The Nation Newspaper

Tag: renewal

  • Delta moves to redefine urban renewal, regional planning

    A BILL on Urban Renewal and Regional Planning before the Delta State House of Assembly Joint Committee on Urban Renewal, Lands, Survey and Urban Development, was on Monday subjected to a public hearing by the committee. The Bill had passed the first and second readings hence the public hearing to enable the stakeholders to make input before it was passed.

    If the Bill, which emanated from the state government through the state’s Ministry of Justice sees the light of the day, it is expected that it would provide a standard framework for the administration of urban and regional planning, urban development, urban renewal and building control activities in the state. Besides, it is also believed the Bill will also help to address the conflicts between local governments and the Ministry of Lands, Survey and Urban Development, arising from the existing laws.

    The committee Chairman, Mr. Oboro Preyor, said the state government created the Ministry of Urban Renewal and the Delta State Capital Territory Development Agency to ensure functions in the urban renewal and regional planning sectors. He thanked the stakeholders for their contributions and assured them that the house would do the needful for the speedy passage of the bill.

    A member of the committee, Mr. Peter Uviejitobor, said that the bill was important for the development of the state as it would facilitate urban renewal, town planning, building control activities and establishment of urban and regional planning board and local planning authority. He urged the stakeholders to recommend amendments to any clause or section of the bill found necessary before its final passage.

  • Aba’s renewal and smart power

    President Muhammadu Buhari’s economic policy may not be generally considered wonderful, but the commitment to a substantial increase in the domestic content in the real sector of the Nigerian economy may go down in history as his most enduring legacy. The commitment in the agricultural sphere is represented by the steady growth in local rice production and consumption while the commitment to industrial development is symbolized by renewed nationwide interest in locally manufactured goods.

    Buhari did make a mark in the country’s agro-industrial growth in his first incarnation as Nigeria’s leader from 1983 to 1985 when breweries were compelled to use local maize in place of barley malt. The breweries went a step further by producing lager beers with an overwhelming local content. Guinness, for instance, came up with the Merit brand while Premier Breweries in Onitsha, Anambra State, introduced Masters Beer in the market. Though the breweries were to declare crop failures because, in the words of Pius Okigbo in his Essays in the Public Philosophy of Development, the brewers were not farmers, the local content in the Nigerian beverage industry has changed for the better.

    Recent months have seen growing nationwide interest in domestic goods, often called Made-in-Aba products, though most local manufactures are not from this city in Abia State. The interest did not stem from sheer patriotism, as our people are still bewitched by foreign goods and services. It rather arose out of the high costs of foreign items in the wake of naira’s drastic depreciation against international currencies. Every mono-product economy which is import-dependent is bound to experience acute difficulties if its foreign exchange earner crashes. This is Nigeria’s lot, forcing the President to become the cheerleader of the campaign promoting patronage of domestic goods.

    If Made-in –Aba goods have all of a sudden become synonymous with locally manufactured goods, it has to do with a well-choreographed campaign initiated by Enyi Abaribe, the economist and senator representing Aba South in the Nigerian Senate. Since his election into the National Assembly, Abaribe has been organizing the annual Made-in-Aba Trade Fair in Abuja. The choice of Abuja, rather than Aba, as the location is strategic: to get the Federal Government to buy into the campaign. When he commenced the campaign, he was almost derided as an incurable optimist and idealist. But he persisted. The awareness grew. He was joined by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, who appears far more purposeful than his predecessor, Theodore Orji. Senate President Bukola Saraki has now joined the campaign with gusto, almost taking charge. When the army announced it was ordering 50,000 pairs of boots from Aba, Saraki responded with a well-received statement which not just commended it but also enjoined the navy, air force, the police, National Youth Service Corps, and paramilitary organisations like the Federal Safety Corps and the Nigerian Security and Defence Corps and Customs Service to take a cue from the army.

    It is most likely that the army will increase the quantity because Aba products are quite competitive in terms of quality and price. This will have an effect on the other armed forces as well as the police and the paramilitary organisations. As Senator Abaribe has remarked, it is not just boots that these organisations can order from Aba but also belts, bags, caps, trousers, T-shirts and shirts. A good percentage of products wearing the labels of world class fashion designers like Gucci, Louis Vulton and Pierre Cardin are actually produced in Aba. It says something about the quality of Aba products that even many sophisticated people cannot differentiate the local imitations from the original western designs.

    Aba manufacturers’ ingenuity is recognized internationally. It goes beyond the considerable exports to Cameroon, Chad, Mali and Democratic Republic of Congo. As World Bank President, James Wolfohnson visited Aba in 2004, accompanied by Ngozi-Okonjo-Iweala, then Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, to have first-hand knowledge of problems militating against mostly small and medium scale leather manufacturers at Ariara Market. The producers identified irregular and low quality electric power supply as the foremost constraint. Mrs Okonjo-Iweala then appealed to Bart Nnaji, a well-regarded Nigerian engineering researcher based in the United States who had by 2001 built and successfully run the country’s first indigenous power plant located in Abuja, to establish a plant dedicated to Ariara Market. Nnaji took up the challenge, and with a little prodding from members of the Aba Chamber of Commerce, decided to make the plant serve big manufacturers in other parts of the town. Individual residents were then added to the list which would make Aba an electricity island. That is, Nnaji’s Geometric Power would generate electricity in Aba, supply it to residents and commercial organisations in the place, and recover the cost from revenue paid by the people and firms.

    That the Nigerian Army has placed an order for 50,000 boots from Aba producers, which is bound to have what economists call productivity spill over effects, is a milestone in the support for local manufactures. It is, indeed, a triumph for Senator Abaribe who understands the value of soft power. When the United States in the 1980s unabashedly adopted the jackboot approach in its relations with the world, Joseph S. Nye of Harvard University developed the soft power theory which advised the American government to go on a charm offensive around the world because, as he argued, the world loved American politics, government, media, sports, music, religion, education, science and technology—in fact, American way of life. He was misunderstood by some Americans who thought that Nye, a former Deputy Secretary of Defence who had admirals and generals reporting to him, was asking the United States to become a wimp or lamb in world affairs. Consequently, he changed the term soft power to smart power. But in his recent writings, Nye reverted to soft power, a term now used extensively across the world, from educational institutions to governments. It has caught the global imagination.

    A former business manager and economics lecturer, Abaribe is familiar with Adam Smith’s comparative advantage of nations as well as Michael Porter’s competitive advantage of both nations and firms. Having done an analysis of the Nigerian environment, he has applied the principles in these theoretical frameworks for the benefit of not just his Aba constituency but also the Nigerian nation. In a series of articles earlier this year on the Igbo condition, one had suggested that Igbo political activists replace their “nzogbu, nzogbu” approach to national politics with soft power. Like Nye, one was misunderstood. The critics were blissfully ignorant of how the Jews, who were discriminated against in the United States up to the 1960s, became extremely powerful in today’s America despite constituting less than six percent of the American population. They were obviously ignorant of how the Chinese who are a minority in places like Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam became a great force in each of these countries. Yet, neither a Jew has become the American president nor has a Chinese led Malaysia or Indonesia or the Philippines.

    Today one pays public homage to Abaribe for strategic thinking. He understands the value of smart power. And this fact has stood him out for most effective representation of his people in the legislature.

     

    • Adinuba is head of Discovery Public Affairs Consulting.

  • Mining licences renewal fetches Fed Govt over N500m

    As the 30-day ultimatum given to owners of dormant mining licences to renew them elapses today, the Federal Government has made over N500million from the renewal of the licences.

    More than half of the owners of the dormant licences published for revocation have for the past few days been rushing to beat the deadline to avoid losing the licences.

    The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, had over a month ago warned that government was set to revoke over 1,500 mining licences and leases on account of dormancy.

    According to a source in the ministry, Nigeria has been losing a lot of money from the non operation of the licences and about 8,000 jobs have not being created as a result of it.

    The source said: “As the revocation deadline drew near, a lot of people have been rushing over to renew their licences.

    “Over N500million has  so far been raised so far from dormant licence owners coming to renew their licences which is good for the country. These dormant leases were just sitting there and not generating any revenue for the country.

    “The truth is that if these licences were active, it would have created about 8,000 jobs which were not there because the licences were dormant. But with the re-activation of these licences, jobs will be created in the industry.”

  • Driving urban renewal with real estate investment

    Driving urban renewal with real estate investment

    With the drop in their allocations, some states are taking advantage of investments in the property sector to grow their revenue and facilitate urban renewal, MUYIWA LUCAS reports 

    These  are trying times for the  economy, especially with the crash in oil prices. The ripple effect, for a country like Nigeria that is 90 per cent dependent on oil, is that the monthly federal allocation to states has dwindled in the last three months.

    For instance, between last October and December, the net earnings from the federation account for some states showed that Lagos got N5.8 billion, N6.7 billion and N5.9 billion. Ogun, N1.4 billion, N2 billion and N1.3 billion; Kano, N4.2 billion, N4.8 billion and N3.9 billion; and Imo, N2 billion, N2.7 billion and N1.9 billion.

    For proactive states, one area that they have been able to capitalise on as a buffer is investment in real estate. This serves a two-way prong approach for the state’s development- urban renewal and revenue drive.

    One state that has keyed into this is Ondo. The ‘Sunshine State’ as it is referred to, is a predominantly civil service state, accounting for its low revenue earning from economic activities. But that is set to change now.

    This comes on the heels of its over N10 billion investment in an event centre, known as the Glass Hall Event Centre. This is the second phase of yet another edifice, that is, “The Dome”, which is said to be about 77 per cent completed.

    The Glass Hall Event Centre was designed and built by Messrs Groupo Systemso of Spain. It sits on a 36.05-hectare of land. It is built of combined steel and glass materials, with little cement works. Besides, it consists of two galleries, with the bigger gallery having a capacity of over 2, 000 and the other with a 420- sitting capacity; large screen for multi-media purposes and  a car park of 1,000 vehicles at a time; fire-fighting equipment, such as smoke detectors, sprinkler and toilet facilities as strategic locations.

    Others are two units of 1250KVA and one unit 750 KVA of generators; 100, 000 cubit feet water storage; chalets, amongst others. On completion of the complex, at the roundabout entrance, a dancing fountain, said to be a replica of the one in Dubai, would be sited. This is expected to also generate a lot of revenue for that country.

    The property is located at the Alagbaka Government Reservation Area GRA, Akure Township, and is said to be constructed to meet the unexpected high demands by the public. When fully operational, the centre is expected to generate an average of N45 million monthly from hall rentals alone. This is outside the use of other facilities that will attract revenue.

    The Director, Planning, Research and Strategy, Ministry of Housing & Urban Development,  Joseph Babalola, noted that based on the unfolding realities in the state, there was need for event centres that are of international standard. This reasoning may not be faulted given that at the Nigerian Society of Engineers’ conference held in Akure last year, accommodating over 5, 000 delegates was an issue. This is why the state now plans to develop a five-star hotel directly opposite the centre.

    “Apart from that, we discovered that the week-long event overstretched the available hotels in Akure, thus, forcing participants to look for accomodation in the adjoining cities, such as Ado Ekiti, Owo, Ondo and other places. It was this reality that made the government to conclude the plan for a five-star hotel that would be sited opposite the event centre,” Babalola said.

    The ripple effect of this centre, whose conception started in 2010, is the new wave of urban renewal activities in the city. For instance, the location of Shoprite in Akure was said to have been influenced by its proximity to The Dome complex. This has also been complemented by infrastructure provision, such as road expansion and construction. For instance, from the centre to Shoprite, and also to Idanre Hill, and the 18-hole golf course golf in Ilara, it all falls within 30 to 35 km, that is 15 to 20 minutes drive from the farthest point from the centre.

    “Because in a situation where we are having a programme that will accommodate like 5,000 participants, there will be a need to provide at least 5,000 beds, apart from the drivers and the aid that will come with those people. The multiplied effect will be telling a lot on the economy of the land. It will be increasing the economy that it will become more buoyant. The hotel that people will lodge in will get paid, other services will also be affected, the caterers and even recharge cards sellers; so it is a huge turnover of business,” Babalola, who is also the Project Director, explained.

    Plans are afoot to employ a facility manager for the project.

    In Ogun State, as part of its urban renewal programme, the government last week relocated villagers at Itoku-Elewe Irepodun on the Sagamu-Abeokuta Expressway to a new settlement in the area, where it has built 96 modern houses for them.

    The Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Taiwo Adeoluwa, explained that the relocation of the villagers became necessary as the Governor Ibikunle Amosun-led administration opened up the area with a housing estate as part of its urbanisation initiative.

    “There were 46 mud structures with small wooden box windows inhabited by the villagers who are mainly farmers on that land. With coming of the estate, Governor Amosun decided to relocate the villagers with the provision of three-bedroom flats for each household,” he said.

    Similarly, the Lagos State Government, to create a better state, where infrastructure would not be only adequate but be of standard befiting the status of Lagos as mega-city has commenced the review of Ikeja Model City Plan, which became operational in 2010.

    The review of the Plan, according to the Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Wasiu Anifowoshe, was to ascertain the level of compliance with the provisions of the plan and improve on its gains.

    The commissioner said the exercise would involve, among others, the evaluation of the level of performance in the area of infrastructural provision, conflict of land uses, transportation, sanitation, security, housing, population, recreation and tourism.

    This initiative by the Lagos State government was part of its urban renewal initiative which has seen the creation of business districts across the state.

  • Enugu sets up urban renewal committee

    Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has inaugurated a committee to drive urban renewal in the state with Chris Offor, an architect, as its chair.

    The governor dissolved the Nsukka Urban Renewal Committee earlier constituted to modernise and develop Nsukka town, replacing it with the Enugu Urban Renewal Committee as part of his administration’s plan to develop cities in the state.

    The information was contained in a letter signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Gabriel Ajah.

    The terms of reference of the new Committee which membership runs across the three senatorial districts of the state are to: identify factors responsible for the slow pace of development of some Urban towns in the state; develop Enugu State Urban Plan or modify the existing one if necessary; identify structures and buildings erected without Town Planning approval or that constitute nuisance which may obstruct the new Enugu State Urban Renewal.

    Other terms of reference include: to identify new satellite areas that could be developed as Urban Cities as part of Enugu State Urban Renewal and to make recommendations to the State Government, actions to be taken to give Enugu State Urban Cities facelift.

    It would be recalled that the state governor had earlier reiterated his commitment to the principles of justice, equity and fairness in the development of the state and promised to constitute a broad-based committee that would address the developmental challenges in the entire state.

     

  • Re: Oyo’s urban renewal in context

    SIR: The piece with the above title published in The Nation on Monday August 25 is an eye opener on the impacts of the urban renewal programme of the present administration in Oyo State on the economy of the state. The writer, Abubakar Oladeji, no doubt produced a balance sheet on the programme and any discerning mind would realize through the said article that Senator Ajimobi actually meant well for the state and not just out to punish the people.

    Hitherto, I, like few other sceptics believed the urban renewal was a misplaced priority. However, with the said article, I have come to realize the multiplier effects of the programme in terms of attraction of investors to the state, neatness of the state capital, which was categorized among the dirtiest in the world before the inception of Senator Ajimobi’s administration.

    Obviously, the programme is not without its Achilles heels; however, the positive effects outweigh the adverse effects.  Consequently, I will advise the state government to expedite action on the construction work ongoing in major cities in Oyo State particularly Ogbomoso where it appears the construction company has reached a dead end. Also, compensation should be paid without delay for those whose properties were affected by the demolition exercise occasioned by the road expansion.

    There is no other way to endear the government to the people than for people to see that government is compassionate and that it considers their plights in its day to day activities.  Hopefully, government would continue to demonstrate, that the programme is not meant to inflict unnecessary hardship on the people of the state. One vital way to show this is to finish the on-going works on time and put them to use for the benefit of the humanity.

    • Adewuyi Adegbite

    Apake, Ogbomoso.

  • Oyo’s urban renewal in context

    In his inaugural speech on May 29, 2011, Governor Ajimobi highlighted the situation of infrastructural decay in the state when he said: “What stare us in the face today are nothing but the ruins of that noble pedigree. Even the most generous commentator on Nigeria’s affairs will not deny that Oyo State is no longer the pace-setter that it used to be. The labour of our heroes past has been lost in the vortex of vanity. Our public infrastructure is dilapidated. Our public institutions have been compromised. The psyche of our people has been bruised. Our state has ceased to be the reference point for laudable programmes for which it earned her nobility. We have, on the reverse, become a staple on reports on violence and brigandage, corruption, street fight and lingering political crises. The duty of government as guarantor of public peace has been performed in the breach.”

    In addressing this challenge, the governor promised that his government would pursue a programme of urban development and renewal, adding that it was disheartening that Oyo State, Ibadan in particular, remains a recurring decimal in discussions about urban degeneration. According to him: “We are going to institute a robust programme of urban renewal for our urban centres.” This is the basis for assessment of urban renewal programmes of the Governor Ajimobi administration since 2011.

    In Nigeria, the failure of several state governments to respond adequately to the increasing demand for urban infrastructural services has had the consequences of hampering the productivity of the economy as well as contributing to the deterioration of the quality of life in our cities. In other words, lack of infrastructure is one of the most pressing problems in Nigerian cities. In virtually all cities, inadequate provision of infrastructural services has affected most business firms, with the result that returns on investment have been adversely affected.  Indeed, while cities in Nigeria, as in other developing countries, have been growing at a very rapid rate, there has been no commensurable growth in the rate at which social services and infrastructural amenities are provided. The result has been a gradual decline in the quality of the environment and in the quality of life.

    Urbanization is one of the macro trends driving the global economy and opening up entrepreneurial and business opportunities globally. Generally, the ills common in developing countries are urban poverty, squalor, and unemployment. As at 2007, each of 11 Nigerian cities, namely Abuja, Benin City, Ibadan, Ilorin, Kaduna, Kano, Lagos, Maiduguri, Ogbomosho, Port Harcourt, and Zaria had more than 750,000 inhabitants, and of course is home to Nigeria’s large youthful population.

    Elsewhere, in urban China, urbanization has exacerbated environmental problems such that Beijing is having more cars than Houston, as well as some of the dirtiest air on the planet. And it is not just affecting the Chinese. The nation surpassed America in 2006 as the biggest emitter of carbon dioxide from energy, and is now pumping out nearly twice America’s level. This suggests that the issue of urban renewal is of global appeal.

    The urban renewal programmes being implemented in Oyo State have continued to attract differing comments by sections of the society. While a segment of the citizenry, particularly the elites believe that the programmes are timely, well-thought out, and are capable of transforming the economies of the state, other groups in the society, most especially, the so-called victims of the urban renewal programmes in the state, think otherwise. This latter group maintains, and has argued, that since development is about people, any urban renewal programme that constraints their economic empowerment is not just counter-productive, but also capable of deepening their poverty level.

    In recent times, particularly since the onset of administration of Governor Ajimobi, Oyo State has been undergoing massive construction and renovation and is currently wearing a new look to the delight of all, including unrepentant opponents of the administration.  Prior to the inauguration of this administration, the general belief was that Oyo State, and in particular, its capital, Ibadan was the dirtiest city in the country. Most of the major roads in the state are in serious state of dilapidation, with pot-holes lying the length and breadth of the state, with implication for vehicular and human movements. Of note is the notion that the state lacks an urban development master plan making urban planning extremely difficult.

    Urban renewal programmes of the Ajimobi administration involves rehabilitation/reconstruction of over 200 roads across the state as well as construction of about 10 major bridges demolished by the flood of August 2011, among which is the multi-million naira Bodija/Secretariat bridge.  It also involves dualization of major roads in Ibadan, as well as entry roads to major towns of zones in the state like in Oyo, Ogbomoso and Iseyin. Others are construction of a fly-over at the Mokola Roundabout in Ibadan, the first of such by any civilian governor since the creation of the state, in 1976, and construction of bridges and road repairs across the 33 local governments in the state are on-going.

    Among achievements of the Ajimobi administration’s urban renewal programmes is the construction of major intra and inter-city motor parks within the Ibadan metropolis, among which are the Temidire motor park and the Podo motor park. Others include clearing of 225 identified unauthorized refuse depots; regular collection of waste from major markets and hinterland at no cost to our people; repair and refurbishing of 55 waste management trucks; monitoring, collection and disposal of waste during sanitation exercises, every Thursday and last Saturday of the month; establishing synergy with 11 Local   Government Councils in Ibadanland for the coordination and use of their refuse/garbage trucks; and re-engineering of Private Sector Participation (PSP) Scheme of refuse management by contractors. The upgrade of Agodi Garden, a tourists’ haven located near the state secretariat is included. Also related to the urban renewal programme is the inauguration of the Joint Security Patrol Squad comprising the military, the police, State Security Service (SSS) and Civil Defence Corps, code-named “Operation Burst” for the maintenance of law and order. This is considered one of the best practices in inter-governmental relations in Nigeria’s federalism.

    It is noteworthy that aggressive urban renewal exercise in Ibadan and Oyo State in general has transformed the erstwhile dirtiest city in Nigeria to one of the most investor-friendly metropolis in Nigeria. This has led to attraction of reputable investors into the state, including one that is constructing the largest soya milk industry in Africa, another building the largest bakery in West Africa, yet another erecting the largest poultry that will produce the highest number of day-old chicks in Nigeria, a major food processing company, a major dairy producer and one of the biggest outsource agencies for the telecoms industry. In addition, the state has been spared the tragedy of municipal flooding that ravaged most of its cities in the past two years. This is a clear dividend of the administration’s urban renewal programme.

    Governor Ajimobi has taken every opportunity to assure the citizens that the urban renewal programme currently being executed by his administration was not meant to inflict unnecessary hardship on the lives of the people but to give the state necessary facelift, promising that the current pain would soon turn into gains.

     

    • Oladeji is a researcher at the Nigerian Institute of Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan.

  • The torture called driver’s licence renewal

    I don’t discriminate when it comes to good music. But if I ever prefer a genre, it would be reggae, particularly the roots rocks type for which the likes of Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Peter Tosh and Eric Donaldson are reputed. I love these reggae artistes not just for the rhythm of their music, but also for their thought-provoking messages. These were also the qualities that endeared me to Johnny Nash’s songs, particularly the one that says “if I follow my mind, I will never do wrong.”

    The message of Nash’s song hit me hard on May 10. That was the day I fell into the trap of vehicle inspection officers (VIOs) at the Abule Egba section of the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway. There, I was arrested by the men in black and white over my driver’s licence which had expired by about one month.

    Ironically, about one week to the expiry date on the licence, I had made an attempt to renew it at the Ojodu, Lagos office of the Federal Roads Safety Commission (FRSC) co-habited by the VIO, but I was turned back at the gates by a road safety official who insisted that there was no more parking space in the expansive compound. My plea that the road safety official should allow me to park somewhere beside the gates was like a sword driven into his heart. He flared up and hauled abuses at me, unmindful of the fact that I would be his very senior boss, if I had chosen a career in the commission. Perturbed, embarrassed and humiliated, I was left with no choice but to turn and drive away, particularly because my stay at the spot was already causing a traffic chaos.

    I had left in the hope that I would return the following week to process the renewal. Unfortunately, I was attacked in broad daylight by gunmen who did not only rob me of money, phones and other valuables, but also went away with the key to the car. Scared by the ugly experience, I abandoned the car and shut my mind to driving. As fate would have it, it was the very day I decided to drive again that VIO officials accosted me and impounded my car.

    I had underestimated the trouble I had fallen into when an official of the VIO waved me down and demanded for my papers. Of course, the vehicle licence, insurance, road worthiness and all other particulars were in good order. But the moment he sighted my driver’s licence and discovered that it had expired by about one month, he beckoned to his superior and told him that I had no driver’s licence (not that it had expired). All my pleas fell on deaf ears. So also were the efforts I made to explain the circumstances and the frustration I had suffered in the bid to renew the licence. They drove my car straight to their yard and issued me a fine ticket.

    I had always appreciated the zeal with which VIO men carried out their duties and wished that other public servants would exhibit the same degree of commitment. But I was awfully disappointed to find that their zeal was clouded by certain ulterior motives. Their motivation, I later realised, could have come mainly from other unofficial fines they make offenders to pay, including the N1,000 an offender pays as demurrage for each day the car sleeps in their yard and N200 he pays for inflating each of his car tyres which are deflated as soon as his car gets into the yard. In my own case, for instance, I was arrested late on a Friday when it was no longer possible for me to pay the fine at a designated bank and retrieve my car. By the time I got there the following Monday after I had paid the fine in the bank, I was made to pay N3,000 as demurrage and N200 for each tyre inflated by their vulcanizer.

    I was alarmed when I demanded a receipt from the lady who collected the demurrage and she said she had none left. She gave all manner of excuses, but I insisted that I would not leave until a receipt was issued for the N3,000 I paid. In the end, she reached for her drawer and grudgingly gave me one. But for the money I paid to the standby vulcanizer, there was no receipt of any kind.

    However, the foregoing is not the real reason for this piece. My concern is the rigour I had to pass through just to have my driver’s licence renewed. I had endured the same rigour when I renewed my licecnce at the same Ojodu offices of the VIO and FRSC three years. There, they had captured my image and took my signature, thumbprint and other data. The impression I had then was that the rigorous exercise I underwent then was meant to make subsequent renewal of the licence very easy. So, as I headed for the Ojodu office of the FRSC about two weeks ago to renew my licence, I thought that all they would do would be to check their computer for the data they collected three years ago, ask a few questions to see if any of the pieces of information I gave had changed, take the expired licence and issued me a new one. How wrong!

    The moment I walked into the premises, I was confronted by the sight of aggrieved licence seekers, some of whom said they had paraded the place for weeks in fruitless effort to obtain new licences. Surprisingly, many of them had their data taken like mine three years ago on the basis of which they were issued their expired licences. Now they have to go through the entire process of downloading a fresh application form from the Internet, supplying new passport photographs, going to the bank to pay the sum of N6,350 and then move endlessly from one office of the VIO and FRSC to the other. In short, the process of licence renewal is so cumbersome and tedious that it seems a more dreadful punishment than being sent to a Boko Haram enclave in Borno State. Of what use are the data the FRSC collects year in and year out when one has to go through the present rigours of licence renewal? That is the question everyone is asking.

  • apc and national renewal

    apc and national renewal

    The ongoing attempt by four major opposition parties in the country to merge into an equal-opportunity counterfoil to the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is a welcome development. But there is more to be done by the promoters of the new party to stand a chance of winning a presidential election against the political behemoth, the PDP. More importantly however, a merger will bring immense benefits to the political development of our country, and should be encouraged. The new party is named, All Progressive Congress (APC), and is working to emerge from the wings of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN); All Nigeria People Party (ANPP); Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) and hopefully the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

    The involvement of APGA in the merger is however in jeopardy, because a faction of the party, amenable to Governor Peter Obi of Anambra state, and derisively referred to as APGA-PDP, by Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state, preemptively emasculated the Victor Umeh led executive through an order of the High Court of Enugu state. With a national executive struck down by an order of court, APGA is not in a position to pass the required resolution, or call a national convention of the party to legally authorize her involvement in the merger. The current antics of Governor Obi against the merger is not strange to this column, as it has consistently accused him of being excessively beholden to the PDP led federal government, at the detriment of his political party.

    If the merger succeeds as many non-partisan Nigerians clearly wish, then Nigeria may have jumped the first huddle to an enduring democracy – the existence of veritable alternative political parties as platforms for truly competitive elections. Many would agree that without a viable alternative to the PDP at the center, the party would continue to win national elections by hook or crook. To stem the lack of alternatives, commentators have been calling on the existing regionally strong parties to make the necessary sacrifice to mutate into a national party with enough spread to give a viable alternative to the national electorate. The ongoing realignment is clearly a heed to that call, and should be encouraged, even by the PDP, in the overall best interest of Nigeria.

    I believe that many Nigerians who have participated or actively appreciated political activities in the country since 1999 would attest that there is the urgent need for change in the standard of management of the affairs of the country. Short of unconstitutional method, like a forceful overthrow of the current political actors, this change can only come from having two strong political parties with enough spread across the country, to act as a check on each other. Such development will become a check against the flagrant abuse of power at the center, in the states and even local councils, where the party in power assured that there will be no repercussion for glaring misconducts through loss of election, pass off political atrocities and blatant criminalities as exercise of political powers.

    Even at individual levels, many of the political actors suffer unmitigated abuses and humiliation in the hands of the territorial overlords, who preside over regional parties, without any serious consequence. While such abuse exists in the PDP, the perennial movement of the musical chairs within the party has seen the party acting as its own internal major opposition party. This is inapplicable in other smaller parties, with less of benefits and leadership changes. So if two strong parties can emerge from the ongoing realignments, there is the likelihood that greater discipline, cohesion and internal democracy will eventually mature within the parties. Two major factors will push such development.

    First, there will be no viable alternative platform that a candidate who has fairly lost in a primary can quickly seize and run for the same elections. The same faith will be applicable to the actors who lack the discipline or sagacity to wait for the next time when they are elbowed out in the party primaries. Secoundly parties in power wishing not to loose the next election will seek to present their most acceptable candidates. And the only way to gauge the best candidates and obfuscate internal insurrection and allow internal democracy to dictate the process is through party primaries. The process will substantially deal with god-fatherism and the imposition of candidates by fare away charlatans, simply because they are national party officials, who sign away the candidates for elections.

    If we have two strong political parties, there is also a possibility that election will begin to be issue driven. It will become easier for the electorate to compare notes on the position of the parties on major national issues. Parties will also be called upon to take a stand on corruption and related abuses of power, and held accountable to their promises at the next general elections by the electorate and the other opposition party. With none of the two emergent political parties strong enough to have excessive majority in the parliament, Nigeria may likely begin to enjoy a responsive and responsible parliament. One fallout will be a parliament more beholden to the peoples’ welfare as against the current self-serving and obnoxious parliament, more interested in illegal appropriate of our national resources, in the so called exercise of power of fiscal responsibility.

    To however win the next general election, the new APC must be revolutionary in the immediate. While PDP is entrenched, a whirlwind movement clearly appealing to the deprived Nigerian youths and offering templates deprived of ethnicity, corruption and god-fatherism, may have a chance as early as in 2015. Such a movement must however be driven by an impeccable performer, without a predominantly entrenched interest and historical baggage.

  • Ajimobi: urban renewal to improve Oyo

    Oyo State Governor Abiola Ajimobi has said the urban renewal programme of his administration is not to inflict hardship on the people but to give the state a facelift.

    He spoke yesterday at the Government House Arcade in Ibadan, the state capital, during the Eid-el-Maulud celebration.

    Ajimobi said although the programme has inconvenienced residents, its gains outweigh the pains.

    He said: “Oyo used to be the dirtiest state in Nigeria, but today, things are fast changing for the better. This, I think, should be our collective joy.

    “Everything we are doing is with good intention and not to witch-hunt anybody. We know it may bring some pains, but I assure you that the pains will soon turn into gains.”

    Ajimobi said the annual Eid-el-Maulud celebration was instituted by his administration to educate people about Islam.

    The Guest Lecturer on the occasion, Alhaji Muideen Salman Hussein, cautioned Muslims against fundamentalism, saying there was no need attacking adherents of other faith under the guise of promoting Islam.

    He stressed the need for tolerance and peaceful co-existence to promote peace in the society.