The Nation Newspaper

Tag: PMB

  • PMB, time is running out

    SIR: One flaw that detracts from President Buhari’s strengths is tardiness; especially, his dilatory response to matters of importance.  This is where an appreciable weakness of the president lies. And most times, the response or actions that follow the intermissions cannot justify the gnawing wait.

    For example, why wait until July to reappoint the same aides when that could have been done a day after the inauguration of the government?

    It has been four months since the re-election of President Muhammadu Buhari, and it has been months of no direction for the country. This is reminiscent of 2015, when the president did not appoint ministers until after six months. The injury inflicted on the economy by this passivity is still fresh. This is the reason I am startled why no lessons have been learnt.

    A report by Reuters says a deal, which will result in a significant investment in Nigeria’s oil refineries, between the country and Saudi Arabia, is being stymied because of this “big political void”.

    It said: “Nigerian politics often move at a glacial pace. Buhari took six months to swear in a cabinet after the 2015 election – a delay critics contend, contributed to the slow response to low oil prices that pushed Nigeria into a recession in 2016.”

    “But some investors said they had hoped that as the incumbent, he would move more quickly. Senegal’s Macky Sall and South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa both appointed ministers within days of being sworn in as president this year.”

    We cannot spurn the place of ministers or rationalise the president’s “hold-up” in constituting a cabinet. Civil servants here are known to have extremely circumscribed power of approval over government projects; this implies that contractors cannot get paid; cannot be “mobilised” to site, and the progress of some projects will be impeded. And besides Saudi Arabia, other investors have reportedly expressed angst over the “void”.

    I had expected President Buhari to glean some lessons from his mistakes in the past and action corrections. But here is a reprise of the past; a plus-ca-change.

    In a media chat on NTA, the president when asked if he would be more “ruthless” in his second term, said: “Those who call me ‘Baba-go-slow’ will see whether I am slow or fast.”

    Ironically, Mr President, those who call you ‘Baba-go-slow’ are having the longest laugh.

    I wish that President Buhari succeed, and I wish he leaves office with Nigeria better than it was in 2015. But he must understand that time is of essence. Lost time cannot be regained. He has just three years and three months left in his term. And there is a lot of work to be done.

    So far, there is nothing to smile about. There is no improvement in power supply; there is no appreciable growth in the economy; there are no visible reforms in transport, education or health; no legacy projects; there is insecurity of eclipsing proportions across the country and Nigerians are still very much divided.

    The past four and half years have been spent on needless controversies effectuated largely by certain policies and government’s insensitivity.

    President Buhari, I know, may mean well, but all his good intentions will go unnoticed if he does not work like a man who just got a new job.

    • Mr President, time is running out.

    Fredrick Nwabufo

    <fredricknwabufo@yahoo.com>

  • PMB’s other triple minister

    Way back in November 2015, an online medium – Financial Nigeria – had described Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN as the triple-barrel minister in President Muhammadu Buhari’s cabinet. Such was the excitement over the multiple portfolios assigned to the former Lagos helmsman that few bothered to fact-check the claim hence its amplification by other mediums soon after. Then, it was perhaps sufficient that President Buhari was bringing on board, a star performer to oversee three ministries considered not only critical to any prospects of the nation’s recovery but one needing extremely capable tending hands given their history of underperformance.

    Of course, there is another triple minister. His name is Okechukwu Enelamah – the minister superintending over the triple portfolios of trade, industry and investment.  While few would argue that the appointment of Babatunde Fashola was anything but borne of the need to deliver quickly and efficiently given the dire situation in which the nation had found itself; and while it would take membership of the most enlightened of circles to appreciate the vital role of the triune in the development mix, the president would appear to have convinced himself of the need to have a minister with solid pedigree holding the reins in the three core areas. Today, only few still harbor doubts that the president made the right choice.

    Few Nigerians know that Enelamah actually started out as a medical doctor after acquiring a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka in 1985.  He later took a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA) from Harvard University in 1994 where he was a Baker Scholar and Loeb Fellow. He became chartered accountant in 1992 and Chartered Financial Analyst in 1997. He was Audit Senior and Consultant at Arthur Anderson (now KPMG Professional Services), worked in the New York and London offices of Goldman Sachs in 1993 before joining Zephyr Management as an investment manager where he rose to Principal in the Johannesburg office between 1995 and 1997.  He founded African Capital Alliance (ACA), a private equity firm in 1997 where he served as CEO until his appointment.

    That was the man on whose shoulder the triple portfolios were thrust by President Muhammadu Buhari. To capture the challenge he faced is to appreciate the nation’s development odyssey starting from the dawn of independence when the nation grew what it consumed and consumed what it grew – to borrow a familiar cliché from the renowned poet, Niyi Osundare. That was when we had serious manufacturing going on. I am talking of an era when the Cadburys, the Nestles, the Dunlops and the Michelins and the Unilever –operated most profitably in the giant African sun. Until the oil boom – or doom – and the consumption binge it spawned came right up to the phase when money was not a problem but how to spend it.

    And then, the moment of awakening – the bust in commodity prices; the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) of the eighties that followed – which in addition to taking everything out of joint, culminated in the disorientation of the nation’s consumptive patterns and the criminal dependency that the nation is yet to recover from. An era when industrial capacity took a dive and bureaucracy, red tape and corruption went on ascent. And thanks to the ineptitude and lack of patriotism of our officials, an era when trade agreements became wonky affairs skewed in the interests of you-know-who!

    Of course, the nation still had the oil; and so long as this flowed, it made just enough to cover its imports. Because it had money to pay for imported tomato puree and assorted grains, it could afford to throw away hundreds of billions in post-harvest losses on the same commodities. We even allowed our four refineries to become obsolete after spending billions in so-called Turn Around Maintenances (TAMs). The same with the ports, it became sadly a mirror of how a country should never be run.

    Again, the story of poor infrastructure, weak and ineffective regulations and governance systems, all of which forced investors to take a walk – and the long but steady journey to de-industrialisation is today a global reference in poor policy choices.

    That, approximately, was where we were in 2015 when Enelamah came on board. That was the challenge he was brought in to tackle. Of course, in a country where service delivery has tended to be measured in roads, bridges and megawatts of power as indeed other tangible items – whether delivered or not – it is certainly no surprise that few Nigerians bothered to track the silent revolution in industrial, trade and investment fronts.

    Yet, while the jury may be out in terms of how far the ministry under his watch has fared, they are many positive things to talk about. For instance, we can talk about how in 2018, Nigeria, thanks to the Presidential Enabling Business Council (PEBEC), moved 24 places on the World Bank’s Doing Business report. In an environment where nothing is said to move, it is certainly no mean feat that the global banking institution finally found something good to say about the country’s strive for competitiveness. We can also talk about the easing of the procedures for business registrations, the new visa on arrival policy meant to remove the frustration faced by foreign investors seeking to come to Nigeria.

    If you thought that the average man on the street would think little of these mercy droplets resulting from the new thinking in the trade, industry and investment ministry, how about the key policy reforms in sugar, tomato, cassava, cotton-textile- garment and palm oil meant to curb the import of these commodities in favour of local sufficiency? What about the return of the export expansion grant – a policy designed to encourage exporters?

    Not too long ago, my colleague, Kunle Abimbola with whom I share this page wrote glowingly of the National Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP) under which the federal government would “set up special economic zones (SEZs) to boost industrial jobs, push growth, improve the industrial skills of Nigerians and accelerate industrial exports; thus making Nigeria a hub, to its immediate ECOWAS neighbours; and the rest of Africa, in processed goods”. By design, the SEZs are supposed to galvanize the government’s Operation MINE — Made in Nigeria Exports.

    Now, that to me is a sign of another new thinking and hard work in the ministry; none however compares to the cautious approach adopted by the ministry to the continent-wide free trade agreement – the so-called African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).  I have heard many describe AfCFTA as the next best thing since Adam Smith gave the world The Wealth of Nations.  That Enelamah and his team in the Federal Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment would urge caution despite the enormous political pressures to jump on the AfCFTA bandwagon seem to me the ultimate proof of the fresh thinking needed in the ministry at this time and beyond. 

  • PMB, there is fire on the mountain!

    SIR: It can’t be a tall order to fathom why Nigeria is not the best place to live at the moment. With unremitting kidnapping, banditry, herdsmen killings sweeping across the country, the rising tide of insecurity has without any particle of doubt become ominously tragic.

    Let’s call a spade by what it is, Nigeria is currently under siege. No day passes without reported and unreported cases of gruesome killings of our compatriots by bandits and terrorists, kidnapping and other crimes that have made the country unlivable for Nigerians have also remained unceasing.

    With failed assurances by the presidency that these crimes would be brought under control, when the siege would be over remains a riddle. Nigerians certainly deserve a better deal than the gnashing of teeth and the blood of their loved ones spilled on a daily basis. For the victims of the attacks of the fiends on rampage across Nigeria, agony has become an unwanted companion.

    Only recently, Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu, released a horrific and tragic figures of crime-related deaths and abductions in the first quarter of 2019 — something symptomatic of a bleeding country.

    Adamu, while speaking at the quarterly Northern Traditional Rulers Council meeting in Kaduna said 1,071 people were killed in crime-related incidences while 685 people were abducted by kidnappers between January and April in 2019 alone. He said 767 people -a figure that represents 71.62% of the people killed in the first quarter of 2019 alone- were killed in northern Nigeria.

    In Zamfara State, over 8,000 women and 16,000 children have been widowed and orphaned since 2009, according to media reports. Also, in Zamfara, coming five years after the abduction of 276 girls at Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State, and a little over a year that Dapchi happened, bandits reportedly abducted two teachers and four nursing students, leaving one man killed at the Government Girls Secondary School, Moriki, Zamfara State.

    In President Buhari’s Katsina home state, citizens flee to neighbouring Niger Republic to escape the bestiality of the merchants of death and misery. Was it up to one week that Magajin Daura, Musa Umar, was abducted by unknown gunmen from his palace in Katsina?

    If the current spate of insecurity in the country is not brought under control and treated with the urgency it deserves, may a day not come that we would discover we will no longer have a country. Some lines from Nigerian musician and songwriter, Bukola Elemide (aka Asa), in her “Fire on the Mountain” track off her 2007 “Asa” album succinctly captures our troubles. “There is fire on the mountain. And nobody seems to be on the run…One day the river will overflow. And there will be nowhere for us to go. And we would run, run wishing we had put out the fire.”

    Indeed, there is fire on the mountain. It is one fire that is threatening to consume our nascent democracy and existence. Those who swore to protect us must treat the current deplorable security situation with the needed gravitas so we can all have a safe country. It is true that the security problems we suffer predate the current government. We can even concede that the Buhari government has scored high in decimating Boko Haram insurgents. But not many of Buhari’s ardent supporters prior to the 2015 presidential election, including yours truly, ever envisaged that the security problems that beset Nigeria would morph from bad to worse on the watch of a war General!

    As long as Nigerians groan in the jaw of banditry and kidnapping, the competence of Mr. President who is also the Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces and his security chiefs as far as securing lives and property is concerned, will continue to be called into question. While we are in search of solutions to the hydra-headed monster of insecurity bedevilling the country, we must not lose sight of the fact that Nigeria is currently under-policed and the deployment of available manpower is far from being efficient.

    With the Police strength of 334,000 and a third of the figure deployed to guard the elite and organizations in a country of over 180 million people, we don’t need a soothsayer to know that villages, communities and roads in dire need of police presence will become dens of criminals.

    The rising spectre of violence across the country makes a strong case for the reorganization of the Nigeria Police. We must shore up the strength of the police and ensure an efficient deployment of its personnel. It is also apposite to state that governments at all levels must not pay lip service to economic security, food security and free and compulsory education for the Nigerian child to deactivate the catalysts or enablers of insecurity.

     

    • Ladesope Ladelokun,

    Ogun State.

     

  • Digital Rights: Where PMB got it wrong

    WHO is the Nigerian government actually working for? Anyone who has followed the campaign for the passage into law of the Digital Rights and Freedoms (DRF) Bill, 2016, and also followed the campaign that led to the enactment of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011, will be prompted to question the disposition of the Nigerian government towards public interests.

    When the DRF Bill was introduced to the National Assembly in April 2016, as civil society, we knew we were in for a long journey considering the fact that the bill is one of public interest and the ruling elite is not known to show much enthusiasm about such. As anticipated, the bill spent almost two years in the House of Representatives before it was passed in December 2017.

    However, the Senate, albeit surprisingly, also passed the bill three months later in March 2018. Supporters of the bill had at that point assumed that the bill’s legislative journey had ended and perhaps Nigeria was about to have a law that protects human rights online.

    Unfortunately, the bill spent another eight months in the National Assembly. The legal unit of the National Assembly had spotted a problem in one of the clauses and the bill had to go through another round of legislative process to correct it before it was again passed by both Houses in November and December 2018. And two months later, it was transmitted to the President for assent, on February 4.

    Sadly, President Muhammadu Buhari said the bill “covers too many technical subjects and fails to address any of them extensively”, listing such areas to include surveillance and digital protection, lawful interception of communication, digital protection and retention, etcetera, which he said “are currently the subject of various bills pending at National Assembly”, and as a result, did not sign the bill. The president even speculated that the bill poses a “challenge of duplication and legislative conflict in the future.”

    Anyone who is familiar with the history of public interest bills in Nigeria especially those that protect human rights will know that President Buhari’s excuse for refusing to sign the bill is nothing but what it is, an excuse, similitude of what former President Olusegun Obasanjo said to the FOI Bill when it was transmitted to him in March 2007.

    According to Media Rights Agenda, when former President Obasanjo met with civil society leaders on April 27, 2007, he said he would not sign the FOI Bill for a number of reasons, the first being the fact that it was titled: “Freedom of Information Bill” rather than “Right to Information Bill,” claiming that the idea of “freedom of information” was imported “from somewhere”.

    He claimed, among other excuses, that he was completely opposed to Section 13(2) of the bill, which provided that:  “However, in the interest of the public the court may override the refusal by the head of the government or public institution to disclose the information applied for.” The former president argued that this means that he can be compelled by a court to disclose any information which another head of state might have told him in confidence, (apparently, public interests matters less to someone who is elected by the public).

    So, President Obasanjo threw away the baby with the bath water. And the FOI Bill having spent about eight years in the National Assembly already spent another four years going through the legislative process again before it was signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011. So, President Buhari’s reaction to the DRF Bill is nothing new.

    If public interest bills will continue to suffer setbacks in the hands of presidents, then one should ask who exactly the government is working for. Late Professor Abubakar Momoh of blessed memory seems so right when he said “laws and policies are designed to suit the whims and caprices of the ruling class.” Is it because the DRF Bill is designed in the interest of the common man that is suffering in the hands of the ruling class?

    The DRF Bill assembles conventional rights aimed at making online spaces rights-inclusive and therefore balances the friction between security and human rights in the digital age. The bill carefully addresses and prohibits hate speech while also protecting freedom of expression online.

    The DRF Bill guarantees that human rights which apply offline should also be obtainable online. Importantly, it ensures data privacy and safeguards sensitive citizens’ data held by various institutions and equips the judiciary with the necessary framework to protect human rights online. It is a people’s bill but the people’s president has failed to sign it.

    To respond to the reasons provided by the president’s for his refusal to sign the bill, the position of Media Rights Agenda on the matter is especially instructive:

    “The purpose of the bill was never to address technical subjects in the area of digital rights and internet freedom in any detailed or extensive manner, but to propose and affirm a human rights-based approach in dealing with these issues and to ensure that future laws and policies as well as administrative actions are consistent with this approach.

    “Given that no laws have been passed to guide the actions and activities of government and other actors in these areas and in the light of the fact that there is no certainty about when such laws are likely to be passed, it makes no sense to refuse to assent to the bill on the ground that it may duplicate or conflict with laws that are not yet in existence.

    “The Federal Government had ample opportunities during the legislative process to express its views on the provisions of the bill and to ensure that the administration’s concerns were adequately addressed by the lawmakers in the course of making the law. Several agencies of the federal government with specialized and technical competence and mandates in the areas covered by the bill were involved in the legislative process and did not raise any objection to the passage of the bill. Indeed, they signed off on the provisions of the bill, which was why the National Assembly was comfortable enough to pass the bill speedily.”

    For the president to have waited till this moment to eventually veto the bill is not only a waste of the time and resources invested by the National Assembly and other stakeholders during the three years of the bill’s legislative journey, but also an indication of the president’s insensitivity to public interests and human rights of Nigerians.

    Considering that the 8th National Assembly has almost concluded its term, if the current Digital Rights and Freedoms Bill, 2016, eventually suffers the same fate as the Freedom of Information Bill which had to repeat the entire legislative process following the president’s failure to assent to it, then it presents a clear indication that government in Nigeria, regardless of who or which party is in power, works only for the selfish interest of the ruling elite.

     

    • Sulaimon, a social researcher, writes from Lagos.

  • Why PMB should repeal and re-enact EFCC Act

    SIR, The EFCC Act should be amended in a way that strips it of its prosecutorial power, consequentially making the EFCC, which derives its statutory power from the EFCC Act, an investigative body only. In practice, the EFCC should primarily be involved in gathering evidence on serious financial crimes, bribery, and political corruption; once it has completed its investigation, then it should send its evidence to the Ministry of Justice, which should statutorily function as a prosecutorial body on matters investigated by the EFCC, and career prosecutors, with the help of external lawyers (usually senior lawyers), can make a determination as to whether the case should be prosecuted.

    Right now, under the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Establishment Act (2004), the enabling act that established the EFCC, the EFCC has both the investigative and prosecutorial powers. It is wrong.

    I will concurrently propose a repeal and re-enactment of the EFCC Act, bifurcating its original statutory obligations. The overall objective is to bring the EFCC into compliance with the global best practices.

    In a constitutional democracy, the concentration of too much power in a bureaucratic body can lead to abuse of power and bureaucratic inefficiency.

    This proposal invariably creates extra layers of protection, sort of checks and balances, between the EFCC and the Ministry of Justice, helping both institutions to effectively work collaboratively.

    The EFCC, like the FBI, its counterpart in the United States of America, does not prosecute cases. Its statutory mandate is clear: Investigate cases. Once the FBI is done with its investigation, it sends its evidence to the Department of Justice, and career prosecutors will bring appropriate charges against those who have been investigated for serious crimes. That is how it done in most countries.

    Because Nigeria is still a nascent democracy, and considering the fact that the EFCC had lost more cases than it had won, reform-minded people should be championing a proposal that is likely to strengthen our institutions. And extricating the prosecutorial power of the EFCC is a good step in the right direction.

    Alternatively, a special prosecution department, operating outside of the EFCC, to prosecute matters arising from the EFCC’s investigations can be established; after all, Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU), which was once domiciled under the EFCC, is now an independent agency, after the Egmont Group suspended Nigeria from the prestigious organization.

    Furthermore, because the EFCC prosecutes Politically-Exposed Persons (PEPs) and non-PEPs cases, and because observers have consistently raised serious questions concerning its lackadaisical and lacklustre prosecution of PEP cases, it is more imperative that an independent prosecutorial body, comprising of disinterested prosecutors/reputable private lawyers, takes the lead in handling PEP cases.

    These revered professionals will be acting as special prosecutors, and their decisions won’t be influenced by political appointees, for a special clause will also be included in its enabling statute that criminalizes undue/corrupt influence.

    Legitimate questions have also been raised as to whether the EFCC can keep parts of the recovered loot. I can summarily say that the EFCC should be allowed to keep parts of the recovered loot. Right now, the EFCC is under-funded, even though it carries out one of the most important investigations in Nigeria. That is not good.

    If our legislative drafters need some guidance on how to draft an effective equitable sharing formula, they should peruse the United States’ equitable sharing program (21 U.S.C. § 881, 18 U.S.C. § 981, and 19 U.S.C. § 1616a), the gold standard in this area.

    A typical sharing formula will look like this: 70 percent to the federation account, 20 percent to the prosecuting agency, and 10 percent to the investigating agency. Of course, this is just a hypothetical breakdown, and I reasonably expect our legislative drafters to iron out technical details that involve difficult issues of law in a proposed legislation.

    Mr. President, using your bully pulpit, you have to convince old and newly elected lawmakers that, if they don’t pass stringent anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws, millions of people will continue to suffer. And remind them that, when money meant for constructing local hospitals is siphoned by bad actors, millions of people are denied access to healthcare, and the consequences are dire.

    Finally, Mr. President, time is of the essence. Nigerians cannot wait any longer, and they are counting on you to demonstrate some badly needed leadership that is required to steer Nigeria to its promised land.

     

    • Akintunde F. Adeyemo, (JD), <activeaffiliation@gmail.com>

  • Open letter to PMB

    I acknowledge that  winning an election in the Nigerian context is congratulatory, indeed celebratory, deserving popping of champagne, rolling out of drums and clanging of cymbals. After all, it is not easy to go into a civil venture considered war and do or die, especially against a loaded opposition whose chest of political war arsenal is heavily intimidating and come out victorious. I recognise the seriousness with which the war was fought before your triumph over your brother and former vice president, Wazirin  Adamawa, Atiku Abubakar who led an almost unassailable siege of the People’s Democratic Party against a seemingly unimpregnable APC fortress.

    I consider Nigeria lucky to still have you at this auspicious moment of our history that the world is waiting on the country to unleash her potentials or prospects of greatness. This is not your first time in power and we know the impact you wrought  on the country in your time as a military head of state. We know the circumstances of your ouster less than two years into your transformational, redemptive mission and we know how the affairs of the nation have been run since then.

    We also know of how the People’s Democratic Party which inherited the country from the military to usher in the fourth republic managed state matters for 16 years from 1999 until 2015 before the All Progressives Congress APC swept off the rapacious party from its reign of waste and rudderlessness.

    There are so many genuine concerns of Nigerians; concerns that predate the fourth republic, indeed enduring concerns of national cohesion, security and development. At almost 60, Nigeria is yet to arrive among the countries she started with in the development process. The country is challenged by mass poverty. Our social infrastructure are generally delapidated and public service seriously compromised not satisfactory serving citizen needs.

    I will say no rejoicing yet because the journey to build Nigeria is just beginning with your re-election. You have just a grace of four years to prove to cynics and rivals, and indeed millions of Nigerians who invested their hopes of brighter, rewarding future of Nigeria in you because of your capacity, capability, reliability and integrity. I know that the dynamics and complexities of our polity are capable of thwarting any genuine intention, vision or action. Yet Nigerians are generally an impatient lot to tolerate excuse.

    Dear Mr. President, you will need to ride over the overwhelming storms of Nigerian politics and overcome mundane yet crippling distractions in making choices and decisions because our nation no longer has time for promises and experiments. What the masses are clamouring for is delivering on your  compact, charter or the contract that you entered with them upon which they returned you to power.

    Serious financial crimes and corruption are still endemic, even afflicting the sactum of justice and the hallowed chambers of the legislature. Discontent is palpable over representation and access to power. In the midst of this, the engine of government, the civil service is gisgruntled over paltry pay in an environment where the political industry festers with high turnover without tangible dividends of democracy to the electorate  these political office holders and lawmakers represent or who were voted to serve their interest.

    For any meaningful development to be witnessed in Nigeria, our country must first be at peace with herself and with her neighbours. In the the past, our country wasted resources, even lives in the nature of our economic management that is heavily dependent on and foreign dominated as well as in the crises and irritants that have locked down our potentials because of their security and productivity implications.

    The concern of most Nigerians now is –  what would be the fibre of the new government under you in your re-election? What kind of government will you lead? They  are not unmindful of the challenge of composing a nationally representative cabinet in Nigeria without offending the primordial sensibilities that have stultified development in the country since independence. In Nigeria, every leader or government is expected to satisfy the conditions of equality and equitability even when they do not coduce to merit based choice, appointment or representation.

    That need is in running an all inclusive, bi-partisan or even non-partisan administration that draws from the best talents of Nigeria at home and in Diaspora

    The urgent task before you is to come up with a team that will assist you in running a transformational and transparent government. While I believe you must satisfy party and political interests, because, you were produced by a political party to contest the elections in the first instance, you must however balance the party interest with that of the more strategic and core public or national interest in your cabinet composition.

    To beat or meet every expectation on all counts of human development, you must lead a government that is responsive, pragmatic, strong and uncompromising on policies and standards that will fast-track national transformation, yet realistic in not being blind or unmindful of policy landmines that could lead to frustration, disappointments or dissension in the land.

    As Nigerians gave you a renewed mandate to lead the country for another four years, I think it not congratulations yet because of the heaviness and uncertainties of your tasks but I would rather pray for your success in the years ahead that you are able to discharge this challenging trust that Allah and the nation has burdened you with, that He strengthens you to meet the needs and expectations of all so that in 2023, you will deserve not just our congratulations but our association and pride as a president who served the nation with integrity and led her into  the light of enlightenment and development

     

    • Abdulwarees, is assistant director, Strategic Planning & Corporate Development Department, Voice of Nigeria, Lagos.

  • PMB and the Lagos crowd

    The ugly monkey is full of wiles and revels in iniquities. As the magic-realist tale from the folklore common in the coastal communities of Edo north goes, the comical primate makes a long career of betraying friends, conning neighbors and raiding communal trough for banana in assorted human guises and disguises.

    Then, come the day of reckoning. In the climax of the profound morality yarn, sly monkey goes to the market and fails to return home.

    The echo of the foregoing folklore could not have completely evaded those perceptive of the more dominant of the contending arguments between APC and PDP in Lagos ahead of the 2019 general elections. After losing the presidency in 2015, after pillaging Abuja and elsewhere for 16 years, PDP desperately sought a consolation prize. Shiploads of dollars were rushed to the Lagos coast. Smart Lagos voters gorged on the free dollars, but typically voted their conscience.

    So, it turned out that the proverbial monkey that entered Eko market did not return.

    Now, PDP is seeking to resurrect itself in this general election. But it is not certain yet if many are willing to buy its own counterfeit version of history in Lagos.

    With 6.6 million voters, Lagos is undoubtedly critical to deciding the direction of the electoral pendulum in the presidential duel.

    If enlightenment makes Lagos crowd easy to engage, that also makes it difficult to deceive them. The Lagos crowd is too discerning to mistake apples for oranges, too astute to easily forget the lessons of yesterday. Drawing from the best and the finest across the federation, the predisposition to a cosmopolitan character then means the Lagos crowd is not easily seduced with cheap sound-bites or detained by provincial prejudice that ordinarily poisons the air elsewhere.

    For instance, older Lagosians would easily recall the destitution of two decades ago. From the near wasteland of the 1999 when the soldiers retreated, Lagos has since morphed into the fifth largest economy of the African continent out of sheer innovation and consistency of a visionary leadership pioneered by Asiwaju Tinubu.

    If we then undertake a comparative audit, there is scarcely any enduring evidence or monument to prove that PDP acquitted itself appreciably in any of the five other South-West states it had opportunity to administer at some point in the last two decades. In Ogun, voodooism had infected politics. “Garrison fever” displaced folksy civility in Oyo. Ekiti degenerated to “stomach infrastructure”…

    So, when PDP feverishly seeks to preach the gospel of salvation today, it is as if they assume Lagosians have forgotten yesterday so quickly and that the people are incapable of the independence of thought. So sadistic, so power-drunk was PDP that federal might was used to barricade Lagos highways against even the deployment of ambulance – ordinarily designated universally as totemic of human compassion and charity.

    Who has forgotten how then works minister Seye Ogunlewe’s goons blocked on “federal highways” ambulances procured by Tinubu from ferrying the wounded and the bleeding at point zero, thus erasing the last chance of survival?

    Grumpy OBJ, in turn, needed a magnifier to read and digest Supreme Court judgement on withheld Lagos council funds while innocent school children waited on teachers owed salaries.

    It was that acutely discerning and reflective multitude that President Buhari came to face last Saturday as the APC train lumbered into Lagos.

    It was a moment for popular local music idol KWAM 1 to demonstrate the distinction of “Eko for Show”. The host governor, Akinwumi Ambode, made a modest rendition of “Shaku Shaku” shuffle. Governorship candidate Jide Sanwo-Olu gave a glimpse of the magic wand to expect before the ecstatic crowd.

    Amid song and dance in the Lagos sun that day, we heard the homeboy, “three-in-one minister” Babatunde Fashola detail an account of how Buhari had delivered in social infrastructure in Lagos despite the paucity of fund. Tinubu, in turn, reminded the people of yesterday. Vice President Yemi Osinbajo brought evangelical, if not professorial, fervor.

    With his distinctive “Kenny Rogers” white beard, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo could not have been mistaken in the mammoth crowd. Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo shuffled in belatedly in an unaccustomed Agbada. I saw my friend – one that sticks closer than a brother – Festus Keyamo too on the stage.

    Everything considered, given its sophisticated sense of judgment, the Lagos crowd will be the first to frown at President Buhari’s inadequacies in the past four years. There is no doubt that perhaps a better outcome would have been achieved had more clarity been brought to charting the economic direction early in the day and a broader prism adopted in selecting and recruiting from the over-abundance of talents across the land.

    But notwithstanding, there is no denying that, but for Buhari’s austere spirit, the economic carnage already inflicted in 2015 by the departing PDP vultures would have proved more intractable.

    Again, either idle mischief or sheer economic illiteracy is demonstrated when PDP accuses Buhari of borrowing too much money since 2015. PDP’s larceny and squandermania had bled the economy so much that by the time Jonathan was exiting, even federal workers were being owed back pay for the first time in Nigeria’s history. So, Buhari’s borrowing to fund the construction of infrastructure surely helped substantially to stanch the inherited hemorrhage as well as re-inflate the economy in adaptation of the Keynesian principle.

    True, some other promises of 2015 may not have been fulfilled, but the Lagos crowd remember that Buhari has delivered on ceding the ownership of key federal assets to Lagos as well as cementing its status as oil-producing state.

    Perhaps the most evocative is the construction and delivery of brand-new rail-track connecting Lagos and Abeokuta, complete with modern coaches. Ditto Lagos-to-Ibadan. Even an instinctively critical Professor Wole Soyinka had to attest at its inaugural ride from his native Abeokuta last week that such could only have resulted from “do-and-do politics” – a needlingly poignant innuendo against yet again OBJ, the most recognizable exponent of its vile opposite – “do-or-die politics”, born and bred in the very Abeokuta itself.

    At a sentimental level, Lagos, despite its variegated demographics, rarely ever forgets true comrades. On June 12, Buhari has undoubtedly kept faith. Those accusing him of seeking cheap plaudits by bestowing the highest honours in the land on MKO and the people’s authentic advocate, Gani Fawehinmi, conveniently assume that Lagosians have forgotten Buhari’s physical role during the popular resistance of June 12 annulment in 1993.

    As a young Concord politics reporter then, I covered countless street protests in Lagos, one of which Buhari was in the forefront alongside the likes of Pa Tony Enahoro. So, the Lagos crowd never forgets those who stood for something or truly identified with them in their hour of need. Not fair-weather friends. Or traitors who chanted ”alluta” in daylight in fake costumes only to collect Judas’ blood money from the military at night to sell unsuspecting comrades down the river.

    So, for Buhari, last Saturday must have been a reunion of sorts with the old Lagos crowd.

     

     

    Glo in world ring with Joshua 

    For boxing aficionados like us, reports of a dalliance between Glo and world’s new golden boy of boxing, Anthony Joshua (AJ), couldn’t have passed unnoticed. The meteoric rise of the Nigerian-born world heavyweight champion to global superstardom from the humblest of circumstances is only matched by the extraordinary run by the Nigerian telco on the continental turf.

    The cheering news is that with the reported “partnership” between brand Glo and brand Joshua, a powerful Nigerian story is presented to the global audience. We gleaned that from the schemer of marketing activities and innovations by the telco for 2019 unveiled last week.

    In boxing parlance, such deft marketing coup by Glo could be likened to the perfect fistic poetry of bobbing and weaving, capped with the knock-out of the opponent with a masterly delivery of hand combination.

    For effects, AJ declared: “I respect the ownership and management of Globacom and as a Nigerian, I believe charity must begin from home… We’ve the fastest speed, longest reach and the Nigerian fighting spirit as game changers.”

    In terms of international relations, the benefits of Glo-Josh partnership are undoubtedly immeasurable. One, when Joshua potentially mounts the rope square in June for the first time on U.S. soil against Jarell Miller, he will not only be defending his coveted world crowns but also showcasing Glo as well. National pride will be drawn from the resilience both have shown from little beginning to the zenith. No one gave Josh a chance initially in his fatherland. He would thereafter rise from the depression of personal turmoil as a teenager in the U.K. to conquer the boxing world.

    Similarly, Glo overcame the pains of losing $20m deposit in its initial bid for telecom license to becoming not only Nigeria’s preferred telco within a record short time but also a major player on the African continent.

    Two, by collaborating on the world stage, the benefits that the two big Nigerian brands are drawing are not only mutually beneficial, but also redound ultimately in PR mileage on Nigeria whose international stocks are, sadly, perennially blighted by the negativity of unabated terrorism and poor development index.

     

  • 2019: Ibadan stands still for PMB, Osinbajo

    Ibadan, the Oyo state capital on yesterday stood still to receive President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who were in the state on a campaign tour.

    This is coming even as the President solicited for the support and understanding of the traditional rulers and people of the state in his bid to take the country to its next level of development. The two-legged event which started with a consultative meeting with traditional rulers from across the pacesetter state ended up with a presidential campaign rally at the famous Mapo Hall, Ibadan.

    No fewer than 103 traditional rulers from Oyo State led by the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, the Olubadan of Ibadanland, Oba Saliu Adetunji and Soun of Ogbomosho, Oba Jimoh Oyewumi, met the President, the Vice President and other top party leaders at the consultative meeting which held at the House of Chiefs, Agodi Secretariat, Ibadan. Noting how his administration had faired since 2015, the President said the 16 years of the People’s Democratic Party’s rule could be likened to torment to the people with a dearth of infrastructure despite the availability of immense fund.

    He said “I am here to warn you to please reflect on the conditions we met this country in 2015, where we are now and what we are able to do even with the little available resources to us. I keep on repeating this just as a reminder and I challenge any Nigerian to go to Europe, United States and Asia and check for the 16 years of PDP rule, I know you (traditional rulers) are supposed to be apolitical. I challenge anybody to go and check, that for the 16 years of PDP, Nigeria was earning good money and the state of our infrastructure and of our people were worse when we came, the road, the rail were in decay and there was no power.

    “Along the line, some of them admitted that they spent 16million dollars on power and yet to no avail. Once the roads are good, the rail is working and there is power, most Nigerians would mind their own business, they won’t even care about who is in government. But when there is no infrastructure, everybody will sit at home and curse the government. I assure you that our plan is to secure the country and improve on the economy and things that will rub on the lives of the people. You all know these things more than I do because you sit more around your people day-in and day-out.

    “So, please we need you and your constituencies, we appeal for your support and understanding. We assure you that we will not abuse the trust and we will not spare anybody who abuses the trust. ”Responding on behalf of the traditional rulers, the Alaafin appealed to the President to give Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State the needed support for him to emerge the next Senate president, saying the governor has indeed transformed the state from been known as a garrison command to a modern state upon the assumption of office in 2011.

    While addressing the thousands of party supporters who had thronged the Mapo rally venue, APC National leader and co-Chairman of the Presidential Campaign Council, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu warned the people not to be deceived with the lies of those he described as greedy looters. He pointed out that only the main opposition party is planning to rig election but that members of the ruling party must ensure that they troop out on February 16th to celebrate the final burial of the opposition and send some political opponents to their political retirement. Tinubu said, “Don’t let looters and greedy people lie to you and deceive you again. Have you been hearing that they have been threatening that they will rig the election? Will we still rig election with this huge population of supporters? Are they not the ones without members anymore? They are the ones without people. We are not going backwards again. Buhari is the only choice.”

     

     

  • Traders assure Buhari of 10 million votes

    Nigerian Traders, under the auspices of Nigerian Traders For PMB, has vowed to mobilize over 10 million votes for President Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming presidential election in appreciation for his achievement so far.

    In a statement signed by its National Coordinator, Prince Paul Ikonne, the Group said: “by standing by his words at all times as we find it difficult to comprehend the position of the former president concerning the wellbeing of Nigerians.”
    The group sad further that “Having told Nigerians consistently how well he knows Atiku and why Nigerians should not trust Atiku, why this dance in the market place? We, therefore, urge former President Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo to please speak so that we can listen.”

    The group asked its members to mobilise their households, neighbours, and friends to support and vote for President Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming presidential elections in order to exceed the 10 million vote target.

    Read Also: Buhari congratulates Tshisekedi of DRC over election, inauguration

    The group remind “Traders that based on the achievements of PMB ranging from road infrastructure, security of life and property and more especially the Trader Moni among many others, there is need for PMB to be re-elected for the second term in order to consolidate on these achievements.

    “PMB is a trader friendly president and as such traders will do everything within the law to mobilise support across board in order to exceed the 10 million votes they promised the president.”

    It frowned at insinuations that the president is shielding corrupt politicians especially the recent publications on different dailies concerning Orji Kalu’s N7.2b fraud trial where the judge was quoted saying “the court would await further directives to proceed with the trial

    “Nigerians know that the fight against corruption is something that the president is passionate about and thus, such directives could not have come from him. We, therefore, warn politicians not to play politics with the fight against corruption.

     

  • PMB and Paris Club consultancy fees imbroglio

    SIR: There are concerns that President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive for the payment of consultancy fees/judgment debts to contractors and lawyers as they relate to the $350Miilion Paris/London Club refund for states and local governments has been ignored. Already, there are reports of moves by the Nigeria Governors Forum to sway the office of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice to unblock the suspicious accounts where the remaining $100M for the settlement of the contractors and consultants have been traced.

    President Muhammadu Buhari has never minced words on the need for oficials to adhere strictly to the rule of process in his anti-corruption war; yet there are tell-tale signs that some officials routinely flout his directives. To successfully win the war against graft in Nigeria, it is important that all stakeholders and indeed all Nigerians join the president in the battle.

    The president had, based on legal advice by the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN and the Minister of Finance, approved the payment of consultancy/legal fees to contractors who carried out some projects in local governments across Nigeria in partnership with the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, ALGON.

    Now the question is – has the directive been carried out by the Central Bank? If the directive has been flouted, there is need to sanction those involved. It is pertinent to note that the Attorney General had received the approval of the president to supervise the payments.

    It is expected of governmets to live up to their lawful obligations and the Muhammadu Buhari administration has made adherence to rule of law and due process its focal point. In this regard, there is need to acknowledge the professionalism and good judgment of the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami SAN in authorising payment for two out of the five creditors. It is imperative that he goes the whole hog to ensure that the outstanding payment obligation to the remaining contractors/consultants is not jeopardised in any way.

    Is it true that the $100Million have been deposited in various private companies and individual bank accounts? If this is proven to be true, then the necessary sanctions should be applied to those behind it to serve as a lesson.

    President Muhammadu Buhari is gradually restoring Nigeria to the path of moral rectitude and it behoves all Nigerians to support him. The Nigeria Governors Forum must stop working at cross purposes with the Buhari administration on anti-corruption. It will amount to a travesty if the Nigerian Governors Forum or anyone for that matter are allowed to undermine the directive of the president conveyed through the Attorney General and Minister of Justice especially as it relates to the payment of contractors and consultants for the ALGON/Local Governments projects.

    On his part, the Attorney General should immediately take all necessary steps to ensure that Mr. President’s directive is fully complied with. This he can do by stopping the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission from unblocking the bank accounts where the $100Million meant for the payment of outstanding debt obligations to the contractors and consultants have been traced.

    Corruption has dealt a debilitating blow to the progress and development of Nigeria and all hands must now be on deck to ensure that the good work President Muhammadu Buhari has started does not come to nought through the nefarious activities of some unscrupulous individuals and organisations.

     

    • Boniface Enekwechi,

    <kwechis19@yahoo.com>