The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Paying

  • ‘I almost missed paying Law School fees’

    ‘I almost missed paying Law School fees’

    It took a well-crafted lie to set Ernest Osagie on the path to law. But the Adekunle Ajasin University alumnus believes divine intervention had a hand in him becoming a lawyer. He shares his story with ROBERT EGBE

    Family

    My name is Ernest Osagie. I am from Esan in Edo State and I am the fourth of six siblings.

    Education

    I graduated from Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba–Akoko in 2014. I attended the Nigerian Law School, Enugu Campus and was called to the Bar in 2015.

    ‘I lied that Dad wanted me to be a lawyer’

    My journey to becoming a lawyer, I must say, was divinely ordained by God. In Senior Secondary School (SSS) I was assigned to science class. I stayed in that class for few days, but I didn’t really enjoy it. But there was a problem: I didn’t know how or whether I would be allowed to switch to Art Class. So, I went to my school counsellor and lied to her that my dad wanted me to become a lawyer. (Laughs). She told the school authorities and I was transferred to Art Class. This marked the beginning of my journey into the legal world.

    My inspiration

    None of my parents are lawyers, but I am inspired by Godly lawyers such as Vice President Prof Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Vice Chairman Mr Monday Onyekachi Ubani, Chief Sanya Ayeni, Mr Osuji Stephen, Mr Adewale Olatunde and a host of other legal practitioners.

    Call to Bar

    My Call to Bar ceremony was a very joyful day for me though my mum was unable to come due to the fact that she was not feeling fine. However, she was always calling, likewise other members of my family and my friends.

    How I paid my Law School fees

    My life has always been God and will always be God. The reason is that I was able to raise my Law School fees just a day to the closing date fixed for the payment. So, it was this mentality that I took to the Law School fully aware that there will always be a provision by God, come what may, which God actually did.

    Most annoying  thing client did

    I was in court on a particular day and a client approached me to represent him in court. We agreed on my professional fee and thereafter I took up his case. I entered the courtroom but soon after, he began behaving funnily. He began showing signs that he wasn’t really comfortable with me, probably because I looked so young. He started grumbling and trying to direct me on what to do, what to say in court, basically trying to teach me my job. I had no option than to withdraw from the matter and I went back to my office.

    Law School grading system

    I am of the view that it should be looked into, as it is not fair to grade a student via his least grade.

    Marriage

    I can marry anyone from any profession once I see what I want from the lady.

     

     

  • Paying to slave

    Paying to slave

    With young Africans getting entrapped into modern slavery in their desperate effort to access the glamour and economic opportunities of the developed world, I wonder what Walter Rodney, the Guyanese scholar, would say if he were alive today. In his book: How Europe underdeveloped Africa, Rodney, made succinct argument how slavery and colonialism in the previous centuries, forced Africa to its knees. His treatise showed the remarkable political and economic successes made by various ancient kingdoms in Africa, before the insidious impacts of slavery and colonisation. He argued that Europeans made a huge success of the exploitation of the human and material resources of Africa. For example, the Belgian government at a time relied solely on millions of dollars from the exploitation of the minerals resources of the Congo to survive.

    He argued that Europe and America made economic transitions, literally cultivating on the back of Africans. He quoted historical data, showing the correlation between the demand for more slaves and exploitation of the rich resources of Africa with greater development in Europe and America. Before colonisation, slave trade in a way prepared Africa for conquest by the colonial powers. In depopulating Africa, slavery took her prime human assets, the young men and women that ought to be its work force and army. With firearms, Europe enforced uninterrupted supply of slaves to its plantations across America until machines were invented to supplant the need for slave hands.

    Presently, Europe and America have transformed exponentially in economic and technological development while African remains the world laggard. Indeed, if Africans who were captured and transported to the slave plantations were to wake-up from the dead, they would be shocked that young men and women from Africa are now desperately paying to go into ‘modern slavery’ in Europe or America. Unfortunately, just like in the earlier slavery, the road to modern slavery is very perilous – perhaps more perilous than before. Unlike in the era of vast plantation, the present ‘Africans slaves’ are more of nuisance than assets.

    From Libya, the federal government has repatriated several hundreds, even as many more hundreds are stranded, waiting to be ferried home. Yet, to pay their way to Europe, through the desert, many of these young men and women sold off their businesses, family inheritance, or prostituted for years, to raise the money. Among the returnees, there are girls with pregnancy, or with children, born out of multiple rapes. Male or female, all the returnees bear varied tales of horror, with the social media as witness.

    Despite the horror tales, many more young Africans would follow the same trajectory in spite of the sad experiences of their compatriots. Again, even as Libya and the Mediterranean have become the sore point of a blighted continent, there are several thousands of Africans especially blacks, stranded in Europe and America. You see such lost generations at train stations, across Europe, trying to obtain under false pretences from their visiting compatriots.

    The economic crisis facing Nigeria makes it even more likely that her share of the stranded will only increase. Significantly, while Europe and America are working hard to transit from the use of carbon fuel to electricity to power their cars, Nigeria still relies on income from petro-dollars to survive. Indeed, about 90 percent of the entire national income is predicated on the sale of crude oil. So, as the demand for our oil plummets, the tragedy of trans-Saharan slave trade will only get worse in Nigeria.

    The signs are already there, with unfunded budgets and unpaid salaries and pensions across the country. Again, because oil is the main source of our nation’s income, the war to have access and control of this nation’s artery, will get worse, and will further fuel the unimaginable corruption holding our country down. Furthermore, the desperation it engenders is at the root of the do-or-die politics that makes good governance, a near impossibility, across board.

    With the selected or elected few having disproportionate control over the nation’s resources, the driving force for politics, moves away from any scintilla of public service to personal or group aggrandisement. This is also the root cause of god-fatherism in politics, as those who have the capacity to promote others, in most cases promote mainly those with the capacity to feather their nest. This cycle will be difficult to break, as long as politics confers undue economic advantage to those in power.

    A further tragedy is that other mineral resources, apart from oil, are also nationalised in order to cover the nation’s desperation for the oil resources. Across the country, many states cannot pay salaries even after receiving its share of the proceeds of the oil resources. Recently Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, speaking metaphorically stated that Edo State is sitting on gold. The gold he referred to is probably the huge deposits of limestone, the primary raw material for cement.

    Dangote of course got it wrong as the limestone, being a mineral belongs to the federal government, not Edo State. So, while Edo owns the land, the mineral belongs to the federal government. Again, while Edo people suffer the environmental pollution, the federal government owns the mineral and will determine by whom and when it will be exploited. As such, while Edos sit on ‘gold’, it still suffers the shame of relying on the disposition of the federal government to create wealth from the natural resources it sits on.

    The challenge faced by Nigeria is not different from that faced by other laggard African countries, and that is why her youths are desperately paying their way into slavery, in Europe. Where the mineral resources is not causing civil war, the disparate sub-national contenders for the natural resources can only be held together by force of dictatorship. Walter Rodney argues that poor leadership, particularly the trenchant variant of capitalism practised by the elite off-takers from the colonial powers are the current scourge of the continent.

    To save Africa, her youths have to be saved from the death beds that the Sahara Desert and the Mediterranean Sea have become; and also the scourge of despicable inhuman organs harvesters. While our gullible youths have to be educated and if possible forced to stop their foolish desperation to go to Europe, there is the urgent need for African leaders to engineer new political, economic and social variables, if Africa, is to survive this modern tragedy.

    In the meantime, the shame of stranded citizens in war torn Maghreb countries, should be quickly brought to an end. The horror films of black Africans, including Nigerians, held in sub-human conditions, allegedly in Libya, has not roused the kind of outrage, from the national governments of the victim countries, or even their fellow blacks, as the world expects. The federal government of Nigeria, must rise up to the challenge, and do whatever is needed to bring home our citizens, to wipe our collective shame.

  • ‘Stop paying young lawyers peanuts’

    Lauretta Ikwuka was called to Bar in 2012. She is the National Secretary, Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Young Lawyers Forum (YLF), and member, Onitsha branch of  the association. In this interview with Legal Editor John Austin Unachukwu, she shares her views on the challenges facing the young lawyers, justice administration, alternative disputes resolution mechanisms and sundry national issues.

    Why did you decide to become a lawyer?

    I decided to become a lawyer because of my burning desire to offer assistance to the vulnerable and less privileged  members of the society. I hate injustice and oppression, repression  and therefore  cannot afford to keep quiet or  fold my hands  helplessly in the face of such situations.  Hence I decided to  join the legal profession so that I can offer my own little assistance whenever such a situation arises.   In addition, I always like to uphold the truth, ensure equity and justice at all times, so the knowledge of law will help  me to appreciate what justice and fairness means at all times so that I can do them because you cannot uphold what you don’t know neither can you give what you don’t have Nemo dat quod non habet.

     So, how far have you done that?

    Well, I have always been able to offer my own little assistance to victims of such situations and circumstances whenever and wherever such situation arises. I am just a young lawyer still learning the art of the trade and by the time I become a senior lawyer, I will do better than I am doing now. By that time, I will have the requisite experience and resources and contacts to do what God places in my hearth for the vulnerable and less privileged members of the society. Law is life and a veritable tool for service to mankind, so for now I will deploy my skills to serve God and humanity for us to have a better society rooted in the rule of law, equity and justice.

    I also have a passion for the law profession. I love the profession of law because it is a noble profession. It always makes you conscious of you rights as human being, it teaches you your duties and obligations as a citizen and gives you the boldness to pursue you convictions with courage within the ambit of the law.

    Above all, it is a profession that makes you available for service and protects you from unnecessary harassment and molestation. The fact that you are a lawyer earns you a level of respect and honour from the members of the society

    Are you satisfied with what you see in the profession?

    Yes, I am quite satisfied with what I see but like every other human activity, there are lots of room for improvements. A lot still needs to be done or I still need to learn a lot in the profession to meet my expectations.  I believe that Rome was not built in a day and  with time I will get there. However, I still expect more  from the profession in the areas of ethics and  ethical standards  which I believe has fallen down drastically. The rules of conduct have to be seriously enforced and where such rules do not exist, leaders of the profession will make and update existing rules to protect the profession from falling into the mud, restore the dignity and pride of the profession.

    Which areas of the profession do you like best?

    My area of interest is Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms (ADR) which include Arbitration, Mediation, Conciliation  and so on.

    Why?

    Well, from what I have seen in practice litigation and court processes take very  long time to resolve issues. Unnecessary adjournments, preliminary objections, motions and similar applications help to prolong court procedures in litigation. The rules of evidence and so on must be observed in litigation but these are not the same in ADR.  ADR allows parties to determine and choose their arbitrators. They determine the venue of the meeting and also the speed of the whole arbitration process. I dislike divorce matters but I do not despise lawyers that handle it.       

    Why don’t you like doing divorce matters?

    Well, I respect the family and the marriage institution so much that I do not like anything that affects or hurts family relationship. I like seeing families staying in peace and in love, unity and peace so that they fulfill their divine destiny.

    How do you feel as the National Secretary of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Young Lawyers Forum (YLF)?

    I feel honoured being appointed the National Secretary of the NBA Young Lawyers Forum by the President of the Nigerian Bar Association A. B. Mahmoud (SAN), and I see it as a privilege to contribute my quota to the the  Brave New Bar  promised by Mr president. Young lawyers are an integral part of the legal profession and deserve to be treated as such. The Young lawyer has a lot of potentials to be tapped but if they are not allowed to develop those potentials by providing them the privilege and opportunity and platform  to contribute their quota to the development of the profession, they cannot function optimally. With the appointment of officers of the forum, we will now sit down and fashion out programmes for the forum and pursue same with a great zeal. We shall reshape and reposition the forum as a critical stakeholder in the affairs of the NBA and also make the young lawyer play his role in a globalised world.

    What is the greatest need of the young lawyer today?

    The greatest need of the young lawyers in Nigeria is empowerment. They need to be empowered and legal environment made conducive for them to unleash their potential. Law practice today is different from what it used to be. Modern practice is technology driven, so the young lawyer needs a lot of skills and resources to be relevant in global practice. He needs the skills as well as the technology to grow. He also needs to be grounded in the knowledge of the law so that he will contend with the influence of expatriates in a globalised world. You don’t get those  skills for free, you need a lot of both resources and mentoring to do so, you need a high level skills to deal with international clients and seal high level transactions.

    What are the greatest challenges facing the young lawyer?

    The greatest challenges facing the  young lawyers are locating opportunities for employment and demand for specialisation in different areas of practice as demanded in the global legal market. Our economy is not growing as it ought to grow, clientele  base is not expanding as it ought to expand, the working capital and tools of work are not there for the young lawyer, so we have to go the extra mile to survive in a highly competitive and capitalist economy. This, obviously, places a big burden and challenge on senior lawyers to not only mentor the juniors, but to also provide them opportunity to participate and develop their skills.

    How do you think the NBA can assist in developing the skills of the young lawyer?

    NBA can assist in professionalism and expertise of young lawyers in Nigeria by providing technical assistance for continuing legal education and advanced skills training. The standard of law firms need to be enhanced. There is need for the NBA to look into the stipends being paid by the law firms, some of them are not encouraging at all.  The young  lawyers  should be able to see themselves as the future visionary leaders of this great nation and this cannot be possible without the support of the great leaders of our noble profession.

    Do you have any regrets being a lawyer?

    I do not have any regret at all becoming a lawyer, I have passion for law profession and if given opportunity I will like to read law again and again. Apart from being a noble profession, it provides the average lawyer the opportunity to contribute his or her quota to the development of his country. It enables the lawyer to play active role in the society and therefore contributes in making the world a better place.

    What are your expectations from the NBA?

    I will like to see an NBA that is a sustainable institution, built on transparency,  integrity and highly regulated to  provide economic opportunities  that enhance the well being of the young lawyer and maintain very high ethical standards. I picked law as a career because of the  burning desire to assist the underdog, so I will like to be a lawyer that can battle the ills in the society, be able to rescue people in great distress, offer free legal services and assistance to  poor widows, the vulnerable orphans in the society and protect them against any oppression.

  • Paying for FRSC’s failings

    James Akor’s (not real names) new drivers’ license recently expired. To get it renewed, he is required to visit a licensing office. On getting to one in Lagos, he was asked to produce a passport photograph and pay the prescribed fees which vary depending on who you meet.

    Having paid the necessary licensing fees, he was issued a laminated temporary drivers’ license with his passport photograph embossed for duration of three months. It was envisaged that at the end of the period or before it, his valid drivers’ license would have been ready for collection.

    So he left full of expectations since he could operate on the roads with the temporary license. A couple of weeks after, he travelled out of Lagos and while he was there, the temporary license expired. He had not completed the assignment that took him there and could therefore not return to Lagos immediately to collect the license which he envisaged, would have been ready then.

    Three days later, he was stopped by an official of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) for routine check. The following conversation occurred:

    FRSC: Good morning sir

    Akor: Good morning.

    FRSC: Can I see your drivers’ license?

    Akor: Here it is (producing the expired temporary drivers’ license from his breast pocket)

    FRSC: It has expired and I am going to book you.

    Akor: Well, it just expired. I had paid the necessary fees in Lagos and would have to finish my assignment here before going back to collect the permanent one. The lady officer took pity but cautioned that the police and other agencies may have a different view of the matter if and when they stopped him.

    Not far away from that vicinity, a contingent of the police on routine check flagged him down. This time, all explanations to the effect that it is no fault of his as he had paid all the necessary fees and would only be able to collect the permanent one when he goes back to Lagos, fell on deaf ears. Not even the explanation that the temporary license just expired three days ago and he would ordinarily require some days of grace impressed any one. Off course, he had to grease the palms of that officer before he was let go.

    On return to Lagos and as he made his way to the licensing office the next day, he was again stopped by another set of FRSC officials who as usual, demanded for his drivers’ license. On producing the expired temporary license, they held tight to it. All efforts to explain that he has been out of town and on his way to collect his permanent license, which had been paid for since three months fell on deaf ears. He parted with some money before they allowed him to go.

    Ironically, when he got to the FRSC’s office, his permanent license was not yet ready. They had to make a photocopy of the expired temporary license, stamped and extended it for another three months. This time, what he has as his driving permit, is a piece of paper that could tear or deface any moment.  And he is expected to use it for another three months, at the end of which he will have to abandon whatever he is doing just to collect a valid drivers’ license.

    By that time, it would have at least, taken six months for him to collect a drivers’ license that will last for three years. If the license starts counting from the day it was paid for, Akor has just two and a half years to commence the same ritual again. It is therefore to be imagined the amount of valuable time he will spend just to renew his drivers’ license each time it expires.

    Elsewhere, a lady pharmacist who was rushing home at the close of work to attend to her baby was stopped by a FRSC officer in a busy street in Lagos. She had a hell of time protesting to the officials about the inconvenience in abandoning her job to be hanging around the licensing office for a license she had since paid for to no avail. She had asked them to tell her whose fault it is that a license she had paid for, should now be a subject of constant harassment. She said she has a tight job schedule and could only go to the licensing office when she is free. The protest was so intense that it attracted a large crowd in sympathy. It took the intervention of a senior police officer to allow her go.

    These few instances mirror vividly, the experiences of most drivers since the introduction of the new drivers’ license some years back. They bring to the fore the hardship and exploitation many drivers encounter in the hands of sundry enforcers of road traffic regulations. But more importantly, they highlight the contradiction in punishing innocent people for the failings and incompetence of the issuing authorities.

    Ironically, the same authorities that are responsible for late issuance of licenses months after the due fees had been paid would turn round to fleece the public for no fault of theirs. It strikes as a big contradiction that it takes up to six months just to renew a drivers’ license in this country.

    If the long period of delay is worrisome, the penchant by sundry traffic enforcement officers including the very FRSC to exploit the situation to the detriment of drivers is even more confounding. One had expected the FRSC should have shown more understanding given that it is no fault of drivers that their licenses take that long before being issued to them. But that would not be.

    Having paid for the renewal of a license; issued a temporary one, it is taken that the license has been renewed. At the expiration of the period indicated on the temporary one, sufficient time should be allowed to enable the holder make time to visit the licensing office especially given the daily struggles to eke out a living in a very harsh economy. To require people to be thronging the licensing offices everyday conveys the erroneous impression that life is all about drivers’ license.

    That is the contradiction in the entire exercise. Worst still, the same office responsible for the tardiness, would send their men to the streets to harass people for the monster they created. We have heard there is a week or so of grace for such renewals. But enforcing officers usually feign ignorance of it just to continue with their self-serving activities.

    It is vital for the FRSC, the police and other agencies that regularly enforce traffic regulations to come public on what the law says about days of grace. Sensitization of the public on their rights should form a crucial aspect of law enforcement. This is very vital to obviate the penchant by unscrupulous officials to prey on the ignorance of the people.

    Given the foregoing, the recent order by Governor Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos to officials of the FRSC to withdraw from state roads and streets and concentrate their activities on federal roads is a step in the right direction. For some time now, there have been concerns over the constant duplication of functions and harassment of motorists by FRSC officials, the Police and Vehicle Inspection Officers (VIO’s) in inner streets and roads instead of the highways.

    Apart from compounding the traffic situation in the state, their desire to meet questionable revenue targets has brought undue suffering to the public making it difficult for some businesses to operate for fear of indiscriminate fines. They can go ahead with their spurious revenue targets. But the activities of the FRSC should be along the federal roads.

    One FRSC commander in a neighbouring state vowed a fortnight ago not to leave state roads because accidents occur there also. That could be true. But it cannot compare with the fatality of accidents that occur on federal roads. There are little or no accidents on some of the streets we see the FRSC officials on a daily basis. They have no business there as the police can always fill any gap that may arise. We commend Ambode’s response to other state governors.

  • Paying the enemy

    Paying the enemy

    •Governor El-Rufai’s self-confessed compensation of Fulani herdsmen oversteps his duties

    The Kaduna State Governor,  Nasir El Rufai, raised some dust when he confessed that he spent government money to pay Fulani herdsmen to stop violence in southern Kaduna. The assertion was made by the government to justify his position that the recent wave of violence on the citizens of southern Kaduna did not come from the Fulani herdsmen but that they were perpetrated by mere bands of hoodlums.

    To make that confession shows that the governor does not know the limits of his gubernatorial powers. Although he can argue that he used the state funds from the security votes – but he has not said that – to keep peace in the state, he ought to understand that his powers are limited to actions within Kaduna state.

    He said the hoodlums came from outside the country and he even sent emissaries with funds to placate the criminals in their own countries.

    Hear him: “We got a group of people that were going round trying to trace some of these people in Cameroon, Niger and so on to tell them that there is a new governor who is Fulani like them and has no problem paying compensations for lives lost and he is begging them to stop the killing.”

    He said further that after his messengers had reached the Fulanis, “they said they have forgiven the deaths of the human beings, but wanted compensation for the cattle. We said no problem and we paid some.”

    There is nothing wrong in trying to put an end to a spate of barbaric killings of fellow human beings. In fact, such efforts highlight not only the humanity of the chief executive but also the constitutional responsibility. But what Governor El Rufai did went beyond his brief as governor of Kaduna State.

    First, any matter that involves foreign nationals is the constitutional prerogative of the federal government. Governor El Rufai said that the hoodlums who inflicted pain and tragedy in southern Kaduna were from “Niger,  Cameroon, Mali and Senegal, Fulanis from 14 African countries and they traverse this country with cattle.”

    Is this not a matter for the foreign affairs department? As a governor, it is not his duty to placate criminals who come to Nigeria to foment trouble. It is his duty to identify them and subject them to the law within this country if they are caught and arrested.

    It is clear he identified them in their foreign places, according to the report of the committee led by Gen. Martin Luther Agwai (rtd). If they were identified, was it not his duty to pay them or report them to their countries as interlopers and who commit murderer in our land?

    At a time when impunity has been condemned in all its dimensions, it is unacceptable for a governor to move into a foreign land and act as the representative of state rather than work under the rubric of a federal government.

    Since he is sure that these men did the havoc in southern Kaduna, it is not too late to follow the due process and report them to the federal government, although he seems certain they have stopped the killings.

    His assertion that his compensation now exculpates them from the violence in southern Kaduna without any arrests or convictions or even confessions from the culprits is a leap of faith. He linked the killings with that of Zamfara State. El Rufai peddled excuses without evidence. We still need to know the hoodlums before clear-cut blames can be assigned.

  • Why are Nigerians paying for wasted energy?

    SIR: Globally, about 1.2billion people lack access to electricity according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). Nigeria has a share of about 8% yet waste more than 40% of generated electricity. The energy deficit in Nigeria is glaring, so much so that it has stifled ALL meaningful economic development. Still, most businesses spent scarce resources paying for wasted energy. How can our products and services ever compete globally with such waste? Many businesses have indulged into sharp practices and cutting corners just to survive the harsh economic reality.

    While countries around the world have been investing in ways to boost energy efficiency, we keep deceiving ourselves in Nigeria believing that Renewable Energy Technology (RET) is now cheap with “this” ideology of very long-term benefit that is not bankable. The potentials of energy efficiency investment has been neglected so much in Nigeria because business owners and managers do not yet understand its value – how it can significantly improve profit margin and risk management through the bottom line. These potentials are ripe to be harvested because of our history of cheap energy and the legacy of stock of inefficient industrial equipments. Energy prices are now adjusting to international level because Nigeria can no longer afford to maintain costly energy subsidy, leaving companies exposed to significant energy price fluctuations.

    Everyone is seeking for ways to cut down their energy cost and or generate from a cheap source. Ironically, renewables does the opposite; even when the right policies are in place such as the Renewable Energy Feed-in-Tariff (RE-FiT), RETs still lead to an increase in the general price of electricity. The excitements of RETs are often short-lived in Nigeria at the consideration of cost. Have one ever wondered why most sellers and even promoters of RETs are still stuck with the conventional system? We must begin to tell ourselves the truth about sustainable energy development.

    Energy efficiency holds the greatest potential toward the reduction of Green House Gases (GHG) in Nigeria as compared with renewables. Nigeria has to get this priority right not just because of GHGs but for the interest of our overall sustainability in energy development.

    If the Nigerian government is so passionate about RETs, Small Hydro Systems (SHS) is a good place to start. SHS has lower investment risk, resources are locally available, technology can easily be localized and local jobs are created. Realistically, the government and by extension the International Finance Institutions (IFIs) must focus on innovative framework and Financial Instrument (FIs) that can create the enabling environment to scale up the adoption of Energy Efficiency (EE) and RETs . Such Instruments must be able to mobilize the greatest amount of private financing for the least amount of public funds thereby achieving maximum leverage. Every instrument must be designed to overcome specific technological barrier or risk. Without neglect to other forms of FIs, a well structured Partial Risk Guarantee (PRG) has proven to be very effective for some RETs in many low income countries with similar characteristics as Nigeria.

    Moving forward, priority has to be given to the recovery of financial resources lost through wasted use of energy in Nigeria. Energy Efficiency is the invisible power house for sustainable energy development, working behind the scenes to improve our energy security, lower our energy bills and move us closer to reaching our climate goal. Nigeria must focus on the elimination of energy waste through an aggressive energy efficiency programmes that will include demand-side-management strategies. This will not only improve supply but will also improve our grid stability and reliability which are the basis for the integration of RETs.

     

    • Chima Muoneke

    chima@schimaticblueenergy.com

  • Residents lament years of paying for darkness

    Residents lament years of paying for darkness

    Residents of Idimu-Shasha-Akowonjo live in utter darkness. They only had interjections of ‘light flashes’ supplied by the Bolounpe Power Station in the last 10 years. Since then, life and business in the areas have been one long stretch of slow and dreary darkness and stillness, reports Assistant Editor, Investigations, JOKE KUJENYA

    Many of the residents wanted to talk at the same time.  “I was an automobile mechanic for seven years, now I am a petty trader”, said a male resident called Waidi.

    “I had a hairdressing salon, now I am an apprentice to another woman in another location, far away from here,” said a lady called Eunice. She added, “My salon used to thrive but when we had no light for so long, my business collapsed”.

    “In my case”, said Mama Sola, “I was the only one in this area that used to have many grinding machines to blend whatever anyone wanted to grind such as pepper ingredients, beans for akara or moin-moin and others. Today, I have sold out all the machines since there was no light to operate my business.

    “On the business, I used three generating plants (generators) that had all packed up. Life became so hard for me. It has been terrible because government has not helped us in this area at all.”

    And there were more stories from several others in the community. The residents, numbering about 14, crammed the reporter on Wednesday, December 10 as she stood on Foursquare Road, Idimu. They faulted the Federal Government for the failed utility as well as the slow pace of work and scattered power restoration effort.

    An elder in the community, who spoke on the origin of the problem, said:”It began in 2004. At the time, they had someone called ‘special base commander’. We were invited to be part of the project to give us light in our area. So, we joined without a second thought. After all, it was going to be for our good. That was during the Olusegun Obasanjo tenure.

    “We were then told that the contract was awarded at N1.28 billion. I was one of those assigned to supervise it for the benefit of our community. So, I took it as a duty. And for the next three years, when the engineer assigned to work on it took some soil from a borehole dug at the location that they were taking them to Japan, China and Germany, for ‘soil test’, we never heard anything again. Those of us in this community got fed up with the whole thing and retired back to our normal lives.

    “Then, when the late President Yar’Adua came into power in 2008, we were told initially that the contract would be re-awarded. And even as civilians, we were posed to ask questions about what happened to the initial N1.28 billion for the project that was not done. We demanded to know what happened, but nobody was willing to listen to us. Even the then Business Manager (BM), Akowonjo Exchange, Engineer Raji, told us in confidence he had no answer, that he was as puzzled as us all.

    “Even another BM called Mohammed, who later came on board was as lost as the community residents. There were even other BMs such as Engineer Abayomi who was the one there when the project actually started; he too, had no answers.

    “But when they noticed that we persisted in our investigations, we were directed to one Engineer Olotu, Chairman, Niger-Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC). But the long-and-short of our prying into what we considered very crucial was that, we ended up being tossed back-and-forth.

    “However, the NIPP pile of hogwash was that while we were told the project was only for Idimu, some engineers from Alausa, Nwosu and Balogun, early this year, came to test the lines. They then called some of us community leaders and informed us that some of the materials used for the plant are ‘deaths-waiting-to-explode’.

    “On March 14, 2012, the whole of this community experienced a terrible burning at Bolounpelu Feeder Station near College in Ikotun behind the Synagogue, where we are being supplied borrowed electricity”.

    It exploded due to the load on it. The two panels supplying residents with electricity burnt an operator working on it beyond recognition as he tried to switch on the light.

    By then, they had changed their name to Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) and Engineer Akamnonu was then the CEO. So, after the explosion, he said it was impossible for them to replace the two panels because they cost N500 million as at that time; that they could only afford one for N250 million.

    “Akamnonu said the only available option was to manage with load-shedding. And that was how they started giving us lights one day on or off. Sometimes, we could even be off for three to four days because we are not Bolounpelu feeder’s first priority residents. So, they may even decide not to give us light on our ‘on’ days.

    “Sadly, as at Tuesday, December 23, officials of the Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company (IKEDC) who visited the area told Idimu community residents they still have to wait much longer. They kept telling us that once the energy plant is completed, we would enjoy uninterrupted power supply. But for now, we are suffering.

    Another resident, who spoke in confidence, told the reporter that: “Most of those contractors only front for the President as we later discovered. I am not a government worker, a politician and neither do I belong to any party; I’m just a concerned community member.

    “So, when some politicians came to woo me, I told them no, that all I want is the development of my community. And they left and had never returned to me. I even told one of them they are the people in government sabotaging these laudable projects for their personal benefits. He only pretended not to hear me”.

    Calm but angry at the whole shenanigan is Alhaji  Olatunde Badmus, 64, Chairman, Community Development Association (CDA), Sunshine Estate, Idimu, Lagos who moved to Idimu in 2002, said: “Since I moved in here 12 years ago, I packed into a community in darkness. I was told they had been in darkness for nine months. But I shared three months with them. Then, the electrification of this area was awarded to DFRI. Later, DFRI allegedly transferred it to a woman called Mrs. Tetede, an ex-NEPA official. She left the works uncompleted. It was members of this community that completed what she left when we went to the Mines and Power, Lagos office, around 2003 to know what was going on.

    “We were in that terrible trend when in 2004; Obasanjo came with the NIPP and said they would give us one in Idimu. By then, I was the Chairman, Transformer Users of Idimuland. So, I went with our king , Oba Abdulazeez Olayemi Dada-Aluko, the Onidimu of Idimu, went to the Air Force Base to meet with Commander Balogun, who was the then Air Force Commander. He then gave us the portion of land on which the plant was sited along Foursquare Road. The contract was then awarded to Engineer Okonkwo of Njonas Engineering Firm. They later began work, dug a borehole, brought our specimen which they said they needed for soil test.

    “They said the soil test will enable them to know the type of plant to install. We were told they were taking the soils to Japan, China and Germany. For almost three years or so, we didn’t hear anything. Years later, life is worse for us that it was back then.

    “Our worst three years have been from 2010 to 2012. According to records I kept, the number of hours of electricity supply given to us in Idimu was 1, 477 hours for the three years. That means for the three years, we didn’t have light for up to two months.

    “Economy collapsed in this area more than the entire Nigeria put together. Businesses collapsed. Welders, electricians, auto-mechanics, all became motorcycle operators. Tailors and fashion designers became petty traders or sales persons working for others. This is why our area has nearly become so empty because many went to other sides of Lagos to seek business and populate okada business.

    “And because bills kept coming, those who do not have metres were given estimated or coded bills. As they explained, coded bills are done each month after they had taken count of consumed energy from Bolounpelu from a meter at Ejigbo through which they read Bolounpelu injection station. That is what they also call crazy bills.

    Ourreporter made several attempts to meet with either the CEO, IKEDC, Engineer Biodun Ajifowobade or the MD, Alausa, Ikeja, Engineer Balogun through the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Mr. Pekun Adeyanju. He asked for questions to be sent to his e-mail. He later informed our reporter that the agency to speak on the issue is NDPHC and forwarded the contact name of the Lagos PRO, Mr. Yakubu Lawal.

    On seeing the questions forwarded to the NDPHC by Adeyanju, Lawal sent a text to the reporter and said he had forwarded the e-mail to their PRO, Abuja office, Emeka.

    Later, the Abuja NDPHC, PRO asked that a correspondent from Abuja visit their 17, Nile Street in Maitama, Abuja. Two days later, one of The Nation’s correspondents in Abuja visited him and he declined an interview, claiming that his boss was not in the country. He, however, asked the correspondent to return for the interview in January 2015.

    However, contact with another top official at the NDPHC, who said he is not officially competent to speak with the media, said the actual agency to power the plant is IKEDC and not NDPHC. He said that the plant had been handed over to IKEDC for some years and whatever failure is being experienced by the communities where the plants are not working should be addressed by them.

    About 4:36 p.m. on Thursday, December 20h, this reporter called Engineer Asha for his comments on the issue. He simply said: “You can contact the PRO, IKEDC, Pekun Adeyanju. We have been told not to speak with the media and hung up the phone”.

    The reporter then returned to the Idimu/Shasha/Akonwonjo on Wednesday, December 24h, sadly, despite the Christmas celebrations being lights-soaked, the district was in utter darkness save for electricity being supplied by several generating plants in different homes.

    Many of the streets were dark. Children limited their plays to the front of the houses. Life was slow and dry.

    The Nation reporter also went in search of Njonas, the engineering firm that handled most of the projects; at their 9, Adeola Raji Avenue in Atunrase Gbagada, area of Lagos, but on asking to see Engineer Okonkwo, the reporter was turned back at the entrance that the man is rarely in Lagos.

    And as of Friday, December 27, Olatunde informed the reporter that he just got informed by Engr Balogun of IKEDC, Lagos, that the company is yet to purchase the ‘relay’, one of the materials needed to make the plant supply electricity to the Idimu-Shasha-Akonwonjo areas.

    “This means, we are automatically going to start another New Year in utter darkness”, lamented Olatunde.

    QUOTE

    Economy collapsed in this area more than the entire Nigeria put together. Businesses collapsed. Welders, electricians, auto-mechanics, all became motorcycle operators. Tailors and fashion designers became petty traders or sales persons working for others. This is why our area has nearly become so empty because many went to other sides of Lagos to seek business and populate okada business…And because bills kept coming; those who do not have metres were given estimated or coded bills

     

  • Onyebuchi: Paying for the sins of another

    SIR: In year 2007, when both Governor Sullivan Chime and his deputy Sunday Onyebuchi rode confidently on the back of the then unassailable Ebeano political dynasty of former governor Chimaroke Nnamani to become the governor of Enugu State and deputy respectively, many thought that it was a marriage consummated in heaven. However, pundits knew that it was a matter of time before the marriage hits the rock. The deputy governor was the candidate of former Governor Chimaroke, while the incumbent governor had his eyes on another as his preferred deputy but could not have his way owing to the circumstance that brought the two together.

    Nnamani was at that time the political lord of the manor in Enugu who never brooked nonsense from audacious individuals who dared to challenge his decisions and sense of judgment. He had his way and “installed” Onyebuchi as his “eyes” in the administration. Not long after the inauguration of Governor Chime, the much expected crack in the “Ebeano Dynasty” became visible even for lizards to pass through.

    Consequently, the deputy governor carried on gently, respectfully, and diligently with as much responsibilities as were assigned to him by the governor. He proved a patient, loyal and good team player.  Banana peels capable of springing up any form of face-off between him and his boss were quietly avoided. During the governor’s three months medical trip to Germany, the office of the Deputy Governor was allegedly subjugated to that of the Chief of Staff. His resolve not to take instructions from an appointed officer was a challenge his traducers will not take lightly.

    The impeachment of the taciturn deputy governor was not all about the persona or the poultry farm in his lodge, but about the unseen hands behind his doggedness, political strength and successes. It is about the figure behind his intention to contest the Enugu East Senatorial seat against a preferred government candidate, an ambition which those behind his impeachment felt their candidate was most qualified to aspire to. Therefore easing him out as the deputy governor at all cost will inflict heavy political blow on the perceived enemy camp and force him to capitulate.

    The former deputy governor was simply caught in the cross-fire of political supremacy between his two godfathers. It is like the popular saying that “if one cannot physically confront the king, one looks for his favourite he-goat.” It was unfortunate that the sins of former Governor Nnamani were visited on the former deputy governor.

    This political umbrage will no doubt strengthen the resolve of the former deputy governor to pursue his ambition. The impeachment might turn out to be a launching pad to a successful political journey. The sympathy of the people of Enugu East Senatorial Zone whom the impeached deputy governor wishes to represent goes to him considering the fact that he is seen as a scapegoat suffering for what he knew nothing about. The present governor of Sokoto State suffered similar fate in the hands of his former boss. Eventually the crisis turned out in his favour and the rest today is history.

    • Sunday Onyemaechi Eze

    Samaru, Zaria

  • Paying last respects to Lukman

    Besides a press statement  last week Monday in which President Goodluck Jonathan expressed sadness over the death of Dr. Rilwanu Lukman, the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting two days later also devoted some time to pay tributes to the former oil minister and secretray-general of the Oil Producing and Exporting Countries (OPEC).

    The tributes started with a one-minute silence in his honour, after which members of the executive council spoke glowingly of the oil expert, recalling good memories of their encounters with him.

    Some of them were in complete dark clothes, while others wore pseudo-dark clothes like black hat or black female headgear over other colours.

    Even as Lukman, a former Minister of Petroleum Resources was noted by members of the cabinet not to be controversial in his time, the first shot during the session was taken by the current Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke who dressed in complete black attire.

    Diezani said: “We lost a venerable son who served as President of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) twice. He also served as Secretary-General of OPEC.

    “In each of these assignments, he represented our country meritoriously. He was, indeed, renowned and respected throughout in the oil and gas world. But on a personal note, I recall him fondly as I sat next to him for the period of 2008 to 2009 in this very Federal Executive Council Chambers and we shared many anecdotes among ourselves.

    “He was a living compendium of the history of the Nigerian extractive industry sector. Last Month, in Vienna, after the OPEC conference, I spoke with him for about 30 minutes and he spoke vigorously and with his usual articulate safe. He gave me rewarding pieces of advice and had many words of wisdom on the issues surrounding the oil sector.

    “I am very privileged to have him as a mentor. I think it will be safe to say that for us all, Dr. Lukman will be sadly missed.”

    Minister of Culture and Tourism, Edem Duke said: “I wish to recall that as a Divisional General Manager in the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Dr. Lukman was the last minister that I served. He was such a wonderful repertoire of information and influence.

    “In the comity of ministers of petroleum globally, Dr. Lukman was a diplomat with very firm character; a Nigerian who was very proud to flaunt his Nigerianness, especially in his outlook.

    “One will recall the fact that in that great organisation, often times, the tension in the deliberations are such that you needed a man of great character and discipline and firmness.

    “Dr. Lukman would literally flout like a butterfly and when it was time to position Nigeria appropriately and extract the gains due to this country, he would sting like a bee.

    “Mr. President, Dr. Lukman, in one instance and minute, would be very stern in character and in another minute, he would be one of the boys.

    “And domestically, he wielded such great influence. He was, indeed, a friend across divides. He had friends all over the country and in the true spirit of a Nigerian; he brought under his fold professionals from all over the country that worked under him in one great family.

    “I think the contributions that he had made in the sector have formed some of the building blocks of what we see today as a sector that is sustaining the economy of this great country.

    “A true Nigerian, a citizen of the world, Dr. Lukman, I think, has left indelible marks not only for my colleague ministers but also for other African ministers in that great organisation. I am sure that his spirit will rest in peace now that the rigorous task is over.”

    President Jonathan, in dark agbada and hat to match, noted that Lukman at various times served as Minister of Petroleum, Mines and Power and Foreign Affairs.

    He said: “In his early days, he schooled in the Federal College and made a first-class in Mining Engineering; of course, the first Nigerian to achieve that level of excellence. We appreciated his achievements by including him in the list of our Centenary honours. He was among Nigerians that had impacted in the first 100 years in our journey as a nation.

    “My first interaction with Dr. Lukman was when I was a Deputy Governor in Bayelsa State. I had a robust relationship with him. Though he was a highly placed person, he operated at a very low level of respect and related with all Nigerians. He was gentle with amiable character. This is the kind of person we need in Nigeria.

    “I also worked with him when I was the Vice-President to the late President Yar’Adua. Lukman was brought in as the Minister of Petroleum Resources and Ajimogobia was his Minister of State. Even then, Lukman showed exemplary character.

    “He was very calm, focused and showed that he was someone who knew his onions. He was a father figure to members of cabinet. He was much older than most of us. Lukman was advanced in age, but the country still needed his services. We know death must come to us all because we are mere mortals. But when it comes, even at very relatively advanced age, there are some people you will not want to lose. Dr. Lukman was one of such.”

    After few other ministers made their remarks, the Minister of Information, Labaran Maku who wore black hat, moved the motion of condolence, while the Minister of Mines and Solid Minerals Development, Mohammed Sada seconded the motion.