The Nation Newspaper

Tag: national development

  • National development; a call to sacrifice

    National development; a call to sacrifice

    SIR: Is there any country on this planet that is free from challenges? All the continents are bedevilled by one kind of predicament or the other. From Europe to Americas, Africa to Middle East, etc., there is no longer any El Dorado in the world. Many people left Nigeria for other climes in search of greener pasture, many of them died in the deserts and sea, unceremoniously. Those who were lucky to reach their destinations got there only to meet even more complicated challenges there.

    In Europe, for example, the far-right political parties such as National Rally in France are winning elections.  These far right politicians such as Jordan Bardella are anti-immigrants. Any undocumented immigrant is not welcome. In the Middle East especially, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, etc. our women are subjected into servitude.

    And that even in diaspora, you are not completely divorced from the problems you fled from. Apart from difficulty of getting assimilated into the new environment they found themselves, there is always a problem in raising and training your children in accordance with your indigenous culture tradition and belief. This includes respect for parents and elders, eating habit, mode of dressing, language, eating habit, family solidarity, good neighbourliness etc.

    In the Middle East, we have wars not only between Hamas and Israel but Huthis and Hezbollah of Yemen and Lebanon are involved. Syria is in shambles and then Iran and Israel.

    Then we have a raging war between Ukraine and Russia. In Latin America and the Caribbeans, there is even no government in Haiti. The gangs are in control. In Columbia, the drug barons call the shots.

    So, there is no escape and no shortcut to run.

    Then what is the way forward?

    We must change our mind-set. Today, courtesy of globalization, the whole world is interdependent. A war between Ukraine and Russia or even change of power in U.S. and Europe could impact on the whole world as we are witnessing.

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    Secondly, there is no messiah in the world. Peter Obi, an averaged politician who ruled Anambra like every mediocre politician cannot perform than president Bola Ahmed Tinubu. The noisemaking role he is playing since his failed presidential ambition is what is expected of a demagogue.

    And political horse-trading by tired old politicians scheming to wrest power in the next election cannot be equated with French Revolution or what Deng Xiaoping did to China.

    The only way forward is each and every one of us should rise and play his part as a citizen. To sleep and expect the few political office holders do the work cannot work. They can’t succeed if the rest of the citizens are not ready to make the necessary sacrifice.

    • Comrade Bishir Dauda Sabuwar, Unguwa Katsina.
  • Values and national development

    Values and national development

    For many, at the root of Nigeria’s protracted crisis of underdevelopment despite the abundance of human, natural, and mineral resources with which she is endowed is the country’s inability to overcome her economic deficiencies and disabilities to enable her transcend such debilitating problems as mass immiseration, ignorance, illiteracy, unemployment, inadequate shelter, hunger and prevalence of disease among other manifestations of pervasive poverty. The frightening rate of insecurity characterized by worsening incidences of kidnapping, armed robbery, ritual killings, and assorted acts of terrorism, which undoubtedly constitute the greatest threat to national stability and cohesion, is a direct consequence of the country’s economic underdevelopment.

    Along with the high rate of poverty in which the vast majority of Nigerians are immersed is the incredible degree of inequality enabling a microscopic number of Nigerians to amass and obscenely exhibit their mostly ill-acquired wealth amidst the dehumanizing deprivation suffered by millions of their fellow countrymen and women. It was the great sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo who warned in an address to the Ondo State House of Assembly on Friday, 18th January 1980, of the great dangers posed to the country’s very existence by appalling levels of poverty, inequality, and social injustice.

    In his words, “The rich, and the highly-placed in business, public life, and government, are running a dreadful risk in their callous neglect of the poor and downtrodden. We expect that the rank and file of the law enforcement and security agencies should be devoted and dedicated to their onerous assignments of protecting our lives and properties. We expect the low-income workers to be loyal in their respective occupations of drudge-of-all-work. But what they receive by way of remunerations for a whole month is much less than what is spent by each of many of us to entertain his friends everyday of the week, at home or in some high-class hotels. Indeed, their wage or income is inadequate for any suitable standard of living.”

    Things have grown much worse since Chief Awolowo uttered these prophetic words. For those who perceive the country’s underdevelopment as basically a function of her economic backwardness, the key to Nigeria’s rapid progress lies in economic technicalities such as effective management of interest and exchange rates and the right mix of fiscal and monetary policies. It would appear, however, that an even more fundamental contributory factor to the country’s continued adverse romance with underdevelopment is a perverse and self-sabotaging value system. The premium placed on the accumulation of wealth by all means and at all costs is, for instance, responsible for the humongous and pervasive corruption that contributes substantially to our protracted economic crisis and the attendant poverty and inequality.

    A few weeks ago, we cited in this column a study by the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mr. Ola Olukoyede, which gave graphic details of how much-stolen funds by public office holders between 2015 and now would have contributed significantly to the provision of facilities such as good roads as well as standard public schools, hospitals and mass housing among others. While corruption by those who occupy public office has been constantly exposed and, in a few instances punished, there has been less focus on corruption in the private sector which is also pervasive and injurious to economic development.

    Even as the President Bola Tinubu administration continues to address the challenges arising from its economic reforms particularly the removal of the fuel subsidy and the merger of previous parallel exchange rate markets, it must also pay attention to overhauling the current overly materialistic value system underlying the economic and other manifestations of underdevelopment. In this regard, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) is as critical as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) or the Ministry of Finance in the quest for economic recovery and sustainable development. Yet, this remains one highly consequential agency that has been severely underfunded over the years despite having able leadership and competent staff. Some have criticized what they perceive as the Information Minister, Mr. Mohammed Idris’s rather understated and low-profile approach in discharging his responsibilities. However, his approach, in my view, enhances the credibility of information emanating from his office being devoid of propaganda.

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    The Minister working along with the Director-General of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu, should make the revitalization of the NOA a cardinal priority to enable the agency to effectively discharge its vital responsibility of national reorientation. The Ministry of Arts, Culture, and Creative Economy can also play an important role at a more subliminal level by encouraging creative works in diverse genres that promote values supportive of national development.

    During the week, social media was awash with news and visuals of a Nigerian female ‘celebrity’ who celebrated her 50th birthday in grand style with a weeklong array of opulent activities in the scenic Island of Grenada. It was estimated that she spent not less than a billion Naira in feting her guests in an affair worthy of royalty. The story attracted attention and gained traction largely because of the all too human penchant for the sensational. Again, this conspicuous display of wealth was at a time when millions of Nigerians are groaning under the weight of the current harsh economic conditions. This is a vivid illustration of the gross inequality that is the hallmark of the social injustice that defines contemporary Nigeria. In the vast majority of cases, the humongous wealth of the few cannot be linked to any productive effort or creative ingenuity on their part.

    But is the widespread condemnation that greeted this 50th-birthday extravaganza a reflection of genuine displeasure or disapproval of such a conspicuous exhibition of wealth? It is unlikely. In fact, it is reflective of the crass materialism that has become a veritable national religion. The vast majority of Nigerians worship at the altar of material accumulation for its own sake. This is, ironically, evidence of a debilitating poverty of the spirit. The celebrity celebrant in this case is a ravishing beauty at 50. It can thus be imagined how stunningly attractive she must have been at 20. But then, how much of that beauty will endure at 70? Shouldn’t the swiftness of time and the ephemerality of life suggest more wisdom in the identification of priorities? Perhaps this was what the great economist, John Kenneth Galbraith, had in mind when he declared that “The more underdeveloped a country, the more overdeveloped its women!”

    But this kind of celebratory razzmatazz is not an isolated exception. The immediate past governor of the Central Bank, the currently embattled Mr. Godwin Emefiele, reportedly celebrated his 60th birthday in Spain with several Nigerian political, business and media elite in attendance. Many of those who condemn this kind of conspicuous wastefulness would behave no differently if they had the means. Even if not at the same level of wealth exhibition, substantial sums of money are expended daily across the country on birthdays, weddings, funerals, promotions, appointments, graduations, etc. Celebrations are indeed an indispensable feature of being human. But the utilization of such occasions to engage in an obscene exhibition of wealth may be a function both of spiritual famishing and mental underdevelopment. This kind of value orientation also informs, for instance, the inexplicable decision of members of the National Assembly to procure imported official vehicles worth over one hundred million Naira each in a country as materially deprived as Nigeria.

    Unfortunately, this warped value system, the overvaluation of wealth accumulation, is also largely responsible for the flourishing of sundry crimes like kidnapping for ransom which has become epidemic, ritual killings for money, cybercrimes popularly known as ‘Yahoo Yahoo’, armed robbery and bank fraud among others. The perceived right of the individual to exhibit wealth no matter how it is acquired thus has existential implications for society as a whole. Rather than condemning individuals who indulge in such behavior, however, it is more productive to work towards changing the value system that nurtures such negative attitudinal dispositions.

    When the state abandons its responsibility towards the socialization of its citizens to adopt wholesome and society-sustaining values and morals, it allows anti-social elements that socialize them in the direction of values that are ultimately destructive of the collectivity.

    But then, the state is not the only institution responsible for the socialization of the citizenry. The family, educational institutions, and spiritual organizations also have important roles to play in this regard. But what do we say of a situation in which parents actively encourage and assist their children to commit a diversity of examination malpractices, schools at various levels are citadels of immorality and religious organizations especially of the Christian Pentecostal variety equate material wealth and worldly success with spiritual growth and closeness to God. Suspended Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr. Betta Edu, for instance, reportedly testified that when her Bishop asked members to ask what they wanted from God, she said she desired to be a Minister and the Bishop said “It is done”.

    She subsequently became a Minister and was evidently very grateful to the man of God. But did the Bishop bother to ask her why exactly she wanted to be a Minister? Was it for service or for self-gratification? The outcome of ongoing investigations into corruption allegations against the minister will provide an answer. The EFCC Chairman has just revealed that a powerful religious sect in the country secured a court order to stop the agency from probing the sum of N 7 billion linked to some terrorists. He also disclosed that money suspected to be laundered was traced to the bank account of another religious body which was found to be protecting the money launderer. Without far-reaching value reorientation, little success can be achieved both in terms of addressing the prolonged economic crisis and the more fundamental challenge of underdevelopment.

    The EFCC Chairman hit the nail on the head while speaking on Wednesday at a sensitization event in Abuja on the theme, ‘Youth, Religion and the Fight Against Corruption’. In his words, “The danger of having a tribe of future leaders whose outlook on life is that fraud and corruption are the stairways to fame and fortune is, however, too dire to treat with kid gloves. In the same vein, the extreme vulnerability of our Ministries, Departments, and Agencies to corruption has led to resource hemorrhage and attendant negative impact on development”.

  • Nigeria full of manpower for economic, national development

    Nigeria full of manpower for economic, national development

    President Bola Tinubu said Nigeria has the requisite and sufficient manpower to spur development across all sectors of the economy.

    Tinubu stated this while receiving a report titled: ‘Industrialisation, Energy Security, and Climate Change: Issues, Challenges and Prospects,’ submitted by the Senior Executive Course 45 of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) at the State House, Abuja.

    According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, the President said his administration will review the document and integrate salient recommendations into ongoing policies and programmes within the Renewed Hope Agenda.

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    Commending the report’s wealth of research and recommendations, Tinubu said: ”I give you credit for a good job done. This report will be treated with all seriousness. You have fished out the issues. You have noted the challenges, and you have recommended very constructive solutions and showed the roadmap to achieve sustainable development goals for our country. Definitely, our hope is renewed.

    ”Who says that we do not have it as a country? Commitment to research and development; that high level of inquisitiveness, the manpower needed is here.”

    Director-General of the Institute, Prof. Ayo Omotayo, said during the ten-month period of the course, participants engaged in a series of lectures and seminars, brainstorming sessions, as well as study tours to 13 countries and seven states in Nigeria.

    He said the Senior Executive Course 45 comprised of 97 participants drawn from federal and sub-national governments, security and intelligence agencies, civil society, private sector and labour unions.

  • How to reposition legal education for national development, by Afe Babalola

    Frontline legal colossus and Founder, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti (ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola, SAN, has identified quality legal education as an essential element for producing lawyers who can represent their clients and contribute to the establishment of the Rule of Law as opposed to the Rule of Man.

    The legal icon, however, observed that after 50 years, it had become  clear that the quality of legal education in the country needed to be improved upon to meet international standards and to equip law graduates with the requisite skills to be effective.

    Babalola, who spoke at the Annual Conference of Nigerian Association of Law Teachers at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, said there was the need for policy makers to rejig the curricula of elementary and secondary schools as a first step.

    He said subjects, such as Geography, History, Literature, Economics and Information Communication Technology (ICT) in the curriculum should be included in the curricula.

    Babalola, who was represented by the Acting Vice Chancellor of ABUAD, Prof. Smaranda E. Olarinde, reasoned that the reason for this was not far-fetched as the introduction and study of Geography would enable the would-be lawyers to know about the existence of man, both in the past and in the present, while the study of History would enable them to know about  important personalities, how they made it in life to the extent that many people adopt many of them as their role models even without meeting them.

    His words: “When we look at the history of our great men today, most of them went to schools where the aforementioned subjects were taught. It was at the level that they were taught how to harbour a strong abhorrence for corruption and all other ills that are afflicting our society today. They were taught the virtues of discipline, honesty, integrity and punctuality and all of that have become part of them since then.”

    As for Literature and ICT, he said: “On its part, Literature teaches us about great men and women in the literary world and how to weave words together while the place of ICT in the contemporary world cannot be wished away or over emphasized.

    “To serve the needs of a 21st Century society, the justice system must be digital by default and design. Information technology is increasingly a key component of our lives … the use of information technology has also become an increasingly significant factor in the delivery of legal education, legal services and in the adjudication of civil disputes.

    “All over the world, Technology is starting to drive the administration of justice with virtual courts and Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) providing alternative methods of resolving legal issues. ODR is a process where legal disputes are resolved via web based systems and there are a number of different versions of this.”

    After reworking the curricula, Babalola called on the National Universities Commission (NUC) to make it mandatory for students who want to study Law to have a minimum of credit in English Language, English Literature, Mathematics, Geography, History, Economics and Computer Education because of the central roles these subjects will play in the practice of the would-be lawyers in future.

    According to him, “it is a well-known fact that in the United States and Germany and other countries, the standard of law practice is very high unlike what obtains here. One of the factors responsible for the high standard is that a candidate must have a degree before he/she would be admitted to study Law. And that is why they have ensured over time that Law is studied as a second degree to ensure that those to be admitted into Law colleges are really mature before coming to the Law college.”

    He continued: “On the contrary, in Nigeria, students who are admitted to study Law need only to pass school certificate and JAMB examinations. Time it was when students must pass GCE Advanced Level or Higher School Examination (HSE) before they were admitted to universities. However, that the Federal Government in its wisdom summersaulted and lowered the admission standard to universities remains baffling and a mystery.

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    “Nigeria should, therefore, take a cue from what obtains in Germany and the United States where a student to be admitted to their Law colleges must have earned a degree in some other disciplines or at least G.C.E Advanced Level as obtained in England and as it was before in Nigeria.”

    On the place of the Law School in repositioning legal education, Babalola said a situation whereby law graduates go to the Nigerian Law School for their Bar Examination is commendable. He however added that the government should go a step further by empowering the Central Law School to screen quality and reputable universities for training lawyers for 18 months after their LL.B, conduct and moderate common exams preparatory for their final Call to Bar Examinations at the Law School.

    With this proposal, Babalola said Law graduates from universities would proceed to reputable universities with modern facilities and faculty members of international repute for their post-LL.B training and only go to the Law School to write their call to bar examinations without having to be residential students in the Law School and only take the common Bar Examination. This, he said, would enable the Law School to concentrate on the supervision of the universities instead of buildiing more law schools all over the country despite its lean purse.

    ‘’Besides, it must also be mandatory for Law students to go through clinical training during their undergraduate days in their universities as this will make their training more robust and all-encompassing. Likewise, undergraduate law students must be attached to some selected reputable law firms during holidays like it is done in ABUAD to keep them busy, enable them acquire relevance experience and familiarise themselves with law processes,’’ he said.

    On post-call experience, Babalola said: “In our days, the norm was that green wigs must be attached to reputable and seasoned law firms before they could set up their own practices. But all of that would appear to have change. It is my belief that we must go back to that time-tested practice. Green wigs must be made to serve a period of a minimum of one year under reputable and experienced lawyers. This will certainly enhance the standard of practice.’’

    Babalola urged the practitioners to appreciate the import of partnerships instead of running one-man law offices. One-man law offices, he said, should be discouraged, adding that lawyers should team up to form law firms.

    Besides, he advised that lawyers should specialise in areas, such as constitutional law, human rights law, jurisprudence and international law, commercial law, litigation and arbitration.

    Babalola called on the Joint Admissions Matriculation Board (JAMB), the NUC, the Council for Legal Education (CLE) and the government to harmonise the various admission rules and guidelines, stressing that the cut-off marks for various universities would harm the quality of education.

    To correct this anomaly, he canvassed that the cut-off points should be the same. He said: “A situation whereby some universities admit candidates who scored 140 or less out of a total mark of 400 is ridiculous. In our days, a child who scored less than 50 per cent would incur the wrath of his teachers and would be caned for his indolence. But now, indolence is being encouraged by agreeing to admit people who scored as less as 30 per cent in their qualifying examination.’’

    Babalola  suggested that graduates should write the same final examination as it is being done by law graduates. It is through this method that Nigerians and indeed the whole world would appreciate the quality of our education. Under this condition, universities would be forced to raise the standard of students they admit as they would only admit candidates who are fit as university materials, he said.

  • Diaspora remittances and national development

    Like the reports that preceded it, the recently released 2018 “Migration and Development Brief” of the World Bank that tracks the remittances of immigrants in high and middle income countries of the world is an important document that the Nigerian government should be elated about because of its contribution to and enhancement of the country’s economic life. Just as in previous years, the report says that remittances to Nigeria by her citizens around the world was the highest in sub-Saharan Africa as it stood at $24.3 billion last year, compared to the 2017 figure of $22.3 billion, which means there was a net increase of $2 billion. According to the report, “immigrants sent $46 billion to their home countries in sub-Saharan Africa last year, a 10 percent jump in remittances in 2017”. The report also gives us a breakdown of those countries in sub-Saharan Africa whose remittances contributed significant percentages to their Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Comoros had the largest share, followed by the Gambia, Lesotho, Cape Verde, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Togo, Ghana and Nigeria in that order.

    Before one attempts to point out the significance, if not the contribution of these remittances to national development (in the case of Nigeria), it is important to also attempt to identify other values/variables that are inherent in the World Bank report that makes it possible for individual remittances of citizens of these countries from far-flung corners of the world to be so compelling that they took noticeable chunks of their countries’ GDP. In the countries whose GDP are significantly affected by these remittances, at least three things may have emerged from the WB Brief. These are: immigrants from these countries are well educated, resourceful or industrious in their host countries for them to be able to command the incomes that leave some extras to send to their countries of origin. The populations of these immigrants in their host countries are significant and probably in proportion to the population of their home countries. And more importantly, their psycho-emotional attachment to their countries of origin is significantly higher than the world average.

    From the foregoing, and in the case of Nigeria whose developmental challenges are as big as her population and landmass, one would have thought that some carefully crafted, concerted, consistent, and specifically-targeted policies and programmes would have long been dedicated to her Diasporans (a huge resource pool waiting to be tapped) in her quest for economic growth and expansion. While the Buhari administration should be credited with the establishment of the Office of Diaspora and Foreign Affairs in the presidency for the first time in the country’s governance history under Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, it should also be pointed out that whatever policies that are already in place may not be commensurate with tapping not only the resource endowments of her diasporic citizens, but may be inadequate to vigorously engage them in solving the developmental challenges in which they’ve acquired the right expertise in their host countries. And this…it seems to me…is the crux of the matter. With this dearth of policy objectives by Nigerian governments for their diasporic citizens, it will not only be difficult for them to internalize the urge for their country’s growth and development, but they will be unable to see themselves as critical partners in the developmental challenges of their country of origin.

    While it would have been much easier for the country’s sub-units (the states) to harvest the resource endowments of their diasporic indigenes under some broader policy objectives of the federal government for their own peculiar developmental challenges, the states should now decide if, and how to engage their diasporic indigenes as they cannot complain of being hamstrung or shackled by those ubiquitous federal government’s items on the exclusive legislative list.

    While it would be standing logic on its head to postulate that the arrival of $24.3 billion into the economy of any country, let alone Nigeria’s (and, quite appropriately the states because they are the final destinations where these remittances are expended) couldn’t have added any intrinsic value to the states or is significant enough to warrant the state governments’ attention, one cannot help but say that a very significant portion of these remittances would probably be considered by financial experts to have been ‘wasted’ if these remittances were to be placed under close scrutiny. This is because the effects that the remittances should have had on the states in meeting their developmental challenges, relative to the monies (which could well be higher than some states’ monthly federal allocations) that accrued to them from their indigenes in the Diaspora, may be very negligible due to their lack of inclusion and participation in their state’s development. Surveys have indicated that the remittances to Nigeria by her diasporic citizens are spent mostly on education of their wards and other loved ones, healthcare, business start-ups and maintenance, land purchases, and building (of non-revenue generating) houses that would eventually end up serving as not only the retirement homes of their owners, but subsequently as their grave sites.

    While it cannot be argued that what these remittances are used for, as in the case of the aforementioned, are in themselves social ‘goods’ in the states where they’re finally utilized, significant wastage would have been absent, or at least reduced to a minimum, if there are mechanisms to track the usage of these monies. What’s more; some of these remittances failed to have the desired effects due to the fraudulent behaviours of people to whom these monies are entrusted by their owners. This is where state governments…most of whose capacity utilization are not only very low and archaic, but also lacks the funds to spur socio-economic growths, should have come in as protectors of the economic interests of their diasporic indigenes through policies and programmes that will guide them aright. This would have been a win-win situation.

    But Ekiti State is now determined to make a difference by creating and nurturing mutually beneficial relationships with its diasporic communities in the pursuit of its developmental agenda. For someone who believes that a society can only realize its potential if its people are made the front, back and centre of every facet of its developmental aspiration, Governor John Kayode Fayemi is poised to engage Ekiti Diaspora (both within and without) towards the realization of his four/five pillars upon which reclaiming Ekiti land and restoring its values rests. For a people whose hope and trust in their leaders have always been dashed and shattered with reckless abandon by their leaders over time, it should not be gainsaid that the two major political capitals that have always been going for Governor Fayemi in his leadership trajectory are trust and integrity. These time-tested values will be leveraged with Ekiti Diaspora as it will also not only reflect in the policies of the administration for strategic partnerships with its diasporic indigenes as so much water has passed under the bridge, but their engagements in every facet of the state’s developmental aspiration will engender them to own a piece of Ekiti.

     

    • Odere is Senior Special Assistant to Ekiti State governor on Diaspora Affairs.

  • Fayemi: contribute your quota towards national development

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi has urged members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) to contribute their quota to the socio-economic development of the country.

    The governor said the development of any ideal society in all ramifications depends largely on the youth who actively participate in the developmental process.

    He assured the corps members that his administration will acknowledge every contribution towards uplifting and effecting socio-economic changes in the state.

    Fayemi spoke yesterday at the NYSC permanent orientation camp at Ise Orun/Emure Ekiti during the closing ceremony of this year’s Batch “A” corps members’ orientation.

    The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Otunba Bisi Egbeyemi, said the NYSC scheme has been a potent instrument of achieving unity and integration.

    He said: “You should make use of all that you gained from Skill Acquisition Entrepreneurship Development (SAED), professional lectures, drills and parade.

    “There is no doubt that the future of this country depends to a large extent on the youth.

    “I believe the NYSC will afford you the opportunity to express yourself as you participate in the developmental process of the nation.

    “Let me assured you that every contribution make towards complimenting government development effort will be acknowledged.”

    The state’s NYSC Coordinator, Mrs. Emmanuella Okpongete, expressed appreciation to the governor for his administration’s approval of N3 million for the renovation of some structures in the camp.

    She urged corps members to shun negative vices and frivolous journeys that could result in avoidable deaths.

    “As you proceed to your places of primary assignment, I encourage you to shun negative vices and unnecessary journeys.

    “And do not go to places that will endanger your lives. Watch the company you keep and be security-conscious.

    “We will pay unscheduled visits to you at your places of primary assignments. And take your community development service seriously and ensure you leave legacies behind,” Mrs Okpongete told the corps members.

     

  • ‘Service is a tool for national development’

    Emeritus Professor Francis Fajemirokun, a venerable and former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), has urged political leaders to be eager to serve, saying that is pertinent to growth in the country.

    He spoke at the fourth memorial lecture for Prophet Gabriel Fakeye (Special Apostle for Evangelism).

    Fajemirokun, who spoke on “Peace, Justice and Righteousness – the Spiritual Imperatives for National Growth and Development”, said: “Our leaders should be eager to serve. Right now, they are masters and not servants, and that is wrong. That is why they are killing themselves.

    “But these people see it as a by force by fire race; they see it as ‘a do or die affair’, which is not necessary. But we must not accept t his impunity anymore, we must reject it and by then, we will have people who really want to serve.

    “As long as corruption, injustice and unrighteousness manifest themselves, we will never have peace, and if we do not have peace, we cannot have growth nor development because development happens only in an atmosphere where there is peace, justice and righteousness.

    “The result of unrighteousness and injustice is sin, and sin hinders growth. If Christians can stand in the gap and practice righteousness and justice, then we are sure the spiritual aspect of our problem will be solved. Once the spiritual problem is solved, the solution to the physical problems of corruption, violence, insecurity, nepotism and impunity, among others will be taken care of,” he added.

  • Best brains needed for national development, says Babalakin

    •”Elebute, an outstanding scholar”

    THE Pro-Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), has said policies must be made to attract the best brains to teach in Nigerian universities.

    This, he said, would speed up the nation’s development.

    Babalakin spoke yesterday at UNILAG’s College of Medicine during a valedictory service in honor of the founder of Hygeia HMO Limited and former Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof. Emmanuel Adeyemo Elebute (CON).

    Noting that he was inspired by the late Elebute’s CV and achievements, the lawyer said the deceased contributed extensively to the development of medicine.

    Babalakin’s words: “Prof. Elebute attended CMS Grammar School and studied medicine at Trinity College, Dublin. He won the Cunningham Medal for Anatomy and Fitzpatrick Scholarship for the best performance in all professional examinations. With all the options available to him, he chose to come back to Nigeria and contribute to the College of Medicine, UNILAG. His CV is one that we should propagate.

    “We have been having serious difficulty in attracting the best of scholars to the university system. In the era of the Elebutes and those immediately after them, there was no better thing to do than to be in the academia. Various policies have made this unattractive and until we reverse these policies and begin again to attract the best brains to teach in universities, our national development will remain stifled.”

    Stating that the late Elebute was not only an academic but a “phenomenal administrator”, the pro-chancellor said: “He was the Chief Medical Director of LUTH from 1978 -1980. Before then he had participated actively in the union of doctors, seeking to improve the welfare of doctors as President of the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) between 1968 and 1970.

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    “He was also a member of the editorial board of the British Journal of Surgery. What this tells us is that we can rebuild from where we find ourselves; we can create a Nigerian academy that will be the envy of all.”

    Babalakin explained that having distinguished himself as an academic, the late Elebute went further into providing medical services by establishing the Lagoon Hospital, which is “arguably one of the best medical centers in Nigeria today” and transformed it into Hygeia HMO.

    “The best way to celebrate this great man is to tell ourselves that we have the same inspiration; we have the same greatness and we will further it. We must decide to turn whatever stumbling blocks we find on our way into stepping stones for the attainment of greater heights”, he added.

    The Vice-Chancellor of UNILAG, Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, said the late Elebute was a “mentor and not a tormentor” as well as a great grammarian.

    Provost, UNILAG College of Medicine, Prof. Afolabi Lesi, described the late Elebute as “an iconic man of many parts, a brilliant academician, a disciplined master of surgical craft, a true friend and a wonderful family man”.

    According to LUTH CMD, Prof. Chris Bode, the late Elebute was an “impeccable dresser and was humble beyond belief.”

    One of the deceased’s daughters, Mrs Dupe Odunsi, who gave the vote of thanks, said the late Elebute was “a wonderful father, who put a lot of enthusiasm into building our home”.

    Also at the event were Elebute’s widow, Prof. Oyinade, and his children; Dr. Olorogun Sunny Kuku of Eko Hospital; Provost, Lagos State University College of Medicine, Prof. B. Osinusi; and Prof. Oladapo Ashiru of Mart-Life Clinic; among other eminent medical practitioners.

     

  • Empowering women for national development

    THE need for government to create enabling environment for economic and political empowerment of women was the thrust of a two-day art exhibition organised by the National Gallery of Art (NGA) at Abuja. The group exhibition is aimed at providing socio-economic empowerment of women in the visual arts sector.

    With the theme: No Woman Left Behind: Nigerian Women Bridging the Gap in Governance and Politics, the event was well attended by female visual artists, most of who participated in the exhibition. The two-day event, held between February 1 and 2, began with a roadshow to sensitise women on the need to participate fully in the 2019 general election.

    According to Director Educational Services, National Gallery of Art, Evelyn Ikuenobe-Otaigbe, initiator of the programme, Women in Visual Art (WIVA) is an empowerment and enlightenment platform for women in visual arts to be part of current issues in governance.

    She stated that the artworks on display showed that women have historically played roles in governance.She, however, believed that there was need for increased women participation in governance.

    Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry, Grace Gepke.She admonished women to take greater interest in governance and politics.

    In her keynote address titled: No Woman Left Behind: Nigerian Women Bridging the Gap in Governance and Politics, Chairman, Guarantee Trust Bank (GTB), Mrs. Osaretin Demuren, advised that as the country approaches another general elections, there is the need for leaders to remember the Late Nelson Mandela’s statement that ‘Freedom cannot be achieved unless the women have been emancipated from all forms of oppression’

    Listing some of the obstacles militating against women’s desired involvement in governance, Demuren blamed the situation on institutional, historical, socio-economic as well as cultural factors.

    She said: “Traditionally, women were raised to focus on homemaking, supporting their husbands and rearing children. In that capacity, the formal education of girls was deemed to be of less consequence.

    “Basic literacy and numeracy were only important for training the children. Also, the woman’s other goal was to support her husband and assist in building his career and eventual success, thus the saying ‘Behind every successful man there is a woman’.

    “These activities and responsibilities deter her from focusing on her development and education as well.”

    She noted that while the society focused on ensuring that the girl child is fully equipped to handle her socio-cultural roles, it forgot almost completely to instill the right moral and upbringing in the male child.

    Consequently, the male child grows to relate with the female counterpart based on the already established structured roles for the women.

    Demuren, therefore, urged women to continuously seek to develop skills for a better living standard rather than undervalue their capacity to take challenges, particularly, leadership roles.

    “Whilst our male counterparts request and sometimes fight to be given leadership roles and do so with little or no remorse, we as women, maybe due to cultural indoctrination, play a passive role in positioning ourselves for leadership positions even when we possess the required capacity.

    “When asked to take up higher positions, we question our capability to take charge. We need to speak up for ourselves and when the opportunity arises to take up a leadership role or a new challenge; we should not shy away from this but take the bull by the horn.”

    The speaker expressed worries that politically, it has been difficult for women to break the glass ceiling.

    “In terms of appointments, each government has tried to increase the number of female representation in its cabinet whilst in terms of elective positions; the number of women has continued to decrease.We have never achieved up to 10 per cent in number of women representatives in the National Assembly.

    “My charge today is for us to know that it is important we participate in governance and politics. It is no mean feat to be part of decision making in Nigeria and to achieve this, we need to be educated, we need to build capacity, we need to put ourselves forward when the opportunity arises and we need to develop a solution mindset for the challenges that will definitely come with it”, she stated.

    Director, Diaspora Centre, University of Abuja, Prof Mabel I. E. Evwierhoma admitted that one major development index affecting women in the 21st century is the political gap separating women from their goals and aspiration in politics.

    “In Africa, politics and governance have witnessed the near to zero participation for women. This situation has created enduring political dependence on former colonial masters in Europe, donor agencies and global economies all over the world.

    “Thus, most economies in Africa including that of Nigeria witness the inaccessibility of women into core governance”, she added.

    Evwierhoma added that access to education and economic power are equally necessary to bridge the space between women and political activity.

    “This would enable their participation in electoral politics, run for elective and even appointive posts.  They can also be encouraged to form pressure/lobbying groups.

    “This will discourage marginalisation, ignorance of and about women’s role in politics and governance.   It should, however, be noted that it is at this level that culture and tradition hemline women to positions of invisibility, certain projects are necessary to release women from political doldrums and their disadvantaged positions and facilitate their pursuit of development,” she said.

    According to her, factors that have continued to thwart women’s quest for political parity include tradition and culture, gender inequality arising from sex profiling or stereotypes, feminisation of poverty as well as nature versus nature.

    Others are apathy of women due to spousal influence, vacuum in leadership, identity politics, low self-worth and patriarchy.

    She insisted that education and political empowerment remained crucial for women to make it as leaders or even participants in governance.

    “Women must not be like the seams of our garments, hemmed and restricted. Rather, it behoves women to be like the elastic in our inner garments that stretches to allow more vista for relational associations across religion, class, ethnic makeup,” she said.

    She added that the aim of her paper was to conscientise participants to be willing to work towards bridging the gap that has often curtailed women’s participation in politics and governance.

    “Women can no longer be inhibited from their formal political roles, because they are citizens too. I expect participants to return to their desks in their various spheres of endeavour and be better advocate of building bridges for women. Women have to soar in politics. No other bargain is worth our time,” she added.

    The exhibition was declared open  by  Gekpe. The guests were entertained with a drama presentation by staff of NGA, titled Hatched.

    Written by Mrs. Otaigbe, the drama depicts women coming together from the six geo-political zones of the country and centres on the birth of a new Nigeria by six different mothers representing the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. The drama mirrors the hurdles women face in every aspect of their lives.

    Earlier, the Director-General, National Council for Arts and Culture (NCAC), Otunba Segun Runsewe, reiterated the crucial role women play in their individual families and the nation at large.

  • Obasa seeks devolution of powers for national development

    Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa has recommended devolution of powers as the fastest way to bring about development and growth.

    Obasa made the recommendation in a remark at the opening of the ongoing consultative meeting on the Review and Harmonisation of the Standing Orders and Rules of Business of the State Houses of Assembly in the Southwest, holding at Park Inn Hotel, Abeokuta.

    He said: “While the oneness of Nigeria is non-negotiable, one thing we will need to speedily work on is the issue of devolution of power vis-à-vis fiscal federalism. Nigeria is made up of diverse ethnic groups which have similar goal of moving Nigeria to the Next Level but at times have different ideas on how to achieve it.

    “No doubt, centralisation of power at the Federal level as it exists currently in Nigeria is not the most ideal approach to accomplish genuinely necessary rapid development. Devolution of power from Federal Government to state and local governments is the way to go.”

    Stressing the need for devolution of powers, Obasa noted that the Federal Government was detached from the people at the grassroots.

    He said devolution of power will not only enhance development, take dividends of democracy to the doorsteps of rural dwellers.

    Obasa explained: “It is obvious to all and sundry that Federal Government is simply too far away from the masses and cannot cover the whole country in an effective manner.  There is an in-built limitation on what a government so far away from the people can achieve. People in each locale know their area far much better than a federal minister or president located in Abuja.

    ”The only panacea to some of our present economic challenges as a nation is through restructuring where every state will look inward to generate revenues to take care of their individual needs.

    “For instance, if individual states are constitutionally empowered to generate and distribute power, it will aid massive industrialisation, which is a catalyst for technological advancement and economic development.

    “The present Nigeria Police system is inadequate to address our enormous security challenges in the country. Hence, it becomes imperative to have community policing, which is the hallmark of state police.”