The Nation Newspaper

Tag: reducing

  • Farmers/herders killings reducing, says minister

    There has been decline in farmers-herders killings across the country, Information and Culture Minister Lai Mohammed has said.

    He attributed the reduction to the measures and actions of the government in tackling the crisis.

    Speaking at the 6th Special Town Hall meeting on farmer-herders clashes, held in Gusau, Zamfara State yesterday, the minister said the clashes were not caused by religion or ethnicity, but an act of banditry.

    He urged Nigerians to reject those trying to introduce religious and ethnic colouration.

    Declaring the meeting open, Mohammed told the gathering that the government efforts at taming the situation were yielding result.

    He said: “Let me say straight away that the killings, resulting from farmers-herders clashes, cattle rustling, trans-border crimes and banditry, among others, have reduced drastically. Unfortunately, this has not received the kind of media coverage given to the killings. I appeal to the media to correct this.

    “The drastic fall in the killings resulted from concerted and committed actions by the Federal Government. Measures taken to curtail farmers-herders clashes, cattle rustling and other acts of banditry include: deployment of a Joint Military Intervention Force (JMIF), comprising regular and special forces personnel from the Army, Air Force and Navy, and working in collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Security (DSS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), establishment of the Army’s 2 Battalion Forward Operating Base (FOB) in Kanfanin Doka Village, Birnin-Gwari, Kaduna State.

    “Establishment of a new Area Command and two additional Divisional Police Headquarters in Birnin Gwari Local Government of Kaduna State. Establishment by Nigeria Air Force of Quick Response Wings (QRW) in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states, and deployment of special forces to these Quick Response Wings. The inauguration, by the Nigeria Police Force, of a new Mobile Squadron in Takum, Taraba State, and Operation ‘Whirl Stroke’, operating in Benue, Nasarawa, Taraba and Zamfara states, to tackle the menace of armed herdsmen, cattle rustlers, communal militias, kidnappers and other bandits.

    “I have no doubt that the good people of Zamfara can testify to the drastic reduction in the activities of cattle rustlers and other bandits in the state since the Federal Government assembled a 1000-strong military force, comprising the Army, Air Force, Police and the Civil Defence, to launch attacks on the bandits terrorising the villages and towns of Zamfara State. The situation will continue to improve until the violence has stopped.

    “Your Excellency, honourable ministers, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, let me conclude by repeating what I have always said: The killings we have witnessed have nothing to do with ethnicity or religion. As I have always cited, those rustling cattle in Zamfara are largely Hausa/Fulani and Muslims. Those whose cattle are rustled are largely Hausa/Fulani and Muslims. Where is ethnicity? Where is religion in this? And in Kebbi, more than 70 per cent of inmates in the prison are there because of farmers-herders clash. Yet, the farmers are mostly Hausa/Fulani and Muslims, and the herders are mostly Hausa/Fulani and Muslims. Ethnicity and religion play no role!

    “Those bent on exploiting our national fault lines have distorted the narrative to give the killings ethnic and religious colouration, and this has aggravated the killings. We must repudiate them, even as the Federal Government continues to consolidate on the successful efforts to end the killings.”

  • Fed Govt saves N125b reducing official allowances

    The Minister of Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, says the ministry has reduced travel and stationery allowances by N125 billion in 2016 and 2017.

    In a document released at the weekend to review the performance of the ministry between 2015 and 2017, Adeosun said this was achieved by the efficiency unit set up by the ministry in November 2015.

    “The government has saved N34 billion on travel and transport for 2016 compared to 2015 figures and a further N57 billion on same travel and transport in 2017 compared to 2016,” the document released by Mrs Adeosun’s media spokesman,  Oluyinka Akintunde, read.

    “Again, on office stationeries and computer consumables, the government saved N24 billion in 2016 as against the previous year and a further N10 billion in 2017 compared to 2016 expenditure on the same line item,”added the document.

    Commenting on the voluntary assets and income declaration scheme (VAIDS), Adeosun said the programme is now receiving information on companies that evaded or underpaid taxes.

    She said: “You will remember that the Whistleblower Policy was introduced in December 2016 and since its introduction, we have had 8,373 communications out of which 1,231 are whistleblowing tips.

    “We have carried out 791 investigations and completed 534 of those investigations. Ten are presently under prosecution and we have secured four convictions.

    “For the first time, we are paying N439 million to about 14 whistleblowers who gave us specific tips on tax evaders. From the specific information provided on companies which underpaid their taxes, we were able to go in and communicate with the companies.

  • Reducing medical tourism

    •Maintenance of hospitals is vital to treating Nigerians at home

    As Nigeria struggles to come to grips with the troubling phenomenon of rampant medical tourism, stakeholders must realise that it cannot be resolved by simple fixes. This is why Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo’s recent remark that the emergence of the Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH) will stem medical tourism falls short of the mark.

    The vice-president, who was represented by the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, was speaking at the inauguration of the 400-bed facility built by Aare Afe Babalola, the founder of Afe Babalola University (ABUAD) in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State.

    Correctly deploring the billions that had been spent on overseas medical treatment, the vice-president called upon other well-meaning Nigerians to initiate similar projects, and by so doing, partner government in its efforts to improve the fortunes of the country’s health sector.

    The construction of ABUTH is a heart-warming development whose monumental significance is only further enhanced by the fact that it is a private initiative. Visitors have testified to the comprehensiveness and currency of its medical equipment, with the Governor of Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose, declaring that its emergence had obviated the need for Nigerians to go abroad for medical procedures.

    ABUTH is a welcome addition to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH), and will definitely result in a marked improvement in healthcare delivery in the state and in the surrounding region.

    However, ABUTH by itself cannot bring about the cessation of medical tourism, as desirable an objective as that would be. The phenomenon is a complicated one. It is caused by a variety of interlocking causes, including poor health facilities in Nigeria, the growing incidence of medical scandals, inadequate electricity supply, antiquated and non-functioning equipment, and a sometimes-unjustifiable lack of faith in the efficacy of indigenous medical professionals.

    Reversing this lamentable situation requires a correspondingly comprehensive approach. The construction of new facilities such as ABUTH is definitely helpful, but is not adequate in and of itself. The recent closure of the N41 billion Ibom Specialist Hospital in Akwa Ibom State after its private managers terminated their contract with the state government is a clear demonstration that the building of hospitals must be accompanied by clear goals, measurable performances and workable contract arrangements.

    The proper maintenance of healthcare facilities and equipment is also vital to stemming medical tourism. Nigeria has witnessed a succession of well-equipped hospitals launched with fanfare, only to suffer neglect and decline a few years later.

    The National Hospital, Abuja, is perhaps the most obvious demonstration of this problem. Built to offer world-class health services to members of the political elite in the nation’s federal capital, it has become a shadow of itself, beset by staffing problems and insufficient equipment, including non-functioning MRI and Lineal Accelerator machines.

    Recent revelations about the state of the Aso Rock Clinic provide even greater cause for concern. If the medical facility set up to cater for the health needs of the First Family lacks basic medicines and consumables, there can be little hope for conditions in less-influential hospitals.

    There is also the vexed question of leadership by example. If public office-holders routinely resort to medical tourism, they lack the moral right to question other Nigerians when they do the same thing. There can be no greater demonstration of faith in indigenous healthcare than the use of local health facilities – a point powerfully made by the late South African President, Nelson Mandela, who never went abroad for medical treatment.

    Nigeria spends between US $1 billion and $3 billion on medical tourism annually, with deleterious consequences for the economy, especially foreign exchange rates. If this situation is to change for the better, it will require better planning, increased competence and genuine patriotism.

  • Reducing inequality in healthcare system

    SIR: Inequality in healthcare in Nigeria can be defined as discrimination or imbalance in the medical care of individual citizens of Nigeria. It can also be defined as the unfair share of the medical provisions made available for Nigerian citizens through the Federal Ministry of Health and other department and agencies.

    Nigeria has experienced a great deal of inequality in the healthcare of its citizens whereby certain class of people especially the politicians in Nigeria will spend almost the annual budget of the health sector in medical treatment overseas whereas some people may not have access to the local or domestic medical treatment in the same country. This is as a result of practical application of the policy and system of governance adopted from the 7th commandment of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” by majority of Nigerian leaders, administrators, executive and legislators manning the affairs of our country and health sector in particular. Thus recently, President Muhammadu Buhari spent more than 100 days in an undisclosed hospital in the United Kingdom whereas so many Nigerians with greater and worse health conditions are left unattended to in government hospitals and some have nobody to assist them to gain admission in the hospitals let alone being attended to by our medical practitioners.

    The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which is the grundnorm made provision in section 33 to protect the individual lives of its citizens. Basically, the right to life cannot be said to be complete if healthcare or equal access to medical treatment among citizens is undermined or relegated to the background. Thus, the challenges of the health sector are aptly described in the National Health Policy 2016 (pages xiii and xiv) respectively as follows: “…the Nigerian health system is weak and, hence, underperforming across all building blocks. Health system governance is weak. There is an almost total absence of financial risk protection and the health system is largely unresponsive. There is inequity in access to services due to variations in socioeconomic status and geographic location. For instance, 11% of births to uneducated mothers occur in health facilities while 91% of births to mothers with more than secondary education occurs in health facilities; 86% of mothers in urban areas receive Ante Natal Care (ANC) from skilled providers, compared to only 48% of mothers in rural areas; and ANC coverage in the North West is 41% compared to 91% in the South East. Other problems related to health services include: curative-bias of health services delivered at all levels; inefficiencies in the production of services; unaffordability of services provided by the private sector to the poor; limited availability of some services, including Voluntary Counselling and Testing(VCT), Prevention of Mother To Child Transmission(PMTCT) and Anti-Retroviral Therapy  ART; low confidence of the consumers in the services provided, especially in public health facilities; absence of a minimum package of health services; lack of proper coordination between the public and private sectors; and poor referral systems”.

    There is urgent need to strengthen the health sector in Nigeria through adequate provision, release and implementation of the annual budget to meet the medical need of every Nigerian and shun inequality in healthcare.

     

    • Gregory T. Okere Esq.

    Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), Abuja

  • Reducing joblessness

    •This is vital to national stability and economic resuscitation

    The news that 3.67 million Nigerians became unemployed between October 2015 and September 2016 is a sober reminder that putting the citizenry to productive work is vital to sustainable economic transformation and growth.

    The figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) make for grim reading, and paint a depressing picture of a growing spectre of joblessness which has badly affected the country’s most vibrant demographic.

    The total number of unemployed citizens rose from 7.51 million in October 2015 to 11.9 million in September 2016. Breakdown: 0.522 million lost jobs in the fourth quarter of 2015; 1.44 million were thrown into the labour market in the first quarter of 2016; 1.16 million became unemployed in the second quarter of 2016; 0.55 million became jobless in the third quarter of 2016.

    Unemployment among Nigerians aged 15 to 24 years rose from 17.8 per cent in October 2015 to 25 per cent at the end of September 2016. Among the 25 to 34 age group, it increased from 10.8 per cent to 15 per cent during the same period. About 15.9 per cent of women and 12 per cent of men were unemployed as at September 2016. Joblessness in urban areas stood at 18.3 per cent; in the rural areas, it was 11.3 per cent.

    There is little doubt that the sharp increase in unemployment is largely due to the ongoing economic recession. The economy contracted by 1.5 per cent in 2016. Inflation rose steeply to 18.7 per cent over 12 months. Falling oil prices have affected the exchange rate of the naira, causing it to plunge to N520 to U.S. $1 in February.

    However, there are deeper underlying causes for the country’s jobs predicament. Even when the economy was growing at an average of seven per cent annually, it was essentially jobless growth, powered by an influx of foreign investment mainly targeting the then booming oil exploration sub-sector at the expense of small and medium-scale industry which are the biggest employers of labour. Then, as now, graduate unemployment was at crisis levels, and underemployment was the norm rather than the exception among the youth.

    The Buhari administration must use the opportunity of the recession to implement structural reforms that will ensure maximum levels of employment as well as sustained economic growth. The recently-launched Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) gives employment a significant amount of attention: job creation and youth empowerment are one of the plan’s key outcomes, and investing in people is a major strategic objective. The ERGP ultimately aims at creating 3.75 million jobs per annum between 2017 and 2020.

    These laudable goals must be implemented competently and honestly if they are to succeed. The country must build on its agricultural base, which is still the biggest contributor to its Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as well as the largest employer of labour. Waste must be drastically reduced and agro-allied industry must get the priority it deserves.

    Nigeria’s infrastructural deficit must be tackled comprehensively. The perennial problem of inadequate power supply in particular must be dealt with using innovative approaches, including the increased utilisation of renewable energy, the comprehensive decentralisation of power generation and distribution, and the enthronement of equitable billing practices. Roads, bridges and other transport links must be rehabilitated so that they no longer constitute a drag on trade and investment.

    Public procurement procedures must favour indigenous suppliers. Infrastructure projects must utilise local expertise and labour. Timelines and deadlines for the execution of projects must be strictly adhered to. Incompetence must be sanctioned without fear or favour. Government should be wary of outside interference in its policies, no matter how well-meaning it may seem.

    Nigeria has no choice but to ensure that the majority of its people are fully and gainfully employed. The consequences of failure are simply too bleak to contemplate.

  • Reducing the TB burden in Nigeria

    Reducing the TB burden in Nigeria

    Presently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) ranks Nigeria as having the highest tuberculosis (TB) prevalence rate in Africa and 11th among the 22 high burden countries in the world that account for 80 per cent of global TB burden with a total of 180,000 cases occurring annually in Nigeria.

    The burden of the disease in Nigeria is further worsened by the negative effects of the interactions between TB (an air-borne infectious disease) and HIV, leading to the deaths of 27,000 persons annually. On the link between TB and HIV, Dr Sunday Amosun, a Consultant with the Psychiatric Hospital, Aro, Abeokuta, stated: “Tuberculosis is caused by micro bacteria and it is common among those whose immunity is down; that is why it is common among those who have HIV because what HIV does is to knock out all the immune system.”

    Indeed, TB has been variously described as the most common life-threatening disease and the number one killer among ‘people living with HIV’.

    Due to the seriousness of the disease, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared tuberculosis (TB), a global emergency in 1993. It remains one of the world’s major causes of illness and death.

    In Nigeria, tackling the disease by health authorities to reduce the TB burden in the country, has been a herculean task. Several factors mitigate against curbing the disease, which include unhygienic environment, lack of drugs, stigmatization, poor health facilities among others. While decrying the TB prevalence in the country, the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), last year in a statement blamed the high rate on the unavailability of drugs and modern treatment facilities to treat the disease in the country.

    “It’s due to poor availability of microscopy (smear), culture, drug susceptibility centre and presence of only one national reference laboratory at the national tuberculosis and leprosy control programme headquarters in Kaduna,” it stated.

    Statistics show the disease mostly affects those between 25-34 years (36.6 per cent) with Lagos, Kano, Oyo and Benue states being the states with the highest level of infections. Ekiti and Bayelsa States have the least cases of infections.

    People with HIV/AIDS are mostly vulnerable to the disease with 26 per cent of them infected with 3.1 per cent of this number infected with the Multi Drug Resistant Tuberculosis (MDR-TB).

    The TB burden is compounded by a high prevalence of HIV in the country which stands at about 4.1% in general population.

    The prevalence of HIV among TB patients increased from 2.2 per cent in 1991 to 19.1 per cent in 2001 and 25 per cent in 2010. This indicates that the TB situation in the country is HIV-driven.

    Benue for instance, has a high TB burden which is attributable to a high HIV prevalence.

    Poor hygiene, overcrowding

    Many reasons have been adduced by health experts for the high TB rate in Nigeria. Speaking on this, Dr Dan Gadzama, Consultant, Primary Health Board, Abuja, said:

    “It is commonly and easily transmitted in overcrowded environment where people have no proper ventilation, poorly ventilated areas. A bacterium causes the disease known as tuberculosis. It is a lung disease just like others. There are infective and non-infective lung diseases. There is asthma, bronchiolitis and others. Tuberculosis is very common and comes about through micro bacteria.

    “The commonness symptom is whooping cough; it is common in children and elderly because of their low immunity and people with it tend to sweat quite a lot in the night even when the weather is cold. And then there is also weight loss.

    The elderly for instance, their immunity is low and for those in prison too, it is easy for them to contact it because of poor ventilation and overcrowded living conditions.

    Symptoms of TB include night sweats, chronic cough, weight loss among others according to Amosun: “If someone also have chronic all night sweat with chronic cough for like three months and within that period loses weight seriously, then he or she has likely contacted tuberculosis. Those are the pointers. At such time, tests must be done immediately.”

    To prevent TB, he advises people to avoid, “overcrowded places, stop sharing of utensils, discourage people from coughing and spewing sputum all over the place because the bacteria is normally inside sputum. When it dries up, the wind blows it everywhere. And then someone else may inject it.”

    “Many people may actually have contacted it, but it is not active because the body immunity is high.

    “Tuberculosis was almost eliminated but because of HIV, it became more common, noted Gadzama, adding: “That is because, HIV enhances tuberculosis; what happens usually is that when someone is infected with tuberculosis, it goes into the system and becomes dormant for sometime. But once immunity is low either due to HIV, malnutrition or cancer, the tuberculosis will then come up strong.”

    Presently, despite some efforts being made to curb the disease, there are fears in some quarters that Nigeria is lagging behind in all areas of rolling back the disease and there are doubts that the country will be unable to achieve the goal of 50% reduction in the prevalence and death from TB compared with the 1990 baseline by 2015 and eliminating TB as a public health problem by 2050.”

    WHO estimates that 210,000 new cases of all forms of TB occurred in the country in 2010, equivalent to 133/100,000 population.

    There were an estimated 320,000 prevalent cases of TB in 2010, equivalent to 199/100,000 cases. There were 90,447 TB cases notified in 2010 with 41, 416 (58%) cases as new smear positives, and a case detection rate of 40 per cent.

    83% of cases notified in 2009 were successfully treated.

    The main goal of Nigeria’s TB program is to halve the TB prevalence and death rates by 2015.

    TB death rates have however, declined from 11 percent in 2006 to 5 percent in 2010.

  • Reducing cost of governance

    Reducing cost of governance

    Under the presidential system, the cost of governance is high. The President is expected to preside over the Federal Executive Council, which is made up of at least 36 ministers and special advisers. In the Senate, there are 109 members. The House of Representatives has 360 legislators. The size of the government is huge, making the recurrent expenditure to account for over 65 per cent of the budget, leaving 35 per cent for capital projects. Besides, government officials always capitalise on loopholes to perpetrate graft. Therefore, national development is sacrificed on the altar of corruption. But, last week, President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo (SAN) slashed their salaries by 50 per cent. They also reiterated their commitment to the anti-graft war to stem the misappropriation of public funds. Will National Assembly members, governors and elected officials emulate them? EMMANUEL OLADESU, RAYMOND MORDI and LEKE SALAUDEEN examine the renewed search for fiscal discipline and implications for the polity.

    Politics has become a lucrative venture in Nigeria. To observers, government is attractive because of the pecks of office. Thus, the corridor of power is perceived an avenue for primitive accumulation by many elected officials, instead of an avenue for service delivery.

    But, President Muhammed Buhari proposed a closure to the sordid past last week. He and his deputy, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, slashed their salaries by 50 per cent, setting a good example for other elected officers.

    According to the 2007 Remuneration Package for Political, Public and Judicial Officers released by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), the President is entitled to an annual salary N14 million per annum (N1.171,568 per month). The Vice President should earn N12, 126, 290 per annum (N1,010, 524 per month). But now, the President will earn N7 million yearly. In four years, he will earn N28.1 m. Presidency sources said the Commander-In-Chief took the step to demonstrate his commitment to frugality and leadership by example in the face of the harsh economic condition.

    At the weekend, there were also media reports about how the President turned down moves to procure new official cars for his office. The cars cost N400million. President Buhari said he will continue to use the cars left behind by his predecessor, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan.

    Before adjourning its sittings last month, the National Assembly set up a committee to review the salaries and allowances of legislators. It was a populist move, which has been criticised for drawing bogus emoluments. Senate President Saraki explained that the parliament could not be indifferent to the public outcry about the legislators’ remuneration.

    In fact, some governors had blazed the trail, following their inauguration. Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai and his Bauchi, Kano and Abia counterparts, Mohammed Abubakar, Abdullahi Ganduje and Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu, had earlier cut their salaries and those of their aides to cut costs. Explaining the reason for taking the line of action, el-Rufai said there is need to make sacrifice and judicious management of resource in a state that is weighed down by debt and liabilities. “The state of our state is abysmal”, he said, urging other indigenes to make sacrifices for the state to survive the excruciating economic hardship.

    Ikpeazu, a former university don, explained that he imposed the austerity measure on himself, following the inability of the state to pay salaries of workers. He said the few elected public officials cannot be swimming in opulence when thousands of indigenes, especially worker wallow in abject poverty.

    In Abubakar’s view, it has become absolutely necessary to cut the salary of the governor by 50 percent as a mark of leadership by example. Echoing him, Ganduje said earning a fat salary in the face of the current economic reality is untenable, adding that wastage should be reduced.

    Many Nigerians have hailed the decision by the President and governors to slash their salaries. The drop in oil revenue may have made value engineering more compelling. But, they said the reduction of the cost of governance is an unfinished business. For example, the loopholes should give way. These include contract inflation by ministers and top civil servants, misappropriation and embezzlement of funds, extravagance and  frivolous travels by government officials, hiring of multiple aides for elected officials, and jumbo pay for legislators.

    Former member of House of Representatives Hon. Uche Onyeagucha advised the President to merge some ministries that perform similar functions. He even said that the anti-graft agencies-the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) can be merged to avoid duplication of structures for anti-graft crusade.

    The former legislator also said that the cost can be reduced through other institutional approaches. He said: “Our economy should be run by expects and regulators. We must reduce imports. This will reduce the waste of foreign reserves. In Nigeria, we import toothpicks and cement. This is not necessary. This makes us to lose foreign exchange. Thus, it becomes expensive to run the government.”

    A lawyer, Bisi Adegbuyi, said, if no conscious effort is made to cut costs, governance will only be for the benefit of those in power. “The cost of governance in Nigeria is humongous. We must find a way of reducing the cost so that people with sublime ability and who do not have a huge amount of money to spend on the electoral process will be interested in politics,” he said. Adegbuyi also called for the re-evaluation of politics to remove the perception of politics as an invested, adding that it is dangerous for democracy. He said many elected officials always hope to garner returns in post-election period.

    He also urged the President reduce the size of the cabinet, saying that few ministers are required. In his view, the duplication of functions of ministries and departments is counterproductive. Adegbuyi also said that only competent and incorruptible people should make the ministerial list. He said, if corrupt people are appointed as ministers and special advisers, they will subvert the administration because leopards cannot change their skins. “We also need a renewed battle against corruption,” he added

    The emoluments of legislators have often generated controversy. Onyeagucha acknowledged that the its expensive to maintain the two chambers at the federal levels and 36 chambers across the federation. Hailing the move to revisit the pay package, he said Nigeria does not need full-time lawmakers. “We only need part-time legislators at state and federal levels. This will reduce the cost of maintaining the legislature. Right now, the cost of financing them is expensive,” he stressed.

    In the view of a finance and investment consultant, Mr. Akintunde Maberu, there is a huge disparity between the earnings of political office holders and workers. He said: “If you look at the percentage of those in the highest bracket, as against the percentage of the multitude in the lowest bracket, the disparity is much. It was in Zamfara State that I observed that five per cent of political office holders earn 75 per cent of the entire income of the state. I think the same thing applies to other states and the Federal Government.

    “So, the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Committee (RMAFC) ought to prune down the salaries of public office holders because that is its primary duty and responsibility. They ought to do that in consonance with the reality on ground because the country is bereft of funds at present. Therefore, it does not make sense for public office holders to continue enjoying the fat salaries and allowances that earning before now.

    “RMAFC said it is going to review their earnings, but I don’t know whether the assertion is true or not. But, the President has shown the way; his body language has not only shown where he is going, he has gone ahead to put it into action and the Vice President has followed suit.”

    Maberu said the leadership of the National Assembly and the governors are also expected to go along the same direction. In other words, the example of the President is expected to go down to all the strata of governance. He said:  “If that is done, it would immediately have an impact. The recommendations of the Oronsaye Report were well thought out. One would have expected the previous government to have implemented some of those recommendations, but it did not.” Maberu added:”There are feelers already that President Buhari is going to reduce the number of ministries and that he would appoint technocrats into functional ministries, as against political appointees.”

    Alluding to the report, he said the committee identified seven foremost ministries that should be manned by technocrats. He added: “The Oronsaye report is the key, but I expect that the federal government will have the political will to implement the recommendations of this report. In the past, there were similar recommendations that never saw the light of day.”

    Maberu urged the government to take steps to jerk up its internally generated revenue (IGR) and explore new areas of revenue generation. Apart from oil, there are other mineral resources in the country that can also provide a leeway.

    Nevertheless, he said scaling down costs would assist the government to kick-start its programmes because the effort to raise the IGR takes time. The Federal Internal Revenue Service, he added, could bring into the net those that were outside it.

    The National Chairman of the United Progressives Party (UPP), Chief Chekwas Okorie, said the administration should block the leakages in the system. He recalled that President Buhari promised to do do this during the electioneering campaign. He said: “These leakages are eating up what should ordinarily be used to develop the country. Most private estates in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos and other cities are owned by people in government.

    “Even when you go to some rural communities, you will see some mind–boggling edifies erected by the same people and they hardly stay in these houses, except during festive periods when they visit home.

    “I think the President should recover what I call all ‘recoverables’. The 50 per cent cut in salaries is good, if it is implemented down the ladder. It is a way of showing example to the people that the government is serious in its drive to eliminate waste. But, the more practical way is for him to go after the people that have stolen our common wealth. For instance, look at what is happening in Rivers State, where the governor has just announced that caretaker committees would take charge at the local governments. This sort of thing should not be allowed to continue. We are going back to the old order; to sack elected officials and appoint caretaker committees to run the local governments.”

    Okorie enjoined the government to withhold funds that are due to local governments in states where local governments are run by appointed officials. “This should be paid into dedicated accounts that can only be released later to properly elected officials,” he added.

    Human rights activist and President of Nigeria Voters Assembly (VOTAS) Comrade Mashood Erubami said, to reduce the cost of governance, the huge recurrent expenditure must be a thing of the past. His words: “The immediate drastic cut-down from all areas of profligacy in budgetary and fiscal policies, combined with unsparing and non-discriminatory fight against corruption, should be explored. For the President to achieve meaningful development, serious attention must be placed on reducing the cost of doing business and governance in the areas of foreign travels, trainings and medical tourism.

    “The high cost of doing business and governance has its roots in corruption, high interest rate, the provision of electricity for the manufacturing and industrial sector, and exchange rate. The high cost of running government also resides in the payment of unbacked and economically unjustifiable high salaries and emoluments, the payment of unrealistic subsidies and double terminal benefits, including life pension for political office holders, and the provision for constituency projects and allowances.

    Erubami urged the government to raise a new team to device new and practical ways of achieving  all-round reduction in the cost of doing businesses, through measures and strict exchange control mechanism.

    He said: “Federal  and state budgets should be subjected to public scrutiny and review to reduce extravagant  and prodigal lifestyle through re- organisation, virement, weeding out ghost workers, reducing unproductive political office holders and vehicles in government convoy.These will reduce expenses.” Erubami said the yearly increase in recurrent expenditure and dwindling capital expenditures should be re-examined.

    However, the pro-democracy activist said the greatest challenge is fighting corruption. In his view, corruption is an impediment to development. Erubami pointed out that trillions of naira are mismanaged, stolen and squandered yearly, either through direct stealing or non-remittance into the treasury by Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs).

    To lay the foundation a new Nigeria, he said government must, within the short time, introduce measures that will challenge past wrong business ethics and unethical political culture among the business class and the politicians.

    Erubami stressed: “Corruption should be fought on two fronts. The bribe-takers and the givers should  be treated as criminals. The bribe-taker needs to be penalised and the giver must be punished to send strong message that corruption will no more be tolerated under any guise.

    “Former politicians who have pending corruption cases with anti-corruption agencies and courts should continue without undue pressure from government. Justice to take its course.”

    Erubami said the President should be ready to step on toes. He said the government should “kill corruption before it kills Nigeria”.

    He added: “The fight against corrupt practices should begin with  diligent prosecution. Current cases of petroleum subsidy scam, PHCN  scam, NNPC scam, $9.7m failed arms contract  and police pension scam should be concluded  to send a strong signal to Nigerians that corruption has become a crime and culprits will be prosecuted, and if found guilty, they will be sentenced to imprisonment.

    “Those who steal public funds should be sanctioned to discourage others, so that people can know that public funds should not be used for  private ends. Corrupt officials should be made to refund ill-gotten wealth.

    “Every year, names of corrupt officials and those convicted for corruption should be published in the media. Also, those who serve diligently should be given awards. These will reduce graft in public places. The enforcement of the provisions of the laws in the EFCC, ICPC, Code of Conduct Act should not be compromised.  Bribery must be outlawed.”

    Erubami also urged the government to set up special courts to try corrupt officials.

    A university don, Dr Adetunji Ogunyemi, decried the duplications of ministries and other instritutions for service delivery. He said the government should reduce the structures for function performance.

    Ogunyemi, who teaches at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State,  lamented that many states are not economically viable. He said: “Many of them rely on monthly allocations to pay salaries. We should collapse the states so that we can have eight states that can be self-sustaining rather than having 36 states.”

    Ogunyemi also called for the merging of local governments to make them viable. He complained about what he described as the over-representation at the centre. According to him, the Senate should be abrogated because the 360 members of the House of Representatives can offer adequate representation. He maintained that the Senate is a duplication of legislative process. “If  we do away with the Senate, it will go a long way in reducing cost of governance,” he added.

    The university don said a law should be enacted to make it mandatory that 40 per cent of the annual budget of every tier of government is committed to capital projects. “If this law comes on stream, it will serve as a check on government expenses, especially on overhead cost,” he said.

    Ogunyemi  cited the case of Osun State, which generates N187 million per month and spends N1.4 billion on salary and pension; whereas Lagos State, which generates N20 billion  monthly, has a salary and pension liability of N7.3 billion. “The argument here is that states should pay according to their financial capability,” he said.

    Legal luminary Chief Niyi Akintola (SAN) urged the tiers of government to study their financial limitations so that they can operate within the resources available to them. He noted that many state governments are copy cats; they embark on projects that are not relevant to the needs of their subjects.

    Akintola said: “It is of no use copying Lagos, Akwa Ibom or Delta when your financial resources don’t match them. It is economic suicidal for Ekiti, Ebonyi and Gombe states  to have the same number of ministries, commissioners and special advisers like Lagos, Kano and Delta. These states have one of the highest Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) base.

    “The IGR of Ikoyi/Obalende Local Government, Lagos State is higher than that of Ekiti State. I don’t expect Ekiti to have more than eight commissioners. The state is endowed with human resources, but less financial resources.

    “I am happy President Buhari has resolved to have only 19 ministries at the federal level. In those days, what we used to have were Ministry of Works, Housing and Urban Delopment; Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Budget Planning; Ministry of Youths, Sports and Social Development. But today, politicians have split each of them into three or four ministries to create jobs for the boys.

    “Because of second term, governors are creating all sorts of offices, appointing a retinue of special assistants that have no offices or specific functions to perform, embarking on white elephant projects, building hospitals without equipping them. These are conduit pipes that must be blocked.”

     

  • Reducing agro-exports rejection in global market

    Reducing agro-exports rejection in global market

    Markets in the United States, Europe and Asia have been attractive to Nigerians because some firms and individuals have exported their produce, including fruits and vegetables, to these markets  and made huge profits. But things are fast changing with stringent requirements on quality, safety and health standards which has led to the rejection of agro produce. Efforts are in progress to address this, reports Daniel Essiet.

    OVER 15 per cent of agro and food  exports  grown in Nigeria and  other West African countries are  rejected by buyers in Europe, Asia and the United States because they do not meet minimum quality standards.

    Sometimes, whole consignments are rejected because they contain produce with  defects.

    The  Chief  Executive, Anjorin and Sons, Mr Sunday Anjorin, is one such farmer. His produce suffered rejection. According to him,  agro exports are  facing  stringent requirements because of attempts by the European Union (EU) and other  countries  to secure a high level of protection for public health and consumer interests with regard to food products.

    Anjorin’s produce was rejected  because of inability to provide  sanitary  standard compliance documentation.

    Anjorin  said  though soem exporters are making it big exporting their produce to these markets, some are   subjected to  stringent conditions by  major  markets such  as   EU. The concern, however, is that the requirements  keep   changing and as such would-be exporters need to be aware of them before launching  into export business.

    There is also the case of a Ghanaian food exporter  whose products to the United Kingdom revealed  that it had got contaminated with a toxic substance following routine microbiological and chemical sampling.

    Consequently, his stock was seized  and destroyed in addition to several tonnes of maize meal being held at his industrial unit.

    His economic losses were further compounded by damage in reputation as a product recall was announced resulting in every business he supplied being contacted to ensure products were taken off the shelves.

    The cause of this turn of events was linked to imported maize meal contaminated with fungal toxins known as aflatoxins.  This not withstanding ,Anjorin  said  EU is an attractive market for African exports. This is because the region imports 40 per cent of all of sub-Saharan Africa’s agricultural exports, including nuts, tea, coffee and citrus fruits.

    Though there are amazing opportunities to export food produce,Anjorin  said there are also challenges of   regulatory requirements.

    One  of these  areas  are  sanitary and phytosanitary requirements  which  have  presented a barrier to many companies wishing to export food products into the region. Some cocoa exporters have been rejected due to high levels of chemicals caused by drying practices. While  large quantities of yam exported to the United  States  have been rejected as most were found to be unwholesome on arrival.

    In some other countries, the dream of mango farmers to go commercial particularly for export has been marred by the prevalence of fruit-flies ,resulting in infestation of the fruits, making them unsuitable for the international market.

    Exported mango containers are often rejected at the entry ports of the international markets due to fruit-fly infestation and other sanitary issues.

    Right now, farmers  involved  in  horticultural  exports are going through difficult times owing to a ban by the EU on imported produce containing dangerous chemicals.

    Member-countries of the EU  have been testing all produce from developing countries to ensure strict adherence to specified levels of maximum residue limits. This has forced farmers to use lower quantities of chemicals on crops. It has also led to huge losses for farmers because of the expensive tests conducted locally and abroad.

    So far, Nigeria has had its fair share of product rejections. The  Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, OlusegunAganga said over 103 Nigerian export products have been rejected at the global market in the last five years for not meeting acceptable international quality standards.

    He attributed the development to lack of accredited laboratories where the products could be tested before being shipped abroad.

    According to him, since the internationally accredited microbiology lab of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) in Lagos  meets international best practice, any product tested there would be acceptable anywhere outside the country, thereby saving the millions of dollars being lost by the manufacturers due to product rejection.

    He said: “For decades, the country has lost significant amount of revenue and our exporters have suffered heavy financial losses because of the number of rejected export items from Nigeria.

    “The situation became so bad that Nigeria, the number one economy in Africa had to export its products through Ghana.”

    SON’s Director-General, Dr. Joseph Odumodu, said his  organisation is  going to reduce agro-export rejection with the  commissioning of a world  class food processing  laboratory.

    He  said   SON has received a lot of support from the minister to get the laboratory up and running.

    He said going forward, there would be more laboratories to complement the effort of the new laboratory. “I want to invite you to avail yourself of the laboratories we have here and the more that will come in the future,” he said.

    Odumodu said the two laboratories – chemical testing and quality management laboratories – accredited by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation would restore confidence in the market place for Nigeria’s food export commodities as they would have scaled the hurdles of acceptable standards.

    On the cost of accessing the services of the laboratories, Odumodu said government agencies involved in exports would access the services of the labs at no cost as part of government’s policy, while private sector operators would have to pay a token.

    He observed that current exporters in the country pay as much as 10 per cent of the total value of their exports, adding that when they bring their commodities to SON’s laboratory, they would pay less than one per cent of the total value of their exports.

    The Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), SegunAwolowo said some of the factors responsible for the rejection of exported food item include non-compliance with regulatory requirements for processed and semi-processed commodities, non-compliance with documentation requirements, incorrect filling of information for entry, inadequate information and know-how on the entry requirement for food imports to the EU and the United Kingdom.

    He noted that developing countries including Nigeria seem to face considerable problems in meeting basic food safety and hygiene requirements for exporting food items to developed countries, saying that a recent World Bank report estimated that developing countries will lose about $6.9 billion this year to rejections of their  exported food items.

    “It is, therefore, of immense challenge to meet standards requiring more sophisticated monitoring. The trend in food safety and quality management is a shift from end product testing to a systematic preventive approach that employs the identification of hazards and establishment of preventive measures to reduce or eliminate such hazards during food processing,” he said.

    The President, Federation of Agricultural Commodities Association of Nigeria (FACAN), Dr Victor Iyama, said  the nation needed  laboratory  to  address   the huge amounts of rejections which translates to high economic losses.

    He said exporters have had their  commodities  rejected as a result of the presence of hazards from both chemical and microbial origin.

    He said the industry is facing new challenges and needs to continue to adapt and upgrade its capabilities to meet export requirement.

    Chairman, Honeywell Group, Dr. Oba Otudeko, noted that the food lab was pivotal to Nigeria’s rapid economic development, particularly at a time when manufacturing and agriculture were being emphasised in the country’s national development discourse.

    Otudeko said: “For a long time, we have suffered from the absence and lack of internationally certified facilities to serve as impetus for the country’s efforts towards economic diversification and export promotion.

    “As stakeholders in the nation’s industrial sector and indeed other non-oil productive areas, we have been under the negative effects of overdependence on oil and imported goods while our local products continued to experience market resistance locally and internationally.”

    One issue that has affected  exports is  indiscriminate use of  pesticides by  farmers.  Some  farmers are finding it harder to sell fresh produce to its key markets in the EU as major supermarkets implement new pesticide regulations. The new regulations announced  sharply reduced allowed residue limits in pesticides.

    National Coordinator,West Africa Agricultural Productivity Programme(WAAPP), Prof Damian Chikwendu, said Nigeria is  home to an uncontrolled market of outdated, sub-standard and unscrupulous pesticides, which he said are mostly peddled and used by people with no real expertise on them.

    Of 360 farmers that were interviewed in 57 local government areas across the nine states (Abia, Benue, Edo, Gombe, Imo, Kaduna, Kano, Niger and Oyo), the WAPP-Nigeria National Coordinator said about 92 per cent of them use pesticides a.

    This, however, comes with a worrying trend. Chikwendu said: “One noticeable trend is that most of the people who sell and use these pesticides have little knowledge of them. They don’t even know how to use.”

     

  • ‘We are committed to reducing unemployment’

    The Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area Chairman Apostle Oloruntoba Oke has said his administration is committed to reducing unemployment among the youths.

    Oke spoke during the flag-off of a three-day vocational training and skill acquisition for 300 youths at the Events Centre, Iju, an outskirt s of Lagos.

    The training which ends tomorrow, is organised in partnership with two non-governmental organisations (NGO), Nigeria National Youth Award (NNYA) and Peace Maker Development Organisation (PMDO) , New Jersey, USA.

    The council chief said the event, the second since he assumed office a year ago, is his administration’s response to the elusive white-collar jobs and growing rate of unemployment among the youths and their preponderance to engage in crime.

    Oke said: “The first, which was held a few months ago, recorded a huge success with participants numbering about 500. This programme has about 300 youths drawn from various groups such as Youth Council, CDAs, churches and mosques participating.”

    He said his administration focuses on youth development with a target that a large number of them would have benefitted from the sundry vocational programmes being put in place by the council by the end of his tenure.

    He therefore, implored participants to see the programme as “a golden opportunity to be job creators and make the best of whatever skill they learnt in the three-day exercise.

    The Co-ordinator of the programme, Mrs Bilkis Ayepola, said the exercise entitled: Youth and wealth in service oriented skills, focuses on exposing the youths to areas where they could offer services in exchange for cash, thereby becoming self reliant.

    She said participants would be trained in skills such as event planning and management, outdoor decoration, photography, master of ceremonies, cleaning services, soap making and production of disinfectants.

    PMDO’s Executive Director, Pastor Mrs Shola Adedeji, said her organisation decided to come back home and assist in developing the huge human capital that has remained largely dormant because of the over-reliance on white collar jobs.

    She said the youth, which remains the future of the country, must be guided to see that they could function outside the box, and be employers of labour and creators of wealth. She therefore, urged them to make the best of the opportunity and turn their lives around.

    One of the participants, Mr Isaiah Silva, a gospel artiste, who came for training in event planning and management, praised the council and organisers for bringing such a programme to the grassroots.

    Silva, a physically handicapped singer who attended the programme on wheel chair, urged other participants to make the best of the opportunity available to them and become employers of labour rather than remain jobless.