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  • Govs: Plan 2020 Pry6/SSS3 exam success; Pry School OSAs

    ABCDEFGGHI=Avoid Bribery & Corruption Daily Everywhere For Good Governance Here Immediately.

    There was a recent ‘Future of Education Summit’ held at Nustreams in Ibadan, Oyo State hosted by Pastor Francis Madojemu. It was a great event exposing valuable old, modern and future education tools and prospects.

    Urgent actions can reverse the poor performance recorded by students in national examinations who need extra help. Teachers need extra support and incentives to lift weak students. The most immediate education war /emergency strategy in all states is to single out for six MONTHS HYPER-EDUCATION SUPPORT for the 2020 batch of students facing Common Entrance or WAEC/NECO in May/June2020. Without this the students will fail woefully-automatically. They need fatherly governors who must recruit/transfer the best, dedicated, motivated teachers, even NYSC, just to extra-teach primary six and SSS3 students during and after school and compulsory Saturday with group and individual training using fresh teachers. This strategy will guarantee better fortunes of state-based children in the national examination ranking.

    Primary schools need major support, the same as the financial and social benefits given secondary schools. Governors should encourage that ‘What is good for secondary school is good for primary school’. Governors must empower PRIMARY SCHOOLS TO SET UP OLD STUDENTS ASSOCIATIONS AND BOARDS OF GOVERNORS and reward the best as recommended by Educare Trust since 1994.

    The introduction of free primary and secondary education is welcome. Yes, teachers have cheated parents. Yes, some impose levies for exams and scams. Remember ‘the Delta State affair -Success The Girl’.  After 60 years of some form of ‘Free Education’ one thing is sure. Educare Trust has repeatedly pointed out that government can never provide enough exercise and text and story books, buildings, toilets, chalk for blackboards or marker pens for whiteboards, desks and chairs, staff rooms, sports equipment, laboratory equipment for all the students. Even Eaton and universities like Cambridge and Harvard where high fees are paid have no hesitation in sending out ‘SCHOOL NEEDS LISTS’ to old students and current parents requesting them to contribute in cash and kind to events and equipment. When PTA raises money, it should be left to the PTA to spend on what it wants, without government interference. Simple.

    Government should not deny individual PTA members of the right to support the school, even a free education programme. Our school suffered in the past when the battle of ‘Quality vs Quantity’ Free Education raged between political parties with the children as suffering pawns. Many good creative practical teachers were unable to function maximally as they were banned from even asking children to bring pins, newspapers, magazines, scissors, books or coloured pen to make posters for the walls. Even the parents mistake free education and refuse to supervise any aspect of their children’s lives related to school for the six years they are in school. Nobody running a school would reject financial, material and moral support from parents or community.  Government, the custodian of all schools servicing millions of needy youth cannot in 2019  afford to reject, purely to avoid political misinterpretation of ‘free education’,  financial, material and moral support from willing parents, PTAs, Old Students Associations or the social or business community. We suffered from an arrogantly underfunded free education in the past. Never again should ‘free education’ mean ‘No voluntary contribution’ by parents. Educare Trust suggests schools without libraries can ask each student to contribute voluntarily a book each to the CLASSROOM BOX LIBRARY to be returned at term end – no cost to anyone.  Teacher running arts, reading or music classes must be empowered to request students to bring educational material to help the learning process using an official ‘VOLUNTARY SCHOOL MATERIAL LOAN REQUEST FORM’. Educare Trust recommended from 1994 that well-monitored, with checks provided by PTA and a school Board of Governors can complement government budgets by voluntary extra material investment in school and classroom. PTA should keep its money within the classroom for wallposters, books, dictionary and encyclopaedia, sports equipment and science instruments.

    Governors need to authorize a long standing Educare Trust recommended annually updated School Needs List (SNL) exercise for every school. A SNL does not embarrass or disgrace a wise government. It is for genuine stepwise upgrading support from the community, social and business. Schools have faced 50 years of under-budgeting. This can only be reversed by joint effort.

    No man is an island. Education needs updates with new input into an ANNUALLY UPDATED CURRICULUM PAGE. Governor-directed inter-ministerial cooperation and ministry/institutional cooperation areas are key to a good governance and particularly health, environment and education programmes. The Ministry of Education must involve all ministries and  institutions to improve the local content of the curriculum.

    Every school has an assembly daily, 200+ a years. Educare Trust recommends that every school uses that time with ‘5-10MINS ASSEMBLY TALKS’ ON ‘LIFE SKILL TOPICS AND MESSAGES’ like environment, manners, morals, bullying, harassment, prepared by teachers and students bring 200 items of co-curricular knowledge to the students.

    Sadly, less than 1% of Summit participants had read or taught social conscience and Nobel Laureate Pa Professor Wole Soyinka’s ‘Ake; The years of childhood’ or heard of Olaudah Equiano, the First Nigerian Published Author who wrote ‘The interesting narrative of the life of Gustavus Vassa alias Olaudah Equiano’. He will be 275years ‘old’ in 2020. Nigeria is in trouble when it refuses to read or teach its heroes to generation Next!

     

  • Adoke’s counter-narrative

    When people aspire to high office, perhaps, they think about the opportunity to make a difference, for good or for bad. For those that get the opportunity, the experience lasts for a lifetime. For Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, former Attorney General of the Federation, AGF, his experience as a public servant brought him career fulfillment and status as a reformer during his time in office. That experience has now left him with a seemingly endless fight for survival and vindication.

    In his new book, Burden of Service: Reminiscences of Nigeria’s Former Attorney-General, which hit book stalls in Nigeria on September 16, Adoke bares it all. He lets us into his world, chronicling the events and emotions that preceded his appointment into the number one legal office in the country. He offers insight into his thought process as AGF and renders an insider perspective on many events that took place during the tenure of former President Goodluck Jonathan. Most interestingly, Adoke poured his heart out about his involvement in the OPL 245/Malabu Oil saga that is now drawing critical international attention.

    Although Adoke states that his book is not just about OPL 245, it is that subject that will be the highlight of the book for many of his readers. The intricacies of the deal reached between oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and ENI of Italy on the one hand, and the Federal Government of Nigeria and Malabu Oil and Gas Limited on the other hand, are now being unravelled by multiple authorities across international borders. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, has also launched its own investigation into the deal.

    A brief history of the deal, from all accounts, begins with late Sani Abacha’s “Indigenous Exploration Programme”, which sought the allocation of oil blocks to indigenous companies. This included the potentially very lucrative OPL 245, which was allocated to Malabu Oil and Gas Limited in 1998 for a concessionary fee of $20 million.

    Enter Olusegun Obasanjo’s civilian government in 1999. Former President Obasanjo issued Malabu Oil and its technical partner, Shell, an Oil Prospecting Licence, OPL, for the oil block, based on a Joint Operating Agreement between the two. Obasanjo, who was Minister for Petroleum in his government, revoked the license five weeks later, despite assurances given to Malabu Oil and its partner.

    In 2002, Obasanjo’s administration awarded a Production Sharing Contract to Shell for the same oil block for a signature bonus of $210 million. Malabu Oil kicked, dragged the House of Representatives into the matter and went to the courts. Obasanjo’s administration was forced to settle and recognise its claim by re-allocating the oil block back to Malabu Oil, despite having signed a new agreement and received $1 million from Shell. That settlement was reduced to a consent judgement of the Federal High Court in 2006. It was then Shell’s turn to raise hell, and it opened investor-state arbitral proceedings against Nigeria in 2009.

    While shopping for technical partners, Malabu Oil approached ENI. ENI was interested in partnering with Shell on the project. Malabu’s refusal to work with Shell, and Shell’s proceedings against the government over its own claim to the oil block created complications that necessitated the government stepping in, according to Adoke, to facilitate some kind of arrangement. In the end, Malabu agreed to be paid off with about $1.1 billion for the oil block and the federal government agreed to receive the funds on behalf of Malabu Oil in an escrow account controlled by the government. The government also received the full signature bonus of $210 million. According to Adoke, the Federal Government, and his, involvement was limited to facilitating this deal in 2011. The deal apparently saved the country from a possible multi-billion dollar award in Shell’s investor-state arbitration, as well as solved the complication that had been inherited from the previous administrations.

    The story of OPL 245 is a tricky, winding tale, made more complicated by the emergence, from the woodwork, after the deal was concluded, of two ‘brokers’ that facilitated the deal and representatives of the Abacha family claiming a stake in the deal. Emeka Obi and Ednan Agaev, the ‘brokers’ who claimed a combined sum of $290 million from Malabu, have now been convicted in absentia by English courts.

    Dan Etete, former Petroleum Minister in Abacha’s regime and alter-ego of Malabu Oil, is the central character in the whole affair. He is also on trial in Italian courts, and is thought to have been the major beneficiary of Shell’s payment, along with many Nigerian government officials. There are simultaneous investigative proceedings and prosecutions concerning the deal in Italy and Switzerland, in addition to the earlier convictions in England and possible suits in the United States and Netherlands.

    Adoke finds himself caught in the middle of the Malabu storm because he was AGF at the time funds were disbursed to Malabu, or at least, that is what it looks like. His predecessors in that office, post 1999, were involved in one way or another in the eventual deal that legalised, on the face of it, the disbursement of $1.1 billion to Etete’s Malabu Oil. Surprisingly, only Adoke has now somehow been paired with Dan Etete by the EFCC in its investigations and prosecution in Nigeria. An arrest warrant has been issued for the pair.

    If Nuhu Ribadu, the pioneer chairman of the EFCC was described as the attack dog of the Obasanjo regime, Ibrahim Magu, the current acting chairman of the commission, is a raging bull that is difficult to control, even by his employer. He fixates on a target and embarks on a crude and ruthless campaign of what more easily appears to be persecution, rather than prosecution, in most cases. That style, of media persecution and image bastardization of persons yet to be adjudged guilty, is an EFCC trademark that has been escalated under Magu.

    Buoyed by a public scarred by corruption and therefore easily taken in by the slightest whiff of a financial scandal, the EFCC milks the mills of public opinion with a professional touch, on the way to delivering shoddy prosecutions that rarely lead to any satisfactory results. The agency’s specialty is indiscriminate raids and confiscation of property even while cases are pending in court. Nigeria truly needs a determined anti-graft agency, but not at the cost of reason, procedure and individual rights.

    Adoke makes many assertions in his book, including some that pointedly accuse Magu of persecution. However, his principal claim on the question of OPL 245 is that he had no interest in the deal outside his duty, in his official capacity as AGF. Charges drawn against Adoke have been found lacking in substance by Abubakar Malami, the current AGF, and same has been transmitted to the EFCC. One would not attempt to interfere in a lawful investigation and prosecution, but the seeming focus on the former AGF in a sea of possible suspects with a greater involvement is a quite telling.

    There is of course the question of why the ex-AGF has not come to defend himself at the courts. It is an important question. In the light of his account and many other circumstances related to this case, his reluctance may be understandable. All the things wrong with the OPL 245 deal happened behind the scenes, and one can argue that Adoke’s role was not behind the scenes. However, the government appears to need a scapegoat and Adoke is in mortal fear that it might be him. Quite unfair.

    There is undoubtedly something fishy about the deal, with the convictions and sustained trial on-going in the case in other jurisdictions. The possible implication of very powerful Nigerians in the scandal puts a dangerous twist to it. With the alleged related assassination of at least one person, a Corporate Affairs Commission official, which was implied in one foreign media report, the case is no ordinary case. Without speaking to Adoke’s guilt or otherwise, his cautious and continued exile seems to make some kind of sense. If for nothing else, his book portrays someone desperate to reclaim his good name, rather than melt into the background, in guilt.

  • Micro pension: Contributors’ lifestyle may delay scheme

    The need by women in the informal sector to save to buy gold for collateral for loans or resell when in need of cash may  threaten the micro pension plan.

    Also, potential contributors who bought land and properties in instalments for their long-term cash-flow generation and the culture of reliance on children for old age support may be another problem.

    An actuarial scientist and chartered insurer, Dr. Pius Apere,  stated this at a pension conference in Lagos.

    Apere, who is also the Managing Director of Achor Actuarial Services Limited, said informal sector employees might have other long- term investments generating income like dividends.

    He stated that the low uptake of Micro Pension Plan (MPP) of the Federal Government is as a result of its voluntility, low public awareness and negative perceptions (lack of confidence) about pension products and fund management with low pension benefits.

    He said there was the need for enlightenment to create awareness of old age risks and benefits of saving for old age over bank savings account.

    He however noted that the 40 per cent withdrawal option is a good incentive to attract micro pension contributors.

    Speaking on the administration of micro pension, he said high capital investment in IT infrastructure (a driver for financial inclusiveness) is needed to mobilise contributors at grassroots with high volume of records keeping required.

    He said: “High tendency for contributors to operate Retirement Savings Account (RSA) as bank savings account due to over flexibility of the contingent withdrawal option, is the leading administrative hassle for the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs).

    “To reduce administrative hassles, contributors are to complete a monthly income and expenditure planner at registration as a guide to what they can conveniently in a month.

    He disclosed that Section 6.5.3 (ix) of the micro pension guideline has created high expectation for micro pension contributors to benefit from Guaranteed Minimum Pension (GMP) at retirement, even if their RSA balances are too low to qualify for GMP as required in section 6.5.3 (x) of micro pension Guidelines.

    “But there is reputational risk for the entire pension industry as micro pension retirees will be aggrieved when GMP expectation is not met due to more use of contingent withdrawal option.

    “This will create a strain on Pension Protection Fund (PPF) as high number of retirees likely to qualify for GMP benefit due to conversion from micro pension plan to mandatory contribution option. It is highly unlikely that the PPF established to fund the GMP as stated in section 82 of PRA 2014 will be sufficient to cover the GMP liability,” he added.

  • Fed Govt, Access Bank list N30.3b bonds

    The Federal Government has listed its latest issuances under the Federal Government of Nigeria Savings Bonds (FGNSB) on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). The Federal Government listed two new issues totalling N295.94 million.

    The listing of the sovereign bonds came a day after top-tier bank, Access Bank Plc, listed a corporate bond valued at N30 billion.

    The new listings by the government included a two-year N91.11 million 11.15 per cent series 60 bond, which is expected to mature in September 2021 and a three-year N204.83 million 12.15 per cent bond due to mature in September 2022.

    Access Bank listed a N30 billion seven-year 15.5 per cent fixed rate subordinated unsecured bond, which is due to mature in 2026.

    The Federal Government had, in March 2017, introduced the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) Savings Bond (FGNSB) to woo retail investors to the sovereign debt market and deepen capital formation. The minimum subscription was fixed at N5,000 while the maximum was pegged at N50 million. With a fixed quarterly interest payment of above 13 per cent, the FGNSB offers guaranteed return.

     

  • Pension complaints and solutions

    JOSHUA: Dear Omobola, my name is Joshua. I retired as a Seargent on grade level 05 step 4. My date of first appointment is January 20, 1986 and that of retirement is March 1, 1997. I have done verification in Abuja. Please I have no money. Kindly tell the pension boss that she should pay my pension. I am helpless.

    PTAD: The pensioner’s complaint has been reviewed by the operations department. He will be paid as funds are allocated and released by the Federal Government.

    ISA: This is from one of the Pre- 1996 Railway pensioner in Nasarawa State. My name is Isa. Our 18 months’ arrears (part of 52 months) since the time of former President Goodluck Jonathan is yet to be cleared.

    Also, Railway pensioners are the least paid nationwide.

    Kindly use your good offices to  solve our problems. Thank for being there for us.

    PTAD: It is an assumed liability by some group of pensioners in the Nigeria Railway Corporation. The group is yet to forward any supporting documents.

    SUNDAY: I retired in June 2003 from the service of the former government agency changed to National Clearing and Forwarding Agency. I received my pension from March 2008 to April 2018. But they stopped it after April and I don’t know why. Please help me.

    PTAD: If Mr Eshiet has been verified, we advise that he sends a  scanned copy of his verification slip to complaints@ptad.gov.ng. If he has not, he can visit our Abuja or Lagos office with his employment documents, BVN and original stamped bank statement from April, last year till date to be verified and monthly pension payment resumed if eligible.

     MRS ONIYE: God bless The Nation Pension column. My name is Mrs. Oniye. I retired from the Federal Government College, Idoani in April,1999, on Grade 2 Typist, G.L 5 Step 10. My gratuity was paid on June 7, 2007. I have not been paid any monthly pension. Please help me contact the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) on non-payment of my monthly pension since 1999.

    PTAD: The pensioner is advised to send her complaint, name and account details to complaints@ptad.gov.ng. Her telephone number as provided is not reachable.

    ALICE: Well-done and thanks for The Nation’s concern on pensioner’s matters.My name is Alice. I am a state pensioner with federal share. I retired on April 30, 2008 without payment till date. My pensioner number is annonymous. I did verification since August 2017 but PTAD has not paid me till date. Kindly assist. Thank you.

    PTAD: The pensioner’s complaint has been investigated. She will receive payment as funds are allocated and released by the Federal Government.

  • PTAD verifies Southeast pensioners

    The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) has intensified in its verification of pensioners to enable them receive their pension entitlements in the Eastern part of the country. Omobola Tolu-Kusimo reports

    Over 10,000 pensioners of   federal parastatals, agencies and institutes from the Southeast under the Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) have been verified by the Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD).

    This was achieved during the fifth phase of the parastatals pensioners verification in the region. The exercise, which started on Monday, August 26, was carried out in Awka, Enugu  and Owerri.

    The Nation learnt that owing to the large turnout of pensioners in Enugu and Owerri, the directorate approved a six-day extension for the center in Owerri and a four-day extension for the Enugu centre.

    PTAD Executive Secretary, Dr Chioma Ejikeme, who gave the approval, said the extension was to ensure that eligible pensioners and Next-of-Kin, who presented themselves, were verified, stating that the exercise recorded an average daily turnout of 344 pensioners.

    According to her, the exercise did not include Customs, Immigration and Prisons pensioners, Civil Service pensioners, Police pensioners, and  parastatals pensioners who had already been verified by PTAD.

    She said the next phase of the parastatals pensioner verification in the Northwest region started last Monday and is expected to end next Wednesday.

    Mrs. Ejikeme advised that pensioners do not have to travel to the state or location they retired from to be verified. “They can be verified at any of our centers that is within the geo-political zones where they reside.

    “All pensioners living outside the country will be verified whenever they visit the country provided they show proof of residency outside Nigeria. Such proof should be provided in advance via PTAD email which is info@ptad.gov.ng.

    “All Letters of Introduction for new enrollees (those not on payroll) must be personally signed by the Chief Executive Officer of the Agency to be acceptable for verification.”

    Mrs. Ejikemee said continuous mobile verification would be conducted for sick and infirm pensioners. The original documents of the pensioners must be brought to the verification venue, together with proof of infirmity for authentication, before mobile verification can be scheduled.

    Pensioners have, however, lauded the Director’s commitment to verifying and enrolling them on the payroll.

    A pensioner, Adedeji Adebanjo, said he retired from federal service since 2005 but was recently enrolled into the payroll by PTAD.

    He said since his verification last year, he has started receiving monthly pension and also received his arrears.

    Mrs Florence Orji added that the directorate has become very sensitive to the plight of pensioners.

    She said the staff of the Directorate showed care and love to them on the day of her verification.

  • Push for Nigerian flag carriers

    Since the liquidation of Nigeria Airways in 2004, attempts by the government to set up another national carrier, Nigeria Air, have been largely unsuccessful. Experts say aviation business, including airline ownership and management, is better left to the private sector, KELVIN OSA-OKUNBOR writes

    The Minister of Aviation’s pronouncement that  Nigeria  Air remains a priority has triggered a huge debate in the sector on the necessity, or otherwise, of a national carrier.

    There is an ageement, however, by experts that Nigeria needs a functional carrier. The argument is whether it should be government- driven, or left in private hands.

    Nigeria Airways Limited, which operated for many years as a national carrier failed, and was shut down by the government.

    Its experience in the 56 years of its existence showed that public ownership of airlines was no more fashionable. Nigeria Airways Limited was established in 1958 as a national carrier but liquidated  in 2004.

    In the last few decades, efforts by the government to achieve a national carrier after the collapse of Nigeria Airways Limited have not gathered any steam.

    Rather than dissipate energy on a national carrier, experts say the government should flow with the global trend of empowering private sector operators as flag carriers.

    The Federal Government approved N47.43 billion for the Nigeria Air project in the 2019 budget.

    Efforts by the government to partner with many organisations to deliver a national carrier since the dying days of the Nigeria Airways Limited have not yielded any positive result.

    From the failed Air Nigeria, which was to come out of Nigeria Airways to Nigerian Global Airlines promoted during the Olusegun Obasanjo-led administration to Nigerian Eagle Airlines and the latest Nigeria Air promoted by Minister of Aviation, Captain Hadi Sirika, none have been delivered.

    Given the huge capital flight by foreign carriers, can setting up a national carrier block such gap? Should the government go ahead with the project? This debate has engaged the attention of industry experts and stakeholders.

     

    Clamour for a national carrier

     

    President Muhammadu Buhari, on assumption of office on May 29, 2015, expressed concern over Nigeria’s lack of a national carrier .

    He said the establishment of such a carrier was not only justifiable by economic considerations, but for strategic national interest, national pride and job creation potential.

    The presidential interest was fueled by the unending challenges faced by domestic carriers after the N300 billion intervention fund did not yield positive results.

    Buhari said his administration would act quickly to redress the situation. He directed that the committee saddled with the task of setting up the national carrier to look into the causes of the failure of the Nigeria Airways and other private airlines before arriving at the model that will meet the aspirations of Nigerians.

    Last week, Minister of Aviation Captain Sirika said there was no going back on the project. He stated this when Transaction Advisers submitted the outcome of their research to the government. He said the national carrier was in the pipeline as the Transaction Advisers had concluded their baseline studies and were moving to the next level.

    Sirika said: “Every Nigerian is asking for the national carrier. That is why the project is on course.“

    It is against this background that some experts have called on the government to jettison the idea of a national carrier and embrace the model of private sector-led flag carriers obtainable in some countries across the globe.

    Some of them argued that the government as a regulator in the aviation sector had no business in setting up an airline, but should encourage private sector investors by creating a conducive environment for them to thrive.

    In an interview, Chairman of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) Captain Nogie Meggison said the government should have no business in setting up a national carrier, but empower existing private sector airlines as flag carriers.

    According to the leader of the umbrella body of indigenous carriers, the government should empower domestic carriers by reducing multiple aeronautical and airport charges to actualise the bilateral air services agreement it signed with many countries.

    What really is the difference between a national carrier and a flag carrier?

    Difference between national and flag carriers

     

    According to the experts, a national carrier is floated by the government as sole shareholder, to operate in the name of the government and represent the government in all aviation-related bilateral services agreements.

    But, a flag carrier is a privately- owned airline that, by agreement, is designated to represent a government and fly on behalf of the government, representing it on all bilateral-designated routes.

     

    Flag carriers

     

    Since the demise of the Nigeria Airways, many carriers, including Arik Air, Aero Contractors, Medview Airlines, Air Peace, Overland Airways and Dana Air have been playing the role of flag carriers, flying the country’s flag in many countries, where they are designated.

     

    Experts’ views

     

    A former Director of Human Resources at the defunct Virgin Nigeria, Victor Banjo, recently spared a thought for the proposed national carrier. He said the project lacked the requisite structure for success.

    He said the proposed national carrier would lack accountability, fairness, transparency and independence.

    He said: “From the outset, Nigeria Air was doomed to fail because the four pillars of corporate governance were missing. In terms of transparency, too much was shrouded in secrecy for a project a huge chunk of taxpayers’ money was to be committed, and time will tell if it will move from being premature to a stillborn.”

    But, Sabre Travel Solutions President, Gbenga Olowo, said the government should empower existing flag carriers, rather than dissipating energy and resources in setting a national carrier.

    To him, existing flag carriers should be supported through policies that enable them forge alliances as global players .

    His words: “This is easily achievable through economic policy of cooperation, collaborations, mergers and acquisitions; review of all existing Bilateral Air Services Agreement (BASA) through periodic schedules for equity and immediate reversal of all multiple entry points in Nigeria to single entry points.”

    On his part, African Aviation Services Limited Chief Executive Officer Nick Fadugba said though the idea of a national carrier was welcome, but for it to succeed, it would need a sound business plan, strategic industry partners, adequate funding, an experienced management team, well-trained staff, a fleet of modern aircraft, a comprehensive route network, on-time performance, good customer service and no government involvement.

    The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Aviation, Nnolim Nnaji, has said Nigeria needs strong flag carriers to enable it play on the continental sphere.

    Nnaji said the country had remained passive in the continental aviation market in recent years, despite its huge daily passenger traffic. However, to him, floating a fully government-owned airline might not be an alternative.

    According to him, the committee will work closely with the Federal Government to ensure that competent local airlines are supported to assume the status of flag carriers and operate internationally.

    An aviation analyst and member, Aviation Round Table, Olumide Ohunayo, said setting up a national carrier was not the best option, but empowerment of existing flag carriers to enable Nigeria actualise its over 75 bilateral air services agreements.

    He said: “We are on the verge of starting a new national carrier after many false starts, from Air Nigeria in 1993 to Nigeria Air in 2018. Twenty-six years, and we are still going round in circles. During this period, the best we got for our efforts was Virgin Nigeria, which within six years had all certifications and numerous offers for partnership.

    “We are toeing that line with the new national carrier project of acquiring five aircraft and flying to international destinations almost immediately without any base or foundation, just the government’s support without requisite funding.

    “If having a national carrier is felt to be a must, then the cost, risk and lessons from other airlines should be seriously considered.”

     

    More reactions

     

    Flag carriers said they could do more if they get the necessary support from the government . The support, they said, could come in the form of reducing multiple charges, improved air navigation infrastructure, establishment of aircraft maintenance facility and more involvement in international aero politics.

    On his part, Chairman of Air Peace Allen Onyema said: “We need more support from th government. We need to be protected from multiple taxation and the debilitating effects of poor airport infrastructure. We need the government to review the multiple designations given to foreign airlines operating into the country.

    “We need the government to appreciate the contributions of indigenous airlines. We have been exposed to unrelenting hostility. We need the government to help us play the international aero politics that have been working against Nigerian airlines for a long time. Countries protect their airlines against marauding foreign airlines. The local airlines provide jobs for the citizens of their countries hence, the immense protection they get. Recently, Airlines in America complained against the several frequencies given to the heavily-subsidised Gulf states’ airlines. The US Government responded with measures that deterred those Gulf airlines. The US Government needed to protect US jobs by protecting their indigenous airlines.

    “You do not need a national carrier to do the needful. You do not need a national carrier to protect your indigenous businesses. Why did the government want to establish a national airline in the first place?”

    Onyema continued: “Government was rightly worried that no Nigerian indigenous airline was doing well on the international scene. The government noticed a very serious imbalance in our BASA protocols and wanted to bridge it. So government went into it for a reason. Though there were genuine reasons for that plan to set up an airline, it was the belief of not only indigenous airlines but also the discerning aviation world that Nigeria should rather find out why its indigenous airlines have not been able to plug the hole. All we need is total support of our government and we will all get there. National carrier is no longer an idea the world over

    “America with its economic might and aviation prowess (manufacturers of world’s most popular planes) does not have a national carrier. They have flag carriers in Delta Airlines, United Airlines, American Airlines and a host of others flying the flag of America. Britain does not have a national carrier any longer. British Airways is no longer a national carrier since the 80s.

    “Nigeria Airways was a failed airline, it died just as other national carriers worldwide,” he said.

     

    How the government could

    assist flag carriers

     

    Legal luminary Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), a few years ago mooted the idea of a “Fly Nigeria Act” which prescribes that all government officials flying on its bill must patronise Nigerian flag carriers.

    He said that was one of the ways the government could retain huge funds taken out by foreign carriers in tickets sales.

    Agbakoba said other countries, including United States initiated the Fly America Act to support US carriers.

    Besides Agbakoba, other industry players, including former spokesman of  Nigeria Airways Limited, Mr Chris Aligbe, said such legislative instrument would empower indigenous flag carriers.

     

  • Xenophobic attacks: ‘I love the being you of Nigerians’

    South African poet, writer and cultural worker, Natalia Molebatsi, is the author of We Are, Sardo Dance and Elephant Woman Song. Her research interests are Pan Africanism, African and Black Feminist thought. However, she is unhappy with the xenophobic attacks and other forms of violence, especially against women and children in South Africa. At the recently-concluded Kaduna Books and Arts Festival (KABAFEST 2019) held in Kaduna, she spoke with Assistant Editor (Arts) OZOLUA UHAKHEME on the possible causes of xenophobic (Afrophobic) attacks in her country, how arts can be used to foster peaceful co-existence and her love for Nigeria, among other issues.

    How can arts be effectively used to fight ignorance, prejudice and hate in the society?

    Literature and arts in general can be used to address differences in every society. But literature as a space can be used to see another world that may have existed in the past, or another world that might exist in the future. In this way, people are drawing a picture of themselves and imagining what they want. I think it’s also a responsibility and duty of the artist to paint this world, the necessary world that we all need. Sometimes when artists write or paint, they don’t even know that the society needs them or uses their works in a way that mends scars from any kind of violence. But, it also brings joy that sometimes we don’t even know it exists. So, I find literature and the arts have ability to stretch when we don’t even know it is possible. With the way the arts is, the artistes are able to move things, navigate and stretch people’s mindsets, imaginations, people’s hearts and has always been their role. It is such a magical role because sometimes we don’t even know how it happens. It is such a delicate way of communicating and also giving communion.

     Can it break perceptions and people’s mindset?

    Arts can do that. In as much as it seems some Africans hate one another, they surely love music icons like the late Afrobeat legend, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, and Hugh Masakela, no matter where you are from. So, imagine setting up a musical concert with all of these icons and the likes of Angelic Kidjo and telling the people that you are all Africans or Pan Africanists, and that even if you don’t live on this continent, it all started on this continent. I have seen them do it. But, sometimes, the inertia becomes our leaders’, our politicians have got their own mindset and their own structural inertia that they don’t act as swiftly and as smoothly as they should. For example, it is somebody who brings a message of love, of hope, of unity to everybody in this world, somebody like that is someone who can quickly mediate but I don’t think that the people who are in power want that to happen or understand the power of that happening.

     There is a second narrative on this ongoing xenophobic attacks in South Africa. It is alleged that it is a deliberate arrangement by South African authority to distract public attention each time the people are pushing to hold government accountable on some critical issues. What is your take?

    What you are saying is so important because that’s exactly what I was thinking. I was thinking what could be the true matter that is happening? I don’t think xenophobic attack is at the core of the issue. I think the method of divide and rule is so alive. I think this violence is just a scape goat, something like a decoy. But, I tell you it works because  poor people will attack one another.

    I mean people working in low income areas. You don’t find that in media houses where people are working as journalists or the academia all over the continent.

    People who turn against one another are always the poor, people who are disposable in so many ways. This is because when such person dies, nobody is going to write about it. And the person won’t even matter, especially if the deceased is black.  That brings us to the global issue of racism where white people have always used us against each other.

     Why are you a writer?

    I’m a writer because, first of all, it’s a gift from my ancestors. I didn’t ask for it, they gave it to me. They also gave me the responsibility to marshal it. You know when you are born with a talent, you have the responsibility to stretch it and nurture it into something else. As they say, talent is overrated. Everyone has got one talent or the other, so, in a way, I started to read writers on the continent and elsewhere; and I began to understand the power of words as they were able to travel. I could travel before I was travelling physically and I could also travel with my words.

    I find myself being able to express myself and I come from a country where expression could lead you to jail or death as a black person and a woman. When I found the urgency or the currency of words, I saw I could use this to navigate emotions to share my pains and my joy. It was to me an incredible thing to find. And everyday, I keep learning what words can do and I still don’t know half of it.

     What is the strength and core of your performing poetry?

    I don’t know, but I get on stage sometimes and I don’t know what to say. I look around me and I feel and see energy that is so powerful because when you perform, as they say, life is a performance. If you live alone in this world, why would you wear clothes? And because you are alone, nobody sees you, but if you are around people, it means you are exchanging energy and so it’s important for me to stand there and say: what is the energy in this room? What is the energy looking for? Then, I’m able to engage. So, that’s what I do as a performer.

    Is it your first time in Nigeria?

    No! Nigeria is my favourite country on this continent and one of my favourite countries in the world. So, I come whenever I get a chance. But, it’s my first time in northern Nigeria though. I have been to Lagos and Abuja many times. I have been to Abeokuta and Ibadan. There is something very special about Nigeria.

     What is that special thing?

    The attraction is the brains and the intellectuals in this country that have been able to take all of us from Africa to the world- the amount of work that has been done. Obviously, there is more coming but the intensity of the work that comes out of Nigeria is incredible and it’s always a gift to immerse myself in this realm. And sometimes they say it borders on arrogance, but we need that to fight the racism that happens. Nigerians go into a space in Europe or America for instance, they take charge. Most times people get jealous, right? You could be a janitor or a professor but there is a level of confidence that is so attractive and for me to be able to breathe that energy, I love that!

    Is that Nigerians’ undoing in South Africa?

    I think Nigerians know how to make a living and sometimes people can be jealous. You know, southern and eastern Africa tend to be really quiet and reserved, not only as a cultural thing but also a thing imposed by colonialism. But, Nigerians go there and create space as it should be. Unfortunately, we have been so contained like you belong there and not here. But, somebody says I’m going to go out there and be me. It’s perceived like you are taking over, but actually you are just being you. I love the ‘being you’ of Nigerians because they challenge oppression and challenge the spaces that say “you are black, you can’t be in here, you are a woman, you can’t be in here.” Look at my sister, Bakare Yusuf and Lola Shoneyin. These women are taking over and you see they are doing what should be done in order to also outdo things around colonisation, patriarchy which by the way came with colonisation. It’s just those kind of things that I see and love.

     Do you think that Nigerians are contributing to South Africa’s economy?

    I think all Africans are contributing because they don’t go there and look for work, rather they create work and they create skills. So, if you’re smart, you ask “can I work with you or for you so I can learn these skills”? Sometimes people’s ego make them turn their noses at it because instead of them to say “Hey, how did you manage to do that? I thought that’s the thing only white people do.

    You said the recent attack is  not  xenophobia but Afrophobia. How do you mean?

    Xenophobia is when you hate the French person or the English person. We have a number of white Americans who are in South Africa but nobody is gonna trouble them because they are white and they have got an American accent. It is Afrophobia. It is an internalised hatred and when you express that hatred, it can create a fire.

    There has been this allegation that foreigners in South Africa always end up taking girlfriends  and wives of South African men. You want to react to that?

    I don’t know where this interview is going but to be honest with you, when you look at the kind of violence that happens to the bodies of women in South Africa, and you look at who is making that violence, it is not Nigerians, not Somalians or Ugandans. But, the men in South Africa. So, we are scared and that is just the truth.  The two places that I fear the most for my life and body, is South Africa and US. I don’t fear Nigeria, even people in Nigeria know that you can’t just go off like that. I wouldn’t go into a park with someone who is a driver in South Africa because the things that are happening to us are very bad.

    Apart from writing, what else do you do?

    Well, I write not just poetry, I write anything. I do non-fiction, fiction and I’m still learning. Fiction is more difficult than content writing. I perform, sing with Jazz band and sometimes I dabble into photography wherever the spirit leads. But, mainly I do poetry and I organise as well. I produce poetry and jazz event because that’s an important part of not just being a writer or a performer but being able to create spaces where younger people would also grow and share their experiences.

    What is your advice to African leaders on issue of unity on the continent?

    They need to take us serious. When Notre Dame Church in Paris, France was razed down, African leaders ran there in solidarity. But they are not running to us when in crisis. They need to take us serious because we are paying for all of these- we pay taxes and everything that we consume. They need to love us because we matter.

    Have you won any award?

    A number of universities have offered me awards including the University of California, Los Angeles and the rest of others.

     

  • ARG cautions on zoning

    Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) has urged politicians to desist from comments capable of undermining peace and stability in the country.

    Its National Publicity Secretary, Kunle Famoriyo, said in a statement that comments by some Northern All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders on zoning were an invitation to anarchy.

    The group said it was unthinkable to change the goal-post in the middle of a match. ARG warned such comments amounted to an attempt to deny the South the legitimate right to produce the next president in 2023.

    The group said: “What is good for the goose is also good for the gander, what we are interested in is fairness, equity and justice for the south and the north that co-jointly formed the country, with no undue favour for one against the other.”

    ARG wondered why politicians  always failed to learn from political history.

    The group recalled how political leaders took insensitive decision on the June 12, 1993 p[residential election won by the late Chief Moshood Abiola that plunged the country into deep crises.

    ARG said that, in the face of the fragile unity in which the country has found itself and the threat of break-up, zoning of political offices is the only force that can preserve the unity.

    It added that undermining zoning was an indirect attempt to undermine the fragile unity, warning that the outcome would not benefit any region.

     

  • ‘Revamping culture in Ekiti is a priority’

    When Ekiti State Government appointed Wale Ojo-Lanre as new Director General, Ekiti State Council for Arts and Culture, many agreed that the governor had chosen a round peg for a round hole. Ojo-Lanre has what it takes to re-engineer arts and culture in the state. In this interview with PAUL UKPABIO, he speaks on the challenges and the journey so far.

    What did you meet on ground as new DG?

    I can say that without any hesitation, I met nothing on ground. For the past four years during the tenure of Dr Kayode Fayemi’s successor, it was the Bureau For Tourism, Arts and Culture. I called its media officer to let me see all his works, what he has  been able to do, and if there are documentations. He told me that for four years he only wrote one story. Within three weeks that I have resumed office I asked him how many stories he has written.  He said he has been able to write over 68 stories with most published. So, until now the place was dead. The place was stagnated.

    I met a horde of civil servants who are professionals, fantastic, pro-active, educated and ready to work and learn. Well, all my directors are professionals, my permanent secretary graduated from Theatre Arts Department, University of Ibadan. The directors are professionals in tourism, journalism and law. The director of Art and Monument is a graduate of Education Anthropology. So, I have a coterie of brilliant civil servants that when they saw my enthusiasm they said they were ready to identify with me. And since I resumed we have turned most of our challenges to opportunities because we never allowed them to deter us.

     How are the people responding?

    When a righteous person reigns, people are happy. A man who thinks is different from a man who dreams. A man who sees a vision is different from a man who thinks. A man who dreams would have been able to philosophies on what his people want and what their cravings are. The first thing I did was to talk to the staff, charge them up and we always discuss on every item. We always have a conference. We subject it to analysis like information gathering. There is no supremacy of ideas and we give in to superior argument. Once we have decided on something, we go for it.

    I told them it is no longer business as usual but it is going to be business unusual. I do not wait for funds. If we have an idea, we do it and then wait to collect the refund when the money is ready. I have talked to the staff about this and they have agreed and are committed.

    Another thing we have also done was to trace the culture and tradition to the paramount rulers. We visited the Ewi of Ado, the paramount ruler of Ado-Ekiti and we explained our vision. I also addressed the council of traditional rulers, that is, the Oba’s council. Apart from that we identified the stakeholders in the society such as the professionals. We paid visit to the State College of Education, where they have established one of the best departments of arts, culture, dance and music. We discussed with them and we have established a relationship. Very soon, we are going to hold EKITIFEST a replica of NAFEST where we will show the fundamentals of Ekiti culture and hospitality.

      Tell us about your background.

    My background is in journalism, education and law. I’ve spent the better part of my life in journalism, particularly in travel and tourism, hospitality, culture and art. This has given me a robust perception and fecund understanding of the job terrain. When I was appointed, I didn’t assume I knew all. I consulted wide, visited states in the Southwest to compare notes and see how things are being done. I believe in apprenticeship and understudy, no matter how short it is, it always produce results.

    These days I noticed you are not wearing suit as much again

    Yes, I used to wear suit a lot but now in the council we wear native dresses and clothes on two out of five days of the week. And that is Wednesday and Fridays. We have four meetings during the week and two of those meetings are conductd in native language.

    Is it all of you that can speak Ekiti language?

    Yes, except of course the youth corps member. We also encourage them to learn the language. Yes, it’s for identification, I am from Ekiti and I am a Yoruba man. It shows I’m a cultural person and I have pride in my culture.

     How do you feel coming back to government?

    It is about service. I was doing my medical report for the Law School when I was called and told about my new appointment. I had to abandon the Law School for the call to service.

      Where did the passion for journalism set in?

    The passion started with my dad. We were staying at No 3 Station Road in Osogbo. Opposite our house, the newspaper agents used to drop Daily Times for sale and my father used to pick a copy. I started developing interest in journalism because journalists were usually well respected. I started praying that I should be a journalist, a policeman or someone in espionage because then I used to watche lots of films. But when I finished school I stayed with my uncle in Festac who was working in the bank. He was the foreign exchange manager at UBA then. Most people in our family were co-opted into banking. He secured a job for me in First Interstate Merchant Bank. I was given appointment with a fat salary, I refused. He later took me to oil and gas where I was given a fat salary too but I refused. But in 1981, I went to Tribune newspaper, where I was given an appointment and told to start on a salary of N6000. And I accepted. When I got home, nobody prayed for me at home. Later my uncle’s wife had to call and ask why? My mum even called me useless and asked me to come home and work for her so she’ll pay me even more. In my house, when you get a job, you were assisted with starter pack such as mattress, stove sand basically everything you’ll need to furnish the house, none of them gave me that. They didn’t even blink at me!

    I was living comfortably in my brother’s boys’ quarters in Festac town but when the newspaper asked where I wanted to be posted to, I opted for Ibadan and that even annoyed my family again. But, I found a place in Ibadan where I stayed.

     You are known to have traveled far and wide. How many countries have you been to?

    I have been to 86 countries of the world. I cannot quantify the wealth of knowledge that I have been able to gain from these travels. Sometimes I develop new brain waves and the people working with me will just be looking amazed. Meanwhile some of those ideas are sometimes things that I saw somewhere else. For instance, I have been to Halloween, what people will refer to as a festival of the witches and wizards. I was once in a ship during my travels and the ship got stalked and stopped on the sea! We were just there not moving. Libations had to be poured in a ceremony before the ship continued on the journey.

     Where was that?

    That was in Barcelona.