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Tag: Nigeria

  • Nigeria league star of the week:Oghenekaro Etebo

    Nigeria league star of the week:Oghenekaro Etebo

    Warri Wolves forward Oghenekaro Etebo has emerged as the MTNFootball.com star of the Nigerian Premier League Week 23.

    He was chosen ahead of 3SC goalkeeper Laide Okanlawon, who was outstanding in goal against Lobi Stars despite his team’s 1-0 loss, Sharks shot stopper Chijioke Ejiogu, who made sure his team recorded a goalless draw at Kwara United, and Lobi Stars striker Barnabas Imenger, who came off the bench to score a superb goal against Shooting Stars.

    Oghenekaro scored the only goal to give Warri Wolves a hard-earned victory over Rangers to take his team to second on the table and close the gap on leaders Kano Pillars. He has scored 10 goals so far in the league.

    ‘Afaras’, as the Super Eagles player is called by his admirers, told MTNFootball.com he is delighted to be the match winner for Wolves.

    “I am happy that I scored the goal that gave us victory, it was an important goal but the victory is all about Warri Wolves and not me because we worked hard to get it,” Etebor told MTNFootball.com.

    He also revealed he gets his inspiration from England and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney.

    “Rooney is my idol. I derive inspiration from him,” said Etebo.

     

    PROFILE

     

    Born: November 9, 1995

    Height: 1.76m

    Weight: 70kg

    Position: Attacking midfielder

    Role model: Wayne Rooney

    Clubs: Lord Honour FC, Warri Wolves feeders’ team

     

  • How Nigeria can raise oil output, by experts

    ANALYSTS have given an insight into how the country can increase its crude oil production from 2.3million to 2.6million barrels per day(bpd).

    According to them, it can be increased through the repair of destroyed oil facilities in the Niger Delta, production from deepwater projects, exploration of new oil wells, creation of infrastructure in oil producing areas, and passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) and stability in the fiscal regime.

    The President, Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria(PETAN) Mr Emeka Eze, and energy expert, Mrs Funmi Akinluyi, said when the government stabilises its fiscal regime programmes, more foreign investments would come to the oil and gas industry.

    Investors, he said, were not interested in oil and gas because they are not sure of the government’s next action and that crude oil production will increase when there more investments in the industry.

    He said the passage of PIB would quicken local content development, adding that the development would lead to improvement of indigenous capacity.

    Eze said: ‘Most Nigerian oil service companies are not well capitalised. Many oil blocks are left untapped because there is no adequate capital. Nigeria should bring more money into the sector and further grow capacity, just as Brazil and Malaysia did 10 years ago. Nigerian oil service companies have no where to go than to stay and help in improving crude oil production in the next few years,’

    Mrs Akinluyi said there should be a long-term stability in the Niger Delta to improve crude oil production.

    She said steady increase in production from two million barrels to as high as 2.6 million bpd in the future is possible if necessary mechanisms are put in place.

    “The long-term stability of the Niger Delta will remain a major factor to consider as we approach the election year, “Nigeria’s production has been plagued by years of attacks on vulnerable pipelines and platforms in the Delta, which increased in intensity from mid-2006, allowing Angola briefly to become the continent’s top crude oil producer.

    “But an amnesty last year brought a halt to sabotage attacks helping push Nigeria’s crude output above two million bpd. Production has risen gradually since the amnesty and has averaged more than 2.1 million bpd so far in the second half of the year, according to Reuters’ data, far eclipsing Angola’s planned production of 1.68 million bpd over the same period. Angola’s crude exports peaked near 1.9 million bpd earlier this year but summer maintenance and production glitches pulled this back to below 1.7 million bpd in the third quarter, according to data collected from trade sources,” she added.

    The Minister of Petroleum, Diezani Alison-Madueke, said the reforms in the PIB would be passed soon, adding that targets for implementing this legislation have been repeatedly missed.

  • Miss Nigeria visits Insight Communications

    Miss Nigeria visits Insight Communications

  • Martins hits seventh goal in MLS

    Nigeria striker, Obafemi Martins, continues to impress for Major League Soccer (MLS) club, the Seattle Sounders and is now three shy of double figures this season.

    ‘Obagol’ opened the scoring with a thumping header for Sigi Schmid’s side in Sunday’s 3-0 win over FC Dallas at the Century Link field, Seattle, supersport.com reports.

    Further goals from Eddie Johnson and Brad Evans completed a comfortable win for Seattle who now moved up to seventh on the Western Conference table with 31 points from 20 games.

    It was his second goal against FC Dallas this season having netted against them on May 19 at the same venue.

    He scored his first MLS goal on April 21 against Colorado Rapids and followed that up with a well-taken goal against the San Jose Earthquakes on May 5.

    He scored his fourth goal of the season against Chivas on June 2 before grabbing a brace against DC United on July 4.

     

  • Lessons from Rwanda

    Lessons from Rwanda

    Smarting from the 1994 genocide that killed millions and attracted worldwide outcry, Rwanda is rebuilding and has so much to teach Nigeria, reports Sunday Oguntola, who visited the capital city of Kigali, recently.

    The eerie feeling is so unmistakable. It is palpable right from the expansive entrance. Visitors from around the globe have always felt much the same with each trip. This Wednesday afternoon, they walked quietly into the facility, pondering over the incident that preceded its erection.

    Everyone was engrossed, struggling hard to take in the ugly incident. Welcome to the Kigali Genocide Memorial Park where over 250,000 Rwandans were given a mass burial following the 1994 genocide that consumed over two million Tutsis.

    The park, located at the heart of Kigali Business District, represents, in so many ways, the grass-to-grace story of Rwanda. Opened in 1999, the centre finally took off in 2004 to stand as a memorial for the dark years of the East African nation and pass on a strong message to generations unborn never to allow such tragedy to repeat itself.

    While many Rwandans are reluctant to discuss details of the genocide, the memorial stands as a constant reminder, chronicling the history of the nation and how colonial powers planted the seed of ethnicity that eventually led to the 1994 genocide saga. The children section is arguably the most chilling with records of kids massacred during the incident.

    Echoes of genocide

    Rwandans are embarrassed, even scandalised, by the incident. This explains why they are reluctant to recall the details. Kantengwa Francoise, whose father was killed during the three-month madness, stated that it was an episode that happened to their utter shame. “We wished it never happened,” she began. “We often wonder how we ever got there. It makes us ashamed that we treated ourselves as animals, leading to needless deaths.” At the height of the killings, she was smuggled through Congo Brazzaville to Belgium where she remained until 2000.

    Sam Karara, a clearing and forwarding agent, said the incident was most regrettable and nerve-wrecking. But painful as it was, he is indisposed to recalling the chilling experience. “There is absolutely no need to go back there. It is better forgotten. Some things are just what they are. It (genocide) was an experience we should forget and move on,” he said.

    Like him, most Rwandans are in a hurry to move beyond the incident. But hard as they try, the record is always there for everyone to see. An incident that accounted for the death of millions with mass burials in different parts of the country cannot just be wished away. That is what the memorial park sees to.

    The brutal killings continue to reverberate throughout the world. They were more chilling considering how many kids were massacred. David Mugiranza was a buoyant 10-year-old whose dream was to be a doctor. He was butchered to death in his native village. His recorded last word was “The UN Army will come for us.” The United Nations army never came until death came knocking.

    A grenade was thrown into the building where Irene Umutomi, 6, and her parents were killed. Shortly before her death, she was reported to have said: “A militia man came up to kill me. I was astonished because he was a friend. He was working for my father and was always coming every day to eat. I asked why he wanted to kill me but he hit me with a big stick.”

    According to the park guide, who simply identified himself as Dennis, “people had no other work or preoccupation for the three months other than killing”. When the dust settled, millions of Tutsis had been wiped out. The nooks and crannies of Rwanda were simply reeking of blood. Million others became refugees, making the country one of the biggest contributors to the refugee crisis in those years.

    Never again

    Video records at the memorial park showed many awful and inhuman methods of extermination adopted by Hutu extremists during the genocide. But despite the monumental harvest of deaths and devastations, Rwanda is rising again. The nation is rebuilding massively to the envy of the international community. It is shedding the toga of genocide and media stereotype of a war-torn nation.

    This is all evident from the Kigali International Airport. Visitors are welcomed to a sweet aroma oozing from the well-kept facility. Though small by every standard of an international airport, services at the airport are most satisfying and stress-free. Officials went out of their way to leave a lasting impression of a lovely country in the hearts of travellers. At a time when national carriers are giving way to private investors, Rwand Air is a shining example of a national business that works. The airline is expanding its continental and international flights, winning incredible traffic to the country.

    Rwand Air recently added the Boeing 737-700NG to its expanding fleet. There are plans to also add bigger airplanes, an indication that business is looking up for the fledging national carrier. The story of Rwand Air is a constant feature in the former war-torn nation. Industries and companies are springing up, especially from the Middle East, bringing millions of dollars to the import-driven economy.

    Away with tribalism and ethnicity

    The 1994 genocide was caused by well-oiled machinery that thrived on tribal sentiments and resentment. This had been the bane of Rwanda, an otherwise homogenous nation. This deep-seated tribalism is one challenge Rwanda has been addressing right from the root.

    To make administration of the country convenient, the Belgian colonialists introduced a deadly system of divide-and-rule that pitched Rwandans against one another. The seed of discords was consolidated in 1932 when the colonial authorities introduced a national identity card based on ethnic standings. The classification was as artificial as callous. Rwandans had always been one and the same people. They all speak Kinyarwanda, proving there was no distinction among them.

    But all these changed when the colonialists created tribal divisions among an otherwise homogenous people. Those who owned up to 10 cows were marked as Tutsis while those with less than 10 cows were classified as Hutu.

    This social stratification deepened in 1932 when the first population counting indirectly recorded the Tutsis as constituting just 15 percent as against the 84 percent allocated to the Hutus. The Twa were just a meagre 1percent, according to the exercise.

    This created the seed of tribal suspicion and acrimony that led to the genocide after years of bitter bickering. To redress such deep-seated tribal sentiments and allegiance, the government has embarked on massive reorientation to take a stand against organised killing of any form throughout Rwanda.

    Every Rwandan has bought into the message that genocide or organised killings must never be recorded again in the nation of a thousand hills, as the country is widely known. It is a message that resonates and strikes the right chord in an average Rwandan. “We are all resolute no such killings will take place in any part of Rwanda again,” Karara stated.

    It is a resolution that is backed with appropriate actions and policies. In Rwanda of today, ethnic discrimination and racial imbalances have been totally eradicated. It is a direction charted by the government through stringent legislations. The government has criminalised genocide ideology, which can include intimidation, defamatory speeches, genocide denial and mocking of victims. It is a law in principle and practice.

    For example, it is highly punishable to refer to anybody as Tutsi or Hutu. Such comments are condemned as tribal and deadly. “If you are reported and found to have made such ethnic remarks, you are in serious troubles,” Patrick Nkubana stated.

    That is obliterating all tribal sentiments among Rwandans. Increasingly, they are seeing one another as one and relating as such. There is a collective resolve to get rid of every toga of tribalism among Rwandans.

    Perhaps the most commendable measure taken against tribalism in Rwanda is the expulsion of the place of origin slot from the constitution. It is the equivalent of the state of origin classification highly entrenched in Nigeria.

    “Rwandans are not Tutsi, Hutu or Twa. We are simply Rwandans. We are not interested in the province or district where anyone of us originates from. What matters is that we are Rwandans,” Sam Kwizera, a journalist, maintained.

    He is on the same page with many Rwandans. It has become not only illegal but also punishable to demand the origin of any Rwandan prior to employment, enrolment or enjoyment of any social infrastructure. For them, the Federal Character or Quota System holds no waters. They just consider themselves as Rwandans.

    This orientation has helped to reintegrate survivors of the deadly genocide into the mainstream society. Refugees are returning in droves almost every day without fear of molestation or discrimination. Perpetrators of genocide and hate sponsors are being prosecuted to deafening applause from the populace.

    To reassure Rwandans of his commitment to preventing future occurrence of the genocide President Paul Kagame visits the memorial every year to commemorate the event. He delivers inspiring speeches and puts up the burning flame as a mark of respect to the memories of the departed.

    All of these measures are reinvigorating confidence in the country. “We are on our way to the top again,” Kwizera stressed. This nationalistic spirit is uniting the people and lifting the nation out of the doldrums. Though industrialisation is far from impressive, infrastructural upgrade is moving at a remarkable pace. This is attracting firms and encouraging trading.

    Infrastructural upgrade

    With well-tarred and maintained road networks, the city of Kigali is a beauty to behold. Traffic move freely, saving manpower and labour hours. At nights, street lights enable vehicles to drive without headlamps. The 1.1 million residents of Kigali move around at night without fear or hindrance. This allows businesses to run round the clock and provide services to expanding clients.

    The power situation is almost impeccable. For over a week, the reporter observed only an incidence of outage that lasted for less than an hour. Businesses operate without generators, drastically reducing production costs. More cottage industries are opening up and are run by the many fresh graduates in the country.

    While Nigeria is vacillating on pre-paid metres, Rwandans have been enjoying the facility for years. Electricity consumers are on pay-as-you-use basis, eliminating corruption and other sharp practices prevalent in Nigeria’s power sector.

    Owing to constant power supply, the hospitality sector is simply soaring with hotels and other recreation centres opening up the city. Nearly every corner in Kigali has at least a hotel, though many are not of international standard.

    Fortified and secured

    Tourists and visitors are flocking to the East African nation, especially during summer. Memorial parks and monuments are heavily managed to attract international tourists. But all of these would have been counter-productive had security remained a mirage. Taught a hard lesson during the genocide and the preceding years, the Rwanda government has tightened security around the country to prevent internal and external aggression.

    Strategic locations in the hilly capital city are manned by soldiers strictly preoccupied by providing security as against harassing unarmed citizens. They stand day and night with arms to assure citizens of their impenetrable security dragnets. The citizenry enjoy a robust relationship with the operatives, even exchanging pleasantries with them at the slightest opportunity.

    Community policing advocated by a section of Nigerians has become entrenched in Rwanda. Members of the local vigilance groups are easily seen at nights with only sticks as their weapons. They traverse every community, making sure every insecurity threat is nipped in the bud. This arrangement has reduced armed robberies to near zero. Rwandans boast no armed robber can survive a five-minute operation in any part of Kigali without being caught. This allows them to sleep with their eyes closed, completely unafraid.

    Dealing with corruption

    In Rwanda, corruption is never treated with kid’s gloves. Penultimate weekend, President Kagame pardoned several former cabinet members who were sacked for corrupt practice. Most public office holders sit up and avoid corruption charges like a plague.

    The Transparency International ranked Rwanda as the eighth cleanest out of 47 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and 66th cleanest out of 178 in the world in 2010. Rwandans have a simple process of lodging corruption charges against office holders. A simple complaint, written or verbal, to the powerful Ombudsman, will not only elicit comprehensive investigations but most likely prosecution in the country.

    In terms of cleanliness, Kigali scores a big mark. From the Kigali International airport, one is welcomed by a fresh, reinvigorating, clean air difficult to find in many urban cities. From Kicukiro to Gikondo and other parts of the city, it is cleanliness all the way. It is hard to find dirt and wastes on the road. Drainages are free of blockages, partly because nylon packages are not allowed in Rwanda.

    All of these strides are attributable to the strong leadership offered by Kagame. The president, a former Rwandan Patriotic Force (RPF) leader, was re-elected for another seven-year term in 2010. He won by a landslide, a huge testimony to his wide popularity and acceptance by Rwandans.

    Many of them who spoke with the reporter described the President in glowing terms. “We love him with our lives,” Karara stressed. They said his ability to steer the nation away from tribal killings to rapid development stands him out as a leader par excellence. The giant stride Rwanda is taking confirms they are not far from the truth.

    Though a tiny country with just over 12 million people with only tea and coffee as export products, Rwanda indeed has so much to teach big brother Nigeria.

  • Nigeria’s open wound

    Sir,

    It is clear that none of the thieving political dinosaurs and neophytes alike parading themselves as leaders in this country can fix Nigeria. They are nothing more than brigands! Every time the opportunity comes to effect the desirable changes, they continue to leave the country worse off that they met it. And those who had the opportunity to serve more than once only succeeded in failing to effect the requisite changes conditioned by their previous woeful showing. Nigeria remains an open wound utterly deprived of orthodox or traditional medical treatment, or at least, any form of efficacious cauterisation.

    Consequently, suppuration has set in apace and the next stage of decay is that of gangrene. It is obvious that these demagogues cum reprobates are not on the same wavelength as the people with respect to how this country should be steered. While most Nigerians only seek employment opportunities and a business-friendly environment that would enable them to feed, clothe and house themselves, this bunch of neurotic and highly talented thieves are obsessed with looting the treasury with hyenas’ savagery, and a strength that more than equal that of the biblical Samson. They are extremely adept at stealing and negotiating soft landings for themselves.

    From my point of view, there are many categories of leaders in terms of their psychological make-up, temperament and conviction. Some leaders are futuristic in their thinking and are adept at seeing years ahead of their peers; they, more often than not, formulate far-reaching socio-economic policies with accustomed ease. The socio-economic cum political emancipation of their people is what they live and stand for. They are usually highly cerebral and self-effacing. Others are more at home with dealing with issues as they arise; but their responsive posture by no means constitutes slothfulness or inactivity. The third group comprises of those who desire to bring about positive change, but are either clueless as regards how to effect the change, or are utterly lacking any smidgen of leadership quality- President Goodluck Jonathan can be termed one of the doyens of this category.

    Lastly, and the least desirable, those who have no intention of affecting the lives of their fellow human beings positively, have no modicum of enlightenment in the real sense of the word, lead lives that are firmly balanced on moneyed interests, usually literate but unlearned, and educated but lacking real education in the actual sense of the word. Nigeria has been so unlucky to have the last category of leaders in endless supply. Most Nigerian politicians belong to the last group. Despite being rich in human and natural resources, this group of few reprobates are fast turning Nigeria to a dystopia, and there is seemingly no end in sight. Nigerians are in dire need of a change to be preceded by a revolution of the mind.

     

    Sordic Afis

    0808976967

  • Will the FoI Act contribute to ending primitive accumulation in Nigeria?

    Will the FoI Act contribute to ending primitive accumulation in Nigeria?

    [Being a Postscript to TLH 21, 22 and 23]

    The dictatorship of corruption and mediocrity that I discussed at length in the lecture that I delivered at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs on Saturday, July 13, 2013 and that was serialised in this column in the course of the last three weeks [TLH 21, 22 and 23] is the root cause of some of the worst problems and crises that our country faces at the present time. These include but are not limited to vast disparities of incomes and opportunities between the wealthy few and the teeming majority of the populace; insecurities of life, property and personal possessions for everyone, rich and poor alike; unemployment and bleak prospects for the future for our youths including those among them who have high school and university education; and rising tides of state-sponsored and non-statist violence. Yes, this undeclared dictatorship of corruption is the cause of untold daily hardship and suffering for millions in our country and for this reason, the very survival of the country is at stake and has been so almost since 1999, the year in which the present Fourth Republic came into existence.

    Many pundits now openly talk of the possibility, if not the necessity or the inevitability, of the end of our present experiment in democratic governance in a violent bloodbath. As I remarked in the closing paragraph of my lecture at the NIIA, quite possibly, the Freedom of Information Act is the only remaining legal instrument that we have for making the revolution that is coming a peaceful one. In this short postscript to the lecture, I wish to address this particular issue, this suggestion that in the FoI, depending on how well and vigorously it is put to use, our country may yet be able to avert the resolution of the explosive contradictions and crises that now beset it in anarchy and carnage.

    The opening shots in this scenario have already been fired and are reverberating in diverse areas of the country: Boko Haram; the emergence of ethnic militias; the escalation of rampaging and extortionate kidnappers in many areas of the country but especially in the Southeast and the South-south; state sponsored violence such as the one going on right now in Rivers State; and incessant bloody clashes between so-celled “indigenes” and “settlers” in some parts of the country. But we may yet pull back from the brink if we use the FoI vigorously and wisely.

    Am I putting too much faith in the uses to which the FoI can be put by suggesting that if used tenaciously and astutely it may yet save the Nigerian Fourth Republic from being drowned in anarchy and bloodshed? I don’t think so. The underlying basis of this suggestion can be teased out of one particularly crucial but unelaborated theoretical point that I made in my lecture at the NIIA. This is the claim that with regard to the legal rationality that underpins the FoI Act of 2011, what we have is the idea that Nigeria is on the verge of transforming primitive accumulation of a very vicious kind into a modern, market-driven economy in which, in conjunction with cutthroat competition, there is a consistent adherence to the supremacy of the law. Now, in the lecture, I suggested that one reason why the Nigerian press and the media houses in general have been remarkably reticent in using the FoI so as to test how far it can go to considerably curb – if not eradicate – rampant, blatant and wasteful corruption, is the fact that they either have not thought of the FoI in terms of primitive accumulation or if they have, they do not think that primitive accumulation is on the verge of being transcended in our country. This is the crux of my central argument in this short postscript to my lecture and I ask the reader to please keep it in mind as I now move directly to its elaboration.

    In strict historical terms, primitive accumulation belongs to the earliest phase of the evolution of laissez faire or free enterprise capitalism in which the market and its operations and forces and not the state – and not bands of robber barons – dominate the production and distribution of wealth. Also sometimes called “prior” or “original” accumulation, primitive accumulation was the stage in which the emerging wealthy classes and groups used the state and any means available to enrich and separate themselves from the working and non-working poor. In the perhaps most classic expressions of primitive accumulation, farmers and peasants were driven off the land by the so-called and aptly named “Enclosure Acts” that were enforced by the state and its agents. Without access to the land, the peasants perforce became wage workers because all they had was their labor power. The wealth or “accumulation” that resulted from this process was called “primitive” for two closely linked factors. One: the brutality in the way in which landless farmers were turned into wage workers. Two: the rates and levels of exploitation that then ensued once they became wage earners who had nothing to sell but their labor. Among hundreds of other works of prose fiction, essays and pamphlets written in the period, one has only to read Charles Dickens’ Hard Times to get a sense of how brutal, how “primitive” accumulation was at this stage of the evolution of capitalism. Indeed, inherent in the very notion of “primitive accumulation” is the contrary notion of the “civilising” of accumulation by making surplus extraction and appropriation of wealth more humane, more liberal: from the introduction of shorter working days, improvement of safety standards in factories, recognition of rights to unionization by workers to the institution of the modern social-democratic or welfare state.

    Against the backdrop of this historic account, what, in my lecture, I termed the dictatorship of corruption and mediocrity in our country at the present time is not merely a throwback to the early phase of the evolution of capitalism; it is in many respects a regression beyond that phase. Let us be very clear on this particular point: diverting or looting vast sums from our national coffers by our rulers and their cronies is causing great and terrible forms and levels of impoverishment and immiseration among the majority of the Nigerian peoples at the present time; and because what is looted now is not being converted into real wealth that can be equitably redistributed and made conducive to sustainable economic growth and development, it will also cause mass suffering and hardship in the future. This is because, first, it is so closely and necessarily tied to unimaginable levels of mediocrity and, secondly and more significantly, it has never been seriously challenged, never been held accountable. This is where the FoI comes into the framework of where the limits are located in “civilizing” the primitive accumulation that is choking vitality and survival itself out of our country’s collective bloodstream.

    Think of the issue in terms of the following scenarios and questions, compatriots. In the oil subsidy mega-scam of 2011, the colossal sum of N2.58 trillion naira was looted. This sum was more than half of the entire national budget for that year. The real and fake oil marketers to whom this sum was paid are known, together with how much each oil marketer was paid. But not a single kobo has been paid back to the national treasury. What is stopping all the trade unions, all the civil society organisations, all the professional associations of senior staff and all the organisations of market women and civic organisations acting together in a class action suit to invoke the FoI to force the government both to account for why half of the national budget was paid out in the mega-scam and why not single kobo has been paid back? Instead of just one single civil society organisation – LEPAD – acting with and through the dedication of one single patriotic activist lawyer – Femi Falana – invoking the FoI to try and compel the National Assembly to reveal the precise figures of the jumbo salaries and emoluments that its members are paid while most public and private employers of labour in our country are yet to implement the national minimum wage of a paltry N18,000 naira per month, why was it not movements and collectives of students, teachers, doctors, tradesmen and women that used the FoI to dare the National Assembly members to continue to feed fat on the backs of the masses of the Nigerians peoples? In the bitter 2006 feud between Obasanjo and Atiku, each of these two highest public officials in the land revealed the extent to which they were corruptly helping themselves and their cronies to the funds of the Petroleum Training Development Fund (PTDF), but to date they and their cronies have not paid back a single kobo of the sums they looted from our national coffers. As far as I know, there is no statute of limitation in the FoI and so we are forced to ask: Why have the Nigerian people, as organized in professional and civic associations, not used that 2011 Act to compel the present administration to make Obasanjo, Atiku and their cronies pay back what they looted from the PTDF?

    If the answer to each and everyone of these questions is not clear, let me spell it out: so far, at least in my opinion, the FoI has been generally regarded as a means for individuals and perhaps a few groups that are concerned enough to want to compel our rulers and public officials to act with probity and to be accountable to the country. However, what I am saying here with as much emphasis as I can muster is that as much as the FoI is indeed a tool for redress of individual grievance or dissatisfaction, it is also actually a radical weapon for mass and collective legal action whose political significance can be quite profound. Let me give a particularly concrete, specific and salient illustration of the point I am making here.

    Our newspapers and newsmagazines are consistent in the powerful and eloquent editorials that they write about the depth of the dictatorship of corruption and mediocrity that reigns in the corridors of power in the country. But as far as I am aware, with a few exceptions, the ownership structure of our newspapers and newsmagazines has been generally lukewarm in showing any interest in the use of the FoI, completely leaving the matter to individual courageous journalists. But is this not a gross shortsightedness, given the fact that newspaper proprietors, like all other institutions and organizations of legitimate business enterprise in the country, stand to gain if the crippling primitive accumulation that is perpetuated through the dictatorship of corruption and mediocrity is substantially reduced, if not completely curbed?

    Corruption is a form of accumulation and it exists and operates as a mode of accumulation as much in the rich nations of the world as in the poorest societies and regions of the planet. The big difference is that it neither reigns supreme nor remains “primitive” and even “uncivilisable” in the rich countries. Nigeria happens to be one of the countries in the world in which corruption not only reigns supreme but also exercises a dictatorship that masks itself in the outer forms of democracy. In the FoI, we have the one legal and moral instrument which potentially can strip the mask of democracy from this cruel and wasteful political order. But this will require of us to begin to see that Act of 2011 not as merely or only a means of getting redress for individual grievances or dissatisfactions but as a potential weapon for mass legal and political action and for showing the limits of the legality, the democratic credentials of the Nigerian Fourth Republic as it lurches towards the year 2015, the next big appointment with that avoidable but fateful happenstance that is commonly and erroneously known as destiny.

     

    Biodun Jeyifo

     

  • Haunted by disaster

    Haunted by disaster

    Following unprecedented flood in some states last year as a result of the sudden discharge of water from the Lagdo Dam in Cameroun, the Federal Government opened bilateral talks with the country last week. In this piece, our MANAGING EDITOR, NORTHERN OPERATION, YUSUF ALLI, who was in Yaoundé, reviews the negotiation and outcome of the session, which overstretched the two teams 

    Beyond the territorial dispute over Bakassi Peninsula in the recent past, Nigeria and the Republic of Cameroon came together last week to address the flood menace which ravaged the two nations in 2012 as a result of the release of excess water from Lagdo Dam. For three days, a 24-man delegation from Nigeria, led by the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, had a series of brainstorming session and shuttles to the furious Lagdo Dam in the North-Central Province in Cameroon with the Minister of Water and Energy, Basile Atangana Kouna.

    The delegation included Nigeria’s High Commissioner to Cameroon, Hajiya Hadiza Mustapha; the Director-General of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Alhaji Muhammad Sani Sidi and Commissioners for Water Resources from Kogi, Adamawa, Taraba and Benue states. An added value to it was another round of discussion which centered on the future of Lake Nyos.

    Although it was a tedious trip which went into midnight, the sacrifice underscored the determination of the two countries to avert a reoccurrence of last year’s flood. Going by statistics, both countries suffered the pangs of the flood such that the bilateral session on how to manage water from Lagdo Dam and the entire Benue Basin was inevitable.

    REVISITING THE FURY OF LAGDO DAM

    A brief on the Lagdo dam showed that it was constructed between 1977 and 1982 by China International Water & Electric Corp, though it was not put into use until 1983. The dam, which is 308 metres long, 40 metres high and 9 metres thick, is on River Benue and about 60 kilometres away from Garoua, the capital of North-Central Province of Cameroon. Besides providing for the irrigation of about 15,000 hectares of crops downstream, Cameroon currently generates about 72MW of electricity from the dam through an international power firm, AES SONEL.

    Little was known of the dam until excess water was released from it on August 24, 2012, leading to devastating flood which took a toll on states in the lower belt of River Benue. A brief from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) gave details on the link between Lagdo Dam and states in the North-East and North-Central geopolitical zones, and how Nigeria became susceptible to flood last year.

    The document states: “Lagdo dam is located on the Adamawa Plateau of the Northern Province of the Republic of Cameroon which shares border with the North-Eastern States of Borno, Adamawa and Taraba States of Nigeria. The primary outflow of the dam is River Benue, the second largest river in Nigeria’s drainage system. The Benue River, which takes its source from the same Adamawa Plateau in Cameroon, flows through the lowland elevations of Adamawa, Taraba and Benue States before meeting River Niger in Lokoja, Kogi State. The steep elevation of the Adamawa Plateau, coupled with the sudden release of excess waters in 2012, has therefore created a great risk of inundation of the lowland communities of North-Eastern Nigeria, especially those located within the River Benue drainage basin.”

    Topographically, Nigeria was much more at the receiving end of the fury of Lagdo Dam. According to the Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Ochekpe, in a presentation to Cameroonian authorities, the Lagdo Dam flood in 2012 led to the death of more than 49 lives and displacement of over 91,000 in 16 local government areas. This is apart from the destruction of 117, 978 structures destroyed.

    Ochekpe said: “It is worthwhile to mention that due to extensive rainfall and releases from the dam, the downstream areas of the dam, Nigeria had experienced periodic flooding. As at 14th December 2012, the total number of internally displaced persons in Adamawa State was 949 while 45, 253 structures were destroyed.

    “The devastating floods in Taraba State, which affected about 37 communities, claimed 27 lives and displaced 34, 393 persons amongst others.

    “Three persons were reported dead, over 25,000 displaced and property worth billions of naira were destroyed in Makurdi and seven local government areas in Benue State. Persistent torrential rainfall and compelling release of water from Lagdo, Kainji and Jebba dams led to massive flooding of 335 communities in nine LGAs of Kogi State, including Ajaokuta, Bassa, Lokoja, Kogi, Omala, Idah, Ibaji, Igalamela and Ofu. The flood affected 72,725 people in the state, 19 lost their lives, 30,709 people were displaced and disruption of businesses and livelihoods brought down infrastructure and public institutions.”

    On his part, the Minister of Water and Energy, Basilie Atangana Kouna, said about 40,000 Cameroonians were displaced by the Lagdo Dam. He said Cameroon did its best to regulate water from the dam but the volume was more than it could manage.

    He disclosed that inflow of water into Lagdo Dam in 2012 was 6, 240km per second but Cameroon was releasing 3,000km per sec. He also added that high outflow from Mayo-Kebbi River from Chad and Faro River contributed to the flood disaster in Nigeria in 2012.

    THE KERNEL OF NEGOTIATION

    Areas of bilateral talks for the three days, as tabled by Nigeria, were as follows:

    · Managing future release of excess water from Lagdo Dam with adequate communication by both countries

    · Establishment of framework of cooperation for exchange of data and information on safety measures taken or envisaged to be taken with respect to Lake Nyos ( Cameroon ) and;

    · Putting in place joint technical site visits, studies and research and setting up early warning notification and response mechanisms for any emergency in the Benue Basin

    · Signing of MoU by Nigeria and Cameroon to give legal teeth to any commitment from both sides and how to dredge River Benue and construct appropriate infrastructure that will enhance navigation within the river channel

    Ochekpe said the situation would be worse if Cameroon does not cooperate with Nigeria.

    She said: “This situation, if not addressed, will affect our populace and resources within the catchments resulting to fruitless efforts in the development of our natural resources in a sustainable manner. Therefore, the proposed MoU is rightful to address the following issues:

    “Establish framework of cooperation for exchange of date and information on safety measures taken or envisaged to be taken with respect to Lake Nyos (Cameroon) and;

    “Put in place joint technical site visits, studies and research and setting up early warning notification and response mechanisms for any emergency in the Benue Basin.”

    Ochekpe said apart from signing MoU with Cameroon, the Nigerian government would dredge River Benue and construct appropriate infrastructure that will enhance navigation within the river channel.”

    The Cameroonian Minister of Water Resources and Energy, Basie Atangana Kouna, said his country would cooperate with Nigeria on the release of water from Lagdo Dam.

    Kouna said: “We shall be committed to exchange of data and information relating to the water resources of the Benue Basin and use.

    “We will consult each other mutually and if necessary negotiate the possible effects of measures planned in the Benue Basin .”

    HOW THE NEGOTIATION WENT AND WHAT THE MEETING ACHIEVED

    In spite of mutual suspicion, the three-day session opened a new vista in the relationship between Nigeria and Cameroon. With much tact and diplomacy, the Ochekpe delegation succeeded in extracting a commitment from Cameroon not to release excess water from Lagdo Dam without adequate communication with Nigeria as part of the pending Memorandum of Understanding which might be signed in two weeks.

    The Cameroonian Minister of Water and Energy, Mr. Basie Atangana Kouna, captured the mood in a chat with newsmen. He said his country would not release water from Lagdo Dam in line with the ongoing talks with Nigeria to avert a reoccurrence of last year’s flood disaster.

    He also said a group of experts has been set up by Cameroon and Nigeria to work out the terms of the proposed Memorandum of Understanding between the two nations.

    He said although last year flood was exceptional, both Presidents Paul Biya and Goodluck Jonathan are determined to collaborate to end such flood disasters.

    He said: “I can assure you that Cameroon will not release any water from Lagdo Dam.

    What we had last year was exceptional. That was why the Secretary- General of the North-Central Province was talking of the 2012 flood being exceptional. He was talking of such high water level being a 50-year thing. The meeting with experts will lead us what to do.

    “As part of being proactive, the Cameroonian government has engaged deep measures into the management of the basins, especially Benue Basin. We are happy that Nigeria is also taking a step in the same direction.

    “The two countries have inaugurated a group of experts to analyse the situation and suggestions to avert future flood disasters. The experts will come together and forward their report to the government. This will lead to the signing of MoU between the two countries.”

    Asked of the timeline for the MoU, Kouna added: “There is no timeline but we will work on it as soon as possible.”

    The Secretary- General of North-Central Province, Tegni Fidele, said: “I will like to say that the worries of Nigerians are shared by the administrative authority of the Northern Region. What we had last year was just a 50-year thing. But since we are dealing with nature, we cannot rule out higher rainfall. We have put in place three steps.

    “These three ways are sharing communication and information by the two countries; asking those proned to flood to stay away from submerged area or forcefully ejecting those who do not leave, and the third option is the partnership.

    ” If we try to harmonise the administrative efforts, we will communicate more with the Nigerian delegation. My hope is that something positive will come out of this synergy.”

    The Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, assured Nigerians that the two countries have agreed to share information on rainfall and how to manage excess water without leading to flood disasters.

    She said: “Cameroon has agreed to collaborate with us. We are not likely to have the same flood challenge we had last year. We have come to Lagdo to seek collaboration with Cameroon because one hand cannot build a house. If Nigeria and Cameroon work together, it will do a lot to improve the sub-region.

    ” On the Cameroonian side, they have the Lagdo Dam but we shared the same Benue Basin. We have come together in a way and manner that will protect and promote the economic interests of the two countries.

    “We are happy with the visit to the site; we are all here to share information because information is power and when it is used for planning it facilitates development. Going forward after this session, both Cameroon and Nigeria will be guided by information to plan better and take decision for the development of both countries.

    ” There is a proposed MoU between the two countries and part of what we want to achieve is a joint monitoring of Benue Basin to protect our people and manage the resources that God has given us.

    “We will work together to say water is life and a reality. When we plan well, there will be life. But when we don’t, water can be destructive.

    Nigeria’s High Commissioner to the Republic of Cameroon, Hajiya Hadiza Mustapha, said: “I am very happy at this development or understanding between the two countries.

    “It is my job to bring the two countries together. It is true that we have diplomatic channel, but what we are saying now is to improve on it. We need a contact person in Cameroon to relate with on flood management because sometimes, natural challenges are rapid.”

    THE COMMUNIQUE

    The summary of the agreement between the two countries was contained in a six-point Joint Communiqué by Ochekpe and her Cameroonian counterpart, Kouna as follows:

     The need to establish framework of cooperation for exchange of date and information on reservoir management and water releases of Lagdo Dam (Cameroon) and similar structures in the entire Benue basin.

     The need to expedite action on the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the exchange of date and information on the management of the shared basin for better planning and sustainable development in the two countries.

     The need to put in place joint technical site visits, studies and research and setting up of Early Warning and notification and response mechanism for any emergency in the shared basin.

     Both sides also agreed on the principle of appointing focal points to further facilitate communication among experts and the early warning mechanism being establishes, in addition to providing information through diplomatic channels.

     On the sidelines of the visit to Cameroon of the Nigerian Federal Minister of Water Resources, a working session held between the Director General of NEMA, the Director of the institute of Geological and Mining Research (IRGM) and the Director of Civil Protection of the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization. The Nigerian side was briefed on the measures taken by the Cameroonian side to ensure the security of Lake Nyos , in particular, the degassing operation and the strengthening of the lake’s storage dam.

     The Honourable Minister of Water Resources of Nigeria offered to host the joint technical meetings in Abuja , Nigeria , in august 2013 after which it is expected that the MoU would be ready for signing.

    WILL THE UNDERSTANDING PREVENT FLOOD THIS YEAR?

    The huge task before the two nations during the negotiation was how to avert a repeat of last year’s flood to save the helpless farmers and natives on the River Benue Basin unnecessary agony. Since there were commitments on both sides, Mrs. Ochekpe said: “We have talked; we have agreed on preventive measures, we are hopeful that we will not experience such flooding again.” She also disclosed that Nigeria is adopting a pragmatic approach by building a new dam along the Benue Basin to absorb excess water from Lagdo Dam, Mayo-Kebbi River , which flows from Chad , and Faro River . Water from these two rivers is unregulated. With the prediction of a heavy rainfall this year, the government and all vulnerable states are expected to put preventive measures in place including paying attention to hydrological signals. A major challenge during the trip, which requires the attention of the two countries, is the under-utilization of Lagdo Dam that gives room for the collection of excess water. Out of the 72 MW of electricity being generated from the dam, Cameroon is only consuming 30MW. Certainly, there is a window for the two countries to go into joint projects on how to maximize the benefits of Lagdo Dam and the Benue Basin if they have the political will.

  • ‘Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire trade to hit $2.7b’

    ‘Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire trade to hit $2.7b’

    Vice President Namadi Sambo has said the Nigeria-Cote d’Ivoire Bi-National Commission (BNC) will open new vistas of cooperation between the two countries as trade relations alone is expected to rise to $2.7 billion.

    He spoke while hosting the visiting Prime Minister of Cote d’Ivoire, Mr. Daniel Kablan Duncan and his delegation to a dinner, ahead of the first session of the BNC in Abuja.

    According to him, the BNC will not only further cement the bond between the two countries, it will also impact positively on the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

    The Vice President said: “Nigeria and Cote D’Ivoire are among the largest economies in the West African sub-region. Therefore, we have common interests and we can add value to one another in improved trade, commerce, exchange of information and capacity building.

    “To take full advantage of this, the implementation of the ECOWAS Protocol on the Free Movement of Persons, Goods and Services among members of the community is very important.”

    The Vice President called for the establishment of Special Implementation Committees (SIC) to ensure the implementation of agreements and memoranda of understanding (MoU) that would come out of the session.

    He expressed optimism that by the end of the Session, several areas of cooperation would have been given new impetus and a solid platform for purposeful and sustainable future engagements.

    Sambo also reiterated the support of Nigeria to lasting peace and security in Cote d’Ivoire, while calling on Ivoriens to support their government in that direction.

    “Nigeria will continue to cooperate with Cote D’Ivoire in the promotion of global peace and the development of the African continent,” he said.

    The Ivorien Prime Minister, Mr Daniel Kablan Duncan, expressed gratitude for the warm reception accorded him and his delegation.

    He noted that Nigeria is a strong country and to show the seriousness his country attached to the BNC, his delegation was made up of over 11 ministers.

    He said his country has started constructing the Lagos-Cotonou-Abidjan highway with six lanes on both sides. He commended Nigeria for constructing her own section with 10 lanes, five on both side.

  • Flooding: US offers aid to Nigeria

    Flooding: US offers aid to Nigeria

    The United States Embassy in Nigeria has said it will support the sensitization effort of the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to minimize the impact of flooding in the country.

    This agreement was reached in Abuja on Thursday during a visit to the Director-General of NOA, Mr. Mike Omeri, by Ms. Elizabeth Orlando, Deputy Economic Chief of the United States of America Embassy, Abuja.

    Her office also oversees Energy, Environment, Science Technology and Health desks in the embassy.

    Omeri , who outlined the programmes of the agency said it was imperative to sensitize the public on measures to be taken to minimize the effects of flooding reminiscent of the year 2012, noting that the NOA had positioned itself as the principal driver of climate change and environmental awareness and advocacy in Nigeria.

    He identified “tree planting” as a component of the agency’s effort to preserve our environment.

    He also announced plans by NOA to formally launch the “Do The Right Thing: Plant a Tree Campaign.”

    Omeri commended the gesture by the American Embassy in Abuja for its readiness to support the agency in its drive to promote good attitude towards the environment, saying that such partnership will open “a new vista” for the agency to accomplish its objectives.