reforms in Nigeria and a delightful biography of the pre-eminent economist, ProfOjetunjiAboyade, one of his acknowledged intellectual mentors and moral exemplars. However, his new work is clearly his magnum opus. Next to the Aboyade book, this is easily his most readable offering.

    Although still laced in academic and theoretical jargon in some of the chapters, The Nigerian Civil Service of the Future, is written in more fluent and easily accessible language to the layman. It is in many ways a unique book – part history of the Nigerian Public Service, part philosophical reflection on the place of public administration in governance and development, part elaboration of the author’s core ethical and moral values and part biography of his professional development.

    Perhaps the best way for the reader to start this book is from the last chapter titled ‘Trajectory to the Future: An Anecdotal Conclusion’.   Here Olaopa recalls how as a five-year-old boy in Western Nigeria during the operation ‘wetie’ of the First Republic that set the region ablaze, “I was at a wrong place at a wrong time to witness an act of political thuggery that took four lives in a blazing vehicle. I guess that the providential hand of God, and the singularity of that act of malevolence, is perhaps responsible for my being at the right place at the right time today to contribute my quota to the collective healing of Nigeria through institutional renewal and reengineering that will define the substance of our contribution during our tenure”. It is, thus, in this context that we can appreciate Dr Olaopa’s life-long preoccupation, theoretically and practically with the ‘imperative of a functional, efficient and professionally capacitated Civil Service’ as an ‘urgent desideratum’ for democracy, good governance and development in Nigeria.

    It is, thus, not surprising that throughout this book, Dr Olaopa stresses the indispensable relationship between theory and practice. Effective and productive practice, he insists can only emerge from sound theory which is “the basis to launch a reformed administrative paradigm that would enhance the service delivery function of government”. From this premise, he argues that life-long learning or what he calls “enlarged learning” as distinct from mere formal education must be the life-long vocation of the idealised ‘New Professionals’ characterised by high ethical standards, and an unflagging commitment to adding value and enhancing excellence in Public Service with a view to promoting development.

    But then, can this ‘New Professionals’ of Dr Olaopa’s dream emerge from the diseased womb of a political economy characterised by crass rascality, irresponsibility and massive corruption as currently exists in Nigeria? Can an optimally functional Civil Service advocated by the author within the context of a pathetically dysfunctional political and socio-economic environment? Does Dr Olaopa exaggerate the role, influence and institutional autonomy of the Public Service? To what extent can the Civil Service be truly autonomous and effective in its prescribed professional functions of planning, organising, directing, coordinating and controlling government operations to achieve optimal societal progress?

    To be fair to Dr Olaopa, he does not shy away from critically discussing the interface between administration and politics and the implications for the institutional reform of the Civil Service and the attainment of national developmental objectives.

    In his words, “Public Administration is embedded in a complex and interdependent system that include the political, social, cultural and administrative institutions of a state”. Successful Public Service reforms, he submits must be a function both of political will and the governance context. He hinges the collapse or failure of societies ultimately on the ability or inability of the relevant institutions to effectively, efficiently and competently manage complex change through qualitative decision making.

    But where does the ultimate responsibility for initiating, managing and ensuring the actualisation of the necessary changes vital for Nigeria’s transformation lie – with the administrative or the political class? Does the embarrassing spectre of pension fund fraud, fuel subsidy scams, ghost worker fraud,among others, in which both the administrative and political elite are implicated not suggest that the differences between the two are at best superficial and that they are both incapacitated by a common desensitising moral environment? Even while rigorously dissecting the challenges raised by these pertinent questions, Dr Olaopa addresses his mind to the imperative of constructing and empowering developmental states in Nigeria and Africa. Disagreeing with the dominant neo-liberal orthodoxy of radically subordinating the public sphere and society as a whole to the dictatorship of market forces, the author argues that “The lesson brought out of the SAP experience, therefore, is that contrary to the orthodoxy of rolling back the state and emasculating its interventions, a strong, vibrant and developmental state is urgently required within the governance network in Africa to intervene vigorously in the national development process”. Implicit in Dr Olaopa’s in much of the book is the imperative factions for the national elite – political, administrative, business, intellectual etc. – to define such a purposive national agenda and to mobilise popular support strategically to actualise set objectives.

  • ‘Obiano is copying Ngige’s manifesto’

    The Ngige Campaign Organisation has urged the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, Mr. Willie Obiano, to stop copying the manifesto of Senator Chris Ngige.

    It said this in a statement by the Media Assistant, Mr. Igboeli Arinze.

    The statement berated the APGA candidate for the “unethical duplication” of Senator Ngige’s manifesto.

    It reads: “We have with disgust and amazement watched how the APGA candidate Mr. Willie Obiano revised his manifesto to include the contents obtained from the impeccable manifesto of Senator Chris Ngige.

    ‘’Mr. Obiano, in his abject lack of preparation to become a warrant chief, let alone governor of Anambra State, is making use of the promises of Senator Ngige to campaign at rallies and other places.

    “For example, Mr. Obiano initially did not promise free education or free ante-natal services for expectant women or free primary health care for children under five as stated in Ngige manifesto.

    ‘’But after Ngige announced these plans to the electorate, Obiano copied them, promising to do the same for the people.”

    Arinze advised the Obiano team to be creative and evolve a manifesto for its candidate.

    He said: “With the hype and propaganda about Willie’s CV, it beats the imagination to see such a candidate copy the manifesto of a co-aspirant.

    ‘’Candidates shoud act as role models to children. How can our dear Obiano preach against exam malpractices when he is also a beneficiary of such a vice.”

    Arinze, however, said the situation was favourable to Senator Ngige, “as it shows that of the candidates, he leads the pack with ideas.”

  • APC to present manifesto, constitution in two weeks

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday inaugurated committees on constitution, manifesto/Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and legal compliance, urging them to present their reports in two weeks.

    The new party mandated the Committee on Manifesto to “establish clear cardinal points as our core commitments to our people, which should include: education, eradication of corruption, uninterrupted power supply, full and gainful employment, affordable local fuel price, health care and food.”

    According to Chief Tom Ikimi, who announced the terms of reference and names of committees’ members in Abuja, the Committee on Manifesto is expected to define clearly, the philosophical/ideological content of the APC, “distinguishing it from the other party- the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).”

    The new party said the manifestos should reflect on the social, economic and political situation prevailing in the country, especially on people’s plight.

    Ikimi said: “Fundamentally, the manifestos should make our governments at all levels regulator governments, which will create the enabling environment for wealth creation and employment generation.”

    The Committee on Manifesto, he said, should propose a suitable motto and slogan for the new party.

    He named Chief Audu Ogbeh, Dr. Garba Abari, Dr. Usman Bugaje, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chief Achike Udenwa, Chief Geofrey Yilleng, Alhaji Saliu Momoh, Prof. Tam David West and others as members of the 20-man committee that would select its executive members.

    According to Ikimi, the assignment for the Committee on Constitution is to examine the constitutions of the merging partners in detail and analyse them.

    He said the committee should examine political parties’ constitutions from successful democracies with a view to adopting some suitable provisions.

    The party, therefore, urged the committee to “design a robust and dependable constitution for APC, which would derive its strength from sound democratic ideals and which would deepen our nation’s democracy and ensure a thriving internal party democracy.”

    It is also to draft a constitution, which provides adequate structure and safeguard the principle of party supremacy, provided that its provisions do not contravene the provisions of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    APC also sought a constitution that would create strong party organs and identify the relevant party positions at all levels such as would be reflective of the country’s social democratic philosophy and propose a recruitment system that would ensure that competent, honest and qualified persons, who would lead the party at different levels and give it sound and credible direction were put in place.

    Ikimi asked the committee to identify sustainable revenue sources for the party to make it a people-owned party.

    The 20-man committee comprises Otunba Niyi Adebayo, Aremo Segun Osoba, Dr. Chris Ngige, Chief John Oyegun, Senator Akpan Udoedehe, Abdul Aziz Yari Abubakar, Prof Fabian Osuji Mrs. Lucy Ajayi and others.

    Referring to the Committee on INEC and Legal Compliance, APC said: “It is to determine and examine all legal issues related to the process of merger of political pParties.”

    It is also to provide guidelines to the parties involved in the merger, which will ensure full compliance with the relevant laws by all the parties.

    Ikimi said the committee is to liaise with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other relevant agencies to ensure a smooth consummation of the merger.

    The party assigned the committee to document all understanding and /or agreements among the merging parties.

    According to APC, “the committee is to submit its report to the Joint Inter-Party Merger Committee within two weeks from the date of this inauguration.”

    The committee is also expected to submit its report in two weeks from the date of inauguration.

    Members of the 20-man committee are Pastor Ize-Iyamu, Rabia Eshak, Chief Henry Ajomale, Dr. Ibrahim Lame, Senator George Akume, Ahmed Rufai Yerima, Barrister James Ocholi (SAN) and others.

    The party men at the meeting were the Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Nasarawa State Governor, Alhaji Tanko Almakura, former Kano State Governor, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, Board of Trustee Chairman, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Chief Audu Ogbeh, Senator George Akume, Senator Abbah Buka Ibrahim, Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Elewa, ACN Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Osita Ugochukwu and others.

    The first civilian governor of Edo State and a former vice-presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party, (ANPP), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, yesterday said the newly formed APC has addressed the issues that led to the pitfalls of previous mergers.

    Oyegun, in an interview with reporters in Benin, said the major issue the party is grappling with is to put in place a strong leadership structure to enable it wrest power from the PDP in 2015.

    The Chairman of the Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF), Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, yesterday said he supported the merger of the four opposition parties into the APC because the merger would put the ruling PDP on its toes and make it work hard towards winning the confidence of the people.

    He expressed concern that PDP has been taking the winning of elections for granted from 1999 to date and if care is not taken, the new party (APC) will defeat PDP in 2015.

    Aliyu, who is also the Niger State Governor, spoke when he inaugurated the newly-reconstituted state Executive Council in Minna.