The Nation Newspaper

Tag: socio-economic

  • ‘Restructuring is non-negotiable’

    ‘Restructuring is non-negotiable’

    In this piece, rights activist and politician Afolabi Ige dissects the socio-economic and political challenges confronting the country and contends that the solution is restructuring to guarantee true federalism and peaceful co-existence.

    On January 1, President Muhammadu Buhari spoke on the national question. He rejected the call for restructuring, which has been the main issue  since 1966 when the military foisted the unification decree on the federal country.

    The British colonialist tried to bring the Northern Protectorate, the Southern Protectorate  and the Colony of Lagos together under one expedient administration since Nigeria was not their only colonial business. But, due attention was given to the cultural, religious and ethnic diversities and even as our colonial masters, normal democratic nuances was still observed through the several constitutional and political conferences leading to our independence in 1960. Our leaders negotiated and temporarily agreed to  start on a tripod as a federation of three regions at independence in 1960.  We became four regions in 1964 and might have become at least six by 1970s but definitely following the orderly democratic nuances that birthed the mid-western region in 1964.

    Following the discovery of oil in commercial quantities in Nigeria however, greed and avarice seized our elites and they used the military to disrupt the course of our natural growth and migrated to doing everything by artificiality.  The force of decrees rather than negotiations become the order under the jack booth of the military dictatorships and we continue to decree unity, uniformity and equality of the most unequals. The military killed the spirit of our healthy rivalry and competition among the regions, which produced the first television station in Africa, produced one of the strongest cocoa economy in the world, produced one of the tallest groundnut pyramids in the world, produced the Enugu coal mine and the palm tree plantations of the southern states that became the envy of many nations from where we now import  Palm oil as at today.  Our hides and skin potentials which should have made Turkey and Italy grow green with envy of us were all laid to rest by the military adventurists who seemed to know nothing than sharing oil money, awarding oil blocks to cronies, thereby plundering our productive capacities in convalescence with  their civilian collaborators.

    Having plundered our productive capabilities and rendered us an import dependent economy with one of the fastest growing appetite in the world, it is just a matter of time for the seed of poverty and want to germinate and blossom in our national life which has now come of full age with its fruits staring us in the face. These fruits are the myriads of problems we are now contending with today: certificates without intelligence, qualifications without capabilities, religion without faith, baseless equality and uniformity of unequals, economic growth without increased productivity, increasing budget and correspondingly increasing unemployment, wealth without enterprise, continued widening of the gap between the rich and the poor and the resultant evils of kidnapping for ransome, youth restiveness and agitation in place of productive engagements and the hopelessness that resulted into the Bokoharam terror against the state. The most current of the evils is the Fulani herdsmen terrorism.

    “Our problem is more about process than structure”. I knew immediately the president needed to be engaged but while still ruminating, the Fulani herdsmen struck for the umpteenth time on the same 1st January  in the Benue state decimating villages and farm settlements to leave in their trail as usual bloods of hundred of farmers and their families in their own settlement in a country they call their own and which constitution guarantees their freedom to life. The Fulani herdsmen terrorism will therefore form the pillar of my structural failure argument against the president ‘s process hypothesis.

    I agree that  “process” is everything to war and military domination, a profession where Mr. President has built a successful career like his co-compatriots former heads-of-state who are still alive – Gowon, Obasanjo and Babangida. The human society is far larger than the military camps and hence has given prime attention to diagnosing and developing sustainable institutional structural theses for survival of nations. It’s therefore morbidly unfortunate that Nigeria has had the ill luck of been governed mostly by men who were taught and groomed to believe that only  mere “process” suffice and is everything.

    “Structure,” which is defined as the “ arrangement of and relations between parts or elements of something thing complex” (like Nigeria), in my opinion, is primary to systems and specifies the “processes” to follow. Structure  is like the carcasses in building construction which carries and holds the brick works. Any edifice without a good structural engineering is therefore bound to collapse like pack of cards in matters of time. By the natural accident of our nation’s cultural, religious and ethnographic heterogeneity, Nigeria is never, has never and will never function as a unitary state nonetheless in a democracy but rather at best as a united states in one federation just as our colonial masters forged and bequeathed to us at independence. We were not without our complaints even then but our agitations were purposeful and limited: create a mid-west region from the western region, create a middle belt region out of the northern region and the agitation for the creation of the  COR state out of the then eastern region. The “processes” for their actualization was already part of the structural design and it had delivered one out of the three expectancies without any loss of blood. That to my mind is the actual “restructuring” towards perfection. We were steadily on that road before the accident of oil and the attendant misfortune of military rule. Until then, all  the four regions have their different constitutions aside from the federal constitution, all the regions have their own development plans and agenda and in fact were free to negotiate bilateral cooperation with foreign nations. What we had was healthy competition for development and a resultant productive economy with jobs for all and food for all.

    The question today is: “what are we as a nation”?. A federal state or a unitary state or a quasi-federal or quasi-unitary? Definitely we are not in the corridor of the Professor George Weah’s federalism when a Fulani association, the Miyetti Allah Cattle breeders can openly challenge the collective resolve of the entire people of “Benue State” to outlaw open grazing in their state. A law must be obeyed once it is duly passed until nullified by a competent court of law.  This sort of open affront against the “State of Benue” can only be borne out of our structural heist that makes an elected executive governor to be mere security adviser to the commissioner of police in his own state.

    It is structural problem and not mere “process” problem that has made the entire Northeast and West which is bigger than other countries of Africa not to have devised a modern way of doing cattle business which is the cultural occupation of their people beyond the  miserable, animalistic wandering the bushes for grazing in this 21st century.

    The President has only one chance left to remain immortal in the annals of Nigeria  history and that will put you on the Ivy League of leaders  and this is to correct the mistake of the military by returning Nigeria to a true civil democratic structure where the military met us before we became a conquered territory run by processes since she 1966. In fact, the only “process “ that leads to honour for now is the process to return Nigeria back to its true federal structure in which the constituent states or regions will be free from the feeding bottle and noose of the feudal federal government.

    Mr. President should lead this  process with all his remaining will and wits. Nigeria has not worked in over fifty years, despite several “processes” simply because we were trying to put “so much” impressionistically on “nothing” and it will not work until we put something on ground to build on.

  • Igniting Nigerian socio-economic revolution via digital animation

    Igniting Nigerian socio-economic revolution via digital animation

    Text of a speech delivered by Information, Culture & Tourism Minister Lai Mohammed at the opening of the Seventh African Digital TV Development Meeting in Beijing, China.

    I will like to express my immense pleasure and gratitude for the invitation extended to me and my delegation to attend this 7th African Digital TV Development Seminar here at the scenic Yanqi Lake Resort. I am particularly delighted because I am among friends and staunch allies of Nigeria.

    It is no longer news that a 2014 BBC World Service poll revealed Nigeria to be the most pro-Chinese country in the world, with 85 per cent of Nigerians viewing Beijing’s influence in the world positively. Nothing has changed.

    The great Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu, once remarked: Be careful what you water your dreams with. Water them with worry and fear and you will produce weeds that choke the life from your dream.

    Water them with optimism and solutions and you will cultivate success. Always be on the lookout for ways to turn a problem into an opportunity for success. Always be on the lookout for ways to nurture your dream. China is an undisputed power today because it has cultivated great success via boundless optimism and persistently finding and creating solutions.

    The world has watched the Chinese people unite in the face of difficult challenges, looked inwards for ways to nurture and actualise their dreams and have succeeded spectacularly.

    The Chinese story is an inspiration for the ages and one the Nigerian people can find some encouragement in. Like China, Nigeria continues to look for ways to harness and optimise its teeming human resources. Like China, it continues to look for ways to build a just, equitable and prosperous society for all its citizens while fighting waste, corruption and other socio-economic virulence. And of course, Nigeria keeps striving for organic, intuitive and homegrown solutions, undaunted by setbacks and false dawns, in its quest to turn problems to progress and claim its place amongst the global greats. This quest has led it to embrace and adopt digital technology solutions.

    Everywhere you look at these days, digital technology is defying and disrupting the old ways of doing things, democratising access to information and improved quality of life as well as proving a great leveller for people in Africa and other developing parts of the world.

    It’s a brave new world and the frenetic, live-at-the-click-of-a-button pace is not for the faint of heart. The lifespan of digital products continue to plummet. And the future predicted by popular science fiction, the future bustling with concepts like augmented and virtual reality, self-driving cars, artificial intelligence, advanced robotics, the Internet of Things, 3D printing and nanotechnology, no longer looks or sounds outlandish anymore. We seem to live it every other week.

    Nigeria’s quest to diversify its economy and stimulate business and employment growth has compelled it to examine the digital economy closely and invest in it more assiduously. For example, the advent of a fast-growing “digital age” in Nigeria, the growing popularity of the Internet, and the establishment of various media-distribution platforms have given rise to an increasing demand for content and services like animation and digital artistry. Ranked seventh in global internet usage, methods of communication and entertainment in the country are fast evolving. Corporate entities and advertising agencies are adopting new creative methods of getting information across. The creative industry, of which film and animation are an integral part, is developing and adopting new technology and the demand for content shows tremendous growth potential with the advent of various digital platforms. A widening gap has been opened and is barely being filled, hence the need for an animation industry to keep up with global trends.

    The animation market is exploding worldwide. It currently represents 25 per cent of the world audiovisual market, a figure that is only set to increase with the introduction of new delivery systems, changing scheduling patterns, and a proliferation of new media forms. The major animation markets include the United States, Canada, Japan, China, France, Britain, South Korea and Germany, while the major emerging animation markets include China, India, Indonesia, and Malaysia. In Africa, we have South Africa, Kenya, and Egypt.

    American animation has developed as America’s sixth largest pillar industry; in Japan, the animation industry has outperformed automobile, iron & steel industries to be the third largest industry; and South Korea has undertaken nearly one third of the global animation production business. Most of the segments in the animation industry are growing at the rate of 10 per cent year-over-year, and some segments are growing at 15 per cent year-on-year. The output value of global animation industry has reached over $300 billion, and animation-related derivatives have exceeded $500 billion. The animation industry has gradually become a pillar of the national economy and a new economic growth engine in some countries.

    The multinational animation studios leverage various forms of partnership, co-production and joint ventures with global partners (countries) who subsidise their national film industries, including animation. Funding flows for co-production from Hollywood to other countries and vice versa have become common practice. As co-production increases, animation studios in China and India have become popular co-production partners of studios in Europe, Japan, and North America.

    From the point of view of the major studios, co-production provides subsidised/cheaper production cost as well as flexibility, while working with small studios and bring new and fresh creativity from other countries.

    Outsourcing of animation has also become widespread. Many entertainment giants such as The Walt Disney Company and IMAX are beginning to outsource an increasing amount of their animation production to Asian countries, particularly India, while other companies are outsourcing animation from India for commercials and computer games.

    In all these, Nigeria, and indeed much of Africa, scarcely play a part in this industry, but aim to rectify the situation by making a grab for their share of the pie in this massive economic boom. Now, why does Nigeria believe it has a shot at this? In the first instance, because it has a ready domestic audience and market, Nigeria has about 86.2 million people online, and that’s 46.1 per cent  of the population, ranking it number one in Africa and number seven in the world. It has 44 million TV viewing homes in the country. Nigeria is expected to switch over to digital broadcasting when all 44 million homes have to invest in purchasing Set-Top Boxes.

    In addition, Nigeria’s telecommunication industry has grown to $25 billion, and active lines are said to be well over 113 million, in comparison with 450,000 people and $500 million investment portfolio in year 2000, again ranking it No. 1 in Africa and 11th in the world.

    Nigeria’s smartphone penetration is estimated at 15.5 million. 70 per cent of the population are below 30 years of age, about 50 per cent are below 20 (approximately 80 million), and over 40 per cent of the total population are children under 14 (over 70 million), while about 20 per cent of the population are teens (approx. 30 million). These demographics amply demonstrate that the uptake of animated content is already guaranteed.

    Secondly, the Nigerian film industry, ranked third in the world on the scale of output, has content consumed nationally and globally and is a ready-made conduit for animation-based content.

    Thirdly, the country boasts of an incredible treasure trove of literature, brimming with exciting classics such as a Forest of a Thousand Daemons, a book translated from its original Yoruba language to English by the Nigerian Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka, The Lion and the Jewel, The Passport of Mallam Illia and Things fall apart.  These works are crammed with wondrous worlds and richl-realised characters that can be successfully adapted into animated feature length movies and TV series, all capable of astounding and entertaining global audiences. Finally, the country has an English-speaking workforce that can potentially provide a large supply of low-cost, high-quality, creative talent for a thriving animation industry.

    So, what are the challenges Nigeria and other developing African countries facing in joining the animation party? For one, lack of adequate training for creative talent and animators. To build a competent workforce capable of meeting global manpower demands, Nigeria needs to train competent animation, graphic artists and post production professionals. This will cover all the needs of the animation, film and entertainment industry at large. Secondly, it suffers from lack of funding. Insufficient financial support affects the quality of production. This derives directly from inadequate investment in skill development and production tools to achieve competitive global standards. It also prevents independent producers from taking advantage of the global animation space. As far back as 2008, the top four animation producers spent between 150 -250 million euros per country on animation. With just 20 per cent of this, Nigeria can achieve the same production output of animation content that these countries boast of.

    Thirdly, useful partnerships are nearly non-existent.

    Partnerships in terms of software, hardware, distribution, and animation production resources will need to be forged in order to derive maximum value from the investments in training and production.

    Finally, for a long time, previous regimes did not prioritise the animation industry and so it suffered from lack of government support and enabling policies. For the animation industry to thrive, the existence of favorable government support, policies and trade agreements is paramount. In China, for example, there has been a lot of encouragement to develop animation.

    What are we currently doing to rectify the situation and help build up the animation industry in Nigeria? In the words of Confucius: If you think in terms of a year, plant a seed; if in terms of 10 years, plant trees; if in terms of 100 years, teach the people. We must train an army of animation professionals.

    The current administration is committed to developing the animation/creative industry into a new growth sector by promoting Nigeria’s creativity and creating a highly-skilled workforce for the industry. Already, it has created a programme called N-POWER CREATIVE, a job creation and empowerment initiative by the Federal Government of Nigeria for the purpose of training and encouraging the development of creative and technological skills in young Nigerians such as animation, graphic illustration, script writing, story-telling, sequential arts and post-production.

    With such skills, young Nigerians will be able to find employment in the ever-growing creative and animation industry. Its target will be to equip about 15,000 creative industry professionals across story/script writing, graphics/illustration, animation and post-production this year and that figure should rise to 75,000 by 2020 year end.

    By next year, we shall have a pool of creative industry professionals, locally producing content for and providing services to enhance and grow other Nigerian industries and economic sectors as follows: television, education and training, architecture, Nollywood and entertainment, print, animation and visual effects, as well as gaming.

    We also aim to:

    • Be ranked among the top emerging markets in the global animation industry by the end of next year.
    • Rake in $5-10 billion additional revenues from overseas markets by 2020 through co-productions and outsourcing from other major animation and creative industry markets, especially United States (U.S.) and Europe.
    • Be ranked among the top 10 countries with major global animation producing markets for the global industry by 2022.

    We also aim to initiate government and private funding to jumpstart the animation industry. We are working on a slew of annual exhibitions for the creative industry.

    In conclusion, let us reiterate that global animation industry is at a thriving point with content from global locations taking key positions in annual growth. Nigeria’s entertainment in film has positioned itself as the third largest in the world and has content consumed nationally and globally.

    Noting the influence of already established Nigerian entertainment media, the Nigerian animation industry will extend this effect through producing home-grown animation content as well as becoming an outsourcing destination for global animation services.

    Within two years, Nigeria will also position itself as a global power house of the top 5 emerging market destinations for outsourced animation from key animation producing nations.

    All these might look daunting, but we are encouraged, once again, by the immortal words of Lao Tzu: “Do the difficult things while they are easy and do the great things while they are small. A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step. With your kind support, we can achieve spectacular success.

  • ‘Recession offers opportunities for socio-economic growth’

    ‘Recession offers opportunities for socio-economic growth’

    Benson Ezem, an architect of over four decades experience leads Cosmo Base Group, a conglomerate with investment in hotels, furniture, aluminum smelting, pharmaceutical, among others. In this interview with Assistant Editor, Jide Babalola, he speaks on business opportunities budding entrepreneurs can pursue at this time of recession among others.
    Excerpts:

    How has current economic realities impacted on the hospitality business in Abuja and other parts of the federation?

    The hospitality business in Abuja and elsewhere has not been too wonderful because it is a business that relies heavily on the economy. If the economy is doing well, people will travel and stay in hotels but unfortunately for the past two years, we know that we have been in recession and so, it means recession for the hospitality business. People are not travelling as frequently as they will want to; there are no idle funds to play around with. What is it that brings people to Abuja? It is contracts, government jobs. But are there government jobs available now? They are not that readily available as it used to be, a new government has to restructure and the change mantra is affecting everybody.

    Our hotel, Jades Hotels is doing 25-30% of its capacity now – one third of what we were doing when we started. We consistently use much diesel because there is epileptic power supply, the municipal agencies come up with one bill or the other and multiple taxation is not helping businesses. When almost all hotels are not making money, it affects employment, salaries are being owed and if you owe workers so much, at a point in time you will have to let them go. The hotel industry is a major employer of labour in the Federal Capital Territory. We are facing a lot but we try to do keep our standard that people have come to know us with. We try to do more mass media adverts which are at a very high cost, just to keep reminding people that we are still there. We reduce our rates to attract more patronage at a very high cost to us. For me as an entrepreneur, it is a thing of joy to create jobs and keep people in paid employment because I want to be able to impact on the lives of young people who come to work with me either straightaway from the university or in some stop-gap circumstances. You just have to help them by being a bridge to their final destination or the fulfillment of their potential. So that is what we are doing.

    What measures can be taken to mitigate current challenges in the business sector?

    Firstly, the people must have enough money to spend and government has to do more of looking into the economy. However, to some extent, what is happening right now is good when you look at it in a larger spectrum. There is no free lunch, there is no free money going around but if the government can inject more money into the economy then people who are supposed to use these facilities will have money to do so. Another important issue is the cost of electricity; we pay a lot of money to buy diesel, those are the high cost areas. And then, there is need to review the multiple taxations, especially in the FCT.

    What is your advice for young, aspiring entrepreneurs who feel intimidated by current trends in our economy?

    This is the best time for any young Nigerian to go into business. This is the time! For you to succeed as an entrepreneur, you must be vision-oriented,  you must have passion for what you want to do and then if you decide on anything you want to do in this country of 170 million people, you have prospects for success because you are dealing with huge numbers – a large market for any product or service. You may have to keep your certificates somewhere and follow your vision because what you studied in school may not be what you want to pursue as an entrepreneur. For instance, you could decide to be a block molder, to fill an area of huge need for builders who want quality blocks. I’m not saying that it is easy but you must be prepared to go down and pick up the mess. You must get the right tool or equipment, you must know your market, you must know your source of material and you must have genuine passion for your undertaking because maybe in the first three months, if you don’t get patronage, you should not pack up.

    How did you arrive here? Tell us your story

    I sometimes seem to be discouraging a lot of people, I am a pastor and I tell them in church that there is no success without hard work, without a vision. If you have vision, you pursue it with passion, not by waiting for an ideal condition. Since secondary school, I had always wanted to be an entrepreneur, to be on my own because I grew up seeing my father as a civil servant working for NEPA and after 3.30 he will close and read his newspapers, take us to club and that was it. It was ok for him, because of his level as a senior civil servant we lived in the best areas in the town the GRAs (Government Reserved Areas) of Kano- we lived in Bompai or in Nassarawa areas. But at a point in time when my father had to retire, he was like a fish out of water and then we realised that everything that was in the house was owned by NEPA. It was tough but realistic to wonder; what had we achieved in his 37 years of living on NEPA property and NEPA gave two weeks to leave the GRA but there was no plan, there was no house (to move to) because at that time, there wasn’t anything like corruption. My father worked his heart out as a civil servant, he didn’t have any other property elsewhere because he was busy training his children and they had to retire him at that time. We moved to a rented property and that kind of ignited something inside of me and I resolved to live my adult life only in my own house. My father’s predicament triggered my passion to live on my own, so I entered university with that behind my mind and said I was not going to work for anybody or stay in a rented house or one that belongs to government such that at the end of the day, they will ask me to move. From day one in the university, my heart was focused on starting a business that can give me accommodation in any part of town. By my second year as an architecture student, I started my own company, Cosmobase Limited, got some small business patronage for my architectural designs and had to hire some of those who graduated ahead of me as partners to do some jobs for private people whose referral took us to those in government.

    My big break came in Katsina state through somebody that I had worked for when we were asked to design the Katsina Polytechnic’s technical workshops and the design came out very well, leading me to do other projects in Katsina state. At 28, I had already gotten my big break, I had my house, I had my office complex and I had staff working for me and from that time in the 80s, we had no cause to look back.

    One thing I tell every entrepreneur is that you don’t eat your future – any money that is coming in is a re-investible fund. The value of a big car you are rushing to buy is depreciating the moment you get the keys. As things were improving, we were investing in other areas that will be like a buffer for us if the area we are in is not doing well tomorrow; we started trading by the side, we started importing photocopy papers which my wife was managing, so that if the consultancy suffers or governments delayed payment, we will have something to fall back on.

    What happen to lots of aspiring entrepreneurs is that when they make their initial money, they want to buy big cars and tell the world that they have arrived. You don’t need to do that because when you invest your money you will now know because there is what they call prudent management of your resources. Even as it is now, I find it difficult spending money because every money that comes into my hand, I look at it as a seed for future investment.

    You had your first house at age 25 before graduating from university; how and where did you do your National Youths Service?

    I served in my own firm as an architect, I was a corper CEO and I bought my 504 then in 1986; it was like having an SUV today. So, when I look at all material things now, nothing moves me, because you have to know where you are coming from and that is where people make mistakes.

    When you bring people who have not gone through these things and put them in position of leadership, you put a man that struggles to manage N50,000 in charge of managing N1million; my brother, he will be learning how to manage that N1million. Do you know what it is to suddenly see N50 million in your account when you have only been dealing with N100, 000? First of all, you will think or have an illusion that the N50 million will not finish! That is why people must go through getting experience in anything they do- you either learn on your own or get a mentor to learn from. When people suddenly get thrown into positions of authority to start handling huge chunks of money, that is what is causing all these things; they then begin to look for empty houses where they will keep the money or they look for drainages where they will hide the money.

    In what way do you mentor people around you?

    One thing we do in Cosmobase is that we call the workers, we talk to them. I kind of motivate them, I mentor them. Right now we have architects we have trained and other people we have mentored in the business line, we try to tell them that there is time for everything. There are decisions you will take today that will cause your failure tomorrow; there are decisions you will take today that will cause your success tomorrow. So at any point in time you must take the right decisions. As a Christian, I tell them to prayerfully take the right decisions.

    You see differences in two young men easily when they each get maybe, N100, 000. One of them could decide to immediately buy a car and be seen as ‘successful’ while the other one decides to buy a land and nobody will know that he has invested. They will think he has been working for nothing, but in the next two years, the car will depreciate but for the other one, his land may appreciate to be worth 10  times the original value.

    Thus, you can see that the decision you take at any point in time influence your future. So, we tell them, don’t be excited about money that is coming in now but you must be able to have discipline to control the money. Leadership is all about having the discipline to control the powers that goes with the office. So you ask yourself why is it that when people get into power they forget their friends, the power and ego takes over. It is not supposed to be so because you should know that in four years’ time, you will still need your old friends. You need to be disciplined, you must tell yourself that: ‘This thing, I must be on top of it.’

    As an Abia state man who grew up and had his first break in the North, how do you see the issue of ethnic and religious differences as well as ongoing agitations?

    I went to a Unity school, we never knew if anyone was a Muslim or a Christian. In those days, we were all brothers and I settled there, I lived in the north. In the south too, I feel comfortable in all this places, my businesses are all in these areas because I see them all as my brothers. Now, why these agitations? The agitation is because people have come to bring to the surface some of the things that were not supposed to be there. Now, there is much concern about people feeling cheated by others in the scheme of things when we are all supposed to be one. Some feel deeply marginalised and pained that their areas, tribe or zone is not being adequately recognised. In all, I think the core problem we are facing in this country is that of genuine leadership, we need a leader who loves this country Nigeria and can rally or unify us all behind a common cause of true unity and progress.

  • How Africans can solve socio-economic problems, by Oyedepo

    How Africans can solve socio-economic problems, by Oyedepo

    The myriad of socio-economic and cultural problems facing Africans can be tackled headlong if only Africans can pause for a moment and think out permanent solutions, the Founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide and Chancellor Landmark University Omu Aran Kwara State Bishop David Oyedepo, has said.

    Oyedepo made the remarks while closing the institution’s third convocation at the university chapel yesterday. The event was tagged: ’The Release of Pathfinders 2016’.

    “For a moment, can we as Africans pause and think,” Oyedepo asked.

    “Think possibility; think impact; think footprint on the sand of time; think future; think giving to others; think generations yet unborn; think of making a mark in our individual endeavours and think of using indigenous knowledge to solve our various problems.

    “We need independence of our self-styled captivity. God has blessed us with so much natural and intellectual resources. Unfortunately, most of us fail to think creatively,”Oyedepo lamented.

    He continued: “There are lots of challenges bedeviling Africa which can be solved through indigenous knowledge. Africa should therefore return to indigenous solution which was once truncated by Western influence. But despite that, we should not allow western influence or education to destroy our native intelligence. As Africans, we must hold our heads high and take responsibility for our actions. Our colour should not be a deterrent to our capacity.”

    To be a dynamic individual therefore, the fiery cleric challenges individual to have a vision and pursue same with vigour.

    According to him, Africans can equally learn one thing or two from the Living Faith Commission, which over the last 35 years has neither depended on external funding nor borrowed from banks; yet achieved so much through prudence, fidelity, doggedness of purpose and divine commitment.

    The Vice Chancellor Prof Aize Obayan, announced that a total of 532 graduands comprising 91 first class, will be signing out of the institution. Further she said 91 fell under second class upper category, 224 got second class lower, while 532 were on third class cadre.

    She thanked the proprietor of the university- Living Faith Church Worldwide for injecting N12.45 billion to cover both capital and recurrent expenditure since the inception of the university five  years ago.

    Aside securing 100 per cent accreditation of programmes from its regulatory body-National Universities Commission, Obayan said LU which is the first private agricultural university in Nigeria has also conceptualized Agripreneurship, a term that refers to the ability of applying one’s entrepreneurial skill into the field of Agriculture with the aim of making profit.

  • Let’s seek divine intervention on socio-economic problems, says Scholar

    Let’s seek divine intervention on socio-economic problems, says Scholar

    An Islamic scholar Khalifah Abdul Gaffar Jamiu has enjoined Muslims to seek divine solution through prayer and fasting to the socio-economic challenges facing the country.

    Jamiu, who spoke at the Ramadan Lecture organised by Dada Adams Central Mosque, Ilupewo, Ota, Ogun State, said at a time when Prophet Muhammad was a leader, his subjects were facing difficulties as Nigerians are experiencing it today.

    According to him, the prophet prayed for Allah’s intervention. The result of the prayer, he said, was the revelation of chapter 108 (Suratul Kawthar) that guaranteed abundance for Prophet Muhammad and his subjects. Since then, his people  have been enjoying economic prosperity, he stated.

    Jamiu urged Muslims to use the period of Ramadan to pray for the success of President Muhammadu Buhari in his efforts to reposition the economy.

    He urged Nigerians irrespective of faith to support the government. He was optimistic that Nigeria would come out stronger from the current challenges.

    “Great nations of the world have had similar problems facing us in Nigeria today. With perseverance, they were able to surmount them. I am confident that through prayer and fasting, there will be divine intervention for positive change,” he added.

  • ‘Nigeria’s socio-economic challenges surmountable’

    The current economic downturn has provided opportunities for repositioning and strengthening of the Nigerian economy, an international economist and chartered accountant, Dr. Olu Olasode has said.

    To achieve the aim of turning the economy around and bring the nation out of the current economic downturn, Olasode said leaders at all levels of government to must rethink strategies, realign priorities, block leakages and stress-test institutional readiness for rebound and growth.

    Olasode, who spoke at a workshop on ‘Enhancing Governance and Rebuilding Culture’ organised by TL First Group, said the changing national economic landscape requires leadership that is proactive, understands the dynamics of change and can formulate responsive actions to deliver sustainable improvements.

    While urging leaders and organisations around the country to find effective and sustainable ways of bouncing back from global depression and staying ahead of the game, the economist however warned that policy somersault must be strictly guided against.

    According to him, while realigning strategies, the Nigerian government must take a second look at Small and Medium enterprises (SME), which he said is capable of taking the country’s economic growth to the next level.

    Besides, he explained that development and encouragement of entrepreneurial skills of the Nigerian youth must be prioritised by the government, if the economy must be expanded.

  • ‘How airports can drive socio-economic activities’

    ‘How airports can drive socio-economic activities’

    Governor of Kebbi State, Usman Dakingari, is convinced that airports wherever they are sited are pivotal to socio-economic development as social infrastructure and speaks amidst plans to engage foreign carriers to consider the strategic location of the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport in Kebbi into a cargo hub for West Africa. Kelvin Osa-Okunbor met him. Excerpts:

    What is the moivation for building a N17 billion airport, the Sir Ahmadu Bello International Airport in Kebbi State?

    In Nigeria today, in the north, only one or two states is without an airport and that is Zamfara State; all the rest have their airports. So, everybody has understood that airports are part of development and they are catalyst to development. Economic development is facilitated both in short and long term by having a quick gateway in and out of the state. This enhances the movement of human, good and services and give rise to a burst of economic development. Movement of goods is made easy; at least it is the best thing that can happen to any state and airport happens to be one of the best ways to do that.

    Given the fact that Kebbi State is an agro-allied state, how will this airport jump-start your capacity to export those produce that are here?

    Let me say this, Dangote’s company approached Kebbi state and expressed the desire to put an investment of about $9 billion, in sugar cane, rice and maybe ranching. I have seen it in Kenya and other places in Namibia. They send meat overseas to Europe. If people like Dangote come in and say this is possible; we have fruits, onions; we have one of the best markets for onion in Kebbi State. These days we produce watermelon too, we produce mangoes and all these are things that can go overseas.

    And we have the weather to produce also flowers; we can also export. At present there is a farmer just around the airport that has started warehousing; he will build warehouses for both export and import. These are things that will not happen in one day but the airport is futuristic. In the last two weeks, we started flying in and out of Kebbi, today the aircraft that we started with was full all the time and at times we had to leave passengers. So, by God’s grace, we are likely to improve and get a better aircraft and we are sure we will take 60 per cent of the passengers in Sokoto.

    So the airport will be busy and with the sophisticated equipment we have on ground at the Kebbi airport, during harmatan, there is the likelihood that airlines will not fly Sokoto route and the Sokoto passengers will likely come to Kebbi where flights can take off at low visibility because of the precision and the sophisticated instrument landing system and other equipment that we have, so there are a lot of viability in that airport and this is why we are looking for a next governor who has the exposure, who is well educated to continue to sustain the tempo of development when we leave and for the next five years.

    How did you source funds and how much in terms of cost component did it cost your administration to put together this project?

    The cost of the project is within the range of about N17billion and when we were building the airport I said it is futuristic, we want the best out of the airport and I also want a situation whereby we can lease it out. You just talked about states not having funds; maybe airlines like Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines can lease this kind of airport and make use of it for cargo and passenger operations. If you have regular flights no matter where you drop cargo or passengers they can connect to wherever they want to go to. And with airlines like Emirates, I am sure they can make this place busy and connect even West Africa from here like Niger, Cotonou, Ivory Coast and other countries like Morocco, Libya and Algeria are shorter from Kebbi State than any other place around here.

    Given the geographical location of this airport, partnership is key to driving traffic into this airport more so that you are looking at partnership with global carriers like Emirates and others, what is the level of engagement with those airlines with a view to attracting them to come and operate from this airport?

    What we are trying to do is to commission a consultant who will go round, introduce this airport to other people, like you are here now you have just seen the airport, I am sure from the time the president came here to date, I am sure the airport is well known around the country and maybe, sooner or later people will start asking questions and people with interest may likely invest. This is a state airport, it is available to people who want to use it and what we are trying to do is that once we have the airport, the services is what we are looking for. So, even if somebody takes the airport we still get the services.

    Are you favourably disposed to discuss with other airlines with a view to having daily flights in and out of Kebbi?

    Yes we are. We started with one airline but we saw that they were dragging their feet and we have to engage Air Peace so that we can start the operation as quickly as we can. So, now we can sit down and plan, Air Peace comes in four days in a week, there are three days available so we can open discussions on the three days. And maybe also Sokoto has been having two flights we can take a bigger aircraft for a daily flight. We have Aero Contractors and Arik coming into Sokoto so we can equally, maybe take one and leave them with one there.

    For human capacity development, are you training indigenes that will work in this airport?

    We are training a lot of hands and we have recruited young graduates whom we are likely to send to schools around the country or even overseas so that we can run the airport efficiently and we can have hands that can handle any type of task at the airport.

    Are you in discussions with neighbouring states on how they can benefit from the airport by moving their produce from here?

    We are doing that and this is why I said we are envisaging having inland ports Lolo just at the boarder of Republic of Benin to take traffic from Cotonou.  And the airport is well situated, you can take passenger from Kano to Kebbi, you combine it to Cotonou or to Niger Republic or to Abuja. Somebody who is coming from Niger Republic will spend three hours on road to this place, so you can leave by 7:00 am and 10:00 am you are here. You can board an aircraft in Kebbi and be in Abuja or in Lagos maybe within two hours or four hours.

    We heard you were able to offset the debts owed by your predecessor and Kebbi State is now debt free. How have you been able to galvanise all these projects with the limited resources at your disposal?

    The internally generated revenue is maybe about half a billion Naira annually and what we get in terms of allocation from the federal government usually is what we use. Two things, once you block the leakages and you are prudent and the corruption is minimal and with self-determination, you can get what you want. This is first state among all the states in Nigeria that started e-payment; that is way back six years ago. So, we came with a vision that, look, this is what we want to do.

    I think in Nigeria today, Kebbi has one of the best rural network of roads. And it was deliberate because that is the only way you can develop a state. This is why when people talk about rice in Kebbi, it is not difficult to see; once you can evacuate it and people can access areas in the state they can go and buy the farm produce directly, you find out that producing those things is not difficult.

    Now we produce rice three times in a year and you will find out that we do dry season farming twice then the rainy season production once. And some people are more prepared to produce more during dry season because they can control all the elements rather than where you cannot predict anything during the raining season. So I think Kebbi now has a foothold on food production, especially rice.

    Now people have realised that you can get income from farming. Civil servants who have retired now go into farming. So they use their gratuity to invest in farming. In Kebbi we have a policy of paying everybody’s gratuity at once, so you can use it to invest in rice production or any other area you want. And we have been paying this entitlement in bulk, we don’t cut it. You find a permanent secretary getting up to N20 million, so if that civil servant goes into the production of rice, you will find out that he will be okay. And I can tell you that for the last seven years the price of food is stable in Kebbi State.

    What has your administration done in the area of healthcare?

    We have hospitals in all the local government areas; in some cases we have more than three in one local government. We have rural clinics, and we had collaboration with MDGs. In every ward there is a clinic which is manned by federal government midwives scheme. And this is why healthcare is improving in Kebbi very rapidly. If you look at the statistics of Aids, you will find that there is less than one per cent of the prevalence in Kebbi State. We are the first state in the north that had no polio case for a long time. We have a programme for children under five years, from the day they are born we give them free medical attention until they are five years. We have the nutritional programme for children that are nutritionally sick. So, with the collaboration with UNICEF and other agencies, we had so many programmes that have helped Kebbi to raise the health indices.

    We have a programme in Kebbi state where we removed all the mentally challenged people on the roads to a hospital. We don’t keep them in the hospital; we treat them every week on Saturdays. You bring in the patients and they are treated for stress, madness and whatever disease that is related to madness. And this how we were able to get this feat accomplished. Today, as I talk to you, you can’t see any mad man on the streets of Kebbi State.

    Release of letters of employment to about 4,000 teachers, to what extent is this going to galvanise educational development in the state?

    We had a problem of enrolment before I came in. I think Kebbi is one of the lowest in terms of enrolment. So we now had built a lot of schools, we now have over 400 schools for both junior and secondary schools. More than 60 per cent of those schools are boarding, now we have over 400,000 students. So, it is only right after producing so many schools to recruit teachers. And the next item on our calendar is to also buy books and other materials for teaching. I think with that we will be rest assured that the indices for our education will improve in Kebbi State. And it has become a source of employment to reduce the graduates on the streets of Kebbi State.

    On succession, what mechanism have you put in place to ensure that the right person who will continue with your development philosophy succeeds you?

    You should expect a better person than me. We would want to build on what we have, we should not destroy and I am sure the person who is coming will be more competent than I am.

  • Vitafoam boss urges African leaders monitor socio-economic development

    Vitafoam boss urges African leaders monitor socio-economic development

    The Chairman of Vitafoam PLC, Mr. Dele Makanjuola has charged government across the West African sub-region to regularly measure the various indices that are needed for economic planning and development in the region.

    Makanjuola made this known recently at the business luncheon/ commissioning of Wellness Centre by the Business Club Ikeja (BCI).

    According to the Vitafoam boss, there is need for members of the Economic Community of West African States to continuously measure their economic policy and its effect on the society for sustainable development within the sub-region.

    While noting that although there are abundance of human, land, energy and mineral resources across the sub region, he said: “As of today, there exist a very high level of poverty and social inequalities which is all pervading with close to 60% of the population lives on less than one US dollar per day.”

    Makanjuola opined that in spite of government propagandas that there is absence of liberal economy in the sub-region, “anti market, anti-trade, pro-subsidy and pro-regulation policies of the various governments are strangulating the economies.”

    Corruption, Makanjuola observed, “is endemic across the nations, weak institutions, low morale of citizens and undeveloped sense of public service, perennial conflict within nations and between nations slow down execution of regional development projects.”

    “There is a need for structural transformation to bring about economic growth. We should take note that economic development can be achieved only through continuous technological innovation, industrial upgrading and diversification”, he said.

    Earlier in his words, the president of the BSC, Engineer I. S Tella, who applauded members of the club and especially Vital Foam Plc for the construction of the centre, said that the wellness centre is aimed at repositioning the club for revenue generation and encouraging Nigerians to keep fit.

    He encouraged members of the club to take advantage of the centre by utilising the centre rather than leave it more to the public.