The Nation Newspaper

Tag: review

  • Govt mulls review of pensions

    Govt mulls review of pensions

    The Federal Government  would review pensions of pensioners in the country in line with the provisions of the enabling laws, The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige has said.

    He said the government is determined to fully implement the provisions of section 173(3) of the constitution that makes review of pension compulsory every five years, or at any increment of salaries.

    Ngige, who spoke while receiving leaders of the Association of Contributory Pensioners of Nigeria (ACPN), said the Nigerian constitution is clear on how pension should be administered in the country, adding that once salaries of workers are reviewed, it will automatically affect pensions of retireses.

    He said: “The constitution is clear in section 173(3) on how pension should be administered. It is to be reviewed every five years, or upon an increment in salary. A review was done in 2011 on minimum wage, and once the minimum wage is touched, it should automatically affect the pension.

    “I am not a believer in George Orwell’s Animal Kingdom (Farm) where some animals are more equal than others. I do not believe in different yardstick for different persons; this is the law of nature and of creation; we are all created equal.  It is just that some people are more privileged than the others.”

  • Review those figures

    •Provisions for rent for President and VP and the huge allocation for Aso Villa maintenance do not reflect present reality 

    Now that details of the 2016 budget have been released by the Budget Office, speculations as to alleged extravagance in some areas could be matched with facts. One item that stands out like the sore thumb is the amount earmarked for the maintenance of the seat of power – Aso Villa. For the year, the government intends to spend about N4billion for general maintenance.

    During the year, the Presidency proposes to spend N1.5 billion on motor vehicles and the accessories while about N48 million is earmarked for rent for the two leaders residing in Aso Villa. This curious item raises posers that should be answered by the Presidency. It is known by all that both the President and his deputy are quartered by the country. They are not affected by the ill-executed monetisation policy introduced by former President Olusegun Obasanjo. Why, then, should they be paid house rents?

    While the government and its supporters have sought to justify the provision on the ground of the quality expected from the giant construction company, Julius Berger, and the need to project the image of the country well, some analysts have raised poser on the appropriateness of the figure at a time that Nigerians are being asked to tighten their belts in preparation for harsh economic climate.

    We find it difficult to match the provision against the decay of infrastructure in the country. The universities are in sorry state as students continue to sit on window frames and some on the floor in auditoriums to receive lectures. Research grants are now rare and linkages with foreign universities are hard to come by.

    Only recently, the Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, announced that the Federal Government would make attempts to upgrade facilities in selected federal hospitals with a view to stemming the tide of capital flight through medical tourism. The power sector remains a puzzle. Privatisation and the elaborate road map launched for the sector under the Jonathan administration have failed to yield fruits, and the economy remains in the wood.

    The budget itself is being largely funded with deficit financing owing to the depleted revenue inflow that could be traced to the slump in oil prices. These are issues posing a huge challenge to the Federal Government at the moment. Yet, the Boko Haram insurgency in the North east continues to make demands on the central purse with troops to be fed and kitted and displaced persons to be sheltered and fed. Military equipment are to be provided and large-scale destruction of infrastructure to be fixed.

    One reason Nigeria remains a sleeping giant is the disposition of leaders to live like emperors of yore. The level of commitment to the public good has been abysmally low. We call on members of the executive and legislative arms of government to show dedication to the task of building a new nation. They must live by example; that is tighten their belts before seeking the understanding of their compatriots.

    This is not the time to engage in frivolous spending. It is rather a time to concentrate on the essentials and build for the future.  It is a time that leaders are expected to be willing to make necessary sacrifices. Besides, opulence is not generally associated with President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo. One factor that attracted the electorate to the pair was the image of disciplined, Spartan men who were coming to office to serve; give rather than receive from the country. They cannot afford to betray the trust reposed in them.

     

  • Three anniversaries in review

    Three anniversaries in review

    This past weekend, three anniversaries conflated to accentuate the perennial debate on what I have often referred to in this space and elsewhere as the Nigerian Condition – Children’s Day, “Democracy Day,” and one year of the Buhari Administration.

    Children’s Day, an international event, is the oldest of the three.   It has been marked in Nigeria for several decades, even if not always in substantive terms.  It is also the least contentious.  No one disputes the place of children in the scheme of things.  Everyone is agreed that the future belongs to them, and that everything must be done to make that future secure and sustainable.

    Whether the foundation for such a future is being laid now is an entirely different issue, what with shabby state of the public educational infrastructure, the plummeting standard of education at virtually every level, the mistreatment of teachers that seems to have become a fundamental principle of state policy, and the bad examples children see wherever they turn.

    There was Senate president Dr Bukola Saraki on national television, regal as always and not           in the least diffident, reading to a group of children to mark the anniversary.  Lost on him was the incongruity of a senior political official, third in the formal national hierarchy, presuming  to serve as a role model for children while on break from criminal prosecution on perjury and relate charges.

    Next time he is shown in court on television, not a few of the children to whom he was reading will wonder why he is one day presuming to set them on the right path and the next day peering at them from the Code of Conduct Tribunal’s dock.

    Only in Nigeria.

    “Democracy Day” was controversial right from its proclamation by former President Olusegun Obasanjo to mark the day he took office, at the end of a rushed transition designed by those elements who survived the attrition and skullduggery of the Babangida/Abacha years to ease themselves into opulent retirement.

    None of those who succeeded them had seen the Constitution from which their power presumably derived, not even Obasanjo himself, who usually takes nothing for granted.  But the military were so desperate to vacate the scene, and the politicians so desperate to take over, that nobody asked any questions, let alone inconvenient ones.

    When the Constitution was finally released, Gani Fawehinmi, of fragrant memory, warned that it was so riddled with ambiguities that it could not be expected to guide Nigeria to a stable, democratic future.

    Gani, our Gani, was right on the mark.

    Sham elections, brazen manipulation of the judiciary, thieving by political officials in and out of uniform on a scale beyond belief, scant regard for basic decencies and for rules of civic engagement, came to define politics, with Abuja showing the way.

    It is a measure of the extent to which their “Democracy Day” has lived up to expectations that the PDP which foisted it on the nation and promised with Napoleonic conceit to hold power for 60 years in the first instance, is on this anniversary in disarray, hugely discredited and justly reviled for its overweening corruption and its staggering lack of vision. Under the PDP, Nigeria became a full-blown kleptocracy with hardly any redeeming grace.

    This, then, is their “Democracy Day,” a monument to pillage and squandered opportunity.

    It remains to add that their “Democracy Day” was erected on the epic struggle of Nigerians  and their sacrifice in toil and tears and blood to establish a government based on the pan-Nigerian mandate won in the June12, 1993 presidential election won by the Muslim-Muslim ticket of Bashorun Moshood Abiola and Babagana Kingibe, a sacrifice that the May Twenty Niners  have never summoned the honesty and the decency to acknowledge.

    In the hearts and minds of millions of Nigerians, June 12 has a much stronger claim to being Nigeria’ s Democracy Day, and will continue to be celebrated as such with greater eloquence and  conviction than May 29.

    May 29  also happens to mark President Muhammadu Buhari’s first year in office.  The appraisals have ranged from witheringly dismissive to mildly approving, with Ayo Fayose’s belonging in a special case of the congenitally lunatic.

    “What are the consequences of the French Revolution?” Henry Kissinger once asked the Chinese statesman Zhou Enlai?  “Too early to tell, Zhou told the former U.S. Secretary of State a distinguished historian.  And Zhou was not being facetious.

    In that context, one year is too short a period for any categorical assessment of Buhari’s tenure.   It provides an opportunity to review the choices he has made.  It furnishes some indication of the direction, the path the administration is likely to follow.  What seems the most informed appraisal of the moment may in the womb of time turn out to be dead wrong.

    Still, it has to be said that Buhari did not hit the ground running, pardon the cliché, as the APC had led the public to believe he would, and as the scale of the mess left behind by Jonathan and his team on every facet of national life demanded.

    He took an inordinately long time putting together his Cabinet.  When he finally did, the result felt far short of public expectations, given the challenges of the moment.

    He and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo set an inspiring example by making public their portfolio of assets; since taking office, they have together cut a profile that is a sharp departure from the   excess and the vulgarity of the Jonathan years.  But much more than that was required to assure the public that Change, a new way of conducting government business, was on the threshold.

    It would have struck a resounding blow for Change, as I had urged in this space, if the President were to declare that he would assume responsibility for domestic expenses for himself and his family and the cost of entertaining his personal guests, leaving the Nigerian taxpayer to pay only for official dinners and such outings hosted by the State House.

    Office cleaners take care of their families on the national minimum-wage salary of N18,000 they are paid several months late, if at all.  Why shouldn’t the President do the same?  What is the justification for this tradition whereby a president becomes for all practical purposes a ward of the state, with all his needs and fancies paid for from the public purse?

    Ending this pernicious state of affairs would signal Change that the public can embrace even when being asked to show understanding; it would have a ripple effect that will help cut the cost of governance and generate funds that can be invested more productively.

    Buhari should certainly be reminded of his campaign promises.  But how much can you do with an empty treasury and dwindling revenues in a global economy in recession?  Given some of the brutal realities the administration now has to contend with, the unpleasant truth is that a good many of those promises cannot be fulfilled in their original  form anytime soon.  But he must move quickly to implement faithfully those that are still feasible.

    In the end, however, even the most churlish critic will have to grant that Buhari has broken Boko Haram’s backbone; that he has put corruption on notice that it will no longer go unchallenged, despite the best efforts of pettifoggers shielding behind a strategic ritual they call the “rule of law,” and that he has arrested the drift, the serial impunity and the decadence of the Jonathan years.

    This last is almost achievement enough.

    Those who dispute it should contemplate where the nation would be today if Dr Jonathan and the Obtainers United had succeeded in suborning election officials to alter the returns of the 2015 poll so that they can remain in control, Potemkin “transformation” and all.

  • Issues for Constitution review, by rights group

    Issues for Constitution review, by rights group

    The Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS), founded by a former Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) president Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has identified issues that should be included in Constitution amendment.

    They include restructuring the political arrangement to strengthen the states and local governments through devolution of powers, and reviewing the Exclusive List which confers too much power, responsibilities and wealth on the centre.

    According to HURILAWS, the Concurrent List, which it said gives the Federal Government more say in matters that ordinarily should be the exclusive domain of state governments, should also be amended.

    The group believes the amendment should have provisions that strengthen key institutions that support democracy, such as the courts, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the police, anti-corruption agencies, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the National Human Rights Commission, Accountant-General, Attorney-General, Auditor-General, among others.

    HURILAWS’ Senior Legal /Programme Officer, Collins Okeke, said the major cause of political and economic tension is the inability to build consensus on the Constitution.

    The group urged the lawmakers to introduce a declaration of a nullity clause in the Constitution, clarify appropriation procedure for the judiciary and its jurisdiction, and strengthen key institutions.

    On the nullity clause, HURILAWS said the Constitution should expressly declare unconstitutional acts null and void, adding that it is not enough for the Courts alone to declare something a nullity.

    It said: “Evidence of violation of constitutional provisions should be enough for acts to be considered null and void.

    “The Courts would only play a narrow role of declaring invalid, any breach of the Constitution. Section 1 of the Constitution should be altered by inserting immediately after subsection (3), a new Subsection ‘1(4)’, which should read: ‘If any act is inconsistent with the Constitution, that act shall be null and void…’”

    On judiciary’s funding, the group said Section 81 should be altered by inserting immediately after subsection (2),  a new Subsection “81 (2) A & B” which would read: ‘(A) Notwithstanding Subsection (2), estimates of the revenues and expenditures of the Judiciary are not part of the Appropriation Bill’. ‘(B) The National Judicial Council shall cause to be prepared and laid before each House of  the National Assembly at any anytime in each financial year estimates of the revenues and expenditures of the Judiciary.”

    On Federal High Court’s jurisdiction, HURILAWS said specialised administrative tribunals such as the Investment and Securities Tribunal and Tax Appeal Tribunal share jurisdiction on some subjects due to Section 251 (1) of the Constitution.

    “The Constitution needs to clarify the jurisdiction of the Federal High Court and these specialised tribunals to avoid conflicts. The international best practice is to encourage specialised administrative tribunals because they have technical expertise, flexibility and speed. The regular courts tend to lack skills and are overcrowded.

    “We propose two options: Option 1: make jurisdiction of the Federal High Court in Section 251 (1) concurrent. Section 251 (1) of the Constitution is altered by deleting from Section 251 (1) the words ‘to the exclusion of any other court’.

    “Option 2: clearly delineate jurisdiction of the Federal High in relation to specialised tribunals.  This will require alteration of Section 251 (1) (a)-(s) of the principal Act,” the group said.

    The group said institutions such as the INEC, Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission and others have no constitutional guarantees for independence and effective functioning, such as security of tenure, guaranteed funding and insulation from political interference.

    “It is of absolute importance that there should be some guarantees that make them independent and free from interference. We should borrow a leaf from Chapter 9 of the Constitution of South Africa titled ‘Institutions Consolidating Democracy’.

    “It is suggested that Chapter 9 of the South African Constitution should replace our Section 153 or our Section 153 should be amended to strengthen INEC, Police, ICPC, etc. They should be recognised and made vital National Institutions. They should be entitled to first charge on the federation account and other necessary guarantees by the Constitution,” HURILAWS said.

  • ‘Review salary to avoid crisis’

    Construction workers, under the aegis of National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW), have urged the Federation of Construction Industry (FOCI) to review the salary of workers to avoid industrial crisis.

    President of the union Mr. Amaechi Asugwuni, gave the warning at a press briefing in Lagos to highlight the plight of construction workers. He said FOCI, which is the employers association in the industry, had delayed the review of the salary in spite of several negotiations.

    ‘’The employers must be in line with industrial procedures. Salaries should be reviewed based on dialogue. The only way to compensate workers for excess job is to increase their salaries. We will not accept a situation where workers are overworked and paid less,” the union leader said.

    He stated that since 2008, the union has been negotiating a review of workers’ salary in line with the National Joint Industrial Council agreement. He said since employers in the industry have been sacking workers because of economic down turn, it was necessary to increase the salaries of the few workers.

    Asugwuni said, ‘’Anybody who wants to drive a business must regard labour. The employers said that government has not paid them for jobs executed and sacked thousands of workers. The employers have continued to sack workers as a result of dwindling fortune. Now, one person does the job of three persons that is why we urge the employers to review their salary.”

    Asugwuni however, said the union has not protested the sack of workers because it wanted the few that were retained to be well remunerated.

    He, however, did not state the number of sacked workers and construction companies involved, but said the union would not tolerate workers being treated with disregard.

    The NUCECFWW president also said the union would start an interactive campaign for the workers to know the state of issue and steps to take when necessary.

  • Why push for review of power privatisation is gathering momentum

    Why push for review of power privatisation is gathering momentum

    Two years after the privatisation of the power sector, Nigerians, especially manufacturers, are yet to enjoy improved electricity supply. They are being slapped with arbitrary tariff increases and unwarranted disconnections. Disengaged electricity workers are agonising over non-payment of their gratuity, severance allowance and other entitlements. These have prompted calls for a review of the exercise, Assistant Editor CHIKODI OKEREOCHA reports.

    The Chairman, Economic Policy Committee (EPC), Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Mr Reginald Ike Odiah, is angry.

    He does not hide his anger and frustration over the huge toll irregular electricity supply is taking on manufacturers and others operators in the economy. Odiah, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Bennett Industries Limited, was forced, at a forum, to raise the alarm that despite the handover of the power sector to private investors under privatisation, two years ago, manufacturers still spend a whopping N500 billion yearly for running and maintaining their power plants.

    The forum was the 48th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of MAN Ikeja branch, Lagos. Presenting a paper titled: ‘Serious constraints to sustainability of the real sector (From a manufacturer’s perspective),’ he expressed regrets that the handover of the 18 successor companies of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) to new core investors has failed to provide the anticipated reprieve in the form of improved electricity supply to Nigerians especially manufacturers. He said the huge cost of providing alternative electricity is largely responsible for the high production cost for manufacturers.

    Giving details of the unsavoury consequences of skyrocketing cost of production to manufacturers as a result of irregular power supply, Odiah said: “Manufacturing cost in Nigeria is twice that of Ghana, four times that of South Africa and Europe, and nine times that of China and Malaysia.”

    He listed other crippling effects of high production cost to include low Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contribution by the real sector, especially manufacturing to the economy; lack of interest in investing in Nigeria by both local and foreign investors; closure of factories and migration of surviving ones to greener pastures and others.

    For instance, while Nigeria’s real sector contribution to GDP, according to Odiah, currently stands at 9.5 per cent, those of the United States (U.S) and China stand at 35.6 per cent and 49.5 per cent  respectively. Also, Japan, India and Germany boast of 38.2 per cent, 38.4 per cent and 35.9 per cent real sector contribution to GDP, respectively. He said the sector’s low GDP contribution to the local economy caused by lack of basic infrastructure, especially electricity, is also responsible for the huge losses in tax revenue for the government as well as the high unemployment rate.

    Indeed, manufacturers’ productivity and competitiveness have continued to nosedive despite the power sector privatisation. MAN President, Dr. Frank Udemba Jacobs admitted this much when he said a survey by MAN on manufacturers’ energy consumption in 2014 showed that on monthly average, manufacturers expended over N73.12 million on alternative sources of energy.

    Speaking during an interactive session between the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and MAN, he said the share of energy cost to total cost of production in the sector was about 40 per cent.

    The Federal Government had in November 2013 unbundled PHCN into 18 successor companies and subsequently handed over the power assets of the successor companies to private investors. The exercise was expected to set the stage for a major transformation of the power sector to guarantee uninterrupted electricity supply to the manufacturing sector and Nigerians in general. But two years after, this has not happened. Rather than enjoy significant improvement in electricity supply, Nigeria’s electricity generation capacity has been wobbling between 3, 500 Megawatts (Mw) and 4, 000 Mw in the last two years, leaving sour taste in the mouth of consumers.

    While Nigerians, in their usual never-say-die-disposition, would probably have taken the deplorable and unfortunate situation in their stride, the arbitrary and startling increase in tariff and other discomforting developments such as fixed charges and unwarranted disconnections by electricity distribution companies (DisCos) have continued to rob salt to injury. The fixed charge is that component of the tariff that commits electricity consumers to paying an certain amount of money mostly on a monthly basis, irrespective of whether electricity is consumed during the billing period or not.

    The DisCos have been clamouring for tariff increase even before privatisation. They however, had their way penultimate week when Federal Government, in what could pass as ‘Christmas gift’ to DisCos, approved new electricity tariffs in the country. The new tariff regime increased tariff by about 45 per cent.

    According to NERC Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr. Sam Amadi, electricity consumers would no longer pay the contentious and vexatious fixed charge included in the monthly electricity bills issued by the 11 DisCos in the country. Consumers would now only pay for what they consume monthly (pay-as-you-consume).

    But it is doubtful if Amadi’s explanation doused growing public outcry that Nigerians are being short-changed by DisCos while NERC allegedly looked the other way.

    For Mr Henry Boyo, an economic analyst, the most worrisome of the shoddy privatisation exercise was the fact that despite not getting improvement in power supply, Nigeria ended up with a loss of N400 billion after selling the DisCos. “The same group of people to whom we sold the distribution and generation companies and made a loss of N400 billion incurred from the allowances and outstanding payments to contractors and all that, suddenly find that they don’t have the money to run the companies efficiently,” he said.

    Boyo told The Nation that it was curious that in spite of the fact that Nigeria ended up with N400 billion in debts as a result of selling the DisCos, government still went ahead to give the private investors soft loan to enable them run supposedly privatised entities.

    “In view of the abysmal performance in the power sector, President Muhammadu Buhari should take a closer look at how Nigerians were left with over N400billion debt after the privatisation of the distribution network of the former PHCN.

    “It is equally curious that two years thereafter, government continues to breastfeed the DisCos with selective interest waivers, which have not guaranteed low tariffs or improved performance,” Boyo said.

    For electricity workers, privatisation of the power sector was the height of shoddiness. They are, therefore, advocating a review. Acting under the aegis of National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), the workers insist that the review was necessary in view of the fact that the new core investors have failed to make significant investment in the growth and development of the sector.

    Speaking with The Nation at the its  fifth Quadrennial/10th Delegates Conference in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, its immediate past National President Comrade Mansur Muhammed Musa said apart from the investment the Federal Government made in the sector before the sale, the investors have not considered it expedient to invest in the sector’s growth. This, he said, was why despite the privatisation, Nigerians still groan in darkness, lack of metres, dearth of power infrastructure and high tariff, among other issues.

    While accusing the investors of smiling to the bank at the expense of Nigerians, especially workers who have little or nothing to show for their hard work, Musa pointed out that the investors have failed to meet most of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) spelt out to them before privatisation. “I strongly advocate for a review of the privatisation exercise,” Musa emphasised, noting that the terrain and industrial climate of the sector has been gloomy after the handover of the sector to the investors about two years ago.

    “If you look at what is happening in the power sector, you will see that nothing has changed. The proponents of privatisation, that is government as the leader, said there would be foreign direct investment inflow into the sector, and that there will be efficiency.

    “But two years after, we have not seen investments and the owners of the new companies do not have the competence to run the power sector. All of them did not run any power sector before they came to buy,” he told The Nation.

    Musa said what Nigerians are experiencing is tariff review or adjustment in collaboration with NERC despite the fact that power production is still wobbling at between 3, 00 and 4, 000 Mw while tariff keeps rising.

    “NERC was to cap the ceiling of estimation; they will tell the investors or the companies that they cannot charge an estimated bill beyond certain amount. That would have encouraged the companies to supply metres to the customers, but they did not do that.

    “So, what the companies are doing now is that they give estimated bills. So, you find out that you don’t have electricity, but you must pay higher bills,” he lamented.

    It is not electricity workers’ grouse that is fuelling the call for a review, disengaged workers of the power firm have one complain or the other aginst the process.

    At the last count, over 5, 000 disengaged staff of PHCN’s 50, 000 workforce are yet to be paid their gratuity, severance and other entitlements two years after privatisation.

    NUEE General Secretary, Joe Ajaero, lamented that the government reneged on its promise to pay the gratuity and pension arrears of the workers. “The government has not fulfilled its obligation to pay the gratuity and pension of PHCN workers because each of the about 50, 000 staff of PHCN has one case or the other,” he said.

    Ajaero said, for instance, over 1, 000 death benefits were yet to be paid to the next-of-kin of workers who died in service, while many former PHCN workers are yet to be paid their leave bonuses by the government. Others are also yet to get their bulk housing rent, which, before privatisation, was usually paid once a year.

    “We pay bulk housing once in a year. So, if your monthly housing is N10, 000,  nobody will pay you the N10, 000 at the end of the month; they will pay you N120, 000 either at the beginning or at the end of the year depending on the category you fall into to enable people pay house rent in bulk. So, many people fall under this category and they have not paid them,” he  said.

    He expressed regrets that the government failed to meet its obligation on the payment of workers’ entitlements despite signing agreement with the union around June 2012. He said workers’ entitlements were calculated up to that month. “By that time, if you had worked for 10 years up to June 2012, government did not pay this entitlement till October/November 2013, and there was a period of 16 months in-between. You now pay the person for those 10 years when there is additional 16 months entitlement and even pension contribution.”

    He said though the union insisted that the additional 16 months cannot be national service, the government, at a stage, said it was going to pay only pension, which is 7.5 per cent, leaving the gratuity and severance component.

    Ajaero, who described the power sector privatisation as an ‘arrangee’, argued that before liquidating a company, the liquidator must address the issue of creditors, and the first in the issue of creditors is employee creditors. “Under the Company and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), employee creditors are paramount,” he said.

    Ajaero pointed out that the Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company (NEMCO) Limited, which was set up to take over PHCN’s core assets, ought to have known that since PHCN has an old workforce and a pool of retirees, their pension is supposed to continue.

     

    NERC’s position

    Amid growing agitation for review of the power privatisation, NERC says it believes in the sanctity of the privatisation process. Dr Amadi said his commitment to the on-going privatisation of the power sector remains unwavering. He also reassured investors, both within and outside the country, of the regulator’s commitment to drive the reform process to a conclusive end.

    On the new tariff regime, the Commission said: “It was the result of a transparent, rigorous and credible rate review process that will lead to greater reliability in the provision of electricity. It added that with the review, “more people will progressively have access to the grid, more meters will be deployed and the need for self generation would be gradually reduced.”

    NERC said it expects DisCos to provide better customer service in all aspects of their operations and would hold them responsible for their service level agreements.

  • Anatomists seek review of Act

    Anatomists have been urged to see themselves as partners in nation building.

    The Commissioner of Police, Dr. Wilson Akhiwu, a pathologist, said this at the Anatomical Society of Nigeria (ASN) 12th Scientific Conference and Annual General Meeting (AGM), at the University of Benin, Benin City.

    In a lecture titled: “The anatomist and forensic anthropology”, Akhiwu said forensic anthropologists and biologists were vital to the country.

    The keynote speaker, Prof. Ayodele B. O. Desalu, who spoke on “The role of anatomist in nation building”, harped on the roles of anatomists in  some sectors, including security, economy, education and healthcare.

    Presentations at the event also urged anatomists to adopt research in their works.

    The presenters called for the  revisitation of the Anatomical Cap Act of 1933, and  broadening of the career options of anatomists to make graduates employable.

    In its communiqué, the group  asked departments of Anatomy to incorporate the following courses in their curricula: Behavioural and Reproductive Biology, Mortuary Science and Funeral Directing, Introduction to Forensic Science, Medical Anthropology and Archeology, Stereology and Biological Morphometry, Basic Histopathology, Sports Science, Aesthetics and Cosmetology and Basic Prosthetics.

    The comunique signed by National President Prof. T. W. Jacks and General Secretary (ASN) Dr. Bernard U. Enaibe, reads: “Following the observed lapses in the  constitution of the association and the ambiguity of the document on certain important issues as tenure and membership of Board of Trustees and Advisory Council, the AGM called for a review of the document (Constitution).

    “The House also directed that the review be in line with the proposed revision of the Anatomical Act of 1933. A five-man committee headed by Prof. M. B. T.  Umar of the University of Jos was set up to act on the mandate by the House.

    “Having observed the anachronistic nature of the Anatomical Act of 1933; an act that has been left buried in the sands of history, the AGM emphasised the need to review it in line with its needs and contemporary issues surrounding the development of Anatomy as a discipline; professionalising and diversifying the subject with the view of enthroning the subject as one of absolute boundlessness in the scheme biomedical, physical and earth sciences. It further directed that such revision should be initiated by the executive council and done through the appropriate channel- the National Assembly.’’

    It continued: “The AGM was informed of the ill-advised directive from the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) to Vice-Chancellors to employ only appropriate medically qualified teachers to teach medical/dental students by 2019. However, the AGM was also informed that the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) has rejected the directive in its entirety because it runs contrary to global best practices, which encourage multi-disciplinary approach to research for innovative discoveries across disciplines. As a result, the House called for unity and peaceful coexistence for inter-professional capacity building between the two backgrounds of Anatomy teachers in Nigeria.

    Professor Blessing Chimezie Didia, the immediate past president of the association and the guest of honour on the occasion, was conferred with an honour “for exemplary leadership’’.

    They pledged to professionalise Anatomy  and reposition it for productivity.

  • Electricity workers seek review

    Electricity workers, acting  under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), has called for a review of the power sector privatisation exercise, saying the new core investors have failed to make significant investment in the growth and development of the sector.

    Speaking at the Union’s 5th Quadrennial/10th Delegates Conference in Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, NUEE National President Comrade Mansur Muhammed Musa said aside the investment Federal Government made in the sector before the the successor firms of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) were sold out, the new investors have not considered it expedient to invest in the sector’s growth.

    He siad in spite of the privatisation, Nigerians still groan in darkness, lack of meters, dearth of power infrastructure and high tariff, among other issues, while the investors smile to the bank at the expense of Nigerians especially workers who have little or nothing to show for their hard work.

    “I strongly advocate for a review of the privatisation exercise,” Musa said, adding that the successor companies of PHCN have failed to meet most of the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), which the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) spelt out to them before the privatisation exercise.

  • Jonathan calls for review of use of card readers

    Jonathan calls for review of use of card readers

    Former President Dr. Goodluck Jonathan  yesterday called for a review of the concept of the card reader before the 2019 general elections.

    He made the call after his accreditation at Otazi Playground, Polling Unit 039, Ward 13, Otuoke, Ogbia LGA.

    Jonathan and his wife’s first attempt at accreditation at about 8:45a.m was unsuccessful on account of malfunctioning card readers.

    On his impression, Jonathan said, “I advise that before the 2019 election, the whole concept of card reader and the technology must be reviewed.”

    The former president observed, “I’m quite worried about the card reader issue this morning. Luckily, this is an isolated, one-state election. But from my experiences today, INEC must review this issue of PVC and card readers very well before we go into the next election.”

    Going down memory lane, he said “In the last presidential elections, myself and my wife’s PVCs were rejected by the card reader. Today, because they changed mine and that of my wife’s, it was successful.

    “Five people came with me including a former commissioner known to me in the state. The card reader rejected three others’. They could not have been carrying a clone cards.”

    The former president, who looked calm as ever, admonished Bayelsans to be calm and see politics as a duty to bring about change in the society.

    He averred that transparent and credible election are hallmarks of democracy, adding that when elections are not peaceful, they cannot be said to be credible.

    According to him, the votes of the citizens must count, reiterating that “all my people from Bayelsa State should ensure that we conduct a peaceful and credible election.”

    He said come what may, whoever emerged governor after the voting exercise should govern the state well.

     

  • Principal seeks review of teachers’ retirement age

    Former principal, King’s College (KC), Lagos, Otunba Oladele Olapeju has called for a review of teachers’ retirement age to align with that of university professors and avoid waste of intellectual resources.

    He made the call after completing a one-hour session of teaching English Language to SS 2 pupils in a ‘back to class’ engagement as part activities to mark his retirement from the school.

    Many retired and serving principals of KC and Queen’s College (QC) participated in the special ‘back to class’ day and taught different senior classes on the college’s main campus at Tafawa Balewa Square.

    He said: “As a teacher, you must continue to learn. Students put you in your toes so you are forced to add more knowledge consistently, and this challenge is what I would miss the most about teaching. Which is why I think it is a waste of resources for teachers to retire at age 60, whereas, in the university, a professor now retires at 70. Some teachers might still be needed in the system by using their experience and exposure to mentor others. I think there should be a review in the retirement age of teachers.”

    Mrs Mojisola Abolade, 69-year old 2006 retiree of QC, said teaching again brought back memories.

    “The experience was just the same. The pupils were very responsive, eager to learn and participatory. It was just like a question and answer session. To get that effect from them, I had to relate with them in a friendly manner. I got to know them; I moved round and showed interest in each pupil. I even saw a boy with a boil in the eye and I asked him about it. Then I began the teaching session, as I taught them about ‘the disequilibrium in the balance of payments’ in economics,” she said.

    Prior to the session, emeritus professor of education, University of Ibadan (UI), Michael Omolewa called for the restoration of privileges and incentives enjoyed by teachers before independence as a way of building sustainable societies.

    He faulted politicians and government for the poor regard for teachers as well as poor wages and urged the present administration to make a change.

    Omolewa said: “The story of teacher incentives has not produced a straight graph of adequate reward and compensation. At independence, teachers were mostly members of parliament combining law making with their jobs. They were well-paid… This arrangement was to change at independence when teachers began to experience the increasing loss of status and wages as the new political leaders began to complain about the attractive conditions of the staff of the University College at Ibadan… Thus university teachers began to lose their initial advantage in terms of wages, salaries and emoluments. The teaching load of staff had also thus increased with minimal economic compensation.”

    He stressed that empowerment of teachers must consistently remain a priority to any nation that was genuinely interested in national development.