The Nation Newspaper

Tag: return

  • Return of toll gates

    By Our Reporter

    •They should be better managed to avoid the pitfalls of the past

    Did much of the requisite critical thinking go into the decision by the President Olusegun Obasanjo administration to abolish toll gates on federal highways in the country in 2003? With the benefit of hindsight, it is difficult to answer this question in the affirmative.  Over a decade and a half after Nigerians woke up to find all toll gates across the nation destroyed at humongous public cost, the Federal Government has decided to return the toll gates on  federal highways.

    Announcing this decision after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting on October 2, the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), said: “There is no reason why we can’t toll, there was a policy of government to abolish tolls or, as it were, dismantle toll plazas but there is no law that prohibits tolling in Nigeria today. We expect to return toll plazas; we have concluded the design of what they will look like, what materials they will be built with, what new considerations must go into them. What we are looking at now is how the bank end runs”.

    In demolishing the toll gates, the Obasanjo administration had assumed that revenues from the increase in petroleum products prices at the time would be utilised to maintain the roads. It appears to have miscalculated badly on this score. None of the benefits expected to accrue from the incessant increase in petroleum products’ price hikes over the years has ever come to fruition, and this was no exception.

    Among other reasons given for the demolition of the toll gates were the massive corruption associated with the collection of the tolls, with much of the revenue ending up in private pockets, and the perception that the toll gates compounded the pain of motorists by inhibiting free flow of traffic on the highways. There is no reason why these problems could not have been creatively solved without the resort to drastically abolishing tolls.

    Given the marked deterioration of the national economy and the severe shortage of revenue to fund critical infrastructure, including construction and maintenance of federal highways, the reintroduction of toll plazas seems to be an inevitable policy choice for the government. It is commendable that the government plans, this time around, to tackle the corruption that characterised toll collection through the introduction of electronic mode of payment to replace cash transactions.

    We believe that most road users will not be unwilling to pay the road tolls if the roads are efficient, safe and secure. Mr. Fashola should, therefore, not ignore the argument of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), for instance, that “The roads are in very bad shape across the country; how can you toll a bad road? If you have fixed the roads and you now talk of tolling to recoup the money spent and to generate money to maintain the roads, people will consider it”.

    There can certainly be no plausible reason to oppose tolling of federal highways that are in motorable condition, well-lit and provided with adequate security. But to toll roads that are death traps to users and devoid of the requisite security would surely mean exposing travellers to double jeopardy. It is our view that there should be specific legislation on how the funds accruing from tolls on various roads should be tracked, accounted for and utilised.

    A situation whereby tolls from users of various highways end up in the labyrinthine belly of the Federation Account only to be disbursed for omnibus purposes that have nothing to do with the roads from where they were derived should be avoided.

  • The return of the last Rebel

    Professor Oseloka Osadebe left Nigeria in early 1960s for greener pastures in the United States of America. Here in Nigeria he was one of the first set of Fine and Applied Arts students of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria in the 1950s. He and his colleagues then were tagged Zaria Rebels. He is now back home to showcase his works of over fifty years in what he termed Inner light. Edozie Udeze encountered him and reports.

    In the 1950s, when they were students of the College of Technology, Zaria, now Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, Kaduna State, they were basically known as the Zaria  Rebels.  Apart from being the pioneer students of Fine and Applied Arts at the institution, the Zaria Rebels, led by Bruce Onobrakpeya, Yusuf Grillo, Demas Nwoko, Uche Okeke, Oseloka Osadebe and others chose to do their arts based on their local beliefs, concepts, norms and ideas.  Thus, while they learnt Eurocentric arts as was taught them by their white teachers, they also refused to discard or discountenance their own traditional forms of art.  For this and more they were tagged the Zaria Rebels, a name that has followed them up to date.  A name they are also very proud of; cherishing it endlessly.

    Last week, one of the Rebels in the person of Oseloka Osadebe, a professor of Theatre Arts in the US who left the shores of Nigeria in the early 1960s, returned to Nigeria.  He returned to the surprise of many including his contemporaries who were shocked to see him.  He returned, courtesy of SMO Arts to exhibit his works of arts that span over fifty years.  He returned to behold his fatherland and to reopen new vistas of ideas on how to marry the art of the old with the art of the new generation.  It was a noble concept; a new euphoria when the exhibition opened at the Museums and Monuments, Onikan, Lagos.  It was an electrifying moment.

    The venue was chosen as a memorial, just to justify its historic excursion into time.  Sandra Mbanefo-Obiagu, the organizer of the show did not quite object to the venue even when it did not look acceptable and comfortable to many.  Osadebe did not look out of place either.  He was happy to see his colleagues and friends after over 50 years.  Nwoko was there, all the way from Delta State.  So also were Grillo and Onobrakpeya.  They were all smiles with the fullness of their endless banters showing how much they had missed one another.

    They kept asking Osadebe; ‘why did it take you so long to come back?  Have you come never to depart again?  Are you going to remain with us forever?’  It was so moving a scene and so emotional to see these men, now in their 80s, all remembering those youthful and memorable years of yore.  You could almost see tears in their eyes as they exchanged pleasantries.  Nwoko came in company of his young son who helped him on and on.  Grillo complained that he does not see clearly any more.

    ‘Truly my sight is not as good as it used to be’, he told Nwoko and others.

    “Oh yes”, Nwoko teased, “we’ve seen too much in our lives.  It is now time to be grateful for the good lives we have led”.  Grillo looked in his direction and smiled, with that his familiar urbane Lagos life dazzling on his face.  Now they were made to sit on a long bench close to one another.  “Are you sure the bench is tall enough for your legs and waist?”  Nwoko asked Grillo, to which he looked him intently in the face and teased back: “what’s that?”  Both laughed and then Nwoko’s son helped him to sit down and then the banters went on and on and on.  At a point, Onobrakpeya strolled in in his usual quick strides, going on straight to greet Osadebe.  “Oh, you look good”, he told him.  “But you have to stay now for good”.  He held his hands for a longer time as he spoke to him.  Both smiled intermittently as a way of showing how happy they were to be together once more.  At this point, Professor JP Clark also strolled in to join in the banter.

    In the heat of the show, the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Nnaemeka Achebe, elegantly walked in in company of some of his aides.  He told of how he’d always wanted Osadebe to return home long time ago.  “He is my uncle”, he said, his face wearing broad smiles of love and contentment.  “When Sandra told me of her intention, I had to make a personal call to him, not as the Igwe of Onitsha, but as his nephew.  Uncle it is time to come home, I told him.  Now, here he is to do this memorable exhibition and we all are here to witness it”, he told an excited crowd already eager to hear more about this erudite professor who moved from Fine Arts to Theatre Arts in far away America since the 1960s.

    The title of the exhibition is Inner Light.  Inner Light because Osadebe began on time to explore into the spiritual, physical and religious nuances of man.  It is an experiment he has done in stages and series to situate the place of man and his mission on the surface of the earth.  He said “at a stage I began to think deeper about this life.  I have the inner light.  I have the concept of man whose image has become connected with what happens in heaven.  I have also the spiritual side to it.  But in order to create and to continue to search, I have six drawings in this image to procreate”.

    His works came in stages.  The first stage came from 1965.  Then those of the 1970s and the 1980s followed.  He also has more recent works, all depicting his love for the spiritual evolution of man.  At a point he began to explore images of man and woman.  He termed them female and male forms and they explored the contours of humans in their natural forms.  Osadebe does more of cubic and pencil works with bigger emphasis on the images of man in the throes of life.

    His works included photographs he took with some of his school mates at ABU.  The pictures showed those moments of glory and youthful strides when they were full of life and ready to shake the world.  It was a total historic outing, going back into time to explore images of life and moments of deep affection.  Osadebe himself was shocked to see some of the pictures.  With perpetual smile creasing on his face, he simply intoned:  “Oh, I see”.  He went round to explain some of the works.  He took his time, as Mbanefo-Obiago guided him gently and meticulously round the hall.

    “Inner Light shows the changes of structures of man’s face”, he said concerning one of the series on inner light.  The works reflect his deeper thoughts over the years; thoughts of history, thoughts of a sage, a master artist who has seen it all.  “The inner light over there also has the Igbo concept of masquerade”.  As he explained these, his inner glow blossomed.  He remembered his years at the Merchant of Light Secondary School, Oba, Anambra State, where he and Nwoko were classmates.  “I am from Onitsha”, he told this reporter.  “Oh yes, I still speak Igbo clearly”, he said this in Igbo as a proof.  The exhibition will last till December.

  • Return of the party?

    The Akinwunmi Ambode saga, of a conceited governor duelling with party forces and losing all, may yet strengthen party discipline and supremacy, in Nigerian politics.

    That would appear the first time, as similar past bids had led to, first: intra-party elite feuding; then, messy party fissures, and finally, catastrophic consequences for the polity.

    The classic, of that ruinous trend, was the Obafemi Awolowo-Samuel Ladoke Akintola (SLA) Western Region bust-up, that first tore apart the Action Group (AG); and later tore to pieces the 1st Republic (1960-1966).

    But before using history to put the present in proper perspectives; and projecting, other things being equal, the probable future of party supremacy, a brief comment on Governor Ambode and Jide Sanwoolu, the new Lagos All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate.

    Contrary to gushing emotions, Ambode is no devil any more than Sanwoolu is a saint.

    The Lagos governor just stumbled where other governors — and even 4th Republic presidents, if not most chief executives of state since independence — had made hay: making themselves imperial lords over the organ that fetched them power.

    As president, Olusegun Obasanjo did it.  The present Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) angst issues partly from his willy-nilly re-sculpturing of PDP, in his own grim image.

    As we speak, Ibikunle Amosun, the Ogun governor, seems lost in that same imperialist fancy, vis-a-vis abject party conquest.  His Excellency thunders down his own Hobson’s choice as Ogun APC gubernatorial candidate, the party’s official candidate be damned!

    But before you roast Amosun as Judas-in-chief to the party cause, most of his fellow governors, across the party aisle, are steeped in similar imperious fancies.

    So, what Ambode had done — but got brutally clipped — would appear standard 4th Republic gubernatorial megalomania: an all-too-common chronic executive disorder.

    Sanwoolu would do well to learn from Ambode’s fall, though there is no guarantee, that  as governor, Sanwoolu himself won’t tread that route; if he feels he could get away with it.

    But the party also owes itself — and the people — a duty to always wield the big stick on the errant, executive or legislative.  Still, there must first be a party, in the real sense of the word; and a deliberate and sustained culture of discipline, among its hierarchs, and rank-and-file.

    No less vital: the Lagos APC must realize, and factor into its Sanwoolu gubernatorial sales pitch, that Ambode, on the performance lane, wasn’t a ringing failure.

    Though the refuse leprosy plagues his government, for its costly conceit of trying to fix what wasn’t bust, rural Lagos — witness Epe and rural Alimoso — would remember  Ambode with especial fondness.

    Perhaps since the Lateef Jakande governorship (1979-1983), no governor had treated rural Lagos as royalty, as Ambode.

    But urban Lagos too, sans the refuse plague, won’t forget him in a hurry, if he fully delivers on his legacy projects, especially the Lagos Airport access road and the Oshodi mart interchange, both now under construction.

    So, the Lagos APC must brace itself for some pro-Ambode sympathy votes, even if the governor himself seems to have embraced fealty to his party, despite his personal loss of a second term that, otherwise, he could have richly deserved.

    That tracks the discourse back to the Awolowo-SLA titanic feud, for the soul of the old AG.

    Put that side-by-side with the Bola Tinubu-Ambode-Lagos APC stand-off, and you could well trace some parallel. suzerainty

    Still, as West Regional Premier, SLA called his party’s bluff; and tried to impose, on it, executive suzerainty.  Since then, such executive conceit has plagued Nigerian politics.

    However, as defeated aspirant though sitting Lagos governor, Ambode’s submission — if it holds all through — could well re-birth the supremacy of the party, over its nominees, executive or legislative.

    Incidentally, legislators’ scorn for party platforms has also cruelly flared in the free-for-all treachery and anti-party contempt of Bukola’s Saraki’s 8th National Assembly.

    But back to the SLA-Awo-AG 1962 party imbroglio — the AG diktat to SLA, as captured  by Prof. Akin Osuntokun, in his 2010 work, S. Ladoke Akintola: His Life and Times, published by Mosuro Publishers:

    “…that this joint meeting of the Western region and Mid-Western Executive Committees of the Action Group requests the Deputy Leader, Chief S. L. Akintola, to resign forthwith the offices of Premier and Deputy Leader of the Party, failing which appropriate steps would be taken to relieve him of both posts, but, that if he resigns, the leader should give consideration to the continued availability of his services to the Party in another sphere.”

    Now, the Tinubu directive to party stalwarts, on the virtual eve of the Lagos APC gubernatorial primaries, was far less sweeping or total.  But the message was unambiguous: the governor should move or be moved, for he had derailed from the party gubernatorial masterplan.

    Yet, events leading to the AG-SLA crisis were far different from what triggered the Lagos APC Ambode ultimatum.

    The one was a party split, almost right through the middle, between the Awo and SLA tendencies.

    The other was an alleged Ambode nastiness, to party members whose sweat romped him into office; among these, irate powers and principalities, determined to force a rebellion, were their object of vile hate not summarily removed.

    But the reaction, from the media and the public, would appear similar to 1962: split between the two camps, though not in equal measures.

    Back then, according to findings in Osuntokun’s book, some newspapers, notably West African Pilot and Daily Service were gung-ho on the SLA cause; while Nigerian Tribune and Daily Express tilted to the Awo cause.

    Though Daily Times was adjudged neutral, many swore it tilted towards SLA, courtesy of the Great Babatunde Jose’s personal sympathies for SLA, while Daily Sketch would join the fray in 1964, as a domestic answer to Tribune, Awo’s personal paper.

    The public, then as now, are also divided between both camps, with not a few even fingering personality clashes (which indeed, could be part of the problem), instead of the more rigorous location of contrasting tendencies in a party collective.

    That is why, just as many posited the AG crisis emanated from Awo’s refusal to hand over real power to SLA, a rather shallow thinking also arose that Ambode’s troubles issued from Tinubu’s alleged over-bearing attitude towards the governor.

    But whatever the crisis’ reading or misreading, according to fixed biases, the Ambode response has been markedly different from SLA’s.

    Instead of playing Samson, as SLA did; and risking the roof to fall and bury the collective, Ambode seems to have embraced his sad fate with stoic grace.

    If that holds, and his party goes on to triumph at the polls, Ambode’s personal tragedy could well turn renewed hope for party discipline and supremacy.

    That could mean the return of the party to boss the Nigerian political process.  That surely, cannot be bad for Nigerian democracy, despite Ambode’s personal angst?

  • Omisore to return mission schools

    The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Osun State, Sen. Iyiola Omisore, has said that he would return mission schools to owners and employ skilled youths in the state, if elected as governor in the September 22 election.

    Omisore, in an interview with The Nation yesterday explained that his first priority will be to boost the morale of civil servants and teachers in the state, having been demoralised by irregular payment of their salaries.

    The SDP candidate, who is a former deputy governor of the state between 1999 and 2002, said the demoralised workforce is the engine room of development in the state, hence requires an urgent and special focus by the incoming governor. If elected, he promised to pay salaries, pensions and gratuities promptly as the principal part of his human capital development agenda.

    According to him, a survey has shown that most graduates and artisans in the state have been jobless in the last eight years because of alleged poor government policy. Omisore said he would open up employment for graduates, retrain artisans and employ them through government projects. “Aside graduates, our auto technicians, carpenters, welders etc that have been jobless in the last eight years will be retrained and offered jobs.” He said.

    Omisore said he would return missions schools to original owners with a solid arrangement that will ensure their teachers do not lose their jobs. He said the arrangement will ensure that students are the major focus of the idea while existing teachers are well taken care of.

  • Return to your communities, Buratai tells IDPs

    The Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen Tukur Buratai, has advised displaced people in Borno North to return home to restart their lives as their communities are now safe and secured.

    He made the call at the inauguration of nine gunboats for the Amphibious Task Force Detachment at Baga, for patrol and clearing the remaining Boko Haram terrorists from the Lake Chad waterways.

    The IDPs, he said, should “leverage on the deployment of Operation Last Hold to return to their communities which have long been liberated by our gallant troops.”

    Buratai said all  roads linking communities within these areas have “been cleared of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) as well as insurgent activities as they can no longer pose any credible threats to your daily routine.”

    Earlier, the army chief, represented by Maj.-Gen. David Ahmadu, the Chief of Operation and Training, Army formally launched the ongoing “Operation Last Hold” at Gudumbali in Guzamala Local Government Area of Borno.

    The four-month long operation began on May 1 and was designed to flush out remnant of terrorists in Borno North and Lake Chad region as well as facilitate the return of IDPs to their communities.

    Buratai said that the operation was meant to achieve three objectives.

    His words:”These are clearance operations to further decimate remnant of the Boko Haram terrorists, ensure return of IDPs to their communities and provide safe and secured environment for the resumption of farming, fishing and other economic activities in Northern Borno.”

    On gunboat and other platforms being delivered to the amphibious task force, he said that they were to enable the unit to immediately commence clearance of the Lake Chad waterways.

    “The amphibious task force detachment is expected to work in conjunction with the ongoing naval operations to have a collective increased number of gunboats and capabilities.

    “This is to ensure adequate patrols and force projection for clearance operations to provide security and safety for fishing as well as free use of the Lake Chad by our people,” he said.

    The Lake Chad Basin, according to him, provides water to more than 30 million people living in the four countries surrounding it, the bulk of which are Nigerians.

    The chief of army staff noted that the Lake had the potential to provide over 300 metric tons of fish protein annually, representing about 12.2 per cent of the total fish demand of Nigeria.

    At Gudumbali, Buratai symbolically set fire to the bush (Sharan gona) to signal the commencement of the 2018 clearing and farming activities in the area.

    Buratai appealed to the people not to provide “hiding place” for terrorists fleeing the ongoing last onslaught against them.

    “They deserve no respite as they chose to bring this hardship on the Northeast. Operation last hold has the mandate to provide you adequate protection at home, farms and other places of business,” he said.

    The army chief said that ongoing efforts to clear the terrorists and other criminal elements from the Sambisa forest had achieved tremendous success, adding that the insurgents were on the run.

    “I want to also reaffirm the commitment of the Nigerian Army not to lose any ground in the fight against terrorism and insurgency in our country.”

    During the four-month ongoing operation  communities like Malam Fatori, Gashigar and Damask, Gili, Zari, Gudu, Malumshi, Gudumbali, Gerere, Arege, Melete, Cuskawa, Kukawa, Kekeno, Ngole, Marte and Keremoa are to be cleared of terrorists.

    The Theatre Commander, Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj.-Gen. Roger Nicholas, Chief of Military/Civil Affairs, Maj.-Gen. Nuhu Angbazo, Commander, Operation Last Hold, Maj.-Gen. Abba Dikko and Acting General Officer Commanding – GOC 8 Division Task Force, Maj.-Gen. Steven Olabanji accompanied the chief of army staff.

     

  • ‘I will return to Ekiti Government House’

    The Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, is a governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ekiti State. He spoke with reporters in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, on his ambition, agenda for the state and chances at the primary. EMMANUEL OLADESU was there.

    You have been governor in this state before now and you are currently a Minister of the Federal Republic. Why do you want to return?

    I have been governor here in the state before now, but I feel a profound sense of unfinished business. Unfinished business in the sense that all of what I did in office, have been abandoned to rot. Well, maybe, some infrastructure have been sustained, at least you can still see some of the street lights you can still see the government house on top of the hill, you can still see all of the physical things, particularly our efforts on the areas of human capital development, entrepreneurship, tourism development, Health care have actually been severely damaged. I will give you a couple of examples to demonstrate what I mean by that, over 40,000 people benefitting from our various social investment scheme have been put out to hang and drowned. The 5,000 that i was paying N5,000 to in the social security scheme, the 10, 000 benefitting from the youth volunteers and empowerment scheme who were being paid N10,000 monthly and being engaged in variety of our youth initiatives, environmental sanitation, teaching in schools, working in the health sectors, all of that were disbanded.

    The youth in Commercial Agricultural scheme, which was at the time used as a model by the Minister for Agriculture, Akin Adesina, no longer exist in the state, although some of the beneficiaries had now gone on to other things in the agricultural sector. The Peace Corps that I established, which had about a thousand people across the state have also being disbanded and all those people out on he streets. So, when we go around Ekiti and when you talk to people, the young, old, pregnant women and people who benefited from the variety of things that we did, pupils in schools, university students benefited from our bursary and scholarships, that no longer exists in this state. Nobody gives scholarships again, nobody gives bursary again, then you can understand the pain of why I feel about missed missed opportunities for our people, if it were to be about me, I really do not need to be governor in order to live a decent life, and I’m sure you will agree with me, Abuja is an easier settings to operate as a Minster, if I were to see politics as business, it is also a better place to network and gain opportunities to  do other things but I will not be fulfilled if I were to ignore all of the damage that have been done in this state.

    All what we did to better the lives of our people have been eroded in a lot of places. Just go to Ikogosi, most of you used to come here when I was governor, you knew what I made out of Ikogosi, you only need to visit Ikogosi now and see what have become of Ikogosi and the damage does not just focus on those human capital development, infrastructure development. You would imagine that somebody who have taking out 40,000 jobs or support scheme out of the budget of the state, would now be in a position and more stronger footings to pay salaries regularly in a known civil service state, civil servants are being owed six months at the minimum, Teachers are being owed 10months, pensioners are owed 10 Months, local government workers are owed 10months, traditional rulers who used to take 5 percent of the local government funds that came to this state when I was governor, not only reduced to 2 and half percent , they don’t even get it, for 5-6 Months, they never earned anything. So if you ask me, yes, I have been Governor, I’m not coming out of a sense of ambition, I’m coming out of a sense of duty, out of a profound sense of unfinished business which I believe only a Progressive and ideological driven government can deliver as far as the state is concerned.

    A lot of people have predicted some kind of crisis in your party, owing to the presence of many eminent people…

    I don’t think the problem you are envisaging would happen actually, where we may run into problem is when it is a close race and people imagine that some hanky panky had given one person or the other an edge. I do not think its going to be a close race, but that is separate matter. Everyone has a right to run and aspire in a political competition. I don’t think we should debar them from doing so, I have a track record of having been the first person to mange a primary process for the APC and I recall when I met the five presidential aspirants at the time , I made them sign an undertaking for the party in return I gave them an assurance that if they found any iota of hanky-panky in the race they should raise hell. But I think that is what need to happen, if people are confident that the process is fair, credible and transparent, I don’t think we would have that much of a crisis , however , there can be no doubt that you have people who are in this race not in the overall interest f the party, they are in their s race to play a spoiler role.

    A section of your party members said that your effort might be a waisted one after all, in the face of a ten year ban placed on you by the state Government white paper, what is your take on this?

    Do you mean the toilet paper?…common you are far too knowledgable about these things and you have a good sense of history of where this is coming from. Yes it used to be a case in this country that you can use an administrative panel report or judicial commission report to orchestra the ban of a political office holder but that period had since gone, because it became very clear that this was a witch hunting tool, either in the hands of a federal officer who have used this or at the state level and there is a settled matter by the Supreme Court of Nigeria on this point you are making and that is the Atiku Abubakar vs Federal Government of Nigeria, that you can not use the report of a Commission of enquiry or an Administrative panel of enquiry to ban anyone from holding public office. Only a court of record and what is defined as a Court of record in law, a High Court, either at the state or Federal level. So, for anyone to tell you, to the best of my knowledge, I have not even been asked to show up in any court over any allegation and don’t forget, I did not even appear before any panel…

    But, you were invited…

    I was invited, but you should also be aware that I challenged that invitation in the court and that case was in court as the panel was seating, so, I can not approbate and reprobate, I can’t challenge a matter in court and then go to the same panel to show up, thus legitimising the activity of the panel. But I’m not INEC, however, there is judicial precedence. I have a friend called Rabiu Kwankwaso, who went through this experience, he was governor, he went to become Minister and when he was about coming back as Governor, the governor of that state brought out a Commission of enquiry report, of course, it was rubbished and the man became governor.

    So, you have to ask yourself, what is the point of those section in my party, who are saying that. It may well be traceable to ignorant of the Law and of the state of play, because it is not just settled in the Supreme Court case that I mentioned, it has also led to the alteration of that section in the constitution, so if you read that constitution today, it does not say what it says in 1999-2003, which why I described it as tissue paper.

    There is this stringent agitation for zoning by people from the Southern part of the state, who believe it is their turn to have the governorship seat, how would you react to this?

    On zoning, I ran in this state for Governor in 2007, the primaries was in 2006 December and the election was April 2007 and there was even at the time, there was a level of agitation for zoning to the northern part of the state but at that time I was very careful, if you read my interviews then, I have always said I was not running as candidate of zoning , I was running for office on the basis of competency, character, commitment to social democratic values. There is nothing that is wrong with correcting or addressing disadvantages but even at the time I ran in this state for governor, when there was preponderance of opinion that it should go north, I can count at least eight competitors who came from the south and central senatorial zones. You have candidates in my party like Dayo Adeyeye, Caleb Olubolade, Dare Babarinsa, Olowoporoku and several other candidate from the other parts of the state and the party did not debar me from running and if you look at the APC Constitution now, it actually does not subscribe to the principle of zoning, because, particularly now, we need a strong candidate. The man who is claiming that he’s promoting a southern candidate, he ran foul of that when he was contesting.

    Many would tell you, in their own opinion, that he usurped the place of the North when he ran as candidate from the central. And frankly, the debate about zoning is the one that I’m always very uncomfortable about, not because we should not give fair and balance treatment to everyone, but because in a political competition, you also have other factors you must place on the table and if those other factors outweigh the zoning factor, ultimately there are going to carry the day. I do believe that, if we have strong candidate from the southern senatorial district, there is nothing to suggest that the party would not look in that direction.

    What are the mistakes which APC made in 2014 elections, which would be averted in 2018 election and what are those lessons you have learnt?

    One of the very first things I would say and I did say something about the sociology of Ekiti people immediately after the last election , the lesson that I have learnt have nothing to do with the loss in that election, because I still do not believe that we lost the election but that is not the point. However, I have learnt a lot of profound lessons governing Ekiti. One the key lessons I have learnt is that you can do a lot of programmes, the process is more important than the product in Ekiti, there is nobody that you meet in this state who would not say Fayemi worked hard for the people, anywhere you go people would tell you that. But there was a perception that I didn’t sell everything I was doing.

    The second lesson that I believe we learnt also relate to managing relationship. We were very worker friendly, in fact, no government was as workers friendly as our government in this state but we were also very firm on certain things, when we introduced a biometric payroll system, some workers were not very happy about it , because the avenue for leakage was remove, even though I’m principe what we did was the right thing to do, you had headmasters who manually pay Teachers in the school and once we said all of you must have account and we were paying your money directly into your account, it became obvious that half of those teachers were not there, that person definitely would not forgive me, who have been making money out of the government illegally.

    I also believed there was a perception that my government had a lot of technocrats and not grassroot politicians. Again wether that is true or not is not very relevant, the relevant point is that in politics politics perception is often stronger than reality. There are many people who actually genuinely believed that I had some Universities in Ghana but that was a perception sold as dummy but now that we know of Cambridge analytical, that you can sell a liar and repeat in socio media and it becomes the truth, even though we consistently denied that there was no University and even the people peddling the rumour could not give the name of the University or the location.

    So, for me, I think enlightenment of our people is priority issue, that we must take very seriously if government is to succeed or you become a victim of your own success story.

  • Vitafoam Nigeria assures of higher return

    Vitafoam Nigeria assures of higher return

    •Shareholders get N156m dividend

    The board of directors of Vitafoam Nigeria Plc has assured shareholders that it would work to more than triple dividend payout for the current business year as the group continues with the implementation of key strategies aimed at strengthening its operations.

    At the annual general meeting yesterday in Lagos, shareholders unanimously approved the payment of N156 million as cash dividend for the 2017 business year, representing a dividend per share of 15 kobo. Shareholders however called on the directors of the company to increase payout in the current business year.

    Addressing the shareholders, Chairman, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Dr. Bamidele Makanjuola, said the board and management would work to ensure that the company delivers better returns to shareholders in the years ahead.

    According to him, with the improvement in the macroeconomic environment and injection of N2 billion new capital into the operations of the company, Vitafoam Nigeria will leverage its innovative pedigree and strong presence in markets nationwide to achieve superior performance.

    He noted that most of the subsidiaries of the company have now reached maturity and are well-positioned to bolster shareholder value and outpace competition.

    “After every economic recession, historical antecedents suggest that a new era of prosperity and progress usually emerges. Our company is fully cognizant of this trend and has already utilised the difficult year to fine-tune its strategies for the incipient opportunities,” Makanjuola said.

    He explained that a strategic review of the company’s business units was undertaken to ascertain continued alignment with broader transformation objectives in order to position the group for accelerated profitability.

    He added that the company had completed its expansion project and has begun to consolidate for optimal performance as reflected in the operations of its subsidiaries.

    “Vitapur Nigeria Limited has become a source of hope and inspiration. It has posted profit for the second year running. Our moulded foam products, Vitavisco Nigeria Limited has continued to operate profitably, it is growing slowly but steadily.  Vitablom Nigeria Limited has maintained its profit-making streak, although this was attenuated during the year by the adverse economic conditions in the country,” Makanjuola said.

    He said the directors of the company will look into the popular demand for recapitalisation of the company through a rights issue by the shareholders, assuring that the board will take the appropriate decision in the best interest of the shareholders.

    Shareholders who spoke at the meeting commended the company’s board and management on its long tradition of stability and regularity of dividends despite the tough operating environment.

     

    Shareholder activist and founding member of the Nigeria Shareholders Solidarity Association (NSSA), Alhaji Gbadebo Olatokunbo commended the company’s foresight in its diversification into pre-fabricated buildings and leather products, which could be exported to earn foreign exchange.

    In his remarks, Group Managing Director, Vitafoam Nigeria Plc, Mr Taiwo Adeniyi said the first quarter result of the company for the current business year has already shown that it could attain the target of significant increase in dividend payout.

    He assured shareholders that the management would remain prudent in its financial management while exploring opportunities to improve the performance of the business units.

  • For our mirth to return…

    For our mirth to return…

    I think it is in our character to make every system that is simple to the rest of the world complex in Nigeria because we are melodramatic by nature. We are also stupid.

    Lately, my brows have become so contracted I’m in a permanent scowl on account of the goings-on in the country. If we were not distracted by the economy, then it was the Fulani herdsmen running amok and killing people; or it was cattle colonies; or it was the matter of the president running for a second term and whether or not I want to support him; or the matter of the country having a Coalition Assembly frighteningly called The Third Force. All so distracting I have hardly had any sufficient time to eat my breakfast of a morning. Thank God for Amala that has sustained me in those dark times I’ve not been able to eat.

    I tell you, the times have become so urgent we have quite forgotten the purpose of this column, which was originally to make you laugh, dearest reader. In the beginning, we used to take national discourses and turn them into factories for gentle mirth that occasionally broke into hooting laughter to some people’s distaste, I know. The memory quite dims on the last time we made you, our real friends, laugh and our fake ones annoyed.

    Now, its grim, grim, grim news all the way these days and I’m tempted to go in search of the Brothers Grimm to teach me how to writes tales of grimness. The reason is that rather than bringing out the mirth, we have lately found ourselves wielding the big stick at first the government, then President Buhari, then the government over so many matters, including the ones listed above. Someone needs to write down these grim tales.

    Most importantly though, I have often wondered what it is with this country that it just loves turning simple comic plots to tragic circumstances. I say this because most of the problems bedevilling this country are so easily solved in other places. However, all of us, the government worst of all, prefer to take the high road of complexity and tragedy. And it does not take anyone with a crystal ball to see why: we prefer to put personal gain over national benefit. I tell you, I am quite flummoxed by it all!

    For instance, for every other country on earth, electricity is a simple matter to generate and distribute. Many methods so easily present themselves to everyone all over the world. Not so for Nigeria. We are blind to these methods and other means of systematically providing electricity for the entire country. Right now, some countries are even considering changing their method of generating electricity on account of the fact that it is not ensuring a clean enough environment!

    In Nigeria, we have made the electricity matter so convoluted and complex that even the government no longer understands where electricity comes from: dams, wind, solar, two lovers or the bottom of my pot. I tell you, when two lovers meet, sparks fly. Only trouble is, no one has tried to collect those sparks for use in factories. And yes, my pot also generates electricity, especially when I am intrepid enough to mix stuff like oil and water in questionable quantities.

    Again, take housing and urban planning – a simple matter. Just get the best brains to sit down and design how every Nigerian can have access to decent housing, no matter how small. Add to that the designing of a city-synchronised pathway for water inlet and outlet. Oh no, that’s too simple for the Nigerian. Instead, we have contrived for ourselves a system that is so difficult and complex by which people own houses and design each city. It is called ‘no system’, and it allows everyone to build where they like – on sewers, waters and even on the air, using money taken from our pocket, our neighbour’s pocket or even the government’s pocket. What matters it where the money comes from?

    Or take the little matter of census figures. All over the world, it is always a matter of just keeping statistics of the number of people living within a set of borders. Not in Nigeria. I have watched in alarm as Nigeria’s population figures have risen ominously according to who is writing. As recently as 2010, Nigeria’s population was put at one hundred million. Two years later, it had climbed to one hundred and twenty million. Steadily, the figures have risen every two years by about twenty million. Now, people are talking of one hundred and eighty million. This is most alarming. All of this guesswork is happening because we have somehow complexified the simple matter of counting heads to get the true figure. We have refused to allow only humans to be counted.

    This same complexity is visited on every aspect of national life. Take fuel importation and distribution as an example. As recently as November last year, what used to make me happy was getting money to buy fuel with. Now, I’m delirious when I get the fuel to fill my tank half-way. Check out our other systems: economic, salary, schooling, governing, employment, policing, soldiery, religious, sleeping, eating, just name it. What can be simpler than sending your child to school in the world? In Nigeria, others turn it into tragedy for you by kidnapping him/her for money (in Lagos) or by boko haram (in the north). You know what I think? I think it is in our character to make every system that is simple to the rest of the world complex in Nigeria because we are melodramatic by nature. We are also stupid. Our systems are not only costly; they achieve nothing but retrogression in the long run.

    Anyway, this week, we were greatly tempted to go sounding off again on why our herdsmen should embrace education and ranching (owing to some reactions I received on the subject some weeks back) but I thought we needed a serious bout of laughter to relieve us of this tedious stream of ‘grimies’. No sooner did I settle down to generate these bubblies than I read about school girls being abducted in Yobe State (again!) and people being killed in Borno State by boko haram (yet again!). Then I sighed and thought: what is this world coming to, that one cannot even eat one’s cow-less Amala in peace but it must be accompanied by bad news?

    Someone once said, and I think I believe him, that Nigeria has some of the best trained forces in the world: army, police, etc., and this is why Nigerian officers excel exceedingly above their peers from other climes wherever they go. So, I’m thinking, why then is Sambisa Forest proving stubborn to Nigeria’s army? Why is boko haram appearing to be so dogged to Nigeria’s army? I tell you, these are questions disturbing my sleep now.

    On this column, we sympathise fully and wholly with the families of the bereaved and the missing in the north. It is our prayer that our national ethos will find its equilibrium soon so that all these tales of bloodshed and social disconnect will yield way for genuine development to take place. Without this mental stability, no one can give his or her best in any situation. This is why I keep lifting up my big stick at the federal government headed by President Buhari.

    With such news as these coming out of the country, one cannot seem to remember the mirthful days anymore; they almost seem so distant. Yet we must remember them for the sake of our sanity. For our mirth to return, the army must stop these killings and bring those missing girls home. We cannot afford to sing another ‘#Bringbackourothergirls’ dirge.

  • Obanikoro: Why I want to return to Senate

    Obanikoro: Why I want to return to Senate

    Former Minister of State for Defence Senator Musiliu Obanikoro recently defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The former Nigerian High Commissioner to Ghana spoke with Group Political Editor EMMANUEL OLADESU on his senatorial ambition in the Lagos West District, the Ambode administration, national security, restructuring and reconciliation in the ruling party. 

    What calculation led to your defection from the PDP to the APC?

    I figure out that you will start the interview this way. But, let me say that, as far as I am concerned, this is home coming for me. I went on a journey and I am glad that I did. There is a Yoruba saying that bo’mode o ba de oko oloko ri, a so pe oko baba oun to tobi ju. That a child who never visited a far outside his father’s farm will assume that the biggest farm around belongs to his father. Outside that jurisdiction, there must be thousand, if not millions, of farms. With the limited exposure, you will think what you have is the best. I left the family to interact with another family; to realise how important what we have in Lagos is and how important it is for us to protect it. So, my primary concern at the moment is how to preserve what we have in Lagos.

    Around 2005 or thereabout, when you left the AD for the PDP, you also said you have come back home…

    I never said that. I am a strong believer in Awolowo politics. In fact, I came from a family that worshipped Chief Obafemi Awolowo. I left the shores of Nigeria with Awolowo’s progressive ideas. So, there is no way I would have called the PDP my home. I am a progressive-minded person. For me, this is my natural habitat.

    Some people have the feeling that you deliberately returned to the APC to escape prosecution for your activities as a PDP chieftain…

    Let me first of all say that I have not committed any crime to warrant being prosecuted. The truth of the matter is that people, for political convenience, will say anything just to malign and reduce your stature for their own political interest. All we did was to play politics and there is no politician in this country today that can claim to be immune from what you can call using government resources for political interests. Politicians in Nigeria are guilty of that. Of recent, South Africa, in order to stop that, came up with a law that made it Mandatory for all political parties to declare every donation made to them. Until we get to that level in Nigeria, we will still have this challenge. But, I can beat my chest to say that I was not given a contract to be executed; I didn’t give out ant contract throughout my stay as a minister. Talking about using my position to divert contract money did not happen under my watch. I stand tall to say that whatever people may be saying, if they look at the mirror, they will see themselves there.

    Upon reflection, would you say there is no regret taking the step you took by going to the PDP?

    Given my level of exposure, my age at that time, my aspiration at that time, I would have done it over again. But, with the benefit of hindsight now, with my age, I would have done it differently. There are certain things that only age, no matter how brilliant you are, how wealthy you are, it is age that will take certain things away. I do believe that, at my age now, the only thing I want to do is to add value to the society in a progressive and stable manner.

    If the APC had not become a ruling party, would you have returned to the party?

    Well, let me say that the politics of Nigeria would have compelled me to return. I am more committed to Lagos and Southwest now more than before in my life. That’s what I was talking to you about, that if you don’t leave your father’s farm to visit another farm, you will not have the proper insight to see what is outside there. I have seen it all in this country and I know that the union we have in Nigeria today, the marriage that we have in Nigeria today, if it is not repackaged, as envisaged by the founding fathers of the country, we are going to run into a lot of mess as  nation. I have seen that. A new generation of Nigerians are growing up, not as Nigerians. They are growing up, seeing themselves through their ethnic nationalities. That is not the kind of nation that we want to build. So, until we reverse that trend, this country is sitting on a keg of gunpowder.

    Where do you now stand on the clamour for restructuring?

    I think we should do it. As far as I am concerned, whether you are saying rearrangement, redesigning, restructuring, it is all about true federalism. Every federating unit should have the autonomy to do certain things without being inhibited by the Federal Government. I think the present arrangement that we have is negatively affecting the progress of Nigeria. We are probably the only democracy in the world that got our constitution from the military. I stand to be corrected. I don’t know of any democracy operating a military constitution. And that is what we have in Nigeria today. We must take a very hard look on the constitution and do that which the coming generation will remember us as a generation that saved Nigeria.

    What impact is your defection likely to have on the PDP in Lagos State?

    I don’t want to join issues with anybody. The next election is coming. We will see. If I say something now, the PDP will say it is not possible. All I know is that, as far as Lagos is concerned, it is a one party state.

    Why has it been difficult for the PDP in Lagos State to get to power?

    Well, among other things, is too much crisis in the party. I am a very focused man. But, when you have a leadership that gets easily distracted, you can’t get far. And that is what you cannot take away from Asiwaju. He does not get distracted. And that is the difference between him and other ‘these other leaders.’

    You are known to be a politician from the Lagos Central. But, you are now going to Lagos West to contest for the Senate. What is responsible for the change of political base?

    I will take you down memory lane. I am from the Obanikoro family. My father was from Idioluwo Ile and Ilase. He was from those three riverine areas. Our ancestors came from that area to Lagos Island hundred of years ago. We have not severed ties with our ancestral home. All along, we have been relating closely as families with them. I will also let you know that to the glory of God and by His grace, I was able to facilitate three millennium schools; one to Idioluwo-Ile in 2014, another one in Ikaare and the other one in Ilase.  I did these to promote education, which I know is very key, if that area is going to develop and compete with other parts of Lagos. I did these when I never envisaged that I will change my political constituency from the Central to the West. It is not just Obanikoro, a good number of Lagos Island families are from the West. They migrated many years ago to Lagos Island. It is not unique to us. It is a fact that is known to all native Lagosians.

    Are you shifting your base to the Lagos West because you think Senator Oluremi Tinubu may be re-contesting for the Senate in the Lagos Central?

    Well, I made up my mind to go back to my ancestral home, where my forefathers came from, just as I have returned home in the APC.

    Why do you want to return to the Senate?

    I want to commend Mrs. Tinubu for the great work she has done in the Senate; fighting for Lagos everyday, standing up, advancing the cause of Lagos. Ditto the other two senators. Given the knowledge and exposure that I have acquired in the last 10 or 12 years, I believe I am better positioned to represent Lagos State now. Having served as an ambassador, chairman of a federal parastatal, minster twice, I belive I am well positioned to make those things happen that will add value to Lagos and create the kind of partnership that Lagos needs to go to the next level. The governor of Lagos has said that he is moving Lagos State from a mega city to a smart city. He can’t do it all alone. All of us must support the good work that he is doing. When you look at the Lagos of today, you have to go back to 1979 through 1983, to what Alhaji Lateef Jakande did. That’s what made Lagos what it is today; opening up Lekki, creating LASU, creating LASPTECH. Television station; almost everything that you have today. God now gave us Asiwaju who created a different vision for Lagos, in terms of enhancing what Alhaji Jakande and a host of others did to make Lagos a very unique and the most prosperous state in Nigeria. With the kind of stability and visionary leadership that Asiwaju has provided, we can see that there is no state in this country that is even close in terms of development and stability that you can compare to Lagos. It is probably the only state in Nigeria that can do without federal allocation and survive. They did it before. The state is a better position to handle its business without the Federal Government. All these did not happen overnight. It took a lot of commitment, planning, hard work to get Lagos to where it is today. At my age, the only thing left for me now is to allow that stability that Asiwaju has created and the visionary leadership he has created to be enhanced.

    Is a big fight not imminent in Lagos West as there are also speculations that, your friend, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State is also interested in the senatorial seat?

    All these things are still in the realm of speculation. The governor of Osun will complete his tenure of office in November. I am sure that there are a number of options before him. So, I do not believe any position is a do or die, or life and death matter, for any one of us. We are no longer in our forties. If any of us to spend half of our age now, it is a lot of grace from the Almighty. So, it is wrong to kill ourselves in the name of positions when the larger part of our years in life has already been spent. So, I do not believe that this contest is a contest that will degenerate to what you are envisaging. It is a family affair. At the appropriate time, the right thing will be done to ensure that the right thing is done. If there is any legacy that stands tall among all the legacies that Asiwaju left in Lagos, creating stability and continuity rank high. And it is not in our place to come and mess that up.

    If you become a senator again, will that not be a prelude to re-launching your long standing governorship ambition in Lagos State?

    My mum used to say one thing when she was alive. She will say: emi ti o ni d’ola, to nda osu mejila. Who knows tomorrow? Tomorrow belongs to the Almighty God. This Senate thing we are talking about belongs to Him. We are alive now; that’s why we are talking about it. Nobody knows what tomorrow will hold. And to now jump to 2023, I think it is taking it too far. As far as I am concerned, I will enjoy the moment, representing the good people of Lagos State from Lagos West. That is sufficient to stretch any energetic or any committed person. It is the largest senatorial district in terms of population in the whole of Nigeria. So, there is a lot to do. Let me restrict myself to that challenge, instead of thinking far ahead about what is not necessary. My intention is to represent Lagos State from Lagos West, add value to what Asiwaju has done, the leadership he has provided. That’s all I am interested in now. I am also looking forward to see the Southwest becoming the trite state in the United States of America, New Jersey and Connecticut.  If we have the kind of collaboration among these three states in the Southwest, that will be my joy.

    What is your reaction to the multiple endorsements for Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for a second term?

    I think Ambode has done a good job managing the affairs of Lagos. He deserves a second term. My prayer is that he will take a quantum leap in terms of achievement in his second term. If he does that, he will rank among the class of Alhaji Jakande, Asiwaju Tinubu and others. He will join the elitist club of those who have governed Lagos successfully. That is my prayer for him. My advice is that he should keep his eyes on the ball. He should not get distracted. He should ensure that the focus he has brought to bear on his first term should be further enhanced in his second term. I believe he has the capacity to always deliver.

    As a former Minister of State for Defense, how can Nigeria grapple with the security challenge?

    It is unfortunate that as we are abating the issue of Boko Haram, we are facing the issue of herdsmen and bandits. It is very said. It is also a function of the lack of capacity at the local level, state level and to some extent at the federal level. If you look at the local government, they are incapacitated. They can’t do much. It is like all they do is to pay salaries and go home. We need to devolve more powers to the states because of their proximity to the people so that they will not always run to the Federal Government to solve their challenges. I studied in the US. When I was in school, we had campus police. Then, you had city police, county police, borough police, state police and MBI on top of all that. Before MBI is brought into any matter, the city, county would have sufficiently taken care of it in most cases. But, in our own case, we turn to the federal agencies. Now, we have even turned the military into a local police. Any issue now, the military are drafted into it, which is not supposed to be. So, I think there is need for true federalism. The Federal Government is even overwhelmed.

    What is your advice to the APC family as your leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, is trying to reconcile the aggrieved chieftains?

    They have a lesson to learn from the party they took power from. If there are issues within the party and they are not resolved, what you are doing, in essence, is pushing power away from your party. I am sure the actors don’t want to lose. If you lose, you become sober and you realise how stupid you have been by being unnecessarily heady. So, I think that Asiwaju is leading this type of effort gives a lot of hope that things can still be re-connected. I am praying strongly that commonsense will prevail at the end of the day. I am happy that Asiwaju is taking up that huge, herculean responsibility of uniting the factions and aggrieved chieftains in the party.

     

  • 91,000 refugees to return from Cameroon in February

    The Federal Government (FG) in collaboration with the Cameronian government and the United Nations  High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) will begin the process of returning 91,000 Nigerian refugees from Cameroon next month.

    The collaboration, which was formed through a tripartite commission, has the sole responsibility of repatriating the refugees, who are at the Minawao refugee camp.

    Head Humanitarian, Resettlement and Assistance  department, Presidential Committee on the Northeast Initiative (PCNI) Dr Sidi Ali said that the process has already began.

    He added that they are hoping that by the end of February the final process of bringing them back into the country will commence.

    Dr Ali, who revealed that the refugees are desperate to return home, lamented  poor funding.  According to him, of the N45 billion budgetted for the Northeast in 2017, only N10 billion has been received so far.

    He said: ” As we speak the Nigerian, Cameroonian governments and UNHCR have formed the tripartite commission with the sole responsibility of bringing the refugees back to Nigeria. They are currently in Minawao camp in Cameroon, the processes has already began, we are doing the profiling and making arrangements , putting the reception centers in place. Initially we where looking at February, early February but by and large, we are hoping that by the end of February the final process of bringing them back into the country will commence.

    “Relocation of IDPs and stabilisation of camps, returnees registration and profiling, the number of people that we are bringing back into the country from our neighbouring countries particularly Cameroon has grown from 80,000 last year to 91,000. It is a task that we must be able to accomplish in 2018 by putting all hands on deck to bring these people back to Nigeria.”