The Nation Newspaper

Tag: policies

  • Osinbajo heads Policies, Programmes, Projects audit committee

    President Muhammadu Buhari has approved the constitution of the Policies, Programmes and Projects Audit Committee.

    Chairman of the committee is the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo.

    Members of the committee, according to a statement by Olusegun Adekunle,

    Permanent Secretary (General Services Office), are Chief of Staff to the President, Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Minister of Budget and National Planning, Minister of Finance.

    Others are Minister of Power, Works & Housing, Hon. Attorney General & Minister of Justice, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Minister of Transportation, Minister of Agriculture & Rural Development.

    Also in the committee are Minister of Water Resources, Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria, National Security Adviser, Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Affairs Office and Deputy Chief of Staff to the President is a member and secretary of the committee.

    Read also: FG constitutes 2019 Presidential Inauguration Committee

    The Terms of Reference include “To audit and determine the status of implementation of policies, programmes and projects either inherited or commenced by the out-going Administration;

    “Identify and highlight a residue of works and challenges that may militate against their successful implementation;

    “Prepare and produce a detailed working document that would guide the incoming Cabinet Members on the direction of Government regarding policies, programmes and projects;

    “Co-opt any organization(s)/person(s) relevant towards the successful execution of the exercise; and

    “Make any other recommendation(s) as may be necessary.”

    The date of Inauguration of the committee is Friday 15th March 2019 at the Vice President’s Conference Room.

  • NECA: govt’s agencies, policies killing businesses

    The Nigerian Employers Consultative Association (NECA) has stated that most government agencies and policies  do not support businesses.

    NECA said there were too many regulations by the agencies.

    Its out-going Director-General (DG), Mr. Olusegun Oshinowo, made these known during his farewell briefing at NECA’s head office in Lagos.

    Oshinowo said the agencies were not supposed to be killers of business; rather, they are supposed to be supporters of businesses.

    Oshinowo said: “The policies and the agencies are killing businesses, we do not need such agencies and policies that do not support private sector at this time and age.”

    He pointed out that infrastructure was another threat to businesses in the country, stressing that Apapa grid-lock and Agbara night-mare is a great disaster to business.

    “The issue of Apapa did not happen in one day, the government should do the needful within the shortest possible time frame. If I was a foreign investor, and having heard the history of how business owners are treated in the country, I will take my money back.

    “We are too off-headed that we allow issues to creep on us and when it happens, we will have more challenges. Insecurity did not creep on us overnight, it is because we have structural problem. There is no structure on ground for security to flourish. We have always treated the issue of security with levity. The government swept the issues of state policing under the carpet. No matter what is being done now, it is not sustainable, except we accept restructuring for states and local governments to charge of their security.” he complained.

    Oshinowo regretted that the absence of good governance is the greatest challenge facing the country, noting that governments in other countries are committed to the welfare of their citizens.

    He said: “Any government that has no evidence to show that it has lifted its people from poverty has no business in government. The real strength of any economy is population of those that are gainfully employed and those that are living above poverty level.”

    Speaking on NECA objectives, he said that the association has over the years focused on the capacity training of youths, workers and women for the industrial sector of the  economy.

    His words: “We are involved in vocational and technical skills training as well as manpower development. We have today shown interest in the safety of employees in work places.”

    He regretted that Nigerian government does not see advocacy as a right for engagement with the private sector, saying that in countries like South Africa, it is a legal issue, such that when government fails to engage in advocacy with the private sector, it would be charged to court.

  • 2019: Beyond issues, policies and debates

    SIR: As the general elections and especially the presidential poll in 2019 looms, there is a near popular consensus that issue-driven campaigns, clearly articulated policy platforms and even organized and well-focused debates by candidates, especially of those aspiring for high offices, would clear the political process of jaundiced prejudices, inoculate it against banalities of thuggery and other associated brinkmanship.

    Issue-driven political campaign, strong policy platforms and even muscular political debates centered around issues and policies would be welcome; but to define a productive political process and its potential outcomes and outputs as constituting only in the now widely believed golden triangles of issues, policies and debates would be an over-simplification of the critical fundamentals that has perennially dogged the country’s political life.

    Sometimes, the banality of the political discourse that feeds into attempts by some people to drag ethnic and religious identities into the maelstrom of partisan politics, fuels a popular desire to transcend ethnicity and religion through what many called issue based politics.

    However, while issue and policy debates would definitely enliven the political campaigns, and raise the quality of discourse, they would do nothing in itself to disentangle the gridlock that has traditionally ambushed governance and divert resources to maintaining lousy political elite, beholden to state-directed corrupt networks. The sheer political will and extant courage to deal a damaging blow to the network of elite corruption, administrated by a captured state, cannot be captured in any policy document or even glimpsed through any issue-based debate.

    Policy platforms and programmes are political promissory notes and delivering on them, essentially boil down to the character and political will to deal a blow to the powerful vested interests that naturally do not care about policy formulation, but want with vehemence to derail and consign it to the dustbin of history.

    Debates, no matter how issues-based or well marshaled out, will not expose the underhand current that makes best policy outlines look just hollow when it comes to practically engaging issues of governance, where trade-offs between the good of the powerless masses and the over bearing influences of the powerful few is the real stuff. Policy outlines can give a certain clarity to the inner mind and thinking of a candidate for a public office, but that will not prepare him sufficiently for the test of character and political will that actual governance will subject him or her.

    For a political process like ours, with weak institutions and structural fragility, the vehemence of political merchants to foist their nuances and formalized it to the extant and existing weak institutions cannot be ignored. For example, while existing security institutions are known for inadequate funding, the so-called National Peace Corps, a personal notion, was hurriedly rammed through the two chamber of the national legislature and it took the courage of the presidency to deal a fatal blow to such misguided attempt to birth another state institution issuing from the hollow prerogative of few persons.

    The political courage and will to deal with the daily spiraling nuances of the political elite cannot be contained in policy outlines or issue-based debates, but rather is implicit in the character of leaders to stare down on the excesses of  the political elite and rein-in their reckless proclivity to multiply costly state institutions for the mere purpose of huge financial returns.

    While a new political season and atmosphere of grand policy platforms, issue-based campaigns and vigorous debates are welcome, it is even more pertinent to take a deep reflection on the respective gladiators, examine their strength of character and more compellingly, their will to take on vested powerful and influential special interests, who make every government look exactly like “committee at the service of a rapacious minority.” The sound bites of alluring policy platforms, issue-driven campaigns and debates would amount to nothing, except there is evident political will and courage to overwhelm and overcome the political ambush of political syndicates of all sorts, crafted and wedded to the hemorrhage of our national patrimony through their insidious network of corruption.

     

    • Charles Onunaiju, Utako Abuja. 

  • Our Girls; 100; Promoted judges; Editors: Policies or politics?

    Our Chibok girls were kidnapped on April 15, 2014. Inexplicably our Dapchi girl, 15, Leah Sharibu is not released.

    More than 100 gallant officers and men of the Nigerian armed forces who were also our fathers, husbands, sons and brothers fell victim to Boko Haram’s unfathomably murderous ideology and evil ways. Add the Boko Haram’s kidnap of Gamdoru citizens numbering 50 with a very horrifying and emotionally terrorising uncertain fate as near-slaves, sex slaves and even become victims of staged televised execution. When will we take Boko Haram and other forces like Islamic State seriously war-like enough to adequately blanket the Northeast with adequate numbers of troops of the armed forces and compulsory garrisoning of every town and village and road in the area?

    Surely our government has already recruited the EU countries for satellite monitoring of the area to detect enemy troop movements with a view of counterattacking and even preventing attacks on our widespread civilian populations. Meanwhile, the herders/marauders raiding, ruining and murdering farmers nationwide and continues to cause havoc and create anxiety and looms large everywhere. It is difficult to say that the country is not in serious trouble. The question on everyone’s mind nationwide is – ‘what next, is anyone safe anywhere?’

    The very bad habit, now a ‘tradition’ of suspending the National Assembly, NASS, plenary whenever a member dies is a bad one, wasting the time and money of thousands who travel or otherwise have inconvenienced themselves to be present in NASS to meet a political person or otherwise interact. What is the cost of a suspending plenary? N10m, N100m? Another wasted day in Nigerian politics. The suspension of plenary over the death of the 44-100 soldiers in Metele, mentioned above is similarly in bad taste even if it is well meaning. A holiday is ridiculous at this time of national tragedy and major threat to Nigeria. What should have happened was a robust debate, a minute of genuine silence, continued work, a plan of action to support government in combating this murderous malevolent and well planned attack. NASS should suspend the ‘bad tradition of suspension of NASS on the death of any member’.

    There is a brand new Grand Egyptian Museum costing $1billion. Wow!!!  Meanwhile we in Nigeria have serial governments which cannot see the value in completing our National Library and our own museums decay and are still ancient refusing to become both ancient and modern.

    Elizabeth Ochanya, aged 13, raped to death, will not die in our hearts and minds but that is not enough. Justice must be swift and seen to be done. Too many open and shut cases stall with calculated delays and eventually slip through the cracks of justice creating the usual but unfortunately very well known injustice in our justice system. Indeed judges getting promotion should not be allowed to advance until they have disposed of all already started cases. Abandoning cases midway causing untold costs to both prosecution and accused and is a strain especially for victims and innocents and a stain on the reforms-in-progress judiciary. Similarly, now GE has withdrawn from the concession it applied for and won and fought for against the machinations of a noisy NASS for narrow gauge railway. What cost in time and money to the people of Nigeria using railways? More backwards and forwards with no progress.

    Our journalists and news review persons who review the newspapers every morning on radio and TV have regrettably fallen into the ‘Only Politics Matters’ Syndrome and largely ignore the other major non-political stories that really matter to the public. They have a duty to balance their commentaries and not give too much public space and time during press reviews to the trivial and sometimes disgraceful and well-choreographed political pettiness and tiffs which always dissolve into political nothing and reconciliation. So why waste time on them? Rather, after one political commentary, let them please put the people first and highlight real things that matter, also in the same papers.

    We see TV reviewers ignoring ‘real news’ items that matter to the majority in favour of ‘fake fights and make-up between politicians’ repetitively highlighted like the regular ‘Embrace Between Political Pythons’ or a ‘he-said-she-said’ all political trivia and gossip about political gladiators. The people and their matters must matter more to the newspaper editors and reviewers than political trivia designed to catch the eye and attention of gullible editors and reviewers. Politics makes us sick and dizzy with its backwards and forwarding. Who cares who politically stabs whom in the political back again and again? Politics is everything and nothing. In a society so abused by politicians, editors have the responsibility and the power not to create a political monster from over publicity.

    In the last couple of months before the election, editors of all newspapers have yet another opportunity, to naturally be abandoned, of direction wayward politicians towards the topics that really matter to all other Nigerians. Nigerian editors should seize the moment and produce front pages that matter to the citizen and the survival of the nation, and identify and use issues and real people news stories to push political personal stories sideways to force politicians to see and begin to debate the real news that will guide the politicians back to the old well-trodden but now discarded path of service to the people.

     

    • Uncover ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for 2019 -SDG 16.

  • Foundation advocates policies to address e-waste management

    The Vice Chairman, E-Waste Relief Foundation (ERF), a non-governmental organisation, Prof. Oladele Osibanjo, has called for measures and policies to address electronic waste management.

    He spoke yesterday on the sidelines of a one-day capacity building workshop organised for the informal sector on the handling and disposal of electronic waste (e-waste).

    Osibanjo described the influx of e-waste into the country and its adverse effect as alarming.

    He said besides climate change, e-waste had become one of the biggest environmental challenges facing the world in the 21st century because of the influence of Information Communication Technology (ICT).

    Osibanjo said the two consequences of improper e-waste disposal were hormone disruption and confusion of the human immune system.

    “The circuit board of electronics contains hazardous contents such as Lead, Mercury and Chromium, which are dangerous to humans and the environment. The plastic screen of electronics is impregnated with brominated flame retardants.

    “These substances are persistent organic pollutants and are released into the environment when these electronics are burnt.

    “The chemicals are also carcinogenic endocrine disruptors (endocrine disruptors are chemicals that can interfere with endocrine or hormone systems at certain doses, causing cancerous tumours, birth defects and other developmental disorders).

    “This is why you can see an eight-year-old girl menstruating; it is caused by endocrine disruption, which has confused her immune system.

    “This information is common knowledge in developed countries, which is why they tend to come and dump their e-waste in Africa,” he said.

    Osibanjo said the e-waste produced globally and annually had reached “a near-Tsunami level”, adding that in Nigeria, e-waste management was handled by the informal sector.

    The professor urged governments and stakeholders to take a cue from the ERF by training people in the informal sector in purposeful e-waste management.

    “We can do everything on the phone now, but the dark side of it is the unlimited production of e-waste.

    “The original equipment manufacturers have become smarter and they manufacture their products not to last long. We call it rapid obsolescence.

     

     

  • Lagos targets 2m Facebook followers on policies

    Lagos State Government said it is working out strategies for robust engagement with the media for better understanding of the state’s programmes and policies.

    The state intends to reach out to at least two million followers on Facebook before end of the year on its policies.

    The policies, it said, aimed at growing the economy and fast-tracking development across the state.

    Commissioner for Information and Strategy Kehinde Bamigbetan stated this at a briefing to mark the third anniversary of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration.

    Bamigbetan said this was necessary due to misinterpretation of some government’s new policies.

    He said the government was also expanding its engagement with the public on twitter and Instagram.

    Bamigbetan said:  “In the last one year, the social media unit of the ministry uploaded a total 2,149 photos and 21 videos to the Lagos State Instagram platform. The total number of posts on LASG Instagram platform is now 2,127 with a total of 16,500 followers resulting in over 1,000 percent increment from the initial 857 followers as at April 2017.

    “In the year under review, the social media unit carried out live videos Instagram live video recordings. On the Facebook page, the post with the highest engagement is the LUC infographics with 924 comments/reactions, 158,808 people reach and 1,013 shares. The Facebook account now has 296,000 followers, making an increment of 14 percent from the initial 259, 147 followers as at April 2017.”

    It would be recalled that two major programmes of the state government in recent times – the Land Use Charge (LUC) and the Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI) generated furore with different segments of the public giving different interpretations to the policies.

    According to him, the strategic engagements would involve the interface of relevant segments of the media and public with ministries, departments and agencies germane to the implementation of policies, such that government’s intentions are well communicated.

    He believed this would facilitate the implementation of such programmes and ultimately deepen development of Lagos.

  • ‘We need policies to protect furniture sector’

    The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of IO Furniture Limited, Mrs Muni Shonibare has canvassed policies to protect the furniture sector.

    This, she said, will help grow the sector.

    Mrs Shonibare said this yesterday when she received the Senate Committee on Industry led by its chairman Senator Sam Egwu in Ilupeju, Lagos.

    Other committee members on the entourage include Senators Buhari Abdulfatai (Oyo North), Baru Jibrin (Kano North) and Barnabas Gemade (Benue North East).

    They came on oversight of the mandate of the Bank of Industry (BOI) in funding and supporting indigenous industries. They also came to ascertain and ensure that the company’s processes and products meet international standards.

    The IO Furniture Limited chief said: “The burning issue is in the area of policies that will protect the industry. We found out that unlike other sectors such as architecture, law, banking, insurance etc., where foreign organisation cannot just break into the sector without partnering with existing firms, the furniture space do not have such policies to protect it. We currently cannot compete with the Chinese market because of their prices which is largely due to the availability of skilled labour.

    “China for instance has over a thousand technical schools, and enrols at least 11 million people with the support of their government to ensure they set up programs that will support the local industry.”

    She described patronage as very key.

    She stressed the need for the government and the people to increase their patronage of products by Nigerians.

    According to Mrs. Shonibare, intervention funds (loans) from BOI has been of immense help in setting and scaling up the business. Their loan which is pegged at a single digit of 7 per cent is very encouraging.

    With respect to scaling up the business, the CEO reiterated their plans to set up a technical/training programme to bridge the skills gap that currently exist in the industry.

    Senator Egwu said “the visit was imperative to determine how our industries are faring and to see how they can better be supported through government interventions.

    “Nigeria loses a huge amount of her foreign exchange to importation; this we can reduce by encouraging our local industries to grow by patronising them,” he said.

    According to him, a bill has been sponsored to encourage and protect local industries in the country.

    He said the “Made In Nigeria” bill which has reached the last stage of conclusion, will ensure that whatever purchases the government intends to embark on (including furniture), it will first look inwards.

    According to him, it is only when they can’t find what they want within the country that they are permitted to look outside. Agencies or parastatals of government that flouts this law will be blacklisted.

    “We are sure that when the law comes to effect, it will support your industry and you might find it difficult to meet the demands from government parastatals,” he said.

  • ‘We need policies to protect furniture sector’

    The Founder and Chief Executive Officer of IO Furniture Limited, Mrs Muni Shonibare has canvassed policies to protect the furniture sector.

    This, she said, will help grow the sector.

    Mrs Shonibare said this yesterday when she received the Senate Committee on Industry led by its chairman Senator Sam Egwu in Ilupeju, Lagos.

    Other committee members on the entourage include Senators Buhari Abdulfatai (Oyo North), Baru Jibrin (Kano North) and Barnabas Gemade (Benue North East).

    They came on oversight of the mandate of the Bank of Industry (BOI) in funding and supporting indigenous industries. They also came to ascertain and ensure that the company’s processes and products meet international standards.

    The IO Furniture Limited chief said: “The burning issue is in the area of policies that will protect the industry. We found out that unlike other sectors such as architecture, law, banking, insurance etc., where foreign organisation cannot just break into the sector without partnering with existing firms, the furniture space do not have such policies to protect it. We currently cannot compete with the Chinese market because of their prices which is largely due to the availability of skilled labour.

    “China for instance has over a thousand technical schools, and enrols at least 11 million people with the support of their government to ensure they set up programs that will support the local industry.”

    She described patronage as very key.

    She stressed the need for the government and the people to increase their patronage of products by Nigerians.

    According to Mrs. Shonibare, intervention funds (loans) from BOI has been of immense help in setting and scaling up the business. Their loan which is pegged at a single digit of 7 per cent is very encouraging.

    With respect to scaling up the business, the CEO reiterated their plans to set up a technical/training programme to bridge the skills gap that currently exist in the industry.

    Senator Egwu said “the visit was imperative to determine how our industries are faring and to see how they can better be supported through government interventions.

    “Nigeria loses a huge amount of her foreign exchange to importation; this we can reduce by encouraging our local industries to grow by patronising them,” he said.

    According to him, a bill has been sponsored to encourage and protect local industries in the country.

    He said the “Made In Nigeria” bill which has reached the last stage of conclusion, will ensure that whatever purchases the government intends to embark on (including furniture), it will first look inwards.

    According to him, it is only when they can’t find what they want within the country that they are permitted to look outside. Agencies or parastatals of government that flouts this law will be blacklisted.

    “We are sure that when the law comes to effect, it will support your industry and you might find it difficult to meet the demands from government parastatals,” he said.

  • Ahmed promises good policies

    Ahmed promises good policies

    Kwara State Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed has promised to be more aggressive and people-centred in the pursuit of his policy of inclusiveness and shared prosperity in the New Year.

    In a New Year message by his Chief Press Secretary, Abdulwahab Oba, the governor thanked the people for their faith and commitment to peace, growth and development. He promised to rededicate himself to collective prosperity.

    The statement reads: “I’m determined and irreversibly committed to completing ongoing projects and providing equitable dividends of democracy, infrastructural development across the state.”

  • Ooni to govts: let your policies, programmes drive job creation

    Ooni to govts: let your policies, programmes drive job creation

    The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has urged governments to let their policies and programmes drive employment for youths.

    The monarch, who advised governments to ensure small scale businesses survive through their policies, spoke at his palace at Ile-Ife in Osun State during the launch of this year’s Aso Ofi Festival, which will take place in Iseyin, a town in Oyo State.

    According to Oba Ogunwusi, several vocations synonymous with the Yoruba race are big enough to provide jobs for people.

    The Ooni noted that Oduduwa, the progenitor of the Yoruba race, first discovered the cotton plant and transformed it to wool thread to make aso ofi at ancient Ife.

    He said: “Oduduwa got the inspiration from spider cobwebs and grew a large cotton plantation. The fittings of aso ofi were later perfected by the children of Ogun (the first blacksmith) – Abere (needle) and Obe (knife).

    “Olokun, who is also known as ‘Oluofi’, started the venture with the loom thread weaving along with Segi beads. The remnants of the production site were recently discovered at Ile-Ife and a scientific dating said they are over 4,000 years old.

    “Their descendants migrated to settle at Iseyin and later taught their other descendants – Anu (Ethiopia) and Nubia (Sudan) – all the way to present India (Orissa region, now called Odisha in India) and now all over the world. Iseyin people still practise aso ofi venture till date. If we don’t tell our stories by ourselves, nobody will.”

    The Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Abdul-Ganiyu Salawudeen, who led weavers from his town to Ife for the launch, said Olu Ofi, who he said was of the founders of Iseyin, left Ile-Ife several years earlier and settled at Iseyin.

    The Aseyin, who noted that weaving is a major vocation in Iseyin, said residents, especially youths, engaged in weaving and reduce crime rate in the ancient town.

    The monarch urged trade, culture enthusiasts and promoters to participate in the festival.