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Tag: Nigerian Newspapers

  • One year after, MAPOLY won’t release HND results

    When many of the immediate past Higher National Diploma graduates of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic gained admission about three years ago, they never thought they would spend three years on programmes that should have wrapped up in less than two years. Having resumed classes in November 2016, many had high hopes that by last November, they would have been mobilised for the mandatory National Youth Service Corp.

    Interestingly, some of them who previously gained employment and had started earning a living after the end of their National Diploma in 2015, returned to MAPOLY for their HND in 2016.

    None among them ever thought that the academic journey which took off smoothly would turn turbulent halfway. At a point, it required prayers and intervention of some powerful people before the students could write their second semester exam. That was almost a year after they had written the first semester.

    Unfortunately, the students’ challenges were further compounded by the conversion and rechristening of the institution as Moshood Abiola University of Science and Technology, and the relocation of MAPOLY to Ipokia area of the state by the immediate past administration.

    The development created uncertainty, especially among lecturers, who felt they were not properly carried along and that a committee set up to oversee the transition marginalised them.

    However, amid government’s uncompromising posture, the lecturers, under the aegis of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP) of MAPOLY, embarked on a three- month strike. Unfortunately, the strike started on the day students were to begin their second semester examination.

    Even after what seemed like negotiations and resolutions between the government and ASUP,  things have not remained the same. The union appeared to be working on their own schedule and not in conformity with the academic calendar.  Since then, releasing of results, mobilisation of students for NYSC have become an herculean task.

    Some of the outgone students who spoke to CAMPUSLIFE, lamented how the delay affected their NYSC mobilisation since they graduated in March this year.

    A student identified as Bolaji said: “I am tired of the situation of things, MAPOLY has failed to release our result. Management has failed to mobilise us for NYSC.

    “Nobody is ready to employ you without result. We don’t know the way forward, they should just let us go”.

    Another student who introduced himself as as Bolu said, “I am running away from people at home because they are already thinking I have extra year and that was why I have not gone for service.

    Bolu continued: “My parents are not ready to spend on me again and MAPOLY had failed to mobilise us.

    “Governor (Dapo) Abiodun (of Ogun State) should come to our aid so that we can do better things with our lives.”

  • Ministry to establish centres of sport excellence in varsities

    Youths and Sports Development Ministry, will soon establish Centres of Sport Excellence in universities across the six geopolitical zones of the country.

    This was disclosed by the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Akin Dare, when he visited the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), Prof Sulyman Age Abdulkareem, in his office ahead of the commencement of the fifth National Youth Games hosted by the university.

    The minister said UNILORIN may be selected as one of the proposed centres because of its contribution to sports development in the country.

    “It is our plan to identify one university in each geo-political zone and confer on them the centre of sports excellence and I think this university is the prime candidate, and if we are able to do that, it comes with a lot of benefits in terms of equipment,” he said.

    Dare thanked the institution for playing host to the National Youth Games. He observed that with the facilities at the UNILORIN Sports Stadium, the ministry would recommend and support the University to host continental championships.

    “I must thank you and your university for hosting the 5th National Youth Games. This is the fourth time running; the partnership of the ministry with the school, I believe will be long lasting. We will ensure that it is beneficial to the development of sports, to the university and the country at large,” Dare said.

    He praised the Vice-Chancellor for appointing a woman, Prof. Olufunmilola Dominic, as the University’s Director of Sport.

    Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor had told the minister that the university was proud to host the National Youth Games for a record fourth time.

    Abdulkareem expressed delight that the institution had become the home of sports development for the country as new talents were being discovered on a yearly basis during the competition.

    The Vice-Chancellor, however, appealed to the Ministry to help the University in the area of staff training and upgrade of sport facilities at the stadium.

  • Is 18 right age to finish secondary school?

    With no official legal age of completing secondary education in Nigeria, children, who are 16 or younger, are finding their way into the university. However, while some educationists advocate for children to be older, others think otherwise. KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE and DAMOLA KOLA-DARE report.

    Educationists and parents are divided over whether children should be up to 18 before completing secondary school.

    With both parents having to work, children in urban centres tend to start school as early as two years and may end up in Primary One one or two years before they are six, the official start age for primary education.

    By the time they complete their primary education (which may take five or six years) at nine or 10, and follow with six years of secondary education, they graduate at 15 or 16.

    Questions have been raised about their readiness for tertiary education at that age.

    Recently, Osun State Speaker, Timothy Owoeye, said that secondary schools in the state would no longer be allowed to graduate children younger than 18.

    Some  educators and parents disagreed with 18 as the exit age from secondary education, saying it was too late, while others were for it. Many of them expressed concerns that there was no regulation about the start age of schooling.

    Though Nigerians like to copy many things foreign, school age is not one of them. While children start school aged two in Nigeria, in developed countries like Canada, United Kingdom and the United States, children do not begin school until they are four.

    In the UK, children complete secondary aged 16 or17, while those in the U.S and Canada finish secondary school at 17, 18 or even 19. Between 21 and 24, they are through with university education.

    Education Consultant Mrs. Dideolu Adekogbe is an advocate of children spending the right number of years in school as stipulated by the National Policy on Education.

    Mrs. Adekogbe who runs the Bring Back Primary Six movement, which advocates that primary education should terminate in Primary Six instead of primary four or five as practised by many private schools, said 18 years is not too old for children to leave secondary school.

    She said: “The government standard should be upheld. What do we have in the national policy of education?

    “Age six for Primary One and 18 years to be in the university is not late or too late.

    “Life requires acquiring basic skills and maturity to handle situations, and spending required years and relating with age group in school prepares one beyond academics.  Let us stick with standard, if you bend the rules, you will have more 14- years-old in the university as we already have. ”

    Former President, Association for Formidable Educational Development (AFED), Mrs. Ifejola Dada, agrees with the age being pegged at 18 to allow for maturity of students before university.

    “As for me, secondary school pupils should graduate at 18. Until we do the right thing, we will continue to produce cowards and dependent children. When children are skipping classes up to secondary school, graduating to university at age 16, this child is subject to lots of dangers. Cultists bullying them will subject them to surrendering themselves to their group for protection before they know. There is nothing wrong we do that does not have repercussions. The class they skipped will still tell on them as time goes by. My opinion in summary is that what is worth doing is worth doing well. If we want these children to go to school, let it be wholistic not haphazardly. Let us stop teaching for employment but let’s teach them to empower them for better future,” said Mrs. Dada, who runs Alphaseas Education Consult.

    Mr Tolulope Animashaun, Head of Tolulope Schools, Alapere, Lagos, is among educators who think pegging secondary school exit age at 18 would be leaving it too late.

    For me, I believe 16 years should be the minimum age to finish secondary school in Nigeria if we go by our current educational system of 9-3-4.

    A child enters Primary 1 at 5 or 6 and finishes Primary education at 10 or 11 years and moves to Junior Secondary School (JSS) and finishes by 13-14 and then to the Senior Secondary School (SS class), he/she finishes by 16-17.

    “So, 18 years would be too late for many children, especially children that keep to the expected ages of the classes.”

    Animashaun, who is also the Assistant Secretary, League of Muslim Schools Proprietors (LEAMSP), Lagos State Chapter, urged the government to enforce Primary Six as the terminal class for primary education.

    “What the government should do is to make sure children go through all the classes, including Primary Six that some parents want their children to skip,” he said.

    Animashaun also advocated that secondary schools leavers spend a year gaining vocational skills.

    He said: “I would also advocate that before a child gains admission into the Higher institution, he/she should go for a mandatory one-year vocational skills training and the certificate be presented as admission requirements in our higher institutions.

    ‘’ This would encourage more people to acquire vocational skils and would reduce unemployment  in the country.

    “With this, more standard vocational skills centre would spring up and govt could start regulating their activities.”

    Proprietor of Laureates College, Mafoluku, Dr Olatokunbo Somolu, said children that are rushed do not usually perform so well.

    ” Truth is when they leave so early because they are rushed, they falter; they make mistakes. It is wrong to come to secondary school at nine. They don’t do well in secondary school. We have a rare case of some doing well, but most do not,” she said.

    At tertiary level, according to the brochure of the the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), students are expected to clock 16 before being admitted into the tertiary institution.

    A lecturer in the Department of Education (Counseling Psychology), Dr Tolani Williams, said the government should have an agency that monitors enrolment in Nigeria vis-a-vis age – a role which JAMB can play.

    “I think it is important that we have abody that will oversee the enrolment processes from an age appropriate level.  Fortunately, JAMB is a regulating body for admission into universities.  Paragraph Three of the JAMB brochure states that ‘a student must have attained the age of 16 years or would have done so on the first day of October in the year of his/her candidature,” she said.

    However, another lecturer, Dr Mahfouz Adedimeji, said the JAMB rule on age was not binding as some universities do not follow it.

    He bemoaned how the ‘elite’ contravene laid down rules and get their children into private universities at age 14 or 15.

    Adedimeji said: “There is an extant regulation or convention on the minimum age of 16 years for university admission that is being violated by some institutions.

    “I say it is a regulation/convention because I am not aware it has any legal backing. Yet, many universities uphold the regulation, which is excellent. Various types of maturity are required to cope with the dynamics of tertiary education and the biological and the physical are part of them.

    “The elite who violate rules and regulations with impunity often take recourse to private universities to get their children admitted at age 15 or 14. The Speaker’s intervention should be directed at ensuring that pupils complete their  secondary education at 16, the age they are qualified for university education.”

    Adedimeji also said there should be room for gifted children who are intellectually ahead of their age.

    “Every general rule has an exception. There may be a genius, a child prodigy or an exceptionally gifted child who should be so acknowledged. Such a child can even become a graduate at 15 and professor 21. That may happen once in a blue moon and the case should be treated specially”,he said.

    A school administrator, Adesola Adediran gave her full backing to the directive. She stated that it will help build a society with mature, competent and emotionally stable graduates.

    She explained that age was a crucial factor in learning.  She noted that it would ensure bringing back primary six which had been scrapped from private schools.

    She said:  ‘’It will help the society at large because there will be more mature and emotionally balanced working class citizens . People that  can work with little or no supervision. Age also helps in learning, that is learning pace increases as we grow, this is visible in primary school pupils.

    ‘’Then for private primary schools, that means we bring back Primary Six compulsorily.”

    Another respondent, a parent who did not want her name mentioned also supported the idea saying it was a “good” move.  She, however, hoped that the policy would be implemented nationwide without further delay.

    On his part, Mr Charles Ijimileyin, an educationist, applauded the policy.  He said that the British system of education Nigeria claims to follow seems puzzling. He warned that the country would be churning out immature graduates if the system was not reviewed.

    He said: “Generally, age is a decisive  factor in the education of a child.During our time,we were asked to touch our ears; if your hand could not reach your ears,then you won’t be allowed in school.It was the standard practice in those days.You won’t be allowed into school if you weren’t six or seven years old.And by 18, you would have matured fully before gaining admission into the university.”

    Another parent, simply called Mr Alhassan, said that there should not be any restrictions as regards age in education.He said that young and brilliant children who got into school early are at an advantage of finishing school earlier than those who are not so gifted academically and who either enrolled in school early or late.

  • Govt, private sector charged on social investment

    For Nigeria to create a robust environment for social investment and inclusive business to flourish, there is the need for federal and state governments and private entities to build partnerships.

    The Chairman, African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA), Mr. Yemi Cardoso, gave this advice in Lagos during a road show with the theme: Building robust policy for increased social investment & inclusive business.

    Other countries for the three-country African policy road show organised by AVPA, in partnership with the inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN), are Ghana and Kenya.

    The iBAN is a global initiative that supports the scaling and replication of inclusive business models.

    Read Also: Lagos seeks private sector support for infrastructure

    The Nigerian edition of the road show, which held during the week, brought together about 111 leaders in public, private and social sectors, providing a platform to deliberate on the challenges faced in building a robust policy environment for increased social investment and inclusive business development.

    Cardoso said it was also to understand and leverage learning from the success story of the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network (AVPN), a sister organisation for AVPA.  AVPN’s systems and policy forums have become a successful framework.

    The AVPA, he explained, is a non-profit, non-partisan, Pan-African network for social investors who are dedicated to deploying their financial, human and intellectual capital in a more strategic and disciplined manner to make social impact.

    Cardoso said social investment is intended to deliver a positive social impact and a return on the original investment.

    Inclusive business is a model of commercial activity that seeks profit by including low-income communities to actively participate in the value chain or offer services and products for the low-income population.

    He said regulatory and policy frameworks that encourage adoption, foster growth and speed replication were key components to moving these new models of doing business and investing from the periphery to the mainstream.

  • When strange things happen

    The President could not have asked for a better deputy. Any president who has Prof Yemi Osinbajo as his deputy would consider himself lucky. President Muhammadu Buhari knows that Osinbajo is God sent – not many vice presidents are made like the Professor of Law. Osinbajo is meek and humble, but it will be a grave mistake to take these attributes as a sign of weakness.

    He knows the true meaning of loyalty and he has stood by the President through thick and thin. His loyalty has never been in doubt and the President himself attested to this fact when his deputy turned 61 last year. In a birthday message to Osinbajo, Buhari said: “…Thank you for being a loyal and dependable partner on this journey. I join millions of your friends and well wishers around the world to wish you many more years of service to God, to Nigeria and to humanity”.

    Their partnership was and is still the envy of many politicians who keep on wondering how they have been working together in the past four years without any hitch, at least that is known to the public. In a clime where a leader dreads his deputy – at least we saw what happened in the Presidency in the past as well as in some states also in the past and now. Going by their cordial relations, many can swear that Osinbajo can do no wrong by Buhari.

    A cool, calm and calculated man, Osinbajo does not throw the weight of his office about. You will hardly notice him in a gathering except he is pointed out to you. Although he and the President are not known to be at loggerheads, Monday’s constitution of an economic team seems to tell a different story. The question is: is everything okay at Aso Rock? The question is pertinent because constitutionally, the vice president is vested with the power to oversee the economy with recourse to the President.

    Besides, he chairs the Economic Management Team (EMT) with the President’s consent. All these have changed, with the coming of the Prof Doyin Salami-led Economic Advisory Council (EAC). It goes without saying that the EAC has replaced the EMT, but can it take the place of the constitutionally created National Economic Council (NEC) which is headed by the vice president? According to the Constitution, the NEC shall comprise the following members –

    • the vice president who shall be the chairman
    • the governor of each state of the federation; and
    • the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)

    established under the Central Bank of Nigeria Decree 1991 or any enactment replacing that decree.

    The Constitution vests the NEC with power to advise the President concerning the economic affairs of the federation and in particular on measures necessary for the co-ordination of the economic planning efforts or economic programmes of the various governments of the federation.

    Now, the EAC is also expected to advise the President on economic policy matters, including fiscal analysis, economic growth and a range of internal and global economic issues working with the relevant cabinet members and heads of monetary and fiscal agencies. ‘’The EAC will have monthly technical sessions as well as scheduled quarterly meetings with the President. The chairman may, however, request for unscheduled meetings, if the need arises’’, said a statement by presidential spokesman Femi Adesina.

    With this mandate, the EAC will be usurping the functions of the NEC. Will it be proper to have another body performing the constitutional functions of NEC? Can the President set up such a rival body without the amendment of the Constitution? There is bound to be a conflict in the functions of the two bodies if allowed to perform side by side. Why did the President constitute the EAC? Has he lost confidence in NEC? Or did NEC overreach itself? Is there a rift in Aso Rock that the people are not aware of? Was the EAC set up to spite Osinbajo? Where does the constitution of the EAC leave us?

    The EAC is to perform virtually all the constitutional functions of the NEC, but without the vice president, which is empowered to head it, and all  the  state and CBN governors as its members. The President may have inadvertently breached the Constitution by constituting the EAC. I may be wrong though, giving that in a presidential system, the President has the power to do and undo. But does that power include a constitutional breach? I do not think so. It may after all be another executive order!

    Something must have informed the constitution of the EAC and that is likely to be political. Has the President begun to suspect his ‘loyal’ deputy? What brought about the suspicion? Is it all about 2023? The country saw the cost of a divided Presidency between 1999 and 2007 when Obasanjo and Atiku almost tore themselves apart.  Nigerians are not prepared to travel that road again. Whatever the differences between the President and his deputy are should be kept to themselves and not allowed to overheat the system.

    Tacitly taking away the vice president’s constitutional duty through the EAC may not serve any useful purpose. It will only compound whatever the problem is rather than solve it. Buhari and Osinbajo have come a long way to allow anything at this stage to mar their relationship. Or am I crying wolf where there is none? I will be happy if it is so.

    A singer’s day in court

    Muscians are ever too happy to perform before a live audience. When popular artiste Johnson Oyindamola aka Dammy Krane had that opportunity at an Igbosere Chief Magistrates’ Court on Monday, he grabbed it with both hands. He was in court with Merrybet Gold Ltd. Prosecuting police Inspector J. I. Enang did not want Chief Magistrate Afolashade Botoku to grant him bail.

    But his lawyer Adebayo Oniyelu urged the court to grant him bail being ‘’a popular musician’’ who will always come for his trial. The prosecutor quickly jumped up, shouting that he did not know Dammy Krane as a musician.

    The magistrate ran her eyes through the court and calmly asked Dammy Krane if he is a musician. When he answered in the affirmative, she asked him to sing one of his songs. Dammy Krane took up the challenge without batting an eyelid, as his voice rang out: Help me say amin ooo… Ama kole mole…, to which the audience chorused: amin ooo… And the singer walked away with a N50,000 bail.

  • AfCFTA: Why Nigeria may not benefit from Afreximbank’s interventions

    The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has handed Nigeria the opportunity to grab a chunk of the $2.5 trillion in combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and other benefits promised by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement almost on a platter. This followed the roll out of various trade facilitation and financing instruments to boost manufacturers’ competitiveness. But, there are fears that without fixing her lack of internationally-accredited quality and trade-related infrastructure, manufacturers may fail to benefit from the interventions. Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports

    If access to robust, result-driven trade facilitation and trade financing instruments were to be deciding factors for maximising the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, it is unlikely that any country will beat Nigeria to the number one spot on AfCFTA’s competitiveness ladder when its implementation begins in July, next year.

    The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has made available some of trade facilitation and financing instruments to strategically incentivise and position Nigerian manufacturers and other domestic economic actors to take advantage of the trade liberalisation deal.

    For instance, the bank recently made available $500 million from its Nigeria-Africa Trade and Investment Promotion Fund to support the manufacturers to take advantage of the numerous opportunities offered by the AFCFTA.

    Adopted by the 18th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union (AU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in January 2012, AfCFTA seeks to create a continental trade bloc of 1.2 billion people, with a combined Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of about $2.5 trillion.

    The agreement was seen as an important milestone in promoting Africa’s regional integration and helping to increase intra-African trade. It planned to do this by committing countries to liberalising services and trade and removing tariffs on 90 per cent of goods.

    Apart from its inherent capacity to promote economic growth and development, reduce poverty in the partnering countries, it was also expected to help expand and diversify trade and increase domestic and foreign investment.

    After foot-dragging for 16 months, President Muhammadu Buhari signed the trade treaty on  July 7, this year, at the opening of the 12th Extraordinary Summit of the AU Launch of the Operational Phase of the AfCFTA in Miami, Niger. As at August 21,  Afriacan countries except Eritrea had signed the deal.

    With the AfCFTA coming into force, Afreximbank, the premier institution driving African integration and trade, has moved in to position African manufacturers to maximise the benefits in the agreement, but with special focus on manufacturers and other players.

    In throwing the $500 million lifeline to  the manufacturers, the Afreximbank President/ Chairman of Board of Directors, Prof. Benedict Oramah, said the opportunity for Nigerian and African manufacturers under the AfCFTA was phenomenal.

    Oramah, who spoke at the 47th Annual General Meeting (AGM)/Manufacturers Annual Lecture/Presidential Luncheon of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) held in Lagos, noted that intra-regional trade in the manufacturing sector could rise to more than $150 billion by 2022.

    His words: “The AfCFTA has come into force. It is expected that it will by 2022 bring the share of intra-African trade to 22 percent, up from current levels of about 16 percent, and bring total intra-African trade to about $250 billion, from about $160 billion currently.

    “Since manufactures account for about 60 percent of total intra-African trade, intra-regional trade in manufactures can rise to more than $150 billion by 2022. The opportunity for African manufacturers is, therefore, phenomenal.”         

    In his presentation titled: “From commodities to a global manufacturing hub: The road ahead for Nigeria,” Oramah said this was timely and relevant because it demonstrated  MAN’s commitment to prepare its members for the opportunities that the AfCFTA presents to make Nigeria a global manufacturing hub, akin to what China.

    “MAN represents, perhaps, the largest collection of entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Just as most of the great European cities were built on entrepreneurial risk-taking, it is on the enterprise of the members of MAN that Nigeria’s future prosperity can be built. And it is trade that will expand the frontiers of that enterprise,” he said.

    Other initiatives to capacitate manufacturers

    Apart from making the $500 million facility available to Nigerian manufacturers to diversify exports and produce goods and services that will be traded competitively under the AfCFTA, the bank has also unveiled the Fund for Export Development in Africa (FEDA), a key instrument through which it intervenes in the form of equity or quasi equity.

    There is also the Export Contract Availability Guarantee, to enable Nigerian and other African export manufacturers to secure long-term export contracts with bank financing. The guarantee will cover the risk associated with situations where the contract against which financing has been provided becomes unavailable before an agreed period.

    Similarly, Afreximbank has put in place an Inter-State Transit Guarantee aimed at facilitating and easing the flow of goods and services across borders and also reduce transit time and costs. This guarantee, The Nation learnt, would be useful for exports to other African countries.

    Although the bank’s instruments and interventions were meant to support the structural transformation of Africa’s production and exports through higher value added and manufactured goods, her development of solutions tailored to the specific needs of Nigerian manufacturers can hardly go unnoticed.

    For instance, Afreximbank has since thrown its weight behind the country’s economic development and industrialisation objectives, especially under the “Made-in-Nigeria for Export”(Project MINE) intiative.

    Specifically, the bank has executed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment (FMITI) to facilitate the establishment of Industrial Parks (IPs) and Export Processing Zones (EPZs) within the six geo-political zones under Project MINE.

    Under Project MINE, Special Economic Zones (SEZs) will be used as the mechanism for making Nigeria a pre-eminent manufacturing hub in Sub-Saharan Africa and a major exporter of Made-in-Nigeria goods and services regionally and globally.

    The immediate past Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, said the Federal Government planned to spend N250 billion for the development of the SEZs across the six geo-political zones of the country in pursuit of the country’s industrialisation agenda.

    According to him, Project MINE initiative was aimed at developing what he described as world-class export-oriented SEZs, pointing out that one of the factors leading to industrialisation was the development of SEZs.

    Under the MoU, which Afreximbank executed with the FMITI, the bank identified priority projects, such as the Lekki-Epe Model Industrial Park, located on 1,000 hectares of land in the Northwest of the Lekki Free Trade Zone.

    Clothing Textile and Garments (CTG) and agro-processing have been identified as the sector focus for this park. For Enyimba Economic City, located on 1, 600 hectares in Enyimba Economic City in Aba, Abia State, CTG, agro-processing and light manufacturing are the selected sectors of focus.

    Afreximbank is also supporting the development of an internationally-accredited centre for testing, inspection and certification of products, particularly agricultural and agro-processed products. This was to ensure compliance with international technical regulations.

    The bank has already established the African Quality Assurance Centre (AQAC) in Ogun State, believing that the development of adequate conformity assessment infrastructure would contribute to creating confidence for importers and ensure that exported products meet international standards to avoid rejection of shipments.

    Through its Continental Trade Fairs, the bank will hold biennial Intra-African Trade Fairs (IATF) that will connect Nigerian and African buyers and sellers, provide trade and market information and also facilitate B2B (Business-to-Business) exchanges.

    The maiden trade fair, which held in Cairo, Egypt, last December, attracted over 1000 exhibitors from 45 countries, with over $32 billion in deals generated. And the second edition is scheduled for September1-7, 2020, in Kigali, Rwanda.

    Fears over decrepit trade-carrying infrastructure

    As it is, Nigeria looks good to ride on the back of Afreximbank’s game-changing initiatives to call the shot in the emerging new trade order propelled by the AfCFTA.

    However, there are fears that this will not be a walk in the park for Africa’s most populous and largest market, majorly because of lack of internationally accredited quality and trade-related infrastructure.

    Trade-carrying infrastructure includes hard infrastructure, such as roads, rail, bridges, ports,  and soft infrastructure (one stop border posts, warehousing, cold chain storage, jetties, ferries, logistics platforms and ICT solutions, such as single windows and electronic cargo tracking systems.

    Admittedly, weak trade-related infrastructure is not peculiar to Nigeria. Africa’s infrastructure needs, according to Afreximbank, are estimated at between $130 and $170 billion yearly, with a financing gap in the range of $70–$110 billion.

    However, Nigeria’s share of the continent’s huge infrastructure gap is mind-boggling. For instance, the Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) put this in perspective when it said Nigeria requires $15 billion, about N4.59 trillion, worth of investments yearly for 15 years to adequately develop her infrastructure nationwide.

    The economic and financial research firm, in its bi-monthly Economic and Business report for February, last year, said: “Nigeria’s under-investment in infrastructure has left it with a core stock of infrastructure of just 20 per cent to 25 per cent of GDP, compared to an average of 70 per cent of the GDP for more advanced middle-income countries of similar size.”

    The FDC said bridging this gap would require investing about $15 billion yearly for the next 15 years, asking, “Given the government’s limited access to international debt, revenue constraints and competing priorities, the major question is where will funding be sourced?”

    The research firm emphasised: “One of the biggest constraints to Nigeria’s competitiveness, economic growth and diversification is the crippling infrastructure deficit, estimated at about $300 billion (about N30 trillion) by the African Development Bank (AfDB).”

    When considered that Nigeria, according to Vice-President YemiOsinbajo, spent N2.7 trillion on infrastructure in 2016 and 2017 fiscal years, for instance, the challenge infrastructure gap poses to Nigeria’s competitiveness in global trade comes into bold relief.

    This was also why, despite significant nationwide support for Nigeria to go ahead with the AfCFTA, including the avalanche of bilateral trade partnerships and economic co-operation programmes dangled before her by foreign investors and governments, manufacturers were opposed to such deals.

    The dearth of supportive infrastructure, particularly power supply, has continued to push up cost of production, instilling fears of competitive disadvantage into the minds of Nigerian manufacturers, especially the especially the Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs), against their counterparts from other African countries.

    Poor quality infrastructure

    At present, Nigeria lacks adequate and functional laboratories to test and ensure that exportable agric products and other goods meet required international quality and standards.

    The Senior Manager, Intra-African Trade Initiative, Afreximbank, Gainmore Zanamwe, said lack of internationally-accredited quality infrastructure and harmonised trade standards are part of the supply side constraints to industrialisation in Nigeria and other African countries.

    The danger decrepit infrastructure poses to Nigeria’s continental and global trade power is not lost on manufacturers. At the MAN AGM, its President, Ahmed Mansur, said: “The state of our infrastructure has deeply eroded the manufacturing sector’s competitiveness.

    “The supply of electricity, access to our ports and their low operating efficiencies, the poor condition of most of our highways and waterways and the absence of a credible rail network constitute impediments to the operating efficiencies of our manufacturing establishment, inducing high costs of production and distribution and rendering our manufactured goods uncompetitive.”

  • Undergraduate gives borehole to community

    For the first  time in about 100 years, the serene Edonwick Village in Iko, Eastern Obolo Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, was blessed with their first-ever clean water.

    The borehole, which threw the community into a bout of celebrations, was courtesy of Mary Remarkable Foundation.

    Its founder, Miss Remarkable Mary Akpan, said she came about the initiative because of her vision to add value to humanity by addressing issues that make society more humane and habitable.

    Inaugurating and handing over the project, Akpan, who is a 200-Level Political Science and Public Administration of the University of Uyo, recalled her tortuous journey in the quest to find an ideal location for her project.  She  remained thankful to God for granting her the grace to complete the project.

    Describing the project as ‘this great testimony and possibility’, Akpan said the story of Edonwick Village was one that questions the heart of man and the place of a constituted authority.

    Despite being an oil-producing community, Akpan said the village never had access to electricity,  school, medical centre, or even a structure made of block, describing the community’s predicament as  ‘deplorable,’ ‘pathetic’ and ‘unacceptable’.

    Akpan said her foundation travelled by road and water for several days and spent countless nights just to make this happen. She, therefore, said the successful execution of the project was worth the challenges encountered.

    Miss Akpan, who said she believes humanity survives on the premises of love and compassion, noted that her foundation counted it a great privilege to have been called to serve and contribute towards addressing societal challenges.

    She thanked those who contributed towards the fundraising, noting that their massive support made the success story possible.

    Responding on behalf of the community, Edonwick Village head Chief Edwin Nte said the water project was the first of its kind in the community’s over a century of existence.

    He expressed appreciation to the donor for the kind gesture and the risk it took to locate such a far-flung village for the purpose of blessing them with borehole water.

    Edwin, who charged corporate bodies and individuals to learn from Akpan’s humanitarian mind, said the borehole would improve the health of inhabitants of the village as the stream and waters of the Atlantic Ocean, the villages had relied on for years, have been polluted and poses a serious health threat.

    The high point of the event was the inauguration of the project by the donor. The event also featured singing and dancing by women and youths of the community who thronged the venue in excitement.

  • Saudi attack threat to global oil industry

    The attack on two major oil facilities in Saudi Arabia may be a pointer to an emerging trend that may adversely upset global energy security, if not swiftly checked. There are speculations that the incident may be a cross-border attack which may be seen from the prism of terrorism. EMEKA UGWUANYI looks at the incident.

    The global oil and gas industry was taken aback with the report of attacks on two major oil facilities by drones in the early hours of last Saturday in Saudi Arabia.

    Saudi Arabian local news network – Al Arabiya – had reported that two oil processing centres in Abqaiq and Khurais were attcked before dawn on Saturday, noting that the Saudi Interior Ministry reported fires at the two centres, which were later put off.

    According to reports, Yemen’s Houthi rebels, funded for years by Iran, claimed responsibility for the bombing while another report claimed the missiles or drones were launched from Iraq. However, a Houthi spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Yahya Sare’e, reportedly said the group’s forces “carried out a massive offensive operation of 10 drones targeting Abqaiq and Khurais refineries but he did not specifically say that they launched the drones from Yemen. Houthi movement is an Islamic political and armed organisation that seeks greater autonomy for Houthi majority regions in Yemen.

    Yemen’s state-controlled press claims Houthi rebels have been trained in Iranian-run camps.

    Reacting to the Saudi oil facilities attack, the United States President Donald Trump had said the US is “locked and loaded” and ready to respond to attacks on petroleum processing facilities in Saudi Arabia, as US officials said the evidence pointed to Iranian involvement.

    The US President did not mention Iran, but wrote on Twitter that he had “reason to believe that we know the culprit” behind the series of attacks on the Abqaiq facility, which is the world’s largest petroleum processing plant. The attacks disrupted more than half of the kingdom’s oil output and will affect global supplies.

    Trump tweeted: “(We) are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom (of Saudi Arabia) as to who they believe was the cause of this attack and under what terms we would proceed!”

    The US government has produced satellite photos showing what officials said were at least 19 points of impact on Saturday at the two Saudi energy facilities, including damage at the heart of the kingdom’s crucial oil processing plant at Abqaiq. Officials told US media the photos showed impacts consistent with the attacks coming from the direction of Iran or Iraq, rather than from Yemen to the south. Iraq denied that its territory was used for an attack on the kingdom. US officials said a strike from there would be a violation of Iraq’s sovereignty.

    The US officials said additional devices, which apparently didn’t reach their targets, were recovered northwest of the facilities and were being jointly analysed by Saudi and American intelligence. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, did not address whether the weapons could have been fired from Yemen, then taken a round-about path, but did not explicitly rule it out.  As a result of the attack oil price rose by almost $12 a barrel to $71.95 on Monday.

    In reaction to Trump’s comment, a senior commander from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards warned that the Islamic republic was ready for “full-fledged” war. “Everybody should know that all American bases and their aircraft carriers in a distance of up to 2,000km around Iran are within the range of our missiles,” the head of the Revolutionary Guards Corps’ aerospace force, Amirali Hajizadeh, was quoted as saying by the semi-official Tasnim news agency.

    However, Saudi de facto ruler Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said the kingdom was “willing and able” to respond to this “terrorist aggression.”

    Reports say Saudi Arabia’s oilfields and pipelines have been targeted by rebels over the past year but never on such a scale and causing such disruption. Analysts warned that global supplies of oil are likely to suffer a “major jolt” following the attack. Aramco said the attacks would cut output by 5.7 million barrels daily, more than five per cent of global crude supply.

    Although Aramco’s Chief Executive Officer, Amin Nasser, said work was underway to restore production and that it would take weeks to return to full production capacity at the damaged facilities.

    Looking beyond Saudi attack

    According to industry analysts, the attack on Saudi oil facilities should be a concern to the global energy industry. They noted that oil producing countries should not jubilate over the increase in crude price necessitated by the attacks as there would be energy crisis should such attack be carried out on two more major oil producers simultaneously. To them, the sudden rise in crude price, especially if caused by incidents such as the Saudi attacks, will have long-term negative impact on the global economy. Therefore, there should be collective concerted efforts to prevent such attacks in all oil producing country.

    “If this incident is not tackled frontally to prevent future occurrence not just in Saudi but in all oil producing country through a collective effort, the perpetrators may extend it to other oil producing country and that will have damaging ripple effect. Every effort must be made to stop terrorist attack in any form on oil facilities. Oil is central to efficient global activities, therefore, besides astronomic rise in price, attacks on oil facilities especially cross-border attacks that target large facilities have to be nipped in the bud.

    “Remember that Saudi Arabia used to have the world’s largest oil reserves before it was overtaken by Venezuela in 2011. Currently, Venezuela is in crisis and most of this reserves are shut-in. Venezuela as at 2011 had reserves of more than 300 billion of proven reserves. Saudi Arabia’s reserves were 269 billion barrels as January of 2016. Also Iran and Iraq are among the world’s top oil reserves holders with 158 billion barrels and 143 billion barrels as at 2016.

    “In terms of daily production, according to statistics from the Energy Information Administration (EIA) at the end of last year, Saudi Arabia’s daily oil production was 12,419,000 barrels. Although United States’ daily output was more at 17,886,000 barrels per day, its consumption was more at 19.88 million barrels daily. Therefore, any major attack on one more big producers will create a major supply gap.”

  • Laudable scheme

    Zamfara State government’s plan to train and empower the teeming unemployed youths there to become economically independent is commendable. The state government is reported to have earmarked N3billion for the project. As the state government rightly reasoned, the banditry, cattle rustling and prevalent kidnapping in the state are fuelled by the high unemployment rate and endemic poverty in the 14 local government areas of the state. After all, as they say, “an idle mind is the devil’s workshop”.

    To earmark N3billion for such a project is an indication of determination by the state government to tame the monster of unemployment and free the youth from its pangs. If all states could do the same, it would go a long way in getting the youth usefully engaged as well as give a boost to the economy. Experts have always said that the route to a sound Nigerian economy is through the small and medium scale ventures. Vocational skills are still in short supply in the country, with artisans such as masons, carpenters, etc. usually fetched from neighbouring countries, and sometimes from as far as Eastern Europe.

    It is shameful that, to the contrary, Nigeria is exporting unskilled youths to other economies to be hewers of wood and drawers of water even in this century. In the past few weeks, South African rough necks have trooped to the streets to protest Nigerians, mainly the youth, being the preferred choice for menial jobs, among others. The situation in the West is even worse, while African countries are bearing the brunt of the giant with clay feet. Burkina Faso is protesting the influx of scarlet ladies from Nigeria. These are all young men and women who should turn the country from a consuming to a producing country. It should, however, be pointed out that merely allocating funds for the project is not enough. It should be well thought-out; training must be adequate and relevant loans should be structured and institutionalised. Only then can the objectives be assured.

    Given the guarantee of freedom of movement by the Nigerian constitution, other states in the Northwest should be encouraged to embrace the plan on a similar scale if the Zamfara State experiment is to succeed. This would necessitate the involvement of the Federal Government and its agencies such as the National Directorate of Employment, the Bank of Industry, and creation of intervention funds through the Central Bank of Nigeria. Disbursement of funds should be preceded by intensive training through vocational and technical institutes, where applicable.

    All stakeholders should support this initiative. Banks, the private sector and donor agencies have roles to play in ridding the country of vices and crimes festered by idleness and poverty. Unlike similar schemes in various parts of the country, this audacious plan must succeed. It should be accompanied with good orientation that would teach the people that it is a revolving scheme and is strictly for productive purposes and not for marriage ceremonies, buying cars or houses, or embarking on pilgrimage.

  • Robert Mugabe remembered

    The death of Robert Mugabe at the age of 95 brings to an end the end of a tumultuous era in Zimbabwean history. What is now Zimbabwe was created by that English speaking South African imperialist Cecil Rhodes in the 19th century’s struggle between the Boers, the descendants of the Dutch-speaking adventurers who had emigrated to the Cape of Good Hope in the 16th century as part of a coaling station on the way to their colony in what is now Indonesia. Over the years, South Africa itself became a prized possession of the Dutch settlers who increasingly came into conflict with native South Africans particularly the Sothos and the much more formidable Zulus.

    Towards the end of the 19th century, the British had replaced the native South Africans in the contestation for power with the Boers leading to a bitter war with them and even drawing in Germany’s support for the Boers in what was a struggle for global power between the two Anglo-Saxon nations of Britain and Germany. Before the Anglo-Boer war (1899-1902), the British had tried to outflank the two Boer republics of Orange Free State and Transvaal by planting a British colony north of them in a private enterprise by Cecil Rhodes, a millionaire who had made his fortune in mining gold in South Africa. This enterprise resulted in the territories of northern and southern Rhodesia named after him thus becoming the private property of Cecil Rhodes who provided the funds for establishing them.

    Africans were not totally docile in the politics of Southern Africa. The same territory claimed by Rhodes was ruled by an African potentate named Lobengula, the king of the Ndebele nation. The  Ndebele were an offshoot of the  Zulus who had precipitated an Mfecane (dispersal) northwards following pressure from European invasion of their territory and a revolution in their military tactics leading to their victory over the British in Isandlwana in 1879 but this was to be a Pyrrhic victory because they were eventually conquered.

    The point to note is that the history of Southern Africa is intricately interwoven. The modern states that have emerged in Southern Africa are the creations of European nation state ideology and map making. The people of Southern Africa are the same Bantu-speaking peoples albeit of different dialects of the same language.

    When the emissary of Cecil Rhodes met Lobengula and promised him protection of the queen of Britain, he laughed and said he was in a better position to protect the Britons who may come visiting. The visitors came first as missionaries and later as settlers. Lobengula later told the story of how the British came to his territory and asked him and his people to close their eyes to pray and that after praying they opened their eyes and lo and behold the British flag had been unfurled and was flying over their territory! The British soon found out that the Ndebele were a minority ruling over the vast majority of the Shona.

    This was soon exploited in the classical “divide et imperia” practice wherever the British ruled in their far flung empire. When the Africans woke up and began to fight for their rights, their movement was divided along tribal lines of ZAPU (Zimbabwe African people’s Union) led by the Ndebele leader, Joshua Nkomo while the ZANU (Zimbabwe African National Union) was led by the Reverend Ndabaningi Sithole who was later edged out by the much more radical and ruthless Robert Mugabe, a Shona, who had previously trained as a catholic friar.

    The British tried unsuccessfully to bring their territories of northern and southern Rhodesia into a federation with Nyasaland (now Malawi) in what was called Central African federation under white settlers’ rule which was unacceptable to African nationalism. Nyasaland withdrew from the federation and became the independent country of Malawi under Dr. Kamuzu Banda in July 1964 and was followed by northern Rhodesia as Zambia under the leadership of Kenneth Kaunda in October 1964. Rhodesia remained firmly under white settlers control with Ian Smith as prime minister boasting that black Africans will not in a thousand years rule Rhodesia and unilaterally declared the territory independent in 1965.

    The Africans became more and more desperate to free themselves. They took to the bush and launched guerrilla war to overthrow the white settler ruled Rhodesia. The struggle was very brutal and the settlers regimes in Southern African territories of South Africa, South West Africa (later Namibia), Portuguese-ruled Angola and Mozambique supported in their own interest Ian Smith in Rhodesia. African countries through the liberation committee of the OAU with Nigeria paying substantially the lion share of the budget for the effort of the liberation movements in Southern Africa confronted the regime.

    Nigeria stepped into the effort of liberation of Southern Africa in a big way in the middle of the 1970s especially after the collapse of the Portuguese empire in Africa in 1975. This period coincided with the coming into power of Generals Murtala Muhammad and Olusegun Obasanjo. Even after General Muhammed was assassinated in 1976, the Obasanjo government continued to provide material and financial support for the liberation of Southern Africa especially when South Africa tried to support reactionary movements of UNITA and RENAMO in Angola and Mozambique respectively against the MPLA and FRELIMO governments in the two countries. Nigeria was designated a frontline state along with Angola, Mozambique, Zambia and Tanzania. The Commonwealth of Nations also put pressure on Rhodesia and South Africa to change their oppressive regimes and bend in the way African nationalism.

    In order to forge a unified front in Southern Rhodesia, General Obasanjo invited Mugabe and Nkomo to Dodan Barracks in Lagos and tried to appeal to the nationalist leaders for unity. When they refused, Obasanjo dramatically locked up the two of them and gave them revolvers to shoot it out. Both later came out laughing and dramatically later merged their forces in a new movement called ZANU/ ZAPU Patriotic Front. Obasanjo’ government nationalized British financial assets in Nigeria by taking over Barclays Bank and British Petroleum (BP) with threat that others will follow.

    This and the intensification of guerrilla war forced the British  in 1980 to concede independence and majority rule to southern Rhodesia renamed Zimbabwe after an African civilization that flourished in the place in medieval times. The country was under the leadership of Robert Mugabe from independence in 1980 to 2017 when in a military putsch, Robert  Mugabe’s authoritarian rule was terminated .The independence of Zimbabwe changed the strategic position of South Africa for the worst for the apartheid regime by strengthening the frontier of freedom confronting South Africa.

    I personally experienced this when in 1989, I stood on the Beit Bridge separating Zimbabwe from South Africa and looked into a future when South Africa would join the community of free African states; a hope which was realized in 1994 when Nelson Mandela became president of South Africa under a non-racial majoritarian democracy.

    With the death of Mugabe, the question is being asked about his legacy. There is no doubt that Mugabe gave his people confidence. The story is often told about a British economic mission visiting Zimbabwe after independence and their leader a British peer getting impatient with young, barely trained immigration officers and arrogantly loudly telling the immigration officers, “We have come to invest in your country”. Deflating the British peer, one immigration officer said “what is wrong in you investing in your own country?” That’s the kind of self-assuredness young Zimbabweans had.

    The unity in Zimbabwe did not last and soon after independence, Mugabe unleashed his North Korean trained special forces on the Ndebele in the south of the country killing thousands of them. He also soon took over by force, white farms and nationalized the diamond and other mineral mines. These acts led the British to mobilize their allies in Europe and North Africa to impose economic sanctions on Zimbabwe. These sanctions ruined the economy of the country and led to more extreme measures and authoritarianism on the part of the Mugabe regime.

    Many young educated Zimbabweans fled to South Africa and Europe to eke out some kind of miserable existence. The country was totally ruined financially and reduced to a laughing stock in the comity of nations while Mugabe remained ever witty in his criticism of the west and Britain in particular. The Mugabe story is a mixed bag of heroism and tragedy of an African ruler who fought valiantly for his country and also let down his own people in a fit of megalomania and inability to vacate the seat of power while the ovation was loudest.