The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Restructure

  • ‘Nigeria may break up, if we don’t restructure’

    ‘Nigeria may break up, if we don’t restructure’

    All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and the Balogun of Epe in Lagos State, Chief Lanre Razak, in this interview with EMMANUEL OLADESU, urges President Muhammadu Buhari and members of the National Assembly to endorse restructuring to avert disintegration. He also speaks on other national issues. 

    Nigeria is 57 with many challenges still facing her. What is the way forward?

    Fifty seven years is a milestone in the life of any nation or individual. In another three years you will be retiring if you are in the public service because the retirement age is 60 years. So definitely one will not want to pretend that we are not matured enough at 57 yet when if you are in service, you have only three years to retire. As a nation, we have a lot of things to do to ensure we preserve those things that will unify us. Take a look at the way the federal system has been structured and you will discover that we have 774 local government areas while the arrangement favours some federating units to the detriment of others. Lagos state for example that was created the same time as Kano has 20 local government areas. But out of Kano the military created Jigawa state with 34 local governments with Kano retaining 44 councils giving you a total of 78 councils; Lagos has only 20 local government areas recognized by the 1999 Constitution as amended and when they share revenue from the Federation Account to states on the basis of local governments, while that geographical unit will be receiving the benefits of 78 local governments, Lagos state will be taking the benefits of 20 councils. I strongly believe that is not fair and justifiable. There are several other issues like that. When we were in the regions, it was the North, East and West and later Midwest region. But today out of the 36 states in the country, the majority is in the North thus giving the region unmerited numerical strength in the National Assembly. It looks like they used the military to do that and people are not happy about it and they are grumbling loud today. They have shown it in their thoughts, in their behaviors and in their reactions to national issues. We should not allow the injustice to continue so we must sit down to discuss the unity of this country; we must practice true federalism; we must sit down and agree on new revenue sharing formula including the derivation principle. We must agree that a reasonable percentage of the resources produced from each state should remain in that state to finance the state. States should contribute between 20 to 30 percent of their revenue to the federal government because right now we have too much money at the federal level hence they are wasting a lot of it. That is why a few individuals are able to steal as much as they have stolen that is being discovered by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC and I am quite sure what they have discovered stolen is very  small when compared to the quantum of resources that had been stolen at the federal level. Let the money go back to the states where the resources are being produced for the nation. What next after that?

    With that decision, the money that will accrue to states should be used to maintain and construct good roads. Most federal roads in the country today are in dilapidated condition and we know the federal government cannot maintain the roads. They have tried a lot in the past but I have not seen any success recorded and over time, the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, FEMA has failed Nigerians and not been able to perform its duty. However, we are fortunate to have Mr. Akinwumi Ambode as Governor of Lagos state. We already have a mega city and when you talk of improving the welfare of millions of citizens, we are lucky to have a caring governor who distributes the wealth of the state among the five old divisions on a very sound, equitable and acceptable formula. I congratulate him for doing very well and delivering quality governance to the people. Also, I want to thank Lagosians and other citizens for giving him and the administration the necessary support and cooperation. The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC also deserves special commendation for giving Mr. Ambode to serve us in Lagos state. Besides, we must appreciate the national leader of the party and former governor Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu that guided us to pick Mr. Ambode as the party’s candidate who has turned out to be a very good administrator. He guided us in picking former governor Raji Fashola, SAN, the incumbent Minister of Power, Works and Housing and has done it for Ambode. And some of us who hail from Epe can beat our chest anywhere that Governor Ambode has not disappointed us and nobody can tell us that your son is not performing. I have even heard another division saying that if it is possible when it is their turn to present  a governorship candidate they want us to give them Mr. Ambode or somebody as good as him who can perform wonderfully well like Ambode. Congratulations to Nigerians on the occasion of the 57th independence.

    Are you saying that because Nigeria is not restructured that is one of the reasons for corruption in high places?

    Yes, it is one of the factors responsible for that magnitude of corruption that had been uncovered so far. Since the perception is that the Federal Government belongs to nobody, people will strive to go to the centre and take what they believe is their own share of the national cake. It because of President Muhammadu Buhari’s attitude to corruption, that the people now know that 75 percent of the total money available to the Federal Government was being stolen so the centre don’t need such huge resources that will end up in private pockets at the end of the day.

    How do we restructure the federation?

    Because of the problem in the National Assembly, we may not get justice, except its members are patriotic enough. You can imagine a situation when somebody in the National Assembly is saying that Lagos state does not deserves any special attention in the scheme of things when he knows too well that the state was a former federal capital; that a lot of federal infrastructure in Lagos still require a lot of money to maintain and make them functional. For instance the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA is in Apapa, Lagos and you can see the stress on Lagos roads, the inconveniences it causes to us in the state; the Murtala Mohammed International Airport Ikeja is here and Lagos state government still services a lot of federal infrastructure in the state. Instead of members of the National Assembly to be patriotic enough and do that which is right and just, they are playing politics with the issue. So, I believe strongly that what we require is a very strong state with a lot of funds to implement its policies and programmes and weak centre with less funds because the federal government right now is taking about 56 percent of the national earnings and I ask how much is left for the 36 states and 774 local government areas? The federal government does not deserves more than 35 percent of the nation’s earnings and the rest revenue should be shared between the states and the local governments so that they can meet the needs of the people.

    How do we actualise the restructuring of the country?

    I believe strongly that the best approach to actualize it is to either look at recommendations of past constitutional conferences or Mr. President should convoke another conference which may be very expensive and may not economically be in the best interest of the country but desirable when you consider the economic benefits ratio and the long lasting achievements it will bring to the nation. So we either take the reports of past conferences or convoke another one.

    As politicians, do you think they have enough such will to do it?

    If we are patriotic enough, we should be able to do it but people are self- centred and they are serving the needs of their regions, states and zones and there lies the problem. I give you an example; the South South geo-political zone or the Niger Delta region accounts for about 65 percent of the revenue accruing to the Federation Account and the money the federal government is spending today. How much do we give back to the region in terms of road construction, education, health and other sectors? So if we cannot remember that we should address these issues now we are making a serious mistake. The reason for such attitude is not political alone it is also selfishness on the part of some politicians and I appeal to them to avoid anything that will create problem that may lead to a breakup of the country. We need to accept the reality of the day and be patriotic enough to address current national issues that will move us forward.

    Are you saying if we don’t restructure the country can break up?

    I will not use the word can break up; the country may break up because you cannot force people to remain in a marriage that is not convenient for them. They have options and my own believe is that members of the National Assembly and the citizenry should take constitutional means to address all contending issues. I don’t believe in violence and I don’t believe in war. I was old enough to know what happened during the Nigerian civil war of 1967 to 1970 and I pray it will never happen again in this country. As a country, we should be able to redress these issues without resorting to violence or war.

  • Why Nigeria should restructure

    SIR: The demand for restructuring is not necessarily a battle between different regions, religion or ethnic groups in the country. It is a do-or-die contest between political elites on one hand and the poor good people of Nigeria on the other who are fed up with failed promises and the ugly trend of events. The apparent resistance to change and infusion of ethnic sentiments to stall restructuring stems from the fear of losing control of available resources, economic and or political equation. In all honesty, the current socio-political and economic structure of Nigeria is a contributory factor to non-achievement of the highly expected meaningful development.

    Today more than ever, the spate of discontent regarding the political structure of Nigeria is growing by the day. Nigeria is presently sitting on a keg of gunpowder and apparently in dilemma on how to convince or cajole her citizens to remain one united, indivisible entity or split. There is this general apprehension among other regions that they can no longer assume the position of conquered territories or second class citizens in their own country. We were bequeathed with a nation where various ethnic nationalities have ceaselessly dealt with each other with high level of suspicion and acrimony.

    Restructuring is apposite in a nation where some suspected, notorious AK-47 wielding marauders often slaughter citizens and destroy property time without number while government remained unperturbed. A nation where age limit inhibits youth from holding political offices when at eighteen one is due to vote in an election is an aberration. Urgent restructuring is overdue in a nation where land mass is the basis for revenue allocation instead of the principle of derivation. Any nation which condones commercialization of politics is overdue for reforms. Cost of governance in Nigeria which grows astronomically-annually since 1999 should be restructured. Change is most wanted in a multi-faceted society where undue preference in political appointments is accorded one region, tribe or religion against the spirit of federal character. Restructuring is desired in a nation where pretentious love and fake religiosity is the order of the day. The way and manner local government areas were created to favour one state more than the whole of South-east zone should be revisited. Reform is indeed the way forward in a federalism which empowers the federal tier of government to create and fund local government areas instead of states. Some items in the exclusive list which gave only the federal government full powers to handle should be moved to the concurrent list to enable states to act on such items as well. A nation overwhelmed by corruption deserves not only political restructuring but the recalibration of the mindset of the leadership and its citizens as well.

    Change is constant and there is always time for change in every polity. That was why Nigeria should restructure now or perish.

     

    • Sunday Onyemaechi Eze, sunnyeze02@yahoo.com

  • Our Girls; Restructure; Amnesty Bill?

    Our Girls are missing since April 15, 2014. Pray.

    Corrigendum:  July 5th: ‘’ The country will NOT stand still if NEC appoints ministers or a committee to face ‘Restructuring’ and ‘False Federalism’.’’

    There is widespread agitation for Restructuring and ‘True Federalism’ to replace the ‘False Federalism’ or ‘Fake Federalism’ that has been a negative developmental ‘Military Millstone’ around Nigeria’s neck. Why is ‘Restructuring’ a dirty word for a so-called ‘progressives’? I reject being labelled an ‘opportunist’ for wanting ‘Restructuring Now!’ Nigeria should be 100 times more developed if we had thrown Unitary government out in 1979 or latest 1999. But the false federalism beneficiaries, choking on the national ‘cake’, still reject true federalism. We all know the ‘Strong Centre: Weak Periphery’ and the evil anti-development ‘Federal Exclusive List’ approach has failed development but empowered evil. States are reduced to ‘celebrating’ petty fly-overs and exercise books as ‘Dividends of a rubbished democracy’. Is our right to true federalism just a deceitful election wayo? There has never been a greater need, opportunity, desire and responsibility on government to lead away from ‘Fake Federalism’ to ‘True Federalism’.

    Yes, the 2015 conference had its hidden agendas, problems and politics. However agreed points can be presented to Nigeria, but not by a tainted, self-serving National Assembly (NASS), for further discussion and decision. NASS cannot arbitrate in its own matter. The people never voted for the current 1999 constitution. The Presidency should go over NASS’s head to the people in a referendum. NASS has too many beneficiaries of False Federalism –FFF- ‘Fellows of False Federalism’. NASS, the structure, is a ‘product’ of ‘False or Fake Federalism’ and the main reason why Nigerians are screaming for restructuring. NASS can never free the country from the unbearable ‘NASS Yoke’. A referendum to correct the deliberate military distortions in the 1999 constitution is welcome. Anti-true federalism politicians have gravely misread the people’s anger and will pay at the next election when the country may vote for a smaller honest untested political party.

    With our citizens’ ‘vocal but no action’ nature, the politicians will manipulate us as puppets to be brought out and fed on election day with stomach infrastructure and then put away again – Nigeria’s story for 50 years with occasional fits of ‘Liberation Electionography’. One day money will be rejected by the people’s will and die in all parties. Then policies will surpass propaganda and ‘Naira-ganda’. The recent debacle of the APC primaries should caution party hierarchy that citizens want their say on who will represent them in a ‘democracy’ and on true federalism.

    Fellow Nigerians have been uniformly disgraced by almost everyone empowered to work politically and in governance who mostly escape with our budgets. Fellow Nigerians have a right to know when a person ‘chooses to become a common thief’ and is caught by the ICPC or EFCC, led by Magu who is vilified by NASSty NASS. Fellow Nigerians have a right to know when such convicted persons pay back our money, by force, never voluntarily. Secret plea bargains will breed more corrupt practices. Adhere to ‘Plea Bargain Protocol’ 1] in a public space and even use 2] negotiators include forensic witnesses and under oath in open ‘court’ or hall and with professional tax personnel, bankers, accountants and estate agents and Interpol present. It is always public money stolen that is being returned fully and not just half or quarter. ‘Plea Bargain Protocol’ must also 3] aim get full restitution 4] with interest and the thief 5] must be left as destitute as possible with maximum deliverance of all the stolen funds and 6] the return of profits from ill-gotten gains and 7] punishment. After all, the thief was merciless in attempting to ‘Make Fellow Nigerians Destitute’. Plea Bargain Protocol is to the advantage of Fellow Nigerians and not a ‘Thief Bargain Protocol’! Hurray, the courts have ordered the release of the ‘List of Convicted Looters’ and their ‘Loot Returns’. A country which allows such criminals to escape public disgrace is encouraging corruption. Why do public office holders become insanely greedy and thieves in money matters? Now there are huge scandals in NHIS and University of Ibadan. Is nowhere corruption-free?

    Many countries like France are surgically cutting National Assembles to redirect funds to development. Nigeria is paying for NASS’s selfishness with its tiny petty constituency projects spreading the budget too thin, thus decimating impact. In its wasteful and pointless supremacy struggle with the Presidency, NASS fails to see and embrace the needed big national picture condemning Nigeria to more mundane okada deaths from ‘Corrupt Constituency Petty Projectism’ by severely reducing modernising development projects like the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

    Nigeria also needs surgery. Horrifyingly NASS has embarked on another ‘self-protection’ legal-illegality as it introduces a bill which I paraphrase as the ‘Corrupt Persons Protection/Amnesty Bill’. Perhaps the NASS will soon give us the ‘Compulsory Congratulations for Corrupt Persons Bill’. NASS is uncharacteristically ‘deafeningly silent’ on disgraced members at the Supreme Court- ‘Silence’ on fraud and a criminal diversion of the democratic will, denying Nigerian the right to elect true NASS representation. The members misdirected NASS during their illegal occupation of NASS. Who made such UnGodly people, god over us? How many other NASS members are equally guilty? Nigerians must shout about failing arms of government. Silence does not mean consent- it allows corruption!

    NB: Nigerians-Vote a new generation of untainted ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for 2019.

  • Restructure the National Theatre 

    Restructure the National Theatre 

    SIR: The new Chief Executive Officer of the National Theatre, veteran artist and renowned promoter of African culture, Comrade Tar Ukoh, surely has a challenging task at hand as he is assuming the headship of the complex at a time the company is in dire need of serious re-organisation and restructuring.

    A chance visit to the Theatre a few days ago exposed me to the reality on ground at the company. Just like the misfortune that has befallen most of our national assets; the level of decadence at this monument leaves much to be desired; quite appalling enough for any patriotic element to feel sad. The reversal of fortune that the National Theatre has experienced sort of speaks volume of our poor maintenance culture – both at the governmental and citizens’ level – in this country. It’s really a shame that a national monument of that importance could be left to suffer such level of neglect and degradation. I could not but weep for this country on visiting the place recently.

    Of utmost concern to me is the fact that some of the buildings at the monument have been taken over by hoodlums. It’s unfortunate that a place that is supposed to serve as a tourist centre and an income generating asset for the country has been turned to an abode for hoodlums and illegal occupants who have no any business relating to the Theatre. To me this is a national embarrassment.

    To save the country this embarrassment, the National Theatre needs urgent restoration. There’s urgent need to restructure the whole place with a view to ensuring that only the workers of the company take accommodation while illegal occupants are flushed out. Also, all the bushes and scraps within the premises of the Theatre should be cleared and removed so as to give the place a new and befitting look. Coupled with other administrative challenges he might face, this is the main challenge before the newly appointed Artistic Director and CEO of the Theatre, which I think is not insurmountable for the veteran artist, given his antecedents.

     

    • Kola Odepeju,

    Lagos.

  • Fed Govt to restructure BoA

    Fed Govt to restructure BoA

    The Federal Government is to restructure the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) to support its diversification programme.

    The Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, gave the hint at the launch of Capacity building and institutional strengthening of Bank of Agriculture in Kaduna.

    Ogbeh, represented by Mr. Godwin Obinna-Opara, said the restructuring was aimed at strengthening the bank for optimal service delivery to farmers.

    He said restructuring, re-capitalising and repositioning BoA was one of the programmes President Muhammadu Buhari had given approval.

    He said the bank remained a key instrument for funding agricultural activities to help diversify the economy and move away from over reliance on oil.

    “At no other time in the history of Nigeria that government had taken such interest and time to assess the operations of BoA to explore these potentials by adopting appropriate financing measures needed. Our country needs a financing mechanism that will help small holder farmers, agro-prenurials and SMEs access credit facilities at affordable cost. As a matter of fact, we’re looking at a single digit interest rate, that is what we believe in the ministry,” Ogbeh said.

    Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor on Development Finance Institutions (DFIs), Mr Paul Eluhaiwe, said the Bank of Agriculture (BoA) “is sick and needs restructuring”.

    He said BoA had the needed resources to turn its fortunes for the better.

    “Posterity will not forgive us if we fail to turn it around because the bank has all the resources in this world to be turned around for the good of Nigerian farmers.

    Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) Director-General Dr Vincent Akpotaire said BoA would be restructured to meet a model that would assist in doing agro- business, particularly with rural populace who are mostly farmers.

    Akpotaire said: “Specifically, policy and regulation of the bank would undergo the needed restructuring, staff capacity and financial base. “Its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) will also be restructured to meet international standard in agro-allied enterprises. I wonder why BoA will not succeed in Nigeria, if others have succeeded somewhere else in the world; there must be checks and balances in loan being given out. BoA should not just be a conduit for giving out loan, it should also be a conduit to recovering the loan being given out.”

    Meanwhile, AfDB Chief Country Programme Officer Mr Andoh Mensah said the economic downturn had weakened BoA in bridging the gap between rural and urban populace in terms of accessing loans.

    He pledged the support of the AfDB to BoA, saying: “We remain committed to working with BoA.’’

    Earlier, BoA’s Acting Managing Director Mr Babatunde Igun said the bank was financially weak in addition to other challenges militating against its optimal performance.

    He said the bank was working to improve its staff skills to enhance their capacity for effective service delivery.

    Igun assured that the bank would brace for modern agricultural activities that would attract competitiveness and deliver its core mandate to farmers.

    The AfDB recently approved a grant of $1.1 million for the Bank of Agriculture for its restructuring  aimed at staff training to strengthen service delivery.

  • Dangote: restructure power sector or risk disaster

    Dangote: restructure power sector or risk disaster

    The Honorary Adviser to the President of Dangote Group,  Joseph Makoju has warned that if the existing structure in the power sector is not fundamentally changed, the nation risks disaster.

    Speaking at a two-day Power Sector Stakeholders Interactive Dialogue convened by the National Assembly in Abuja, Makoju, who was Special Adviser to three presidents on Power, canvassed for a fundamental structural change, as against the current path of tariff increases and government’s bailouts.

    He said: “I want to stress that, I do not wish to be alarmist; but if we continue on the current path of tariff increases and government bailouts without fundamental structural changes, we will soon be dealing with a disaster. What assets are on ground will depreciate, financial positions will deepen, and eventually we will all come back to these same conclusions but after much more harm has been done.”

    Makoju pushed for adequate funding and restructuring of the power sector so as to achieve relative stability in electricity generation and distribution

    He said the power sector is  bankrupt to the point of even threatening the health of financial institutions and the wider national economy.

    To restructure the sector for effective services, Makoju advised a reduction in the distribution zones.

    He said the failure of the power sector under government management was not technical and commercial management of the business but the absence of sustained and adequate funding of the sector. According to him,  despite the privatisation exercise six years ago, the problem of the sector remained the same.

    “Most of the private sector investors in the power privatisation had no specialist knowledge or understanding of the power sector, which has eroded the technical and managerial competence in the industry. And the funding problems have persisted and even become exacerbated as they now even threaten the stability and health of the nation’s banking system as well as the entire electricity sector,“ Makoju lamented.

    While noting that the distribution end of the value chain is the most inefficient and has suffered the greatest neglect, he described it as one which underpins the financial viability and sustainability of the entire sector. “To get the sector moving forward we need to improve its liquidity position, and this can only be accomplished through satisfied, paying customers,” he said.

    Still on adequate funding for the sector, Makoju said the Association of Nigerian Electricity Distributors (ANED) reports that as at last December, the funding gap in the power sector is over N1 trillion and as such, advised that funding must be looked at from the perspective of new equity and debt financing arrangements and structures, and internally generated revenue maximisation.

    As a lasting solution, he also canvassed new capable players working in a reconfigured power sector while also considering residual government shares for bringing in long term funding.

    While urging the government to declare a state of emergency in the sector, he sought for the engagement of industry experts and policymakers to draw up a comprehensive power sector master plan building on past provisions and arrangements to deliver an electricity industry fit for current and future needs.

  • Restructure NYSC now!

    SIR: Agitations for the scrapping of the National Youth Service Corps scheme appear to have been intensified with the recent deaths of some corpers. Among them a 26-year-old Ifedolapo Oladepo, a First Class Transport Management graduate of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, Oyo State, who died at the NYSC camp in Kano State. She was said to have been unattended to when she was showing symptoms of illness. According to reports, NYSC officials had thought she was merely pretending to be sick in order to avoid taking part in the mandatory physical exercise Director-General of NYSC, Brig-Gen. Suleiman Kazaure, later announced that Ifedolapo died of renal sepsis, commonly caused by urinary tract infection.

    Then followed another First Class graduate in Zamfara State camp. Ukeme Monday, who graduated from the Department of Petroleum Engineering, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, also fell ill and died.

    No doubt, the NYSC scheme has contributed to promoting national unity, increased mobility of labour, assisted public schools, hospitals and private bodies to have a steady pool of cheap skilled labour. Apart from that, they are also engaged during elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). For the young graduates, NYSC have been a very good transition from higher institutions to real working life and this has helped them to overcome the uncertainties that youths often entertain in terms of what happens to them outside their home base; where they are not familiar with. Hence, it remains a well-thought out national programme that needs to be saved and nurtured.

    However, the challenges facing the scheme are many. In a bid to cope with the programme despite the odds, universities and relevant authorities are now made to resort into using different unbecoming criteria for selecting prospective youth corps members, thus subjecting the programme to serious manipulations. What happens is that as the number of graduates rises, the existing structures were not improved upon to accommodate the increase and expansion. A good example of this manifestation is the decision of NYSC to mobilise only 35 per cent of eligible graduates for the current batch of the orientation exercise due to lack of funds. This is going to be the second time in two years that NYSC would be incapable of mobilising over 300,000 graduates.

    The way the scheme is being run has become an embarrassment and hence, the persistent call for its scrapping. Federal authorities should go back to the drawing board to design new strategies that would see the scheme through in the current times. Apart from the existing provisions for exempted persons, corps members’ participation in the scheme should, henceforth, be made optional. Candidates should be allowed to freely choose their participation and that would mean making the scheme voluntary and by enabling the eligible candidates to decide. Also, those who opt for exemption should be issued the relevant certificates. In other words, it should no longer be imposed on all the graduates. When this is done, a reasonable amount of candidates would have been pruned-down for effectiveness.

    Again, the Federal Government should fund the scheme better and adequately, considering the fact that the youths that are participating are the future leaders of the country. We should all agree that nothing can be too much to invest in the future of any nation. As a way forward, their allowances should be increased and paid promptly. What they receive presently cannot be said to be realistic in view of the high prices of goods and commodities in the country.

    Also, the continued adoption of drilling and other military training skills should be discontinued. It is no longer relevant because Nigeria is not on the verge of going into war. It has been realised that the physical stress that the corpers are subjected to is too energy-sapping and strenuous. They are fresh brains just trying to learn something new that they are not familiar with.

    There is the importance of putting the necessary infrastructure in place to accommodate the need of the corpers. Specifically, there should be a significant improvement in medical facilities in all NYSC orientation camps across the country as well as the deployment of experienced medical personnel to the medical centres.

    Finally, the security and medical services deployed to the corpers should be improved significantly. This becomes imperative, most especially, during election when corps members are usually targets of violence. If these measures are put in place, the safety of our youth corpers would be better guaranteed, the frequent sad tales coming from our NYSC camps would be greatly minimised and the continued relevance of the scheme would be logically justified.

     

    • Adewale Kupoluyi,

    Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

  • ‘Why Nigeria must restructure’

    A Senator in the Second Republic, Chief Cornelius Adebayo, has called for a comprehensive restructuring of the country to a true.

    He said this was the only way Nigeria could effectively solve its economic challenge.

    He said this in Lagos at a book reading event to celebrate Ambassador Humphrey Orijako on his book titled, “Nigeria: The forsaken road to nationhood and development”.

    Adebayo noted that everything worked fine when Nigeria was a true federal state.

    “But since Nigeria became a unitary state, it has not functioned well and has being moving dangerously close to the precipice of a failed nation,” he said.

    He warned that the alternatives to restructuring might produce unintended injuries to the continued existence of Nigeria.

    According to him, restructuring should not bring fear. He warned on the consequences of refusing to restructure.

    He noted that steps must be taken to address the fundamental concerns of Nigerians who were allegedly marginalised in the scheme of things.

    He, therefore, called on the citizenry to emulate the author, saying the book has come at the right time.

    The author noted that the present system of governance would lead neither to the much obsessed national unity nor the desired economic growth and equitably shared prosperity.

    He said it was only a true federal system that could lead Nigeria to a stable, strong, united and prosperous nation.

    This, he said, were some of the issues addressed in the book, urging leaders to rule in honesty and do what would be of benefit to the citizenry.

  • Yakasai doesn’t know why Nigeria should restructure?

    Last week, in an interview, Alhaji Tanko Yakasai, leader of the Northern Elders Council, came out full-blast in opposition to any restructuring of the Nigerian federation. He also came out full-blast in attack on the Yoruba nation of Southwestern Nigeria for being the foremost proponents of the idea of restructuring. In both, he left no doubt whatsoever that he was swinging as a champion of his Fulani nation, and of the Fulani nation’s agenda, in Nigeria.

    Yakasai was quoted as saying that the agitation for restructuring is an agenda of the Yoruba people of the South-west; that it was started “in the South-west…in 1959” and has gone on “from Action Group to UPN to NADECO to PRONACO”; that it is driven by envy and hate for the northern geopolitical zone”; that the intention was “to deny the North the benefit of its population and land mass”; and that “it is not driven by patriotism”, but “by hate and envy”.

    I am a member of the Yoruba nation of Southwestern Nigeria. Tanko Yakasai and I belong to the same generation, and we both served Nigeria during the Second Republic. I know that Yakasai knows the truth concerning the things he spoke about at that interview, and that he is knowingly and deliberately trying to distort the history of Nigeria – with the objective of confusing and frustrating the demands for the restructuring of the Nigerian federation.

    I am sure he knows that in the late 1940s, after the Second World War (1939-45), when the British rulers of Nigeria first began to consider how to make this multi-nation Nigeria into one country, leaders of the Yoruba nation were the first to put forth the intellectually and politically sound proposal for a rational federation, based upon a decent respect for the nationalities that make up Nigeria, and aimed at ensuring varied and vibrant socio-economic development initiatives across Nigeria. Yakasai knows that a Northern or Eastern or Western Region did not yet exist then, that there was therefore no Northern Region to envy, and that the proposals by the Yoruba elite were a very patriotic contribution to the beginning of the search for one Nigeria.

    I should add that the said Yoruba proposals originated from the fundamentals of Yoruba political philosophy – which is that a state and its government exist principally for the well-being of its people, that all individuals and nations are entitled to seek prosperity and to prosper in their own way.

    I am sure Yakasai knows that from the moment our first federation (of three Regions – East, North and West), came into operation in 1951, the minority nationalities all over Nigeria began to clamour for, at least, one separate region of their own in each of the three regions. In the Northern Region where Yakasai was born and raised, the minority nationalities demanded such separate regions. These nationalities are not Yoruba. However, after the top Yoruba political group carefully examined their demands in the light of reason, and in the light of healthy growth for Nigeria and the peoples of Nigeria, it took the decision to support their demands.

    I am sure too that Yakasai remembers that, for most of the 1950s, the leaders of his Northern Region, while opposing the demands of the minority nationalities, were the most insistent on a very loose federation for Nigeria – in order to ensure a strong measure of autonomy for the Northern Region over which they ruled. They even proposed at one point that Nigeria be broken into three separate countries related only through a customs union. And, to reinforce their demands, they threatened again and again to secede from Nigeria.

    Of course, the northern leaders of the 1950s were not doing anything wrong by demanding autonomy for their region. Every nation on earth wants, above all else, to manage its own life and control its own destiny. The strange thing is that, after the northern political leaders came to power over Nigeria at independence in 1960 (as a result of British manipulations), they began to deny autonomy for all the peoples of Nigeria – they began to promote a concentration of power and resource-control in the federal centre which they controlled.

    They took a major step in this centralization adventure in 1962, when they used the powers and influence of the federal government to engineer a crisis in the Western Region, and when they took advantage of the crisis to take over control of the Western Region.

    The adventure soon generated revolts and a Nigeria-wide crisis, and ultimately a military coup – the beginning of military coups and military dictatorships in Nigeria. From the late 1960s, a series of military dictatorships led by northern military officers relentlessly pushed forward the Fulani agenda of centralization – and of weakening of other Nigerian peoples.

    In 1999, the cumulative successes of the centralization agenda were finally enshrined by a northern military dictator in the constitution which he imposed on Nigeria – the constitution which now makes Nigeria essentially a unitary country in which an all-controlling federal government holds Nigeria in its corrupt, ignorant and incompetent grip, reduces the state and local governments into impotent attendants on federal authority – spewing corruption and shoddiness all over Nigeria, obstructing and even disrupting non-federal development initiatives, and enthroning poverty, hopelessness, desperation and moral banditry, over the lives of Nigerians. Every Nigerian knows (even the political adventurers who have created these horrible conditions know) that, in spite of decades of enormous revenues from oil, Nigeria is much poorer today, and the masses of   Nigerians are much poorer, than in 1960.

    The consequence is that most Nigerian nationalities are trenchantly demanding a restructuring of the federation today. We Yoruba are very prominent in the struggle, but we are not alone in it. Most Nigerian nationalities, representing over 70% of Nigerians, are in it. In fact, in the struggle, some Nigerian nations are already doing some things that are putting great stress on Nigeria. The number of Igbo citizens pushing for a separate country is now so large that it is impossible for the world to continue to ignore them. The peoples of the Niger Delta, whose homeland produces all the oil wealth, and whom federal policies have left in the deepest depth of underdevelopment in Nigeria, and who now belong to the most wretched of the wretched in Nigeria, have united to demand separation from Nigeria too – and they are fighting to withhold the oil wealth from the federal government.

    Obviously, Tanko Yakasai knows all these, but he and his companions are not bothered about the escalating poverty, hopelessness, desperation, and moral collapse among the masses of Nigerians. Their sole interest and ambition is that their Fulani nation must forever control a federal government that controls all power and all resources in Nigeria – even though they must know that the concern of the rest of us is not who rules Nigeria but that   Nigeria should be ruled in ways that advance the quality of life of Nigerians.

    One of their men who identified himself as Aliyu Gwarzo in a statement or article that went viral on the social media in 2014, wrote: “Allah, through the British, gave us Nigeria to rule and to do with as we please. Since 1960 we have been doing that and we intend to continue”. He added that, to hold on to that position, his Hausa-Fulani people “will kill, maim, destroy, and turn this country into Africa’s biggest war zone and refugee camp”. “The Mujaheedin are ready,” he announced, “and by Allah we shall win”.

    And who are the Mujaheedin? Masses of citizens armed, trained and indoctrinated to kill, maim and destroy those of us Nigerians who are not Hausa-Fulani. The kind of people that we are already seeing in the murderous Fulani herdsmen and their accompanying Libyan mercenary militiamen. Our country is heading towards becoming a dark, vicious, house of horrors.

    Obviously, it is all fine with the Yakasais among us. But what does it call for from the rest of us? It calls for greatly heightened resolve and action among us to preserve the treasures and values that we cherish. We don’t have to be destroyed by our being parts of Nigeria. In spite of our rivalries, and our differences of the past, today’s situation calls for a surge of cooperation and collaboration among our various nations, in order to get this federation restructured, so that each zone of Nigeria may manage much of its own affairs, and promote its own development, in its own way and at its own pace, in the context of a true Nigerian federation. The day of the promised horrors is not yet here. But, if we keep delaying, it may come. We don’t have much time.        

  • Fashola raises panel to restructure FHA

    Fashola raises panel to restructure FHA

    Power, Works and Housing Minister Mr. Babatunde Fashola has set up an ad-hoc committee to review the re-structuring and commercialisation of the Federal Housing Authority (FHA).

    Fashola urged the committee to review the FHA Restructuring and Commercialisation/Housing Sector implementation Framework presented to him at a meeting with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

    BPE’s Director of National Facilities and Agricultural Resources Mr. Yunana Jackdell Malo, in the letter convening the committee meeting, said the panel would entertain concerns, issues and recommendations which might form the basis of a revised implementation framework for FHA’s restructuring and commercialisation.

    A document obtained by The Nation listed the committee’s terms of reference to include: distilling the new reform vision for the housing sector as articulated by the Minister; review the National Council on Privatisation (NCP) approved implementation framework to better align it with the minister’s policy direction and objectives for the housing sector; review aspects of the various work streams in the implementation framework to ensure that they are fit for purpose and revisit key elements of the restructuring and commercialisation strategy,  and to make recommendations on how they could be better implemented, particularly with regards to new housing policy and skills mix, property audit and the privatisation of FHA Mortgage Bank.

    Others include reviewing the possibility of implementing the NCP approved strategy without necessarily repealing the FHA Act and be guided by legal advice in that regard; review the relevant aspects of the on-going housing sector reforms and make necessary recommendations, particularly with respect to the setting up of a regulatory regime and how FHA can play an effective role in a regulated and liberalised housing sector.

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing, Abu Gusau Magaji, has urged FHA workers not to entertain fears of losing their jobs.

    Speaking at a meeting with the Authority’s management, he explained that rather than job losses, the planned process would throw up more vacancies through the expected expansion of the Authority’s capacity to become an efficient, modern and profitable venture.

    Magaji said the need for a review of the previous reform document generated by the BPE arose because it had become necessary to align it with the vision and policies of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration for the sector.

    He said the exercise would be conducted on the basis of existing presidential approval, adding that both the Ministry and the Authority were being accommodated in the development of work streams that would lead to the emergence of a new FHA.

    Members of the committee are Yunana J. Malo – Sector Director/Co-ordinator (BPE); M. L. Halilu; A. Koko, and P. O Egbodo, all representing the Ministry of Power, Works and Housing. The FHA is represented by Ayuba Aliyu, Hajara Kadiri, and Umar S. Gonto.  Sanusi Abdu-Ali, Nurain Hassan Ibrahim, Pene Samaki, and Guful John Mankilik, are representatives of the BPE. Abba Sani Dauda, also from the BPE, will serve as Secretary.