The Nation Newspaper

Tag: national

  • Queue as national pastime and predicament

    Queue as national pastime and predicament

    • By Prince Charles Dickson

    Sir: From the hallowed halls of A-class events to the humble confines of Amala joint, the queue reigns supreme. It’s a national pastime, a social ritual, and, let’s be honest, a profound national predicament.

    Consider the A-class event, a spectacle of champagne flutes and canapés. One might expect a certain level of decorum, perhaps even a touch of regal efficiency. But no. The buffet line, that sacred trough of culinary delights, becomes a battleground. Dignitaries, celebrities, and the crème de la crème of society, all reduced to shuffling mortals, plates in hand, eyes fixed on the jollof rice like pilgrims at a holy site. It’s a humbling experience, a reminder that in the face of free food, we are all equal.

    Then there’s the fuel scarcity, a recurring national drama that plays out with the predictability of a Nollywood plot. Cars stretch for miles, forming impromptu parking lots, and tempers fray like overstretched elastic bands. It’s a national exercise in patience, or perhaps, a national exercise in masochism.

    The banks, those bastions of financial probity, are no different. The ATM, a marvel of modern technology, becomes a monument to our collective frustration. We stand, we shuffle, we sigh; watching as the minutes tick by, each transaction a Herculean effort. And heaven forbid you need to see a teller; that’s a queue within a queue, a bureaucratic labyrinth designed to test the limits of human endurance.

     And let’s not forget the senior citizens, those who have toiled and contributed to the nation, now forced to endure the indignity of queuing for their pensions. It’s a national disgrace, a testament to the bureaucratic ineptitude that plagues our institutions.

    The cinemas, the places of worship, the airports, the immigration offices, the passport offices, the exam halls – all are united by the common thread of the queue. It’s a social equalizer, a national leveller, reminding us that no matter our status, our wealth, or our influence, we are all subject to the whims of the queue.

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    Even our roads are not immune. The infamous “go-slow,” a queue of cars stretching for miles, is a daily ordeal, a test of patience and a testament to our collective acceptance of gridlock as a way of life. It’s a symphony of honking horns and frustrated sighs, a mobile queue that moves at a snail’s pace.

    One might argue that the queue is a symbol of our resilience, our ability to endure hardship with a stoic shrug and a wry smile. But is it really resilience, or is it a learned helplessness, a passive acceptance of inefficiency? Are we so accustomed to queuing that we’ve forgotten what it’s like to live in a system that functions efficiently?

    Perhaps the queue is a reflection of our national character, a testament to our communal spirit. We queue together, we suffer together, we complain together. It’s a shared experience, a collective ordeal that binds us together. But is it a bond we should celebrate, or a symptom of a deeper malaise?

    The queue, in all its forms, is a mirror to our society, reflecting our strengths and our weaknesses. It’s a reminder that we are a nation of patient people, but also a nation plagued by inefficiency. It’s a testament to our communal spirit, but also a symbol of our collective acceptance of mediocrity.

    We must ask ourselves: are we destined to forever shuffle in these endless lines, or can we break free from the shackles of the queue? Can we create a system where efficiency reigns, where queues are the exception rather than the rule? Can we build a nation where the “go-slow” is a relic of the past, and the only queues we encounter are those at the gates of paradise?

    Until then, we will continue to queue, to shuffle, to sigh, and to laugh at the absurdity of it all. For in Nigeria, the queue is not just a line; it’s a way of life. And perhaps, just perhaps, it’s a story we tell ourselves, a shared narrative that binds us together, even as it tests the very limits of our patience.

    The question is how long do we have to stay in the queue waiting for the good of governance, the best of leadership at the very local level; when will the queues for better education, accessible healthcare be a right to every Nigerian?

    •Prince Charles Dickson PhD,

     <pcdbooks@gmail.com>

  • National embarrassment

    National embarrassment

    • How did Binance executive escape from detention?

    Even as the country faces serious economic challenges, and the requisite authorities are striving to strengthen the value of the Naira against foreign currencies, it is only natural for attention to be focused on activities of individuals and corporate organisations perceived to have contributed to the crisis. It was in the light of this that the monetary and security agencies cast their searchlight on the operations of a cryptocurrency firm based in Nigeria, Binance Holdings Limited, and raised pertinent questions on how over $35,400,000 could have flowed out of the country through the company without proper documentation as well as the expected level of transparency.

    On March 28, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Binance Holdings and two of the company’s executives, Tigran Gamboyarn and Nadem Anjarwala, before a competent court in Abuja for allegedly being complicit in the transfer of the humongous amounts out of the country in violation of the law. Incidentally, the two executives of the company had been detained for 14 days on the basis of a warrant of arrest obtained by security agencies from a court in Abuja. A key part of the information required by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), working in conjunction with the security agencies, was the provision of data by Binance Holdings on its top 100 clients as well as its transaction history for the past six months.

    It was while being detained in what was described as a ‘safe house’ under the watch of the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) that one of the detainees, Anjarwala, escaped from custody right under the nose of armed security agencies guarding him. Anjarwala, who ought to have appeared in court in Abuja alongside his colleague on April 4, 2024, was reportedly escorted by guards to a mosque to pray when he curiously found his way to the Abuja International Airport, from where he flew out of the country on a commercial airline. This outrageous escape of the Binance executive is deeply embarrassing and does severe damage to the country’s reputation.

    Given the magnitude of the economic crime for which the executives and their company were supposed to be tried, it is unacceptable that they were kept in what was clearly a cavalier manner, enabling one of those charged to flee from the law. True, according to our laws, a suspect is deemed innocent until proven guilty. But Anjarwala’s flight from justice like a criminal suggests that he and his company may indeed be guilty of infractions against the law. It is right and proper that Nigeria’s security agencies are working in conjunction with the International Police (Interpol) as well as other security operatives in a number of other countries to apprehend the fugitive and extradite him back to Nigeria to face trial.

    However, it would have been much better for the escaped detainee to be kept in a far more secure environment, making it difficult for him to escape. Indeed, his escape raises a number of pertinent questions. Since the international passport of the detainee had been seized pending the outcome of his trial, how did he obtain the transport documents that enabled him to flee on a commercial airline? Shouldn’t it be standard practice for anyone who has his travel documents seized pending the determination of a case in which he is involved by a competent court of law, to have his personal details made available to the relevant security authorities at various exit points from the country? The nature of Anjarwala’s escape suggests detailed and elaborate planning, with possibly influential figures from outside his detention facility.

    Again, if indeed the detainee wanted to pray, he could have done so where he was in custody rather than being escorted to a mosque as he requested, and from where he vanished into thin air. A statement on the issue by the spokesman of the ONSA, Zakari Nijinyawa, indicates that the security officials in charge of the fleeing detainee have been arrested and are undergoing interrogation. We, however, suggest that the investigation into this whole sordid affair must be thorough and transparent. No one, no matter how highly placed in the security hierarchy, should be spared from the focus of the investigators if we are to unfold the truth about what is another unacceptable embarrassment to the nation.

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    Another issue is the response time of our security agencies in matters of this nature. It should have taken no less than one hour for the detainee to find his way to the Abuja airport from where he fled. Could it be that security agencies were not alerted about the development to enable them deploy necessary materials and men to thwart his escape? We are of the view that this escape is indicative of high level complicity and collusion. The security agencies in charge of the detainee should by all means be investigated to obtain the necessary information as regards the escape of the person in their custody. But the investigation should not end at their level. It should extend to officers above them who may have been involved in what was clearly a carefully organised plot to undermine Nigeria’s laws and bring the country to shame and obloquy.

  • National questions are forever

    National questions are forever

    • On the emerging world order

    National Questions just wouldn’t go away. They seem eternal; intrinsically bound to some mysterious uncontrollable forces. Seven months after we thought we got a reprieve in Nigeria, they seem to be back with a vengeance. To flee your fate is to rush to find it, says an Arab proverb. Kidnapping and abduction are back on the national menu. Armed marauders are back on the highways.

       There is a resurgence of political, ethnic and religious mayhem  on the plateau. After the lull, the pincer movement on Abuja by various sociopathic elements and criminals appears to be on underway again. When a nation’s capital is besieged and embattled to a point where citizens cower and tremble in the sanctuary of their living room, the handshake has gone beyond the elbow.

       African colonial nations often remind one of Aboliga, the man-child, Ayi Kwei Armah’s weird and haunting monstrosity, who grew into full manhood the very day it was born only to die later in the day. Of his native Germany just emerging into late nationhood from the Bavarian bog, Karl Marx thundered:” Verily, Germany will one day find itself on the road to ruins like other European nations without having achieved their economic and political consolidation”.

     Germany duly paid its dues and reparations after plunging itself and the rest of the world into two global conflicts which finally saw off its old Junker military caste and its dominant xenophobic political class famously described as Hitler’s willing executioners. Without its elites achieving an organic unity of purpose and national will, many colonial African nations have found themselves on the road to ruin even before consolidating the nation-state paradigm imposed on them by their European masters. It is a cruel and unjust fate, but the world does not wait for any laggard nation or people for that matter.

      In all this, it is the American nightmare that concentrates the mind. The scary possibility of Donald Trump, the archetypal demagogue and supreme anti-humanist, returning to the White House gives one the jitters. Trump is America’s ultimate nemesis, a disturbed and possibly deranged doppelganger programmed to bring out the worst in America and Americans.

      Ugly Americans are on the ascendant in America, particularly its middle belt. With Trump calling the shots in the Republican primaries even while facing criminal charges that would make a normal person go home and hide, only a miracle can save America from itself. If the invasion of the Capitol is a dreadful dress rehearsal of what is to come, then a civil war cannot be off the card.

      America has not always behaved well in the pursuit of its national interests on the global scene. Its hegemonic Brahmins have been responsible either directly or by covert conniving for some of the bloodiest conflicts the world has seen in the modern times. In the name of protecting itself, it has imposed many psychopathic dictators and bloodthirsty tyrants on hapless nations stalling their economic and political developments as they dissolve into chaos and disorder.

      But this is only one side of the coin. No nation is perfect or completely sane for that matter. When America puts its better foot forward, when its finest people who have retained fidelity and faith in the grander and more noble ideals that impelled its founding fathers to surge forward as an organic mass, they have been responsible for some of the greatest leaps forward intellectually, economically and politically by humanity and modern civilization.

    This is when America is a marvel to behold, a biblical city shining on the hills which cannot be hidden. Unfortunately, despite the highfalutin noise about its exceptionalism, America, like every other nation, is prone to fundamental disorder and vulnerable to unresolved aspects of the National Question, particularly what to do with its native Indians, its Black populace and the descendants of barely literate hordes from mainland Europe it has used to populate the American interior as the ungainly behemoth opened up.

       This last lot tend to be intellectually obtuse as they are spiritually tone-deaf. The two aces they hold close to their chest are race and religion. Having been outsmarted by people they consider to be racially inferior and spiritually lower than themself, their resentment and indignation can only find outlet in racial and religious bigotry as well as ethnic block vote. This is where Trump draws his greatest support and sustenance from and they constitute the Praetorian Guard of his electoral insurgency.

      From the look of things, it is becoming clearer by the day that this is no longer a matter for the democratic rabble to resolve. Rabbles do not resolve National Questions. They only tend to exacerbate the tension and national fault lines. This is the time for America’s finest people, the true intellectual heirs of the founding fathers, to rise to the occasion. America needs to return to the Philadelphia of Benjamin Franklin and all the avatars that forged a new type of nation on the ashes of feudal Europe.

      Despite their democratic aspirations and pretensions, the American founding fathers were no starry-eyed idealists. They loathed the rule by rabbles and ragamuffins to death. This was why they hedged their bet and did everything possible for their age to forestall and prevent this. Against the Plebian lower house, they installed a patrician and authoritarian senate. Against the idea that every vote is equal, they ceded the ultimate power to elect to an electoral college. Both Hillary Clinton and Al Gore outstripped their opponents in terms of popular vote but the Electoral College gave the nod to George Bush and Donald Trump. This writer describes it as a kind of democratic eugenics.

        Barbarians are at the barricades. The American founding fathers could not have foreseen the ascendancy of the descendant of an old German drafter dodger from Bavaria.  National Questions are never solved on a once and for all basis. They depend on the stage a nation has reached in the course of a turbulent and tumultuous march through history. It may well be that America needs the Trumpian tornado to reset its democratic momentum.

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       America’s serial setback may be symptomatic of a decline in the nation-state paradigm itself as the premium human mode for organizing and valorizing territorial space. For some time, acute observers have noticed a fraying and frazzling at the edge of the nation-state paradigm, particularly its inability to offer stability, accelerated development and protection for weaker nations against bigger predatory states.

      Just as it happened at the tail end of the Ottoman Empire, there are whispers about a post-American world and the whetting of appetite about the culinary possibilities. Many countries are jostling for contention to replace the greatest power the world has seen since the Roman Empire. But if history is any guide, it will not happen the way they envisage.

      We are already witnessing the advent of some strange hybrids. With the devastation of Gaza and its possible annexation, Israel is transiting to a colonial power in the post-empire age. Iran, the residual relic of the ancient Persian Empire, acting as a countervailing power against American designs in the Middle East, is gradually transforming into a new type of imperial power as it nurtures and empowers a network of clienteles which includes the Houthi insurgents in Yemen, Hezbollah in Lebanon and a cluster of rogue militias stretching from Iraq to the Maghreb corridor in North Africa. Having swallowed the Tibetian nation, China waits furtively for American potency to decline further before pouncing on Taiwan.

      It has become a very dangerous world out there as the nation-state paradigm is convulsed by terminal stress. It is perhaps the developments in Russia that are most interesting. An empire before its revolution, Russia became a colonial behemoth once again after the Second World War by adding many satellite states in what became the USSR.

     The empire collapsed in the wake of Gorbachev’s reforms, a development Vladimir Putin has described as the greatest geo-political catastrophe to have befallen his people. But Putin is already making hay. With the looming annexation of Ukraine coupled with the earlier confiscation of huge chunks of Georgia and the Crimean peninsula, Russia is set to reconfigure itself as a modern empire-nation.

      These oddities, hybrids and genetic monstrosities portend a world out of joints, a world structurally misaligned and badly configured in which the nation-state paradigm faces its greatest threat. Nobody knows how the new global order will shape up, but it can be safely conjectured that by the time the cloud clears, a few more weaker states will be gobbled up with impunity by the stronger states and the brave International Court of Justice would have become the splendid court of international criminals.                                                                                              

    Africa nations are most vulnerable. Verily, without having achieved the political stability and accelerated economic development offered by the nation-state state paradigm in its prime, African nations have found themselves being frog-marched to the post-nation frontiers. National Questions may be forever. But the world will not wait for any nation to resolve its national questions.

       In conclusion, what is most tragic about all this is the fact that Nigeria which has the strengths and the spunk to act as a countervailing lodestar for a new vision and vista of human conurbation based on social justice and inclusive governance is so hobbled by internal contradictions that it cannot help itself not to talk of providing leadership in harmonized existence for the Black race. In its state of hapless paralysis, Nigeria, without formal annexation, has become a prey to several predatory groups that have turned its chaotic landscape into a vast extractive emporium.

      Heavens forbid, but if care is not taken, this is where and when the torrential rains that will supplant the heavy clouds gathering will beat the hell out of the Black person. It is a tragic pity that early African heroes and political visionaries of the decolonizing phase such as Kwame Nkrumah, Gamel Abdel Nasser, Amilcar Cabral, Julius Nyerere, Samora Michel and Augustino Neto saw the critical need for this Pan-African concert. But they could not overcome the internal contradictions of their respective countries. Almost to the single person, they were felled by these contradictions. It is time once again to begin to reimagine the continent.

  • Northern interests versus national interest

    Northern interests versus national interest

    Never mind their nationalistic posturing, many of our elite are at heart closet tribal champions and ethnic jingoists waiting to manifest. Squeeze them a little and they break out in their true colours.

    Their rhetoric shows that more than a century after the amalgamation by the British in 1914 of the Northern and Southern Protectorates, the lure of the tribe remains quite strong. That’s why we proudly rally round such groups as Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), Afenifere, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Middle-Belt Leaders Forum, Ijaw National Congress (INC) etc.

    Deep down there remains much anxiety about the long term sustainability of the Nigerian project. So, while pretending to be committed to some sense of nationhood, we spend our days prosecuting mini tribal wars – with unelected warlords leading the charge.

    One such war just broke out over the relocation of a few departments of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) from Abuja to Lagos. Given the heat these seemingly innocuous actions have generated, you would think secession was imminent.

    In reality, these are just two out of hundreds of parastatals and agencies owned by the Federal Government. So why would matters of administrative convenience in a couple of organisations stir such much controversy? Politics, sheer political mischief!

    Here’s what happened. On January 12, the CBN announced plans to decongest its head office in Abuja.

    It explained the rationale behind the move thus: “The action plan focuses on optimizing the utilization of other Bank’s premises. With this plan, 1,533 staff will be moved to other CBN facilities within Abuja, Lagos, and understaffed branches.

    “Our current occupancy level of 4,233 significantly exceeds the optimal capacity of 2,700 designed for the Head Office building. This overcrowding poses several critical challenges.”

    Affected by the relocation are five departments: Banking Supervision; Other Financial Institutions Supervision; Consumer Protection Department; Payment System Management Department and Financial Policy Regulations Department. That’s just five out of the institution’s 17 departments. The headquarters and the office of the Governor remain domiciled in the federal capital.

    Just to confirm that there was nothing sinister about the move, a former Deputy Governor of the bank, Dr. Kingsley Moghalu, in a post on X, revealed that the CBN’s Lagos office was inaugurated 12 years ago but had been underutilised.

    He noted that the relocation addresses the overstaffing challenges at the Abuja headquarters, where the staff count exceeds recommended health and safety limits.

    Moghalu argued that the decision was logical because affected departments primarily oversee market entities situated in Lagos.

    With conspiracy theorists still chewing on the CBN decision, the announcement that the headquarters of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria’s (FAAN) would also be moving, was confirmation that that the end of the world had come!

    The organisation in a statement by Obiageli Orah, its Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection said: “Those affected by the decision to move the headquarters to Abuja have since returned to Lagos as there is no office space for them in Abuja. It was ill-advised in the first place to move the headquarters to Abuja when there was no single FAAN building in Abuja to accommodate all of them at once.”

    She explained that retaining the status quo would mean abandoning “the old FAAN building in Lagos to rot away and to use its scarce resources to rent an office space in Abuja for millions of naira of public money when in actual fact more than sixty percent of its activities are in Lagos given the huge passenger volume of the Lagos airports. The stakeholders and the Minister decided against that and to save the country from this waste.”

    Those vociferously opposed to the relocation would rather ignore important matters of waste of public resources that has been going on since the headquarters was moved in 2020. They are not concerned about prolonging the bleeding at a time when the nation is struggling economically. So much for love of country!

    What is particularly provocative about this controversy is the way it has been spun as an attack on a section of the country. ACF’s National Publicity Secretary, Prof. T. A. Muhammad-Baba, claims the moves were part of a plot to under-develop the North.

    “The CBN’s decision is no means of isolated or normal administrative action to fix some logistics problem. Rather, it fits into a disturbing pattern of antagonistic actions often taken by certain federal administrations against the interests of Northern and other parts of Nigeria,” he said.

    This raises immediate questions as to how the CBN and FAAN movements affect the North. Is Abuja capital of Nigeria or of a particular region? Is the federal capital the property of the North or of all Nigerians?

    This curious sense of ownership is perhaps borne out of the fact that in over 40 years either by design or otherwise only Northerners have been Ministers of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). When President Bola Tinubu broke that pattern with appointment of former Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, he was attacked by the likes of Sheik Ahmad Gumi as though he had done something sacrilegious.

    If people want to make a political mountain out of something as simple as the movement of an agency’s departments, then they invite awkward questions that people have chosen not to ask for reasons of national cohesion and peaceful coexistence.

    For instance, is there any provision of the country that requires that all parastatals of the Federal Government be located in Abuja irrespective of their operational peculiarities? For instance, does it make sense to site the headquarters of a marine-based agency in the federal capital?

    Have those hyperventilating about the CBN and FAAN asked why the overwhelming majority of the nation’s defence establishments are located in the North – Kaduna specifically? No one is making waves about this.

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    Can they, beyond an inexplicable sense of entitlement, explain why over the years certain federal ministries like Defence, Agriculture, Education, FCT, Water Resources etc. always ended up in Northern hands and no one cried foul?

    I would have been alarmed if the relocation meant Northerners working in these two establishments would lose their jobs. But that’s not the case. So in what way has the region’s interests been hurt?

    The curious position of the ACF has received backing from the Northern Senators Forum (NSF). Aside rejecting the CBN and FAAN relocation to Lagos, they argue the 2024 budget was not favourable to their region and threatened legal action to address their grievances.

    It is amusing that the legislators have just discovered that this year’s Appropriation Act doesn’t favour their region. It bears pointing out that all 58 of them participated in discussions that led to the passing of the budget in December 2023. Whether at committee level or as part of the whole house, they signed off on what was allocated.

    Are they now suggesting that someone cast a spell on them to pass a spending plan that doesn’t favour their region? As willing participants in this legislative equivalent of scoring an own goal they have no one else to blame but themselves.

    In trying to inflame passions or bully the rest of the country, the ACF, NSF and their co-travellers want to start something they cannot finish. Every section of the country can play the game of threats and bluff. But before going further they should spend quality time reading the constitution.

    Rather than wasting their days on mischief, there’s so much they can do to better the lot of their people. They can throw their collective energies into reducing the number of out-of-school children, synergise to get more people back to farms, improve access to healthcare and attack widespread poverty in their region.

    Their parochial agitation is a distraction the country doesn’t need at this time. I understand that individuals may be aggrieved over loss of privileges and access. Yet, in all their scheming they can never get to the point of convincing majority of Nigerians that what they define as their regional interest is superior to our overall national interest.

  • ‘Focus on council development for sustainable national growth’

    ‘Focus on council development for sustainable national growth’

    The Federal Government has been urged to shift attention to empowering the local government system and operations, to ensure sustainable national development goals.

    The Director-General of the UK-based Diaspora Grassroots for Better Governance in Nigeria, Mr. Ade Adeshina, made the call on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    He said the primary purpose of the government, after ensuring the safety of life and property, was to guarantee improved conditions of the citizens wherever they live in the country.

    According to him, many Local Government Areas (LGAs) have not witnessed the dividends of democracy.

    He noted that rural communities had suffered the most due to poor governance.

     “Simple road networks cannot be built to required standards.

    “Local government council officials lack required scrutiny and, are in most cases, incapable of managing public pulse.

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     “Given Nigeria’s abundant natural and human resources, the current state of development is a source of concern.

    “We must heed the words of former Premier of the defunct Western Region, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, who said that Nigeria should not be a poor nation given its vast resources,” Adeshina said.

    Adeshina added that the removal of fuel subsidies and the resulting high inflation rate had exacerbated the challenges faced by ordinary Nigerians.

     Similarly, he noted that the exchange rate of one dollar for N1,040 in the parallel market, as at October 12,  had also compounded the issue.

        To address these challenges and set Nigeria on a path to sustainable growth, Adeshina said the federal government must focus on infrastructure development across the 774 LGAs.

    He added that the President Bola Tinubu-led administration must reform the civil service to make every officer accountable for his actions and omissions.

    “The transition from a production-oriented economy, as our founders envisioned, to a consumption-based economy in the 1970s has hindered our progress.

    “We must return to a production-oriented path, growing and producing what we need locally and embracing our home-grown products.

    “This approach will reduce the demand for foreign currencies and make our Naira attractive to foreign investors,” he said.

    According to him, central to this transformation is the need for robust infrastructure development.

    He called for a standardised road and rail network to open up rural communities for business to enable economic inclusion.

    “The deplorable state of infrastructure across the 774 LGAs has hindered progress and economic growth. Basic road infrastructure and modern transport systems are essential to alleviate the challenges faced by our densely populated cities and to attract investment to rural areas,” he said.

    Adeshina, who is also the Director General of Bola Tinubu Support Organisation, UK branch (BTSO-UK), noted that with improved infrastructure, agricultural products would no longer go to waste due to bad roads.

     According to him, this will attract firms to set up production facilities, boost the economy, and provide employment opportunities.

    The D-G said the focus on LGAs was pivotal as it was at the grassroots level that the country could begin the restoration of its glory.

        “We must empower and hold local governments accountable for creating an enabling environment for investors and fostering development.

        “The restructuring of the civil service at all level of governance is equally vital,” he said.

        Adeshina explained that civil servants played a pivotal role in policy implementation, and their efficiency was paramount to achieving the goals of the Tinubu’s administration.

        “Restoring Nigeria’s glory and rescuing its citizens from hopelessness requires practical steps. It demands more than empty promises.

        “It necessitates the eradication of corruption, a commitment to grassroots governance, investment in infrastructure, and civil service reform.

        “Nigerians deserve a better future, and it is our collective responsibility to build the Nigeria of our dreams,”Adeshina said.

        He called on the Tinubu-led administration to focus on substantial infrastructure development, stressing that it was time for action.

  • Powering our national priorities

    Powering our national priorities

    • By Samuel Akinnuga

    I wish to begin by making brief comments on two developments on the international scene that have generated widespread reactions and major concerns. First, we go to China. The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has now been on for ten years. As a strategic platform of influence, with the promise of addressing critical infrastructure gaps, the initiative has deepened China’s relevance and leverage in the beneficiary countries, particularly in Africa. The infrastructure projects in Nigeria, courtesy of the BRI, are numerous, viz: the Abuja-Kaduna railway (the first of the standard gauge standard railway modernisation projects in Nigeria), the first phase of the metro line project in Lagos, amongst others.

    In other countries on the continent and elsewhere, they have built roads and bridges, built high-speed railways and financed energy projects. As China gets more involved in the economies of these countries, the point needs to be made: it is not charity. It’s all in the advancement of its national interest. As such, countries like Nigeria need to interrogate these ‘gestures’ within the larger context of our mid to long-term national imperatives. I would like to believe that those who can, by virtue of their current national assignment, are thinking about this.

    Next, we go to the Middle East. Last Saturday’s attack and the ongoing war has again drawn the world’s attention to the perennial contention between Hamas and Israel. The human costs on both sides are needless. To my mind, a legacy of war cannot be what we bequeath to the generation coming behind. How about a legacy of peace for a change! This is not the time to take sides with this or that country, it is the time to take sides with truth, justice and whatever is in the interest of enduring peace in that region. If the two-state solution would help achieve this, then why not!

    Back at home, we have more than enough on our plate.

    In my conversations with colleagues and associates, I often consider how our domestic drama strengthens or weakens our claim to leadership on the continent. We are a beautiful country with a potential for great things, and like many Nigerians, I want to see this country prosper and matter but I am under no illusion. It is still a long way to that utopia. The reality is: relevance is a function of might, be it technological, economic, military, or cultural. We don’t particularly lead in any at the moment. Within reasonable timelines, we can make significant improvements in at least two areas: cultural and technological, depending on our priorities. The interesting thing is that the strengths in these areas can offset the weaknesses in the others. What single asset would drive success in these areas? Simple, an education approach that is reflective of the times.

    Some months ago, when the University of Lagos increased its fees for reasons the management explained was “in view of the prevailing economic realities and the need for the university to be able to meet its obligation to its students, staff and municipal service providers among others’’, I predicted that the same reason would be advanced by other institutions that were waiting in line to make similar announcements. There is no denying it: the reason is quite valid. The times are tough. Headline inflation, as of the last official inflation date released by the National Bureau of Statistics in September, is at 25.8% (the highest in the same period since 2005). According to the same report, food inflation rose to 29.34%. I submit these numbers to reiterate the tough realities for everyday Nigerians. People are literally seeing ‘shege’ just to get by.

    I recall an interview from two months ago where Professor David Aworawo, Head of Department, History and Strategic Studies at the University of Lagos, disclosed that he had signed deferment forms for 12 students in his department who could not pay N19,000. In view of the increased fees, it is likely that many returning students would not return and many of those who gained admission to start their first academic year this September may not even bother. We ought to do something about this. I digress.

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     Today, many of our students (and graduates) are finding a way in content creation. They are proud to identify themselves as ‘Influencers’ even though some go to ridiculous lengths to make a point. At least they earn decently from these efforts, some would say. This is not to say that we don’t have some outstanding ones. We do. A good number are also considering new careers in tech-based careers as data scientists, software engineers, front-end/back-end developers, UI/UX designers, and so on. They see that tech is the new oilfield. There are decent opportunities in tech and I encourage more young people to pursue careers in this area.

    A more strategic approach to education at all levels is key to everything we aspire to be. Our current approach will take us nowhere. We have become a country obsessed with simply producing graduates. Here, everyone wants to be a graduate, including those who, by their conduct in society, are not better off than those whose formal education ended at the primary level. It is clear that many are not fit to go through the rigours of academic life at that level. 

    Being a ‘graduate’ here is a big achievement. Well, it should be on some level, but we ought to know better from our collective experience that simply producing graduates is not the ultimate. Thousands of graduates cannot find work for their able hands due to several reasons. Here, we talk of unemployment, then underemployment and then unemployability.

    My point is: simply producing graduates cannot be the goal. Every ‘graduate’ should be seen as a national asset, with a unique contribution to national development. In this regard, their training should be taken much more seriously. We need to institutionalise an arrangement where our best and brightest are identified early on in their educational journey, and are encouraged to pursue careers in Sports and the Arts, STEM-related disciplines, and also those we need to prepare for careers in public service. My recommendation is that this arrangement should be made in line with the specific areas in which we intend to set a pace in the world.

    Planning and achieving global relevance is possible. It is hard work, yes. But it is a worthy pursuit. Any serious leadership prospect for us depends on it. Rome was not built in a day but our own ‘Rome’ should not take forever.

  • National Light dims…

    National Light dims…

    On July 21, Anambra State government has confirmed the ‘winding up’ of Anambra Newspapers and Printing Corporation (ANPC), publisher of The National Light Newspaper, via four-paragraph letter with the ref. no. ‘ANS/SSG/SSD/136/T.1/146’.

    It brought to an end the rumours that had been circulating for months about the closure.

    About 200 staff members of the Anambra State government-owned newspaper National Light are affected by the closure. It was learnt that most of the affected journalists have been redeployed to MDAs. .

    It was reported that Governor Charles Soludo told members of the State Executive Council (SEC) during their last meeting at the Government House, Awka, that the newspaper company was not adding any value to the government and the economy of the state, and, therefore, it had to be scrapped.

    The letter, which contained the reasons for the closure reads:

    •Sequel to ANSEC decision on 1 February, 2023 and confirmed on 8 February, 2023 to wind up the activities of the Anambra Newspapers and Printing Corporation (ANPC), I write to inform you that the Corporation now ceases to exist and should wind down all its activities.

    •This decision of ANSEC is based on the fact that the Corporation has become moribund, economically unviable and no longer fit for purpose.

    •The Head of Service will take other establishment measures as it relates to the staff and assets of your organisation for their proper disengagement and documentation.

    •Accept my warmest regards.”

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    There were speculations that the grounds of the newspaper may be converted into an amusement park.

    Questions being asked by stakeholders are: Before the final decision how did the state explore options to address the financial challenges faced by the institution? Were the paper’s problems irredeemable? And was the shutting down and the redeploying of staff truly the best and most viable alternative?

    The National Light was a beacon of intellectualism and a voice of the people for over 30 years, weathering storms and providing valuable insights to the citizens.

    With the coming of this last management led by Nnabuife, the paper introduced new sections for its readers. They included the Igbo language paper, Ka Ì DË Taa, and the colourful SportLightXtra, and the effective presence on the social media platforms.

    In particular, Ka Ì DË Taa, which is the only Igbo language newspaper in the world today, has contributed immensely in the preservation and promotion of the Igbo cultural values and heritage in every sense as could be seen in the number of national and international awards and national recognitions won by the newspaper.

  • National grid collapses again, drops to 42.7MW

    National grid collapses again, drops to 42.7MW

    The national grid again collapsed yesterday, the second time in a week.

    Power output fell from a peak of 3,594.60 megawatts (MW) at midnight to a mere 42.7MW.

    At noon, only the Delta Power plant had 41.00 MW of operational power on the grid, while Afam had 1.7 MW.

    The commercial hub of Lagos lost power supply from the grid. There were indications that the country subsequently suffered a national system collapse.

    This is the third collapse in less than a month that the national grid has collapsed, and it comes barely five days after the grid collapsed twice within a space of more than 12 hours.

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    The collapse of the national grid has resulted in a nationwide blackout, with many Nigerians without electricity.

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has not yet released a statement on the cause of the collapse. Still, it is likely due to inadequate infrastructure, gas supply problems, and transmission system constraints.

    Analysts believed the collapse of the national grid was a significant setback for Nigeria’s economy and development.

    Due to power outages, Nigeria is estimated to lose billions of dollars each year. The outages also harm the quality of life of Nigerians, making it difficult for people to work, study, and run their businesses.

  • Pre-trial at national, state assemblies’ tribunal begins

    The National and House of Assembly Election Petitions Tribunal began sitting yesterday in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.

    At the inaugural sitting, tribunal Chairman Justice A. A. Adeleye assured lawyers and petitioners that the law would take its course.

    Justice Adeleye will sit with Justice C. M. Ken-Eze and Justice A. A. Mamadi.

    First on the list of petitions that are due for pre-trial conference was filed by defeated All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate for Benue Northeast, Mrs. Mimi Adzape-Orubibi against Dr. Gabriel Suswam, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    Mrs Adzape-Orubibi is challenging the return of Suswam as Benue Northeast senator.

    But the pre-trial could not go on because several processes (or applications), according to Andrew Wombo, who appeared for the senator-elect, needed to be responded to.

    Some of the processes were served yesterday. The tribunal chairman adjourned till May 9 for pre-trial conference.

    The second on the list is the suit filed by defeated PDP House of Representatives member for Obi/Oju Federal Constituency, Samson Okwu, against the election of David Ogewu of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

    Okwu’s lead counsel Kenneth Ikonne drew the attention of the tribunal to Paragraph 18 (1) of the practice direction which provides that pre-trial comes only after final reply.

    In the circumstance, he said, the pre-trial could not go on.

    Mrs N. L. Ikyaagba, who appeared for Ogewu, agreed to come before the tribunal on a later date to do the needful.

    The matter was adjourned till May 16 for the pre-trial conference.

    Ikonne told reporters after the sitting that there was an electoral miscarriage in the Oju/Obi Federal Constituency election. He expressed optimism that justice would be served at the tribunal.

     

  • National carrier Nigeria Air unveiled in London

    THE Federal Government has unveiled the name and livery for the national carrier that would be launched at the end of this year.

    Minister of State for Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika unveiled the airline’s name, “Nigeria Air”, at the Farnborough Airshow in London, United Kingdom, yesterday.

    The event was attended by stakeholders, aircraft manufacturers, prospective investors and Nigerian government delegation, including the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Transportation, Sabiu Zakari.

    Others, who were in attendance,  include Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation Senator Adamu Aliero and Chairperson, House Committee on Aviation Nkeiruka Onyejeocha.

    According to a statement by the ministry’s Deputy Director, Media and Public Affairs, James Odaudu, the government came up with the name after it engaged over 400,000 people on social media.

    Sirika, who spoke after the unveiling, said: “I am very pleased to tell you that we are finally on track to launching a new national flag carrier for our country, Nigeria Air.

    He said: “We are all fully committed to fulfilling the campaign promise made by our President, Muhammadu Buhari, in 2015.  We are aiming to launch Nigeria Air by the end of this year.

    “I want to personally thank our transaction advisers, led by AMG, and the special Task Force, who have worked diligently to achieve the results so far and overcome the challenges involved.

    “We obtained the certificate of compliance from the Nigerian Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) two weeks ago and can now go into the investor search. I am confident that we will have a well-run national flag carrier, a global player, compliant to international safety standards, one which has the customer at its heart.

    “We hope to establish an airline that communicates the essence of our beautiful country, an airline we can all be proud of.”

    On how they came up with the name and livery for the carrier, the minister said: “Following extensive market research, the branding of our new airline, Nigeria Air, demonstrates a true flag carrier of our nation, soaring through the skies in the shape of our nation’s eagle.

    “The branding and naming of the new national carrier comes on the back of a social media campaign undertaken under the auspices of the Ministry of Transportation (Aviation), which invited Nigerian youth and students for their input and creativity to come up with a name for the new Nigerian flag carrier.

    “The Facebook page and websitenameyourairlinenigeria engaged over 400,000 people up until the deadline for submissions, which was June 25, 2018.

    “In addition, detailed and extensive market research was commissioned by the Ministry of Transportation (Aviation), which involved focus groups across Nigeria and over 100 interviews with aviation stakeholders and professionals, politicians, Nigerian business owners, students and a broad spectrum of people across Nigeria.”

    He said the research concluded that Nigeria is a proud nation with diverse populace, a strong cultural heritage and a people that are hungry for a unifying national flag carrier.