The Nation Newspaper

Tag: matters arising

  • Moro’s Fate and Matters Arising

    First, a quick caveat: We won’t be presumptuous to discourse here on the substance of charges being preferred in court against former Interior Minister Abba Moro, along with some others, by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). It is obviously the court’s prerogative to interrogate those. We will be restricted, therefore, to re-examining the circumstance of the 2014 Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) recruitment tragedy, and the embedded morals for our nationhood experience.

    Just when it seemed that justice was foreclosed for some 700,000 hapless applicants that were pooled into frenetic crowds at NIS job recruitment centres across the country on 15th March 2014, the EFCC last week said it was set to make Moro and four others answer for charges of fraud and money laundering relating to the botched exercise. This calling to account was long in coming, but nonetheless welcome that it is here. Moro was the minister that had supervision of the Immigration Service at the time of the recruitment under former President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, and he certainly needs to answer for his role alongside alleged accomplices – including the private consultancy firm that conducted the exercise, Drexel Tech Nigeria Ltd.

    The handling of the 2014 Immigration Service recruitment ranked easily as the height of government insincerity and dysfunction, as well as the ultimate signpost of the crisis of youth unemployment in this country. Hundreds of thousands of job seekers (some accounts put the figure at 710,110) had applied for barely 4,000 openings that were said to be available in NIS at the time, and were indiscriminately drawn to recruitment centres where there was scant evidence of any prior preparation to receive and administer such mammoth crowds. Even though they were just yet seeking employment to earn some income, each applicant was required to pay N1,000 fee through an online platform administered by Drexel. By the close of the disorderly exercise held simultaneously nationwide, 19 applicants were reported trampled to death or choked lifeless in crowd stampedes at the different centres. It was one incident that left the nation grief-stricken and scandalised with shame all at once.

    At the time the tragedy occurred, partisan angling for the 2015 general election was already intense, and it is unclear whether the government in power genuinely wanted to absorb new recruits to the Service then or was just up to some chicanery for electoral advantage; or worse, whether the Presidency had lost accountability for individual initiatives of its functionaries. I would not know what else explains the fact that less than a month to the recruitment, then Comptroller-General of the Immigration Service, David Parradang, made clear to the Senate Committee on Interior that there was no budgetary provision for the recruitment, and neither any to underwrite the emoluments of some 4,000 new intakes being proposed for the Service that year. Appearing before the Senate committee on 19th February to defend NIS budget proposals for 2014, Parradang said: “We had started the process of reconciliation when the Board (of the Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence, Prisons and the Fire Service) announced that we got approval to recruit 4,000 and above. But there is no budgetary provision for funding of that process. If we recruit the people, there will be no salaries for them; so we have approached the Budget Office. They said it was late and that they could not make available that amount of money, and we calculated that N4billion would be needed to pay those officers that are expected to be recruited for the year 2014.”

    EFCC’s charge sheet against Moro and the others in the impending litigation confirms that budgetary provision was really never made for the exercise, hence it is difficult to rationalise that there was sincere intention by government to take new recruits in for the NIS. Now, I dare say it was beastly in the extreme and a grievous crime against humanity if the government then in power plotted that Immigration recruitment as a stunt just to score political points, especially with the misadventure having claimed so many hapless lives. Moro’s testimony in court in the coming days will be useful in showing if there are issues in this matter to refer to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for consideration.

    But even if the government had genuine intention to recruit, there was sufficient evidence of acute internal dysfunction, as Moro apparently sidelined the board and management of NIS and enlisted a private consultancy firm to conduct the exercise. Following the disastrous outing, the Immigration board was vocal in repudiating the exercise. At a hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts in the week that followed the tragedy, for instance, members said only Moro and his team could explain how they came about the ill-fated exercise. Sylvanus Tapgun, who led the delegation to the House committee session in Abuja, said: “Theý Interior Minister and the consultant he engaged for the exercise are the ones that can tell Nigerians exactly what happened. Even the Comptroller-General of Immigration was not involved, he was not part of the recruitment at all and there was no board resolution to recruit anybody. When we, members of the board, learnt about the recruitment, we wrote the minister that we are not in support of engaging the services of a third party to conduct recruitment for the Immigration Service; but he ignored our letter and went ahead to engage the consultant. The consultant fixed everything, including the N1,000 fee that they claimed was administrative charge.”

    Moro acknowledged the alienation of NIS leadership when, on the heels of the botched exercise, he accused Parradang of irresponsibility. He told the Senate Committee on Interior: “If I prevented Mr. Parradang from carrying out the recruitment as Minister of Interior, did I go with his sense of responsibility of knowing how not to conduct employment without budgetary provision and in utter disregard for extant rules? Yes, I wrote to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice to seek clarification to guide the board when I discovered that the presidential committee assisting the board had assumed a life of its own and was conducting the recruitment rather than assisting the board. What value was Parradang adding to the work of the presidential committee when, on 15th March 2014, he abandoned his duty to provide leadership for the conduct of the recruitment to attend birthday parties in Jos?”

    People familiar with the dynamics of recruitment into government agencies say the process, in many cases, was ridden with political patronage and quota concessions to ‘stakeholders’. That may partly account for Moro’s appropriation of the Immigration recruitment project and eventual alienation of the board and management of the Service. By the same token, ‘non-connected’ applicants usually were in the wild, no matter their qualification for the job. That could partly explain the disorderly conduct of the ill-fated 2014 exercise. The point to be strongly made here is that we can no longer have government and its processes, including recruitment, run on such model in this country. Moro and his alleged accomplices will have their day in court to answer for the financials of the botched Immigration recruitment. I suspect, though, that there will yet be ethical questions that will haunt all the role players for some time to come.

  • Creative taxation and matters arising

    Creative taxation and matters arising

    Taxes are hardly welcome with a smile. Even in jurisdictions where public funds are judiciously husbanded, taxes are often treated with as much dislike as for leprosy! As such, I was not surprised that my call for creative taxation has attracted an admixture of commendation and condemnation. One has learnt to take both with equanimity.

    Suffice to say, for a start, that politicians in general and serving legislators in particular are not the only ones who need to think outside of the box in the wake of the economic doldrums currently besieging our republic. The knights and dukes of the press, ostensibly canonized as putative purveyors of eclectic reasoning, must themselves elevate their criticisms beyond the box!

    After reading the objections of Tunji Adegboyega to my suggestions, no one can denounce his concern that part of the additional revenues accrued from creative taxation would be embezzled by the iniquitous political class. Unfortunately, perhaps unwittingly, Adegboyega sank into the very within-the-box mental framework he was denouncing! Otherwise, his preoccupation should have been about promptly how to effect such checks and balances that will prevent such taxes from being embezzled. Rather, he seemed to be arguing that because such creative taxes will be embezzled, they should not be collected. Is it possible that some of the taxes currently collected through variegated means and sources are also embezzled? If we stretch Adegboyega’s argument to its elastic limit, perhaps we should proscribe all taxation until such a time that we can guarantee the absolute cessation of embezzlement! But we must leave the ridiculous for the sublime.

    Contrary to the innuendoes of Adegboyega, the vast majority of Nigerians will hardly be affected by a revised system that taxes so-called allowances. Most of these allowances are hardly known to the masses! Rather, they are constitutive of obscene perks of the rotten upper caste in the public and private sectors of our workforce. The rumbling protestation that greeted my suggestion from some of my own colleagues reflected the angst of a threatened caste. It is no secret that most prosperous countries across the world embrace progressive taxation that ensures that those who earn more pay more taxes; those who earn far more pay far more taxes.

    In Nigeria, whether in the public or private sector, the extant practice is that huge portions of income are sheltered under the loophole of so-called allowances. What we need is a progressive scale of taxes based on the total earning of every citizen. Details of such progressive taxation can be left to the tax experts to evolve in the best interest of our republic.

    All of us are free to point accusing fingers to past and current leaders for the economic mess in which our republic is submerged. Unfortunately, the blame game will not suffice to get us out of this choking mess. Yes, let us blame; let us prosecute, punish and curse. But let us do more than these. Let us get creative in finding solutions.

    I am well aware that we already pay some valued added taxes on our phone calls. Currently, a page of 160 characters costs 3.81 naira. Adding one naira tax to a page of text message is, arithmetically, a relatively huge increase. But can we honestly say that Nigerians will suffer unduly for paying less than five naira per page of text? We used to pay about N15 per such text message at a time that one naira had double its current value!

    Likewise, I am well aware of the promises made prior to the disbandment of the toll on roads. But are current economic realities the same as those prevailing when the toll roads were disbanded in the second term of the Obasanjo regime? In any case, would we not have been far better served if our toll roads had been modernized rather than disbanded? Across the world, policies like this are not cast in stone as if government is gifted with inerrancy. On the contrary, tax laws are constantly revised to dynamically reflect society’s needs and resources.

    Alas, our short-term resources have plummeted while our needs continue to rise along with our escalating population. Hackneyed calls for the diversification of our economy must never discountenance the cost for such diversification and the lag phase between investment and yield. During this phase, we must find creative ways to cut the cost of government while also expanding its revenues. Anything short of these is wishful thinking. For example, many glibly talk about the potential for much higher tourist revenues for Nigeria while discountenancing the reality that this will not be actualized until we first develop the ancillary infrastructure for successful tourism.

    Iran has the third largest oil and gas reserve in the world, behind Russia and Venezuela but ahead of the USA and Saudi Arabia. Its re-entry into oil exportation diminishes the market share of Nigeria while concurrently further lowering price due to the cardinal law of supply and demand. This is a double whammy for the economic prospects of Nigeria. Nearer home, East Africa is emerging as the new frontier for oil and gas. Recent discovery of huge oil reserves in Kenya and Uganda has sobering implications for Nigeria. Tanzania, geographically the largest country in East Africa, has discovered 51 trillion cubic feet of gas; this is among the largest in the world. Furthermore, the emergence and sudden increase in the supply of shale energy means that the USA now depends less on imported crude. Shale technology is a fast growing trend in the USA where domestic production of petroleum and gas is obtained from fine-grained sedimentary rock. This worsens the situation for Nigeria- at least on the short run. Taxes are not chic but in our dire situation, they remain an option we must creatively employ.

    Like Adegboyega, Nigerians are generally pained and infuriated by the profligate prodigality and recent looting of our common patrimony. We salute recent efforts to recoup stolen funds. Even so, our pain and fury must not derail us into the common fallacy that these efforts constitute an eternal panacea for our woes. If we can recoup N2 trillion of stolen money this year, will this be a recurrent revenue for the next several years? Specifically, shall we be able to recoup the same amount every year for the next five years? What will be our recourse if the price for crude oil continues to plummet? Shall we arrest Dasuki and others and try them again?

    Elsewhere, I have advocated for the cancellation of so-called oil subsidy. But that must await its own separate discussion.

    • Prof Adeyeye is Senate Chief Whip.

     

     

  • Change mantra and matters arising

    There is a new government in place. For the first time since the return of democracy in 1999, the behemoth Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) took a drubbing from the opposition Rainbow coalition, the All Progressives Congress (APC), in the May, general election. The APC rode to power on the change mantra; a supposedly genuine desire to offer the people new hope and give direction to a rudderless nation ready to hit the rocks.  But ironically, more than six months in the saddle, the APC is yet to fashion out policies that will drive the change Nigerians voted for.

    Rather, what is witnessed as shadows of change are the maturation of programmes and policies of the erstwhile PDP government, such as gains of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), a semblance of improved power supply (being gains from the privatisation of the power sector), etc.

    The real change seems to be eluding us, such as the rescue of the Chibok girls, eradication of Boko Haram, improved power supply, improved road infrastructure, availability of petroleum products, and reduced crime rates, a true democratic and inclusive government, among others.

    For change to occur there must be movement, either physically or otherwise from one position to another.  Nigeria, at the inception of the present administration was, and still is in dire need of true change.

    First and foremost, Nigeria requires change in its administrative structure.  The late Chief Tony Enahoro, within the NADECO structure almost shouted his voice hoarse in proposing a government that recognises multiple nations making up Nigeria.  Many public commentators/analyst proposed regional autonomy as the panacea to Nigerian’s myriad of problems.  And lately, and at the twilight of the PDP administration,  former President Goodluck Jonathan convened  a National Conference that hinged most of its recommendations on a regional autonomy.  The report of that conference is gathering dust in the shelf.  The National Conference came into being through a legitimate government.  The resources of this country were incurred in prosecuting the National Conference for about four months.  It is important, therefore, that resources employed in that process, both human and financial, should not be allowed to waste due to the unwillingness of a succeeding government to implement the report put together as representative of the views of Nigerians.  If the present administration is truly committed to bringing about a change, its first call is to alter the political/administrative structure of the country in line with recommendations of the National Conference.  We cannot continue to do things the old way and expect new results.  The administrative structure of Nigeria today is of the command structure inherited from the military.  If Nigeria is truly to develop, there must be true democratic governance and regional autonomy where various geo-political zones are given a breath of fresh air, enabling them to look inward and generate resources to develop their states/zones at their pace.  The 2011 Constitution (as amended) is purely cosmetic.  It was not people-driven.  Change does not come easy; the theme of change as defined by the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary is ‘Become/Make different’.  To this end, the APC must reconstruct Nigeria so that at the end of its tenure in office, we should see a changed political/administrative structure in Nigeria.  Adopting and implementing the report of the last National Conference would make the job easier for the APC-led administration in this regard.

    Another fundamental area of change is the fight against corruption.  The present administration has so far shown seemingly clear vision of what to do in this regard but lacking in consistency.  A situation where persons indicted of corruption by a judicial panel or under EFCC investigation are being rewarded with ministerial nomination and party tickets does not display sincerity of purpose.  The present administration with its agenda of change must adopt a systematic approach to the fight against corruption; create and strengthen the kind of institutions and policies to usher in a more egalitarian society that will diminish corruption in the short term and in the long term.  A bravado kind of approach towards hewing down perceived political enemies and double standards would certainly not yield the desired result.

    Change is a continuum and a people will continually yearn for change.  But from the perspective of the APC government, Nigerians will truly experience change in their daily lives if they have stable power supply in their houses and motorable roads.  Muhammadu Buhari’s administration seemingly have appropriately articulated these challenges by investing the mantle of leadership in the key sectors of Power, Works and Housing in Babatunde Fashola, the energetic, dynamic and tested past governor of Lagos State.  It is only hoped that those who have elected him for this challenging task would give him the required support and the enabling environment to enable him midwife positive change in these sectors.

    Another major area desiring change in the way things are done is in the petroleum sector.  This nation is endowed with huge deposits of crude. For several decades after its first discovery in Oloibiri in June, 1956, in the present Bayelsa State, nothing positive have been done by successive administrations to add value to the crude being extracted from our soil.  The technology for its extraction is largely in foreign hands.  The four –refineries are comatose.  Today, the price of crude in the world market has tumbled and the economy, which is tied to petrodollar, is in stitches.  It is a thing of shame that Nigeria cannot refine its crude into petroleum and other by-products to meet consumption at home and for export.  What about our huge gas resources?  We must find ways of refining our crude oil at home to meet our domestic consumption as well as for export.  The drive for solid minerals is good, but crude oil has been around for decades and we need to optimise its gains!  We are reeling under the bondage of petroleum subsidy that has grown into trillions.  The time for lip service is fast ticking out.  We must refine our crude oil into petrol, kerosene and other by-products to generate employment and create wealth for the nation.  Nigeria has no business being broke!  The illegal refineries being destroyed in the Creeks of the Niger Delta are established by Nigerians, who are hardly literate.  This administration should assemble our petroleum engineers and organise them into co-operative groups to commence the refining of our petroleum products on the basis of modular refineries established everywhere across the nation.  This should serve as an interim measure until we get our refineries working at full capacity and establish new ones.

    The APC government must move beyond adopting change as a mere mantra.  It should use the opportunity offered it by the electorate, which gave it its mandate for the next four years to bring about real change in the way government business is conducted.  The conduct of government business should no longer be stereotype; every action of government must be geared towards bringing about development.

     

    • Oyiborhoro (KSM) is a public affairs analyst based in Sapele, Delta State

     

  • Prince Abubakar Audu’s demise: Matters arising!

    ‘Ya Allah, forgive Alhaji Abubakar Audu and have mercy upon him, excuse him and pardon him, and make honorable his reception. Expand his entry, and cleanse him with water, snow, and ice, and purify him of sin as a white robe is purified of filth. Exchange his life for a better life. Admit him into the Garden and protect him from the punishment of the grave and the torment of the Fire.

    Out of the debris that emerged from the tragic, perplexing, mind blowing and confusing passing of late Prince Abubakar Audu, only one thing was really certain… Every living soul must taste that bitter taste that is death.

    Even before news of his tragic passing had been confirmed, the conspiracies, rumors, theories  and malice had already made their Olympic winning laps

    Though I exist within an atmosphere where conspiracies thrive, it has never really been an attractive forte for me to ascribe to theories, which always seem to be inadequately explained by incompetence, when the conspiracy is not supported with specific evidence. There is no doubt tat the circumstances that surrounded Late Prince Abubakar’s election, where he was reported to have a high lead, to an inconclusive governorship poll result to a situation where we was pronounced…dead was, to say the least, more confusing than the bewildering plot of Jim Carey’s attempt at another Cult Horror with Mr Magorium’s Wonder Emporium.

    The sudden death of the former Governor of the State who was until his death the flag bearer of the All Progressive Congress in the inconclusive governorship election in Kogi State held on the 21st day of November, 2015 is just as peculiar as the heartbreaking and mystifying passing of the wonderful and great Nigerian Hero, Chielf Moshood Abiola. But, truth be told, only God knows what lead to the deaths of these men in their entirety. But only The Almighty knows so, as people we sould continue to offer prayers to the passing of these men on the passage that we will all surely pass one day.

    For Alhaji Abubakar and all our living and our dead, those present and those absent; our young and our old, our males and our females, I ask for Allah to forgive them and whom amongst He has kept alive…

    Behind the thoughts, prayers and well wishes for this irreconcilable leader, which has passed is the legal quagmire presently left in Kogi politics and governance. There is no doubt that Kogi State has been thrown into a sensitive state, which must be treaded with caution.

    From thhe legal standpoint, a supplementary election is scheduled to be held within one week in parts of Dekina, Ayingba and Ankpa, however, whether that will take place and take place in a manner that is up to the expected equitable criteria will depend on the events that will unfold in the next few hours.

    Section 181 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) provides:

    “If a person duly elected as Governor dies before taking and subscribing the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office, or is unable for any reason whatsoever to be sworn in, the person elected with him as Deputy Governor shall be sworn in as Governor and he shall nominate a new Deputy Governor who shall be appointed by the Governor with the approval of a simple majority of the House of Assembly of the State”.

    The position of the constitution was reflected as the position in the Supreme Court in Modibo v. Haruna.  The Governor elect then, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was nominated by PDP and Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as Chief Obasanjo’s running mate and PDP won the presidential election. Mr. Boni Haruna who was the Deputy Governor-elect was sworn in as the Governor and the defunct APP legally challenged the exercise positing that it was Alhaji Atiku  Abubakar that won the election and if for any reason he was not going to be sworn in, Boni Haruna could not benefit from the victory.  The Apex court towed the path of the constitution and dismissed Modibo’s case. A clear precedence for the Deputy Governor-elect has been set!

    But! Yes, but…. Dear Comrades, the provision of the constitution and Modibo V Haruna’s case is, however, distinguishable from the present situation.

    In the 2015 governorship election case, it introduces a situation where a winner was not categorily declared. The election had been declared inconclusive and no candidate has been declared the winner of the election, even though the APC was thought to have been in lead.

    By section 87 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) provides in subsection 4(b) (i) and (ii) that, “where a political party intends to sponsor candidates it shall hold special congress in each of the Local Government Areas of the State with delegates voting for each of the aspirants at the congress and the aspirant with the highest number of votes at the end of the voting shall be declared the winner of the primaries of the party and aspirant’s name shall be forwarded to the Commission as the candidate of the party, for the particular state.

    Now, strictly applying section 87(4) (b) (i) and (ii) of the Electoral Act, 2010 it was the name of Prince Abubakar Audu that APC forwarded to INEC as the party’s Governorship candidate for the on-going governorship election in Kogi State and not that of his deputy.

    However, even, in consideration of the above provision, within the province of sections 181 and 182 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) the Governor and the Deputy Governor are elected together. This could be interpreted as if the constitution recognizes the existence of the running mate for election, who if elected with the Governor becomes the Deputy Governor in any case. The truth is that, the law is not completely clear and unambiguous here.

    In further legal discussion, Section 36(1) of the Electoral Act provides:

    “If after the time for the delivery of nomination paper and before the commencement of the poll, a nominated candidate dies, the Chief National Electoral Commission or the Resident Electoral Commissioner shall, being satisfied of the fact of the death, countermand the poll in which the deceased candidate was to participate and the Commission shall appoint some other convenient date for the election within 14 days.”

    Although this deferral of law is quite clear, some legal pundits still argue that, the above provision of the law still differs from the situation in Kogi State. This argument is hinged on the basis that the election, which Late Alhaji died had already began!

    Now, what will the APC do? Will it inform INEC that the Party’s candidate in the inconclusive governorship election, deceased and the running mate has been adopted by the party as its flag bearer to continue with the supplementary  election? Will PDP and the other parties participating in the election agree with such arrangement? These will be the political calisthenics that will be seen in the next few days. Honestly, Nigerians may have to brace themselves. We might just about to be spectators to huge legal tussles. I do know that it will be exciting times for us lawyers!

    We must also be mindful of the position and influence or lack of interference of the political party in our elections. In 2011 the present President, Muhammadu Buhari, declined to challenge the result of the presidential election in the court, being the presidential candidate of the then CPC. The party went to court to reclaim its mandate but failed.

    The brilliant, amazing, honorable and deserving Dr. Kayode Fayemi decided not to challenge his loss to the incumbent Governor, Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State in the last governorship election in Ekiti State but we know that the defunct ACN which sponsored him went to the Tribunal and lost the petition. Then, who can remember the Supreme Court sacking Chief Celestine Umehia from the Government House in Rivers State and holding that Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi who was not a gubernatorial candidate during the Rivers State gubernatorial election, as the candidate sponsored by the PDP. But was still declared the governor of Rivers State in 2007.  By these judgments, it is the party, rather than the candidate, that the court recognizes in the victory or loss of elections. This could well play a part in in the Kogi election. The election may very well be alive, so I would suggest that political parties participating in the election… should brace up for a supplementary election!

    Whatever the political manoeuvres will turn out to be, politics is politics… and life is life. In man’s quest to acquire power, it is so sad that sometimes we forget that and get lost in the things that are important in life. His Excellency has gone beyond the context now and has left behind the mudslinging by politicians, the stress of campaign, the unending caucus meeting, the praise singing of sycophants and the bitter attacks from political opponents. We must all be united in prayer for the repose of his gentle soul while politics remain for the living. Prince Abubakar Audu story has already been written and concluded. Now it’s the rest of us.

    ‘O Allah, Alhaji Abubakar Audu is now under Your care and protection so protect him from the trial of the grave and torment of the Fire. Indeed You are faithful and truthful. Forgive and have mercy upon him, surely You are The Oft-Forgiving, The Most-Merciful’.

    ‘O Allah, Your servant and the son of Your maidservant Alhaji Abubakar Audu, is in need of Your mercy and You are without need of his punishment. If he was righteous then increase his reward and if he was wicked then look over his sins… Amen!’

  • NOUN students’ protest and matters arising

    It seems that as Nigerians we are always after seeking world-class infrastructure without the desire to make world class-inputs. Nothing echoes this antithetical desire as much as this week’s petition–supposedly signed by students – calling for the sack of the vice chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Professor Vincent Tenebe and other top management of the institution. One has to say supposedly signed by students because the expectation is that genuine students should understand what the issues are and how their interplay affects the running of the system.

    A statement signed by the Congress of NOUN Students accused the management of not responding to their claim that the institution has become a “den of endemic corruption”. Maybe one will also offer no response upon the realization that the entity being described has no relationship with where one presides over. But again, the management should for the sake of reducing ignorance, educate the student leaders and perhaps their sponsors about the reality of the quality of education that NOUN is delivering despite the limited financing available to it. This explanation would be useful for several reasons.

    First, there is that copycat tendency in some people. It could just be that the Congress of NOUN Students is out to replicate its own version of the #feesmustfall protest that recently crippled several South African universities over astronomical rise in school fees. From the Nigerians perspective, a simplistic view would be to conclude that #feesmustfall protest of 10 – 15% hike in school fees for the 2016 academic year but the larger picture is to appreciate that the hike means an average of N700,000.00 for each student. Should NOUN students be looking at replicating the protest going by their recent moves, it is best they also compare their overall fees with what obtains not just in South Africa but in other countries.

    The second reason the management has to consider is the mere fact that the leadership of NOUN, since inception, has been superlative in the discharge of its duties. NOUN moved from being a concept, whose practicality and implementation was earlier doubted, to becoming a reliable institution. It even caught the attention of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who became a proud student, finished his degree and remained an ambassador of distance learning in Africa.

    The management has been able to place the institution among Nigeria’s top 25 universities. It has also secured Senate’s approval for its graduates to take part in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme. These are achievements the management of NOUN, under Professor Tenebe has to celebrate more than it currently does so that Nigerians and their prospective students can appreciate the efforts they are making to provide quality manpower for the nation.

    Furthermore, the university should create awareness on the relationship between the fees it charges and the quality it turns out. People often desire free education. The reality however is that education is never free. Someone or some entity is paying for or subsidising education whenever students are able to get it for free. Another angle to this is that people should have realised by now that the word “cheap” and “quality” should not occur in the same sentence when they describe education. What the Congress of NOUN Students want, going by their statement and petition, is to either have “cheap” or “free” education. It is interesting to note that they made no reference to the quality of what they are getting out of distance learning, which affords many of them the opportunity to combine career growth with education.

    One of the things the Congress of NOUN Students is not comfortable as indicated in their statement is the increase in the fees charged for research projects. Perhaps, a starting point would have been for the leaders of this congress to take a few minutes to do a Google search with the phrase “project research fees” or “research project fees” and then take a further few minutes to skim over the search results. They would then find that it is not a trend that is only associated with NOUN – other Nigerian universities charge the fee. If these students have the energy and patience to click on the links from the search query, they will further discover that project research fee averages N70,000.00 at institutions that charge them.

    A suggestion for these students would thus be that they should hold NOUN management accountable to ensure they get quality supervision for their projects upon the payment of the prescribed fees. Also, while at it, they should actively explore the possibility of getting businesses and companies interested in funding their projects by working on viable research problems that have industry applications.

    On the issue of course materials, which the students said they do not get on time, a workable suggestion is for the student body to work with management to have all materials digitized and distributed through the institution’s portal or via mobile apps, since the era of hardcopy study materials has all but fizzled out anyway. Enterprising students should be happy to take up the creation of such platforms as a challenge.

    On its part, the Professor Tenebe-led management of NOUN must realise at this point that succumbing to erroneous demands from students is not an option here. If the management succumbs once, then it will never stop giving in until the progress it has made in recent years becomes eroded. Yes, the students have threatened “peaceful protests” if the management of the school is not fired by President Muhammadu Buhari, but the threat should not derail the school from delivering on its mandate. It should also not force the school to abandon the trajectory that has seen its profile rise to be the first choice for those who desire tertiary education through distance learning.

    • Ibekwe, an educationist, contributed this piece from Enugu.
  • Falae’s kidnap: Matters arising

    Falae’s kidnap: Matters arising

    Beyond affirmation of the dreadful state of security, last Monday’s kidnap and subsequent release of Chief Samuel Oluyemisi Falae by individuals thought to be Fulani herdsmen exploited fissures in nationhood triggered by the immediate past government of Goodluck Jonathan. While the country yet grapples with the hangover from a divisive 2015 election campaign by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the last thing the system needed was the seizure of a distinguished political figure by a deviant group known to have caused havoc around the country.

    Falae, a former presidential candidate of the defunct Alliance for Democracy (AD) and chieftain of pan-Yoruba socio-cultural group, Afenifere, was abducted from his farm in Ilado village, Akure North Local Government Area of Ondo State on his 77th birthday. He regained freedom late on Wednesday, four days after his disappearance.

    According to witnesses, 20 suspects who may have acted as proxies made the rude anniversary call. The gun-wielding crooks assaulted some of the 200 workers and their principal with machetes before taking off with their obvious target.

    Born on September 21, 1938, in Akure, Ondo State, Falae attended Igbobi College and Government College, Ibadan, as well as the University of Ibadan (where he was politically active) and Yale University in the United States. Following stints in the private and public sectors, the economist took up appointment as Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SSG) between 1986 and 1990.

    His time in office coincided with the government’s adoption of the unpopular Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). He also served as the Minister of Finance in the military regime of Gen. Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida (IBB) before joining the democratic transition programme.

    When IBB banned ‘old breed’ politicians, Falae became the preferred candidate for followers of the late sage, Obafemi Awolowo, and progressives within the Social Democratic Party (SDP). He contested the SDP presidential candidate post and seemed set to lose to Shehu Musa Yar’Adua before the elections were cancelled. Thereafter, he threw his support and organisation behind MKO Abiola’s presidential ambition.

    Following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 polls and emergence of the military government of Gen. Sani Abacha, Falae became a prominent member of the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) that fought for the restoration of democracy. Arrested and detained by the military government, he was released in June 1998 after Abacha’s death.

    Falae contested the 1999 presidential elections on the joint platform of the AD and the All People’s Party (APP) against PDP presidential candidate Olusegun Obasanjo without success. He swept the South West but failed to garner significant support elsewhere.

    He lived in semi-retirement as a large scale farmer and traditional ruler of Ilu Abo until the rude interruption. As confirmed by the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Wole Ogodo, a history of confrontations existed between the chieftain and herdsmen over the latter’s constant encroachment on his property to graze cattle.

    Disturbed by the incident, President Muhammadu Buhari directed Inspector-General of Police, Solomon Arase, and other security agencies to ensure a safe and speedy rescue. Through his spokesman, Femi Adesina, the president denounced the spate of abduction in the country and condemned the “callous and reprehensible kidnapping of the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation and elder statesman”.

    Falae’s ordeal once more questions the crime-fighting credentials of the Nigeria police. The IG may sustain his predecessor’s policy of eradicating road block and improving the police’s battered image, but reform remains daunting. Despite official censure and calls for community policing, some would rather play renegade cop, mounting and dismantling checkpoints while denizens terrorise innocent citizens behind them.

    Decades of underfunding and corrupt practices reflect in poor equipment, inadequate training and deplorable welfare. Thus, policemen are sometimes reduced to observers or supervisors in the payment of ransom for victims, including hapless colleagues.

    Far from being the first high-profile case in the country as the long list of abductees parades industrialists, politicians, lawyers, journalists and other professionals, the latest episode rankles nonetheless. Kidnappers seemed to have a field day in the build-up, increasing in measure the worth of their quarry. For the famous victim, the Ilado suspects tendered a valuation of N100 million and only shaved N10 million off when concerned family members offered N2 million during Monday night negotiations.

    Considering the emotional outburst that trailed the kidnap, the most dispassionate analyst will labour to separate fact from sentiment and politics from justice. The All Progressives Congress (APC), through its state chairman, Isaac Kekemeke, considered the act “an (one) insult too many for our people to bear, as this same set of people violates the farmstead of our people unchecked and even our highways without control”.

    Rallying support for a prominent colleague, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN) South West Zone (Agbekoya) issued a 24-hour ultimatum before mobilising a search party. The Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) extended the countdown. Its founder, Frederick Fasehun, described the offenders as “enemies of Nigeria’s unity” and carpeted the Federal Government for not reacting within 24 hours while directing members to join in the search for the septuagenarian.

    Praying for an early and safe return, the Ondo State Council of Obas, chaired by Oba Victor Kiladejo, appealed for calm and cooperation with the authorities.

    Yet, the scenario was always likely. As long as the police,  a critical component of internal security, devoted half of its estimated 300, 000 personnel to the protection of top politicians and society bigwigs in a country of 170 million as recently alleged by the IG, security agents would be outnumbered and possibly outgunned.

    In the aftermath, the phrase ‘one too many’ has taken on renewed connotation. Before kidnapping becomes fashionable and acts of brigandage assume ethnic colouration with regularity, the authorities must find a way to contain a crime that some ascribe to economic inequality and the celebration of quick, unexplained sources of wealth.

    Olu Falae may yet be the catalyst for improved security services, considering President Buhari’s vow through his spokesman that Nigerians “will no longer be left at the mercy of criminal elements”. It is all that the ordinary citizen can hope for in dread of the next alarm.

  • AGN and matters arising

    THE Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) has been enmeshed in leadership crisis, and this has existed for as long as the birth of the association itself. Suffice to say that the current development, a court injunction restricting Ibinabo Fiberesima from carrying on as AGN President, after almost three quarter of a two-term of four-year tenure, is a mere scene within a fertile storyline scripted as a never-ending serial.

    Let’s take a look at this statement by Justice Tsoho in respect of the case: “It is not in doubt that the parties in this suit are entertainers but the business of court is a serious one and it cannot be turned into a legal play and for this reason, the election is hereby declared null and void.”

    I have often heard of the phrase, ‘Better late than never’, but this judgment, to me, is not only late, but makes a huge fun of our judicial process. Unfortunately too, the process has again played into the hands of entertainers, whose part training, is to amuse. Incidentally, this is coming at a time in the political history of Nigeria, where so many dramas rent the air. I dare say that events have overtaken the freshness of this case, one which preceded the start of Ibinabo’s election in 2012.

    I think that these entertainers, in their honest obedience of Justice Tsoho’s ruling might not really turn this into a ‘legal play’ but may just explore some ‘legal politics’ with the matter. What do I mean?

    A court judgment delivered on October 26, 2011, had ordered that status quo be maintained by the then Segun Arinze-led exco and another faction of AGN led by Emeka Ike, which had the support of Kanayo O. Kanayo. However, in the face of that violation by the Segun Arinze administration, not only did his tenure hold sway as the faction to reckon with, they exhausted their term in office and organised the next election that produced IbinaboFiberesima.

    With such popularity and recognition that Ibinabo has received, considering her romance with Aso Villa, which has helped  most ailing members, enhanced the fortunes of others and garnered some goodwill for the guild, telling her to back off now would sound like a joke to her supporters who, I believe, constitute the majority of AGN members.

    Let it be clear that the suit that brought about this judgment was the one filed, not by Emeka Ike, but one St. MaradonaMikevine, who was the national treasurer in the then factional election that produced Emeka Ike as AGN President.

    Ike, in an earlier suit had challenged the formation of agovernment of ‘National Unity’, which brought Ibinabo to power. He had also sought an order of court reviewing the guild’s 2007 Constitution as it relates to the tenure of members of Board of Trustees (BOT), averring that the board, comprising: Mr Segun Arinze, Prince Ifeanyi Dike, Mr Emmanuel Oguguah, Mr Murphy Stephen, Mr Sunny McDon and Mr OkeyMcAnthony, had remained in office since July 13, 1999 when the guild was incorporated.

    I think that the relative peace that has existed within the guild should be maintained, while efforts are made by the leadership of the guild and warring parties to settle out of court. Apart from the provision in AGN’s constitution that does not support vacuum, it will take some more time to get a replacement for Ibinabo. And if the prayer by Ike that the guild’s 2007 Constitution be reviewed is granted, the process is expected to lead to a new resolution on the reformation of its BOT, new electoral procedures, and indeed, preparations for fresh elections.

    On the other hand, if Ibinabo decides to appeal the new judgment, which is likely to span another three years, by which time she would have completed her second term, the race becomes that of her successor to carry on. How long will this trend continue?

    However, considering that the AGN constitution says there should be no vacuum, Ibinabo’s loyalists have said she remains their national leader. In other words, they could decide to have her drop President, pending the appeal in court, while she continues her tenure under a nomenclature like AGN National Leader.

    In this game or drama or politics, I imagine the form which the appeal case would take and I see a situation whereby in retrospect, Segun Arinze could claim to have maintained status quo by not acting in the capacity of AGN President towards the tail end of his tenure, but as President of the National Unity of AGN, with the authorities of the BOT, thereby pleading the ‘sanctity’ of Ibinabo’s election as one borne out of the incontrovertible powers of the BOT rather than the controversial position of Segun Arinze, as AGN President.

    The matter is so complicated and I think members should read between the lines and embrace peace, because maintaining status quo could also mean going back to the regime of Ejike Asiegbu, who handed over to Segun Arinze. After all, the law, they say, is an ass.

  • Ruth Kadiri wraps up Matters Arising

    Ruth Kadiri wraps up Matters Arising

    Nollywood actress and movie producer, Ruth Kadiri, has completed work on her new project titled Matters Arising.

    The movie, a romantic comedy, features Ghanaian actor Majid Michel.

    Shot on location in Enugu, Southeast of Nigeria, Matters Arising tells the story of a married thrift collector, who does not live up to his responsibilities. He is soon forced to face the consequence of his ways.

    According to Ruth, “The movie is just one of the things I have in store for my fans; they should expect a lot more from me. This movie is generally to make people laugh and at the same time teach them a thing or two about responsibility. Majid and the production crew really out-did themselves in this movie and I know that it will also make a difference in the quality of movies produced in the industry,”

    Ruth has starred in several movies like My Rich Boyfriend, Heart of a Fighter, Ladies Gang, Strange Acts, Breath of Love, Burning Tears and Sincerity, amongst others.

  • Immigration test: matters arising

    The outrage that trailed recent recruitment test by the Nigerian Immigration Services (NIS), which left about 19 dead and scores of others injured is to be expected. Job seeking Nigerians had trooped to the various test centres by 7am as advertised by the officials. But on arrival, they had to wait for hours before being let into the stadium where the test, including some physical exercise were billed to take place.

    While struggling to enter the venue in some of the centres, there was stampede as the huge crowd defied all control measures put in place. In the resulting confusion, many were trampled on the ground resulting in some deaths with others sustaining varying degrees of injury.

    Since the unfortunate incident, blames have been freely bandied with much of it heaped at the door steps of the Minister of Interior, Abba Moro. Some have even called for his resignation or outright sack for the turn of events that brought about the unfortunate pass.

    But he has sought to exculpate himself from the unfortunate incident. He claimed the stampede was caused by applicants who refused to obey the rules for the exercise and others who were not invited for recruitment. To share in the blame in Moro’s calculations, are the social media for allegedly sending out messages publicizing the test which in turn, attracted those who had no business there. But as the recrimination goes on, 19 of the applicants have paid the supreme sacrifice for daring to aspire to serve their fatherland. In place of elusive jobs, they have harvested deaths in return. What an uncanny irony of fate!

    President Jonathan has cancelled the test and ordered automatic employment for three relations of each of the dead persons as well as employment for those hospitalized as a result of injuries sustained at the flawed test exercise. He has also ordered a repeat that is to be anchored by the Civil Service Commission.

    Even then, the House of Representatives has equally commenced public hearing to unravel some of the allegations that have been placed within the public domain since the incident. Without prejudice to what may come out of the public hearing, there are salient issues that have been brought to the fore by the flawed recruitment exercise. It has highlighted once again, the debilitating high level of unemployment in the country and the urgency for serious intervention to stem the tide. A situation where 700,000 people were scouting for about 4,500 job vacancies is that desperate. Moro had argued that a great majority of those who came for the test are actually not unemployed. He talked of some professionals who are employed but needed to change job for better career prospects. That cannot be ruled out even as its value in justifying the calamity the recruitment exercise turnout to be is very weak. Perhaps, if the organizers had admitted applicants into the venue as they arrived, the ensuing stampede would have been averted. That is the key point that is being glossed over. The stampede has little to do with professionals desiring to change job.

    That such people are still in search of jobs indicates that they may have been underemployed in whatever place they are engaged. Underemployment thrives within a high unemployment matrix. For people to take anything in the name jobs that have no bearing with their specialization only depicts how bad the unemployment situation is. It was therefore not surprising that applicants were prepared to go to any length including putting their lives on line to take the test irrespective of the very slim chances of success. The outcome of such a fatal disposition is what we have reaped in the high rate of fatalities.

    The federal government has been beating its chest on the jobs it claimed to have crated in the last couple of months. Though this claim has been challenged by the opposition, the fact remains that even if it is true that such volume of jobs have been created, it is still a tip of the iceberg considering the huge army of the unemployed in this country.

    The Jonathan administration has been blamed for the suffocating unemployment rate. It has also been chided for mismanaging the economy. Since the buck stops at their table, they have to take responsibility. But it will be uncharitable to infer that unemployment started with this administration or it is solely to blame for it. Definitely, the conditions for the embarrassing unemployment were laid long before this regime came on stream. But it gets worse as days roll by.

    Apparently prodded by political exigency, universities and other institutions of higher learning were replicated in geometric progression across the country. But the creation of industries or other employment avenues have only progressed arithmetically. Such a policy dissonance can only produce the situation witnessed in the immigration recruitment exercise. There is also the issue of corruption at all levels of government which has made it difficult for the citizenry to take maximum advantage of the immense resources nature bountifully placed at our backyard. Our perception of governance and government in prebendal terms has not helped matters. This is a country where many are qualified to work and are prepared to work but there is nothing for them to do. Yet, a few individuals wallow in questionable affluence because of the undue advantage political power confers them. Is it surprising that politics has turned out the quickest means of wealth acquisition in this country?

    Notwithstanding these more generalized issues, the conduct of the test itself left much to be desired. Questions have been raised as to the propriety in collecting N1000 from applicants in search of jobs that may turn out elusive. There are also posers as to why after collecting the so called processing fees the consultant could not even shortlist the qualified ones to prune the number. Worse still, it remains inexplicable why the three categories of applicants including those in the junior cadre were invited to be tested on the same day and venue.

    It was certain the organizers of the event paid scant attention to crowd management. They failed to let in the applicants as they arrived. And when they eventually flung the doors open to a surging crowd, the outcome was quite predictable.

    The point remains that the planning and execution of the exercise were poorly handled. It is curious that 70,000 people could be invited to the test in a stadium without writing chairs and tables and we expect miracles to happen. As it tuned out in some centres, question papers were freely hurled on the air for the fittest applicants to scramble.

    Off course, scramble ensured. Many of the scripts were torn as applicants struggled with one another. Many others, for fear of their lives kept off and could not write the test. And if one may ask, what type of outcome do we envisage in a test where candidates had to fight for exams scripts in the open field?

    In sum, it is obvious that the exercise was ab initio primed to fail. This is more so with the complaints by the immigration officials that they were sidelined from the exercise only to be drafted at the last minute. Between the minister and the consultants, there are serious questions to answer. It is not enough to offer employment to relations of the dead and the injured. Some people must be made to take responsibility for the avoidable tragedy.

  • Matters arising

    Matters arising

    Six hours before they rang in the new year, I was already responding to wishes of Happy New Year with great diffidence.

    I was hoping that, no later than June 2014, when the municipal power supply will be so abundant that private generators would become sentimental archaisms, I would be able to snag up one at a bargain price for the house up-country as an insurance against any relapse of the bad old days of darkness.

    Going by what President Goodluck Jonathan had given the public to understand some three years ago, generators would no longer be the prized assets that they were; they would be little more than junk and just a shade less than toxic machinery, and their owners would be locked in a fierce competition to determine who could give them away fastest – “dash” them out —as Dr Jonathan phrased it.

    My dream generator was a 25KVA affair that could light up the premises and power all the appliances in full throttle. I harboured no illusion that I would qualify for that kind of dash or any dash for that matter from Aso Rock. But I was hoping that if they decided to auction the gensets (shorthand for generating set) instead of dashing them out, I might with some luck post a successful bid for one on offer.

    Imagine my disappointment, then, when I read an advance copy of Dr Jonathan’s New Year message in this newspaper saying that despite the great progress that has been made in that sector, no more than 18 hours of electricity a day was guaranteed for 2014. For 18, read 12 hours of power supply on the average.

    No individuals and no organisations, it is now clear, are going to be auctioning their generators, much less dashing them out. In fact, Aso Rock, which had floated that beguiling idea, has wisely provided some N700 million in its budget for the fueling and maintenance of its gensets that are said to number close to a hundred. With that kind of hardware to manage and coordinate, it is a surprise that they do not have a cabinet-rank Senior Special Adviser on Generators in residence.

    As things stand now, it is unlikely that I will be able to acquire the genset of my dream this year, or even the next. Not a promising note to start a new year.

    A friend tells me that the uncle of his grand nephew also entered the 2014 on a note that is just as discomposing. On learning several months ago that the government was set to privatise Nigeria’s oil refineries that had been advertised for decades as irreparably broken, he had raided his investment portfolio to position himself to function as a major player whenever the plants come under new management, convinced that privatisation is just what is required to turn them into high-yield gold mines.

    The announcement had been made by the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Ms Diezani Alison-Madueke, no less, in London, before an audience of hard-headed businessmen and women who can sniff an investment opportunity from a thousand miles. That was good enough for the uncle of my friend’s grand nephew, who is as cagey as they come in this business.

    The well-known fact that the Minister has the President’s ear to at least the same extent as the Princess Stella Oduah, boss of the scandal-plagued Ministry of Aviation, virtually settled the matter. Even if Dr Jonathan had not confirmed from on high that that the refineries were indeed marked for privatisation, the uncle of my friend’s grand nephew would still have considered the whole thing a done deal.

    You cannot imagine how shattered he was when word came from Aso Rock the other day that the refineries were not slated for privatisation, that no decision had been taken to that effect, and that no Minister – not even one who has the President’s ear, they should have added – could take it upon herself to contemplate, much less actualise, such a proceeding.

    Those elusive foreign investors, disobliging even when there is policy consistency backed by attractive inducements, can hardly be blamed if they concluded that Nigeria is not yet safe for capital and that they are better off taking their funds to friendlier climes. I hope Dr Jonathan and his oil minister will offer them and the nation’s creditors, not forgetting the IMF, clear and convincing answers for this policy somersault.

    In this season of goodwill, it is meet and proper to dwell on one image of Dr Jonathan that brightened my holiday, in case you missed it. The picture shows him in a church or chapel, surrounded by the faithful, an acoustic guitar strapped across his shoulder. It was not clear whether he was preparing to strum or had just finished strumming the guitar.

    But it was clear that he is a practised performer on that instrument at praise worship, most likely of the traditional type rather than gospel pop. For, I cannot imagine him rocking and swaying and strumming lustily as the band belts out tunes evocative of rock ‘n’ roll or rhythm and blues.

    But who knows! It may well be that such a setting offers him a chance to shake off that starchy gait, to loosen up, to escape from the burdens of office and savour the kind of life he has not known since they railroaded him into this presidency thing.

    If that is the case, I say ride on. Mr President. That office needs to be humanised the way President Bill Clinton humanised his office when he donned sun glasses and played the sax in prime time on the Arsenio Hall Show.

    President Barack Obama humanises the office not just by the way he relates to his daughters in public, but by playing basketball with his friends on the White House grounds. Pardon me for inserting him into this matter, but your predecessor, our own Olusegun Obasanjo, did the same through his exertions playing squash. He still plays squash these days when not writing missives.

    Can The Presidency imagine how electrified the audience and indeed the nation would be if Dr Jonathan were to shed his habitual resource-control outfit or his federal-character ensembles for snazzy Giorgio Armani suit or designer casuals and take the stage at a cool nightclub in Abuja –no, Lagos – to accompany the resident band on his guitar and may be throw in a solo rendition as a bonus?

    It would be worth at least a million additional votes in 2015.

    And if Aso Rock were to take the road show nationwide, with Information Minister Labaran Maku in tow preaching the Gospel of Transformation and Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina heralding the end of hunger as Dr Jonathan’s guitar belts out stirring tunes, this could turn around the PDP’s sinking fortunes, lock up the 2015 race, and shame all those noisy defectors.