The Nation Newspaper

Tag: NASS

  • NASS and the 2017 Budget process

    The vetting of the 2017 budget by the National Assembly entered a crucial stage last week with a public hearing conducted by the joint committee on appropriation of the Senate and House of Representatives. The positive appraisal of the National Assembly’s handling of the 2017 budget so far is arguably a direct attribute of reset thinking by its leadership. One thing is clear: Unlike previous episodes of budget consideration, the process this time has witnessed smooth sail.

    Right from the day of presentation of the appropriation bill by President Muhammadu Buhari on December 14, 2016, the budget has remained scandal free. There have been no stories of the budget developing wings and disappearing into thin air; no issues of ‘padding’ or ‘stuffing’ or ‘insertion’  by unauthorized means; ministers and lawmakers have not been found engaged in hot exchange of words over who did what. The spirit and eagerness to get things done and done differently for the good of the country has been palpable. Standing committees of the National Assembly have given ministries, departments and agencies ample opportunity to defend their proposals.

    The fact that the 2017 budget is cruising home seamlessly is soothing to the heart of all and sundry.  The National Assembly under the leadership of its chairman, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has amply demonstrated its commitment to a paradigm shift in attitudes and mind-set by rising above the din of past omissions and commissions to do things differently.

    Courageous innovations were articulated and introduced to smoothen rough edges of the sometimes amorphous budget process. For instance, to avoid the 2016 experience, the National Assembly constituted and inaugurated the public sector budget reform committee comprising senators, members of the House of Representatives, members of the executive arm of government, the academia and civil society organizations. Headed by the former Senate Leader, Mohammed Ali Ndume, the report of the committee and the committee’s recommendations, have in no small measure, contributed greatly to this year’s seamless budget defence in the growing understanding between the executive and the legislature.

    One of the major recommendations of the committee was the opening up of the budget process to members of the public. That may have been informed by the pressure for open and inclusive budget process by Nigerians. The implementation of the recommendation to open up the budget process may have given rise to the hugely successful national public scrutiny of the budget last Monday through Wednesday.

    The idea behind the public hearing was to give Nigerians the opportunity to scrutinise the document and air their opinions about the line items. The three-day event has been adjudged successful and rewarding by observers. Issues about the budget and how to make it better to serve and improve the lot of ordinary Nigerians most especially during a time of economic recession were critically interrogated.

    Another innovation in the handling of the 2017 budget by the National Assembly was that critical standing committees of the Senate and House of Representatives held  joint sessions to give MDAs an unencumbered opportunity to defend their budget proposals. The new arrangement did not only save time and cost on the part of the National Assembly and the executive, it made for greater collaboration between the stakeholders. Above all, the arrangement would also facilitate the early passage of the Appropriation Bill. This is because the two chambers would have nothing to harmonize or reconcile. It also presents early signals that will translate to more collaborative and beneficial working relationship between the Executive and the legislature.

    Chairman, Senate Committee on Appropriation, Senator Mohammed Danjuma Goje, has already assured Nigerians that the National Assembly is working to produce an implementable 2017 budget. Goje also alluded to the success of the national public hearing for the 2017 budget, saying that a total of 44 stakeholders made submissions at the hearing. He added that the 2017 special budget hearing was the first of its kind in the history of parliamentary/legislative practice in the National Assembly.

    The level of excitement and enthusiasm shown by stakeholders, especially Civil Society Organisations, he said, was quite unprecedented and encouraging. The pension, health, education and agricultural sectors, Goje said, came up and were given serious emphasis as the areas the country should pay urgent attention to. The challenge in the areas of pension payment, administration and general matters of non-performance, he added, was so clear and must be accorded top and effective priority.

    What may be described as the clincher of the novel exercise was the point Goje said was repeatedly made that “the National Assembly must reassert itself as the possessor of the power of appropriation in order to produce the budget of the people at all times.” He further said that “all proceedings we took have been properly documented and will be presented and considered by the joint committee to enable the National Assembly produce an implementable budget for Nigeria and Nigerians.”

    While declaring the public hearing open, Saraki did not lose sight of the observations of some stakeholders. “As most of you may have observed, while government has made efforts to ensure that provisions in the budget proposal align with the arching goal of pulling the economy out of recession and laying the foundations for diversified growth, certain provisions are clearly off the path. The budget must address the critical issues setting back our national growth and development,” Saraki said. Apart from assisting to pull the economy out of recession, Saraki was equally particularly interested in seeing the budget help in the creation of jobs and promotion of the non-oil sector.

    For the Senate President, “the 2017 capital budget proposal is intended to support activities that will help to speed up the diversification of the economy and the promotion of the non-oil sector, as well as create jobs for our youth. Accordingly, it is expected that “Made-in-Nigeria” (that is, domestic production of food, materials and other commodities) will be encouraged. In addition, 2017 capital budget proposal is intended to engender private sector partnership in infrastructure as well as other critical sectors of the economy such as agriculture, manufacturing and services.” Indications are that the 2017 budget will perform better. If the budget is passed in March as promised, chances are that implementation of the budget will begin immediately.

    The success of the public hearing especially flowing from the quality of interventions made by members of the public and other critical stakeholders has placed the legislative actions on the 2017 budget far above its 2016 counterpart. It must be said that the handling of the 2017 budget has taken a higher ground against the 2016 budget, which was first reported ‘missing,’ padded’ and later said to have been withdrawn. These absurdities are completely absent this time around. It may be argued that the sheer controversies that buffeted the 2016 budget may have affected the overall implementation and performance of the fiscal document as well as other economic variables notwithstanding.

    Overall, Nigerians have not only thumbs up for the National Assembly and its leadership, they have called for such open processes and citizens’ participation to henceforth be a regular feature when national budget is being considered. Such open house budget hearing, it was also noted, should always be held months before the annual budget presentation to a joint session of the National Assembly by the executive. This it is reasoned, would make room for some of the cerebral interventions,  from such array of experts and ordinary Nigerians as witnessed during the just concluded public hearing to be incorporated by the executive during the collation of sectoral allocation for the capital budget and to the various MDAs.

    It would make for a true budget document that would be in tandem with the wishes and aspirations of Nigerians, reduce waste, promote transparency, accountability and make for a more implementable budget. There is also a consensus among analysts that the open budget consideration process pioneered by the 8th National Assembly will be one of the glaring legacies of the current leadership if transparency and openness is thus institutionalized in the budgeting process of the country. That is the way to go!

     

    • Onogu is Chief Press Secretary to the Senate President.
  • FG wants NASS ‘resolution’ on $500m Eurobond

    FG wants NASS ‘resolution’ on $500m Eurobond

    The Federal Government on Wednesday requested for the National Assembly resolution on the $500 million Eurobond designed to fund the 2016 budget deficit.

    The request was contained in a letter signed by the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Yakubu Dogara and read on the floor of the House.

    The letter reads:

    “The Rt. Honourable Speaker may wish to refer to Line Items 229 and 244 of the 2016 Federal Government of Nigeria ( FGN)  Appropriation Act, which provided for a deficit of N2, 204. 742 billion and new borrowings of N1, 818.675 billion respectively.

    “The Act also provided for domestic borrowing of N1, 182.798 billion and external borrowing of N635.877 billion in Line Items 245 and 246 respectively.

    “The Rt. Honourable may also wish to note that whilst the approved domestic borrowing has been fully incurred, the N635.877 billion external borrowing has not been fully accessed.

    ” The external borrowings incurred to date consist of $600 million from the African Development  Bank and $ 1billion Eurobond from the International Capital Market ( ICM) only. Thus, based on the 2016 appropriation and applying the average exchange rate, there is headroom to access further international funds.

    “Following the high over subscription of the recent $1 billion Eurobond issuance, we wish to take advantage of favourable market conditions to issue a Eurobond Debt Instrument of $500 million to fund the implementation of the 2016 budget which is still ongoing.

    “The Rt. Homourable Speaker may wish to note that in line with the requirement of securities issuances in the ICM, a specific resolution of the National Assembly, as a firm confirmation of the approval of the legislature for the Federal Government of Nigeria to borrow the $500 million through the issuance of a Eurobond Debt Instrument in the ICM is required.”

     

     

  • The stench and frustrations at NASS

    The stench and frustrations at NASS

    CONTRARY to general public perception of the ambience of the National Assembly (NASS), workers and visitors to the expansive complex and especially the House of Representatives wing have not been having it all rosy for quite a while. While the workers and the legislators may have resigned themselves to the limits of the environment, visitors were often left hugely disappointed over the state of the facilities in the complex. While it will be incorrect to say that all the facilities are in a state of disrepair, it is however a fact that a number of facilities are either broken down or no longer functioning.

     Legislators, workers and visitors have to struggle for space in the available lifts to the three-floor building because most of the lifts broke down longtime ago.

    In addition, the lawmakers, like everyone else, have to cope with stench emanating from toilets along the corridors of the White House, the new building and its extension. Using some of the toilets in the evening is usually met with regrets as a result of the messy state of many of them. The central sewage system breaks down most of the time as users of the road on the  House of Representatives wing where it was located had to contend with corrosive stench within the radius of the sewer system.

    Besides, chairs that suddenly become scarce commodity, cooling system at the two conference rooms on the ground and floor two of the new building is another source of frustration for users of the huge halls.

    Speaker Yakubu Dogara made a joke of it at one event in 028 sometimes back. The situation of the two halls is also not helped by the power situation whereby the generating plant that supplements electricity supply to the complex has been having its own issues which are either mechanical or conservation of fuel. Last week, after about one hour wait in the dark, a Committee was forced to move it’s hearing to another smaller hearing room at the extension because power at the new building was suddenly cut off. It was restored after two hours.

    A major headache being faced by the workers and visitors here is parking space. There is no standard or organized parking lot. The two improvised parking spaces are grossly inadequate. While the parking area meant for visitors outside the complex is well managed by officials of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), the other, located behind the complex for workers and visitors, is a constant source of friction for the users.

    A concerned National Assembly worker, who pleaded not to be named, told The Nation: “I want to believe that inadequate funding is a major contributory factor to the breaking down of some of these facilities. Absence of professionals to manage the facilities is another factor though. But if the management cannot deploy professionals for maintenance, for whatever reason, we cannot expect excellent services from the managers and the facilities. Nigerians are saying that the budget of the National Assembly is too much but we can now see how the situation is deteriorating gradually.

    The source regretted that NASS management may be handicapped by omission or commission, saying that adequate deployment of resources to professionals would solve the problems. “For me, there’s little blame for the present management because I heard that the debt burden it inherited was suffocating. Having a real parking lot is not an exaggeration for a National Assembly. The space is there, all that is needed is to give us a multi-level parking lot,” he added.

    Efforts to get the reaction of the Director, Information Services and the Secretary, Procurement, Works and Estates (SPEW) were abortive as they were officially engaged in meetings as at the time of filling this report. However, a top management staff who pleaded not to be named told The Nation that the management was not entirely to be blamed. While he did not deny the sorry state of the facilities, she regretted that funding was a major issue that has stopped the management from embarking on most of its innovative ideas.

    She said: “If you look around, you will see that construction of new drainages, new gate and repair of roads are being carried out around the complex.  That is to show that the management is not unaware of its responsibilities.  On the state of the toilets, we are not having challenges but the problems might be with the maintenance managers. Yes, water might not be running probably after peak period of the day when most lawmakers and workers might have left but this is because the reservoir that supplies the new building directly has to be filled from the main source or another reservoir. The system of the main reservoir was designed in such a way that once the water reaches a certain level, it stops pumping to the building. This also helps in a way as often times before now; there were some days to find an entire floor flooded because someone forgot to turn off the tap, especially during the weekend.

    “As for the car park, the management has been very proactive about it; I can tell you that a proposal for a well laid out park has commenced. Very soon, I expect that the contract would be awarded but that is still dependent on security clearance but I’m sure the management is not sleeping over it.  As far back as 2014, a process to construct a multi -level car park was started but truncated midway for security reasons. The proximity of the park to the State House was a major issue. I believe the problems of vandalism or fights over space would soon be over. As for vandalism of cars, that is a security issue that has nothing to do with the DPEW. The situation of the non-functioning lifts will soon be rectified because spare parts for the repair are now on ground”.

    She also said, “I can tell you that the attention of the management has not been officially drawn to the condition of the two conference halls you referred to. What I am sure of is that funding is an issue and that is why the management had to discontinue maintenance contract with Julius Berger. It was discovered that Julius Berger’s charges were getting   unbearable whereas it was discovered that it was Nigerian contractors that were used by Berger for the maintenance of NASS facilities. The management had to disengage Julius Berger and then engaged the same contractors to carry on with the job. I can tell you that over N1b are being saved quarterly from the new arrangement,” she added.

    Users of the National Assembly are however waiting to see if the management’s innovative ideas of taking adequate care of the lawmakers that were provided all equipment necessary to ease their legislative activities would be extended to workers and visitors in 2017

  • NASS won’t make laws against freedom of worship —Saraki

    NASS won’t make laws against freedom of worship —Saraki

    • Seeks prayers for Buhari

    Senate President Bukola Saraki yesterday assured that the National Assembly will not enact any law that will “stifle the freedom of worship”.

    Saraki gave the assurance in an address during the formal closing ceremony for the 31st National Quranic memorisation competition in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

    He said that the National Assembly will continue to “work to ensure that people freely practice their religion without fear.”

    In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Sanni Onogu, Saraki also called on Nigerians to pray for good health and wisdom for President Muhammadu Buhari.

    He said there is equally need for concerted prayers for the peace, unity, economic prosperity, political stability and development of the nation.

    Saraki said:  “I also want to assure you that the Senate in particular and the National Assembly in general will not enact any law that will stifle the freedom of worship.

    “We will always work to ensure that people can freely practice their religion without fear.”

    The Senate President said he was delighted to join members of the Ulammahs and dignitaries across the country to celebrate contestants in the competition, which drew participants from 33 states.

    According to him, the knowledge of the holy book is one of the best ways to spread the word of God.

    “I am convinced that if we all forget about religion and look at the rationality of the words contained in the holy books, our world will be better,” Saraki said.

    “The holy books of the two major religions, the Quran and Bible, teach morality, justice, equity, love, compassion, respect for elders, making money through just and fair means and many other virtues which if we all imbibe them, there will not be war, disease, poverty, squalor, deprivation, crime and injustice.

    ”The holy books talk about the responsibility and burden of leadership. The books say those of us in position of leadership will have a lot to account for before Allah.

    “Also, it is true that all of us are in one position of leadership or the other.

    “We are leaders at various levels and we will be held accountable. Even as a follower, we will be held accountable on whether we have played our role in making our leaders lead with the fear of Allah.”

  • Umana hails NASS for proposed amendments

    Managing Director of the Oil and Gas Free Zones Authority (OGFZA) Umana Umana, has commended the National Assembly for the proposed amendments to principal acts of the agency and Nigerian Export Processing Zones Authority (NEPZA).

    He told reporters at the weekend that the proposed amendments will tackle the imperfections in the Acts when passed.

    Umana further said the move will further energise OGFZA and NEPZA to fulfill their mandates for the economy and Nigerians.

    Praising the lawmakers for the amendment efforts, the OGFZA chief executive said they were coming at the right time considering the diversification drive of the federal government.

    He explained the amendments will deepen specialisation and efficiency in the oil and gas sector, while also strongly encouraging investment in the non-oil sector.

    Umana also spoke on OGFZA’s recently unveiled three-year strategic roadmap.

    The roadmap, according to him, was aimed at growing investment in the oil and gas free zones by 50 per cent in the next three years.

    He said it reflected the vision of the oil and gas free zone agency to be the premier agency of government for the promotion of investment in the nation’s oil and gas free zones.

    Umana said one of the means to more investments in the free zones was more access to OGFZA through repackaged  and robust website and the publication of a biweekly newsletter to enhance interaction with existing and prospective investors.

    He added that the drive for new investments would be facilitated by a corporate culture of integrity, respect for investors and due process, transparency and accountability as well as passion for and customer-centric engagement with investors.

    He said the oil and gas free zones have had a track record of success in attracting investments, having raked in more than $20 billion worth of investments since inception and created more than 200,000 direct and indirect jobs.

    On revenue, the OGFZA MD said between January 2010 and December 2015, the Nigerian Custom Service generated revenue of N143.2 billion from the oil and gas free zones alone while the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) generated$2.1 billion and N19.3 billion also from the oil and gas free.

     

  • Cyber Crime: Group urges NASS to enact data protection law

    Cyber Security Experts Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) has urged the National Assembly to enact a law to control government or organisations from arbitrary access to personal information of the people.

    President of CSEAN, Remi Afon disclosed that ‎the law became imperative to protect citizens data from cyber criminals.

    He added that the country lacks professional ethics on information management of the people, as they are frequently accessed by different government agencies and private organisations such as Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), commercial banks, and Telecommunications industries collecting massive personal data.

    ‎In a statement on Sunday in Abuja, as part of activities to celebrate World’s Data Privacy Day, Afon said the law if implemented would among others guarantee protection of personal information and ensure such information are not kept longer than necessary and not transferred outside the country without adequate protection.

    ‎He emphasised that South Africa made a leading example by enacting the data protection law, adding that Nigeria should follow suit.

    CSEAN boss stated that these acts could lead to misuse of the information thereby causing potential abuse and threats to the citizens.

    The statement reads: “In today’s world where governments and organizations face a heightened threat landscape with data breaches constantly on the rise, nothing less than an up to date, single and comprehensive enactment of data protection law can adequately match this threat.‎

    “Such laws have been enacted in other parts of the world, for example South Africa recently enacted the Protection of personal Information Act 2013 after the mould of the Data Protection Act 1998 of the United Kingdom.

    “A common feature of such laws are provisions which ensure that an individual’s personal data is not only collected lawfully but also used lawfully, kept securely and not circulated without due process and consent of the individual.”

    He opined that the data should be used for the purpose of which they are collected and nothing more as this would set basic rules of registration for users of data.

    “Consequently, Cyber Security Experts Association (CSEAN) will be observing the day by highlighting some of the data protection issues we face as a nation and how individuals can protect their personal data through social media, symposium and press releases,” he added.

  • NASS inspects FG intervention projects in Bakassi

    The Senate Committee on States and Local Government Administration and the House of Representatives Committee on Special Duties on Tuesday inspected Federal Government’s intervention projects in Bakassi local government area of Cross River.

    The projects, being executed with a N300 million fund, include an international border market in Ikang, healthcare centre with quarters for doctors and a school, both situated in Afiang-Ayong, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    The Chairman, Senate Committee on States and Local Government Administration, Sen. Abdullahi Gumel, told journalists at one of the project sites that the inspection of the projects became necessary following allegations of negligence of the area.

    He said the committees were on ground to inspect projects carried out by Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA).

    Gumel said “the Border Communities Development Agency is an intervention agency and having spent about N300 million here, I am impressed with what we have seen on ground.

    “The communities have primary health care centre, border community markets, outpost, schools, water projects and new roads.

    “So, the impression created that our brothers and sisters displaced from Bakassi are abandoned is not true, you have all seen as much too.

    “The Federal Government is working and in line with the change mantra, we are going to do more in this area.”

    Gumel assured that the National Assembly, particularly the Senate, would continue to play its part by way of oversight, enactment of laws and improved funding to ameliorate the sufferings of people living in border communities.

     

  • Budget and NASS narcissism

    The budget, the budget,

    Who will bail the budget?

    From a venal bunch

    Wanton and wild-eyed   

    Appropriating our appropriation…

    Hardball could not help but lapse into hacking the above ditties. Even the title of this piece must have come up on this space sometime in the past. No matter how hard the ball Hardball throws at our people at the top, they seem to lob even a harder one back at Hardball.

    Obdurate and hardened men; nothing shakes them; all the tricks in the book have been tried on this page – no dice. And Hardball cries:

    My ink is dry

    And my mind is blank

    No tank in the world

    Can move these cranks

    A wise saying from the Orients suggests that when a situation becomes too unyielding, we must point at it. In other words, we may have to yank the bad tooth to treat it.

    This brings us to the 2017 federal budget, which has been presented to the National Assembly (NASS). A most horrid and turbulent budget if Hardball must say. We learnt the 2016 budget was padded, but this year’s seems all cooked up, puffed up, pumped up in all places and soaked in fat.

    Hardball had attended to the executive version a few days ago and now, we present the 2017 budget as it concerns the NASS. Remember that the legislators have not attended to the document yet, but there are quite some unsettling information sifting from that quarter.

    But first, there is already a dumbfounding move by the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to appropriate to its grubby self, 20 percent of the federal budget for itsconstituency projects. They are to implement these projects by themselves. If you think Hardball is at it again with his pranks, the Bill by Princess Stella Oduah has already scaled second reading and has been referred to the Joint Committee on Finance and Appropriation of the NASS.

    You may still be wiping your face wondering whether you are in a trance or Hardball is on auto-pilot: NO, IT IS REAL. And 20 percent of the 2017 budget would amount to N1.4 trillion. By this crazy bill the NASS seeks to play the roles of legislator and executive at the same time – that is, members of NASS would be appropriators, supervisors and implementers.

    If you thought that wasn’t maddening enough, NASS is also said to be plotting to hike its 2017 budget to between N150 to N170 billion. Well you may say this is still in the realm of rumour, but in a few days, we shall all know the truth. We hear that they grumble that their budget, which was crashed from N150 billion in the good old days to N115 last year, is too paltry for their distended buccal cavity.

    In this season of national economic debacle in which about 80 million compatriots are unemployed and starving, this self-love in NASS is simply narcisismo!

  • Lawyer urges NASS to pass maritime bills

    The National Assembly has been urged to review the Cabotage Law and pass pending maritime bills to end the domination of shipping business by foreign vessels.

    A lawyer and university don, Mr Dipo Alaka, who made the call at the week-end, said the delay in the passage of the Ports and Harbours bills, among others, was hampering the industry’s development.

    “So many people have advocated a review of some of our laws such as the Cabotage Act, the Local Content Act, the Shipping Policy Act and the Ports and Harbours Bill, and there has also been a call for reform in our port operations to meet international standard.

    “We would like the Cabotage Act to be reviewed by the National Assembly in a way that can lead to higher revenue generation for the federal government.

    “The country is losing a lot of revenue due to the non-implementation of the Caboatge Law as a result of domination of foreign vessels on our coastal waters.

    “If the Cabotage Act is reformed, it would assist in blocking revenue leakages to bring the economy out of the wood,” Alake said. He also urged the Federal Government to use the money from the maritime sector to diversify the economy in the face of dwindling revenue from oil.

    He said businesses have been affected by the reduction in cargo volume at the ports since the beginning of the year till date, adding that some policies of the government on importation have contributed to the low volume of cargo handled at the ports.

    According to him, the government needs to review import policies, especially on used vehicles and rice.

  • Obasanjo’s attacks on Buhari, NASS

    SIR: There is no need for unnecessary phantasm; former President Olusegun Obasanjao was right in his attack on this administration, especially the National Assembly. His problem is that he excused his own tour of duty which is partly to be blamed for the mess we are in; moreover, he didn’t proffer solutions on how to turn the economy around with our reserve and he never mentioned the importance of grooming political leaders for elective offices.

    It was Yakubu Mohammed, National Concord, Monday, April 25, 1983 who said, “I am not suggesting that nobody has the right to disagree with anybody. Without disagreement, life itself will be a monumental bore. But no sane person should carry disagreement to an extent where it is ever difficult to reconcile.”

    Leaders fail to win for Nigeria consensus, which is needed to inspire the pride of citizens for national interest. There are only a handful of politicians with conviction.

    Nigeria’s national political path is stormy. Present days have seen it risen to a barbarous plateau.

    Administrators must rise to the occasion and steer our polity to life. They must steer, not row. It is easier to steer than to row. Rowing requires too much muscle power. Steering requires a sense of humanity, vision and purpose.

    A people cannot steer without the power of conviction. A nation cannot move forward if men continually row without synergy. Without the power of conviction, men become enslaved mercenaries. People who stand at attention in a servile salute do not encourage each other, aren’t free people and find it hard to contend for liberty on their own terms.

    For a leader, there is nothing more important than the quality of your impact on others and on your country.

    According to Eleanor Roosevelt, “It isn’t enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it and it isn’t enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”

    The polity is undeveloped across board because differences aren’t tolerated and are most times eliminated by violence even when we are all “perfectly imperfect.”

    * Youngsters on whose shoulders the future lie do not see politics as a noble profession. Youth need to see themselves as equal members of society and that democratic contest is a sport, an avenue for healthy debates necessary for developmental growth. This would give them hope and shows them that genuine statesmen and women are not bigots.,

    Our future wouldn’t be complete if projects are abandoned, treasures emptied at the expiration of tours of duty especially when the opposite party wins an election and wars fought only on party basis. Nigeria’s future will remain uncertain if we fraternally blame all our ills on “those people” without introspection on ourselves and how we have failed humanity.

    Our leaders do not have the capacity to steer polity to health; all they do is rather to perennially row.

     

    • Simon Abah,

    Port-Harcourt.