The Nation Newspaper

Tag: mission

  • John Dumelo on a mission

    John Dumelo on a mission

    Ghanaian actor, John Dumelo, who is currently in New York on a mission to promote Africa, was in Seattle last weekend where he had the opportunity to speak to some fans on the importance of unity.

    According to the actor, “I had the privilege of addressing a group of Africans (Sudanese, Liberians, Ugandas and Ghanaians) over the weekend in Seattle. We spoke about the importance of helping one another to make Africa a great continent and the importance of unity. Let’s all come together to make Africa great”.

    Dumelo, also a humanitarian, was nominated for the Most Promising Actor and Best Actor in a Supporting Role categories at the 6th and 7th Africa Movie Academy Awards respectively.

    According to reports, the actor, in 2014, became the first Ghanaian citizen to hit a million likes on Facebook.

  • ‘Okorocha on rescue mission in Imo’

    ‘Okorocha on rescue mission in Imo’

    Imo State Deputy Governor Eze Madumere spoke with reporters in Lagos on the challenge of governance, the cash crunch and how the government is implementing the manifesto of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the Southeast state. EMMANUEL OLADESU was there.

    How have been coping as the deputy governor of Imo State?

    We give God the glory for everything that He has provided us. The Almighty Father is the ultimate who makes all things possible. So, we are grateful to God, for wherever I have found myself today, it is God first and the next person is Rochas Okorocha.

    In Imo, what has really worked for us is that you have a man that is focused. We have a man who believes and who made us to believe that the best way we can achieve anything in stipulated time is through a task force process. And that is why people say we do things in unconventional way. We do it and we achieve results. We have a new Imo State.

    Having said that, in my journey so far, it has been a matter of going through tutelage. I am following a man who has the vision, a leader, who has the mantle of leadership. And we being the apostles of Rescue Mission, we are playing the best supporting role to make sure we succeed as a team. And this, to the glory of God, is where my role lies.

    For me also, coming from the private sector and finding oneself a public servant is quite challenging. But, anything that has to do with service to the people is quite interesting and you learn every day.

    But, people see you as a strongman in your constituency…

    My federal constituency, Mbaitoli/Ikeduru (Mbaike), used to be predominantly PDP. But, when we came in 2011, we were then in the APGA. Of course, we won Mbaitoli, which was my local government. The other part of my federal constituency, which is Ikeduru, we lost that. And we had to do a lot on the ground. Because of the infrastructure, some of the things the governor did; the dividends of democracy that was extended. There is no ward in my federal constituency or in Imo State that you will not see text of rescue mission. And that alone speaks louder than could be said. And how can you defeat free education, from primary to tertiary level? These are the hallmark. How can you defeat 27 General Hospitals in all the local governments? How can you defeat 305 primary schools? These are the hallmarks of what we have to remind our people because they already know about it.

    Why is Owerri zone not agitating for governor again?

    Rochas Okorocha is quite an example of a detribalised leader and not a zonal leader. My leader, our leader, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, is a man inspiration. Why did I say that? Today, more than 75 per cent of the infrastructure is in Owerri zone. The other 25 per cent is shared between Okigwe and Orlu. You have a governor who believes in putting projects not because of where he comes from, but based on the fact that it is good for Imo State.

    Today, for example, we are talking about industry, industry, industry, factory, factory, factory! We have gone back to bring back the old Mbakwe factories. For instance, card board packaging industry is in Owerri not in Orlu. We have recovered that. De Raising Paint is in Mbaise here, Owerri zone, we have recovered that. These things will now start coming in place. We have got some Italians trying to bring back those apex factories. These are the things that are lying fallow for over thirty years. Now, this governor is not thinking about his village. He is not thinking about his own person. This is a governor who makes sacrifice, who goes through pains every day, just to make sure that Imo people and Ndi Igbo are recognized in this country. And that is why when people say that he is a governor for Imo, not a governor for a zone or a local government, people do not agitate.

    The issue of 2019 is an issue that is quite too far. This is 2015. We just got re-elected. We have not even constituted a government and people are talking about 2019. The team with which Owelle Rochas Okorocha and Madumere were elected have not been constituted for the second tenure. You are thinking of something that is not even in the pipeline yet. This is like placing the cart before the horse. I am not that type of person that people can just try to mesmerize into desperation. No. I am focused; we are on a mission, and our mission for the next four years is factory, factory, factory, industry, industry, industry. That is the focus and, with God helping us, we shall get there.

    How do you relate tot he opposition leaders in Imo?

    There are two ways to this. One of the things I have learnt over time is never to join issues. What is at stake is never personal and should never be treated as such. For me, we have to distinguish ourselves and show a positive way out for others to learn. We do politics without bitterness.  Politics is about constructive issues, not about personal issues. Everybody who has vied for any position knows that. Let me give you example. When I ran for Senate under Action Alliance, many years ago, I was the only candidate who visited fellow candidates and others from opposing political parties to discuss issues of general interest. I went to their houses and ate breakfast. It doesn’t happen in most quarters these days. That is my background. That is how I am taught and that is the way of my leader; if we mean that we are in this business for our people, then, play politics of no bitterness. That is what the people want. Nigeria is changing. The idea that you lose election and you cannot pick up a phone and congratulate the winner is becoming a thing of the past.

    Could you tell us a bit about your private sector experience?

    Back in the United States, I worked with Pepsi Incorporated. I was the Head of Channels Development of various chains, and travelled wide in many countries. I actually worked in many countries. I travelled to well over 50 countries, where I worked. And at a time, when I got married in 1996, I felt it was time to step closer to your family. I had to come back and I left the job. I established a trading consulting company and a trading company. This is so because I have always had flair for business? I have always had a small business which I do.

    How would you describe Okorocha?

    The man, Rochas Okorocha is a philanthropist. He is a family man. He is a man you will love to be close to. Rochas Okorocha I know is vehement but his brain is faster than clock. For you to be able to meet up with him, you must come a little closer. Just imagine, someone you’ve been with for over two decades, by now I could have told you I have a PhD on him. No, I do not. By the time, you get closer; my boss will keep shifting the goal post. He is a man who likes challenges. He is an adventurer. He believes in a thing, then, it is achievable. He is not too perfect a person. He is a man who is also very eager and open to learning from you. As he is holding a conversation with you, he is picking up one or two things from you, but you don’t know. The day he will use them, he will say remember the day you said. That is the man, Owelle Rochas Anayochukwu Okorocha.

    Within the context of the Imo Rescue Mission, have you developed your personal vision for Imo?

    My oga’s vision subsumes mine. And that is the way it is. As much as I operate with my oga, you only have one captain at a time.

    Your Excellency, going from this discussion, one thing we can deduce is loyalty. As a leader, what are the issues that have been driving you?

    Number one, my upbringing has got a lot to say about me. I came from a home that my father is a disciplinarian. My father is in charge. My father came from nowhere to somewhere. He made himself and became a name for himself, from a very poor family. His father died while he was still a little boy. His father did not see him through as a man. But, grandmother saw my father through farming and business of palm kernel and raised some amount of shillings to help his grandson to start selling building materials. So, it was with that upbringing that my father impacted in us. Can you believe that my father built the Imo State Commissioners’ quarters as a government contractor. This Deputy Governor’s Lodge where I am living now was built in 1977. I worked as a student and my job was to dispense drugs to the labourers who were called Kiri Mbum. Can you believe that later in life, I would live in one of the houses I participated in building from the foundation, casting the decking. I also did a lot of menial job just to make my own money. My father didn’t know about this. I also was one-time my father’s personal driver, after secondary school. I drove my father till I sat for my school certificate exam.

    How is the government implementing the APC manifesto?

    Free education has run for four years now, and free education has come to stay. It is what people never believed it was possible. The opposition never believed that it could happen and the doubt is with them till today. I don’t think that we as a government have done very well in giving free education the publicity it deserves. Many people outside the direct beneficiaries are the ones that can say yes, this is free education. It seems like there is this shadow as if there is, may be, a thing of Rochas magic. No, there is a practical thing on the ground. We have three major tertiary institutions owned by the State – one of them, Imo State University. It is free from admission to your first degree. It is free. It is hundred percent free. The same thing applies to Imo State polytechnic, Umuagwo, Imo State University, School of Health Sciences, Amaigbo and other State owned tertiary institutions. The same thing applies to Imo College of Health Science, Okporo, Orlu and School of Nursing, Amigbo.

    What effort is being made by the government to boost the Internal General Revenue (IGR)?

    Like I said, this state has not done very well in IGR for obvious reasons. We have instituted a committee trying to make sure that the state does well in IGR. We are generating about 600, 000 may be 500, 000 or a little bit over 500, 000 monthly. It is not supposed to be so. A State like Imo should have a minimum of N2billion IGR. Look at Edo, look at Cross River. You can say these are contemporary States. You don’t expect us to be the same with Lagos or Kano for instance. What they have, we don’t have them. But the contemporaries States are the ones to be used to create a template or a benchmark to judge Imo State. It is Edo and Cross River. This sabotage is as a result of internal sabotage that they put up. Those are some of the loopholes we are trying to block. Some of the laws are there. Some are outdated. Some we need to change. We are working on it to change some enforcement. The governor is focused. He is acting on everything. We created some kind of committees. There is an angle that I am leading just to make sure we do that. The governor is personally involved in IGR revitalisation.

  • Emefiele: A mission to rescue the naira

    Emefiele: A mission to rescue the naira

    The job of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, was cut out from day one. He oversees the control and administration of the monetary and financial sector policies of the Federal Government.

    Emefiele assumed leadership of the apex bank at a time the economy was sorely troubled. The naira was sinking deeper and deeper against the dollar, crude oil prices and foreign exchange reserves were crumbling and foreign investors were leaving the country in droves.

    Although some of these indicators are not directly under the CBN’s control, Emefiele, a man who acts more than he talks, has taken strategic steps to ensure their implications do not distort his vision for the economy and the financial sector.

    His priority seems to have been to oversee a central bank that is professionally run, apolitical and people-focused. That way, the apex bank will help in reducing poverty, create jobs and ensure macroeconomic stability.

    The CBN under Emefiele seeks to achieve monetary and price stability, maintain sufficient external reserves to safeguard the international value of the naira, promote sound financial system and provide financial advice to the Federal Government. It also craves for high standards of banking practice through its surveillance activities as well as the promotion of an efficient payment system.

    Therefore, the apex bank is instituting a broad spectrum of financial instruments to boost specific enterprise areas in agriculture, manufacturing, health, oil and gas as well as building a Secured Transaction and National Collateral Registry that improves access to information on borrowers and assist lenders to make good credit decisions.

    For the naira, there has been far reaching measures to curtail its slide. In a country stricken by 9.2 per cent inflation as at July, one of the world’s worst; and declining foreign exchange reserves now at $30.5 billion from about $42 billion a year ago, its currency must be guided jealously especially now that oil revenues are falling.

    Nigeria’s dependence on crude oil (currently above 80 per cent of total foreign exchange earnings) makes economic growth susceptible to oil price shocks, directly impacting on external reserves, creating negative effect that leads to capital flight, thus depreciating the naira.

    It was the need to stem it that prompted the CBN chief to look inwards in finding solutions to Nigeria’s currency and economic crises.

    To achieve exchange rate stability, he banned the sale of foreign exchange by banks to importers, stating that all imports involving electronics, finished products, information technology, generators, telecommunication equipment and invisible transactions would be funded from the interbank foreign exchange market only.

    The objective was to maintain stability in foreign exchange market and strengthen the various policy measures already initiated, including the regulation of the Bureau De Change (BDCs) that cut dollar supply to operators from $75,000 to $50,000 weekly.

    For him, government will continue to intervene to keep the exchange rate stable because of the dire consequences of doing otherwise. Besides, allowing the local currency to find its level will not be in the interest of the economy and the larger population. Today, the naira is still exchanging at N197 to a dollar at the official market, and about N215 to a dollar at the parallel market. It was already heading towards N245 to a dollar before the CBN boss moved against FOREX speculators, promising them hell in return for the harm they were doing to the economy and the foreign reserves.

    The CBN boss believes that the foreign reserves remain Nigeria’s common wealth that must be protected even as he seeks stakeholders support to protect them and prevent speculators and rent seekers from plundering them.

    Hence, it was expected when the CBN banned import of 41 items, including toothpicks, private jets and rice from using official FOREX markets to fund their imports. For Emefiele, such controls would help stabilise the naira, replenish reserves and boost manufacturing, amidst criticisms that the measures are harming the economy.

    But the CBN boss insisted that importers desirous of importing the affected items are free to do so using their funds without any recourse to the official FOREX market window. He wants Nigeria to produce those things it is importing today.

    “We must diversify the structure of our economy from being import dependent to being an economy that produces what she consumes. We will try as much as possible not to hurt your business, but we need to be able to work together,” he told BDC operators and bank chief executive officers at a joint FOREX meeting in Lagos.

    Besides exchange rate stability, the modernisation of the payment system is also Emefiele’s priority. The cash-less policy which now runs in six states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja was initiated against the backdrop of cash dominance in the payments system.

    It was a critical part of the payment system modernisation designed to promote the use of Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Point of Sale (PoS) terminals, web payment, online transfers and even mobile money in banking transactions instead of relying on cash.

    He created more confidence in the cash-less policy by sustaining the Bank Verification Number (BVN) project initiated by his predecessor and removing three per cent charge on cash deposits above N500, 000 for individuals and N3 million for corporate customers which are the sanctions prescribed for defaulters. Today, more people are embracing cash-less banking in the overall interest of the economy.

    Creating BVN

    The BVN is meant to fix the rising cases of fraud in the financial sector and the need to protect customers’ transactions integrity. Emefiele said the BVN, a biometric technology driven project, involves the process of recording a person’s unique physical traits such as fingerprints and facial features. This record, he said, can then be used to correctly identify the person afterwards.

    The project became exigent following increasing incidents of compromise on conventional security systems like password and Personal Identification Number (PIN) of bank customers, which has led to loss of funds. There is therefore a high demand for greater security for access to sensitive or personal information in the banking system. The BVN would make it extremely difficult for the fraud perpetrators to succeed.

    Beyond banking security, the CBN under him continues to support the growth of the economy by supporting reforms in the power sector and supporting small businesses as well as agriculture.

    For the power sector, the CBN boss linked the challenge faced by the sector to unattractive pricing of domestic gas and legacy debts that has inhibited investment in gas supply and infrastructure.

    That prompted the CBN boss to institute the Nigerian Electricity Market Stabilisation Facility (NEMSF) where N213 billion has been mapped out and is being disbursed to settle legacy gas debts and shortfalls in revenue for operators to boost power supply.

    Money laundering and basic travel allowance (BTA)

    The CBN under him has also taken the fight against money laundering very seriously. It has read the riot act to travellers carrying more than $10,000 maximum cash or negotiable instruments across Nigeria’s borders.

    The CBN under him also stopped banks from accepting foreign currency cash deposits into customers’ accounts. The policy shift is in line with CBN’s continued efforts to stop illicit financial flows in the Nigerian banking system which aligns with the anti-money laundering stance of the Federal Government.

  • Mission Africa donates to Abia community

    A Non-Governmental Organisation, Mission Africa, has donated free medical and educational materials to Ovim community in Isuikwuato council, Abia State.

    Speaking at the event, Executive Director of Mission Africa Mrs Ndudi Chuku said the organisation would focus on improving health, education and poverty reduction.

    Chuku said they embarked on the free medical outreach to help people take care of themselves. She said 20 pupils were under its scholarship scheme.

    She said: “We are doing free medical outreach to the people of this village, while we have 20 pupils on our scholarship programme.

    “Our programme has been on since 2013 and every year, Mission Africa has 50 students on its scholarship programme. When a pupil qualifies, we take care of them from JS1 to SS3; 20 of our pupils are from Ovim”.

    Chuku explained that about 30 volunteers, including professionals, were registered for the outreach.

    On the scholarship selection criteria, the executive director said they work with the development union of every community they go to.

    “The pupil might be an orphan, one that is very poor; you know here you go to school when your family can afford it, and when it is time to pay fees, if you don’t have money, you are kicked out of school.

    “Some of the pupils have stayed out of school for a whole year, some two years, some for two terms out of three in a whole year.

    “The villagers advocate for the pupils, they are the ones that say this one has stayed out of school for one year, help him/her because we don’t live here, we are not even from here.

    “We look for the poor. We don’t give scholarships to kids in the city or in private schools, we only give to kids in the villages, who are the poorest of the poor, to ensure they finish high school,” Chukwu said.

    A female recipient, 48-year old Comfort Duruoha from Eluobai said her blood pressure was checked and she got free drugs free.

     

  • President Buhari: Mission accomplished

    SIR: With a sense of awe and trepidation I watched the heart-breaking operations to rescue 33 miners trapped approximately half a mile underground in the main ramp into the San Esteban mine in Northern Chile in August 5 2010. I followed the rescue operations from the beginning to the end and when the last man was evacuated from that miraculous encounter that got millions all over the world prayerfully hooked to their TVs, I saw a sign placed inside the mine with an inscription: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

    I waited like a patient dog to see the man of destiny, General Buhari mount the throne before writing this piece. I waited and waited to see the end of this drama which many thought it will never become a reality even after winning the election fair and square on March 28. I waited to see Buhari’s triumphant entry into Aso Rock to begin the process of rebuilding Nigeria. I waited to put these words down:MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

    Supporters of former President Jonathan never believed that an incumbent will lose elections in Nigeria. They never believed that General Buhari will beat Jonathan with all the powers at his disposal. When the former President was roundly defeated on March 28, they still believed that he may not be sworn in as President on May 29.

    President Buhari is easily the most prepared president for this great job. Former President Shagari just wanted to be a senator but the scavengers pushed him to settle for the Presidency. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo never prepared to be the President whether in the military or in the civilian dispensation. The death of General Murtala Mohammed in 1976 paved way for him to reluctantly mount the saddle. In 1999, Obasanjo came out of the prison to mount the throne when nobody including himself expected it. For four years, he did not know what to do with power. The late President Umaru Yar’ Adua was never prepared also to take on Nigeria. The frail and sick man was persuaded by President Obasanjo to pick the ticket. Former President Goodluck Jonathan followed the same trajectory. He became deputy governor, governor, vice president and later president unprepared after Yar’Adua died. Today we are living witnesses to the outcome of these costly mistakes and where it has left our dear country.

    Last Friday, President Buhari defied all logic and permutations in Nigeria and created huge history for historians, academics and bookmakers. His tenacity, resilience, courage, determination, consistency, doggedness and strength have made his emergence a case study in the academic world especially, the students of political science.

    Buhari has said that he belongs to everybody and belongs to nobody. Those who are still weeping should wipe away their tears and embrace President Buhari. He is a man of destiny and I know there is finger of God in this historical emergence.

    This is president Buhari and it is mission accomplished.

     

    • Joe Igbokwe

    Lagos      

     

  • World Bank begins Implementation Support Mission

    World Bank begins Implementation Support Mission

    World Bank has begun the Seventh Implementation Support Mission for West Africa Agriculture Productivity Project (WAAPP) to assess the success of WAAPP activities in some selected states and areas for subsequent collaboration.

    The mission, conducted between May 4 and  15, this year reviewed progress of restructuring of the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) and also assessed operational status of the dry mango projects and progress of implementation of action plans developed during the implementation mission of November, last year.

    Its Agricultural Economist and Co-Task team Leader, Dr. Sheu Salau, who is on one of the teams, said the dry mango technology at the Longa-Ewa Lakes, Sabo Wuse, Niger State, is a regional project adopted from Burkina Faso which is one of the aims of WAAPP of exchanging technology within the West African sub-region aimed at reducing poverty and ensuring growth.

    At the Longa-Ewa Lakes, some few kilometres off Sabon Wuse, along the Abuja-Kaduna highway, the dry mango project was commissioned by Dr. Sheu Salau.

    The proprietor of the project, Alhaji Njidda Ahmed, said one of its objectives  is to reduce post-harvest losses of mango, guava and oranges.

    He said the dry mango technology is a process whereby the Tommy mango that is grown on the farm is collected, peeled and dried through a WAAPP-sourced machine that dries the fruit from 100 per cent  moisture to 12 per cent  before it is packaged in 5kg polythene bags.

    At the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) Kubwa, Abuja, WAAPP assessed the production of breeder, foundation and certified seeds of improved cassava varieties, production and dissemination of breeder and production of high quality seed yams.

    The mission also visited the National Cereals Research Institute, Badeggi, Niger State Agricultural and Mechanisation Development Authority (NAMDA), Minna, Federal Institute of Industrial Research, Oshodi (FIIRO), Federal University of Agriculture, and Fish Shoal, both in Abeokuta.

    The team’s first stop in Niger State was in Ndagbachi village where a biogas digester that produces cooking gas from cow dung mixed with water was commissioned. Dr. Salau, who addressed the community, urged them to maintain the project.

    The National Project Coordinator, WAAPP Nigeria, Prof. Damian O. Chikwendu, said WAAPP aims at increasing agricultural productivity through improved crop varieties and improved fingerlings noting that these will enhance household productivity.

    He said the aim of the biogas project is to teach the community the dangers of cutting trees for firewood and provide them with alternative, adding that WAAPP will continue to monitor the project in order to see how it is impacting on the community.

    The biogas digester project was also commissioned at the University of Abuja which was adopted as a village.

    In Badeggi, the Managing Director of Niger State Agricultural and Mechanisation Development Authority, Baba Kutugi Madugu, briefed the team on the community-based seed multiplication activities especially rice with a visit to the rice paddies in the area.

  • The mission and the call to action

    The mission and the call to action

    It is time for action. That was the import of the message that President-elect Muhammadu Buhari delivered to the members of the 8th National Assembly at their induction ceremony early this week. It is a timely message to an arm of government that has had an ambivalent relationship with the executive wing since the beginning of this republic. Even when the same party controls the legislature and the executive, it has not always been a positive working relationship. Now we stand at the threshold of history as the President-elect observed and the question is: will the legislature be a dependable ally of the executive in the making of the change that is deserved and desired?

    Reading the text of Buhari’s clarion call to action is reassuring. It is clear and simple. It is logic-driven and integrity-motivated. Yet it is important to see the fundamentals of the address for what they are. I see three broad areas touched by the President-elect.

    First, there is a fundamental assumption which underlies everything else. The assumption must be true or at least its truth must be pursued for everything else to follow. The assumption is that Nigerians are a united people and they stand resolute to protect their growing democracy. I will come back to this fundamental assumption.

    Second, there is a declaration of fact and a statement of belief. The fact is that the “legislature is a critical component and necessary ingredient of democracy and good governance.” This fact can be understood in various ways, the most straightforward of which is that the constitution makes an unambiguous provision for the legislature as an oversight institution in our democracy. Without the legislature, we run a dictatorship not a democracy. I think this is also the understanding of the President-elect. But of course, it doesn’t follow that a legislature guarantees that we run a democracy. If the legislature is in dictatorial cahoots with the executive we would effectively have a dictatorship on our hands.

    It appears to me that the President-elect also has this ugly side of the fact in mind when he noted an additional point concerning the democratic credential of the legislature. The “legislature by nature is inherently democratic in the sense that all members are equal and are elected representatives of the Nigerian people.” While I understand the sentiment behind this statement, I would like to observe that it is only half true. What do I mean?

    It is true that the members of the legislature in our system are elected representatives of the Nigerian people. I am not even going to qualify this with any provisos regarding free and fair elections. Let’s take it as a matter of fact. Yet, that Nigerians freely elect their representatives is only the beginning. The legislature that is constituted by these Nigerians thus elected may choose to jettison democratic norms and embrace dictatorship in their dealings with one another and with the Nigerians who elected them.

    The metamorphosis of a legislature elected democratically into a dictatorial body is not unique to our political system. About two centuries ago, Rousseau noted it in his characterisation of the British parliament and the freedom of Britons. For him, British people were only free on the day of election. Thereafter, he opined, they became slaves to their legislators.

    We have seen Rousseau’s observation confirmed in many instances in our own clime. Therefore, I interpret this aspect of Buhari’s declaration as a statement of belief. And this is confirmed when in the next paragraph he observes thus: “As President-elect, I recognise this fact and believe (my emphasis) that legislators carry this heavy burden of representation with all the seriousness it deserves.” It is on the basis of this belief that Buhari can conscientiously pledge his commitment to “working with the legislature as development partners motivated by the desire to deliver good governance.”

    Why is this important? We have seen even in advanced political systems that legislators sometimes pander to very narrow and parochial interests at odds with the interest of the nation as a whole. These interests may include their own misconceived egoistic interests, sectional interests, and business interests. These are misconstrued in the sense that if the national interest in say, security, transparency, economic buoyancy, and freedom from corruption is not secured by the concerted efforts of all branches of government working with citizens, the parochial or selfish interests are in jeopardy.

    This is where the fundamental assumption of President-elect Buhari that Nigerians are “a united people” who “stand resolute to protect its growing democracy” is crucially relevant to his mission and clarion call to action. As Buhari also noted, going by “the doggedness of Nigerians and their commitment to ensuring that their wishes are represented and respected”, I think it is clear from the just-concluded election that they are resolute to protect their growing democracy.

    The last election tested the unity of the country and she undoubtedly passed the test in flying colours. While there are still pockets of frustration and angst over the results, I think we have turned the corner. It is now important for the fragile unity to be strengthened not with platitude but with genuine action. This makes the clarion call from the President-elect a timely one.

    This takes me to the third broad area of Buhari’s message, the proverbial meat of the text where he identifies the fundamentals of his mission. He emphasises three specific areas: security, including human, physical and environmental; economy, including youth employment; and corruption, including high cost of governance. Anyone that has followed the campaign promises of the President-elect and the manifesto of APC will not be surprised by this statement of mission which features the three priority areas that both the party and the President-elect have always emphasised.

    The challenge of security includes tackling the insurgency in the Northeast and environmental degradation in the Southsouth. The President-elect will need the National Assembly to objectively and dispassionately examine his proposals without bringing sentimental sectional interests to bear. Thus, as an example, I do not expect a Southwest legislator to bring up the matter of OPC when considering a legislation that targets insurgency in the Northeast. Neither would it be appropriate for a Northern legislator to bring up the matter of Lake Chad when considering the matter of environmental degradation due to the activities of oil and gas companies in the Niger Delta. Comparing apples and oranges in such matters would be a disservice to the progressive agenda.

    The economy is in serious crisis despite assurances from the outgoing administration. With dwindling oil revenue and our inability to break out of a mono-economy despite warnings, it is now certain that unless we come up with new ideas and develop new economic agenda, our hope for the future of our children is in jeopardy. The realisation of this important fact must stir every political office holder to action.

    The President-elect has called for appropriate policies to be put in place and translated into laws. Now is the time to revisit those actions and policies that have not worked thus far. Why do we still have so much failure in the energy sector despite billions of investment? Why do we still feed the fat and greedy fuel importation industry despite dismal results? Can we now build on the tangible results that we are experiencing in the agricultural sector as a foundation for our economic take-off?

    Whatever we try to do towards the rejuvenation of the economy will amount to naught unless we block the leakages that the President-elect has referenced ad nauseam during the campaign. In the restatement of his mission to the 8th Assembly, he reiterated the centrality of this matter when he invited the legislators to “collaborate on the budget process and restructuring of the public sector so as to collectively tackle the menace of high recurrent cost at the expense of capital and human development”(my emphasis).

    On this last matter, a good place to start is for the National Assembly to work with the Executive Branch to review and trim the recurrent budgets, including compensation and allowances, of all branches of government. That is progressivism in action.

  • Anti-xenophobia protest rocks South Africa mission

    Anti-xenophobia protest rocks South Africa mission

    University of Lagos (UNILAG) students on Monday marched on the South Africa High Commission in Lagos to protest the xenophobic violence in which scores of immigrants have died in that country. WALE AJETUNMOBI reports.

    It  is not the first time xenophobic attacks will be witnessed in South Africa. When they broke out again about three weeks ago, the world was shocked. Reason: they thought the South African  authority will live up to its promise to avert a recurence.

    In the latest attacks, many foreigners have been killed or maimed. Many are in hiding or living in heavily fortified displaced people’s camps in Johannesburg, South Africa’s commercial nerve centre.

    The attacks have been condemned by the South African government and the United Nations (UN), yet there are reports of xenophobic incidents in far-flung cities.

    To show their displeasure over what is happening, staff and students of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), on Monday, marched on the South Africa High Commission on Walter Carrington Crescent, Victoria Island, Lagos, to protest against the attacks.

    The protesters, led by leaders of the Students’ Union Government (SUG), picketed the high commission’s gate. They demanded stop of the attack. They described the attacks as bestial and inhuman, urging the South African government to punish the perpetrators.

    •Security operatives attached to the High Commission addressing the protesters
    •Security operatives attached to the High Commission addressing the protesters

    The protesters, carried placards with inscriptions, such as: “Is this how South Africans will pay back people who stood by them during apartheid?”, “Do South Africans still remember the numbers of their citizens who were educated and sheltered in Nigeria?”, “Without the material, financial and emotional solidarity from African governments, could the anti-apartheid struggle be won?”, “Is South Africa suffering from acute amnesia?”, “How so soon have they forgotten the over $61 billion injected into their economy during the anti-apartheid struggle?”.

    They warned that failure to stop the attacks would lead to a boycott of South African interests in Nigeria. According to the protesters, there is need for social cohesion to guarantee development in Africa. The immigrants, they said, should not be seen as enemies in South Africa.

    They said Nigeria did not deserve to be paid back in a bad coin, having supported South Africans’ effort to rid their country of colonialism. South Africa, they said, owed its independence and everything it has achieved to the help of other Africans during the apartheid.

    The SUG president Abiodun Martins said the demonstration was to condemn the incessant xenophobic attacks on Nigerians, which he noted, violated the victims’ rights. Martins said: “No level of economic hardship and social discontent can justify the xenophobic violence against immigrants by South Africans. Nobody has monopoly of violence but we plead for calm and peace, and demand the open trial the perpetrators. Justice must be done to the victims of this senseless crime.”

    In a protest letter addressed to the South African High Commission in Nigeria, the students said they would ensure all South African products are boycotted if the “barbaric massacre” is not stopped.

    The letter reads: “We urge the South Africa government to stop the spate of senseless attacks on Nigerians and other black Africans residing in the country. The consequences of failure to prevent the spread of the xenophobic violence against our compatriots will be grim and we shall ensure that commercial activities will be halted at Shoprite, Pick ‘N’ Pay, Mr Price, Woolworths and other investments linked to South Africa. Our people will also be sensitised to boycott DStv, GOtv and MTN. These measures will be taken to make South Africans know that immigrants in their country are human beings and not animals.”

    The students urged Nigerians to join in the struggle to force South Africa to take drastic actions against xenophobia.

    A protester, Charles Igwe, said: “We must be united at this time to force the government of South Africa to bring the perpetrators of the xenophobic attacks to book. We need to bear in mind that an injury to one of us is an injury to all of us. Even if the government has been insensitive to the crime against its citizens, Nigerians must be united to fight for the rights of their brothers and sisters residing in South Africa.”

  • ‘We ‘re on rescue mission in C’River’

    ‘We ‘re on rescue mission in C’River’

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate in Cross River State, Mr. Odey Ochicha, has lamented the slow pace of development in the state, stressing that the APC is on rescue mission.

    Ochicha told reporters in Calabar, the state capital, that ‘’Cross River State has sunk so low in many indices of development that it needs a salvage brigade to bring her back on feet again.”

    He said: “Let those who are on the highways and the byways know that a man who is on a rescue mission for Cross River State has arrived; ready to take on the job.

    “Cross River State is broke and heavily indebted; our dear state is the third most indebted state in the federation…already the state is experiencing difficulties in paying workers’ monthly salaries .The situation is likely to get worse in the coming days in the light of the continuing slide in crude oil prices.”

    The candidate promised that if voted in, his administration will design cardinal programmes for the economic emancipation, which will include agriculture, processing and aggressive marketing of cash crops like cocoa, oil palm and cassava.

    He said tourism and manufacturing will be developed to support agriculture, while education, healthcare delivery and infrastructure will also be cardinal to the development index of the state.

    Ochicha lamented the privatisation of some state-owned medical facilities. He said the development has made it difficult for the people to have access to basic healthcare.

    He urged Cross Riverians to come out en masse and vote for the APC during the March 28 and April 11 polls.

  • A mission to Texas

    A mission to Texas

    Writing the biography of a famous Nigerian politician can be a nerve-wracking experience. It can also be fun. Part of the challenges of this onerous task include last minute cancelling of appointments, unanswered phone calls, delay in responses to text messages and emails, difficult interviewees and surprisingly, funding issues.  Five years and three books down the road, I can write another book on my experience as a commissioned chronicler of the lives of the famous and the rich. A good friend of mine noted for his cynical view of politics and politicians has suggested a title, VILLAINS AND VICTORS; IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF FAME AND FRAUD.

    As a politician myself, I am very sympathetic to my colleagues –espirit de corps- they call it. I know where the shoe pinches them. Apart from busy and sometimes unexpected appointments as well as unfounded and unprovoked attacks from detractors, politicians are also prone to occasional ego massages, exaggerated claims of near invincibility as well as an uncanny optimism which critics have likened to appropriate skills for gambling. No wonder, many of them fail to exit the political scene at the appropriate time thus corroborating..…… famous saying that ‘’All political lives unless cut off at a happy juncture end in failure’’.

    In the course of my self- imposed profession, I have had to put up with a lot of hassles. From a last minute cancelled appointment in far away Katsina, to a scary air flight to Yola, an interview conducted in the middle of a campaign rally in Enugu as well as an angry wife in Port Harcourt who had protested my interviewing one of her husband’s numerous girl friends!  This is apart from the fact that the job takes you away from family and friends and turns you into an antisocial animal who is always cocooned in his writing world.

    On the other hand, I had also had some good moments. Apart from interviewing and dining with the high and mighty in the land, my assignments have also taken me to places such as Ghana, UK, and the US apart from several Nigerian cities where I made countless and invaluable friends. However, nothing in the business surpasses the exhilaration of the writing itself. Hunched over my laptop in the twilight or wee hours of the day, I enjoy the thrill of piecing together the fragments of other people’s stories, drilling into their beings like a surgeon working in the innards of a patient. I am also a historian of some sort for every Biography is unique in its own way and the art of researching and writing it, a historical journey.

    As much as I respect my subjects’ right to set boundaries for their stories, I am no spin doctor and will not embellish facts. Rather, I believe in ‘evidence based’ biographies where friends and foes alike will be interviewed so that a balanced view of the subject will be presented for posterity and history to judge. Thankfully, my current subject, a good friend of mine and a very popular politician (his opponents call him controversial) share the same views.  Not only did he give me the leeway to interview people from all shades of political divide, he even went as far as suggesting names of some of his perceived political opponents for interviews.

    During the course of working with him, I saw him as a brilliant, gregarious, hardworking and down to earth politician. Unfortunately, many of his critics don’t see him in that light. As far as they are concerned, he is an unschooled, arrogant and violent man who should be avoided like a fresh case of Ebola.

    ‘’Why do your opponents hate you so much’’?  I asked my subject one day after I had finished interviewing several of his family members and constituents who had eulogised him as a good husband, father and leader. ‘’Envy’’ my friend, a writer’s delight with his effusive mannerisms had replied his eyes dancing with delight. ‘’They are yet to come to terms with the fact that at my relatively young age, I have achieved so much in my political career but I don’t grudge them. It is all God’s doing’’, he added.

    Then one day out of the blues he called me;’ ’My brother, please get ready to travel. We are going to the US.  The University I attended wants to honour me. Since these people said I didn’t go to school, I want you to come and witness and record the event.’’ And so it was that together with a few of his aides, I accompanied my subject to Houston, Texas. It will be my second trip outside the country on the Biography having visited another country a few months earlier to interview some of my subject’s colleagues and friends.

    It was not a really good time to travel abroad because of the worldwide hysteria over the Ebola scourge which had cast Nigeria and a few other West African countries in bad light. Luckily for us, just two days before our trip, Nigeria was officially declared Ebola free by the World Health Organisation (WHO). Even at that, some of my US based friends were against the timing of the trip. ‘’ Even with the WHO clearance, you might still be embarrassed since the whole Ebola matter is currently driven not by scientific evidence-based ideas but by hysteria, anxiety and liberal doses of homophobia, xenophobia and possibly racism’’ they cautioned.

    However, as we landed at the George Bush International Airport in Houston Texas, on that overcast Thursday morning, the warm and smooth immigration reception was an indication that the matter of the Ebola pandemic would not be counted against us.

    It was my first visit to Texas and I was immediately captivated by the beauty and grandeur of Houston, a city named after former General Sam Houston, who was president of the then Republic of Texas. Houston was founded in 1836 on land near the banks of Buffalo Bayou (now known as Allen’s Landing) and incorporated as a city on June 5, 1837.  It is the most populous city in Texas, and the fourth most populous city in the United States. In the mid-20th century, Houston became the home of the Texas Medical Centre—the world’s largest concentration of healthcare and research institutions—and NASA’s Johnson Space Centre, where the Mission Control Centre is located.

    The award ceremony from one of the most famous Universities in Texas took place the following day at the Westin Galleria Hotel, 5060 West Alabama – Houston, Texas 77056. Basking in the euphoria of the moment, my subject who was the only non American among the six alumni who were honoured was the cynosure of all eyes. And when he was asked to respond on behalf of the other recipients, he took his time to thank the University authorities and his former teachers for the honour done him. The ceremony was then followed by a dizzying array of activities such as photographic sessions, toasts and impromptu speeches.

    This generous spectacle continued the next day which was our last day in Houston with a breakfast, lunch and dinner events sponsored by friends, Nigerian organisations in Houston as well as the University. All through the activities, my subject kept reminding me to note everything. ‘’They said I have criminal records in the US but you can see how I am being treated like a star. They said I didn’t go to school, yet I am being honoured by my alma Mata’’ he reminded me for the umpteenth time.

    Towards evening, we did a quick tour of the University facilities before proceeding to the airport for our departure to Nigeria.  And as we waited for our flight, I took up my subject on the litany of allegations against him, especially those that came up during  my interviews and some from my internet research. He tackled the issues with the mastery of a professional boxer blocking some punches, throwing some back at his detractors, deflecting others and sometimes weaving his way out of trouble. All the while, his trademark smile never left his youthful face as he occasionally sipped his hot tea which he was using to nurse a minor cold. “Check my records. There was no single instance during my long and brilliant political career that I was found to have embezzled money unlike some of my detractors. Not once” !!  he thundered. It was a masterful act and I could not help burst into laughter at some of his postulations which will be well captured in the book.

    As we later boarded the aircraft, I was looking forward to using the 12-hour trip to Nigeria to finish the first draft of the book. However, as I settled down into my seat with my Laptop, pen and paper at the ready, an elderly white lady sitting next to me looked up and smiled; ‘’Are you a writer’’? she asked. I was quiet for some seconds as I racked my brain on what to say. I did not want to make the mistakes I had made in the past by revealing my true identity and getting distracted. On one occasion when I had acknowledged my literary profession, my guest had brought out a sheaf of badly written poems and asked me to analyse them for him. On another occasion when I had agreed that I was a Medical Doctor, one woman had assailed me with a barrage of complaints, diagnoses and medications which spoilt my trip. However, my most unforgettable experience was when I confessed to being a politician. Before I knew it the two passengers on my either sides had launched into long winded political postulations laced with derogatory remarks about politicians thus ruining my peace of mind. Now faced with the same dilemma, I was determined not to be distracted from the work at hand. I did a quick thinking and quickly mimicked some hand language signs to my neighbour. It worked and the lady agreeing that I was deaf and dumb left me alone.

    Immediately, I launched into the Biography working at a frenetic speed in order to finish before the Laptop battery expired.  So engrossed was I that when the hostess later asked me for what I wanted for dinner, I merely waved her off.  The work at hand was enough food for me.

    In view of the popularity of my subject and the copious amount of interesting and controversial material hitherto garnered, I knew I was working on a masterpiece.  So riveting was the story, that on several occasions during the course of my writing, I had to suppress my laughter. However, at a point when I came across my subject’s caustic answer to another provocative remark from one of his several opponents, I couldn’t hold myself anymore as I burst into a raucous laughter that must have reverberated round the aircraft.  For some moments, my startled neighbour kept staring at me probably wondering how a supposedly dumb man could have laughed out so loud.