The British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN) has reiterated its commitment to the socio-economic development of Nigeria, through investments in the local manufacturing industry to support livelihoods, and sustainable development initiatives in the agricultural sector.
This declaration, by the Legal and External Affairs Director, BAT, West Africa, Freddy Messanvi, comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) launches its World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) themed: “Tobacco: A Threat to Development”.
His words: “We are one of the leading manufacturers in Nigeria, with initial investment of over $150 million in our Ibadan factory and Zaria operations. We believe in the huge potentials of the non-oil sector, and as one of the country’s non-oil foreign exchange earners, we support about 350,000 to 400,000 livelihoods directly and indirectly, while building local capacity of our employees by exposing them to international best practices in environmental health and safety, corporate governance, standards of business conduct, principles of engagement, among others.
“BATN has been taking significant strides in the agricultural sector, with the support of farmers through an extensive world-class backward integration model that also encourages alternative food cropping programmes with growers. The model has been studied and replicated by other key stakeholders and industry players in Nigeria.
“With our strong ties in Nigeria and long-standing commitment to development, we believe in the value of a balanced, workable and evidence-based regulatory framework, which has been our position since 2015.”
Women for Development, an NGO, on Wednesday says the lack of water has greater impact on women and girls, thereby affecting their contributions to national development.
The group’s Spokesperson, Mrs Abigail Emenike, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that the lack of water also challenged women’s quest to actualise their potential in their chosen careers.
According to her, Nigeria should begin to put policies in place to ensure that access to water in rural and urban areas are scaled up to lessen the hardships being encountered by females.
Emenike said increasing access to water for women and girls had greater advantage, saying access to water would give females healthy lives, reduce infant deaths and improve living conditions.
She added that although many water-borne sicknesses were treatable and preventable, they were, however, leading causes of death in under-five children globally.
She noted that the Joint Monoitoring Programme of WHO and UNICEF had reported that no fewer than 2.2 million people die annually from diarrhea-related diseases globally.
Emenike said 50 per cent of hospitalisations of this category of people were as a result of water-related diseases.
“Infants and children are especially susceptible to water-borne diseases because of their young immune systems, thereby increasing infant mortality rates in many parts of Nigeria.
“Water scarcity, therefore, has a big impact on hygiene.”
The organisation’s spokesperson said the lack of water also impacts on individual’s contribution to the nation’s productivity, stressing that economic resources were sapped by the cost of medicine to treat diseases.
She explained that 12 per cent of the health budget of Sub-Saharan countries, Nigeria inclusive, was used to treat diarrhea due to consumption of unsafe water and poor hygiene practices.
Emenike, who specifically emphasised the impact of the lack of water on girls, said they trek long distances to get water sources, thereby leaving only little time to pursue their education.
She said “it is saddening to note that most schools’ toilets lack water and separate toilets for girls to manage their menstrual hygiene.”
“It’s been recorded that a large number of school girls stay away from school when they are on their monthly period.
“Often, school buildings lack gendered toilet facilities, meaning menstruating girls face another challenge to have to deal with their periods in shared, unsanitary toilets or miss school for a few days every month.
‘‘This is capable of fueling lower attendance rate at school, which can vastly affect their prospects for the future.”
She, therefore, called for improved hygiene and campaigns in health centres and access to water facilities.
She asserted that new mothers needed safe and sterile conditions to properly take care for their babies.
“This is because babies born in unhygienic conditions are six times more likely to die in the first few weeks of their life than those born in clean environments.
‘‘Nigeria needs to act now so as to avoid deaths and illnesses from preventable sources.”
NAN reports that Women For Development has been in the forefront of advocacy and awareness creation toward increasing access to water and sanitation.
The Director–General/Chief Executive, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Sir Joseph Ntung Ari, says the fund is now waking from its long slumber. Ari explained that unlike in the past, the organisation is being repositioned to contribute to the manpower and technical needs of the country. In this interview with TOBA AGBOOLA, he speaks on the strategies the organisation will deploy to boost manpower development, reduce unemployment and poverty.
Industrial Training Fund
has been bedeviled with
myriad of challenges. One of this is failure of the organisation to reimburse some organisations. How are you addressing this?
As you may be aware, our Act requires us to reimburse organisations that had contributed to the tune of 50 per cent of what was contributed if the organisations meet all necessary criteria for such reimbursement. For most of 2014/2015, these reimbursements were either delayed or not paid at all, which adversely affected our activities particularly in revenue generation. I am happy to inform you today that almost all organisations that have pending claims and have met the necessary requirements have been reimbursed. As of today, 277 of the 295 companies that filed their reimbursement claims have been fully reimbursed to the tune of N2.3 billion; fourteen companies, whose claims are still being processed, will be paid soon. Our commitment is to ensure speedy reimbursement of companies henceforth.
There has also been complaints about the issue of unpaid Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES). What is your plan on this?
The Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) is a brain child of the ITF. Regrettably, however, it has become a dead weight and an albatross that has had negative implications for the image of the Fund, through no fault of ours. Initiated in 1974, it was designed to bridge the gap between theory imparted to students of Technical, Engineering and Allied disciplines. Over the years, while the numbers of participants and accredited disciplines have grown exponentially, funding, which is the sole responsibility of the Federal Government, has continued to dwindle, owing perhaps in part to fiscal challenges being experienced by the Federal Government. Consistent under-appropriations and non-release of such appropriations has occasioned a situation where the Fund has accumulated billions in unpaid supervisory and students’ allowances. However, within two months of assumption of duty, we disbursed a total of N960 million as allowances to 42,877 students of 73 tertiary institutions that participated in the Students Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) between 2011 and 2014. All participants that are being owed will be paid when the Federal Government releases monies for such payments. But the sustainable solution to this problem is for the Federal Government to create a separate budgetary sub-head for SIWES just as it was created for the NYSC when it encountered similar problems.
Is there any plan to expand your services, especially to MSMEs?
To ensure that all Nigerians, particularly the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, benefit from our services, Management has approved the establishment of four new Area Offices in Bwari in the Federal Capital Territory, Rumuokuta in Rivers State, Badagry in Lagos State and Owerri in Imo State. Similarly, in order to expand access for the numerous Nigerians that are willing to acquire new technical skills but are currently denied because of limited placement openings, the ITF will also establish vocational training wings in all its Area offices across the country. We believe that any effort to tackle unemployment without any serious commitment to skills acquisition programmes that will equip Nigerians with skills for employability will not succeed. And for more Nigerians to acquire such skills, the necessary infrastructures have to be in place to accept willing trainees.
Many industries have closed due to inconducive environment. In your own capacity, how do you intend to address this?
One of the major challenges facing the country today is the incidence of companies closing shop thereby leading to massive job loss and depletion of existing investments. To redress this ugly situation, the Fund shall conduct process and performance improvement surveys and use findings to carry out interventions at subsidised rates. As part of our obligation towards the realisation of the Federal Government economic diversification and industrialisation programmes, we shall expand the provision of advisory services to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and equally create a forum where industries shall network and cross fertilise ideas on operational and marketing strategies. It is also our desire to organise regular business mentorship using trail-blasers in specific industries. To mitigate further inciden-ces of closure or wind-up of businesses, the Fund shall conduct safety and environmental updates for industries as well as monitor adherence to quality management standards. In this vein, all the Fund’s area offices shall be provided with vocational/skills training hubs. This way, we shall be in a better position to synergise with a view to providing prompt interventions to industries.
Can you shed light on the National Industrial Skills Development Programme (NISDP)?
Yes, through the NISDP, we have commenced the three-month training of 9,000 youths from 18 states in select training centres across the country. The first phase commenced in March. The trainees would undergo a three-month intensive skills acquisition training in over 30 trades and crafts including tailoring and fashion design, paint making, bead making, plumbing and pipe fitting, farming, confectionery, welding and fabrication, ICT, electrical installation, carpentry and wood work, cosmetology, GSM repairs and Plaster of Paris or pop among others. The trade areas were chosen based on their projected value addition to citizens and their potential to provide sustainable means of livelihood for the youths in their respective states. The trainees would also be provided hands-on vocational and entrepreneurial skills, as well as modalities for business financing.The training programme is under a tripartite arrangement between the Industrial Training Fund, ITF, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN and Bank of Industry (BoI). The NISDP was inaugurated in 2012 as a key enabler of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) which is supervised by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI). And let me tell that since 2012, over 84,000 Nigerians have been trained in diverse trade and craft. In 2016 alone, the NISDP trained 10,100 Nigerians in various skills acquisition initiatives, including 1,100 Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Maiduguri, Borno State.
What about your partnership with other organisation such as NECA, most especially in the area of manpower development?
Yes, we are in partnership with Nigeria Employers consultative Council (NECA) to train Nigerian youths in acquiring skills for the purpose of generating gainful employment. The partnership would go a long way to promote entrepreneurship and industries that have closed shops on account of technical issues. The workable partnership had become necessary in the wake of the skills that various categories of workers, industries and organisations need in order to carry out their day-to-day activity. You will agree with me that the event is coming at the time Nigeria is at a point where she is trying to take a leap into industrialisation based on the economic diversification and industry policy of the present administration. We are ready to take the industrialisation policy of the Muhammadu Buhari administration to greater heights. Policy of economic diversification and industrialisation is the direction to go in Nigeria because it is a direction that has given some leverage and premium to all the developed nations of the world. The main policy direction of the Fund is to partner with the organised private sector that are key and critical to the mandate of the organisation just as he also stated that the MoU will strengthen technical competence of Nigerians.
As the Director-General of ITF, what are your plans and vision for the fund?
I was appointed the Director-General of the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) on September 26, 2016. Some people may be familiar with the state of affairs in the fund when I assumed duty. But for those who may not be as familiar, I dare say the actions or inactions of some functionaries of the organisation had occasioned a situation whereby a once vibrant organisation could not effectively discharge its onerous mandate. The ITF was established on October 8, 1971 by Decree No. 47 of 1971 (as amended up to date) and vested with the mandate of providing, promoting and encouraging the acquisition of skills in industry and commerce. It is also mandated to generate a pool of locally trained manpower sufficient to meet the needs of the private and public sectors of the economy; providing training for skills in management for technical and entrepreneurial development in the public and private sectors of the economy; setting training standards in all sectors of the economy and monitor adherence; evaluating and certifying vocational skills acquired by apprentices, craftsmen and technicians in collaboration with relevant organisations, and, managing and administering the Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES) on behalf of the government. For most of its 45 years of existence, the fund discharged this mandate remarkably by equipping over 14 million Nigerians with skills for employability and entrepreneurship. But in the years immediately preceding my appointment, it retrogressed and lost focus, leading to disenchantment and dissatisfaction by both our internal and external stakeholders. The challenge on assumption therefore, was to refocus the organisation and put it on the path of growth, restore harmony and regain the confidence of all our stakeholders. Some of the initiatives that I embarked upon include, unveiling of the ITF Reviewed Vision: Strategies for Mandate Actualisation, Reimbursement and the Students’ Industrial Work Experience Scheme (SIWES amongst others
How do you intend to actualise these plans and vision?
A study of all organisations that have gone under in Nigeria will reveal a common strand: a failure to plan. The ITF is different in this regard and owes its longevity to well developed and executed plans that ensured it stayed above water even when other organisations were floundering. Within the last 10 years, the ITF has implemented several plans, all of which positively impacted the effective discharge of its mandate. These include the ITF Blueprint, the 10-Year Strategic Plan, and the four-Year Road Map amongst others. But the plan conceived by Management on my assumption of duty is perhaps the most ambitious and comprehensive since the establishment of the fund. Its scope and breath was premised on the firm belief that the success of most key government programmes and recovery from the prevailing recession rested on organisations such as ours fully actualising their mandates.
Can you elaborate on this?
The plan, which is tagged: ITF Reviewed Vision: Strategies for Mandate Actualisation, is a four-year plan that is targeted at addressing service challenges, infrastructure deficits, revenue and a gamut of other strictures impinging the actualisation of the Fund’s mandate. It is compartmentalised into three-quick wins, medium and long term goals – with strategies and firm timelines for their achievement.
Under the quick wins, the ITF intends to implement strategies that will boost job creation, reduce poverty and create wealth. In the area of agriculture, which is a major pre-occupation of most Nigerians and a key component of the economic diversification agenda, the Fund intends to develop the capacity of Nigerian farmers along the agricultural value chain. Specific areas targeted by the plan include fish farming, poultry production, crop production, agric-mechanisation, agric-business and post-harvest management, manure production, technology and farm management, and water resource management. To actualise this, the Fund began in January, 2017, the training of 17,000 farmers, using its Industrial Skills Training Centre (ISTC) in Kano; the Centre for Excellence in Jos and undeveloped lands owned by the ITF in states for the establishment of demonstration farms. This is even as efforts will be stepped up to acquire land in eight states – Anambra, Benue, Kano, Plateau, Gombe, Oyo, Ogun and Niger for the same purpose. The fund will actively seek collaboration with states, Ministries of Agriculture, existing local farmers, farmers’ association such as Fadama for farm equipment, seedlings and capacity building and also explore the possibility of financial grants from International and Local Agencies including Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Bank of Industry amongst others. The emphasis of the plan on agriculture is premised on the conviction that to achieve food security and conserve the huge foreign reserve that is currently expended on the importation of food items, the requisite capacity of Nigerians in this area must be developed.
In addition, in view of soaring unemployment, especially among the youth; a situation that has been made worse recently by the global economic recession, the ITF plans to implement strategies that will directly lead to job creation. Our disposition is informed by the fact that even in the face of this seeming lack of jobs, several surveys including those conducted by the ITF have indicated that vacancies still exist in certain sectors that are being filled by people other than Nigerians, because we lack the required technical skills. To this end, the Fund intends to develop the skills of Nigerians in the construction sector and the services industry. These particular sectors have been targeted in view of the obvious skills gaps and their potential for job creation. In the construction sector, the Fund intends to equip Nigerians with skills in these areas: welding and fabrication, reinforcing metal works, domestic electrical installation, carpentry and joinery, tiling, masonry, block and brick making, plumbing and pipe fitting and Plaster of Paris (PoP) making. According to the plan, in 2017 alone, the ITF will train 18,500 Nigerians in the aforementioned trade and craft areas using ITF Industrial Skills Training Centres and selected satellite centres. To ensure achievement of this ambition, the Fund will enter into collaboration with agencies and organisations like Cement Technology Institute of Nigeria (CTIN), Nigerian Institute of Builders (NIOB), Julius Berger Plc and SETRACO, among others, for technical and financial assistance.
How will you handle the services industry?
For the Services industry, the ITF will build the capacity of Nigerians in 17 trade and craft areas including; GSM repairs, generator repairs, computer hardware repairs, software installation, marketing, catering services, event management, automobile and tri-cycle maintenance and repairs, autotronics, tailoring, air conditining and refrigeration maintenance and repairs, ICT web design, satellite dish installation and maintenance, facility maintenance and repairs and interior decoration. In all, 9,250 Nigerians will be equipped with these skills between January and December this year. In the medium and long term, efforts will be stepped up for the formal commissioning of the Lokoja ISTC, even as plans will be accelerated towards the establishment of 36 Industrial Skills Training Centres in the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), three Automotive Parts Production and Training Centres will also be established in Badagary, Nnewi and Kaduna and six Centres of Advanced Skills Training for Employment (CASTE) that will be sited in the six geo-political zones of the country. In addition, three specialised Centres in Oil and Gas will also be established. All these projects will be completed between 2018 and 2020.
Former Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar Thursday said there would be no meaningful development in any nation without adequate security.
According to the former military president, security is important for the peace and progress of any nation.
He said this at the first National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Faculty of Social Sciences public lecture delivered by Prof. Hakeem Tijani of the Department of History and International Studies, Adeleke University, Osun state, in Abuja on Wednesday.
The elderstateman who was the special guest of honour at the event, reminded Nigerians particularly politicians who are fanning the embers of division and war through their utterances to have a rethink and promote things that would strengthen the fragile peace and unity of Nigeria.
According to him, the individual and collective ambitions as well as the entity called Nigeria would not exist if crisis or major war was visited on it, suggesting a paradigm shift in security system of the country considering the new wave of crime and criminality that had caused tears and pains in many countries of the world.
Abdulsalami said: “Certainly, security in any house, in any nation is very important for the peace and progress of that nation. But without security, there won’t be a house, neither would there be a nation, not to talk of its citizens.”
In his lecture titled: Nigeria in Transition: Interrogating the nexus between human capacity development, labour union, education and national security, Prof. Tijani said Nigeria had been able to overcome the shaky and uncertainty that trailed its existence as a nation through collaboration with security agencies.
According to him, the transition to a developed economy in Nigeria was predicated upon its success in mitigating forces that hindered security, peace and unity.
“The transition to a developed economy in Nigeria is predicated upon its success in mitigating forces that hinders security, peace and unity. The mix of human capital development and labour union education are significant in prospecting for national security as the nation transition into permanent peace, unity and development.
“The urgency for human intelligence to eliminate the sporadic militant and terrorist attacks in the hot spot areas across the nation, and the collaboration with neigbouring nations and international agencies are better coordinated than ever before.
“The shaky and uncertainty of the corporate existence of Nigeria in the past seems to have been overcome. With quick and coordinated response by the NSCDC and other forces, the assurance of peace and tranquility is better than before.
“Training of personnel and the provision of other essential requirements have empowered law and civil enforcement agencies like the NSCDC and the police to mitigate the damages of the few, but dangerous militants and terrorists, within the nation.
NOUN Vice Chancellor, Prof. Abdalla Adamu, highlighted the importance of the lecture.
Prof. Adamu, who was represented by a former national publicity secretary of the People’s Democratic Party, Prof. Rufai Alkali, added that the lecture served as a veritable platform to periodically examine all facet of Nigeria’s national life particularly as it concerns transition as a nation.
He commended the Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, Dr. Ganiyat Adesina-Uthman for putting the public lecture together, urging other faculties to emulate such gesture for collective growth and development of Nigeria.
In her remarks, Dr. Adesina-Uthman said Nigeria could correct some of its past mistakes if the people commit to work together irrespective of tribe, religion and political affiliation.
She urged the citizens to support and commit to the course of nation building.
“With the collapse of almost all sphere of the economy, elections characterized by malpractices, political intimidation and assassination during and after elections and preponderance of social vices, and other threat to national security, we could conclude that our dysfunctional education are some of the reason for the challenges regarding insecurity, insurgency and terrorism,” she said.
Ms. Inimfon Etuk, Founder, `SHE Forum Africa’, a pan-African NGO, says the organisation is seeking gender parity in national development in order to harness skills and empower women in the society.
Etuk told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that the world would be a better place if more women participate in decision making at various organs and system of governance.
According to her, the `SHE Forum Africa’ is a women development, leadership and lifestyle organisation that represents women.
She added that the` SHE’ acronym represents Strengthen, Harness and Empowerment, adding that it creates a platform that brings women together in an atmosphere of learning.
Etuk said the foundation was organising its 3rd `SHE FORUM AFRICA’ Conference at Sheraton Hotel on Oct. 6, in Abuja, with the theme “Regroup, Reboot, Remove the mask’’.
She said the conference aims at women reorganising and realigning their strategies and policies to building a better and brighter Africa that leverages on the skills of the African women.
“She Forum Africa is an organisation that provides the perfect window for a shift in our value system as they impact women across development and decision making spheres.
“The whole idea is to bring women together in an atmosphere of learning and sharing life experiences from role models that have excelled in their chosen endeavours.
“Nigeria is strategically at the time we need more than just the men service; we also need women in the key decision making.
“The message we are preaching is about seeing women as partners in development,’’ Etuk said.
She stated that some women were successful in politics and developmental cycles as well as improving the livelihoods of people who were dependent on them.
Etuk said it was important for men to build on those natural skills of women in their thinking and analysis, in order to acquire a better understanding of economic issues.
She further encouraged the right women to come into politics such as those educated and experienced in managing systems and organisations.
“Politics is a place for everyone but the well qualified women in Nigeria need to come forward so that we can altogether build a better and stronger economy,’’ urged the founder.
Adequate training and empowerment of youths have been identified as core elements of national development.
The observation was made yesterday by the Lagos State Commissioner for Youth and Social Development, Princess Uzamat Akinbile-Yussuf, during a press briefing on the activities line up for the celebration of 2016 International Youth Day.
Akinbile-Yussuf said that the state government believes that ’’when youths are idle they become susceptible to perpetuate crime and commit all sort of atrocities, hence, the state government has intensified and widened the scope of its training programmes for youths.
‘’Our intention is to empower youths to be self-reliant and enterprising. We have trained no fewer than 2,000 youths in the heavy equipment sector in partnership with Rated Cranes and Scaffolding Nigeria Limited. Majority of the youths were trained in the areas of mobile crane driving and crane operation among others.’’
She also said that 500 students had graduated from the Youth Empowerment and Skills Acquisition Programme (YEASAP) in different vocations including bead making, cosmetology and head gear tying among others in order to empower and enhance opportunities for teeming unemployed youths in the society.
The commissioner also said that another empowerment avenue provided by the state government was the N25 billion Employment Trust Fund meant to provide capital for youths that are willing to engage in enterprise in different sectors of the economy.
Akinbile-Yussuf pleaded with the general public not to shield criminally-minded youth who are fond of disrupting peaceful co-existence of Lagosians. She promised that government would decisively deal with such individuals.
Also speaking at the event, the Chairman Lagos State House of Assembly Committee on Youth and Social Development, Hon. Adedamola Richard Kasumu advised the youth to stop blaming the present situation of the country on past mismanagement by some leaders but rather make the best of the present situation.
At the just-concluded yearly conference of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), speakers, including President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), were unanimous that the nation’s quest for reawakening and sustained growth is imperilled without the support of the judiciary. They suggested ways law could be effectively deployed as a tool for national development. Eric Ikhilae reports.
For eight days last week, lawyers gathered in Abuja to examine, among others, ways to improve society through the law.
From August 21 to 28, speakers and other conferees examined the suitability of the nation’s legal framework, identified some flaws and recommended ways the Law and the judicial system could be effectively deployed as agents of national development.
The event, the 55th Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), which was well-attended, attracted dignitaries, such as President Muhammad Buhari; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo; Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Mahmud Mohammed; Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya, Dr. Willy Mutunga, and key players in the critical sectors.
About 39 papers, touching all aspects of legal practice, were presented by experts, who were both lawyers and non-lawyers.
Drawing from the broad theme of: Lawyers and national development, speakers at the various breakout sessions, addressed issues affecting every facet of the nation’s sector and suggested how, with everyone diligently playing his/her part, the required growth and development could be attained.
Areas explored included: “the role of lawyers in national development; contribution of lawyers in public office to national development; providing legal support for talent based industry; special focus on movies, music, comedy and sports; law officers and national development; the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) in election petitions; ending the scourge of abandoned projects in Nigeria, anti-corruption: Fresh strategies, new initiatives.”
Realising the importance of the involvement of the law community in his administration’s anti-corruption stance, President Buhari, while inaugurating the conference on August 23, urged lawyers and judicial officers to partner with the people in this crucial period of national reawakening.
Buhari, while enlisting the lawyers’ support for his administration’s resolve to combat corruption and impunity in the land, acknowledged their professional responsibility of defending their clients. He urged them to do so without compromising their professional ethics and the integrity of the legal system no matter how lucrative the brief may be.
The president drew the lawyers’attention to how pervasive corruption and impunity, which signposted past administrations, have combined to deny the masses access to basic needs.
“It is the reason pensioners are not paid and potable water is scarce. In effect, corruption diverts public resources meant for millions of people into the private pockets of a greedy few, thereby causing a lot of suffering, deprivation and death. In my view, there can be no greater violation of human rights.
“Viewed in this way, I think we can all fully appreciate the gravity of this oppressive and destructive evil. This should rouse us to fight it with the same zeal and doggedness as we deploy in the defense of fundamental rights.
“I am convinced that law, lawmakers, lawyers, law courts and the law enforcement agencies all have pivotal responsibilities to discharge, if the change we seek is ever to materialise,” Buhari said.
While speaking on the topic: “The role of law in national development,” Prof Osinbajo laid before the gathering, the policy thrust of their administration on the reform of laws necessary for economic growth and strengthening of legal and institutional framework of key justice institutions in the country.
Osinbajo, who assured Nigerians of the commitment of the Federal Government at ensuring the effective management of the nation’s resources for the benefit of all, said the government will ensure that all avenues of leakages were plugged and take steps to change every aspect of the economic value chain, while working to improve infrastructure, food production and power generation.
•President Buhari (right) and Vice President Osinbajo.
The Vice President, however, noted that there was need to reform the justice sector to enable it function in aid of government’s objectives. This, he said, was imperative, because the effective interplay of the components of the justice sector will largely affect the performance of the national enterprise, which elements include security of lives and property, the economy and rights protection.
Osinbajo stressed the need for players in the justice sector to work with the government to effectively deal with “theft, official corruption and the privatisation of public resources” to allow for the attainment of the anticipated national growth and development.
“We have to deal with the issue of integrity in our judicial system even as we deal with general problem of corruption. There is no question at all that, if we don’t handle corruption squarely, if our justice system is so degraded, that it will be practically impossible to get very much done or to encourage anyone to come into our environment.
“We should be able to hold people to account; to ensure that people cannot escape justice. The self-seeking ways of a few should not be allowed to stall our national enterprise,” he said.
In apparent response to the challenges thrown at his sector by the President and Vice President, Justice Mohammed assured of the support of the Judiciary and his commitment to sustain the ongoing reforms in the judiciary, which include the review of the process of judges’appointment, deployment of information and communication technologies (ICT) to aid court process and moves to ensure commitment and dedication by judicial officers.
The CJN, who blamed the delay in court proceedings on mostly lawyers, sought an enhanced collaboration between the Bench and the Bar for the court to effectively play its role of justice dispensation.
“While it must be acknowledged that our Judiciary is not perfect, we cannot overlook the role of counsel in facilitating the onset of delay.
“As we all are aware, delay in most instances are either occasioned by the lack of diligent prosecution of a case, antics of counsel such as the use of interlocutory appeals to stall and frustrate a legitimate expectation of justice, or indolence on the part of some Judges.
“My learned colleagues this state of affairs cannot be allowed to continue. It is one thing to talk the talk, but I am also determined to walk the talk.
“As we continue to fish out and discipline indolent and lazy Judges by showing them the way out of the system, we must also acknowledge and praise those judges that are diligent and hardworking. To this end, the NJC’s Judicial Officers Performance Evaluation Committee has also been strengthened to perform its functions,” the CJN said.
He called for enhanced financial allocation to the Judiciary to enable it meet the expectation of the society.
The conference, in one of its breakaway sessions, emphasised the importance of infrastructural development in the realisation of a nation’s quest for development. It was the general position that there was the need for a synergy between the public and private sector for the nation to overcome its current infrastructure deficit.
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Wale Babalakin, argued that the government has no reason to abandon any ongoing project on the ground of paucity of funds. He said with planning and proper management of resources, the scourge of abandoned projects in the country will end.
Babalakin, who spoke from a private sector perspective, warned that the nation’s hope of developing critical public infrastructure as a vehicle for economic development, will remain a mirage without a change of attitude by public officers.
Relying on his experience as private investor in public infrastructure, Babalakin contended that the prevailing practice, where public officers violate contracts and agreements at will, perceive private investors in public infrastructure as either competitors or inferior partners, would only help sustain the scourge of abandoned projects.
Babalakin said it was impossible for the government to fully meet the nation’s infrastructure need without the involvement of the private sector, particularly in the face of dwindling national revenue from oil sales.To him, achieving success requires conscious effort by the government to protect private investors from the activities of self-centered public officials.
Citing cases where negative attitude of government officials have destroyed beautifully conceived private initiatives in the past, Babalakin noted that the lack of cooperation from government officials helped to frustrate such projects that would have helped resolved the infrastructure deficit.
He argued that, had government officials planned, the current fall in government earnings from oil would not have had any major impact on government’s spending capacity because there were sufficient indicators before now of impending fall in revenue.
The conference also examined the role of lawyers in the protection of consumers’ rights in Nigeria: Lessons from the telecoms and power sectors in view of the realisation that the interplay of market forces and the investor’s quest for enhanced returns mostly work at the detriment of the consumers.
Speakers, including the Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Sam Amadi and, Joe Gadzama (SAN); Head of the Consumer Protection Council, Mrs Dupe Atoki and Moyo Onigbanjo (SAN) examined the nature of violation of consumers’ rights in both sectors, issues of enforcement and effectiveness of the Consumer Protection Act, and how the legal profession can contribute to the promotion and protection of consumers’ rights.
Amadi, who recently queried the court’s right to question his commission’s decisions, attempted to defend the nebulous charges his commission and marketers of power impose on Nigerians,
Superior arguments, however, prevailed and it was the general opinion that these charges, particularly the fix charge was not justifiable, and amounted to multiple taxation, a position the NBA adopted in its communiqué, and which it specifically sought the abolition of the fixed charge.
On how to improve the legal and regulatory framework of the petroleum industry, speakers, including the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr Ibe Kachikwu, and Senator Victor Ndoma Egba said there was an urgent need for the review of the regulatory framework in the oil sector if the country seeks to improve its earnings from the sector.
They reviewed key fiscal, commercial and regulatory changes proposed in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), discussed how the Bill could address the challenges in the sector and suggested an urgent passage of the Bill into law, but with some amendments.
Some of them recommended that emphasis should not only be on the upstream subsector for export purposes, the downstream subsector should also be emphasised for job creation and diversified developmental purposes
They advised that a review of the Bill should include provisions to ensure that oil companies causing environmental degradation, shall, in addition to fines imposed by the government, pay a fair, full and adequate compensation to any persons aggrieved as determined by a judge sitting in the jurisdiction of injury whether state or federal, provided that the sum payable shall be as determined by an advisory ad hoc multi-disciplinary college of referees appointed by the judge comprising toxicologists, surveyors and values, whose fees shall be charged to the polluter.
They also suggested the streamlining of the new agencies, which have overlapping functions, the removal of clauses, which disregard the right of citizens to legal redress in the courts and the reduction in the overriding powers of the Minister for Petroleum, before the PIB is passed by the National Assembly.
Presenting the conference communiqué last Friday, the NBA President, Augustine Alegeh (SAN) reassured the commitment of the body to support the government’s anti-corruption effect and all other efforts aimed at the good of the society.
“The NBA shall play a leading role in the fight against corruption; the NBA shall continuously pursue systemic reform of the legal system in Nigeria in order to enhance national development.
“The NBA shall make as a cornerstone of its advocacy, transparency in the appointment of judicial officers as critical to building confidence in the judicial system, a necessary plank in national development,” Alegeh said.
The role of the law in ensuring the development of the society can not be underestimated; law has been described as a binding force by which the society is held together as a single unit which ensures growth and development of the people.
Law should therefore respond to the yearnings and aspirations of the people at all times. At the birth of the industrialisation era in first world countries, laws were passed to square up with the arising societal and developmental challenges created by industrialisation. This definitely has been one of the bait by which first world countries left the third world countries behind to wallow in penury and backwardness.
Law as the society is transient, dynamically fundamental to national growth and development; but is law in itself the determinant of national development? NO.
Law as a tool for national development can not be functional until certain principles are religiously upheld and worshipped and to such class belongs legal equality. The concept of legal equality has stemmed out from the age long philosophy of liberalism; legal equality advocates that everyone is equal before the law. Anatole France, stated: “in its majestic equality, the law forbids the rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets, and steal loaves of bread”.
This principle has received international affirmation in Article 7 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) which states: “All are equal before the law and are entitled without discrimination to equal protection of law”. Thus, the law should not give regards to anyone on the basis of race, gender, nationality, colour, ethnicity, religion and disability.
Legal equality has of necessity involves creation of opportunities for all on merit and not on mediocrity. This principle definitely forms part of the basis for the creation of government as an institution to cater for all citizenry regardless of their place of birth or even economic status. Adherence to this principle should therefore not be compromised by frivolous provisions of the law, law should rather complement legal equality. Law must never be used as a tool to encourage the creation of inequalities in the society; law must promote equality, which includes but not limited to equal distribution of facilities and amenities, equal access to opportunities and equal treatment of all classes of persons.
Law must be entrenched in legal equality, which is in itself is based on merit and not mediocrity. Every society that is seriously interested in her development must ensure the entrenchment of her laws in equality and not promote any form of mediocrity in her developmental plans. First world countries seem to have long understand this age-long principle of equality and as such entrenched their laws in legal equality; putting away all forms of affirmative actions that tend to slow down their national development.
Affirmative actions was in itself designed to promote the attainment of equality of persons who had either been subjugated by other members of the society or had been discriminated against based on extrinsic factors.
Affirmative action is the policy of favouring members of a disadvantaged group who had suffered from discrimination within a nation in order to accelerate their integration into the society. This principle has been applied in different countries across the globe, from America to Europe, to Asia and even down to Africa. The United Nations through her Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (CEAFRD) has given regards to this principle, Article 2.2 stipulates: “States parties shall, when the circumstances so warrant, take, in the social, economic, cultural and other fields, special and concrete measures to ensure the adequate development and protection of certain racial groups or individuals belonging to them, for the purpose of guaranteeing them the full and equal enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms…”.
This principle would, therefore, be laudable when applied in the appropriate context and not based on some frivolous pretext of ethnically discrimination. The application of this principle should be corrective; hence once the purpose has been achieved it should be expunged from the laws. A recourse to Article 2.2 CEAFRD, continues by stating “…these measures shall in no case entail as a consequence, the maintenance of unequal or separate rights for different racial groups after the objectives for which they were taken have been achieved”.
In Nigeria, the principles of affirmative actions can be found in the federal character principle, which has also been enshrined in the constitution. Section 14 (3) Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 3rd Alteration states: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few state or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”
In applying the literal rule in interpreting this provision it would seem that the provision was put in place to as a pre-emptive provision against any form of domination by any group of people in Nigeria. However, the essence of affirmative action is curative and not pre-emptive; such that it is applied in situations where there has been subjugation of another ethnic group within a nation or in cases of gross racial or class discrimination. The purport of the principle is to ensure even development among all classes of citizens in state, after incidence of ethnically subjugation or gross racial discrimination. The provision is not intended to be a lifelong, but temporary has it loses value as soon as that par development has been achieved.
The principles of affirmative actions was never designed to encourage mediocrity has it is been witnessed in Nigeria today at all levels of the society. The composition of public parastatals, appointment into public offices, award of scholarships and even admission into public institutions is now based on the federal character or the quota system. In handing down employment to citizens, people are considered by their state of origin at the federal level or their local tribe at the state level; the federal ministers must be appointed on the basis of state representation Sec. 143(7) CFRN 1999 3rd alteration; award of scholarship is based on geo-political zones of the applying scholars; while admission into universities is now classified into merit, catchment area, educational disadvantaged states. These are few areas where the federal character is manifestly obvious and causing more attendant problems than the intended national integration. These various forms of affirmative actions are against the provision of Sec. 15(3) CFRN 1999 3rd alteration which declares: “accordingly, national integration shall be actively encouraged, whilst discrimination on the grounds of place of origin, sex, religion, status, ethnic or linguistic association or ties shall be prohibited.” This provision is in tandem with the age-long tradition of legal equality where there is no basis for any sort of subjugation and discrimination. It is obvious that sec. 14(3) and sec. 15(3) CFRN 1999 3rd alteration are in contravention of each other; sec. 14(3)CFRN 1999 3rd alteration promotes the principles of affirmative actions and the resultant effect is the federal character that has led to high level of mediocrity, bribery, corruption and national disintegration.; on the other hand, sec. 15(3)CFRN 1999 3rd alteration provides for legal equality, a merit based decision-making devoid of all forms of discrimination and extrinsic factors.
Any nation that is serious about her national development must as of necessity arise above mediocrity and ensure that decisions are merit based and not on some frivolous classifications. There has been no incidence in Nigeria that warrants the inclusion of sec. 14(3) into the constitution of Nigeria, no ethnic group has suffered such level of gross discrimination and subjugation that warrants the provision of the federal character into the constitution of Nigeria. In the twenty-first century, this principle of affirmative action is fast becoming obsolete and countries are committing themselves to a merit system that promotes equality and national development.
Therefore, if Nigeria must make progress the federal character provisions must be expunged from the constitution, the federal character philosophy must give way and all decisions must be based on merit and consideration of national development. Sec. 15 (3) CFRN 1999 3rd alteration could read as follows: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the diversity of Nigeria and promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that all decisions are based strictly on merit, in fairness and in a transparent procedure by the government or in any of its agencies.” The constitution must also ensure that the provision can be enforced in the court and not just an administrative provision. If Sec. 15 (3) CFRN 1999 3rd alteration is amended to promote a merit based system that is subjected in fairness and transparency, then Nigeria would be on the path to addressing issues that has held her bound in penury, disorderliness and wanton corruption. The spirit of sec. 14(3)CFRN 1999 3rd alteration, which is currently dead would also comeback alive with a new zeal that promotes national development and integration.
Citizens would definitely perform better and believe in prowess more than in their social connection. An equal platform would have been created for all strata of the country to achieve their dreams and contribute to national development. The age-long principle of legal equality would be entrenched not just in words but also in deeds. This principle of legal equality has no doubt paid off in first world countries, who are now severing paths with affirmative actions that tend to hold down their national development. Nigeria must follow suit; Nigeria must wake up to this reality to journey into the economic development and national prosperity.
This lecture focuses on leadership, security and national development from African and global perspectives. Security and what it constitutes can take many forms. However, it is all about the survival of an individual, a group or an entity such as a state. It should be noted that there is a duality in every country’s security challenges, and these manifest as the internal and external factors that shape its state of security. Due to socio-political and geo-political peculiarities, every nation’s security challenges and imperatives are, to a large extent, unique. This is why the security situation of one country, with its attendant implication for peace and national development, can be very different from another’s even when their external security challenges are similar.
Although national security problems arise out of conflicts or threats within or outside a given nation, how these conflicts are resolved, managed or contained is critically dependent on the effectiveness of existing governmental institutions for conflict prevention and resolution. This also entails the disposition and orientation of leadership at local and international levels. Social chaos is, therefore, often a manifestation of a failure of government machinery or governmental systems as may be revealed by a thorough and dispassionate examination of past conflicts. Indeed, government never became necessary until humankind saw the need to invent systemic machinery for managing social crisis and maintaining public order. This is why there is need to begin this discussion by looking at the evolution of formal or governed society as we know it today.
From State of Nature to State of Society
Overwhelmed by hazards in the unorganised natural environment and by the antagonistic effects of his own primitive self-centredness, man, generically speaking, needed a “neutral” authority to protect his life, family and property. Formal society developed out of this basic need to preserve oneself and one’s possessions. Organised society evolved over a long period before the dawn of civilization as we know it today. Political thinkers, notably the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), argued that individuals, persuaded by enlightened self interest, traded off the insecure “state of nature,”1 where only freedoms existed, for a state of society governed by a central authority that enforced the rights of everyone. The state of nature, according to Hobbes, was not only “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” but also in its entirety “anarchic.”2 The emergence of centralized government, responsible for common security, is therefore meant to curb the excesses of selfish and unscrupulously competitive individuals.3
Although the modern nation state is commonly the most developed form of the state of society, monarchy, a crude form of centralized social order in medieval times, had preceded it. Under the monarchical dispensation, the people were ruled by supposedly divinely appointed kings who reigned indefinitely, often for life, before yet another king took over to, literally, lord it over the populace. With time, it became clear that what the people needed was governing machinery, not a ruling institution.
Defining the nature of the relationship which should ideally exist between the state’s governing authority and the governed, John Locke (1632—1704) stated that such relationship should be in the form of a social contract that is subject to periodic public renewal of confidence.4According to Locke, the authority of government should be based on “just powers from the consent [i.e. delegation] of the governed.”5 This gave rise to variants of the social contract theory, particularly in the 18th and 19th century, that became the bases of the evolution of systems of government powered by periodic elections. Thus, in the event of the elected authority losing the confidence of the public, the people, under the Lockean social contract system of governance, reserve the right to change it through the ballot box or, if necessary, by violent means. By this stance, revolution becomes justifiable in the last resort.
It should be born in mind that for one to talk of security and national development presupposes that there is a country or state and that there is a governing authority. A state or country is recognisable under international law only if there is a defined territory that is reasonably populated and has a de jure or a de facto government. A de jure government obtains in the event of a government in exile which is recognized by others.
Socio-Economic and
Political Modalities
A democratic state, particularly one where the people directly elect the leaders, is usually founded on the basis of a constitution or some other governing set of rules. Such rules set out the modalities by which human rights and the state’s commitment to the provision of the basic needs of the people are guaranteed on a sustainable basis. For such a high level of expectation to be met, it would entail the formulation of policies and programmes for national development. The constitution would, of course, establish a structure of government and provide for security machinery to create an atmosphere conducive for individual pursuits and for government to prosecute its national development programmes.
It is lack of consensus on the best formula or set of modalities for the achievement of such objectives that engenders continuing debate, nationally and internationally, among politicians, opinion leaders, and the intelligentsia. The issues under discussion have always been choice of system of governance, leadership disposition and orientation, performance of the institutions of government and management of resources. Around all this is the spate of continuing debate on the need for strong leadership or strong institutions or both.
The lack of consensus at the international level leads some countries or a bloc of them to resort to ideological warfare or armed intervention to persuade or cajole other countries to adopt certain socio-political and economic systems. This behaviour, which ensued for several decades, characterised the Cold War and still appears to be the pursuit of some powerful countries which act outside the dictates of the United Nations. With the ascendancy of the capitalist market economy system, following the apparent defeat of communism and the collapse of the communist bloc in the late 1990s, the intensity of the Cold War has greatly reduced. However, a strong undercurrent is still evident in some turbulent spots of the world.
Leadership and Global Security
International security covers a variety of interconnected issues within states that have impact on the peace, stability and survival of individuals and groups across states. The issues range from “traditional or conventional modes of military power, the causes and consequences of war among states, economic strength, to ethnic, religious and ideological conflicts, trade and economic conflicts, energy supplies, science and technology, food, as well as threats to human security and the stability of states from environmental degradation, infectious diseases, climate change and activities of non-state actors.”6
The leadership role of the United Nations, particularly the role of its Security Council, has been rather ambivalent. Events of the World War I (1914-1918) and the failure of the League of Nations, formed to prevent such wars in the future, led to the occurrence of the World War II (1939-1945) and the formation of the United Nations. The UN kicked off with the five leading victorious powers becoming the permanent members of the core group, the UN Security Council, and arrogating to themselves veto power. Those powers enjoying such a unique privilege have so far resisted moves to reform the Council and admit new members with veto power. This situation has prevailed in spite of agitation and significant contributions to the maintenance of world peace by UN member countries outside this club.
UN Leadership Style, Globalisation and Sovereignty
The leadership style of the United Nations, particularly its growing tendency to over-scrutinize the affairs of members of so-called developing countries while glossing over the malfeasance of some world powers, has reduced its credibility among the developing countries. This ambivalent leadership style has also led to a situation where globalisation has been allowed to undermine seriously the exercise of state sovereignty. There is now a thin line between what should be regarded as internal affairs of a country and what should be matters of international concern.
These days, foreign countries and organisations take more than casual interest in the conduct of elections and national census. While this may be excusable because of lack of openness and fairness in the manner these exercises are carried out in some polities, what about unsolicited foreign interventions in the policy-making process of sovereign nations? In many developing countries, the formulation and execution of national development plans are undertaken in collaboration with foreign countries and international organisations. Such collaborations, though helpful in many ways, can be suspect. Indeed, some foreign aids can be classified as the proverbial Greek gift while others arrive with conditionality that worsens the security and developmental challenges of recipient countries.
The motives and actions of some countries and international organisations may pose great dangers to a country’s survival. For instance, over the last few decades some foreign organisations and countries loaded some countries with ill-tailored loans, ostensibly meant for development, but which left those nations poorer, more debt-ridden and insecure. Social upheavals that compromise a country’s sovereignty and even jeopardise its very existence as a viable entity usually arise when the debt burden becomes unbearable. Some loans are so suspect that the supposedly friendly donors appear to have set out to deliberately mislead and undermine the development efforts of a target country just to subjugate or even destroy it altogether.
What could make a country to be so adversely targeted? A country’s commitment to an independent path of development could make it a target, particularly if it is a country of great potential. All kinds of accusations are usually contrived to intimidate such a country and make it toe the line dictated by some powerful nations threatened by its independent strides. Such tactics employed to undermine certain countries have been elaborately reported. One of such notable reports is that of John Perkins who revealed how targeted countries were ensnared, leading to high ranking individuals falling victims of “tragic story of debt, deception, enslavement, exploitation and the most blatant grab in history for hearts, minds, souls, and resources of people around the world.”7 According to Perkin’s account, the victims, mainly heads of state and OPEC member countries, were under constant threats and surveillance.
Nowadays, under any pretext, a country, particularly one without the backing of a permanent member of the Security Council, could be invaded for “reasons” ranging from human rights concerns to humanitarian considerations. Such UN-sanctioned interventions, these days, are hardly primarily based on the criterion of threat to international peace and security, which is the clear provision under the UN Charter.
The perpetual contest for power in international relations portrays a picture of predator relationship between the bigger and smaller nations. The bigger powers jealously protect their privileged positions, hegemony and spheres of influence against states perceived to have the potential to challenge their supremacy. Size of territory and population may matter in the assessment of power relationship but more relevant is the level of technological skill and general mobilisation of human and material resources. It has also become clear that the weapons of warfare employed in the power contest at the UN are no longer primarily traditional military hardware, more sophisticated though they have become. The media has become an important battle field, and would be more so in the future. An observer succinctly put it thus:
Global media, social media, ICT and powerful nations or regional groups working in concert are the tools of warfare, no longer merely tanks, missiles and battalions.8
A bit of such media propaganda and campaign was employed during the Cold War with positive results. Since then, there has been a general improvement in ICT and the medium is being perfected to a higher degree. Media warfare is real; hence, the increasing cry of cyber attacks and other acts of illegalities among world powers.
In spite of its shortcomings, the UN remains the organisation the world most direly needs for the maintenance of world peace. Its formation in 1945 became necessary when mankind and the powers that be realised that maintenance of international peace and security was beyond the capacity of a single nation. Supplementary to that was the felt need to establish international organisations as UN specialised agencies dealing with cross-border socio-economic issues that may endanger mankind. Hence, UN organs and agencies, such as the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), United Nations Economic Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),9 came into being.
The importance of such organisations is underlined by the realisation that peace and security cannot be guaranteed by application of military hardware alone. The activities of the UN agencies are therefore intended to forestall or mitigate occurrences that threaten the international system without the involvement of military means. Imperfect though the current arrangement, supported by regional defence groups, may seem, it remains about the only central machinery on which the maintenance of international peace and security is anchored. Success of this arrangement is supposed to allow member states to conserve their resources and focus their developmental efforts on meeting the needs of their people.
Unfortunately, such conserved resources are being drained in many countries by the challenges of dealing with the problem of insecurity.
muster every available means to quickly restore normalcy and reassure the public.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be observed that in spite of the centrality of man in security and development considerations, conduct and performance of states, group of states and non-state actors would continue to dictate events in the international system. As man in a state of nature is said to be selfish so are the states presently in their conduct, including the insensitive positions many powerful nations have taken on environmental matters. But there is a glimmer of hope in the determination of the global community to tackle the heating up of the environment which portends great danger to humanity.
The year 2014 was said to be the hottest in recorded history. After the Lima Conference of December 1-14, 2014, attended by 195 member countries, all hopes are now placed on the Paris Conference to be held this year (2015). At the Paris Conference, countries would be expected to specify their individual contributions towards checking climatic activities in their countries that contribute to carbon emission and global warming.
Unfortunately, many countries are only out to promote their national interests at the expense of others. Unwarranted violence inflicted against others and even beneficial collaborative efforts among them, such as the determination by certain countries to review the world economic order and create more global financial institutions to remove the prevailing bottleneck in access to money required for investment, infrastructural and social development, must be seen in that light. The United Nations as a supra-national body is not a government. It has no standing army. A few privileged members acting individually or in concert with other nations sometimes arbitrarily invade other nations hiding under a manipulated resolution.
An international court of justice is in place but a look at those who have so far been arraigned before it shows that it is selective. Some leaders commit similar or worse crimes against others and get away with it simply because they are powerful. Powerful nations act as predators against weaker nations who may be unjustly punished for trying to develop potentials that could rival their entrenched positions. Thus, the world, in spite of the existence of a supra national body, is still operating in a state of nature governed by the law of the survival of the powerful, a law that replicates or typifies the conduct of man in a state of nature.
Under the leadership of the United Nations, mankind may not have entirely escaped the savagery of the state of nature. However, some sections of mankind, like many nations of the Western world, have made commendable strides in leadership, security and national development. African leadership can galvanize positive changes in their various nations instead of looking up to the prejudicial leadership of the UN to bail the continent out of its current security and developmental challenges.
Text of a public lecture delivered by Dr Bukar Usman at the Abdullahi Smith lecture Theatre, Faculty of Arts, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria.
This lecture focuses on leadership, security and national development from African and global perspectives. Security and what it constitutes can take many forms. However, it is all about the survival of an individual, a group or an entity such as a state. It should be noted that there is a duality in every country’s security challenges, and these manifest as the internal and external factors that shape its state of security. Due to socio-political and geo-political peculiarities, every nation’s security challenges and imperatives are, to a large extent, unique. This is why the security situation of one country, with its attendant implication for peace and national development, can be very different from another’s even when their external security challenges are similar.
Although national security problems arise out of conflicts or threats within or outside a given nation, how these conflicts are resolved, managed or contained is critically dependent on the effectiveness of existing governmental institutions for conflict prevention and resolution. This also entails the disposition and orientation of leadership at local and international levels. Social chaos is, therefore, often a manifestation of a failure of government machinery or governmental systems as may be revealed by a thorough and dispassionate examination of past conflicts. Indeed, government never became necessary until humankind saw the need to invent systemic machinery for managing social crisis and maintaining public order. This is why there is need to begin this discussion by looking at the evolution of formal or governed society as we know it today.
From State of Nature to State of Society
Overwhelmed by hazards in the unorganised natural environment and by the antagonistic effects of his own primitive self-centredness, man, generically speaking, needed a “neutral” authority to protect his life, family and property. Formal society developed out of this basic need to preserve oneself and one’s possessions. Organised society evolved over a long period before the dawn of civilization as we know it today. Political thinkers, notably the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), argued that individuals, persuaded by enlightened self interest, traded off the insecure “state of nature,”1 where only freedoms existed, for a state of society governed by a central authority that enforced the rights of everyone. The state of nature, according to Hobbes, was not only “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short” but also in its entirety “anarchic.”2 The emergence of centralized government, responsible for common security, is therefore meant to curb the excesses of selfish and unscrupulously competitive individuals.3
Although the modern nation state is commonly the most developed form of the state of society, monarchy, a crude form of centralized social order in medieval times, had preceded it. Under the monarchical dispensation, the people were ruled by supposedly divinely appointed kings who reigned indefinitely, often for life, before yet another king took over to, literally, lord it over the populace. With time, it became clear that what the people needed was governing machinery, not a ruling institution.
Defining the nature of the relationship which should ideally exist between the state’s governing authority and the governed, John Locke (1632—1704) stated that such relationship should be in the form of a social contract that is subject to periodic public renewal of confidence.4According to Locke, the authority of government should be based on “just powers from the consent [i.e. delegation] of the governed.”5 This gave rise to variants of the social contract theory, particularly in the 18th and 19th century, that became the bases of the evolution of systems of government powered by periodic elections. Thus, in the event of the elected authority losing the confidence of the public, the people, under the Lockean social contract system of governance, reserve the right to change it through the ballot box or, if necessary, by violent means. By this stance, revolution becomes justifiable in the last resort.
It should be born in mind that for one to talk of security and national development presupposes that there is a country or state and that there is a governing authority. A state or country is recognisable under international law only if there is a defined territory that is reasonably populated and has a de jure or a de facto government. A de jure government obtains in the event of a government in exile which is recognized by others.
Socio-Economic and
Political Modalities
A democratic state, particularly one where the people directly elect the leaders, is usually founded on the basis of a constitution or some other governing set of rules. Such rules set out the modalities by which human rights and the state’s commitment to the provision of the basic needs of the people are guaranteed on a sustainable basis. For such a high level of expectation to be met, it would entail the formulation of policies and programmes for national development. The constitution would, of course, establish a structure of government and provide for security machinery to create an atmosphere conducive for individual pursuits and for government to prosecute its national development programmes.
It is lack of consensus on the best formula or set of modalities for the achievement of such objectives that engenders continuing debate, nationally and internationally, among politicians, opinion leaders, and the intelligentsia. The issues under discussion have always been choice of system of governance, leadership disposition and orientation, performance of the institutions of government and management of resources. Around all this is the spate of continuing debate on the need for strong leadership or strong institutions or both.
The lack of consensus at the international level leads some countries or a bloc of them to resort to ideological warfare or armed intervention to persuade or cajole other countries to adopt certain socio-political and economic systems. This behaviour, which ensued for several decades, characterised the Cold War and still appears to be the pursuit of some powerful countries which act outside the dictates of the United Nations. With the ascendancy of the capitalist market economy system, following the apparent defeat of communism and the collapse of the communist bloc in the late 1990s, the intensity of the Cold War has greatly reduced. However, a strong undercurrent is still evident in some turbulent spots of the world.
Leadership and Global Security
International security covers a variety of interconnected issues within states that have impact on the peace, stability and survival of individuals and groups across states. The issues range from “traditional or conventional modes of military power, the causes and consequences of war among states, economic strength, to ethnic, religious and ideological conflicts, trade and economic conflicts, energy supplies, science and technology, food, as well as threats to human security and the stability of states from environmental degradation, infectious diseases, climate change and activities of non-state actors.”6
The leadership role of the United Nations, particularly the role of its Security Council, has been rather ambivalent. Events of the World War I (1914-1918) and the failure of the League of Nations, formed to prevent such wars in the future, led to the occurrence of the World War II (1939-1945) and the formation of the United Nations. The UN kicked off with the five leading victorious powers becoming the permanent members of the core group, the UN Security Council, and arrogating to themselves veto power. Those powers enjoying such a unique privilege have so far resisted moves to reform the Council and admit new members with veto power. This situation has prevailed in spite of agitation and significant contributions to the maintenance of world peace by UN member countries outside this club.
UN Leadership Style, Globalisation and Sovereignty
The leadership style of the United Nations, particularly its growing tendency to over-scrutinize the affairs of members of so-called developing countries while glossing over the malfeasance of some world powers, has reduced its credibility among the developing countries. This ambivalent leadership style has also led to a situation where globalisation has been allowed to undermine seriously the exercise of state sovereignty. There is now a thin line between what should be regarded as internal affairs of a country and what should be matters of international concern.
These days, foreign countries and organisations take more than casual interest in the conduct of elections and national census. While this may be excusable because of lack of openness and fairness in the manner these exercises are carried out in some polities, what about unsolicited foreign interventions in the policy-making process of sovereign nations? In many developing countries, the formulation and execution of national development plans are undertaken in collaboration with foreign countries and international organisations. Such collaborations, though helpful in many ways, can be suspect. Indeed, some foreign aids can be classified as the proverbial Greek gift while others arrive with conditionality that worsens the security and developmental challenges of recipient countries.
The motives and actions of some countries and international organisations may pose great dangers to a country’s survival. For instance, over the last few decades some foreign organisations and countries loaded some countries with ill-tailored loans, ostensibly meant for development, but which left those nations poorer, more debt-ridden and insecure. Social upheavals that compromise a country’s sovereignty and even jeopardise its very existence as a viable entity usually arise when the debt burden becomes unbearable. Some loans are so suspect that the supposedly friendly donors appear to have set out to deliberately mislead and undermine the development efforts of a target country just to subjugate or even destroy it altogether.
What could make a country to be so adversely targeted? A country’s commitment to an independent path of development could make it a target, particularly if it is a country of great potential. All kinds of accusations are usually contrived to intimidate such a country and make it toe the line dictated by some powerful nations threatened by its independent strides. Such tactics employed to undermine certain countries have been elaborately reported. One of such notable reports is that of John Perkins who revealed how targeted countries were ensnared, leading to high ranking individuals falling victims of “tragic story of debt, deception, enslavement, exploitation and the most blatant grab in history for hearts, minds, souls, and resources of people around the world.”7 According to Perkin’s account, the victims, mainly heads of state and OPEC member countries, were under constant threats and surveillance.
Nowadays, under any pretext, a country, particularly one without the backing of a permanent member of the Security Council, could be invaded for “reasons” ranging from human rights concerns to humanitarian considerations. Such UN-sanctioned interventions, these days, are hardly primarily based on the criterion of threat to international peace and security, which is the clear provision under the UN Charter.
The perpetual contest for power in international relations portrays a picture of predator relationship between the bigger and smaller nations. The bigger powers jealously protect their privileged positions, hegemony and spheres of influence against states perceived to have the potential to challenge their supremacy. Size of territory and population may matter in the assessment of power relationship but more relevant is the level of technological skill and general mobilisation of human and material resources. It has also become clear that the weapons of warfare employed in the power contest at the UN are no longer primarily traditional military hardware, more sophisticated though they have become. The media has become an important battle field, and would be more so in the future. An observer succinctly put it thus:
Global media, social media, ICT and powerful nations or regional groups working in concert are the tools of warfare, no longer merely tanks, missiles and battalions.8
A bit of such media propaganda and campaign was employed during the Cold War with positive results. Since then, there has been a general improvement in ICT and the medium is being perfected to a higher degree. Media warfare is real; hence, the increasing cry of cyber attacks and other acts of illegalities among world powers.
In spite of its shortcomings, the UN remains the organisation the world most direly needs for the maintenance of world peace. Its formation in 1945 became necessary when mankind and the powers that be realised that maintenance of international peace and security was beyond the capacity of a single nation. Supplementary to that was the felt need to establish international organisations as UN specialised agencies dealing with cross-border socio-economic issues that may endanger mankind. Hence, UN organs and agencies, such as the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), World Health Organisation (WHO), the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), United Nations Economic Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP),9 came into being.
The importance of such organisations is underlined by the realisation that peace and security cannot be guaranteed by application of military hardware alone. The activities of the UN agencies are therefore intended to forestall or mitigate occurrences that threaten the international system without the involvement of military means. Imperfect though the current arrangement, supported by regional defence groups, may seem, it remains about the only central machinery on which the maintenance of international peace and security is anchored. Success of this arrangement is supposed to allow member states to conserve their resources and focus their developmental efforts on meeting the needs of their people.
Unfortunately, such conserved resources are being drained in many countries by the challenges of dealing with the problem of insecurity.
muster every available means to quickly restore normalcy and reassure the public.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be observed that in spite of the centrality of man in security and development considerations, conduct and performance of states, group of states and non-state actors would continue to dictate events in the international system. As man in a state of nature is said to be selfish so are the states presently in their conduct, including the insensitive positions many powerful nations have taken on environmental matters. But there is a glimmer of hope in the determination of the global community to tackle the heating up of the environment which portends great danger to humanity.
The year 2014 was said to be the hottest in recorded history. After the Lima Conference of December 1-14, 2014, attended by 195 member countries, all hopes are now placed on the Paris Conference to be held this year (2015). At the Paris Conference, countries would be expected to specify their individual contributions towards checking climatic activities in their countries that contribute to carbon emission and global warming.
Unfortunately, many countries are only out to promote their national interests at the expense of others. Unwarranted violence inflicted against others and even beneficial collaborative efforts among them, such as the determination by certain countries to review the world economic order and create more global financial institutions to remove the prevailing bottleneck in access to money required for investment, infrastructural and social development, must be seen in that light. The United Nations as a supra-national body is not a government. It has no standing army. A few privileged members acting individually or in concert with other nations sometimes arbitrarily invade other nations hiding under a manipulated resolution.
An international court of justice is in place but a look at those who have so far been arraigned before it shows that it is selective. Some leaders commit similar or worse crimes against others and get away with it simply because they are powerful. Powerful nations act as predators against weaker nations who may be unjustly punished for trying to develop potentials that could rival their entrenched positions. Thus, the world, in spite of the existence of a supra national body, is still operating in a state of nature governed by the law of the survival of the powerful, a law that replicates or typifies the conduct of man in a state of nature.
Under the leadership of the United Nations, mankind may not have entirely escaped the savagery of the state of nature. However, some sections of mankind, like many nations of the Western world, have made commendable strides in leadership, security and national development. African leadership can galvanize positive changes in their various nations instead of looking up to the prejudicial leadership of the UN to bail the continent out of its current security and developmental challenges.
