The Nation Newspaper

Tag: SERVANT

  • Tribute to a worthy servant

    Tribute to a worthy servant

    A book, Eze Madumere: A True Manifestation of a Loyal Prince – Tributes to a Worthy Servant, written in honour of Imo Deputy Governor Prince Eze Madumere, was presented at the Sam Mbakwe Hall of Concorde Hotel, Owerri in Imo State, writes NNEKA NWANERI.

    What was meant to be a book launch almost turned out to be a political gathering of sort. Many came from far and wide to Imo State to honour one of their own and number two citizen of the state, Prince Eze Madumere.

    It was the presentation of Madumere’s biography written by Peter Claver Obi entitled: Eze Madumere: A True Manifestation of a Loyal Prince – Tributes to a Worthy Servant.

    The book is a pictorial compilation of some of the activities of the man with a brief touch on his contributions towards the success story of the state. It began with his friendship with Governor Rochas Okorocha and subsequently their mutual political interest. They then began their political sojourn that led to the ‘Rescue Mission’ of the state, being their slogan.

    The book was first reviewed by Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Prof Joseph Ahaneku  and then Prof. U.D. Anyanwu of the Department of History and International Studies, Imo State University.

     

  • Juwah as model public servant

    Telecommunications has become the chief enabler of any economy. It is a sector that does not only directly contribute to the economy but it impacts other sectors, providing for them the conveyor belt to take businesses from small scale enterprises to mega-corporations. This is why the advanced nations and strongly emerging economies of Asia have taken the matter of telecoms very seriously. Whether it is the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of the United States or the Office of Communications (OfCom) of the UK, governments from across the globe have always insisted on the observance of best practices from their respective telecom regulators.

    In Nigeria, the statutory telecom regulator, the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) has borne the burden of midwifing the nation’s telecom sector, right from the days of the military when the commission was created by the Ibrahim Babangida regime via Decree 75 of 1992. But the commission never really flourished until the advent of democracy. Specifically, its impact began to be felt among the people in 2001 when the first set of Global System for Mobile (GSM) communications operators rolled out services. It marked a defining moment in the sector that has since 1886 when the first cable communication was established with England from the colony of Lagos.

    Before the GSM operators rolled out service in 2001, aggregate telephone throughput in Nigeria had hovered between 400,000 and 500,000 lines made up largely of analogue lines. The state-run telco, NITEL, was a monumental failure, made inept by public sector lethargy. Attempt to integrate the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) genre of telephony was at the very best, fitful. Investment in the sector barely grossed over $50 million. New jobs were not created because growth and profitability were stunted. Government interference in the running of the sector did not help matters, either. And so, a sector that was supposed to enable other sectors attain efficiency and profitability was itself needing help.

    Today, however, the Nigeria telecom narrative has changed. The regulator, NCC, has proved beyond doubt that privatisation and deregulation are the best therapies for ailing public corporations and sectors once held bound by government inertia. Two iconic characters, both of them engineers, stand out in this journey from telecom backwaters to a nirvana where Nigeria is mentioned and qualified with beautiful superlatives in the global telecom canvas. Whereas Ernest Ndukwe (he succeeded the late Emmanuel Nnama) started what is commonly called the ‘telecom revolution’, his successor, Dr. Eugene Juwah, has not only sustained the revolution, he has indeed upped the ante, growing the telephone throughput from 88 million lines upon his assumption of office in July 2010 to over 130 million lines.

    Under Juwah, Nigeria’s profile in the global telecom arena has shot up to the acclamation of both the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the telecom arm of the United Nations.

    It is little surprise that he was honoured recently as The Sun newspaper Public Servant of the Year 2014. Juwah, the man commonly referred to as Nigeria’s Broadband Evangelist, was at his engineering and administrative best last year. It was the year that investments in the Nigeria telecoms sector grossed over a hefty $32 billion, it was the year that aggregate telephone lines in Nigeria crossed a record 130 million lines (in fact total subscriber base was at a time 132,186,840 lines) in a country of about 170 million people, thus pushing tele-density to as high as 94.84 percent.

    In 2014, total number of internet subscribers for GSM mobile galloped to over 70 million. But beyond numbers and statistics, 2014 marked the highest elevation of Nigeria telecom in the global circuit as Juwah was appointed the Chairman of the Council and Executive Committee of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO) during the CTO Annual Council Meeting held in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Besides, it was the year the commission mopped multiple awards to justify its rating as Africa’s model telecom regulator.

    It was therefore most fitting that Juwah was honoured for his outstanding performance at the NCC and much more for his stellar achievements last year. Juwah’s success at NCC has stood Nigeria out at the ITU community. Nigerians who travel the world would easily recall the harrowing experiences they go through at most airports on account of the country’s poor reputation. Those who attend international seminars and conferences need not be reminded of how the global audience had sneered and sniggered at the mention of Nigeria at such meets. But not so with telecom! Juwah and his troop at NCC have given Nigeria a sweetly flavoured name among global investors and telecom techies including regulators from across the globe.

    Year after year, telecom regulators from other nations jet into Nigeria to understudy the NCC with the singular intent of deploying the Nigerian telecom regulatory template to foster regulatory excellence within their respective jurisdictions.

    Since the rollout of GSM services in 2001, issues such as quality of service and cost of service have dogged every discourse. Juwah never shied away from them. Step by step, without grinding the businesses of investors, he has rallied the operators to invest more as a way of ramping up the technical integrity of their networks. Even much so, Juwah was not oppressive of the telecom consumer. He has consistently advocated regulation with a human face. The review of interconnect rate, slashing of the cost of short message service (SMS) among others were carefully thought through interventions meant to help the consumer while also ensuring that the operators stay in business.

    At a time many thought that the nation’s telecom sector has hit saturation point in voice telephony, Juwah brought a fresh breath to the menu. The intensity of his Broadband evangelism has not only created more jobs in the sector, it has also positively impacted other sectors and by extension the larger economy.  The Nigerian public sector would need to copy from the leadership book of Juwah so that the revolution that has galvanised telecom in Nigeria would be replicated in other areas of the national socio-economic ecosystem. Meantime, let’s toast to Nigeria’s Public Servant of the Year 2014, the Delta-born Eugene Juwah.

    • Olanrewaju, an  ICT consultant, writes from Lagos.

  • Residents back ‘good servant’

    Before a large crowd of residents and leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the lawmaker representing Ikorodu II Constituency in the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adebimpe Akinsola, has been endorsed for re-election.

    At a ceremony in Igbogbo, Ikorodu, the constituents said the lawmaker deserved a second term for touching their lives through her empowerment programmes. Besides, they said the constituency was not ready to field a new candidate for the position, noting that Akinsola would be returned into the mainstream of legislative politics because of the experience she garnered during her first term.

    APC’s leader in Ikorodu, Asiwaju Olorunfunmi Basorun, said: “We have seen the good work she has been doing for the past three and a half years. All the communities that fall within the Ikorodu II Constituency have felt the impact of our dynamic lawmaker. This is why men and women came out in support of Akinsola’s second term ambition.”

  • Accidental servant’s memoir

    Accidental servant’s memoir

    Chapter 10 is devoted to sales of government houses in Abuja under the monetisation policy which was a fallout of the economic reform programme initiated by Obasanjo government. Underlying factors like Database for the sale Implementation, Valuation, Guidelines and categorisation, Pilot mortgage system, challenges and lessons, and the Justice Bashir Sambo saga are issues of high importance.

    The continuation of the restoration of the Abuja Master Plan is the thrust of chapter 11.The Author explained the touching story of Abuja as told by Obasanjo. The pioneers of Abuja, Bolingo Hotel Fiasco,Task Force and enforcement efforts which consumed about 24,245 buildings, shanties illegal market structures, corner shops and neighborhood centres. The author surmounted a diplomatic pressure from the French Embassy on school plot and the eventual demolition of Dr. Ahmadu Ali’s mansion and others in the process of restoring Abuja Master Plan.

    Chapter 12 deals with the infrastructural development needs of Abuja. The knotty issue of resettlement of original inhabitants of Abuja, which is still raging till date. Author’s attempt in creating Abuja Technology Village, Abuja Transportation Plan (leading to a mass transit Red, Green and yellow buses), a prosperous human capital development with the creation of a better life for all and the development of satellite town. The author in his simplicity never used sirens or motor cycle outriders, obeying traffic lights (like our own Gov. Fashola), discouraged convoy movement and did not allocate plots of land to ghost companies, friends and family but allocated a plot to his wife!

    Chapter 13 is author’s involvement in public service reforms within economic reform programme – the National Economic Empowerement and Development Strategy (NEEDS), with the ministry of the FCT serving as the guinea pig.The story of Nigeria’s bloated and non-performing public service is known to all, author’s insight on the issue of ghost workers is apt here. He also narrated all efforts geared towards reforming public service in Nigeria which were thwarted by corruption and inefficiency with majority of those already out of the system finding their ways back into the system, enjoying both pension and new salary scale!

    Chapter Fourteen is devoted to the story of third term gambit; this is an issue that we will never erase from our political history despite denials from its main initiator and beneficiary – Chief Olusegun Obasanjo. Author delves into intrigues, behind the scene and who does what for and against third term bid. How he turned into an emissary to engage former presidents, the story of the huge financial crest built, with each House member pocketing N50million and each senator N75million, all coming from Senator Andy Uba’s house. In this covert battle, the author was accused of coup-plotting for his suggestion that the third term constitutional amendment will collapse.

    Chapter 15 is devoted to the aftermath of the failure of third term bid by Obasanjo and anointing a successor. Relationship of the author and Obasanjo’s successor Umaru Musa Yar’Adua in one hand, and Umaru Yar’Adua and Nuhu Ribadu who really did not support him in the beginning was given prominence. The beginning of degeneration of relationships on the advent of a new government with the author, leading to smear campaign, senate probe and eventually being forced into exile makes a good reading.

    Chapter 16 is about the author’s activities while on exile, he originally went studying but could not return due to the intense investigation of his activities by security agencies. The author led us into the story of generosity whilst in public office, and the opposite of same when one left, he admonished everyone to be wary of friends you meet while in public office, it might after all be a deception. How he receives between 200 to 300 phone calls a day as a minister but receives less than a dozen day after becoming a private citizen. His battle with the government of Late president Umaru Yar’Adua, accusation and counter attack, at a time leading to the non-renewal of his passport which eventually caused a faux pass for the government of the day.Chapter 17 is the culmination of the five years of Invaluable experience of the author; these are the years marking the exit of the author from public service after an approximately ten years of service. Sharing his regrets, constant struggle to remain focused in the midst of several conflicting emotions, painful smear campaigns, senate hearings on his administration of the FCT, completion of his LL.B in London and of Harvard Kenney School, and let-downs by family members and once-reliable allies. The author took us through his deep involvement in politics, formation of political group, discussion with opposition parties to save Nigeria, involvement in activism through the Save Nigeria Group (SNG) led by the fiery Lagos Pastor Tunde Bakare, the late Umaru Yar’Adua consideration of successor and his illness; the return of the author to Nigeria, the PDP Reform Forum and its aftermath, former president Obasanjo’s interesting move and Wild Goose chase, the 2011 general elections and the involvement of the author, author’s arrest and rescued by social media platforms, and the unfortunate and painful death of his first child/daughter, Yasmin El-Rufai, in London and her burial in Abuja (may God continue to give her peace). This chapter is more illuminating and down to earth of the activities of the author in last five years prior to 2011 general elections.

    This book, despite minor errors, is well-researched and balanced. The prose is easy to follow and understand; it reads like a thriller. The typeface, font-size, book planning and arrangement are reader friendly and can easily be followed. I commend the author for this massive volume and more importantly for standing by his decisions whilst in office, though some of such decisions (like allocating a plot of land to his wife, payment of an NYSC member in dollars and Oby Ezekwisili’s $40,000 student loan payment and preference for an Abuja land) might be deemed wrong. It is my belief that our society will benefit more with more memoirs from erstwhile public office holders. I therefore recommend this thought-provoking book to all Nigerians and indeed I want to call on Nigerians to show more interest in politics and governance of our dear but abused country.