The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Nigeria newspaper

  • ‘Rise in income, others’ll grow insurance industry’

    The rise in disposable income, digitalisation and automation of insurance services will enable the insurance industry to achieve increased profitability and market penetration, Nigeria Insurers Association (NIA) has said.

    Its Chairman, Mr. Tope Smart, who spoke to reporters in Lagos, also said a growing middle class, better adherence to guidelines by market players and innovative service delivery would accelerate the growth of the industry.

    He said a well-developed and vibrant insurance market is a catalyst for growth. He said it provides good mechanism for accumulating long-term funds for infrastructural financing, sustainability for business models, job creation, and an improved standard of living.

    The drive for reforms in the insurance sector, according to him, is geared towards unlocking its inherent but untapped potential as encapsulated in EFInA market survey report, which revealed only 1.9 per cent out of 96.4 million adult Nigerian of 18 years and above have insurance in the 2017 accounting year.

    He however said the industry is set to reap the benefits of opportunities and potential in the economic recovery occasioned by improving crude oil prices and output level stability, improving foreign reserve and declining inflation in the coming years.

    He said: “In line with the Federal Government’s decision to focus more attention on the insurance industry and to reposition it for improved growth, the regulator came up with a number of market transformation agenda. These initiatives include the new pricing regime on compulsory insurance, Revised Guidelines while there are discussions on RBS- Risk Based on Micro Insurance, Supervision.”

  • Aircraft seating market to hit $25b

    The aircraft seating market is predicted to increase from $18 billion to over $25 billion in the next seven years, according to the Global Insights report.

    The projected hike is predicated on increasing aircraft demand as well as rising air passenger traffic across the globe expected to drive the market.

    Statistics from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects 7.8 billion passengers to travel in 2036.

    The projected growth, IATA insists will require partnerships to be strengthened among  aviation industry players, aircraft manufacturers, aircraft seat designers , communities and governments to expand and modernise infrastructure.

    To attain the projected figures  airliners are upgrading their aircraft fleet and introducing new routes to cater to  leisure and corporate travellers. North America aircraft seating market, investigations reveal will showcase significant growth over the forecast time frame owing to the high concentration of aircraft manufacturers across the region.

  • U.S. court rules in NNPC’s favour in $2.7b suit

    The United States Southern District Court of New York has delivered a significant judgment in favour of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) against ESSO Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited and Shell Nigerian Exploration and Production Company Limited (collectively, ESSO).

    The court hearing was held on February 1, this year in the protracted litigation arising from the disputes between NNPC and ESSO regarding the implementation of the Production Sharing Contract dated May 21, 1993 covering OPL 209/OML 133. ESSO referred its claims to arbitration in Nigeria and obtained an Arbitral Award of $1.799 billion on October 24, 2011, with yearly interest running at LIBOR plus four per cent.

    NNPC promptly challenged the Award at the Federal High Court, Abuja, which in May 2012, ordered the set aside of the Arbitral Award.  Notwithstanding the decision of the Nigerian Court, ESSO applied to the United States District Court, Southern District of New York for the recognition and enforcement of the Arbitral Award.

    NNPC challenged ESSO’s application on ground that there was no award, which the U.S court could enforce as a competent court in Nigeria had since set aside the award.

    NNPC also contended that there was no legal basis for the U.S court to exercise jurisdiction over it as it had no presence in the United States, owned no property and does not conduct its businesses therein.

    ESSO contended that NNPC is the alter ego of the Federal Government of Nigeria, owned assets in the U.S including bank accounts and also conducts businesses in the U.S.

    Esso obtained the leave of Court to conduct Jurisdictional Discovery to ascertain if the U.S court can assert personal jurisdiction over NNPC.

    At the close of the Discovery Procedure, the Court ordered NNPC and ESSO to appear for oral hearing, which was held before Honourable Judge W. H. Pauley on February 1, 2019, for parties to canvass their respective positions.

    On September 4, this year, the US Court delivered its Judgment by which it upheld the Corporation’s Application to Dismiss ESSO’s Enforcement Application on ground that a competent Nigerian Court had set aside the underlying Award and directed the Clerk of the Court to terminate and discontinue all motions and processes filed by ESSO in this matter.

    By this development, NNPC has successfully secured the dismissal of ESSO’s application to secure recognition and enforcement of its Arbitral Award valued in excess of $2,699,405,616 plus interest.

    The effect is that ESSO, who had sought the Order of the US Court to enforce the said Award, has lost the right. While ESSO is at liberty to appeal this decision, NNPC is optimistic that its case on appeal is very strong.

    This is a significant decision in the history of this case as the US Court has not only discharged NNPC from any indebtedness to ESSO but also set the stage for NNPC’s pursuit of the challenge of three other outstanding Enforcement Applications filed in the US Court by other PSC Contractors.

    Also, this decision of the US Court would lend weight to the effort of NNPC and the PSC Contractors to explore amicable resolution of the underlying PSC disputes.

    NNPC was represented by the US law firm of Messrs. Chaffetz Lindsey LLP, and Nigerian law firm of Messrs. Streamsowers & Kohn

     

  • ‘World Bank, others’ $1.66b for facility upgrade, others’

    The Managing Director, Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), Usman Gur Mohammed, has said part of the $1.66billion secured from the World Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is being used to develop and upgrade facilities within the Lagos-Ogun states axis.

    He said the cash is the highest grant that has ever been received in the power sector. Giving a breakdown of the receipts, he said: “We have raised $1.661 billion so far for investment in transmission and we are putting it across the country.

    “Under that project, we have raised $460 million from the World Bank, $500 million from Agence Francaise de Development (AFD), $410 million from African Development Bank (AfDB), $238 million from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). “We also got 25 million Euros from the European Union, $13 million from JICA and another $21 million from JICA.”

    The TCN chief said the company has been using part of the fund to carry out interventions in transmission arm of the power value chain across the country. He said one of such interventions is within Lagos and Ogun states, which are the nation’s industrial hub.

    Mohammed said: “One of the interventions is the Lagos/Ogun Transmission Project. That project is putting power at the heart of industrial base of Nigeria, which is the side between Ogun and Lagos. This is where we have most of the industries that are feeding the industrial base of Nigeria.

    “Within this region we are putting four 330kv substations and those substations are located at Ogijo, Mountain of Fire, New Agbara and Aribajo. There is another 132kv substation we are doing behind Redeem and another one at Badagry.

    “These projects designs have been completed and payment of compensation for right of way has been determined with Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) for certification. The final mission will take place in October and we will launch the procurement for the project.

    “That project is financed by JICA. Under the network also, we have the fund that is coming from the World Bank. That aspect coming from the World Bank will intervene in existing substation including those around Ogun State.

    “That project will rehabilitate all the existing substations in Lagos. We will upgrade those in Lekki, Alagbon by 100 per cent. We will also look at the additional requirements of other substations in Ogun State.”

    He said with the fund, the firm has raised the capacity of transmission from 5000 megawatts (Mw) to 8100Mw at the last simulation done in December last year. “Since then we have been adding capacity including those from the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC),” he said.

  • Traffic throes

    It’s quite an armada of traffic controllers and law enforcement agencies, within a 1.4 km stretch, from the popular Berger Bus Stop in Lagos; to the Kara Cattle Market, in Ogun, at the Lagos end of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    The Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) has deployed 480 troopers, excluding divers in the worst-case scenario of vehicles plunging down the river below, as a result of avoidable crashes. These FRSC (wo)men would be joined by officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), to man the Lagos end; and Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE), its Ogun State counterpart, to man the Ogun end, of the construction stretch.

    Aside from these traffic agencies, the police would also be on hand to tackle any putative criminal hustler, who may have pencilled down motorists in the crawling traffic, as crime growth area, during the construction period.

    Clement Oladele, FRSC Ogun Sector Commander, assured there would be no traffic meltdown, if motorists followed instructions, given by bold signage; and also obey simple traffic rules: “Motorists should follow instructions and drive cautiously… Most of the road crashes in Ogun happen around diversion and construction areas. People,” he added, “shouldn’t drive beyond 50 kilometres per hour, no matter the time of the day.”

    Hyginus Omeje, FRSC’s Lagos Sector Commander, also said its officers and men for the operation were being camped at the Ojodu, Lagos, FRSC facility, near enough to the construction site; and are expected to do two shifts daily, so that they can remain fresh and attentive. “They won’t be on duty at once,” he explained, “they will be working on shifts for the period the construction will last. We are aware of how critical that portion of the road is and we don’t want any traffic to get out of control.”

    So far, there has been no report of traffic getting “out of control”, even if travellers have had to add some two hours to their travel time, while navigating that short stretch, with its humongous traffic. There is no serious report too, of flaring crime rate in the area, even if it is too early in the day to make any definite conclusion. Therefore, it is only fair to commend all the traffic and security agencies involved in that corridor, for a job well done – at least so far.

    Also, from casual assessment, the contractor, Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, appears very serious, by its level and scale of mobilisation to the site. It should follow that up by doing a good job; and matching speed with quality, so that the job is well done, once and for all. Speed is imperative, so that the work is completed by early December, time enough for the road to face the December travel rush. Quality is no less important to ensure people are not subjected to similar near-shutdowns, anytime in the near-future.

    Still, all these snarls would have been avoided with more careful planning; and with less willful neglect, of vital public facilities. It is scandalous that despite the neglect of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway itself, by successive governments, other alternative routes are also in pitiable conditions. That sorry story of neglect and the present traffic pain of fixing that misdeed, epitomise governance over the years in the country.

    That is why everyone must ensure this is a turning point. Henceforth, let there be a departure from the ruinous past that has birthed this paralytic present. Let the authorities plan well and give adequate attention to both the expressway and the alternative arteries. We hope too that the contractor handling the standard gauge railway from Lagos to Ibadan would also keep to the December, 2019 deadline. If this had been ready, many people would have opted for rail travel, at least during this time when the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is being fixed, thereby reducing vehicular traffic on the road. That is the only way to maintain sanity and least disruptions, even if there is need to carry out major reconstructions on our major roads.

  • Unbearable albatross

    For how long will the Federal Government continue to put up with the fuel subsidy albatross? Again, we are forced to ask in the light of the most recent report from the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) showing that the corporation spent a whopping N650.2bn to maintain the price of petrol at N145/litre for the 12-month period spanning April 2018 to March 2019. Going by the National Bureau of Statistics’ (NBS) figures already showing a surge in the volume of petrol imported by 15.2 per cent in the second quarter of the current year, there’s no telling at this time where things might yet end.

    Clearly, if we had expected much from the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari which rode into office with a pledge to make a difference, the result has been most disappointing, as previous governments’. Interestingly, the administration started on the note of denial only to be forced to hike the price of petrol from N87 to N145 (66.67%) few days into its first anniversary when the reality of the subsidy dawned. Unfortunately, if Nigerians expected robust, clear-headed and far-sighted policies as reward for the unprecedented understanding which they showed at the time, what they had instead was a relapse to the same old dithering and inaction as we had with the administrations before it.

    Aside the situation in which the minister would be at odds with his principal on the issue of refineries, Nigerians had to endure the shifty debate on whether to call the differential between the cost price and the price at the pump more appropriately ‘subsidy’ for the purpose of legislative appropriation or ‘under-recovery’ – under which the NNPC conveniently passes off the quantum expenditure as ‘operating costs’.

    One of the wages of that legendary dithering is the current situation in which the country’s four ailing refineries could neither be sold to interested investors as many have canvassed nor revamped to mitigate the problem occasioned by the mindless fuel importation, even when the government insists on holding on to it. The other is the unacceptably huge bill being borne under the regime of importation.

    At this time, Nigerians can do without the perennial lectures on how the pump price of petrol will necessarily move in tandem with the price of crude in the international market. Or the equally nauseating argument about the vast price differentials between the local pump price of fuel and those of our neighbours, and how this contributes to smuggling and the nation’s inability to determine how much fuel it consumes. These are, if we daresay, rather superficial arguments that have flown forth and back in the last two decades. This is even more so as these gloss over the fundamental question of why a leading oil producer like Nigeria would tread the current ruinous path in which some 40 per cent of its earnings from oil will go into importing refined petroleum products.

    To this newspaper, the only thing worse is that an administration that professes change is yet to demonstrate in practical terms that it understands the nature of the emergency posed by the fuel import challenge, let alone moving to confront it.

    As it is, the easy way out is to do away with the subsidy or the so-called under recovery as suggested by the chair of Nigerian Governors Forum in the body’s meeting with the new Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Mele Kyari, in July. Without any question, the subsidy is an unacceptable drain on the nation’s resources, particularly when considered against the fact that the 2018 capital budgets for the power, works and housing is N555.88 billion, transportation – N263.10 billion, education N61.73 billion, and health N71.11 billion; in fact, there is a sense in which the N650.2bn to subsidise petrol alone could be deemed a gross misapplication of funds.

    A way to go is for the government to initiate a programme of phased removal to mitigate potential shocks to the economy. That way, new entrants coming into the refining business wouldn’t have to squabble over pricing issues as they would have had to do under a regulated regime.

  • Challenges before Lagos commissioners, special advisers

    Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has hit the ground running, following his swearing-in on May 29. With the appointment of commissioners and special advisers, Lagosians expect him to increase the tempo of performance. Deputy Editor (Daily) EMMANUEL OLADESU examines the challenges before the new State Executive Council.

    Much is expected from the commissioners and special advisers recently sworn-in by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

    The State Executive Council is inheriting many challenges. Many of these problems were highlighted by Sanwo-Olu’s predecessors, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), Minister of Works and Housing, and Asiwaju Bola Tinibu, National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

    At the retreat for the appointees, Fashola stressed the value of hardwork. Prayer, he said, may not be enough to achieve success. The former governor advised the commissioners and special advisers to seek knowledge, read more and work hard.

    Tinubu, whose progressive administration laid the foundation for a modern Lagos in 1999, observed that the members of the new team were fortunate to have been selected in a state of almost 18 million people. He urged them to justify the confidence reposed in them. Tibunu emphasissed that they can live to expectation, if they exhibit great character. In his view, talent and endowment without character are vanity.

    After the retreat, Information and Strategy Commissioner Gbenga Omotoso said the members of  the council were now fully equipped to confront the challenges of respositioning Lagos.

    Lagos is different from other states. It is the economic hub and commercial capital of Nigeria. The exact population is unknown. There is disparity between the Federal Government and state’s claim. But, the reality of population explosion is often acknowledged.

    As the biggest state in the country, Lagos is a mini-Nigeria shouldering enormous national, sub-regional and continental responsibilities. There is no family in Nigeria that does not have a representative in Lagos.

    Due to the influx of people from across the federation, there is pressure on the social infrastructure-schools, hospitals and roads. Many youths-graduates and non-graduates alike-’migrate’ to the city-state in search of real and imagined green pastures. Over 75 per cent of the total Value Added Tax (VAT) is derived from Lagos. No return is made to the state.

    Despite its strategic position, and the responsibilities it shoulders, Lagos is ‘marginalised’. The clamour for special status or special economic assistance for Lagos has often fallen on deaf ears. The Federal Government is aloof to the calls.

    Although Lagos has been a reference point in the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) drive, there is still gap between expectation and reality. Lagos is remarkable for tax evation by individuals, companies and institutions.

    Although some have argued that the state can survived by the grace of IGR, the infrastructural challenges across the five divisions, three senatorial districts and 57 councils suggest that the state needs help.

    Many Lagosians have highlighted the areas that need urgent intervention. These include security, transportation, roads, environment, education, health and social welfare.

    Sanwo-Olu, an experienced administrator and former Commissioner, was sensitive to these yearnings right from the governorship campaigns when he traverssed the nooks and crannies of the state.

    Thus, during his inauguration, he unfolded a problem-solving agenda: THEMES in his speech titled: “Awakening a greater Lagos. It encompasses Traffic Management and Transportation, Health and Environment, Education and Technology, Making Lagos a 21st Century Economy, Entertainment and Tourism, and Security and Governance.

    The six pillars were derived from the famous ‘Lagos Blue Print for Development,’ which was the bedrock of the successful Tinubu and Fashola administrations.

    The need to consolidate on these achievements made Sanwo-Olu to set up a cabinet of talents, reminisent of the two dispensations.

    Sanwo-Olu has inherited the burden of govering a highly sensitive, diverse and cosmopolitan state, and the media headquarters of Nigeria. The onus is on the governor to always reflect the dynamism in his focus and priorities. He should be able to relate well with the stakeholders.

    The governor should demonstrate courage. Many people expect him to complete the projects left behind by his predecessor, Akinwunmi Ambode. He has promised to do so. Besides, the searchlight is being beamed on Lagos debt profile, with a view to reducing it to the bearest minimum. He should take action.

    The critical  ministries are being supervised by competent professionals who have experienced and track record of performance in their fields and public service.

    Eyes are on Transport Commissioner Dr. Fredrick Oladehinde and Special Adviser Toyin Fayinka. On their palms is the ‘Roadmap for Transportation policy’, which should be implemented to resolve the traffic snarl and enhance the “ease of movement.” The last four years were remarkable for chaos in the sector. Former Transport Commissioner Kayode Opeifa described the preceeding years as a period of disaster when solutions preffered were groosly inadequate.

    Many stakeholders have pleaded with the government to increase the BRT Buses plying the various routes. It is evident that Sanwo-Olu has started motivating the Lagos State Transport Agency (LASTA) to be more patriotic and efficient in the discharge of their duties. This should be sustained.

    Since potholes are also responsible for the traffic snarl in many locations, it is expected that the filling of the potholes will reduce the tension on the roads.

    A lawyer, Monday Ubani, said Sanwo-Olu should fight the infrastructure battle. In his view, the Ministry of Transport and Ministry of Works should work together.

    “The roads are terribly bad. We usually have hold-up, and it has become worsened by the day. Sometimes, you are in it for three, four hours. Lagos occupies a pivotal place in the economic life of Nigeria. Appointments are cancelled because you cannot meet them because of the terrible situation. This affects businesses.”

    Ubani urged the governor to construct and rehabilitate more roads to make life easier for Lagosians. He said attention should also shift to inner roads and roads in the hinterlands outside the metropolis. In his view, Sanwo-Olu should borrow a leaf from Fashola’s style.

    He said: “The roads are terribly bad. Former Governor Fashola was using private contractors to do the inner roads. Now, they are not filling it the way it should be done. Sanwo-Olu should use Fashola’s method. He used private people and let government officials supervise.”

    Besides, the former Second National Vice-President of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) advised the governor to “do away with the real buses and okada and shift attention to the purchase of more BRT buses and the development of alternative means of transportation, including water transportation.”

    Ubani added: “Many roads are not tarred. The governor needs to do roads in the hinterland so that people can live in the ooutskirts. People can live far from their places of work, if there are good roads and effective means of transport.”

    To complement the efforts of the state governemnt, other stakeholders said the local governments should be strengthened to also do minor road construction in their localities.

    APC chieftain Isiaka Adekunle Ibrahim made three suggestions: “The state government should liase very well with the Federal Government to do the federal roads in Lagos. We have a hardworking governor and a Minister of Works and Housing who is from Lagos.

    “Governor Sanwo-Olu should come to the aid of Ikorodu, which is suffering from poor roads. He should look at Agric-Isawo Road, Igbogbo Road, Itamaga-Ijede Road. Many people are trooping into Ikorodu.

    “Also, Sanwo-Olu and Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun should cooperate and contruct the Agric, Ikorodu-Redeemed Camp Road. They both belong to APC.”

    Echoing Ubani, Ibrahim, a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, said: “The governor should restore discipline to Lagos roads by banning the motorcycles (okada) and tricycles (Maruwa) from major roads.”

    He added: “He may turn to other sectors like education and health. But, his achievements in the area of road construction will be too visible. The on-going and abandoned road projects should be completed.”

    Another critical sector is the environment. Lagos is fortunate to have a tested administrator, Commissioner Tunji Bello, at the helm of affairs at the Ministry. He is ably supported by Comrade Joe Igbokwe, an engineer and Special Adviser on Drainages.

    The heaps of refuse were the legacies of Ambode in the Centre of Excellence. Many Lagosians were taken aback by hiccup in refuse disposal, which has aggraverted the challenge of environmental sanitation.

    Today, Lagos is back to the pre-1999 period. Drainages are blocked. Major roads and streets are littered with wastes. Unless these problems are urgently tackled, they may compound the problem of flooding in many parts of the state.

    “Can Lagos be clean again? It was clean before. That was when Tunji Bello was commissioner. He is back to the unfinished business. Speed is required. I believe that the commissioner and Igbokwe will make impact,” said Ibrahim.

    Education and health are also critical. Despite government’s efforts, there is still congestion in many public schools. The learning environment should be improved upon. New settlements require new primary and secondary schools to prevent the stress of trecking to distant schools by pupils from low socio-economic homes.

    Government has tried to upgrade General Hospitals. But, investigation has revealed that Lagos needs more primary health centres, especially at the grassroots. Medical personel should demonstrate patriotism.

    On security, Ubani said: “Sanwo-Olu should build on the feats of his predecessors.” Also, Ibrahim said: “If Lagos is unsafe, it will spell down for the Nigerian economy. So, the governor should continue to make security a priority.

    The APC chairman, Tunde Balogun, said the party will always monitor the government to ensure compliance with the developmental agenda.

    Omotoso said the new commissioners are up to the task. “Lagosians are going to see a lot of actions from this government because everything tha thas been planned will not be put into action.”

    He added: “ We are fully armed and fully energised and we are going to go into action and Lagosians will see a good, better and greater Lagos, the Lagos that we all have been dreaming of, that will be the pride of everybody.

     

  • Glorious hour of Brexit

    Three years ago, with the referendum of June 23, 2016, the British people decided with a percentage of almost 52% and with 71.8% participation, the exit of Great Britain from the European Union. This great result was undoubtedly the first major, painful defeat for the German-controlled European Union of banks and multinationals.

    However, the exit of Great Britain from the European Union, which was scheduled to take place on March 29, after exactly two years before had been activated by the article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon, which allows members- states to leave the union. Ultimately it did not happen because of a failure to reach an agreement with the Brussels establishment. And no agreement was reached because of the arrogant intransigence of the Brussels conclave, which is trying with abundant overweening efforts to humiliate Great Britain and thus use it as a scarecrow to other countries wishing to escape the German prison of the European Union.

    According to statements by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Brexit will happen definitively on October 31, either with an agreement or without an agreement. And this because an irregular Brexit is preferable to a bad deal that will obviously work against Great Britain and the British people. At the same time, this act of exit, which will liberate Great Britain from the shackles of the European Union, shows, on the one hand, full respect for the will of the British people and on the other hand conflicts with those who are trying in various ways to delay or even cancel the proud Brexit.

    It is more than certain that Brexit is not going to be the end of the world for Great Britain as it did not happen when it chose to stay out of the Eurozone. And, as eminent experts say, the British economy after a short problematic period will be significantly strengthened from a competitive point of view. So there is no doubt for any perspicacious observer and analyst that in the medium and long term, Great Britain, which will fully regain the ability to pursue national policy in all areas, will prosper out of an undemocratic and highly bureaucratic plan in which Germany has a dominant role.

    However, the supporters of the stay of Great Britain in the European Union essentially want the British people’s will to be annulled and the referendum thrown into the trash following the result of which did not cause any immediate economic crisis as they were warning. So they are constantly sowing terror, assuring that the consequences of Brexit without a deal will be nightmarish and chaotic, much worse than even Hitler’s bombs. So they are talking about developments and events that will even endanger the same the unity of the country, huge deficits in food, medicine and fuel that will lead the British to rush like the crazy people to supermarkets, gas stations and pharmacies, “blackout” at ports and airports of the country, destruction of British businesses, decisive blows to the exports and the financial sector, particularly negative impacts on the tourism industry that will transform travel plans millions of people in a hell of delays, cancellations and bureaucracy etc.

    But all this logically will not be the case because the government of Boris Johnson will take the appropriate measures with prudent and decisive action, drawing up a well-coordinated exit plan that will minimize any negative effects of Brexit. This is also confirmed by the statements made on August 1 by the Minister of Finance of Great Britain Sajid Javid: “Our economy is fundamentally strong, so today we can make many choices. We can choose to invest in schools, our hospitals, our excellent police for example, but we can also prepare to leave the EU and if that means leaving without an agreement then that’s exactly what we will do.”

    At the same time, Brexit will not only have negative impacts on Great Britain, but also on the European Union. Brexit undoubtedly threatens the unity of the union and creates an example of secession that other countries are likely to follow in the future (Domino Effect), while the lack of Britain financial contribution (around ten billion euros annually) will significantly affect the community budget. At the same time the Great Britain’s major trading partners (Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Belgium) will be significantly affected, while the European Union as a whole will cease to have the largest share of world GDP and be the largest trading power internationally, giving its position in the US and China.

    The blow for the European Union from Brexit, and indeed without an agreement, and given the USA’s solidarity that accompanies it and translates into a major privileged bilateral Great Britain-USA trade agreement, is much more than crucial and can prove fatal for European Union and the Eurozone, at a time when the latter is experiencing a prolonged economic and political crisis, which has been on the rise lately.

    So in the face of heightened power competition between world powers (US, China, Russia, EU) it is more than obvious that the Donald Trump government and the American deep state have decided to curb German influence in the area of the western camp and prevent decisively the enforcement of German wills in European space.

    Today’s vision against the rotten, totalitarian and highly neoliberal German European Union, which is the most failed experiment of economic and political union between different nation-states in history, can only be the equal co-operation of free European peoples and sovereign independent democratic countries from one end of Europe to the other.

    In closing, I would like to stress emphatically that any short-term negative effects of Brexit can in no way stand an insurmountable obstacle in the face of the will of the British people, who have been trained many centuries with the democratic traditions and with the precepts of freedom and independence, to liberate their country from the iron shackles of the European Union.

    • Karderinis a novelist and poet writes via skarderinis@hotmail.gr.

  • ‘Power should shift to South in 2023’

    Chief Chekwas Okorie is the National Chairman of the United Progressive Party (UPP). In this interview with MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE, he speaks on why the Southeast should produce the next president in 2023, how the Igbo will unite behind its candidate and other national issues.

    Your party adopted President Muhammadu Buhari during the recent presidential election. What is the party’s plan for the 2023 election?

    In August 2018, our party, the UPP, resolved to support President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2019 election. We made it clear that we were conscious of the fact that Nigeria has a conventional rotational arrangement in place. I call it conventional because there is no such arrangement in our constitution. Of course, the arrangement favoured the North. It means that the North will complete its two terms in 2023, following the re-election of President Buhari. Against this background, the UPP has zoned its presidential slot to the Southeast in 2023. We made a statement on it and addressed a conference to that effect. It was in our communiqué and was made public. Since President Buhari won the election, we have put in top gear every arrangement to ensure that the Southeast produces the President in 2023. Being a party with limited resources, there is need for wider political consultation and engagement, because it is a national project. We are working on the premise that the Southeast has never been given the opportunity to produce an elected president since independence. It should be noted that the region is a critical factor in the power equation. So, we are going to be working to ensure that whoever we bring out as the presidential candidate will meet the acceptance of the cross section of Nigeria. Consultation has begun, meetings are being held with critical stakeholders in various political parties and beyond. But, I can say that stakeholders in the North, the Southwest and the Southsouth are favourably disposed to the Igbo producing the President in 2023. We will deploy our political and diplomatic power for the engagement. It will be diplomatic in the sense that the cause is a cross country thing. Giving the presidency to the Southeast means the system is equitable, fair and balance. We do not want to believe that some group would have to threaten Nigeria before they are allowed to preside over Nigeria. Unfortunately, we are reminded of how Chief Moshood Abiola died in the circumstance that many people didn’t quite like. For instance, the Southwest reacted by coming up with the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) populated mostly by Yoruba. So, to appease the Yoruba, the military that handed power to civilians in 1999 manipulated the system to ensure only two presidential candidates from Southwest contested the 1999 election. In the Southsouth, the Niger Delta came up with its agitation which was more of militancy. This brought the economy to its kneels through vandalism and militancy. So, Jonathan Goodluck, who came on the saddle, was like an appeasement for the Southsouth. The Southeast has not resorted to such thing. We don’t believe that this is the only way a race that had been denied the opportunity to preside over the affairs of the country can access power. So, we are using political and diplomatic approaches to be able to get the support of Nigerians. The UPP has been positioned to anchor the project. The UPP is also amenable to a merger or political alliance. It does not have to be a UPP affair. If eventually the Igbo candidate runs on UPP platform, so well and good. Again, if the candidate is a product of a merger between UPP and other parties, it is also good.

    During the 2019 election, the Southeast was urged to wait till 2023. Do you think other zones would give the region the chance to produce the president in 2023?

    We are very much aware of this and what is playing out. The Atiku 2019 campaign was the highest impact he had made in his aspiration to become the President. Most of the votes came from the Igbo people, not just from the Southeast but across the country. This was first time an opposition party won the presidential election in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. It was because the Igbo people came out to vote for him. The understanding is geared toward 2023, when it will be the turn of the Igbo to produce the President. The Igbo showed their excitement, emotion and sentiments, following the nomination of Peter Obi as Atiku’s running mate. This is based on the understanding that it will be their turn in 2023. If you now turn around to decide that he is going to run again,  because he lost, I can tell you that it will be his worst political outing. I can tell you that not a single Igbo vote will go to him. I don’t equally see the Southsouth being available to him. I do not know where he will get the votes. He does not enjoy the followership that Buhari enjoys. Mind you, it took over three attempts before Buhari could make it. That is on one side. On the other side, I will also like to appeal to the Southwest to consider the fact that when Chief M.K.O Abiola contested, practically every Igbo all over the country voted for him. They did not care whether he was a Muslim or Christian¡ they believed he was the best qualified at that time. And considering that the Southwest enjoyed the Presidency under Obasanjo for eight years, I will appeal to them to support the Southeast for President. They should not think they are in any form of rivalry with the Southeast¡ that will not help our democracy. But, if they refuse, nobody will deny them the right to contest, because the constitution allows them the right to aspire to any office in the country. But,  they should be mindful of the fact that Yoruba votes alone cannot give them the presidency, because we have Igbo people living there in Southwest. They should be able to look into all that; we shall approach them and see how much cooperation that we can get. I don’t see any person in Yoruba land today that can equal Awolowo by 30 to 50 per cent in terms of followership. But, he still did not win the Presidency, because he relied entirely on the votes of his people. Not that they don’t have the numbers, but they are confined to one geo-political zone. In the case of Igbo people, they are spread across the country and all that it needs is mobilization and sensitisation.

    The Igbo have never been united when it comes to producing a consensus candidate. How are you going to address this?

    This would not be difficult to address. This is because of their republican nature. Everybody seems to be a king and perhaps this is a small enclave. When a major issue emerges, honestly everybody will rally together. It happened times without number in the past.  People will fall in line. This will be achieved through the UPP platform. Our people say you have to secure the floor first before you can lay your mat on it. If there is no floor, you end up carrying your mat on your head. The floor here is the political party and that is why I say the UPP is anchoring it and it is open to the idea of mergers with other parties. When that is done, the issue of who becomes the candidate from the Southeast will no longer be the exclusive choice of the Southeast. It will be the right of the members of the party who are stakeholders across the country. Once the person emerges on the viable platform, others will fall in line. The main work is building a national platform, engaging stakeholders across the country to support the Igbo people to have the sense of belonging in the political configuration. If this is done, the issue of 100 aspirants coming on board won’t matter, because at the end of the day, only one person will emerge. The person will not be from the Igbo people, but delegates from different parts of the country will decide who gets the ticket.

    What signals is the attack on Senator Ike Ekweremadu by his kinsmen sending to others?

    Honestly, what happened to Ekweremadu is an embarrassment to well-meaning Igbo people. It is a setback and on the other hand it also addresses the fact that the suspicion that Igbo political leaders are discreetly working against the success of the agitation for Biafra. People like Ekweremadu, including my humble self, pare being suspected of not supporting separatist agitation. I have been involved in fighting for Igbo unity. There are people who see the attack as an Anambra conspiracy to humiliate the Igbo leader.  It could not have been Anambra conspiracy but a few persons handiwork. We want the people of Enugu not to see it as an attack on their son. We want them to see Ekweremadu as a symbol of the Igbo political leadership. I don’t know how this attack can unite the Igbo; it can never be. If the Igbo people are not united, how can they achieve anything, whether it is the Presidency or self-determination? So, I will advise the promoters of the attack to return to the drawing room and know how to channel their grievances in a more civilized manner. If they go ahead and attack the Nigerian leader who is a non Igbo, it will be dangerous for them. For example, if they attack or embarrass the President, have they considered that we have more than 20 million Igbo living in the northern part of the country? That provocation can put the lives of the people in extreme danger. Even if they were not born during the pogrom, have they not read about it?

    Some people are already saying that zoning will not give room for the best candidate …

    Like I have stated in the past, zoning is not a constitutional thing and it is by convention. Sometimes, conventions are stronger than laws, because the people are sentimentally and emotionally attached to it. It is not by tradition; traditions are difficult to change. Since Governor Nasir el-Rufai has come out to say this, let him also bear in mind that it was that convention that recommended Buhari to most Nigerians. So, most people allowed the North to produce the President, having had President Goodluck. Most people felt since Buhari won the election, he should also be supported to have a second term. And if at the commencement of the second term, the likes of el Rufai will be making such remarks, he should also consider how long it took President Buhari to win the election. Unfortunately, Nigeria is getting more regional than ever before. We thought that by now we would have been more inclined to nationalism, but we are drifting more into regional sentiments. The leaders of the region are tilting toward regional identity. If you look at what the regional groups are doing, sometimes you see about four cultural groups calling for unity. He is entitled to his comment, but it is not a well-thought out view.

     

  • Tribeless crimes

    Are crimes and criminal activities ethnically domiciled? What is the tribe of stealing, armed robbery, kidnapping, banditry, murder, internet fraud and ancillary criminal tendencies organized societies have been contending with?

    These posers are germane following events in the country in the last two weeks or so. The inquisition is further reinforced by the ruinous penchant of Nigerians and foreigners alike to trivialize and view serious social maladies from very narrow confines. It is however, a sad reflection of how divided and fragmented along ethnic, religious and sectional lines Nigerians have become in the last few years that every crime and criminal activity is profiled along tribal and ethnic lines.

    The predilection to confer ethnic interpretation to any and every misdemeanour appears to have gotten to a head since the Federal Bureau of Investigations FBI of the United States of America published a list of 77 Nigerians for alleged culpability in internet fraud and cybercrimes. With a preponderance of names of suspects coming from one of the six geo-political zones in the country, ethnic chauvinists went to town with the erroneous suggestions that most of those from that zone or ethnic group are into internet fraud.

    Soon, things got awry and insinuations began to make the rounds especially in the social media that people from that zone are into one form of criminal activity or the other. The impression conveyed and miserably too was that internet fraud, cybercrime and related criminal engagements are the exclusive engagements of that ethnic group.

    As an apparent counterpoise, a list of 23 Nigerians convicted for drug peddling in Saudi Arabia and awaiting the hangman’s noose began to make the rounds. The list which was first made public last April showed a preponderance of convicts from another geo-political zone in the south. Some other zones except those that do not participate in the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina had a share of the convicts.

    The message the drug convicts’ list was meant to pass across was not in doubt. It was to checkmate ethnic profiling and insinuations arising from the list made public by the FBI. This is more so, when it is realized that those facing death penalty in Saudi Arabia had gone there to perform their annual religious obligations. By extrapolation, the message is that crime knows no boundaries, ethnic or religious affiliation. But even with this reality, not much seemed to have changed in our profiling of crimes and criminal activity.

    We are still stuck to stereotypes even when it is clear that crimes neither have ethnic groups nor boundaries. Armed robbery, internet fraud, oil bunkering, slave trade, armed banditry and kidnapping are all English words. They are well known to the western world as they are home to all their manifestations. Though these crimes may have their local variants, some of them were copied from outside our shores. It is thus inappropriate to seek to ascribe any of these crimes to any Nigerian tribe or ethnic group as some mischievous persons are currently wont to.

    A reader, who apparently was not satisfied with one of the conclusions in my article titled, “Beyond Ekweremadu’s ordeal” sent this text message: “So Federal government is incompetent? And your Igbo brothers that are competent 77 of them in America doing legitimate business? With that single sentence, the author dismissed all the issues raised in that half-page article.

    But then, the article in question had nothing to do with cybercrimes or criminal activities. As the headline clearly shows, it was essentially on the travails of Ekweremadu in the hands of some unruly Nigerians purporting to represent the proscribed IPOB. Apparently because of my name, the contributor had little difficulty in identifying my ethnic affiliation and wasted no time in ‘criminalizing’ me. So, I should not do my legitimate job just because some people from my ethnic group were fingered in cybercrimes in faraway US?

    So, one could be termed a criminal because some people from his ethnic group appeared in the list of suspects released by the FBI. If that is so, then all of us are criminals because all ethnic groups, tribes and races have their fair share of all manner of criminals.  Then, and only then did it dawn on me that those who released the list of Nigerians awaiting execution in Saudi for drug related offences had a point.

    Even then, the pattern of arrests by the EFCC of internet and cybercrime fraudsters bears out the fact that these crimes are not the exclusive engagement of any single tribe or ethnic group. Figures released by the anti-graft agency from across the country showed the arrest of 113 suspects in Benin, Edo State, seven suspected fraudsters in Kaduna, 280 suspects in Kano over an eight-month period for cybercrimes and sundry criminal activities and 105 suspects in Port Harcourt.

    Others include six suspects in Uyo, 20 in Imo, train ticket racketeers in Abuja and Kaduna and 113 others in Edo, Delta and Ondo states. Early this year and following the freeing of one Zainab Aliyu by the Saudi authorities, the nation was informed of a syndicate at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano that specialized in injecting banned drug substances in the luggage of travellers. We were told that the arrest of Zainab followed the devious activity of that syndicate. She was released when arrested syndicate members confessed to the crime.

    Early 2017, the EFCC had published a list of 86 suspects wanted for various crimes. Top of the 10 wanted suspects included a former governor of Jigawa State for alleged misappropriation of public funds to the tune of N36 billion, an ex-militant for illegal diversion of N45.9million, a former national coordinator, federal civil service staff with disabilities multipurpose cooperative society for collecting N1.7 billion under false pretence and former chairman, Pensions Reform Task Team Abdulrasheed Maina for alleged procurement fraud and obtaining by false pretence of amounts totalling N2billion.

    Of the 10 in order of the weight assigned to their offences by the EFCC, only number nine, a former Director General, National Task Force on the importation of goods, small arms, ammunitions and light weapons charged for criminal conspiracy and impersonation has names that suggest he is from the same ethnic group with those preponderantly in the FBI list. The rest of the names belong to other ethnic groups.

    Even then, a perusal of the list of all those being prosecuted as well as illegally acquired properties recovered from former public office holders by the Buhari administration does not bear out the skewed profiling arising from the FBI list. What you find is that a disproportionate number of the suspects hail from ethnic groups other than that which dominated the FBI list. It may well have to do with the domination of critical institutions of governance by other groups just like those who dominated the FBI list may have had higher representation in the US.

    But that is beside the point. The key issue is to get at the root of the internal contradictions that predispose Nigerians both in public offices and elsewhere to crimes and all manner of criminality. There is the need to re-examine the systemic and orientation dysfunctions that influence the looting of that which belongs to the public realm. We need to unravel the source of the bitter competition and rivalry between the primordial realm and the civic public for the soul and loyalty of the citizens. In them, we may locate the crux of that which accounts for the high level of corruption in public offices.

    Until we get at the core of these and provide realistic therapeutic responses to them, crime profiling and stigmatization as was the case with the FBI list, will amount to mere distraction in the overall fight against corruption.  And for our citizens who are regularly stigmatized and hounded in foreign lands, we need to ask ourselves the basic question of what accounts for their exodus even with all the resources Mother Nature bountifully endowed this country.

    These are the real issues to contend with and not that lazy talk as to which ethnic groups are made of saints and devils. You can find a mix in all ethnic groups and races. Crime has neither tribe nor boundaries. The way out is to holistically address the systemic, developmental and sociological deficits that predispose all tribes to embarrassing criminality.